# Emberlyn's Tree, 20g Long aquascape. Journal.



## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

Well I began, with an idea in my head. A tree with moss for leaves, and surrounded by fields of green with a school of my favorite fish, ember tetra. Well....

Here's the first pick of it. I grabbed two bags of Onyx Sand from Seachem from my LFS (The Hidden Reef in Levvitttown PA, best place everrr), cleaned them rather well, and started doing my driftwood tango (process of cleaning driftwood by boiling then soaking to get rid of tannis) and let it all sit for a few days. The once the wood was thoroughly dried out, began the process of tying peices of wood for branches and then finishing it all off with a coat of sealent.

Then I ordered my dwarf hairgrass from Aquabotanic.com (love that place too) only cost me 14 bucks and some change. Took my HC from my 7g (which i took apart to do said aquascape), the christmas moss from the same tank (originally from davemonkey, who is the man ) then grabbed some fast growing stem plants form my 29g bowfront and moved it all into my new tank. Tied the christmass moss on top of the tree over a sheet of netting between the branches. finished the hardscape and let it all sit for a few days until the dwarf hairgrass comes. Called up Hidden Reef and see if that could order me some ember tetras (which they did at no cost to me since that just put them in thier stock)

I found (finally) my eight ember tetras from my 29g bowfront and moved them into the tank for a little cycling action. Grabbed one of the rocks covered in flame moss and dropped that in as well. Took the wood from 7g and dropped that in the back left corner. Poped the Anubias Nana from the 7g as well and planted it at the base of said tree (so to not gain so much light and attract algae). Placed my blue glass wall in around the HC to act as a fence.

Today the dwarf hairgrass arrived so i planted that as well and headed over to Hidden reef, grabbed 20 ember tetras (i love the way they school) for 17 bucks. (Yes i said 17, i love Hidden Reef) (no i dont work thier nor do i have any affiliation, just love thier stuff). And acclimated them and popped them in the now cycled tank one every fine minutes. (By the way, the filter i'm currently using i was using for my 7g as well so it was already pre-cycled, as was most of the water)

Flora-
Dwarf Hairgrass
HC
Anubias nana
Moneywort
Christmas Moss
Flame Moss

Fauna-
Oto x2
Baby Creamscicle Molly x2
Julii Cory (soon to be 3)
Ember Tetra x28

Co2 DIY
Hagen Aquaclear Filter (for 30g) Soon to either be upgraded to an Ehiem 2213, or a larger Hagen
54 Watts of CF lighting, 6700k

And here I am, with pictures to show and a video of my ember tetras at work.










Left side 









Middle









Right side


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

Soon to be adding RCS and some more Jullies.

Also Video Time!


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## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

I've seen quite a few moss trees and I believe the best looking ones were created with flame moss. They tend to grow a bit upwards and gives it a fuller look.


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

I plan on pruning and folding back the moss to get a layer and droopy look later on down the line.


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## helgymatt (Sep 12, 2007)

Looking forward to seeing this progress, but if you are going for a natural look that blue glass is a little extreme IMO.


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

The blue glass will be removed once the dwarf hairgrass and HC fill out. So... in a while 

I might either put some river rocks or driftwood in for the fence look


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Akaizhar said:


> The blue glass will be removed once the dwarf hairgrass and HC fill out. So... in a while
> 
> I might either put some river rocks or driftwood in for the fence look


Yes, I think that would be better. If you put them in now they can age with the tank....


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

WOW!!! This scape is going to really neat! 

You know, I'm not a fan of marbles, colored glass, ornaments, etc... in an aquarium, but for some reason the blue glass seems to fit. I mean my focus was drawn to it immediately and then it kinda 'forced' me to gaze around the tank, but always drew me back to the center. And I also don't normally like centered focal points, but again, it just seems to work so well in this tank.

I agree that natural rocks/stones would look better. But, whatever you decide, I think this tank is going to look absolutely amazing. Definitely subscribed.

-Dave


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

Wow thanks guys, I'll be heading over to my local river for some late afternoon collecting and boiling later on tommorow. 

You're all the reason i love this place!


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## kiwik (Apr 3, 2007)

I'd have to disagree about the flame moss. I think christmas moss would be a better candidate. Of course, this is just my opinion.


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

kiwik said:


> I'd have to disagree about the flame moss. I think christmas moss would be a better candidate. Of course, this is just my opinion.


I agree with you. Christmas Moss (what i'm using) is easily better maintained as droppy leaves than it is to bend over the stuff that grows straight up


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

Time for an update.

Its been awhile since I started this tank, and alot has changed.

Got some more Otos (can you ever really have enough?)
Some RCS off of aquabid which are doing WONDERFULLY!
Ember's had a baby. Its so tiny!
Added some high light, stem plants to hopefully cut back on my algae. 
Got a new Ehiem canister, the 2213 i believe.
Got an additional 65w coralife freshwater light. (which takes my total to 115 there abouts, which is WELL more than i need (a little over 5wpg))
Got myself another Julii Cory (i named them M-O for the cleanup guy from Wall-e)
Also got myself some pond snails, trying to weed them out one by one.
Replaced the blue glass (i didnt like it either, and replaced it with some riverocks.

And here is the picture update!


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

The tree looks great, after doing my first tree, I learned that it would have been best to do what you are doing with the DW.
Keep it up  :thumbsup:


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Looking VERY good! The stones look much better (more natural) than the glass, but again, that scape could pull off ANYTHING! 

Your HC foreground makes me jealous. I'm still am not able to keep it from dying on me. 

-Dave


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

davemonkey said:


> Looking VERY good! The stones look much better (more natural) than the glass, but again, that scape could pull off ANYTHING!
> 
> Your HC foreground makes me jealous. I'm still am not able to keep it from dying on me.
> 
> -Dave


Thanks so much Dave! I find that HC is easier to keep with alot of light (at least 3wpg) and make sure it isnt shaded by anything.


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## Goat (Mar 14, 2008)

It is coming along nicely! I like that focus on the tree. The answer is no, never enough otos, although they die on me.  This is off subject, but what is that plant in the back right. I have some that grows in my tank that was attached to something else I purchased. 

The foreground is coming in very nice, makes me jealous like Dave.


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

Time for an update.

Took the lighting down from 124w over a 20g long to 96w. Maybe this will help my issue with hair algae. (As you can tell)
Added some ricca in the back right. Its coming along quite well.

Other than that, not much to say.

Heres some updated pictures.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I see you took out the stem plants as well. Your tree looks amazing and the scape as a whole is really great! The riccia in the back is a good idea IMO, because of it's brightness. It helps to tie the foreground HC and background together.

Great Work!! 

-Dave


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## vtchef (Jan 27, 2009)

Very nice work.


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## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

Thank you very much :bounce:


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