# ADG-Mike does it again-120cm open top



## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

This is a recently completed 120cm tank aquascape by my brother Mike here in the ADG gallery. All ADA substrates, liquid fertilizers and materials were used.










Enjoying the beauty of open top style and stemmed plants.


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## Hawaiian (Aug 17, 2005)

Nothing but Admiration for both your talents.

Ike


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

I like how the plants are not planted in a bunch or trimmed to a mound... and how the plants are spread out horizontally, and giving it a panoramic view. Wish I could be there to see it in person! How about a plant list


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## msenske (Feb 4, 2005)

Thank you . I am a little embarrassed to say that I will have to rely on Jeff to provide the plant list . Unfortunately I am not that talented when it comes to aquatic plant identification . I know a little but not allot . I am fortunate to have Jeff and Luis Navarro around when it comes to plant I.D .


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## AMP (Nov 11, 2006)

You Guys are simply Amazingrayer:


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## xcooperx (Jun 24, 2006)

WOW!!!!, what are the plants?


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!


That tank turned out friggen awesome Mike!!!!!


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## msenske (Feb 4, 2005)

Eklikewhoa,

Thanks, Its cool to hear that from you . I remember you stopped by for some plants after I took down the previous scape and I had you check out the hard scape . Remember the hard scape of this layout ? Amazing how it disappears and becomes the foundation for the layout.


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## ballsmyberries (Feb 21, 2007)

One word. WOW!


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

msenske said:


> Eklikewhoa,
> 
> Thanks, Its cool to hear that from you . I remember you stopped by for some plants after I took down the previous scape and I had you check out the hard scape . Remember the hard scape of this layout ? Amazing how it disappears and becomes the foundation for the layout.


I remember exactly how the hardscape was and it's amazing how it turned out!


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

A really big WOW! nothing else to say (^_^)


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## Freemann (Mar 19, 2004)

Very nice tank indeed .
Can you please tell us a bit more about the tank?
How old is this setup?
How long did it take to stabilize?
What algae issues did the tank had initially (if it had any) and how you remedy them?
Do you use RO water or just tap (is your water hard?)?
Do you find that adding more from some of the ADA ferts helps to remedy any problems you may have and what are this problems and the additional ADA ferts if any?
Do you plant heavily from the beggining (as much as we see grown now)?
Is there a chance to measure and give us some nutrient readings (NO3, PO4, K e.t.c)?
Is this tank supposed to be long lasting or for demonstration purposes only and sort lived?
Plus anything else you feel attributes to the success of this tank, plant health wise.
When I see impressive tanks like this all I want to know is how someone achieve healthy growth like this. I personally believe (and that maybe different from other peoples opinion) that plant hardscape plus aquascaping can be accomplished fairly easy as long as the plant health part is resolved.
So please give us your lights on your success on the plants health part. Also do you believe this days that such health can be achieved without the use of ADA products?
Thanks in advance
Freemann


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## nornicle (Jun 17, 2007)

amazing the the senske brothers never fail to amaze.

Could you give us an idea of the hardscape? my feeling is a very steep rise made of aquasoil at the back? 

also how do you guys deal with the initial bout of ammonia and no3 or do you guys plant so heavily that it doesn't come up on your radars?


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## FelixAvery (Mar 29, 2007)

lovely, what plants is the foreground please


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

Thanks everyone. 

Plant list: 
foreground: Eleocharis acicularis, Lilaeopsis novozalindae, 
midground: Hygrophila sp., Bolbitis
background: Limnophilia aromatica, "giant" stellata (I forget the name of that main one in the middle), Rotala rotundifolia, Rotala sp. "colorata", Ludwigia arcuata, Micranthemum umbrosum

Freeman: 
The tank is about 4 months old. 

Very minor algae issues-- just some BBA that was dealt with using SeaChem EXCEL, high dose (about 3 times recommended amount for 5 days), and water change every other day-40%. 

Just tap water used-- Houston city supply which is quite hard indeed. We never use RO, and never have before. Every tank we have done is regular (hard) tap water. 

This tank was planted heavily from the beginning because of the style desired for the finished layout. We don't necessarily plant heavily though. If we are doing say a simplt iwagumi/rock style tank with just a foreground plant, then we just try to cover as much of the substrate as is practical. We never add temporary stemmed plants or anything like that. 

We simply use the ADA liquid ferts on out planted tanks. Mike dosed GREEN GAIN and ECA very heavily on this tank-- ECA was dosed almost daily whenever stemmed plants were sufficiently grown back from trimming. GREEN GAIN was dosed heavily after trimming (after initial water change and for 3-4 days following). New growth was always established in 5-7 days and health was superb/fewer strees symptoms noticed. 
There was aperiod when Lilaeopsis was not growing so well and green spot algae was present. I noted this and had Mike add higher doses of Green Brighty SPECIAL LIGHTS (ADA's N and P and additional K), and the problem was quickly remedied. With so much light and so many hungry, fast-growing stemmed plants, these nutrients were being quickly absorbed, and slower matabolism of Lilaeopsis was not able to get its fair share!

Not much chance of testing water parameters. We do not own those test kits. Maybe Luis or someone would want to stop by and do that. 

Thsi tank was not intended to be long lasting (for us anyway). While it could be kept going longer, indeed, we are always anxious to try new layout styles with this particular tank. We do long-term layouts often in other tanks. 

Diligence of maintenance-- frequent water change, good dosing regimen, frequent trimming of stemmed plants. 

Mike and I have not been able to produce these high level results until we started understanding and using ADA products. Can you achieve this health with other products/methods? I am sure you can. Does ADA make it easier? In my opinion, yes. The combination of a rich, active substrate with precise daily dosing of nutrients + following the guidelines of Mr. Amano (creator of the style in the first place) = greater success, simple as that.


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

nornicle said:


> amazing the the senske brothers never fail to amaze.
> 
> Could you give us an idea of the hardscape? my feeling is a very steep rise made of aquasoil at the back?
> 
> also how do you guys deal with the initial bout of ammonia and no3 or do you guys plant so heavily that it doesn't come up on your radars?


Mike will have to discuss the hardscape question.

Initial ammonia is not something we really think about too much-- we just do water changes every 2-4 days depending on appearance of the plants/observation of conditions, no matter what. Ammonia always works itself out through the establishment of nitrifying bacteria, and we wait a few weeks before adding shrimps, O-cats, and other fish.


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## UG Dude! (Apr 12, 2007)

Simply amazing tank...


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## Freemann (Mar 19, 2004)

Thanks you Jeff


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## jeffboyarrdee (Jun 9, 2007)

Do you guys find that plants melt a little initially in Amazonia aquasoil? or is that just my bad luck with starting tanks....so far i have this crypt tank and like 50% of the cryptocorine balansae that i planted had melted...and even to this day my crypt tank isnt growing as healthily as i would like it to be...even some leaves here and there melt, but its a drastic improvement over time...is there some trick to keeping healthy crypts?


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

Extraordinary tank, your talent never ceases to amaze me, wish my tanks would look half as appealing as yours; but I am working on it, hopefully some day!


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

I agree to the statement about ADA products! I saw this tank personally the day Mike was scaping it and to think back it was like yesterday when I saw it.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Great layout guys 

Do you start dosing right away after setup? If not, what is your normal "ramp up" for dosing?

Thanks

jB


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

awesome!!


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

msenske said:


> ...I had you check out the hard scape. Remember the hard scape of this layout? Amazing how it disappears and becomes the foundation for the layout.


This is one more beautiful planted aquarium!

Mike, do you have any pics of the hardscape? If you don't, will you describe it?


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

jeff- I really have not had a problem with crypts except for when I move submersed, established ones into a newly set-up ADA substrate tank. Then melting is a problem, but I used to have that problem with other substrates too. As a rule I don't even try to move submersed crypts or start them in a new tank. I always use immersed-form, nursery grown crypts and I must say that I have not a any problems-- and I use then a lot. I can think of no fewer than 6 tanks right now with fairly substantial crypt populations, no melting issues at all. Were yours immersed or submersed when you started them? 

jason- we start in with Brighty K (potassium) from day one, along with Green Bacter. We then phase in 1/2 dose or so (more like 2/3 dose on a high-light, heavy stemmed plant tank like this one) of Green Brighty STEP 1. Brighty Special LIGHTS, ECA, Green Gain usually don't enter the scene until after about a month or so, once things start getting settled, growing, needing trimming, etc. Once things start looking a little pale, we ramp it up further. As I have said before, we like to keep things a little lean (well, very lean actually) in the first 4-5 weeks. As long as plants are growing-I don't worry much and then wait for the plants to "tell me" they need more. I find this to be a very effective early defense against algae.


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## nevada (Apr 3, 2005)

Well Its really a great tank! Great Work Jeff!


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

jsenske said:


> As I have said before, we like to keep things a little lean (well, very lean actually) in the first 4-5 weeks. As long as plants are growing-I don't worry much and then wait for the plants to "tell me" they need more. I find this to be a very effective early defense against algae.


Amen brother!!

Thanks for the explaination.

jB


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Wonderful work! I love the deep colors. 

On a side note, it was great to see that ADG is the ADA distributor for my favorite LFS, Premier Reef in Lakewood, CO. They said they get a big kick out of working with you guys.


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## rbittman (Apr 27, 2006)

That tank is just spectacular. I really like the horizontal look and the fact that there are "layers" of color and texture as you go from front to back. I think the use of color was really nice too, with no strong reds, but nice use of greens and yellows. Absolutely beautiful!


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## msenske (Feb 4, 2005)

Thank you . This week I will be taking this one down and preparing for a new layout . I have to keep Jeff on his toes .  Speaking of Jeff I will try to have him photograph the hard scape this time on the new layout so that we can show before and after photos.I normally do my layouts for my office aquarium after hours when no one is around and my wife and kids are not expecting me . I find aquascaping most enjoyable when the element of time in not relevant .


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

That tank is breathtaking. Wonderful layout and very healthy and lush. Kudos!


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Jeff/Mike

What is your process for fish and critters? How long do you wait before/between you add shrimp, otos, and final school of fish?

Thanks again guys

jB


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## msenske (Feb 4, 2005)

I normally add shrimp and otos right at 7 to 10 days . I sometimes wait 4 to 6 weeks before I fish . Thats just in my personnel aquarium . For clients its much sooner . it sometimes takes me a while to decide on what fish I think will be appropriate for the layout and then there is the availability issue of the fish I may want . The last two scape's I have done the fish I chose looked great in person but did not show as well in a photo . I am going for a fish that has a little more "pop" in my next aqua scape.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Stunning! I love the style, a nice mix of east and west, like another one of yours I remember, Mike.



jsenske said:


> Just tap water used-- Houston city supply which is quite hard indeed. We never use RO, and never have before. Every tank we have done is regular (hard) tap water.


Including your discus set ups? No heavy metal removal necessary, or is your water "clean"?


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## rchaves (Mar 2, 2006)

Simply amazing tank

:thumbsup:


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

gf225 said:


> Stunning! I love the style, a nice mix of east and west, like another one of yours I remember, Mike.
> 
> Including your discus set ups? No heavy metal removal necessary, or is your water "clean"?


Yes-- including the discus tanks. I don't know a lot about our tap water other than we us it for everything without too much trouble.


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