# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Ben C's New Setup



## Ben C (Apr 16, 2006)

13 gallons
2.7wpg (10hrs day-1)
substrate is ADA Aquarium Soil
pressurised CO2
DIY reactor (small CO2 reactor - originally by hawkeye)
Ferts - EI method (ish)

Ok, this is my first serious attempt at an aquascape. 
The foreground (waiting to fill in) consists of riccia (in the metal mats), glosso, hemianthus callitrichoides and hairgrass. where the branches meet in the center, is a small hydrocotyle v.

the midground (left, under wood) is an ozelot sword and a coffeefolia on the right.

the background on the left is vals, with a nuphar aquaticum (spatterdock) in the centre. On the right at the back is mayaca and in the very corner, r. wallichii.

On the wood on the left is a large anubias nana. Just behind it is a nymphoides aquatica (banana plant) which should provide a little shade to the nana. and on the wood to the left is a anubias nana "marble".

I'm hoping the spatterdock will fill in the background as a nice centerpiece, and the vals, mayaca and wallichii will fill in the rest, and add a little colour. Of course, i have high hopes for the foreground!! the ozelot i'm hoping will grow to fill the area under the wood on the left.

inhabitants are:
7 neons
2 angels
2 SAEs
2 Ottos
5 Yamato numa ebi

Any comments/advice are greatly appreciated. i'm hoping to grow this in for the AB contest this year. Its going good already, despite being only 4 days old!! the colour in the wallichii is coming out and both it and the mayaca are growing nicely. Glosso is already putting out runners and the nuphar and ozelot are putting out new leaves.

let me know what you think!! i apologise for the poor quality picture.. it looks much nicer in the flesh!


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

Hey Ben - cool looking driftwood. With the height of it, you'll likely even be able to see it when the plants grow in







.

I'm no expert in scaping, but it seems like the foreground plants will have intermingled species and opposed to "groupings". Is that gonna work out? I'll have to think on that one.

It'll be fun to watch this one develop!
Brian.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

i'm not 100% sure i like the placement of the driftwood, but only time will tell how it will look. i am not good at seeing the finished product in people's tank before the plants fill in.


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## Kyle V (May 8, 2005)

It looks like it's going to be great. I just don't like the upside down V piece of wood in the front, right side of the tank. Actually, maybe it's just too many pieces of wood. Sort of looks like a reptile aquarium...They say you should never have more than two focal points in a tank.


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## Pete City (Sep 18, 2004)

Cool Ben,
You are taking some chances with the driftwood, it may work, only time and growth will tell.
You have an interesting foregroung selection also, I see a couple of things that may happen, and I could be wrong but I will voice them to you,
I think your glosso will run over your callitrichoides and basically snuff it out, 
The Ozelot sword is going to get big, so big that it may shade your foreground and cause problems.
Your placement of the Mayaca is great, I'm actually contemplating placing mine in the same right corner.
Just a note, I'm a beginner like you so everything I just said may be hogwash, so take it for what it's worth.
But it will be fun to watch this one, so post as often as you can.
Question, what are "Yamato numa ebi"
Pete


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

ben, overall i think it will look great. i hope you know i am just trying to help you be better.


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## imported_chrismisc (Jul 25, 2004)

Hi Pete,
Not to butt in, but 'yamato numa ebi' is an Amano-ism-- Japanese for the type of algae eating marsh shrimp popularized by Takashi Amano and his Nature Aquariums. I've also seen them just called Amano shrimp, japonica shrimp (after their scientific name 'caridina japonica'), or algae shrimp. It's fun to ask at the LFS for Amano shrimp-- you either get a confused look or an "Ah-ha!" that lets you know you're talking to someone knowledgable.


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## Ben C (Apr 16, 2006)

Hey

thanks for the replies! A nice controversial setup for a change!! I know what you mean about the placement of the wood. I'm hoping that the nuphar (spatterdock, back center) will grow in to fill the void that currently exists as the "V" between the wood. I am also aware of the potential size of the ozelot, but am going to prune it to the youngest leaves only. Hopefully, but this is the first time i've had an ozelot, i'll be able to keep it medium sized. If it doesn't work, i'll swap it for something else. 
As for the foreground, yes, i am still waiting to see who wins the battle - hemianthus or glosso. Both are growing well, even if this glosso is looking a little tall right now. I may scrap the glosso and go for ricca and hemianthus only. 

What else? Ah yes, the wood itself. I'm hoping to cover more of it in small anubias, thus breaking up the shape of it a little. 

As for focal points, i really hope that the nuphar is going to provide this. I also really want a soft-looking mixed foreground. I like the glosso/riccia mixed foregrounds Amano does occasionally. I just wanted to try hemianthus ASWELL!! 

thanks for all the replies. I'm looking forward to seeing it develop too! i CAN picture a final look, and its good! but whether i can pull it off or not, is an ENTIRELY different matter!

Russel.. i know!! no worries man. 

Thanks for ALL the comments

WTS!

BEN


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## Louie Sangiorgio (Apr 28, 2005)

> Originally posted by chrismisc:
> Hi Pete,
> Not to butt in, but 'yamato numa ebi' is an Amano-ism-- Japanese for the type of algae eating marsh shrimp popularized by Takashi Amano and his Nature Aquariums. I've also seen them just called Amano shrimp, japonica shrimp (after their scientific name 'caridina japonica'), or algae shrimp. It's fun to ask at the LFS for Amano shrimp-- you either get a confused look or an "Ah-ha!" that lets you know you're talking to someone knowledgable.


 How do you like the amano shrimps? I had 4 and found them no better than regular inexpensive ghost feeder shrimps.
They looked nice and harmless towards the fish but they died after a few months when I made the mistake of using Phosphate sorb by Seachem.
Tho I rinsed it very very well the next day all my shrimps,inverts dead.


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## Ben C (Apr 16, 2006)

Hey, 

I like my Amano's. Over here, they're the cheapest shrimp.. i guess they should be, seeing as they live wild here!! They're definitely busy little workers. I'm surprised that i still have all 5, two months later. 
haven't had any other shrimps, but would recommend these guys to anyone.


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## Louie Sangiorgio (Apr 28, 2005)

How do you compare them to ghost shrimps? I didnt see a difference found both ate algae at same rate. Couldnt say one better than another.
They are expensive in my area while ghost shrimps are sold as feeder shrimps for like 10 for $1.


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## dan lipscomb (Feb 16, 2005)

Please post as it grows.

I think its a great idea to try something new. I'm in the process of building a similerly styled tank with a large piece of grapevine, so good luck.

FYI IMHO, the anubias may burn at the extreme heights of your aquarium such as the upper placement on the far left and right these may do better placed under the wood to shade them more adequately but on that I'm not an expert.

My main concern is your stocking problems. First, angel needs about 5-10 gallons each, the neons 1/2 to 1 the sae's 3-6 the amano's 1/2 to 1 the otto's 1-2. *Super* conservatively, that's 24 gallons worth of fish. Seriously a happier and less stressfull tank would be 48 gallons after your fish have grown some. This will be a trying problem with your water conditions eventually, after the plants have finished using nitrates as their limiting nutrients. Secondly and *MOST* importantly you've got incompatible fish/inverts. Angels HUNT neons. They ARE their natural PREY. An angel will also eat an amano shrimp. Lastly SAE will grow more tempermental and large as the grow older and shouldn't be kept together. I've had these same kinds of set-ups in the past, with angels and tetras, and the only way to avoid the problems with mixing them is to keep them in a large tank with larger type tetras like cardinals or rummy noses and growing the angels in tank from dime or smaller size. But no matter what, the shrimp/angel and the two SAE's are a bad mix long term.

Sorry if this sounds down cause I think you've got a great start to a beautifully planted nano
tank and like I said I too have tied puting all may favorites into one small tank ie: Tetras angels and shrimp oh my!


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## Pete City (Sep 18, 2004)

Hey Ben,
What's happening with the tank? You posted over a month ago, how about an update!


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