# my tank on 7/17



## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

Some have asked to see pics of my tank. A friend dropped by and took a shot for me to share.
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Jeff


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

nice tank! love the crypts!


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## Stevenl (Mar 31, 2004)

Nice tank~~  
What ferts do you use to make the crypts so lovely? thx


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Wow, that tank is very nice the plants look very healthy!


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## chrisl (May 24, 2004)

Beautiful Tank Jeff! I too like the crypts, and well the whole aquascape is very nice! Thanks for sharing!

Chris


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## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

Stevenl said:


> What ferts do you use to make the crypts so lovely?


Thanks for the remarks. I do nothing special for the crypts 'cept excercise patience and weed them out to make room for intresting stem plants.

This tank is plain gravel with a little duplarit in the bottom. It was set up in 1997. My current fert routine in this standard 190watt/60g tank is: 1/2 tsp KNO3 and 1/4 tsp enema on odd numbered days, and 20 ml TMG on the even numbered days.

What I love about this tank you can't really see in a photo. It has a self sustaining beckfords pencilfish population. They spawn daily and enough fry survive to out pace the mortality rate. 
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Jeff


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## Macbrush (Mar 29, 2004)

Nice tank! I always wanted a tank like this! Seriously, you making me want to completely redo my tank!!!

Nice work! I love the crypts!


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

I like the way the crypts look also. That is really good use of the wendtii. I have trouble making mine look good because they are so burgandy in color.

You said the pencil fish spawn daily? Do you mean 7 days a week? How many of them are there? Thats awesome the hardest fish i have spawned is guppies!


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## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

Macbrush said:


> you making me want to completely redo my tank!!!


This is not a tank that has been aquascaped to a predetermined layout and grown for 80 days. It is the result of my ongoing intrest in the hobby. Everyday I trim, weed and feed but I never completely redo my tank. 
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Jeff


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## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

What's a guy gotta do to incite a critical comment? Come on, I know its out there!
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Jeff


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

Hey, you asked for it!

Actually, it's a beautiful tank. The colors are remarkably rich and enjoyable and I love the way that your green foreground plant (glosso?) has intergrown with the burgundy-colored crypts. I don't recall having ever seen quite that effect before.

The aquascape lacks an obvious focus. While that may be a weakness in the aquascape I expect that you have it that way for a reason. If so, can you explain it? After studying the picture for a while I noticed two features that draw my attention. One is the alley leading back to the left of center with the stand of A. reineckii peaking out from the back of it. The second is the ramp of light green stems to the right of center. I expect that both features stand out more when the aquarium is viewed from different angles, giving your aquascape more impact in person then it has in the photo. Also in both cases I think the features could be given more emphasis from this view simply by judiciously pruning a few plants -- something you have chosen not to do.

In contrast to the middle of the tank, I can't imagine what you intend to do with the ends of the tank. A work in progress? Benign neglect in progress?


Roger Miller


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## Aaron (Feb 12, 2004)

Paint the back blue to give it a transcendant look. Nah Jeff, I'm just playing. I agree with Roger, everything (all the plants) have an equal presence. You might want to allow some to step forward and flex their muscles. I could see how the stand of Rotala (macrandra "green" or indica, Ican't tell) on the mid. right could be trimmed and trained into something quite substantial, kinda like a living rock. Speaking of rocks, adding more hardscape on a larger scale might help, although I'd consider it an easy way out at this point. 

I might also pull some of the Crypt spiralis( the tall grassy plants), plant them in tighter clumps and let them spread by themselves. This will give the tank a more dynamic, interesting skyline. 

Looks good, Keep it up!


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## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

Roger Miller said:


> I love the way that your green foreground plant (glosso?) has intergrown with the burgundy-colored crypts.


That is the larger Marsilea grown in my lean conditions. Erik Leung tells me that it looks identical to his minima and that the same Marsilea in his conditions has 1/4" to 1/2" round leaves and is taller. Most of the brown crypts are an unknown variety that seems to stay smallish for me. I gave Erik a plant to see how big it will get given richer supplementation. For size comparison look at my spiralis, I expect that relationship would hold given richer conditions. I think this specific combination holds great potential for use in a more selective scape.

Aaron,

Removing the hardscape is part of the challenge that I am working with. In a tank like Takehiko Honoki's most of its impact resides in the presentation of its ornament.http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1948. My previous scape had a powerfull central ornament that dominated my garden for over 3 years. In discussing the AGA's first Amano presentation/demonstration within sfbaaps the question was posed, "is a flat plane of gravel a hardscape?". To address that question, I eliminated all ornament and discovered that mechanisms of water circulation are an inevitable hardscape factor.
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Jeff

Here is a close up of forground:


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

Very nice contrast, Jeff. I have one tank with a small brown-leafed crypt intergrown with low-growing, bright green dwarf sag. The color contrast is similar to what you hare getting, but my crypts' color is not quite so rich as yours and the growth habit of dwarf sag is very different from marsilea so the effect isn't the same.

When I've let marsilea grow into other plants it has always tended to reach for light -- sometimes a long way. You may have enough light and enough space between the crypts to keep the marsilea happy. It will be interesting to see how it works in a longer run.


Roger Miller


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## pineapple (May 4, 2004)

I find that Marsilea often tends to head for low light parts of the aquarium, loves to follow borders (rock sides and tank sides), and is very variable in height. It needs constant tending to otherwise runners go through other plant groups very effectively. But all in all a delightful plant as the photo(s) above show.

Andrew Cribb


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

I really like this tank, as it looks refreshing and different to my eye. One of the first things I noticed was the lack of any hardscaping (rocks, driftwood). Another one was the very strong use of vertical lines. For my taste, the use of vertical lines is a bit too strong and creates a tad too much tension with the more horizontal lines created by the foreground crypts, stem plants.

The path leading the eye toward the back and the layering of the Limnophila aromaticoides ("Gratiola") on the right catch my eye the most. Overall, the aquascape reminds me of a panoramic --but the crypts keep leading the eye upward instead of horizontally across the tank.

Thanks for posting!

Carlos


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## chrisl (May 24, 2004)

Jeff, what green plant is that in the background about 1/3 from the r. side?? between the ?balansaes and behind the E.Stellata?

chris


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## Sgtreef (Jul 4, 2004)

That is one heck of a good looking tank you have their Mr. Kropp.
:shock:


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## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

chrisl said:


> what green plant is that in the background about 1/3 from the r. side?? between the ?balansaes and behind the E.Stellata?


Do you mean the fine whorls of Myriophyllum matogrossense green bettween the crypt spiralis and behind the L. aromatica? Or is it the small leaf pairs of Micranthemum sp. You had some Myriophyllum matogrossense green in your tank when I saw it.
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Jeff


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## chrisl (May 24, 2004)

Yes, it's the Lim. Aromatica. Nice plant.
Intesting too, very similar in looks to E. Stellata no?


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