Llj's 20g Journal

[lljdma06]

The wood finally sank, so I added it in. TBH, I don't see much of a difference. I've also got another anubia bud, so that's nice.

Before...

After. Not really much of a difference, but I like the wood. The rotala and bacopa were pruned, but I'll let it grow to the top again. I'd like to also wrap bacopa behind the bolbitis, as the bolbitis alone creates a dark spot in the tank. Or, I may opt to remove it and just have bacopa, which would contrast with the wood better. I think that Marsilea hirsuta is one of the best plants ever and really makes this tank very charming. A nearly perfect foreground for lower-light tanks and sets off Monpani beautifully. I'm removing the silly sliver of moss on the new piece of Mopani. I think it looks stupid. Corys decided not to pose, though as I'm typing, they are all in the front of the tank foraging.

New wood, I like the color variants. Moss is aweful.

Anubias. They were a little pale a week ago, so I dosed whatever the deficiency looked like to me. I honestly don't remember, but they are bouncing back nicely. Most likely it was either Trace or Iron.

Dusk lighting, which I think is kind of pretty.

On June 14th, this tank will be a year old, and if the scape is nice, I'll post it in the member's tank section. Or I'll wait for the anubia to flower.

llj

 

[Castellop123]

 

[john starkey]

hi lijs thats a lovely setup the anubias looks really nice as the centre piece imo, are you going tol eave the open foreground? regards john

 

[sophos9]

Wow mate, your tank is looking great!

 

[lljdma06]

Looks very good, Llj... The Anubias are a real centrepiece...

Thanks. I like the anubias too. I can't wait for the flower to bloom.

hi lijs thats a lovely setup the anubias looks really nice as the centre piece imo, are you going tol eave the open foreground? regards john

Yes, the plan is to keep the foreground bare. I keep corydoras and though they do love planted tanks, they also appreciate some bare substrate to cruise through. I've got bronze cories, peppered cories, and hopefully I'll be getting some panda cories in the near future.

Wow mate, your tank is looking great!

Thanks again. The complement goes back to all of you as well.

llj

 

[ICEEGRL]

The tank looks great. I like the new wood too.

 

[lljdma06]

The tank looks great. I like the new wood too.

Thanks, ICEEGRL. I went to PetsMart Yesterday, and lo! Another beautiful piece of mopani called to me and said, "Buy me and put me in your 20g!" It is really cheap there too, less than $10. So I dutifly complied and it's soaking in a bucket waiting to sink. With this final piece of wood, I shall say that the scape will be complete, and ready for me to sit back and enjoy. This piece will, if it does what I expect it to do, will frame the anubias from the top, and will create a final, possibly striking effect.

Once this is placed, and I resist the urge to prune the pink-tipped rotala that is now skimming the surface, I'll snap some real photos. Hopefully, the anubia flower will be in bloom.

I also have a final livestock change. The original plan was to add some panda corydoras, but now I may slightly increase the C. aeneaus and C. peleatus I currently have and then add the centerpiece fish, a pair of Scleromystax barbatus. I may also remove the black neons and increase the schools of blue tetras and serpaes, but I'm not decided on this yet. The tank is unheated, so scleromystax is a good addition.

Finally, one piece of news. This tank is officially, I believe 1 year old, as of today. It's B-day present was the new wood and an entry into the Member's Planted tank section. The Scleromystax will be a belated present.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

As promised, a year in Pictures. SH did this a while back with his nano and it was a great retrospective post.

June, 06, high-tech mess with a bad piece of wood that rotted and fouled the tank. Started at 2.8WPG and EI, with CO2 injection.

Low-light conversion with continued CO2 injection. Reduced the lighting to 1.4WPG, no ferts. Jungle madness.

November, 2006, A. reineckii madness

December, 2006, controlling the jungle madness.

Skipped January, here's February 2007, the jungle madness is still uncontrolled.

March and April, letting go of A. reineckii, discovering Bacopa and Rotala. Bolbitis crazy! Experimenting with more light.

Early May, last stand of jungle madness. Increased lighting to 2.1WPG.

Mid-May, going for structure, the scape takes shape. About time, discover that Marsilea hirsuta is very pretty.

June, 2007. Added some new wood, finalized plant choices by removing an overly dominant Bolbitis. We're in the home stretch.

Stay tuned for the final layout photo shoot, with the addition of some new wood...

Thanks for looking.

llj

 

[wei0204]

Nice to see the changes and it is a real lovely tank...

I love the middle part of the latest layout and the choice of fish...

Good job llj...

 

[john starkey]

As promised, a year in Pictures. SH did this a while back with his nano and it was a great retrospective post.

June, 06, high-tech mess with a bad piece of wood that rotted and fouled the tank. Started at 2.8WPG and EI, with CO2 injection.

Low-light conversion with continued CO2 injection. Reduced the lighting to 1.4WPG, no ferts. Jungle madness.

November, 2006, A. reineckii madness

December, 2006, controlling the jungle madness.

Skipped January, here's February 2007, the jungle madness is still uncontrolled.

March and April, letting go of A. reineckii, discovering Bacopa and Rotala. Bolbitis crazy! Experimenting with more light.

Early May, last stand of jungle madness. Increased lighting to 2.1WPG.

Mid-May, going for structure, the scape takes shape. About time, discover that Marsilea hirsuta is very pretty.

June, 2007. Added some new wood, finalized plant choices by removing an overly dominant Bolbitis. We're in the home stretch.

Stay tuned for the final layout photo shoot, with the addition of some new wood...

Thanks for looking.

llj

Hi illj this is just my opinion, i really liked the A.reineckii it made a nice contrast in that corner but it still looks a lovely setup nice work regards john

 

[ICEEGRL]

Your tank always looks great.
I don't like the jungle thing, but you can make even that work. You do amazing things with plants.
I can't wait to see the new pics.

 

[mlawson]

Very cool,

I love to see planted tanks progress through time.

 

[lljdma06]

Hi illj this is just my opinion, i really liked the A.reineckii it made a nice contrast in that corner but it still looks a lovely setup nice work regards john

I liked the A. reineckii too, but it grew a bit fast in this tank, and the rotala, go figure, grows a bit slower. I liked the contrast too, but with the second, larger piece of wood, the A. reineckii would be too much.

Your tank always looks great.
I don't like the jungle thing, but you can make even that work. You do amazing things with plants.
I can't wait to see the new pics.

Thanks, Amanda. IMO, the jungle scape is absolutely necessary in the early stages of a tank's life. There are enough stemplants present to combat algae issues as the tank stabilizes. I only had greenwater and some BBA or something like that in the year this tank's been running, which is quite uneventful. Yes, it is unruly at first, but I think you get a healthier system in the end that you can really play around with later. Notice it's not really a jungle now.

Very cool,
I love to see planted tanks progress through time.

I do too. The worst part of this tank was the greenwater and rotting wood incident, very early in this tank's life. The greenwater just wouldn't go away and the wood had this fungus growing on it. As soon as I replaced the wood and reduced the lighting, the algae and the fungus went away very quickly. It made the ICH outbreak and the BBA look like a walk in the park.

Well, here it goes, some pictures showing the final layout, at least for now. I'm really happy with this. I think with the extra wood, the tank has a certain charm. Trimming has become very simple. It is now a matter of pruning the rotala and bacopa, and keeping watch on the Marsilea to make sure it doesn't overrun the tank. I think it is a nice home for my tetras and cories. Eventually the Scleromystax barbitus pair I'm getting will enjoy it as well, as the tank is unheated, though not particularly cold, it's still quite tropical. Eventually, I may change out the tetra stock for something with more subtle colors. The tetras would go into a planned larger aquarium, and I may replace them with a single micro-rasbora species so I can have a much larger shoal, about 20-25 individuals. But that's a long ways off, as I don't have a larger tank to put the tetras in at this time.

Here are the pictures! Enough of me going on and on!

Thanks for looking and enjoy,

llj

 

[cowban6]

Hi llj,
I hope my tank looks half as good in a year. IMO I like all the different looks but the new look is excellent.
Regards Darren.

 

[rsands]

amazing looking tank! such growth in there. What is your CO2 injection...pressurised or yeast?