Llj's 8g Nano Nightmare!

[Squirrelbuddies]

So, after a day of pondering, what have you decided?! You mentioned the ease of your other tanks....was this one a lot more work? It certainly was a beauty. I bet whatever you decide, it will look great!

 

[lljdma06]

So, after a day of pondering, what have you decided?! You mentioned the ease of your other tanks....was this one a lot more work? It certainly was a beauty. I bet whatever you decide, it will look great!

You should have seen me Yesterday! Grabbed a piece of wood from my 20g and decided that it was too big for the 8g. So out comes the saw and I cut the piece in half.

I just had to contantly prune, especially the Hemianthus. It was very dense and branchy at this point, as were most of my other stemplants, and I couldn't vacumn the gravel well anymore. I like keeping my gravel clean and I was getting a build-up of mulm that wasn't pretty to look at. My other tanks are just much easier to clean and I'm in the middle of dissertation research and learning several opera roles, so I don't have much time for extensive pruning.

I have a new layout, but I'm undecided as to whether or not I like it. I like the addition of the wood and the tank has quite a bit more empty gravel space, but as it's not a Dutch layout anymore, I don't like so many plant species, which I have quite a bit of. What I would really like is to ditch all the stemplants except for the rotala and fill out the empty spaces with E. tenellus, but I need to get 1-2 more E. tenellus pots, which I don't have. I'm not going to order online for just two potted plants. I can also rob from my 2.5g, which I may do if I come up short of E. tenellus this weekend. If I can plant more, the tank will be completely opposite from the Dutch layout in its simplicity. I'll go from like 6-8 plant species down to just three.

The tank may go back to a Dutch layout once the degree is actually finished. I really like Dutch layouts and I thought mine worked well, but at this point, the less species to worry about, the better.

llj

 

[K.J.]

Would love to see pictures. Where did you get the tank?

 

[Danno]

That tank is...amazing...I don't even have words for it....just amazing
(goes and saves pictures from thread for ideas for the future)

 

[Castellop123]

Excellent tank!

 

[john starkey]

Hi Lij what can i say to add anything to what has already been said, stunning absolutley stunning, you must have been so pleased with the results of your hard work good job cant wait to see your future projects, regards john

 

[lljdma06]

Would love to see pictures. Where did you get the tank?

I purchased the tank on eBay. If you do a search for "Finnex aquarium", you should get a hit, unless the seller isn't selling anymore. It cost about $95 including shipping and came with a filter, light fixture, and heater. A pretty good investment.

Here are pictures of the new layout. The plan is to remove the Bacopa and the A. reineckii once the E. tenellus settles in or once I find another pot or two of E. tenellus. I wanted a few more stemplants in there since I did remove a lot of plant mass. There are no immediate plans to attach anything to the wood, and I am toying with the idea of another piece on the other side. It needs to grow in a bit too, but I think I've got the start of a nice, lower-maintenance scape. Eventually, I'll be at the point where I'm just trimming rotala. I can also get a vacumn in there once in a while, especially if I leave bare patches of substrate, which is the plan. It isn't as fancy as the old Dutch layout, but I think it's a bit more practical. The platies really don't care. It is also a better layout for the pygmy corydoras I still am hankering for.

Thanks for looking,

llj

 

[R1ch13]

Looks great!

The colours of the fish go well with the scape.

You should be proud

Richie

 

[lljdma06]

Looks great!

The colours of the fish go well with the scape.

You should be proud

Richie

Thanks Richie. The more I think about it the more I'm actually going to keep the Bacopa. I recently discovered that it has very pretty purple flowers that appear when the plant is allowed to reach the surface. Since this tank is an open-top, it would be nice to encourage that type of growth. I'll probably replace the A. reineckii with another small sword, possibly one that flowers above the surface as well.

Anyone have suggestions?

llj

 

[lljdma06]

This tank has become a receptacle (sp) for cuttings of Bacopa and Rotala, which is not a bad thing, especially if I can put the extra plants to good use.

 

[Biulu]

I like it! I wouldn't add another piece of wood; this one is very nice, and deserves full attention.

 

[lljdma06]

I like it! I wouldn't add another piece of wood; this one is very nice, and deserves full attention.

Thanks Biulu! It's been awhile since I've looked at this thread. The wood is steadily being covered by moss that I didn't plant. I actually scraped that wood with a firm toothbrush before putting it in. Moss is pretty tough. The tank has filled in a lot and the A. reineckii was removed. Some bacopa is growing above the surface and the rotala is a lovely color. The E. tenellus has filled in without being too invasive. This tank is much easier to maintain than the Dutch scape and I've reduced the water changes to 1x a week. No algae. I'll do a top-off today and try to post a picture or two in the weekend.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Here are the pictures as promised. The only real concern with this tank is evaporation. I really should be doing a top-off once a week in addition to the weekly water changes, but I was super busy with a production of Rigoletto that I was in. I played Maddelena, the local trollop. As a result, the water level is kind of low now, but the pictures were taken earlier.

Cheers,

llj

 

[john starkey]

Here are the pictures as promised. The only real concern with this tank is evaporation. I really should be doing a top-off once a week in addition to the weekly water changes, but I was super busy with a production of Rigoletto that I was in. I played Maddelena, the local trollop. As a result, the water level is kind of low now, but the pictures were taken earlier.

Cheers,

llj

hi lljdma06, tank looks great looks like this trollop knows how to keep planted tanks, ,regards john.

 

[Dave Spencer]

I played Maddelena, the local trollop.
llj

I couldn`t imagine there being a greater trollop than your good self, llj. If you don`t want to be typecasted, you could always try for a strumpet or a harlot in your next production.

Unpromiscuous Dave.