# Just let me know what you think, gives me ideas



## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

Hi there.
Just wanting to upload some pictures and get some opinions to tell what others thing and maybe get some new Ideas about the tank.

























Centre of the tank:









Right side of the tank:



























Left side:

















Previously without the forground plant (I know it isn't a foreground plant really) and just some fast growing stem plants on the left as I was having an algae issue and I though they could suck up anything excessive and also grow to be used in another tank I was setting up for a friend. (it worked)



















Anything I am missing. I assume when the Blyxa Japonica grows in more it will look fine in the tank. I have found issues everytime I grew foreground plants like hair grass and HC so I would rather not have a small plant that is harder to maintain and often gets algea with me.

Tank specs:
50 gallon (90cm X 45 X 45)
CO2 on 1 hour before lights and off 1 hour before lights - pressurized
Ista Mix Max external CO2 reactor
Tetra EX Power 120 External Cansiter filter 1260L/hr
Lights 120 watts T8 (On 9 hours a day now)

Plants start pearling within the first 2 hours of lights on and continue until lights off(and after that)
No algea (we some green spots on the glass)

Ferts are PPS now, previous EI but I dropped down the lights from 180 watts and I wanted slower controlled growth.

Water changes still 50% weekly with treated water.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

I was looking at your photos thinking what you really need is something growing around the sword, slightly higher than the foreground plants, and then I scrolled down to see the old version when you had those stem plants in a swathe wrapping around to the back! Were they Ludwigia? I'd add a group of them back pretty much where they were, between the Blyxa (?) and the sword. The hoizontal stem plants leaves will look great between the vertical foreground and the large sword IMHO.

Love the wood BTW. What moss/liverwort is it growing on it? Looks superb.


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

These are previous stages of the tank over the last few years

June 2006









July 2006









November 2006









December 2006









Can't find any picturea after that until April 2007









June 2007


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

ed seeley said:


> I was looking at your photos thinking what you really need is something growing around the sword, slightly higher than the foreground plants, and then I scrolled down to see the old version when you had those stem plants in a swathe wrapping around to the back! Were they Ludwigia? I'd add a group of them back pretty much where they were, between the Blyxa (?) and the sword. The hoizontal stem plants leaves will look great between the vertical foreground and the large sword IMHO.


Ok. I was thinking they looked a little strange there, and thought as the foreground plant grew in and up a little as it usually does it would fill in the empty space. Though I realize there was will still be empty space and it seemed like something would stll be missing. Yes it was Ludwigia. I will look at replacing it there.

[/QUOTE] Love the wood BTW. What moss/liverwort is it growing on it? Looks superb.[/QUOTE]

Thanks. The wood too a lot of time to find and develop. It is 7 piece or more of wood. The moss is Taiwan moss, I like the way it grows and clings to the wood.


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## black_lung (Dec 19, 2006)

it's a lovely scape, but a bit too symetrical IMO. i second the idea of adding some finer leaved plants in front of the sword and letting them grow out a ways into the foreground. think it would define it more. i love the drifwood and the moss looks abosulutely amazing. everytime i look at it, it reminds me of a coral reef. i would try and find a branchy piece to add to the right side, or rearrange a piece just to break up the symetry(sp?) a bit. i like the april/june placement better. 
i can't get over the appearence your moss has taken. i have lots of Taiwan moss in my tanks, but none of it looks as crisp and compact as yours. mine grows in long overlapping sheets..gets pretty shaggy looking after awhile. is there anything special you do to yours?


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## Nevermore (Mar 26, 2007)

I like your tank. I especially like the moss-covered wood. That's Taiwan moss? Did you trim it to get it to look like that?


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

Well this is the moss, maybe mislabled, I am not sure. Can you identify it?








Is it Taiwan moss?
I just remove it from the wood, sort through it and retie it to the wood every 8 months or so as it grows rather thick and the bottom part can rot and become loose.


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## gas (Jul 27, 2006)

Hi
I really like your April 07 version , best for me.
The latest is good too and the driftwood with moss is very pretty but there are too many big swords for me (and I dont like this plant) but with the ludwigia? around them its better, hope I can see ayupdate soon :-D


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I too like the moss-on-the-wood thing. You have it trimmed very nicely. I second the opinion about the swords. They're just too big for this size of tank. It isn't until you get up to the 180g or 240g sizes that you can really get away with them IMO. Tanks look bigger if you use plants with small leaf sizes (a strike against the lotus too). A 50g tank isn't small, but still I'd avoid too much of the monster leaf look.

Your plants are obviously quite healthy. Maybe try a bunch of Limnophila aromatica or a similar not-too-big, not-too-demanding stem plant in the back corner in the place of one of the swords.


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

June and July 2006 were my fav of those scapes, possibly because they didn't have the large sword in them. Maybe something along those lines but with more emphasis on the moss/driftwood like in the more recent scapes?

In the June scape what is the plant you have in the back corners? and also the purple plant on the right side of the tank?


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

July 2006 the plant in the back left was called "Giant Hair Grass" by the store i bought it, though I know it is not. It is the same plant that is used in many ADA tanks at the back of the Iwagami tanks which grows tall and then along the water surface. It was a good plant but grew very fast (about 2 inches a week!!!) and was constantly putting runners up all around the tank, very hard to control.

By the way the large sword plant is right beside it to the right, just smaller then. (though 2 times the size of when I bought it)

The purple plant I have no idea the name and I have never seen it again. I actually hated the plant as the color was great but it had a problem with algea on the lower leaves all the time when all plants aroudn it were growing great! no mater what I did, where I moved it or what I dosed.

Limnophila aromatica I will look for, but not sure. (Care: A slow growing species that requries high light and soft acidic water. Propagation by cuttings. http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_viewer.php?id=147) Well I don't have high light but I do have soft water. I am not a fan of many stem plants in my tank, I find it easier with larger slower growers.


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## Nevermore (Mar 26, 2007)

teacherthomas said:


> Well this is the moss, maybe mislabled, I am not sure. Can you identify it?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


There is a mini Taiwan moss, I wonder if that's what that is. It's very nice whatever it is. Thanks for laying it out on the paper.


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

teacherthomas said:


> Well this is the moss, maybe mislabled, I am not sure. Can you identify it?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


IMO.. i think it is the Weeping/Willow Moss.... it couldn't be taiwan moss.. because if it is... you will the distinctive 'Christmas trees'


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

Well this is Willow Moss - Frontinalis antipyretica, http://www.aquamoss.net/Willow-Moss/Willow-Moss.htm

















so it isn't willow moss

Java Moss - Taxiphyllum barbieri http://www.aquamoss.net/Java-Moss/Java-Moss.htm








Isn't Java Moss

Stringy Moss - Leptodictyum riparium http://www.aquamoss.net/Stringy-Moss/Stringy-Moss.htm








Isn't stringy moss

Taxiphyllum species "Peacock" http://www.aquamoss.net/Peacock-Moss/Peacock-Moss.htm









It is most similiar to this so it might be that!

Or Christams moss based on this
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/aquaticmagic/27500-aquatic-moss.html

though Singapore Moss - Vesicularia dubyana looks almost identical to Christmas moss and very similiar to Peacock moss.

God this is confussing


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## Nevermore (Mar 26, 2007)

I PMed someone over at PT who knows a lot about mosses to look at the picture of your moss; he hasn't replied yet, he may be away. I'm interested in hearing what he thinks the moss might be. I'll let you know what he says when he gets back to me if he doesn't post here.


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

Ok thanks Nevermore. I appreciate that.


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## wiste (Feb 10, 2006)

> Is it Taiwan moss?


It looks like Christmas moss.
http://www.aquamoss.net/Christmas-Moss/Christmas-Moss.htm


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

How do Peacock moss, christmas moss and singapore moss differ? in pictures they all look the same and like mine, is it only the texture?


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## wiste (Feb 10, 2006)

Christmas moss and Singapore moss are similar. Peacock moss does not have the large gaps in the branches like Christmas/Singapore moss.


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## Nevermore (Mar 26, 2007)

It does look like that picture of Christmas moss.

I still haven't heard back from this person who's very knowledgeable about mosses. He hasn't visited the forum in a while; he's usually a regular.


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## fish newb (May 10, 2006)

Nevermore said:


> It does look like that picture of Christmas moss.
> 
> I still haven't heard back from this person who's very knowledgeable about mosses. He hasn't visited the forum in a while; he's usually a regular.


Very busy summer, almost lived at my beach cottage all summer and there isn't a computer there . Just logged on today and looked.

From my opinion it IS NOT Willow moss, or Taiwan. It probably is Christmas moss. You trim it a LOT it looks like and if you hadn't showed the picture of the moss fronds I would think it was a liverwort, such as pelia/ mini pelia or loma fern (aka susswassesetang?spelling?)

When trimmed as much as yours is it can take on another characteristic than usually seen.

It may also be stringy moss, but I'm not entierly sure.

-Andrew


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

Actually, I have never trimmed moss. I didn't even know that people trim moss. I retie it once every 6 ~8 months as the underside near the wood will turn brown when it gets to thick, but besides that I do nothing.

It is lightly placed on the wood, tied with standard cotton thread and then placed in tank. After about 3 weeks it starts to look thick and full and continues to go that way. I do nothing, until I think, maybe it is getting to thick, then I take it out, remove the moss from the wood, sort through it and then retie the good stuff.


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