# Got wood?



## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

How much wood it too much wood and which one should I chuck? (If any)

OK I was pricing driftwood online and when I went to the LFS I work in I see our distributor has African Swahili driftwood on special.
So I make a trip up there to hand pick my pieces from the 8000Lbs they have in stock. I was there for hours! Two looking at all the fish and corals and two more digging through all the wood.

Here is some of what I came home with.

Full tank shot&#8230;.










Left Side&#8230;










Right side&#8230;










Sorry for the poor pics and the dirty glass ;-)
OK so at first I had all the branches facing the same way. Kind of like they are all in a swift current weathered away. 
Then I thought Maybe create a bridge look using the wood and future plants.
So the question is???
Is it too much? Should I only use the 2 towards the left side? Should they face the same direction or meet in the middle?
I'm looking for a little direction on the aquascape before plants are added. Speaking of plants any suggestions would be appreciated 

Also I don't want to start a substrate debate but I have another question.
I used Flourite. I now have 2-3" and was wondering if 
a)	Do I need more depth
Or&#8230;
b)	Should I add sand or another substrate to smooth out the bed

S


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

i would make a branching scape, with all the wood pointing outward and not in every direction like yours. But nice pieces.


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

OK sound good but my favorite piece is the left most one and the branch is two feet long. The base would have to go in the middle of the tank.
Hmmm I will move things around to see what that looks like.
Thanks


BTW I will be getting a background so bare with the hoses for now ](*,)


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

that's all good.


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

More like this? I can dig that too.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

yes! but get like 2 more branches.


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

Ok I'm out of wood but I have plenty to choose from at the LFS.
Here is the last piece added.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

That looks a little better to me Sharks. Personally, i would try to get another couple pieces of wood, maybe some more branchy stuff to help fill in and give a stronger vertical presence. Yo have to imagine what your hard scape will look like covered with moss, plants and having plants grow up behind and possibly in front of it. What you have will disappear a great deal when the plants are added and fill in. 

Maybe you could try laying the bigger piece or 2 on the bend so both the branch and the root part are off the substrate. This would give a more dominant impression. an also help separate the foreground from the background. Lots of stem plants in the back, glosso, HC, Marsilea, riccia, etc in the foreground and lots of Anubias and moss on the wood. Try not to completely cover the wood and especially try not to completely cover the branches with moss. Your hard scape will disappear very quickly that way

Also, I would add more substrate if you can. Slope it to the back and maybe try to make a small mound in the middle to raise the wood a little higher. Go for 3-3.5" in the back, the front looks deep enough. Also, try to smooth out the substrate with your hand, a ruler or some other flat object. It will look a lot nice that way.

What size tank is that? 15, 20 gallon? I think you are off to a great start. This has lots of potential!


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/attachment.php?attachmentid=856

is good. with some smaller branches would make it stronger.


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

OK I will look at what's in the store and maybe make another trip to the wholesaler. I've been looking at the tank and I like the central cluster alot better. It never dawned on me before so thanks. 

The tank is a 72Bow with 4 65W PC bulbs. The Fluval is going out and a new Eheim 2217 will replace that. I will go with a pressurized CO2 system.
If I add more substrate should I just add the other 2 bags of Flourite I have or mix it with another product?
Thanks for the advice!
S


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Nice man..


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

I love the style of that wood, great for attaching java moss!


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

Thanks gang
OK first for the eye candy 

I really love this new wood. I am now up to 6 pieces and I think I'm done.
Should I add some large stone work in there?
Here is what I ended up with&#8230;










And another angle&#8230;


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

As you can see I added a few fish. A dozen Brilliant Rasbora and a bamboo shrimp.
Here are the fish pics&#8230;









And here&#8230;


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

OK I have the one plant. Java Fern in my Eclipse 6. 









I could use some help picking plants. I was looking at Aquabotanicle's Hardy pack for a 55. I'm open to suggestions here. I've been reading that I need more fast growing plants in the beginning then weed them out as I go. So I'm still a little confused here.


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

I will be ordering the AM 1000 this week and a Pinpoint controller.
I will either connect it to the Eheim or run it on a loop using a power head. I’m wondering if it will slow the Eheim too much or if I will need additional flow. Right now I think there is too little flow but then again I’m used to a fast flow reef tank so I may be wrong when it comes to plants.

On the wood. I have so much and I just added more fluorite that the tank keeps clouding up. I used my Diatom filter again and again on Sunday to clear it but it’s back again. I will repeat this tomorrow.
I assume it’s the tannins in the wood leaching out. Will a diatom filter remove anything I want to keep? IE Nutrients the plants will want? I don’t think so but I haven’t searched on it yet.

Lastly at the LFS we sell aquarium pharmaceuticals test kits for FW. Are they good enough? What are the best kits for FW? I use all Salifert kits on the reef.

The air stone is just temporary for the fish and to try to rid the tank of the film left by the gravel on the surface water. 
Thanks again for any insight
S


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Oh man the wood is nice so are the rasboras.


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## fishfry (Apr 15, 2004)

wow, those are pretty rasboras...none of the fishstores around here seem to get in any tiny rasboras


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## cocoloco (Mar 7, 2005)

*Wow*

Wow sharks that wood is so great, I really love it!!

So tell me have you ordered the AM 1000 yet? If so tell me about it. Where did you order it from, or where will you order it from? I am very interested in it.

Thanks,
Andrea


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

Thanks Andrea
I like it too. We have sold a bunch of it in the LFS already. 
People love the fact that it sinks.
There was a lot of tannin leaching in the beginning but that was since I added over 20Lbs, didn't rinse or soak, and the fluorite didn't help. I did lots of water changing and ran my diatom filter for hours.

I ordered it yesterday from here&#8230;
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...l?link=/Products/CO2_Systems/co2_systems.html

Everyone else I saw was selling it for $80.

I ordered these 2 items too&#8230;
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...nk=/Products/productinfo.html&item=main:mphc_

and
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...link=/Products/productinfo.html&item=main:co2

I have ordered many things over the years there and never had a problem. I also get a small discount through the LFS account ;-)


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

Hi gang a little update. I ordered the CO2 reactor, PH controller, and regulator.
I just picked up a few plants locally.
I also ordered the 55G starter pack from Aquabotanic.com.
Robert was great and is willing to ship me either Red Temples or Rotala indica in place of the Java Ferns. I have lots of ferns already so that worked out well. I picked up some Green Cabomba, Pennywort, and a few I’m unsure of. A bunch of Green ludwiga, a bunch of foxtail, and Anacharis. There was also one I think may be a submerged or land plants. Labeled as a palm. It does look like a palm and is not listed in (my other new acquisition) Aquarium Plants by Kasselmann. A great book and a lot of new reading for me.

I called my distributor and requested 6 Otocinclus. 
I’m afraid I will overstock again. How many would I need for a 72Bow? Please keep in mind I want a couple of Farlowella or if they are plant safe a couple royal Farlowella.
Also I am considering other fish. I know I want 4-6 Rams at some point. Not sure which ones yet. 
I was thinking either long finned rosy barbs. We have been getting some really beautiful red ones. Other options are the golden barb(Schuberti Barb) or Odessa barbs. I'm concerned if they are too aggressive for this tank. Any one here keep them with Rasbora borapetensis?
We also have a dozen mystery fish in the store. They look like a type of danio or white cloud but they are yellow and have a pinkish stripe along the lateral line towards the tail. I need to do a search to find an ID. I will post a pic of them tomorrow in hopes of an ID. I’m sure they are plant safe by looking at them but would like an ID before purchase. For now they are all on hold for me. 

Here is an updated shot. I know it looks like crap and I need to split up the bunch plants but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Here is a shot as of 30 minuets ago…


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

what happened to the rasboras?


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

LOL the Rasbora borapetensis are in the tank somewhere. All 12 are still kicking it in there.
The RASBORA HETEROMORPHIA are still in the 12G.
I must have scared them off. Here is another shot with them in it…


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

get more rasboras in there, they are nice.


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

Well we have about 30 more Rasbora borapetensis in the shop. I will check for females. Looks like I have all males. 
I know many FW distributors only sell one sex so I may have to special order a few females.
I will post pics of this Mystery fish tomorrow. I checked out the golden white cloud and I think it’s something else. Possibly a baby killifish.


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

Well I found out what the mystery fish is.
It was labeled as Glow Light Danio. 
I may try a group of them.
I found a few links here.
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=129
http://aquaworld.netfirms.com/Cyprinoidae/Other/Danio_choprae.htm


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

wow, nice fish.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Ther is not much I can comment on right now. I thnk you are off to a good start with the wood and its placement. I am sure that as you add more plants and they fill in, you will fine tune its placement and possibly decide to add some more hardscape, especially in the way of rock to add some "weight" to the bottom of the 'scape and give it a strong connection to the forground. You definately need more plants, not only to you run the large chance of algae outbreaks with so few plants, but the whole thing looks incomplete right now. You are off to a good start though. Check out hte PlantFinder to learn more about individual species of plants and us ethe beautiful photos as inspiration. They are your pallete of colors

Get more plants, any you can get. It does not matter if they are not to be part of the final arrangement. Also, checkout the aquascaping forum decide things you like and don't like in a palnted aquarium. Do a google search for Takashi Amano, Jeff Senski and the AGA aquascaping contests. Look at every photo you can and try to take away a little idea of any piece of info you can from each of them. Every aquascape has somehting to show adn you will only improve if you look for those things

Pelase keep us updated as it fills in and thakns for sharing it again. IT is such an exciting tiem as you begin "emmersing" yourself in the hobby. Enjoy it!


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## sharks (Mar 7, 2005)

Thanks Dennis I appreciate the feedback.
I’m defiantly going to add at least 1 stone. I was thinking something large on the left side to try and anchor that large branch going off to the right. I just need to find a stone I like with a good shape.
For plants I have a 55G starter pack coming hopefully tomorrow according to UPS.
The CO2 equipment should be here on Friday or Monday. 
My focus for now will be planting and that is all new to me. In the LFS we just leave them bunched and now I have to plant and be creative.
Believe me I’ve been looking at photos. But I haven’t seen Jeff Senski tanks so I will begin looking all over again.
Thanks again gang for the advice and insight
S


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I must apologize, its Jeff Senske, not Senski. Sorry


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