# 40g stretch Hex (beginner's Journal)



## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

This is my first attempt at a planted aquarium so any and all comments would be much appreciated. First lets start with the basics. The tank is a 40 gallon stretch hex by oceanic(not the easiest shape but I liked it). It's powered by an eheim 2213, hydor inline heater, pressurized 5lb co2, ~150 watts.


















Ok now on to the interesting part. I just received my wood today have started to put together my hardscape. I wanted to go with the branchy look and this is what I've came up with.









Here I've moved the wood in the back right foward a bit. Not sure if I like it as much. What do you think?


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## BigChuckP (Oct 8, 2005)

I like it, both pics look the same to me. 
What kind of substrate are you using? Are you going to make any hills? What kind of plants?
I think you have a good start, can't wait to see how it turns out.


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## JaySilverman (Jun 19, 2005)

The first pic looks more natural. The second looks too cimetrical.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

The second photo will look better once it is filled in as you will see more of the wood. Most of the wood in the first photo will disappear once the plants grow in.

That wood looks pretty dry. Are you having issues keeping it down? Got to love the overall look of the manzanita wood though


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

BigChuckP - The substrate is Schultz aquatic plant soil. I wanted some of the ada stuff but adg hasn't received there shipment yet.

JaySilverman - the symmetry was also bothering me and I have tried to rectify that in my redesign.

Dennis - fear of the wood not being visible at all had me trying to find ways to make the hard scape more vertical. Hopefully I have accomplished that in my current layout. Also the wood is pretty buoyant. I am going to try and soak it as I pick my plants, otherwise I'm going to have to weigh it down.

The issues pointed about above together with want to try something a little more unique has led me this...


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## harsh (Jan 22, 2006)

yeah the symmetry looked artificial this is good...the left part looks a bit empty but it can be corrected with a larger leaved plant or something...


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## david lim (Mar 30, 2004)

I like the previous layout you had. I think it's a nice piece of driftwood, and although the wood has a little symmetry I don't find it to be annoying in any way. The only problem I see is that the wood seems too short for the tank.

For the second layout, it looks like you already tried this by the look of the gravel sticking to the side, but when you turn the wood facing "up" make sure that the longest branch is aligned with the golden ratio. It'll make the overall look fit better. Most likely you'd need more brances or rocks to help alleviate one's focus on just the single branch.

overall nice piece(s?) of driftwood.


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

Well I've redesigned the hard scape again. I just couldn't get anything I was happy with so I broke out the jigsaw to help make the wood a little more accommodating. It worked, and I believe I have finally came up with pleasing/workable design. Right now I'm boiling the wood and waiting for my plants.


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

I received my plants today.... and I didn't realize how frustrating planting this stuff could be. I ended up getting fed up and decided to tackle it again tomorrow when I have more time. So currently I have a bunch of plants floating around inside the tank. Hopefully tomorrow will go better....


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

I finally got the wood situated the way I like it and the plants planted, it was a little frustrating at first but I started to get the hang of it. Once I had it setup it makes it a lot easier to visualize how I want the tank to turn out. Anyways I will be buying more plants this weekend to fill in some areas.

Here is a pic right after I finished the setup... the tank is still cloudy (due to the substrate) and the glass is a little dirty.


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

Here is the tank after I added a couple of filler plants... I need a couple more Cyperus helferi to fill out left rear and i'm thinking of changing foregrounds as I have no clue what i'm doing with the glosso. Other than that my wood is growing some sort of white fungus... hopefully it will not be to much of a problem to get rid of it.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

The aquarium looks nice! When the glosso fills in, it should look great! What are the plants in the middle? It looks like moss to me but I can't really tell...


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## crono (Feb 3, 2006)

Your tank is very nice
and it should look more beautiful in few time !


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks for the replies... The plant in the center is wisteria. I will probably end up changing it out but it will do for now.


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## AFK (Mar 8, 2006)

Where did you get the wood???


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

I got the wood from http://www.manzanita.com/ . They have a 30 dollar and 70 dollar aquarium pack.


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

The tanks not quite going in the direction I had planned but it is moving forward at least. I have rescaped a bit since the last photo and added a couple of fish now I am going to leave it be fore a couple of weeks to let things mature a bit. My water is still a bit cloudy and I am having a bit of algae show up on substrate ... hopefully I can clear these up. The tips of the background grass have browned a bit and I have started dosing to try and correct the issue. Other than that my glosso is growing a bit taller than I'd like but I have decided I can live with it. Anyway here is a current picture - any comments/suggestions welcome.


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## Lauren (Mar 18, 2006)

Personally, I think it looks like a duck float in the rose parade. i'd redo the wood placement to where you had it in the first picture. I think you are right on needing more background plants as well.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Lauren said:


> Personally, I think it looks like a duck float in the rose parade.


HaHahaha! Very funny! Maybe not the nicest way of saying it but funny non-the-less.

Actually, I would remove the moss from the top of the left most piece of wood and tie it about 1/4 dowm from the top. It helps to break up the wood without accenting too much. I never tie moss at the end a wood but always leave at least a little distance from the end. Keep it trimmed kind of short also, don't let it get bushy and fluffy.

Other than that it is looking nice. Once your glosso starts to grow, trim any verticle growth off as this will entice it to creep along the substrate more. Let the background stems grow for another week or 2 them trim them off about 3" above teh substrate and replent the tops amongst the rooted portions.

Nice job!


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## Lauren (Mar 18, 2006)

I realise that wasn't a very nice way of saying it, and I appoligize if I offended you, it wasn't my intention.


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

I was thinking it looked more like the Loch Ness Monster:


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## rsimmons (Feb 21, 2006)

Well I have made some changes with the driftwood as suggested... and have let the plants fill in. Although I did some trimming today I still need a little more I believe.

Here is a picture I took tonight









more can be found at http://briefcase.yahoo.com/cised106


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

I was all pumped to see the newer shots and blammo! Not there!


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