# Jessie's 125g



## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Ok ok - At Ranmasatome's request, here's my tank thread 

Keep in mind, this tank really doesn't have any aquascape, I'm just getting back into the hobby after a 4 year hiatus, so right now my tank is in the "getting to know you" phase before I go gangbusters and re-do it.

I'm actually in contact w/ Rich @ Manzanita to get my hands on some wood and plan a new aquascape!

Specs:

125g All Glass
-Fluval 405, Eheim 2232 Ecco
-20# press. CO2 w/ Aquariumplants.com regulator.
-I'm experimenting with my Reactor 200 w/ Rio Pump vs. a new Rhinox 5000. The Rhinox is hooked up right now, but it's too soon to see any differences in output.
-2x Coralife dual 96w PCs each with one 6500k and one 10,000k
-I'm also experimenting with more light directly over the foreground, so I've added another 96w and 72w 50/50 fixtures (big hopes and dreams for red plants)
-Flourite base, peagravel mid, playground sand top (all mixing for a nice natural look)
-Seachem root tabs
-Flourish a couple times a week whenever I remember
-Flourish Excel after weekly 50% WC
-Flourish Iron a couple times a week whenever I remember 
-EI maybe one day? Still a little confused by proper dosing.

Diamond tetra - Serpae Tetra - Roselines - Gold Tetra - Harlequin - a couple rescue Furcata rainbows, - black molly and sunset platy and kids

Plants: _Collectoritis insanitus_








Believe it or not, there's really driftwood in there.







OH NO!







Thank you TurboTwist UV!







starting to fill in. (check out that sexy clump of dead moss on the rock! hahahahaha)







a little more







Happy Aponogeton







KABOOM! craziness. But... you can see a male diamond tetra. A few days after this picture, I found five fry who are growing up nicely.







nuts!









So there you have it, my glorified salad.
BUT.. now that I've posted this for the embarrassment to commence, I have no excuse to follow through with my 'scape plans


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## Calavera (Dec 3, 2006)

This is some really nice growth you got there!  Makes me wanna try high-tech sometime...
Not to be mean in any way but it would be nice with some aquascaping in there


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

haha I know right? Not mean at all  It's basically a plant farm right now so I can get my a feel for everything again and learn what works in my water and w/ my time schedule. THEN I'll scoop everything out and do a scape.

I'll probably end up removing most of the plants, keeping a few of my favorites and buying some new obsessions from AquaSpotWorld when the time comes. This forum has helped me out a lot when it comes to inspiration... Jason's 75g especially.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

I love the look of a healthy plant farm.  Step 1 is to first grow healthy, algae-free plants, right? You've got this one down, baby! I'm still working on this one, but I'm getting there.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Thanks!

Surprisingly enough, I've had VERY good luck so far when it comes to algae. I had the nasty green water for a while and some hair algae and green-spot, but the fish, CO2 and UV helped knock it all out. My walls were green until I added the Farlowella. Awesome fish, I must say.

*knock on wood*

I'm still struggling w/ Ludwigia glandulosa. I just can't seem to get it to REALLY grow. it doesn't die, but I'm just not satisfied with it yet.

*EDIT: Just placed my order with Manzanita! What nice people!


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## ranmasatome (Aug 5, 2005)

Jessie.... i think you have awesome growth in this tank... usually if i have space.. i'll also do this first.. grow out a bunch of plants.. then think about growth patterns and how to mix and match them in the scape... 
looking forward to the new wood stuff coming... nice work.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Ahh thanks! I just noticed I butchered your screen name in my first post -- so sorry! That's what I get for multi-tasking at work and typing too fast.

Anyways. Now that I have a feel for what I can grow really well and what I can't pamper, I can get a plan started for the next big thing. I'm pretty excited and have a lot of inspiration to work with!


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Very nice, Jessie! Do you have plans yet to put in a foreground? It seems to be the only thing missing!


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

I've got the vertical wall to end all vertical walls, huh? hahaha! In fact, that is partially the reason why I added supplemental lighting over the very front of the tank. I had some Lilaeopsis brasiliensis that you can see in the pictures that was growing more tall than wide. I've recently pulled it because it is my belief that it wasn't getting enough intensity. There's some dwarf hairgrass in there that is slowly perking up since the addition of more light, which I plan on sparsely keeping once I change everything.

My plans include HC, Blyxa japonica, smaller crypts and much more disciplined pruning techiques to add slope and a smoother transition. I might even get brave and attempt Downoi because I love its cartoony texture. I've got a lot of space to work with, so I need to come up a solid strategy to find a happy medium between my obsession with many textures and colors and keeping things flowing and coherent!


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

As Kelly said...


> I love the look of a healthy plant farm. Step 1 is to first grow healthy, algae-free plants,


...I agree! To some folks, (and I have often included myself here), a plant farm *IS* the 'scape!


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## ranmasatome (Aug 5, 2005)

No worries.. i thought nothing of it...
By the way.. that aponogenton flower pic is just mesmerizes me for soem strange reason


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Thanks, me too. They shoot those flowers up at least twice a week. They're so neat... almost like intergalactic dragons.

Here's another:










Here's my other favorite plant -- I LOVE my Lotus'









One of my male diamonds:









And this is a poor quality photo, but here's a neat angle of the Rainbow tetra that the LFS had unknowingly labled as an Emperor.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

That rainbow tetra is one sassy little fish!


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

HAha! Yea, he's cool. I wish I could find more. He "identifies" with the Emperors, but doesn't really school with them. He's very skittish and darts in and out of his little plant nest, but SO beautiful.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

*update 07-06-07*

Some random insanity updates.

really, it's nuts.





































Just something to look back at once I tear it apart!


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

Holy cow!! That's a jungle. But I like it.  


What are you planning to do on your tear-down?


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Haha, ya  And that's _toned down_, if you believe it. But thank you!  Everything is healthy, which is really all that matters to me at this point.

For my tear down/re-do, I will be playing with some Manzanita, scrapping some of the plants I have, getting some new/different plants and create a new scape. I'm looking forward to it, but I'll admit I have no actual plans in place and it's going to be a lot more of a project than I probably realize.


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## BigB (Dec 1, 2006)

I like it the way it is and so do the fish why change it? lol


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

It's very pretty, Jess! It would need a bit of a trim, maybe some moving around, but aside from that, it is very dark and brooding. It commands your attention and is in great health! I like it alot!


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## gas (Jul 27, 2006)

wow I like your tank. A forest with much contrast very good.
Maybe you should trim the hygrophila and the other plant in the center.
good job


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Jessie - nice tank! I don't usually like the "jungle" look, but this has a nice feel to it. It looks natural. Probably it comes from the health of the plants which is obvious. I think your fish really complement the overall effect too.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

*BigB* - Thanks! I like where my tank is at right now too. But in a few weeks (after this darn Manzanita is finished curing) I am going to create an actual, coherent aquascape. My current setup is pretty hap-hazard and just tossed together, which makes maintenance a little difficult. I would like to get the tank to a point where I CAN go without trimming one weekend and not be up my eyeballs in a tangled mess. That, and I've gotten so much inspiration from other tanks here and around the web that I just must try my hand at it too!

*Don* -- Thank you! The pics are so dark that some of the detail is lacking, but I recently did some moving around to bring some of my forgotten Tropica swords to the front to create more midground. That Hygrophila will be removed when I redo it. Just too much leggy maintenance. Now just need to figure out so many pots of HC I'll need to seed nearly a 6-foot by 4" expanse! haha!

*gas* - Thanks! It's very lagoony, that's for sure. The Hygrophila, like I was telling Don, will be gone soon, hopefully. While I love its texture, it's just too messy and domineering. Same with the Myriophyllum next to it. The dark area in the very center is from a grapevine that reaches the surface, which is tangled in Ludwigia repens and Hygro. It's fry HEAVEN.

*Guaiac* -- thanks so much! Your big tank is actually one of my major inspirations for my upcoming overhaul. Now that I know that I CAN grow, I'm feeling more confident and will try some more challenging plants when the time comes. I definitely don't lack light or CO2, but I will need to get serious about ferts and supplements.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Umm.....I didn't comment about your hygro, Jess. YOU ARE CRAZY!!!! 

As Guaiac mentioned, I don't really like the vertical jungle look myself either, but for some reason, this is nice. VERY pleasent to look at and just get lost in. I wish I could "miniturize" myself and go scuba diving in there! Very natural looking, and I think the beauty in it is it's simplicity; just admire the plants....nice Zen feel.

Oh, and I wouldn't bother with HC.......have you considered using any of the cryptocorne species instead? Since the tank is essentially "jungle," I would use a "bigger" groundcovering. Perhaps some crypt. sp. Mi Oya?


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

I TOTALLY CRZY BUT U SED I NEED TO TRIM TEH PLANTS! And the Hygro - that's the biggest mass of foliage.

The Mi Oya will be on my list anyways... it's SO beautiful.
But, the thing is, once I tear this thing down, I'll be training myself to avoid the "jungle" craziness and come to a more organized feel while still maintaining the "lush" look I seem to have an unintentional knack for. I think HC would be fun to try in at least some parts of the tank; I think it looks great when surrounded by dark crypts, light blyxas and other low profile plants.


I'm trying to decide if I want to do a straight span of Manzanita across the entire length of the tank or break it into two off-center groups.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Oh yeah....that's right! I totally forgot about the manzanita!!! 

Try a span....it's more of a challenge, IMO. You see a lot of "islands" nowadays which look fine, but a span is more eye-catching if done well.

Sucks to see it go, Jess! It's too bad....it is a really nice tank! You've done very well!  (As if my opinion counts for anything....LOL!)


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Ahh, it'll still be craziness  I would just like to try my hand at something more organized, picturesque and manageable. Most of my favorite tanks have been featuring Manzanita 'spans', so that's probably the route I'll take. Not to mention, I'm far too impatient to come up with balanced groupings.

I just want a lot of reds, lots of crypts and a better placement for my monster Ozelot sword!


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## rchaves (Mar 2, 2006)

A small piece of jungle

:clap2:


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Thank you rchaves! =]


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

Jessie, go to bed! It's way past your bed time! 

Can't wait to see the branchy manzanita.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Hahaha Kelley! 

That branchy Manzanita has been soaking now for four weeks and is STILL leeching major tanins and is still too buoyant for comfort.

*twiddles thumbs with impatience*


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Ok check it out:










After you're done laughing, that's what I'm sort of thinking of doing? :bathbaby:

*nothing is to scale
* stems will be of various heights
* hahahahahahahahaha


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I like it. I think it will be well laid-out considering a field-of-depth point of view. Give some thought to growth speeds. It's nice to have it so that you can trim everything more or less at the same time.

"Dutch" aquascaping "rules" state that you should have roughly 3 species of plant per foot of tank length (4' tank = 12 species). Your layout is certainly not a "Dutch" tank, but I've found the guideline to be somewhat helpful. If you'd like to preserve a bit of the jungle look (and I think you should), you could maybe go with 4 or even 5 species per foot. Looks good.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Interesting pointers, thanks guaiac! I don't want to have a solid vertical wall behind the Manzanita, so I will probably mix and add others to create more depth as well.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

I'll right later after I'm done "gawfaw-ing" 

Joking....looks good on paper! Let us see how it goes! Is this looking "down" or "straight on"?


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

LOL! I cross my eyes and look at that thing and it's like a Crayola nuclear fall out.

It's....looking at a downward angle...?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Wow, that's kinda bright. Once my eyes refocused it looked good. Nice variety of leaf size, texture and color. What are the yellow blobs? A different type of anubias than the blue gray blobs or something else? It took me a surprising amount of time to see the blyxa smiley face on the left and Mickey Mouse ears on the right.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Oh I didn't know I did that! Unintentional Mouse Ears!

I forgot the label the yellow blobs. Those are java ferns


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I'm looking forward to seeing this new setup, when do plan on doing the overhaul?


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Well....it depends on the Manzanita and if it will ever fully soak. I know I'll have to add some Purigen to my filter to help with the tannins.

I'm thinking w/in the next two-three weeks.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

*Wow..*

Hey all. Putting it mildly, it's been the week from H-E-double hockey sticks and the overhaul of my tank won't be happening as I had planned. I have to move ASAP next week and while the tank will be coming with me, and I will try to put it back together according to my overhaul plan, that depends on what I can get out of my house and when.

I'll check in next week.
Hope you all are well.


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