# My two new (and ugly) little tanks



## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Here are a couple photos of my two newest aquascapes, which have existed in their present state since, oh, about last Saturday.

10g:









5g:









Any advice/commentary on the initial hardscape would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Carlos


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

hey Carlos, can't wait to see them in ADA 



As for the hardscape, I only have a couple things that I am not sure of (translation: take my advice on a grain of salt LOL)

10g: The crossing of the woods in the center top--This part, I am not sure if I like or hate LOL. One of those things that I'll just have to see. The wood extending to the far left--it feels too long for me reaching all the way to the glass. Not that you have much of a choice, but it feels "crowded" 


5g: It is a little hard to say with the angle that is presented, but the wood going up and forward just has a massive feel to it. Sorta works against the "larger than it really is" effect.

Other than those things, I think you have some nice tanks in the brew


PS...you sold your soul to pellia...
:twisted:


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## Capt. (Nov 24, 2004)

I am by far no aquascaping expert but both your tanks are off to great starts. The 5 gallon needs no changes in my opinion, except time to grow and a background I guess.

I think the driftwood piece(s) in your 10 gallon are amazing. Fantastic and natural looking imo! The only problem is that I found my eyes initially following the wood to the glass and then to the silicone. I love the tank though, just that piece is somewhat distracting.

edit: forgot to mention that I like your fish choice in the 10.


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## m3th0d (Jul 13, 2004)

What kinda of lighting fixture is that on the 10?


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

This is the lighting I used for the 10g:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=29595;category_id=1875;pcid1=1843;pcid2=

I added 20 Rasbora dorioscellata to the 10g last night. Also added some Rotala macrandra "Green" and Rotala rotundifolia "Green." Going to readjust the driftwood on Friday night.

Keep in mind everyone that as a layout grows in, all the branches are going to be toned down significantly. The crossing branches, the "long" feeling of some of the branches, etc will not be visible once everything grows in.

I may totally change the 5g. I am not totally happy with it.

Carlos


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## m3th0d (Jul 13, 2004)

Very nice. Are you using the 10,000K/460nm Actinic bulb that came with it? Or did you swap them out...

I'm looking for some fixtures for my two 10's.. I was gonna buy the CORALIFE fixtures but I don't like the bronze color. :roll: I'm picky like that.


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## freshreef (May 14, 2004)

, CARLOS, both tanks are very ugly, but i can c the potential there. I'm sure that we c at least one of them in aga/ab/ada contests...


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## neilw (Nov 20, 2004)

Wow. I think both of these look great, I really like the positioning of the driftwood branches in the first one, it reminds me of an amano composition, I've seen something similar in one of his books. The lights you are using also look brilliant, I'm looking forward to see how they progress as the low growing plants start spreading.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Carlos,

Those tanks aren't ugly at all, what're you smoking? You've done a bang up job on arranging the hardscape and a pretty good job on the plants. It looks like you've got a little bit of a lot of plants in the 10g, we'll have to wait a little while to see how they turn out. The Pellia rocks, wood, and hairgrass are arranged very well. I'm assuming that it's actually one large piece of wood and the front branch can't be placed separately. It's a little too far forward, but the shape compliments the middle branches just right.

The 5g is cute, but that riccia ball in the middle doesn't need to be there. Unless you keep it trimmed super super short it looks like it's going to overgrow and obscure the Anubias. Good choice of plants for that tank, the fine texture of the leaves is perfect for the small tank. Is that green or red Cabomba? Some C. furcata would look really hot against that overall green-ness of the tank.

Best,
Phil


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## jerime (May 23, 2004)

great stuff, very good potential...


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

> Phil Edwards said:
> It looks like you've got a little bit of a lot of plants in the 10g, we'll have to wait a little while to see how they turn out.


Yes, there is a large variety of plants but I assure you it will be narrowed down to 5-6 background plances when all is said and done. Partly, I am deciding what would look best and partly, I am getting some plants ready to send out to Edward so he can photograph them for the Plant Finder. 



> I'm assuming that it's actually one large piece of wood and the front branch can't be placed separately. It's a little too far forward, but the shape compliments the middle branches just right.


Would you believe I am actually using a total of *six * different branches of driftwood in this layout? All the pieces are independently adjustable. I will be doing a little adjusting tonight. 



> he 5g is cute, but that riccia ball in the middle doesn't need to be there. Unless you keep it trimmed super super short it looks like it's going to overgrow and obscure the Anubias. Good choice of plants for that tank, the fine texture of the leaves is perfect for the small tank. Is that green or red Cabomba? Some C. furcata would look really hot against that overall green-ness of the tank.


The greenness is a result of being quite young. There is Rotala wallichii and Rotala rotundifolia in that tank. I am actually going to do some major readjustments tonight. I am just not content with the layout. Going to be something along similar lines, but much less maintenance in the midground to foreground areas (Marsilea, Anubias nana 'Narrow', etc).



> m3th0d said:
> Very nice. Are you using the 10,000K/460nm Actinic bulb that came with it? Or did you swap them out...


I swapped them out to a 6700k/10,000k Sunpaq combo bulb. The lighting is very nice indeed and actually warmer than the Coral life 6500k bulbs.

Thanks for all the comments guys,

Carlos


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

I'd kill for six pieces of wood like that.


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## Aaron (Feb 12, 2004)

Hey Carlos, 
Nice starts. I think the 5 could use one more hardscape element, one that anchors the driftwood better. a puff of riccia might not be the best thing. 
On the 10, do you plan on leaving your reactor in the corner? It seems to me that that is a corner that needs to be filled in. The reactor might be in the way for this to happen, esp. in a small tank where every sq inch counts.


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Aaron,

This is a very real problem for the 10g and 5g. For the 5g, I am circumventing it by switching to a Marsilea minuta foreground. However, the 10g will be much more difficult -- but I need the high CO2 levels that the reactor offers. I was experimenting with wooden airstones and microbubblers beforehand but they would gunk up with bacterial slime within a couple days -- and my aquarium kept crashing regardless. 

I'll think of something.

FYI, the aquascape in the 5g has been redone with a similar triangle design and a softer, less dramatic wood arrangement. I plan to cover these with lots of moss and Anubias 'petit' (got the 'Petit', Ken will supply the moss ).

The background will be quite colorful -- lots of nice Rotala wallichii, Rotala macrandra "Green" and the likes, I hope.

Carlos


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## Aaron (Feb 12, 2004)

You might want to take a look at the new Zoomed 501 cannister filter. There is a thread already disscussing it. Paired up with a small diy in line reactor, this filter is PERFECT for nano tanks, up to 10 gallons. I bet every company will come up with their version in the coming year. 

What kind of moss you planning on using?


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Wow, and yet another reason to spend even /more/ money on these two little tanks. I just cannnot justify doing that, though. at this point unless I sell my *brand new* plantguild reactors and my two hang-on the back filters.

Instead of a reactor, could I just feed the CO2 directly into the canister of the filter or does anyone think it will get overloaded with gas?

Carlos


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Just an update on my two little (and ugly) little tanks:

10g:










5g cube:










Carlos


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

Keep saying "ugly" and you are going to get a fresh one 8)
I think your tanks are awesome!
Luis Navarro


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

i like your 5 g though.


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## aulonochromis (Jan 12, 2005)

ugly? :roll: 

Your tanks are amazing! The substrate looks so natural, what is it?


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## BigFoot (Jan 3, 2005)

looks better than my 75 gal. tank does keep the hard work


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

I like your tanks very much, especially the 5 g cube. Cubes are excelent tanks to aquascape because you can give them four different forms of layout, not to mention the form of the tank itself wich i personally like. When the glosso forms the carpet, it will become even more beautiful. 

As for the Co2 directly in the canister, i think it very much depends on your type of canister filter. If you have Fluval, i don´t recommend it. If you have Eheim, i think there´s no problem. All in all its just a question of trying. If the filter becomes too noisy, then its probably because it has Co2 bubbles trapped in. 

Keep us updated.

André


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

the substrate is eco complete? i take it? it's some good stuff, going to compare it to ada.


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Update on the 10g (5g is currently undergoing MAJOR pruning and won't be showing it until it gets a little better):



















Carlos


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## dmartin72 (Oct 9, 2004)

Carlos,

That thing really filled in nicely! Good luck keeping up on the pruning.

Sincerely,

David


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Amazing! 

Just by looking at the tank I'd swear it is a bigger tank, at least 30 gals. That is the second best 10 gal. tank I've ever seen and it is not even finished yet. It looks very natural and has no dead areas. I don't feel like someone "made it", it looks more like the plants grew perfectly by themselves without intervention.

To me personally it's very impressive to see how the 4 dark branches starting from the left and going to the back of the tank seem to get smaller "in the distance". Beautiful illusion of depth!

The tank is not finished yet but I think it needs 4 things:
- A denser Isoetes on the background (the tall skinny leafed plant).
- "Dark areas", areas that are formed by the shadows and add a lot of depth to the aquascape (like the space right under the Monoselenium).
- Meticulous trimming of the stem plants with short stems in front and taller in the back so the plants form bunches that look fuller.
- More stems of the red plant, but not too many 

Also if it is possible at all :-D... A few dark, maybe grey, rocks in the foreground may enhance this great (small) aquascape.

--Nikolay


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

is that filter, the zoomed better than an aquaclear? and whered you get that 5 g cube? whats your dosing routine?


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Tank looks good, love the growth!


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## christanto (Dec 23, 2004)

Wow! where did you get your driftwood?


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Nice going there, Carlos! Just by looking at the spray bar, why doesn't that look like the ZooMed 501??? hahaha, so you did get it, huh?! How is it working for ya? And I have just cleaned mine at my friend's place yesterday because I gave my turtles to her to take care of while I was away. 



Paul


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## nonamethefish (Feb 25, 2004)

Standards must be pretty high to call such a tank ugly 

I really like how it looks rather like how a field would look and though the plants appear blended some the groups still stand out. Praps a background would be nice.

BTW, are those wee stripey things Ep. annulatus?


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

David said...


> That thing really filled in nicely! Good luck keeping up on the pruning.


It isn't fully filled in yet. Still a little bit more to go (2-4 weeks). Plants need to grow out AND color up. Foreground needs to be denser.

Niko said...


> Also if it is possible at all ... A few dark, maybe grey, rocks in the foreground may enhance this great (small) aquascape.


If only this little tank were bigger. The foreground is only about 0.5" wide, an 1" at most.

turtlehead said...


> is that filter, the zoomed better than an aquaclear? and whered you get that 5 g cube? whats your dosing routine?


The zoomed mini canitser is MUCH better than any nano HOB filter. The zoomed mini creates clear water without any turbulence. It is excellent for the 10g or smaller aquarium. I use it also on my 5g where it creates the perfect amount of current. I got my 5g cube from a friend in Los Angeles who shipped it to me when it became available at his LFS.

nonamethefish said...


> I really like how it looks rather like how a field would look and though the plants appear blended some the groups still stand out. Praps a background would be nice.
> 
> BTW, are those wee stripey things Ep. annulatus?


Noname, there is already a background -- and it is white posterboard. I do not want to use a black background. The 5g has also had its background replace with a white one. I far prefer it to black.

The fish are half a dozen Nannostomus espei, the only denizens of this aquarium and the stars of the tank. I also have two pairs of scarlet badis and two otos in this tank.

Carlos


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

very nice, im going to return the ac filter fo rthat zoo med then, i like the canister look. how far below is the canister from the tank? is your light bulb square four pin 18"?


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

Nice growth Carlos and the hardwood is great. But when are you going to start shaping it up into an aquascape?


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Boy, I wish my tanks looked that ugly ! Great job, I love the way the plants seem to explode from the central area of the wood. Keep us posted.


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Raul, it is being pruned into an aquascape. The background plants are growing out and the foreground is filling in...

Carlos


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## Xema (Mar 24, 2004)

Hi Carlos,

I can see you have followed my advise on the position of driftwood... looks better.

i would try get more density in rigth back corner... but isoetes is not a quick grower, maybe with some c. balansae or retrospiralis it would look better

This is the photo-composition i tried send you... but i never got it

Greetings from Spain


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## arellanon (Jan 2, 2005)

I like these tanks!


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Xema,

Considering I've already trimmed the Isoetes twice within only a month's time, it is not growing that slow... so I think it will will be filled in nicely in about a month. I do not want it to get too dense, as the background plants in that area will get shaded -- those will be more important to the display of this layout than the Isoetes.

And yes, I did follow your advice. It was a stroke of genius to move that branch in that position. Thanks!

Carlos


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

All right... decided to take a snap shot of the 5g cube. Looks okay but still needs work. My photography REALLY needs work -- the mass of green Rotala rotundifolia "green" and Micranthemum umbrosum and Hemianthus micranthemoides comes out as an amorphous green blob.










Carlos


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