# [Wet Thumb Forum]-My planted tank - Updated 08-12-03



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Hey everyone,
First off I have to say thanks to Robert for providing this great forum. I'm still a reletive newbie to all of this, but I keep reading and learning more. I've finally decided to post a picture and get some feedback/advice. It's a 75 gallon with 100% flourite, co2 injection, 260 watts of pc lighting (Although I need to get the correct bulbs, it has 10,000k and actinic's right now.) I know I need to hide the heater and my spraybar. You can't really see it very well but there is hairgrass and glossostigma slowly growing in the middle front area right now. I've been fertilizing on a regular basis and have gotten most of my algae problems under control. What still needs to be done? What do you like? What would you change?

Thanks,
Ron

[This message was edited by rdn2 on Fri May 02 2003 at 04:12 PM.]

[This message was edited by rdn2 on Tue August 12 2003 at 08:13 PM.]


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Hey everyone,
First off I have to say thanks to Robert for providing this great forum. I'm still a reletive newbie to all of this, but I keep reading and learning more. I've finally decided to post a picture and get some feedback/advice. It's a 75 gallon with 100% flourite, co2 injection, 260 watts of pc lighting (Although I need to get the correct bulbs, it has 10,000k and actinic's right now.) I know I need to hide the heater and my spraybar. You can't really see it very well but there is hairgrass and glossostigma slowly growing in the middle front area right now. I've been fertilizing on a regular basis and have gotten most of my algae problems under control. What still needs to be done? What do you like? What would you change?

Thanks,
Ron

[This message was edited by rdn2 on Fri May 02 2003 at 04:12 PM.]

[This message was edited by rdn2 on Tue August 12 2003 at 08:13 PM.]


----------



## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

We're just glad you found us








We firmly beleive in the more, the merrier !!

How old is the tank?
You've got some really nice plants in there. You're right to change the bulbs, I think they're holding the plants and the picture back.

With some 5300-6400k lights I think you'll see growth pick up quite a bit. When that happens try to get some bushy, but well defined groupings of your plants. In the future you may want to add some more variety in terms of color. The LFS usually has green and more green but if you can order or swap for some color I think it would improve your already great start.

*James Hoftiezer

Tank Journal - Aquascape ( Latest / Archive )
Tank Journal - Parts and Construction ( Latest / Archive )*


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

The tank is about 3 months old now. I've been thinking about adding more color. Although I don't know where I'd put it in the current arrangement, I think a red tiger lotus would be a great addition.

Ron


----------



## Ploppy (Feb 2, 2003)

Nice looking plants. I would agree with James that the tank could do with some variety in colour. Alternanthera Reineckii should be easy to get and looks great. Some stepping in hight of the plants might also be useful as the tank looks very narrow in the photo.


----------



## kherman (Apr 7, 2003)

Some more color is needed as already mentioned. A medium sized red plant in the back left corner of the grassy area (the glasso section) could be added. The red tiger lotus as previously mentioned should fit the bill just right. That and the redish rocks on the right sie should be plent of red. You might actually want a tall redish plant in the back too.

I'm considering a rocky section in my next tank and thoguht red ould never work. Those rocks work VERY nicely in the tank, IMHO. It's a good grouping!

Also work on adding some more medium sized plants in the middle. The right side is actually OK right now. I'd work on the center and center/left sections in trying to add some medium sized plants. A piece of driftwood with riccia tied to it might also work.

I'm a newbie, so take what I say with some thought of your own. You have a very nice tank right now and I'm sure over time you'll do nicely and enjoy yourself in playing with the tank









 MY Web Page - go there and see my future fish section to see what I have planned for my next 100+ gallon tank.


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

I found a great deal on 4 6400k daylight power compact bulbs that I will swap with the 10000k's and the actinic's as soon as they get here. I hope that these will work better. And I'll be looking for some colorful plants to try and balance things out a bit. Thanks for the recommendations everyone.


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Well my new bulbs finally got here. Wow what a difference removing those actinic's made. I don't see to much difference between the 10000k's and the 6400k's but I swapped them anyhow. I'll post a updated picture as soon as I do a little cleaning and re-arranging. Oh and if anyone happens to need a pair of pc 65w 10000k or actinic's email me.


----------



## Birgit & Wolfgang (Feb 5, 2003)

Hi, rd!
I donÂ´t think the picture does your tank justice. What about taking a pic from the front (90Â°), without using flash. If the pictures get blurry, just use a tripod, or table, or anything else. I think your lightning should be sufficient to get good pics out of it.

www.naturaquarium.at
view some of our pictures


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

I've been working on the whole photography side of this. I got what I think is a pretty good camera, a Fuji Finepix 3800 - 3.2 Megapixel but I don't have a wide angle lens or anything like that for it. I have been able to get some good pictures of the tank without the flash, but it never fails one of the fish (usually a rainbow) decides to take off right when I snap the picture so I get blur from that. That's why so far I've been using a flash. But I do agree that it probably is messing with the presentation. I guess I just need to try and find the right settings for the camera without the flash and take a whole lot of pictures one after another. Hopefully the fish will sit still in one.


----------



## Birgit & Wolfgang (Feb 5, 2003)

that is how I do it too.
I dunno how you can do it with the finepix, but at best you reduce the f value (Aperture) to a minimum (if there is a Aperture priority mode). This gives you the fastest shutter speeds and less blur. There is also a programm setting "sport". This should give you the best results, if you canÂ´t set the aperture manually.

www.naturaquarium.at
view some of our pictures


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

OK here is a new picture with no flash. I think it's a bit better. I couldn't help myself on the right side I had that big piece of wood layed over in the last picture and decided I wanted to show it off more. Did I mess the whole thing up? I don't think so, but what do you all think? Also i know that the purple waffle in the middle left is not a true aquatic (Although I didn't know that when I bought it) but I'll leave it until it starts to fall apart. I think I still need to work on the background plants a lot. I think I'm making some progress though.


----------



## Guest (Apr 30, 2003)

rdn2,

Very nice job. I'm starting to like those JBJ light setups.

Can you resize both of your pictures. I'm running 1024 resolution at work and pictures still don't fit on the screen without scrolling.

Thanks you

Join as at www.njas.net


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Sorry about that Dr. Jay. I resized both of them. I run very high resolutions here so I never think about just how big that little picture is for others.







I really do like my JBJ setup. Now that I've got the right bulbs in it all seems to be well. Anyone considering the JBJ formosa out there I would highly recommend getting the flip top legs for it also. They are only $25 and I feel they are well worth it.


----------



## tsunami06 (Feb 6, 2003)

By the way...


I see a Hemigraphis sp. ("purple waffle")
in the left hand side of your aquascape.
It's more of a terrarium plant and will not
grow under water.

Carlos


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

When I bought the purple waffle at the LFS I didn't know that it wasn't a true aquatic. When I got home and read about it I learned that it wouldn't grow in there. I'm going to leave it for now and when it goes to heck toss it. In the future I'll try and more closely watch what sort of plants I get from the LFS...


----------



## António Vitor1 (Feb 2, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by rdn2:
> I've been working on the whole photography side of this. I got what I think is a pretty good camera, a Fuji Finepix 3800 - 3.2 Megapixel but I don't have a wide angle lens or anything like that for it. I have been able to get some good pictures of the tank without the flash, but it never fails one of the fish (usually a rainbow) decides to take off right when I snap the picture so I get blur from that. That's why so far I've been using a flash. But I do agree that it probably is messing with the presentation. I guess I just need to try and find the right settings for the camera without the flash and take a whole lot of pictures one after another. Hopefully the fish will sit still in one.


if this fujifilm 3800 is the same as my fujifilm S304, and I think it's (fujifilm decided to use different names in europe).

then do this...

for close-ups:
-put camera in manual mode (on the mode dial...see your camara manual, I am using the same names)
-put the camera (power switch) on photography mode
-press the menu/ok button...go to the A.priority (A for apperture), put the apperture in F2.8 (like Birgit/wolfgang said)

this way it's possible for the camera to take faster shutter speeds (less blur) without "darkening" the picture.

I also change the EV (exposure compensation) negative values will induce a quicker Shutter speed (great if you have lots of light), higher EV values will reduce shutter speeds, and brightening the photo with it.

take notice:
with small aperture (f2.8) it's more difficult to put the object in focus...

I usually use the AF/AE lock (holding your shutter button halfway) I point to something at the same distance of the fish (a plant), if it's bright then the camera will increase the shutter speed, if it's dark then it will decrease the shutter speed, you can actually see the shutter speed on the lcd when in manual mode 1/45, 1/1500,etc...(EV compensation have great effect on this)

what this means?
1/45 seconds shutter speed
1/1500 seconds shutter speed

after this you can take the picture of the fish (never releasing the finger from the AE/AF lock), to take the picture when you think the fish is in focus (at the same distance of the previous object it will be in focus), you will move the camera for this...

if the fish is big (like a discus) then you can point and shoot (no need for te AE/AF lock), there is enough fish surface for the camera to focus...









the results will most likely be awfull... try again and again...

sometimes I take 25 pictures before I can get one great photo...

If the picture is in focus but very dark then you can take the photo to any image editing software and increase/decrease brightness,contrast,saturation etc...

one more thing use the second from the above white balance setting (only in manual mode), bellow the incandescent light, this is appropriate for your lamps colour.

you must try to provide suitable settings on your camera for your lights, these have great effect on the final result, I have 2 suns pointing to my aquarium (2 metal halide lamps), so I am able to take good faster shutter speeds photos (less blur).

Don't forget to put your camera in macro mode (macro button, the same that you use to navigate in the menu)

one example:
(taken with my fujifilm, without any lenses)

rummy-nose










as you can see there is a little "noise"... well that is because this photo was taken with "low" light, and with a higher shutter speed.
I increased the brightness with paint shop pro and this was the result.

Regards!
AntÃ³nio Vitor


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Thanks for the pointers Antonio! OK here is a picture taken with all of the settings like you said.


----------



## António Vitor1 (Feb 2, 2003)

those settings that I said to you, are better for close-ups...


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Well those settings seem to have been the best I've gotten for whole tank shots so far. I'll keep playing with it. But I'm happier now.


----------



## Birgit & Wolfgang (Feb 5, 2003)

Wow, what a progress in so little time! Now I can say: I like your tank!

About your background problem: try to make plant groups with different heights and plant the stems more dense!

Also: your free area in the front is exactly in the middle. Try to get it more to the left/right with using some little plantlets from the neighbouring groups (IÂ´d vote for one or two of those crypts to the right - that will bring it more to the left).

www.naturaquarium.at
view some of our pictures


----------



## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Birgit is back! Yippie!









Robert
King admin
www.aquabotanic.com


----------



## Birgit & Wolfgang (Feb 5, 2003)

Now what a warm welcome







,
thanks Robert. I hope I can stay more again on these amazing boards.

www.naturaquarium.at
view some of our pictures


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

It's been a while since I posted a picture so I thought I would let everyone see what I've been up to. Things are a mess in some ways but I'm finally starting to figure out how I want it to look. And the tank is getting more mature. I got rid of my cabomba, ambulia and a couple others. Then added the Red Tiger Lotus. I got some clippings of Mermaid weed so I'm toying with that. And also a couple small stems of e. stellata... I'm still trying to get what I think is Ammania gracilis to grow right (I've been talking about that in the Plant database forum.) Let me know what you think.

Ron


----------



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

I like that a lot! Your little changes over time have really adjusted the balance for the better. In particular I think the placement of the lotus is right on and helps create a sense of depth that the thick planting in the left and right sides only accents.

Your planting groups are great, I'd just let it sit and enjoy tinkering with growing your plants. Larger groups/bunches tend to look better. Trimmiing the tops of your stemplants and replanting them to increase the size of your bunches will create a more dramatic effect.

A little tip: Glosso and Hairgrass don't mix well. Over time one of those is going to take over the bunch. I highly recommend planting them in separate groups.


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Phil - Thanks for the feedback. I'm not positive but right now it looks like it will be the glosso that takes over. I've been thinking about pulling the hairgrass and moving it to another tank. I planted them that way back when I first started and didn't know any better. Oh well.

Ron


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

OK I'm about ready to scream over how tedious it was, but I've got the hairgrass out of the glosso, or at least most of it. I'll keep pulling it when I see it pop up. I ended up pulling most of the glosso in the area to get it out and then replanting the glosso. So now I'll have to let the glosso fill back in but it looks better already I think...
Ron


----------



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Just wait until you have to take it up, thin it out, and replant them.


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

Well it's been a while again so I thought I'd post another pic for all to see how things have been going. I think it's maturing nicely. The hygro and glosso both need a trim though. Let me know what you think of it.

Ron


----------



## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

I like how its progressing. You'll fing the hygro always needs trimming. No way around that. If you want to cut the glosso back from glass, I suggest running a razor blade down it first about an inch back from the glass cutting deep enough to get the runners. Then you can just pull it up and replant it somewhere else as needed.

How have your color stems been coming along?
(i.e - Mermaid weed,e.stellata,Ammania gracilis)

*James Hoftiezer
Hoftiezer.Net - Journals and Libraries
Tank Journal - Aquascape ( Latest / Archive )
Tank Journal - Parts and Construction ( Latest / Archive )*


----------



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Very pretty!


----------



## kherman (Apr 7, 2003)

The tank is coming along very nicely










------------------------------
Karl's Parts And Construction Journal


----------



## Ron Nelson (Apr 2, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by JamesHoftiezer:
> 
> ...


Not too well...







My e. stellata I think got chewed on by a pleco that is no longer around. My mermaid weed is on the far left along the side glass and it grows ok but is staying pretty green. And my Ammania is on the far right just in front of the frill looking stuff and only recently started getting new sprouts that aren't all deformed, and has yet to turn any color but green.







I keep trying though.

Thanks for the pointer on trimming glosso I know that'll come in handy...

Ron


----------

