# Jones' 20g long journal



## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Well here's a little background on this tank. It was originally set up in the beginning of June '06. It started out fine, but in early July, the tank sprung a leak and had to be taken down. It was restarted in mid-August when I purchased a new 20g long tank. Here is a little bit of a picture progression:

This is what the tank looked like shortly after I set it up. It had 30w of lighting over it, with DIY Co2 run through a DIY Co2 bell that worked "so-so." It has an aquaclear 50 filter which does a more than efficient job. Plants were java moss atatched to the rocks, and blyxa japonica.










This is about the 20th of June, 2006. I upgraded the lighting to a Coralife freshwater 65w 6700k fixture. Added some kind of rotala to the tank, along with some dwarf lilly bulbs that never sprouted. This was not long before the tank was taken down, relating to the leak it sprung.










This picture was taken on 9/4/06. This is how the tank is today. Substrate is 2 bags of eco-complete. I currently am running DIY Co2 diffused with a rhinox 1000 diffuser, which does an excellent job of creating extra small bubbles. Filter is still Aquaclear 50, but there is a sponge over the intake, as I found a rummynose tetra and an oto stuck in the filter uptake. Plants consist of java moss, dwarf hairgrass, some type of rotala (back left), cabomba carolina, 2x rosetti swords, and some type of "star burst" plant or something. I really need help id'ing that one (can't see due to cabomba overgrowth). I really need to get to AOA(local aquarium store) so that I can buy some blyxa japonica to plant in between and behind the rocks. I am also hoping that my dwarf hairgrass carpets nicely. I am going to trim it to about 2-3cm in hopes that it spreads out better.










Please let me know what you all think! Thanks! -Brad


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

The rocks you used look fantastic. They just seem to "fit" the tank. 

Your second picture, to me, is the best looking. The moss on the rocks was nicely grown and the contrast was pleasing. Obvious you know what you are doing with that kind of growth.

The third picture, maybe it is your lighting or camera settings, looks a bit odd. The plants are placed nicely but look more white than green. Again, probably the picture. 

Keep up the good work. Looks really nice and will continue to do so.

Edit: Nevermind. I just noticed you were trying to ID the same plant as I was. Ooops.


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## DJKronik57 (Apr 17, 2006)

I agree with Burks, the combination of the java moss on the rocks and the blyxa and the sand all seem to work very well. By the way, how did you get your java moss to cover the rocks so closely? Most moss will try to grow up off the rock. It just looks so "carpeted" on the rock, it looks like a green mountain. Very pretty. It's a shame they aren't such a centerpiece in your new layout. Your pictures have inspired me and given me some new ideas! *runs to the store to buy some cheap lava rock*


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## Quantronghoang (Jan 31, 2006)

uhmm...
what's the matter with your hairgrass?..they look not so well with those yellow leaves :-?
I like the 2nd tank:"P


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Thanks for the comments everyone!
I think that the lighting in the third picture is off because of the camera I took the picture with. The first two pictures were taken with a much better digital. As for the dwarf hairgrass, this was freshly planted, and I think that it was grown emersed, because each blade of grass had those little seeds on top of them. I recently trimmed it all down to about 2cm, so that it spreads out better. I plan on doing a major trimming on saturday, because the cabomba is growing taller than the star burst plant behind it, and I'm going to switch their places in the tank.

The way that I got it to spread was to start it out very thin on each rock. I'm talking about spreading the moss in individual strands in a criss cross pattern so that you can still see a LOT of the rock underneath. It will grow out sideways, and upways, and everywhich ways. This is the method I used this time as well, so hopefully it will spread out as well as it did last time.

The rocks aren't as much of a centerpiece because I am currently working on a Malawi-type tank which will be all rocks and no plants (well maybe a few), which will house peacock gudgeons. Also the rocks that were in the 2nd picture were rehomed in my girlfriend's tank, and she loves them and won't give them back, even though I have a new tank now! haha


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

Nice moss rocks! If you can come to the next meeting there probably will be some other types of moss available that you can try as well.


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## DJKronik57 (Apr 17, 2006)

Just a quick question, what substrate did you use in your first aquascape? Is it sand? I just thought most rooted plants, like Rotala, wouldn't do well in sand alone.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

The first aquascape is sand mixed with a bag of flourite. It's about 1/2 and 1/2. The plants seemed to like this combo, but I decided to try eco-complete this time to change things up a bit.

Oh, and hooha, I would love to come to the next meeting, but I can't make any promises. Where is it going to be? I was just at AOA today and picked up some blyxa.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Jun 3, 2005)

The meetings have been over at AOA, except when we go over one of the members houses, or in Efren's case, his office 

Tank looks good! It will come around soon. Once it settles in, things will get better and better. Those lava rocks do look neat!
you should try to make it over to the meeting though, if ya can


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Alright, well today the tank went through about a 1/2 of a rescape. First I went down to All Oddball Aquatics and I bought some blyxa. This is what I had to work with when I got home:










This is a picture of the tank before I trimmed and reworked the right side of the aquascape. The cabomba was growing like crazy and you couldn't see the tropica sunset plant behind it:










This is a picture of what the tank looked like after I removed the plants from the right side of the tank:










And after I replanted the cabomba, tropica, and also the new blyxa.










I think that this new layout works better and it will be much nicer once the cabomba and the tropica fill in better. You can also see that I trimmed the dwarf hairgrass in the front. Some of the rocks were moved foreward a little, and I think I like them, but right after I was done rescaping, the lights turned out and don't turn on again for another 40 minutes! So I didn't really have time to look at it a lot, but please, please let me know what you think about this setup! Thanks! -Brad


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## DiPpY eGgS (Jun 3, 2005)

looks a lot better! I was going to offer you the japonica and hairgrass that I have leftover, but I guess you don't need it!


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Thanks! I think that it improved it a lot too. Oh and by the way, I'm always open to leftovers, they will fill in a lot if you have some to spare!


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## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

Yea I love the rocks a lot as well. Why not bring them more forward? They are great showpieces imo.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Well last night I painted the background of my tank black with acrylic paint. It wasn't that hard to do since the tank already sits about 8-10 inches from the wall. The plants are all starting to grow in very nicely (the cabomba actually needs trimmed again) and the dwarf hairgrass is definetly starting to spread, as there are visible runners at the front and side of the tank that were not there when I first planted the grass. I added 5 (of about 22) bulbs that sea-life sent me as a replacement for the few I sent them back. There are 3 dwarf lilly bulbs and 2 aponogeton bulbs sitting in the open space of the front of the tank. I just put an order into Greg Watson for some ferts, so soon I will be dosing Ei  . Please let me know what you think. Thanks! -Brad










Edit: Again, sorry about the pic looking so white. I'm back to using my 2mp crappy digital. The last set of pics was taken with the gf's camera...

2nd edit: I also added another 15w strip light to the front of the tank. I attribute a lot of the growth to the additional light.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Update: I have recently been struggling with some fuzz algae due to (what I believe) is an insufficient supply of Co2. I am dosing greg watson ferts in the EI method, but I need to retest for levels again. For the last 3 days I've left the lights off in the tank, and I'm going to do this for the next few days. The algae really doesn't like this and is receding greatly. I have also planted some more E. acicularis, and I hope to have a lush carpet very soon. The rosetti swords are starting to take over the tank and will soon be for sale or trade for blyxa japonica. The rotala rotundifola will also be for sale or trade, along with the cabomba carolina and the hygrophilla plysperma (the plant I was told was called tropica sunset plant). The only thing I'm looking for trade is Blyxa Japonica. I think I want to make the rocks a centerpiece because everyone seems to like them so much. Plus the moss is growing EXACTLY how I wanted it to on these rocks. They are actually going to need a trim soon.

This is a pic taken right after a water change today. Sorry about the glare on the left side, it's hard to see the rotala and blyxa because of it. But please let me know what you think! Thanks! -Brad










PS: Oh and about the bulbs I had in there. I started up my other 20g tall tank and I just threw all of the bulbs I had in there. There are currently at least 10-15 aponogetons and 2-3 dwarf lillys growing in it. These will also be for sale or trade for blyxa if anyone is interested.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

any thoughts?


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## Urkevitz (Oct 26, 2004)

I like the larger rotala bush in the first photo, and the rocks look great in the second photo. 

A different foreground plant might look better, the hairgrass doesn't photograph well. A plant that doesn't hide the rocks as much might be better.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Thanks for the comments! In all honesty the hairgrass doesn't really hide the rocks. It actually gives it a really nice "rocks 'growing' out of the grass" feel. I think that when the background is just blyxa, it will feel a lot more natural.


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

Maybe it's due to personal reference, i like the newest tank better. It has more focus. And since the plants have grown in, they look a lot healthier. The moss growing as a border between the foreground and background plants is fantastic. It serves as a very good midground in this scape.

I also kinda like the fact that the rotala is thinned out cos it gives a sense of space. However, it might be a good idea to replace the Sunset Hygrophila on the right with more of the same kind of rotala to give even more focus on the Hygrophila corymbosa in the middle and maybe a little thought on adding something to make the golden ratio more obvious :-({|=


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## DJKronik57 (Apr 17, 2006)

You may also want to try to aggressively trim your Hygrophila Sunset so it forms a "bush." Just keep trimming it back every week (depending on how fast it grows) for about 4 or 5 weeks and it should start to grow much more compactly in a tight group, forming a very pretty bush. This will alleviate the long, stalky look it has now.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

The sunset hygro is actually gone to a better home now. I'm trying to get rid of all of the background plants (see: for sale section), in order to plant all blyxa in the background. I like the idea of a minimalist tank with just a few types of plants, but still high-tech. I think the blyxa will look much better since the tank is only 12" tall, and it won't outgrow the tank as much as these other plants do!


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

I like the growth over the last few weeks. I'd like to see the minimalist approach you have in mind - lately I've been finding tanks with few species more appealing, but I can't seem to get over my collectoritis to do one myself  I like the stand of rotala though, I think you should have maybe just one stand of stem plants in a bush on one side in your layout. The sword doesn't fit in with the size of the tank or the feel in my opinion. Hope you can make it to the next meeting! I don't have Blyxa available to bring to the meeting, but if you post in the club forum what you're looking for someone may be able to help you out.


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## GreenMachine (Aug 18, 2006)

nice...........


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Thanks for the replies folks! This tank has very recently (over the weekend) undergone some major changes. The rocks and hairgrass are the only things left in the tank from the last picture. I took the other plants out and traded some for blyxa and cherry shrimp, the rest i'll bring to the next meeting for the auction. One person was even kind enough to send me blyxa as a raok (thanks again!). The entire background is blyxa japonica now. I'm waiting for one more package of it to plant, then I'll take pictures of what it looks like now.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Alright time for an update picture. The tank has undergone a major rescape. The rocks are in the same place, and the moss is growing great on them! The hairgrass isn't spreading as well as I had hoped it would. I'm dosing EI for the 20-40 gallon tank. Blyxa is growing good, and has red hues to it, so I'm happy about that. The thing that's floating is 4 Echinodorus parviflorus sprouts (PM me if you want them, I'll let them go pretty cheap...). I've also been very busy putting up the new BEAUTIFUL stand that my dad built me for my 20 high tank. I'll put a picture of the stand and the 20 high after the pic of the 20 long. Well here ya go, please let me know what you think of all 3! Thanks! -Brad










Here's the new stand and the tank that sits on it:


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

I like the stand, your dad did a good job. What is your plan with the 20gallon high? cichlid tank?


My concern with the 20 gallon long is that once the hairgrass grows in you have 3 plants in the tank that all go to the same height. Still want to see how it grows in though!


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## ringram (Jan 10, 2005)

It looks very healthy and nice stand too 

i see what hooha is saying about plant height. You may consider elatine trianda or HC as the foreground instead of the hairgrass. Of course, its your decision, but that's what I would do  
Nice work!
Also, what kind of moss is on the rocks? xmas?


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Thanks for the comments on the stand! It really is a lot nicer in person. The 20 high will probably either be an apisto tank or a krib tank, not sure yet. As far as the hairgrass, I'm probably going to let it carpet, then I'll take it out and replace it with either glosso or hc, not sure which one yet, but probably hc.


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## DJKronik57 (Apr 17, 2006)

I love the new scape. It works very well with the short height of the 20 long. I also had a 20 long that I tried with stem plants for a while, but it just doesn't work since they can't grow to an attractive height, so it's now an iwagumi with just HC. It makes it look much larger.

As for the height issues of the plants, I'm pretty sure the blyxa will grow taller than the hairgrass. I have both in my tank now and the hairgrass is only 2 or 3 inches tall while the blyxa japonica is a good 6 inches tall. I've also had issues with my hairgrass not spreading as much as i'd like. For me, the new shoots tend to uproot themselves or grow out of the substrate.

Just be patient and keep up on dosing and if the hairgrass still doesn't fill in, then maybe rip it up, consolidate it to one area, and try something else. E. tenellus would look interesting too (to go along with the grassy theme). Keep us updated!


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Thanks! I'm really liking this new layout too. I tried to go for something that would make my tank look bigger, and this setup definetly does. I'm going to try and get a better camera to take some good pictures with (ones with depth). The thing with the hairgrass is, I planted the left side first, and it carpeted very nicely, then I got my hands on some more E. acicularis, and planted it the same way in the middle and right sides of the tank, but so far it's not really carpeting like the left side is.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

unfortunately, over the past 2 days i've been noticing hair algae, so I checked my tank stats and they're all out of whack. No ammonia or nitrites, but everything else is very high. I think I'm going to stop dosing ferts for 1 week and check my stats every day to make sure nothing drops too low. I also bought 2 florida flagfish tonight to try and deal with the hair algae. Hopefully after the fish are acclamated I can get a good full tank shot and some other shots.


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

Well my roommate let me borrow her camera, so I finally got to take some good pictures. Here are some close ups and a new fts.

Cherry Shrimp:









Oto:









One of my brand new florida flagfish, to help deal with the hair algae:









and finally, the new fts:









please let me know what you think! Thanks! -Brad


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## pennjones (Jun 4, 2006)

here's some other pics from the new tank i'm setting up too:

http://home.comcast.net/~pennjones/16.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~pennjones/17.jpg


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