I've had this tank for years and have a love/hate relationship with it.
It's awkward to work in and has minimal room for equipment to go in and
out, yet I love the extra depth and unusual shape for scaping. It probably
looked its best when I had a rock wall set up in it, but I think I'm getting
closer to a pretty decent plantscape--finally.
I don't know if it's the lights or just where it sits in the room, but this tank is warm--usually in the mid 80s. It's difficult to find plants that do well in this tank, but when a plant likes it, it usually does very well.
Here's the tank as of January 2007
And because I can't stay away from photoshop.
April 2007
I sure ruined this tank. The wood was starting to break down, so I put in some (green) rocks. They looked awful next to the fluorite, so I thought maybe if I trickled in a little green gravel it would give an "erosion" effect and make the rocks look more natural. Then hubby suggested it might look better if I stirred it in a little bit....I see a new substrate in the not too distant future.
Lesson learned: Get the opinion of others before making major changes. It gives you a chance to be saved from those impulses you later regret.
4/9/07
I'm trying to convince myself the substrate isn't too bad. I'd enjoy switching to a dark substrate, but I think a big part of how well the plants do is the fluorite and a switch might have a negative impact on the tank. It took about 5 minutes with tweezers to decide that the green wasn't coming out that way. I guess I could start watching TV for an hour a night, and scoop some of the substrate into a bowl and pick out the green. It would be a suitable punishment for my stupidity. Garry's trying to make me feel better..."you won't see much of it once the plants fill back in." Or better yet..."it'll get covered in algae in a few weeks and you won't be able to tell what color it was." A small blessing is the tank has developed green water from all the uprooting I did and I can't see into it--except for the concentration of green gravel near the glass.
May 2007
My plants are finally covering up my boneheaded gravel move.
May 27, 2007
The plants are continuing to fill in nicely. I managed not to overtrim this weekend. The bacopa has suddenly decided it doesn't like this tank. Rather than putting in a different plant, I think I'll let the crypt retrospiralis and the lizard's tongue fill in the space.
