This was my favorite scape. One day, I'll try something similar on a larger scale, but I'll have to wait until I retire! The pruning regimen is not for the faint of heart! It took time to get the shapes I wanted. It's mostly stems. I'm surprised I got them to last that long.
Tank- 8g, 16.5"x 11.5"x 10", Finnex brand seamless front aquarium
Filtration- Aquaclear 20 (3 sponges), Finnex brand HOB filtration (Aquaclear brand sponge media). Both set to maximum flow capacity.
Lighting- PC, 24W, 7100K Finnex brand fixture (came with the aquarium)
CO2- No CO2 injection
Substrate- 1-3mm natural gravel, 1-2" depth, supplemented with 16oz of laterite and mixed
Fertilisation- Seachem rootabs, dosed every 3-4 months.
Water chemistry- pH 7.2, temperature 73-76 farenheit.
Maintenance- 2.5g water change 2x a week, gravel vac once a week. Media cleaning once a week. Filter cleaning once a month.
Fish - 9 Xiphophorus maculatus "dwarf" and fry, sunburst variety.
Plants - Cryptocoryne lutea and lucens, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Rotala rotundifolia, Alternantera reineckii, Heternantera zosterfolia, lemna minor, Echinodorus tenellus
Decor- None
Additional comments- This tank ran as a low-tech tank from late October 2006 to about mid 2008, when I finally dismantled it. By November/December of 2006, I liked the form of the plants so much that I started cultivating a Dutch-style scape and removed all the hardscape. I was able to maintain that style for about 6-7 months and then opted for a simpler layout before the tank was dismantled. It's hard to do that kind of maintenance, the plants grew faster than I anticipated. I was doing some roles for a local opera company and I just couldn't keep up anymore. I had very minor thread algae on my Hemianthus micranthemoides, which was manually removed during water changes. I wasn't crying over it and I didn't think it was worth adding CO2.
Thank you for looking. Feel free to ask questions. It's a wierd little tank.
llj
Tank- 8g, 16.5"x 11.5"x 10", Finnex brand seamless front aquarium
Filtration- Aquaclear 20 (3 sponges), Finnex brand HOB filtration (Aquaclear brand sponge media). Both set to maximum flow capacity.
Lighting- PC, 24W, 7100K Finnex brand fixture (came with the aquarium)
CO2- No CO2 injection
Substrate- 1-3mm natural gravel, 1-2" depth, supplemented with 16oz of laterite and mixed
Fertilisation- Seachem rootabs, dosed every 3-4 months.
Water chemistry- pH 7.2, temperature 73-76 farenheit.
Maintenance- 2.5g water change 2x a week, gravel vac once a week. Media cleaning once a week. Filter cleaning once a month.
Fish - 9 Xiphophorus maculatus "dwarf" and fry, sunburst variety.
Plants - Cryptocoryne lutea and lucens, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Rotala rotundifolia, Alternantera reineckii, Heternantera zosterfolia, lemna minor, Echinodorus tenellus
Decor- None
Additional comments- This tank ran as a low-tech tank from late October 2006 to about mid 2008, when I finally dismantled it. By November/December of 2006, I liked the form of the plants so much that I started cultivating a Dutch-style scape and removed all the hardscape. I was able to maintain that style for about 6-7 months and then opted for a simpler layout before the tank was dismantled. It's hard to do that kind of maintenance, the plants grew faster than I anticipated. I was doing some roles for a local opera company and I just couldn't keep up anymore. I had very minor thread algae on my Hemianthus micranthemoides, which was manually removed during water changes. I wasn't crying over it and I didn't think it was worth adding CO2.
Thank you for looking. Feel free to ask questions. It's a wierd little tank.
llj