# Fish Dork's 80



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

Well, long time listener, first time caller... Been here for a while but never posted any pics of my tank. This is my first attempt at a planted tank and I am actually going to tear this down soon for a new scape. This one did not have much of a hardscape, the DW in the left corner was added in about 4 months ago. The tank is about a year and a half old. The specs:

Tank: 80 US gallon
Lights: 4 x 54 T5 HO
Filtration: Pengiun 350, Rena XP3 just added, I have a second XP3 that will be switching out the HOB
CO2: pressurized, 3 BPS through a DIY reactor fed off the canister filter
Substrate: Peat moss and sand with clay (kitty litter balls) added in later, capped with black gravel.

Fish: 
Cardinal, Black Skirt, Rummy Nose Tetra
German Blue Rams
Aus. and Dwarf Rainbows
False SAE
Otocinclus
Amano and Ghost Shrimp
Tiger Barb (1 remains as a lone survivor from the once strong pack that all got sick, I miss these guys)
Varying snails

Plants
American Vals
Java and Fissiden Moss
Anubius Coffeefolia
Aquatic Fern
Unknown Crypt
Hygro Difformis and Polysperma
Java and Windelov Fern
Microsword
Rotala Macrandra
Rotala Rotundifolia

Also varying types of algae I'm always attempting to keep at bay.

The idea was really to try to learn how to grow plants. I've had success with some and with some, not so much. Here's some recent pics.

Full Tank









Left Side


















Right Side









Some Fish Pics


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

That's a great looking scape. Thanks for posting. 

I'm kinda liking the not-so-much-hardscape-look. I've got a huge "chunk" of driftwood and I've been toying with the idea of taking it out and only putting plants in it's place. My problem is that I have a narrow tank, so it would take some tinkering to get it to look good.

Anyway, you've got a lot of talent and I can't wait to see what you do with the 'new look'. 

-Dave


----------



## pmk00001 (May 15, 2008)

Looks really good to me. Did you start out with co2 or put it in at some point?


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

I started with minimal plants and no CO2. Then I went to DIY CO2, 2 2 litre pop bottles. The pressurized went in at around the 10 month stage.


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

What is that big cave-like thing on the right? It looks kinda like a broken egg? 

Great healthy plants.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

It's a pot... with holes in it. I've got java moss growing on it and the vals have sproated inside it and are growing plants up from the center. It's part of the 'decoration' phase that is slowly getting changed out. When i break this tank down I have a nice big piece of DW that will be the centerpiece... it's about 3 feet long and is sort of a root structure.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

The Otto tree!










I left the second bank of lights on all day after a water change... ooops, oh well the macrandra seemed to like it!










I thought the moss on here had melted! When the water was lowered I could see it still has a chance!


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

Well a reset seem to be in order. I've been planning this for some time. With this go round I want to build a better hardscape from the beginning and with that in mind I found some rocks and wood in the fall of last year. I seem to be having compaction problems with the substrate in the tank as it is now... roots are dying and I'm going to start losing plants if this isn't done soon! Here's the plan for the hardscape. Let me know what you think! The tape shows the height of the tank, the outside of the red scissors show the edge of the tank. And thanks for looking!


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Rocks are awfully round. Are you gonna put riccia or moss on them. Are you gonna keep your plants low so that your DW won't disappear?


----------



## FishandTurtleJunkie (Apr 14, 2007)

Nice driftwood. Any updates on placement and re-planting?


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

Texgal: I'm thinking that the plants in front of the DW will stay low. I'll plant some vals and wisteria behind it. It is a fairly tall piece. The tape in behind stands 18 inches. (The tank is 22, 18 is minus the black rim and the subst.) I need to find some of that low grow hygro... in Canada! I'll probably do moss on the rocks, I currently have java and fissiden. Only a little fissiden, for some reason it's not growing too fast. I'll plant some java ferns on the DW as well, I want it to stay visible, it's a neat peice, full of holes.

FishandTurtleJunkie: No updates yet! Tomorrow the tank teardown begins.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

I started this tank with 3 vals... and now here they are, with some wisteria on top



















the rest are in here










and the fishes overnight










So far one casuality.. A false SAE bailed out

Here's the tank before water... and the discovery that the DW still floats. Doh! That's why they call it DW, my wife said as she walked by. I only had a bin large enough to sink half of it so now it's tied down with rocks and fishing line until the rest sinks.




























And I started this at noon.. the tank was completely stripped and moved to the other side of the room. I've had a complete Ibuprofen and I'm off to bed. Planting starts tommorow!


----------



## chadly (Dec 19, 2005)

love the wood! The round stones dont' look bad, they sorta complement the holes in the wood. Over all the scape looks fine. One thing is there is no distinguishable elevation change in the substrate. If there's something you can do about that, you'll probably see a dramatic result.


----------



## jargonchipmunk (Oct 25, 2008)

if you like it go for it! The difference between rounded stones, and sharper stones can be put in what (if anything) you're trying to achieve...

Do you want the tank to look like the underside of a river? Round rocks for the win.

Do you want it to resemble (if a bit obtusely) a mountain range, or meadow? Sharper edges are required. 

Amano uses the jagged, purpose-based stone because he's looking to emulate scenes found elsewhere in nature. I like the rounded look of the stones in this setup. 

The difference will be when you fill it up with plants!


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

Thanks for the comments. Chadly... I may have to add some more gravel in the get more of a slope. My wife mentioned that as well. There is a bit of a slope, the gravel is about 1 inch deep in the front and closer to 3 in the back. I might leave it as is though too because both sides are visible as well and the slight slope is easy to gradually taper to those edges as well.

I am going for more of a river look here, that was the idea with the round rocks. They were picked to work with that chuck of wood. They have black flecks in them that look good when wet against the black gravel. 

The planting is now done, the water is in, the fish are back in and everything is looking ok so far. I'm debating waiting for this wood to sink (it's still floating) before taking new pics. I have it tied to rocks in the tank that won't be staying and it's sort of floating in the center of the water.

Now the question remains.. what will I do with a wack of extra jungle vals and the 'cousin it' mass of java fern? I'd send them out to anyone in Canada, but it's way cold up here right now. Maybe the LFS will sell em for me.


----------



## csaxe21 (Nov 25, 2008)

Great looking setup, can't wait to see updates.

I have been considering adding some Vals to my tank though. Where are you in Canada? Here in Montreal it's pretty cold also. I'm out this whole week (Back Friday night) but maybe you could save a few, and I'll speak to you on Saturday or something like that?

Thanks, maybe send me a PM if your alright with this


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Can't believe you planted and no pxs!!! Love to see how it looks all done. 

"That's why they call it dw..." LOL I like your wife!


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

csaxe21: Sorry to say... they are gone! But the way they grow... get back to me in a bit I'll probably have some more, maybe more into the spring when it's a bit warmer. Maybe you would have something to trade? I need some kind of foreground plants. And I'm looking for Blxya Japonica as well.

Texgal: Sorry, no pics yet... that wood won't sink, can't ya just not stand the suspense? I might have to bolt the wood to slate or something. And I like my wife too.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

*Re: Fish Dork's 80 new scape pics Jan 23 09*

Ok! New pics. The DW was not sinking, although when I took it out it was quite a bit heavier than it used to be, so it must be slowly soaking up water. I removed it and used some stainless bolts to attached a few peices of slate. Now it's down! I did a water change right before I took these so there is some stuff floating around compared to normal.


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Looking nice. I still think the contrast with the rocks is too stark. Black gravel to white rocks. Can you soften it up with plantings along side the edges of the rocks? What are you gonna do for a foreground? Glosso, marsilea, nana petitie, hairgrass, E. tennellus micro, maybe? I know the rocks will get some algae coloration on them and that will help, but some softening with plants would be great.


----------



## csaxe21 (Nov 25, 2008)

Nice, I like it. As Tex Gal said, the white rocks to the dark gravel is still a bit too stark IMO, though.


----------



## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

I like that pice of drift wood.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

There is microsword growing around the rocks that is sending out shoots already... it should fill in and soften the rocks in time. I want to use glosso as well, it could be awhile before I can get any. Nobody wants to ship it up here in these months! Although I may make a trip to Vancouver soon and might be able to get some there. Thanks for looking!


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

The more I think of it, the more I really want to plant glosso in this tank! There is a nice valley that runs under the DW as well that is not defined well and doesn't show in the pics. I think a nice carpet is in order. BTW thank you for the suggestions!


----------



## derekp (Nov 5, 2008)

I like the natural wild look. Im glad the rotala macandra is doing well for you, it took a while for it to do okay in my tank.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

The macrandra does great for me. For some reason I seem to have trouble with Hygro Polysperma. Weird.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

An update! The tank needs a trim, the macrandra and the wisteria (CRAZY weed!) need a trim very badly. I've added glosso and blyxa and wanted to take some pics of the glosso starting out. I just came back from 2 weeks out of town and now I'm also battling BBA GSA and BGA (it was there before, but now it's getting out of hand!). I think it's under control though, anyway... here's some new pics









































































And I bought a canopy, now it looks even better!


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

It's looking good! Your rocks have tamed down a bit. What do you think about moving your red plant to the right of the wisteria. Keep in trimmed going down at an angle as it gets to the point of your driftwood? Can you see it? It might be nice. Just an idea...


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

I like your ideas so far! The macrandra may look better where you mentioned it. Both it and the wisteria are in serious need of a trim... I ran out of ambition after planting the glosso


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

Here's a new pic. I've had a few rounds with various algae, BGA, BBA and GDA. The blackout method I used for the BGA worked and killed the bacteria as well as the second round of glosso. I may need to try a new foreground plant. I think the algae may be coming from old light bulbs. I will be picking up some new ones tomorrow. The CO2 levels and nutrients are right where they should be and I get lots of pearling in the midday and afternoon. The plants are growing well, but I now seem to be having issues with the macrandra.

Here's a new shot:










You guys are right one with those rocks, I think I need to try to blend them in more. Maybe they'll get some moss or something.


----------



## harshal1992 (Dec 5, 2008)

What's the plant that you call the otto tree?


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

It's Hygro. Difformis or Wisteria.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

No new pics! Not yet anyway. I've added HC as a foreground now. Hopefully it does better than the glosso. It does a good job of blending the rocks with the gravel. I really like this little plant! So far the BGA is gone with no sign of coming back. I am still battling GDA and BBA though. I have my CO2 up as high as my fish can handle. I suppose it's time to cut back on the light cycle, it's currently 2 bulbs (54W T5HO) on for 6 hours on the back, followed by 2 bulbs (same kind) for 6 in the front. I think I'll try a break in the middle. Maybe starting with an hour?


----------



## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

very nice tank!!!! really like it


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Looking forward to your new pxs.


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

Thanks guys! New pics will be a month or so away... I'm waiting for the GDA to run the course. (And it's killing me not to clean the glass)


----------



## BIGFOOTRoger (Feb 15, 2009)

Dork?
Hmmmm?

Have you ever looked up the definition? :> )

Also:

I have the same bank of HO T5's
What rating of lamps are yours....ie. Kelvin ?

And which order and at what times do they fire up?


PS...........Your tank looks great !


----------



## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

LOL... My wife started calling me that, I think I told her too much fish info. 

I'm using 2 Geisman Midday bulbs mixed with 2 Aquamedic Grow bulbs. 1 of each is on from 10-3, then the other 2 (in the front) come on from 3-8.

And thanks!


----------



## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

my boyfriend calls me a dork but yet hes the one that had to have a fish tank after seeing mine. now he had two! and ones planted!!! so whos the dork now lol


----------

