The Dennenboom

[ian]

Picked up a bargain at the weekend, bought this 20 litre cube for £12. I have been wondering over the last few days on what to do with it. I have decided on going down the 'dutch' theme, as i have never done this before. It is/was always going to be a challenge in a small tank, but after discussion with llj, we thought it 'may' be do-able. The tank needs to grow so at this present moment in time your not getting the full feel as there are shorter stems hidden at the back, that need to grow out. A journal is the best thing for a tank like this, especially for me as i can go back and see where i went wrong! There is going to be a lot of chopping when things get going.

here goes...

tank - 20ltr cube

lighting - 11 watt arc pod

Filtration - Resun Cyclone external filter

Substrate - Colombo florabase

Ferts - TPN plus daily

C02 - Yeast method

Plants - Ludwigia arcuata, Ludwigia peruviana, Cryptocoryne costata and Hygrophilla rosae Australis.

Livestock - 6x Ember tetras


lets get ready and organised!

doesn't look like that many plants, lots of stems though.

In goes the substrate (i'm quite impressed by this substrate)

Though it clouded muchly! BTW is you buy florabase do not wash it before use.

planting in the dark anyone?

I didn't see the point in photoing black water (planted, but still cloudy)

angles

and clear

Once the stems grow up they will cover the equipment.

comments and suggestions welcome!

 

[Biulu]

Nice! I can already see the parallel lines going from the left front to the right back. And you have gone really Dutch: the name of your scape is Dutch, I guess you know it means pine tree and even your plants come from Dutch nurseries...

 

[ian]

lol, thanks lu, i just hope i can get it going. There is loads of stems in there you cannot see on the photos. I'm even gonna change my name in this thread to Ian von Ho.

 

[MikeyUK47]

That's going to look good Ian, or is it von ho now??? The red stems are going to be a challenge with that 11W of light. Good luck, hope it works out. Looking forward to see how it develops. I'm thinking about doing a 20l tank in the new year so you can experiment with the red stems so I can find out what grows & what doesn't HeHe!!

 

[elisew]

If your other one is anything to go by then I reckon this one is going to look great too!

I look forward to seeing how you get on with it

 

[Biulu]

lol, thanks lu, i just hope i can get it going. There is loads of stems in there you cannot see on the photos. I'm even gonna change my name in this thread to Ian von Ho.

No, that is German! You'd better call yourself Ian van der Ho

 

[Carlovel1]

Im sure it will look excellent after some growing and pruning. It looks promising!

 

[ian]

Thanks lu, hahahaha van der ho!

Lisa, thank you, it's my first time having a crack at Dutch, so we'll see what happens.

Micky, cheers, i have grown red stems in low light before, with plenty of C02, N and P and traces. Admittedly it didn't grow very quick, but it kept it's redness, so hopefully it'll keep it colour.

Thanks Carl.

 

[Biulu]

I have A. reineckii in a low light tank, and it is growing too without losing the colour. Now covered in algae, though...

 

[lljdma06]

Hmmm. Let me have a looksy. You went ahead, huh. The key to Dutch is to create effective groupings of multiple species. You have too few species in this tank for it to really be considered Dutch. The rule is about 3-4 species per foot of tank, but when dealing small, I find that the best rule is 3-4 species per third of the tank, but at least 2-3 species. When doing Dutch with a smaller system, you have to also play a lot with leaf size to create some idea of scale. Can you get R. macrandra? That is a better red choice than A. reineckii, unless you are prepared to do some leaf trainiing.

Small-leaved plants for mini Dutch scapes...

R. macrandra,
R. rotundifolia (pink)
HM
HC
Didiplis diandra
Rotala najasen
R. wallichi
Crypt parva
Marsilea minuta
any of the mosses
A. petit nana
P. helferi would also look great as a foreground contrast in light green.

I would cut grouping sizes to abour 3-4 stems to incorporate more species and play more with varying heights to establish depth. It's compleley doable, it's a just a high-maintenance scape because most stems will grow too fast for such a small space.

Hope I didn't ruin anything. It is a really a good start, and a fun endeavor.

 

[ian]

I will bare all of that in mind. I am going to be chopping the reineckii regularly and see how we go. This is the first scape i have seen really excited about. I can see it in my minds eye, i just hope it turns out with my real eyes, the way i can see it

 

[lljdma06]

If you chop the reineckii regularly, you can get a smaller leaf size. I've done it. Takes patience, but it can be done.

 

[ian]

thats what i'm planning on. Keep it in check and watch it bush out, hopefully it'll look good when it does.

 

[ian]

a couple of interesting photos i have taken today...

the first is just a few minutes after the light comes on.

all the plants are closed up.

this one was taken about 3 hours after the lights come on, as you can see, the plants are out for everything they can get!

 

[alex.wardle]

What a differance a few hours make. Bloddy lovely