# My new nature aquarium - WIP



## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Hi every one! 
I have finally replaced my good old low-light tank with a new bigger one. I miss my old pal already . But cheer up! because this new tank will be very good ( hopefully ). 
It's placed in the kitchen, next to the water cooler ( get it? lol! ). I'm lucky the glass tank didn't cost much, only about 13 US$, dimentions are: 
60X40X40 cm.

Here are some pics ( tell me what you guys think so far...)










The first layer of gravel and mulm ( from the old tank ) 









This is the final hard-scape arrangement, as you can see the left foreground corner will be plain sand. The piece or wood which looks like a bone will be covered with Java Moss, like an old tree in the jungle..


















I will plant it tomorrow, now I'll just drink some coffe and relax!


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

Looks good so far, looking forward to seeing it after it's planted! I like the wood.


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Looks nice, I would like to see a little bit more wood since it looks very nice.


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Thanks guys...
These were the only good looking pieces of wood in the store, and I took them with a special price; 5 US$ ( the small piece with Anubias attached to it has been with me for a long time ). I might just add some rocks though.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

What plants are you planning to use in this layout and what lighting? what kind of substrate are you using behind the open sand forground? Looks great so far, I definately second the suggestion to add more wood, its completely up to you, but once the plants fill in the majority of the hardscape vanishes.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

So clean and pretty looking dude. Can't wait to see what other plants are going in, but I'm pulling for some more mid-ground plants like anubias or bush green stems.

Anyway, if you don't want to take out the wood to attach the moss, you could always super-glue it. Just get a bit up super glue and put a drop on the end of a frond before applying to the wood. The moss will attach itself (in the case of java/taiwan) and grow over the glue eventually. I did this with Taiwan in my tank. Not sure if it works well with others like X-mas that don't cling on their own very well.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Looks like another nice scape in progress. I always admire the bare sand areas. I have such bad collectoritis that I just can't bear to leave part of the tank unplanted.


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

I want to add green plants, no reds, but maybe some yellow. Plants I already have ( waiting in another small tank ):
Java Moss
Java Ferns
Crypts ( not sure what type exactly )
jungle vals
anubias nana
and Hottonia palustris ( or Myriophyllum mattogrossense, I'm not sure which one I have! )


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Thanks Steven for the tip, I will try it. And thank you all for the kind words...
Cheers!


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## Blue_Dolphinvn (Nov 12, 2006)

This tank will be paradise for shrimps as cherry red or red & black bee...they have the open area to enjoy....


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Nice setup so far, can't wait for the rest of the additions. Are you an accounting student? I ask because you use WIP for the thread title.


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Ah, well lildark, I'm a Computer Science student. But as an artist I use WIP alote (^_^)


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

I'm currently filling the tank with water, it's still not full but here are some pics... I've changed the arrangement a bit, and added some volcanic rocks (collected near the dead sea).










Does anyone knows the name of this plant?









the main stem plant









I will post some more pics when the water turns clear, and after I plant some more... :heh:


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Day one......Still a bit cloudy, but it's ready for some pics



















My little brother says this piece of wood looks like a dinosaur head with hair :sing: 









40 cm of width, the fish will be very pleased I guess :heh: 









Cheers!


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

Great tank, I love the dimensions!

As for that plant ID, it looks like petite nana. Great stuff


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## dufus (Jan 9, 2007)

What is the main stem plant? it's awesome. the unid'd is petite nana it looks like.


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Ah, thanks guys.
dufus, I'm not sure if the main stem plant is actually a Hottonia palustris or a Myriophyllum mattogrossense, it's still in a bad shape... I'll wait untill it grows a bit and see..

Cheers


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

looks to me like some kind of myrio or maybe Parrots Feather which is not a good choice for submersed culture, it prefers to have is roots in flowing water and the rest emersed. Hopefully its Myriophyllum  Hottonia Palustris looks a little different.


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Ah thanks for the info davis ^_^


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Looks like emersed parrot feather to me too


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I like how you positioned the filter. Its not that noticeable. How much of the sand are you leaving bare? (if you already stated this I am sorry)


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## dufus (Jan 9, 2007)

It does look kinda like parrot feather, but a little different. it looks smaller. my grandpa has that in his pond(parrot feather)


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Robert Hudson said:


> I like how you positioned the filter. Its not that noticeable. How much of the sand are you leaving bare? (if you already stated this I am sorry)


Sorry for my late reply, I didn't receive any notification by mail  
Anyways, sand will be mostly bare Robert.

Here are some pics of the fish ( 2 types of Rainbows: 1-Dwarfs and ...2-Forked Rainbows? anyone heard of them?)

I loved the Forked ones, they are so playfull, and funny :mrgreen: . Photographing them is impossible with my point-and-shoot camera, but I took my chances >>>




























The males are colorfull, and females are not. Sorry for the poor pics.

Other fish: SAE.....


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

looks like some nice Furcata Rainbows


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## Blue_Dolphinvn (Nov 12, 2006)

Your rain bow are quite nice & strange to me....the A. petit nana should not be planted into the subtrate like that, they usually root in the wood or rock surface...


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Thanks for the kind words (^_^).
Blue Dolphinvn, I noticed the A.petit is giving some new leafs and rooting nicley...though I do agree with you! if it didn't work out the way I want I will attach it to the wood...


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Some new pics in good quality...














































Cheers!


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## Dabolox (Jan 5, 2007)

Hi Jassar... nice tank and beautiful fishes...


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## Freerider (Nov 8, 2006)

I didnt notice you mentioning the lights you are using. What are they and where can i get them as i nee d a high quality light with a clamp on feature?
Nice tank! Looks custom made.


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Thanks Dabolox  

Freerider, right you are! I gave the measurments to a shop which builds tanks for stores, I got it after 3 days :heh: , and it costed me 10 JDs ( almost 15 US$ ). 
As for the lights I found them at the LFS for 10 US$ each. They are each 10W neon lights.
Too bad mail order is not that popular here....


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

Update:
The plants are starting to fill in, though still not as dense as I want.....I've added another lamp to help them some more.
Some bad news: one day I woke up and found all the forked rainbows ( Furcata Rainbows ) dead..! 
all other fishes look nice and healthy , plus some new tetras are in there now.





































Cheers!


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## dirrtybirdy (May 22, 2007)

i like the set up! after i somewhat learn stuff with my first 10 gallon project, i want to start a tank this size


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## arowanaman (Jun 14, 2006)

I like the rocks though I wonder if they might have some chemical makup that intime affected the rainbows. nice setup I wish it only cost $15.00 for a tank like that here more like $115. US for a tank like that here but I guess price is all relitive to where you live.:smile:


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

dirrtybirdy , thanks 

arowanaman , I'm sure the rocks are safe since they are volcanic....? they were collected from near the Dead Sea.
As for the price I guess it has reached 70$ (including the fish,plants, filter, lights, food and ferts), but there are some brand-names here, ever heard of Jebo?, a Jebo tank with almost the same size of mine+the cabin+ the hood+ the lights and filter costs about 200$.

I'll stick to the custom made ones


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## arowanaman (Jun 14, 2006)

Don't blame you good job.


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## zQ. (Dec 15, 2006)

Hello Jassar
Your tanks look nice.But why dont you add some foreground plant and some more crypt near the DW ? Just imo.
@@ About the Jebo products,im still using much of it.Filter,lighting it not very expensive but it gud,right ? Ah,your hang on filter maybe the Jebo 508  :heh: :heh: 
At my place,a ADA-like tank with the same size with your tank cost 16% and i got one :heh:


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## jassar (Jul 30, 2006)

zQ, yep it's a 508 Jebo filter, it's not bad ^_^



> At my place,a ADA-like tank with the same size with your tank cost 16% and i got one


lol ! good deal. :heh:


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## zQ. (Dec 15, 2006)

Oops,wrong typing :heh: 16$ :heh:


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