34G Planted Paradise!!

Here's an updated pic of my 34G. New plants include the Vallis on the right(thought I'd better plant some fast growers to compensate for my recent lighting upgrade and keep it all balanced) on the right and the Eleocharis acicularis (hairgrass) in the right hand foreground. The hairgrass is a bit of an experiment. If it thrives well enough then I intend to separate the clump into groups of plantlets with a view to forming a lush carpet replacing the present E. tennelus (microsword).

My long-term aim is to create the classic concave aquascape with an open space in the centre for the fish to swim. I beleive a lush green lawn in the centre foreground will complete the look. I just hope my lighting's up to it.

Fish wise; I enquired with my LFS about trading my Angels for more Cardinal Tetras. We agreed on 10 Cardinals for the pair of my Angels and the manager said he'd keep them in their planted display tank. I beleive my tank will look a lot more stunning with just a large shoal of Cardinals as well as the maintenance fish (SAEs, Otos etc.) I really beleive the tank will look a lot larger too. Another reason for the trade is that the Angels are growing all the time and the tank, especially as it's so densely planted, is becoming a little cramped for them. They show no outward signs of stress but I think the display aquarium in the LFS will make a better home (it's about 200G). It's good to know that I'll still be able to see them too.

You can check out my current fish/plant stock and hardware in my profile if you're interested.

Thanks for looking, any comments welcome.

Hey George,

I read your profile, same age as me, but i am not so grown up (no wife and kids) hehe.

I have tried hairgrass and had no luck, but light wise you should have enough.

Pity you had to trade in the angels, but the reasons made sense.

I find my Rummy are excellent schoolers where as the cardinals arent so good...sometimes its hard to think there are 25 in there when you can only see the odd one. Othertimes they are all out, but the rummies are schooling at the front 90% of the time.

Btw do you use a digital camera? excelelnt photos.

Looking good. Good luck with the Eleocharis - it is not the easiest of things to get going.

Your tank is stunning! All of the plants look wonderful!

Good luck with the hair grass dude-- one of my fave plants. Speaking of which, my LFs has more of the stuff, I better go pick some up in anticipation for the tank I'm working on now-- it's going to be a planted nano for JUST CRYSTAL RED SHRIMP. I'm thinking just riccia and hair grass, and some moss just for the shrimp's benefit.

Looking great dude! The cabomba was a nice decision after all.

BTW-- did you trim the tops off the hair grass yet?

Thanks guys. I haven't touched the hairgrass yet except for removing it from it's pot and cutting away half the sponge and roots before planting as you see it. I had limited success with it about 12 months ago when I only had 1 wpg and no CO2, eventually it spread but I had no knowledge back then, I even kept it in its original pot and sponge. Hopefully it'll grow even better this time.

Tear-scar - your shrimp tank sounds great, I take it you're going unfiltered? I was planning a similar setup but my wife wouldn't let me as I work away from home a fair bit and she didn't want more maintenance tasks!!

Your tank is incredible.

All your plants look very healthy.

lol, yeah-- no idea what I'm going to do when I go to college next year. heh . . . heh . . .

That is one of the nicest tanks i have ever seen in my life. If I only had the room...Maybe i Do if i sell my 20g!

mwm said:

That is one of the nicest tanks i have ever seen in my life. If I only had the room...Maybe i Do if i sell my 20g!

Click to expand...

It's not the tank itself, not a particular design or model. What makes it special is the care put into it-- the careful nurturing of fish AND plants. There's more to that than buying a new tank and putting fish in it. There's a lot more preparation needed for a great tank.

mwm said:

That is one of the nicest tanks i have ever seen in my life. If I only had the room...Maybe i Do if i sell my 20g!    

Click to expand...

Too kind my friend. I wish mine was as nice as some of the tanks I've seen. Unfortunately I'm limited by my budget and spare time, I long for the day when I could have the resources to be limited by only my imagination. Only another 20 years until I retire then we'll see!!

Check these out for instance (especially tank #58)

http/www.aquabotanic.com/contest2004/contest2004.htm

Thanks Tear-scar, mutual respect

Sanj - I know what you mean about the Rummynoses but I find my Cardinals less skittish and the Colours are fantastic, the Cardinals show themselves most of the time. I have eight at the moment but intend to have about 20. My camera's a cheap 2 megapixel Olympus, does the job though.

Still, Sanj is right about the schooling thing from my experience. At the same time though-- cardinals CAN be made to school; get a pair of apisto's and they'll probably school right up.