# New 150g tank: help aquascaping



## kaaikop (Mar 22, 2005)

Cheers to all! Okay I am almost ready to get started here, by the end of 
this week, I should have everything on hand to start my first large planted
tank. I would love to hear your comments, suggestions, since this is my first
experience. And by doing my research on equipping this tank, I realized that
I did not choose an "easy" size aquarium to scape. The tank is 72 x 18D x27H

I finally found some pieces of driftwood at a reasonable price (pic. below).
I think the pieces are a little big, but with a lot of plants, I think it should
not look too bad. The plants on the picture are "drawn" with a mouse, and I
have a very bad "drawing hand" to begin with, so excuse the Picasso thing...
So far I have selected plants which are appealling to me, they do not 
necessarily "work together". This is where I need your help, I am not sure if 
this is going to work since I have never done it. I have left the corners of 
the tank deliberately "empty", because I do not know which plants I should
use... the idea is to have both back corners of the tanks fully planted, in 
order to hide the filter inlets/outlets. I would like to leave an "open space" 
between the right corner and the driftwood arrangement.

If this helps, I am leaning more towards the "Amano" style rather than the 
"Dutch" type of setup. The fish population is going to be a large school of 
Cardinals, a school of Emperor tetras, and some shrimps if I can find them
here.

Looking forward to your comments! :smile:


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## kaaikop (Mar 22, 2005)

Forgot to mention... the tank will have approx. 450W of CF light, pressurized
CO2, and substrate is 100% eco complete.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

you have a lot of empty space on the right, get more wood work.


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## Sudi (Feb 3, 2005)

Hi,

On the right you can put some hight plants ;-) 
They would look good there


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## discus (Jul 20, 2004)

Hi Kaaikop 

If you havent already gotten the Eco dont get it. If you have thats ok. 
As for plants dont worry about i can supply you with plenty when the time comes but hurry up cause ive got plenty of sag. thats about to die if i dont give it away (been sitting in a bucket for almost 2 weeks now). As for Shrimp Big Als sometimes has them for cheap. 
Keep me posted on progress


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

What aquascape are you trying to accomplish? It looks like your heading for the mound-aquascape. Although it is simple, it can turn into an amazing aquascape. But you also need fill up the rest of the tank with a foreground plant, preferably shorter than Sagittaria subulata. E. tenellus v. 'micro' is an ideal solution. And you should also slope the substrate to help influence the mound, in that the mound rests on the highest point on the substrate. Other than that I recommend you use vertical plants to fill up the background better(since it is relatively high), Cyperus helferi is a good candidate there.


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## Osteomata (Jan 11, 2005)

Raul said he thought you were going for a mound style aquacape, but from your description and plan to fully plant both corners with tall plants, and include an open space area right-of-center, it sounds to me like more of a U shaped scape. I think this will work fine with your tank and current driftwood plan. 
- Keep the plants in the drfit wood area low enough to see a couple of inches of the top/back of the tank. 
- As for the corners: Check the plant finder for stem plants that will reach at least as high as your tank top.
- Consider putting some moss and anubias on those driftwood pieces. They are so clunky they could use some softening up.
- This still leaves a whole lot of unplanted space in the front of the tank. Are you planning on bare substrate or do you want to fill the foreground?

discus, why are you recommending against Eco-Complete? Most people seem to like it...


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## kaaikop (Mar 22, 2005)

Hey, thank you all for your advice!

The foreground, will be fully (I should say _hope_-fully) covered with Glosso...
seems like a good, easy plant for a beginner... and yes, it is more something
of a U-shape design I was thinking of, this is why I did not "centre" the 
driftwood. Besides the plants I had listed on the picture, I would also like to
leave a special space for a nympheae lotus, it's one of those "gotta have it"
plants for me! Eventually will also try to have something to cover up some 
of the wood as suggested, it does look a little rough...

Cyperus helferi... just checked it out on the Plantfinder. Looks nice, I like it!
What else? I was thinking something like Rotala rotundifolia, for a little 
variation in colour and leaf shape... or would the "pinkish" colour be too 
distracting?


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## kaaikop (Mar 22, 2005)

Okay, here goes...!
I was getting too impatient to get started, so decided to go with whatever
plants I could readily find in the local LFS. This has been done over the last
couple of days. It is totally different from the initial plan, but I guess since
i'm new to this, gotta start somewhere, and see what happens!
The water is still milky, I hope it will clear up when the bio. filter kicks in.
Population is 6 otos, 6 platys, 24 neons, monitoring the water parameter
daily for a possible peak.

That was a fun week, now if I can only leave it alone for a week or two, and
let it grow in, and see how it goes. This tank will probably not win any prizes,
but for a first, I'm pretty pleased so far. Specially pleased to see that it was
well worth the time to study all the equipment, everything works perfectly!


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## Mack (Jun 25, 2004)

It may really look nice...


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## kaaikop (Mar 22, 2005)

Well, plants are growing nicely... moved things around a little bit. Here is a 
shot of the tank on day 18. This will take time, I guess, before I am satisfied,
but I'm trying to live with whatever plants I can find at the LFS. 
I am not happy with the overall look, I guess I've been looking too much in 
the amano books, LOL (this is my first attempt, so I have to be patient...)

On the other hand, I have to say that it's a totally captivating experience,
would start over again anytime! [smilie=k:

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

kaaikop,

Very nice first setup. Congrats! I think you are doing an excellent job dealing with your limited resources from the LFS

What is the plant near the base of the wood? I think you have a nice start here but your weakest point is definately the hardscape, ie wood. It feels very undersized and blocky , I would recommend turning the "y" shaped piece and having something grow up behind it in line with the v of hte branches, to create an illusion of height in the wood. Using a plant like a Rotala sp would be a good idea as it has a tendency to droop and it would make teh wood look more interesting and help tie it intot he plans.background. If you can get some longer, thinner wood try using that along with the bigger stuff you already have, a la Amano I think there is nothing wrong with using more common plants and the hornwort, Certophyllum demersom is very interesting and beautiful in your layout. The Hygro on the left side is to big for that area both height wise and especially the leaf size is to large. Maybe using the Hygro behind the v of the wood, tot he left of the Stargrass would work if you kept it trimmed a little lower. You would need something else for that corner then. The Sag you have in the front corners is not my style and I think it robs you of some depth in your scape. Maybe put the H difformis inthe left back corner and mound the substrate into the back right corner and use the Saggitaria growing up the mound. Replace the Sag in the front corners with something that either grows lower like glosso, marsilea or HC or even Micro tennelus. The leaves of hte Sag are just too wide and overpowering in the bright green color. Maybe a couple plants used here and there in the midground, much like Amano uses Bylxa japonica, would be very effective.

Well, don't mind my advise, its my job afterall


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## kaaikop (Mar 22, 2005)

Dennis, thanks for taking the time for this!
I agree, I'm not very happy with the wood pieces, but will 
try to live with it for now. Turning the big one is a little 
tricky as it is mounted on a slate (it still wanted to float 
until I laid the substrate) and the slate fits squarely to the 
base of the tank. The small plant to the left of it was 
recently added, LFS had no idea what it was LOL, I think it
is Rotala, leaves are reddish, lanceolate and growing 
opposite. There is some also behind the wood I hope it 
comes out. The tall, large leaved plant in the L/H corner 
was sold to me as Alternathera, it was half as big when
planted, turning into a monster, not very pretty, I was 
thinking about pruning them back 50%. The idea was to
hide the hardware. In the foreground, I have Lilaeopsis &
Sag. subulata, the problem is Sag. establishing much 
faster than the other. On the weekend i'll do some work on
it, try to get the sag. arranged more as a "second row" of
foreground planting, rather than as it is now. There is also
some place for mid-ground eye-catching plants to put in 
front of the myriophyllum & Limnophyla, and I plan on 
trying to attach riccia to the wood, if I can find some! 
In the meantime, I have greenwater (beginner's mistake),
so not easy, but that is the most interesting project I have
ever started! and Thanks for the help!


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