# new 40g journal



## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

hey all got my new 40 breeder set up and waiting a few days b4 i order plants.any way heres the hard scape and specs for what ill be doing in this tank 
light:1x 96watt cora life pc fixture and 1x 65 watt
cora life pc fixture for a total of 4.025 wpg 
Substrate:this stuff http://www.aquariumplants.com/product_p/ss-1.htm idk if its going to do well but ill give any thing a try once havent found any threads on it or any one else using it may be a bad thing 
Co2: DIY for now dispersed by a diffuser on each side of the tank proly gonna go with a 3 bottle set up 
Filtration: RENA XP2 nothing special for add ons im poor 
got a random 160 gph power head for some extra flow 
as for the hard scape i really want to make both sides of the tank look different allmost like 2 tanks in one but im not sure if i like the rock placement or not i may fiddle with it a bit more tomorrow any way thats what i got for now


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

well after around 2 weeks my plant order finally came today and 5 hours and some odd minutes later im all done heres the pics
front full view 








the right the side i realy enjoy right now








but then theres the left side im not so fond of for some reason i think it might be the wood but im not sure








any one else not so pleased with that side if so let me know why i cant seem to stick my finger on it 
plants are 
rotala magenta 
ludwigia peruensis
glosso 
dwarf hair grass 
reinickii 
green temple 
green wentii
lloydeilla
anubias nana 
and a red tiger lotus
let me know what ya think sorry the pics suck the water isnt clearing very well


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## mellowvision (Jun 18, 2007)

the right side is awesome. I love what you did with the rocks and soil. the left side should grow in to be pretty nice too.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I like how you changed the rocks on the right, it looks great. I also like how you have a slope formed by the plants going from the right down to the left. However, the slope stops at the dark spot in the wood, emphasizing it. And right now, the wood on the left is a bit overwhelming as it's so dark and bold it's all you really see there. Do you have enough room to have something growing in front of that heavy dark area? I do think that once the plants start growing and filling in behind the wood it should feel more in proportion. All in all, you're off to a great start and it will be neat to see how it fills in.


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

i actually have my red lotus growing back there its just a tiny bulb with about 3 leaves on it right now but thats ok since 3 days ago it only had 2  the more i look at the wood the more i hate it so i went today and found some rocks and a new piece of wood im going to do a bit of rearranging tonight and well see how it looks then


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

well im getting some results here thought id update my pics a bit  
heres the over all veiw



















just some random shots here

























my rotala magenta didnt do so well during shipping im trying to get some growth out of it so i can hack off the good parts and replant it.also some realy small bga and bba problems but nothing out of control ive all most destroyed all of it.what has realy suprised me is the growth on the tiger lotus ive never grown one before and when i got it it was just 2 inch long leaves on a bulb 13 days later and its HUGE realy truely shocked.glosso is growing up but ive got another 55 w PC kit coming on friday so a trim and a week and it should be looking better.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

It's gettin' there, Cassius!! You are off to a very promising start! Very colorful and attention grabbing! I may have gone a slightly different route and planted the crap out of the foreground with dwarf hairgrass....it would have given the tank a soft, almost dreamy sort of look, especially with all of the color in the background plants! Also, maybe a different spot for the lotus....(?) I want to see what this looks like in a few weeks. I would add the new light, and then wait a week to ten days before you start messing around with the glosso....give it some more time to establish itself.


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## patrick76 (May 21, 2007)

Love how the tank looks. What are your red plants?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

The colors, shapes and textures in the left side are wonderful. Now the foreground and right side just need to fill in. Looking good, can't wait to see how it develops.


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

thanks for the kind words all the bga has gotten worse but the bba is gone i think the bga is due to the dead rotala but hey its easy to get rid of and theres realy not that much
patrick: ummmmm on the left theres Ludwigia Peruensis,Alternanthera reineckii,and of course the lotus and on the right theres a large field of Rotala macrandra v. narrow leaf that arrived in pretty bad shape but is bouncing back 
donald:i want to move the lotus also before it gets too large to do so im just trying to figure out where to move it to  ivve been thinking about cutting down the glosso area and putting more hair grass in there but i realy cant afford any more right now im all ready about $200 over budget on this tank(the girl friend is gonna kill me:boxing: )


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Cassius--

I would move the lotus so it is in between the first stone on the right, and the stones behind it (there is a narrow gap there of substrate). Plant it towards the "back" of that area. Keep it trim; it will fill in that gap nicely and get more full. You don't need to let the leaves get to the top, unless you want it to flower.

Move the hairgrass from the back to the front, and fill the remaining area with the P. Gayii cuttings. It will take a few weeks, but I think that it would look pretty nice!

The girlfriend problem---it's called "lying" and I suggest that you start using it!


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

the gap is only like 1" or so deep the rock there extends pretty far back i was thinking of moving it to that general area though behind the rocks and in fron of a much smaller field of rotala im just waiting those out to see what ones are going to make it  shame its such a nice colored plant. but right now im fighting off what is kinda a new algae to me: Rhizoclonium upping my co2 has seemed to turn it brown but right after i remove the dead stuff argh theres more.im convinced it has got an agenda.as for the 2nd thing there i try man but im a sucker and one puppy dog face and im butter.


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

hey im back for another update. glosso is starting to fill in, and ALL the rotala i got is dead.....sigh i had to replace it with rotala indica but w/e. i also filled it in on the left where my reneckii used to be, it was getting bad.sigh such problems with this tank any way heres some pics for ya









thats just a general over veiw left and right

















and heres my main problem the yellowing leaves. i cant seem to get this tank to balance, im not giving up on it yet 








any way thats the progress if ya can call it that mass algae too, not so visible here but when you look at the tank man once again another fert problem. does ne one know of a good replacement for that hygro its casting HUGE shadows over every thing and grows beyond its welcome.i have to trim it back so much it looks bad well im off to bed i realy need some help with this one..............


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Nice job Ali! I like the abundant use of red plants. Just some caution - unless you want the lotus to form lilly pads and flower I would trim the floaters before they get to the surface. Otherwise, once the plants "knows" where the surface is it will start sending up floaters like crazy.


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

realy? thatnks man cause i am trying to "train: it down a bit.i would like to get one flower but if it keeps growing like that idk any way thanks man.


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

Your tank is really coming along now that the plants have started to grow in, they look nice a healthy too!


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

well its been awhile almost exactly a month and ive made some progress,and changes, switched to PPS-Pro for one, and also found a way to keep my DIY co2 in check. got a few new fishes and some temps as my smaller tank sprung a leak and im in the process of setting up the new tank my CPD's and cherry and orange shrimp are the temps and my new german blue rams are most defiantly the resident as they have their own "spot" now and no one is allowed to touch it.any way on to the pics my glosso is pretty chopped down due to my on going battle with BBA/staghorn but im winning now my co2 is in order........ill shut up now

here it is straight on 









just some random angles








































i got my 2 male CPD's sparring as well the color difference in the same species is amazing i think they may form new names due to these differences but here they are fighting with each other:heh: 
















any way sorry about the cruddy shots after taking these photos and wanting to retake MANY of them my %^$%# camera is dead for good ill have to get a new one


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