# [Wet Thumb Forum]-10 Gallon Tank Journal-- updated 08/02/03



## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Hey gang,

We had some discussion about the blue rock here here in DE on the Tropica pics thread, and I decided to set up a "Sanzoniwagumi" garden using these rocks (see NAW #2, pg 95) which is an arrangement of 3 stones. You'll see that Amano was something of an direct inspiration for this one









I'll start with 2 photos, which I can't get to show up, so I'll post links as well-- darn:

The rock and gravel only is the forst pic, and the initial planting is second:

The tank is lit by 2x15w NO's which are CoraLife Nutrigrows. I really like the pure white of these bulbs. I was once a GE Sunshine fanatic, but I like these even better. The filter is an old Fluval 103 which also acts as the CO2 reactor. Plain sand is the substrate.










The geological name for the rocks is blue gneiss (pronounced "nice"). It's the local quarry, and is in *every* drainage ditch here. In fact, I collected these by my parking lot. The grain size is similar to a schist which is smaller than a granite. I think that I've got that straight... I'm sure Roger will straighten me out.

The plants are: Anubias baterii v. nana, Ludwigia arcuata (emmerse in the pic), and Hemianthus micranthemoides (thanks G!-- I've got a killer carpet going now). The Ludwigia is a little haggard, and the Anubias was floating upside down at the LFS so the roots are going the wrong way which made planting a challenge, but I hope it will straighten out here within a couple of weeks.

I'll try to update as often as I can.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler

[This message was edited by Wheeler on Fri November 21 2003 at 09:57 AM.]

[This message was edited by Wheeler on Fri November 21 2003 at 10:04 AM.]


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Hey gang,

We had some discussion about the blue rock here here in DE on the Tropica pics thread, and I decided to set up a "Sanzoniwagumi" garden using these rocks (see NAW #2, pg 95) which is an arrangement of 3 stones. You'll see that Amano was something of an direct inspiration for this one









I'll start with 2 photos, which I can't get to show up, so I'll post links as well-- darn:

The rock and gravel only is the forst pic, and the initial planting is second:

The tank is lit by 2x15w NO's which are CoraLife Nutrigrows. I really like the pure white of these bulbs. I was once a GE Sunshine fanatic, but I like these even better. The filter is an old Fluval 103 which also acts as the CO2 reactor. Plain sand is the substrate.










The geological name for the rocks is blue gneiss (pronounced "nice"). It's the local quarry, and is in *every* drainage ditch here. In fact, I collected these by my parking lot. The grain size is similar to a schist which is smaller than a granite. I think that I've got that straight... I'm sure Roger will straighten me out.

The plants are: Anubias baterii v. nana, Ludwigia arcuata (emmerse in the pic), and Hemianthus micranthemoides (thanks G!-- I've got a killer carpet going now). The Ludwigia is a little haggard, and the Anubias was floating upside down at the LFS so the roots are going the wrong way which made planting a challenge, but I hope it will straighten out here within a couple of weeks.

I'll try to update as often as I can.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler

[This message was edited by Wheeler on Fri November 21 2003 at 09:57 AM.]

[This message was edited by Wheeler on Fri November 21 2003 at 10:04 AM.]


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## George Willms (Jul 28, 2004)

The links don't give access. They are asking for a username and password.

George


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

*sigh*.... I can't get my pics to show up. I'll have to try a different host, prolly Yahoo, so bear with me for a bit.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Looks like it's going to be a good one John. Have you thought about Proscerpina palustris in place of the L. arcuata? I was just thinking the Lud might be too red for all the nice greens in there.

I just tried a nice large stem of Ammania in my tank and it looks hideous against the Crypts and Anubias...


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Thanks Phil,

Yeah, I thought about the Ludwigia. If everything works right, I'll eliminate it from this tank all together. Basically, I saw it at the LFS and I wanted to grow it out. I had this new tank and it seemed like the prime opportunity to get a stem plant going







The rocks and Anubias are the main features...

I'm not one of those gardeners that has to have something red at all times.

The idea for this tank is to be able to sculpt te Hemianthus-- Basically to accent the rocks. Sculpting stem plants is something I'm working on right now.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Are you planning on having your hands in the tank all the time? Scuplting Hemianthus sounds dangerously like trying to herd cats....


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

I'm doing OK sculpting it in the fore of another tank, so I'm not terribly worried







Yeah, I've pretty much conceded that I'm gonna have wet sleeves much of the time. Luckily, it's only a 10g-- after all, how much Hemianthus can you cram into a 10g? HAHA!!

The glass box is the same one that I entered into the AGA contest last year, so I've got some lampeyes in a 5g bucket w/ a powerhead. Not sure what I want to do about fish in this set-up. Frankly, I'm tired fish-- no challenge there. If it's not the lampeyes (which I feed regularly), it'll be something that I don't have to feed regularly or ever.... perhaps a variety shrimps.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

How about some sort of Killie for a splash of color? Otherwise, that tank would be great as an invert system. I love my shrimps.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2003)

Looks good so far John.

I edited the post for you to show the pictures.

Do you have L. Arcuata or L. Repens x. Arcuata ?

If first one, then I would be interested in some.

I'm going to have to stop by in DE and pick up few of those rocks.

Join as at www.njas.net


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Thanks Jay!!!

How did you do that? I played with those pics for more than an hour and couldn't get them to post...

It was sold to me as L. arcuata. It is bad condition emmerse growth and hard to tell right now as the 2 you mentioned have similar emmerse growth anyway. If it turns out to be L. arcuata, then you can certainly have some. I should know for sure in a couple of weeks...

Thanks again. If you wanna come to DE and get some rocks, just lemme know and we can meet for lunch, etc. I'll show you some good spots for collection.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Wheeler, 
how is the progress after 2 weeks on this nice little tank?
Any pics?

Later

*My Digital Gallery*


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Yes, Ekim, quite a bit of progress. I have some plant additions and subtractions to make after I added another 15w bulb. The Hemianthus needs a trim as well-- you know, general housekeeping stuff for a new tank. I 'll post new pics this weekend. I haven't forgotten









BTW, it looks like I got the L. arcuata X repens hybrid instead of true arcuata which is disappointing. Still, the hybrid is turning out to be a nice plant with smaller foliage but similar color to L. repens. I wish it was the larger L. repens foliage with color similar to L. arcuata. Se la vie.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

OK--

About 2 weeks have pasesed, and I've made several changes:

I removed the Luwigia hybrid and the Anubias. I replaced the rear 15w fixture with a 2x15w fixture. New additions are Hygrophila polysperma var sunset, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Ludwigia arcuata (I hope), and a dwarf lilly which I assume is Nymphea stellata.



















The Ludwigia was in *really* sad shape. I had to get the guy at the store to let me piece together one bunch out of about 6 bunches in the tank. I think I may have a couple of growing tips left intact, and the rest are middles with some new buds. I hope they live.

The lilly is an experiment.

The whole tank pic, which is of questionable quality, looks funny becuase I haven't trimmed back the Hemianthus. It is making a "border" which make the tank look really awkward. If everything in the circle that the rocks create grows in as I envision it (!), I'll remove the Hemianthus all together and leave the sand bare.

There is still quite a bit of growing to do before I can place all of the stems properly-- especially the Ludwigia.

What do you think of the red plants next to the blue rocks?

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2003)

John,

Tank has a lot of potential there.

1. Hemianthus is definitly a bit disorganized but you should have it growing horizontally with some extra light.

2. I like L. poly var. Give nice conrast to the entire tank.

3. I can't wait to see Star Grass potential.

4. Are you going to install background ? (ex. black







)

Looking forward to updates.


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Jay--

I'm letting Hemianthius go wild for now just to get maximum plant mass. I'll trim it back in week or so and fill in the gaps. It's branching like mad, so it shouldn't take much time at all. Lots of new horizontal growth, you're right.

I actually put in the background right after I updated (doh!). You'll see it in a week or two









Thanks for the comments. Next time, I'll take a little extra care with the photography.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## Kim (Aug 1, 2003)

Are those the same type of drainage rocks at Home Depot? It looks the same only much larger. The ones I saw were about golf ball size.


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

They could be the drainage rocks that you saw. That's what they're used for here.

New pics soon...

Jay,

I have the real L. arcuata this time. It's coming along nicely.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Wheeler:
> I have the real L. arcuata this time. It's coming along nicely.


John,

I'm going to Baltimore stores this week with group of people from my club (njas.net). We gonna hit AC probably and few more. Hopefully I be able to pick some Arcuata from them if not I will bother you







.


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## imported_molahs4 (Feb 3, 2003)

Beautiful tank. I am amazed at how some people's tanks look great even before they fill in. Thanks for the progress shots. It's very helpful to see tanks before they are at their best.

tank specs and bad pictures


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## vijay (Aug 13, 2003)

nice aquascape can you elaborate on the "Sanzoniwagumi" garden as i haven't yet been able to get ahold of amano's books and am inteerested


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Vijay,

"Sanzoniwagumi", as far as I can tell from my reading, is simply an arrangement of 3 stones. If I know anything about Zen gardening (at least I think I do), there needs to be a balance between the vertically and horizontally positioned rocks. I read that the common "rule of thumb" is for every standing stone, there needs to be at least 2 resting stones. I take that to mean laying down. 

Of course they go on to say in the next breath that the rules are flexible, so I think it's all completely driven by visual balance with the above "rule" providing acceptable results most often. 

Of course, I'm no expert on Zen or any other Eastern belief structure, so I may be *way* off, but if my sources are reliable (Amano, and a couple of Japanese gardening books), then I should be close. 

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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