With the attached picture is my current tank that has being keep for 6 months, in between I did rescape and need to improve it. Any C&C are welcomes. Thank you.

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Hi,

A nice, clean tank and plants looks healthy.

Any details on tank specifications (size,ligthing,substrate,plants,fish,ferts,CO2 etc) ?

It seems that your tank is the rectangular setup (same height everywhere). This kind of setup/style, dosen't give you a lot of areas of free space, so no depth...and no clear focal point too..first time see the tank..my eyes from the left to the right..no stopping..and then its over..heheheh...just my opinion ...you may want to try the concave setup, high on either side and low in the middle..

Regards

nice ...dun worry about having no conclaves or features...as long the plants are growing then u doing a good job...

ahh..i notice u put in green plastic mess in your background. becare if u planting riccia with this method...riccias have no rooting systems unlike java moss.

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Tank size : L33"xD16"xH18"
Light : Non special light & just the home use type, 32W 6500K Philips light(round type) X 3nos, and 9W Blue-Red PLC double tube X 2nos., switch on 10 hours a day.
Filter : "Diamond" 502 Canister filter (China made), Bio Rio, Active Carbon, Ceramic Ring insides.
Substrate : JBL Floralpol, JBL AquaBasis plus, and 2~3mm pebble stones - front 2", back 4", recently add in 2 litres ADA Power sand on top of the stone. *17/8/2006 add approx. 6 litres Japanese Black Soil.
C O 2 : DIY type, 2 X 1 litre bottle, 35~40ppm.
A I R : none
Fertilizer : ADA Brighty K, ADA Green Brighty Step 2, JBL Ferropol(same as Step 1, but after a period really need Step 2).
Water : Changed 1/2 tank water a week, sometimes twice a week, it depends on the conditions.
Water Condition : temperature 26~28 degree C, pH:6.0, kH:2 degree, NO3: <0.3mg/l, Phosphate: 0.3mg/l

Thanks for your suggestion, but actually I am still waiting for my Blyxa to grow up as the background, I like the jungle look in my tank(but not the over do it type), and going to throw away the middle Blyxa after get the high back. If I trim it now.....my tank is going empty look. Well, my green net with Riccia is temporary as the high background.... .......actually the Riccia is going to sell it off later. I like the slow or medium growing plants, it won't cover the lights above others.

I believe that another 1/2 a year later can only get a high plants as background. The reason that I don't want to trim the Blyxa now........

Hi Jason,

I notice you have E tennelus and riccia in the fg.
You could try enlarging the riccia areas. Tie them onto bigger rocks and put them where the mid ground blyxas are.

If the riccias are only temporary, consider an easy control mid ground subject. A piece of wood or stone with moss tied on it for example.

R

Stan

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Hi Jason,

You obviuosly can grow healthy plants, that is why I suggested to do some aquascaping. After all, what else can we do after growing healthy plants, the next level is aquascaping...hahahaha.. ...(not to start 'farmer' vs 'aquascaper' debate here..)

May I know what is the few stem plants right in the middle? Bacopa?...
Blyxa as the background plants? As far as I know, Blyxa will not grow high enough for background, normally for middle ground...why don't you add more stem plants at the back?...don't like stem plants huh?.. And one more, NO3 < 0.3mg/l (ppm), quite low?, no BGA problem or browning of plant leafs?

Regards

Nas, I doubt the reading is correct. If NO3 is limiting the Blyxas would have melted. Perhaps the BJ's have sucked it out of the system! [BTW, we started the Aquascaper vs Farmer elsewhere! ]

Jason, A bit more NO3 wouldn't hurt though! Try hitting a 5-10ppm range.

Regards

Stan

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Hello JasonC. Here's my 2 cents. Like what the rest have said, you scape is very flat. Even with the Blyxa and Riccia, you can achieve "depth" by planting tall at the back and short in front. I would put tall blyxas more to the back and to the corners of the tank while the shorter ones (trim it if needed) will be more to the front. I would tie the Riccia to different sized rocks (big and small) and place the smaller ones in front. Surf the net for placement of rocks in zen style and see if you can apply it to your riccia rock placements. Another trick I try to achieve is to place darker leafed plants to the back and the lighter ones to the front. Usually you will find the darker leafed plants have lower light requirements (reds are an exception here). Try it.. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Fistly, I would like to thank for all of your great valueable suggestions over here. I will keep improving my aquascaping skill.

Yes! It is Bacopa, actually it started grew very slow....after the root system is steady....I found that it growing faster than I thought.

Actually, I have seen the Blyxa really can grew up to reach to the water surface. Ya, like what you said...I don't like too many stem plants. Even I pump the ADA Step 2 in the water....the NO3 still lower than 0.3mg/l, it suppose <1mg/l, right?

Mm....about the algae...at 1st I did post in the forum saying that I have get rid of the algae....but after I was started to keep Yamato, Tiger and Red Cherry Shrimp.....I am more prefer green/black hair algae (it's pretty short type, is it called BGA?). other than that, no others algae in my tank...

BTW, I saw that you have Tonina fluviatilis in your tank, is it hard to growth? I saw it in my LFS before, but I didn't buy it because don't know what kinda species is. When I back to the LFS again, it sold out...