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"Dutch something or the other" 120 Gal

Beautiful tank. I'm really looking forward to all the update pictures with it getting more and more stunning.
+1 against the spray bars across the back of the tanks. I think they are ugly and not necessary.
 
I moved the wallichii to the rear, moved the pantanl over a bit, thinned out some P stellata and some M matogrosense.

I'm think more Erios up that path or perhaps some Tonina I have. The Tonina does not contrast texturally well against the Erios though.

It cannot be a large leaf plant because I have dwarf red lilies next and then the spiky Erios also.

I also want something that will not overshadow the Erios, the wallichii did this a lot really an blocked the view of the nice wood's main nebari(more a bonsai term) and trunk.

Still pondering a good plant for that spot.
 
A nice smaller lace plant........but..........they will get too large and do not like being moved.

Isoetes, Bacopa langeri, a few others, Hottonia etc......maybe a small dwarf red sword........
 
Very nice indeed. So Co2 is above 30ppm or 50ppm I guess and shrimps are doing fine or yo do not measure? What PAR levels do you have at substrate and mid tank just to compare to my 80L with LED. I know numbers might be meaningless for you but I am learning still and it could help. Thanks :)
 
The CO2 is more in the 50ppm range. Gold Nugget plecos are much more touchy to CO2 than any shrimp.

They are fine.

I have 50 umol at the sediment and about 90 mid and about 120 at the surface.
 
Cloudy water, but that's all ya getting fer now.

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This is the problem area:

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Still a ways to go and I might need to remove the UG and move to the far left spot.
It's too dominate at this location.

HC or some other low lying species will replace it.
Need more Tonina and L "guinea" to see how it looks more filled in, added more Erios.
I will stair case the giant Erio also next to the Red Ludwgia.
 
nice compact growth there Tom, any chance of a short vid in the future, to gauge the flow in there?

looking good.
 
I go about 2 weeks cycles for pruning.
Right now I do sections, but later it will be the whole tank once it is the way I want.

I have a red lower growing Hygro that would work well contrasted with the UG in the rear.
I need to reslope that UG spot anyways.

The R wallichii would match well in the front row since it's got another green fine needle plant, the Erio "giant".

I'm still undecided about what to replace the UG with.
Elatine triandra would be nice.
I have not grown that weed in about 7 years now.

It has a different growth form and is a nice brighter green, but it grows fast, well, so do many in this tank.
Question is, can it be managed somewhat easily like most of these.
 
ghostsword said:
How is UG coping with the ferts on the water? I thought that UG liked very acidic and bare water parameters.
Click to expand...

Whoever told you that is smoking medical weed.

I grow the snot out of it at high ferts.

You can clearly see it's a very healthy patch and it would take over if I did not beat it back. Same for Gloss, and most of the other creeping species in this tank.

I made some nice changes to the tank and will post "post trim pics later tomorrow.
 
Update, trimmed last night, sold off the weeds.
So this is right after a major hacking, not only when the tank is at it's prime etc.........

I got some decent ideas and did a few things. I likely will do something different where the wallichi now is, at least I can trim it anyway I want right there, grows about 2-3" a week, so I can make a nice slope with it.
But.........I want a larger different shade of a red there.

So I got some test plants, some R macrandra and magenta. I'll grow these stems out in the background, then see how they look in that spot where the L perunesis was/wallichii is now.
I'll fill the ADA AS over the Erio cinerums and gently pull them up, this will be better than uprooting entirely and raise the soil level so they can fully expand, they get much larger than what you see here.
But that will take some time still.

I'll add some different driftwood borders on the left side and remove a little bit of the Crypt parva.
This will give a different angle/slope to the L perunesis and provide a piece of border wood for the Tonina.

I have not yet trimmed the Giant Erio setaceum yet, I'm letting it grow more and hopefully I'll get some side sprouts from the stumps.
So it will be maintained at a lower height.

I also have some Propersinaca palustris in the rear also, which I might use in the front somewhere or replace another plant if I like it/if it can serve a good location.
So I have the P palustris, the R macrandra and the R magenta to work with in that location where the wallichii is. I suppose I can also use the L pantanal as well......but it's such a fast grower, not sure about it.

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Close up of the UG for you Luis, now tell me with rich sediment and water column......this is poor growth or not?

UGoct26.jpg
 
UG is fantastic, my UG in Amazonia is growing quite long leaves and spreads veeery slowly I have around 40 par at substrate. I guess I should be just patient.

Did you stick it with the pot or how that it grows so compact?
 
No, I just added 2cm plugs of it in the area and waited. It took awhile to grow and fill in also, maybe 2-3 months or so.
 
Progressing very nicely, Tom.

I like the formality of the design and the refreshing mixtures of texture and colour. I've seen a few of your 'scapes now and I think this has the potential to be your strongest yet. It's a real "gardener's" aquascape - if that makes sense.

It's a shame your photographing right after a pruning sessions because the water is a little cloudy, and spoiling the view!
 
George Farmer said:
Progressing very nicely, Tom.

I like the formality of the design and the refreshing mixtures of texture and colour. I've seen a few of your 'scapes now and I think this has the potential to be your strongest yet. It's a real "gardener's" aquascape - if that makes sense.

It's a shame your photographing right after a pruning sessions because the water is a little cloudy, and spoiling the view!
Click to expand...

This is done on purpose, I am showing the dirty and filthy..........not just a few perfect pre/post trim sessions.......so people know what it looks like and do not get discouraged. I also had just cleaned out the sponge filter in the wet dry.

Such realistic pictures I think are more useful in illustraing the process.

I've got a ways still to go and need to try some other contrast yet.

Still, I know once the tank is stable with the plant groups..........I'll be able to easily make changes if I see neat new plant, as I have some many nice spots to chose from...........but importantly, that the tank will be easy to manage and keep as a nice garden. So I have plenty of diversity, color, ease of care and management, good plants to sell so the tank pays for it's self(I've made close to 700$ so far........ and I'm just starting to sell off the Fire shrimp at 3$ ea) and some decent sense of aesthetics.

Ironically I have very professional cameras, flashes, all L series Canon lens etc etc...... but I rarely use them for aquarium photography.......I'm more interested in nature than aquariums there. Maybe that will change someday.
The rear section is a bit thin since I opted to sell off the pantanal..and not replant the nice tops, I'm still regrowing and testing some other plant species back there, so there's not a lot of nice stuff to really see.
It's a tougher tank to photograph also because it is shallow and deep. A typical FTS does not show the depth well. I'd have to time the trimming and the growth pretty good to pull off a decent FTS.

It can certinly be done, but I'm still not at that stage.
Dutch tanks require a no# of factors, not just the grow in:

I need the right volume of the species, I need the right contrast between groups, I need the overall color scheme to feel balanced, I need to test what works as far as each species type and response to current and location. Then the height of each plant needs accounted for and maintained with reasonable management effort.

Until I finalize the species I want, this is going to be a work in progress. I've always liked the nice groups and diversity in a Dutch style, it offers "an aesthetic controlled collectoritus" garden more than any Nature style.

And while many aquascapers are going with Nature style? Why should I do that? Do something different than what everyone else is doing.

Some folks(US neophytes mostly) have poo poo EI methods as being unsuitable for nice aquascaping and gardening, claiming it produced growth that was "too fast". Well, this tank certainly dispels their myth. Of course if say such things.....you risk being proven incorrect and having your neck whacked off. And I'm happy to oblige them :twisted:

Sad this is my 180 Gal, I added a new pleco that had a lot of ich on it and it wiped out my cards I had in there for the last 5 years. I did everything possible to stop it, 400 fish dead fish later.

I have 3 tanks where I want them. I have 2 to go.
 
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