Hey everyone! I am new here and looking for any and all feedback.
I have been in the hobby for a while, but have never achieved the level of health and beauty in my plants that I would like. So, I have mostly broken down my mish-mash 75g tank and will be rescaping it as an African tank (with a little bit of cheating).
Here is where it stands today: scavenged Anubias left over from the old set up, repurposed driftwood ("The Beast" on the left hand side was even bigger before I cut it down to size), and a few crypto and Val nubs:
View attachment 3989
I thought it looked bare, so I added this rock work in the middle:
View attachment 3990
Here is a close up of The Beast:
View attachment 3991
These are ceramic spawning caves for Pelvacachromis taeniatus I will be adding in January:
View attachment 3992
Here is how it all looks together:
View attachment 3993
Currently it is stocked with Congo tetras, Botia sidthimunki (substitute syndodontis) and rhombo (or snakeskin, or orange buffalo) barbs (substitute Barbus fasciatus).
For now I am picturing Aponogeton longiplumulosus in the back left corner (behind the Beast) and Aponogeton ulvaceus right-of-center, just behind that edge of the rock work. I would love some Aponogeton cripus "red", but I can't find it anywhere. The rest of the back right side will be jungle Val. In the mid areas, between the driftwood pieces (spaces are hard to see in the pictures) I will have ambulia, Nesaea crassicaulis, and Nesaea pedicellata 'Golden'. For the foreground I am thinking of either 10-12 sprigs of dwarf Sagittarius (still leaving the center "path" to the rocks open) or plant some star grass and keep it trimmed down low. I will also fill in the crypt parva I have in the front, right corner.
If I can find some nice moss, I will add some to my driftwood and get some growing on the tops of the rock pile.
Also, I trimmed back my Anubias considerably, and I expect them to fill in over time.
I will be re-doing my CO2 set up, with a new diffuser that looks to be much more effective than my last set up, and an internal pH probe, rather than my old hang-in-the-tank sensor that never seemed to read accurately.
CO2 and 4 x 54w T5 lights will be set up by next weekend, then plants the week following (hopefully).
What does everyone think? Open to feedback/suggestions.
Thanks so much!
I have been in the hobby for a while, but have never achieved the level of health and beauty in my plants that I would like. So, I have mostly broken down my mish-mash 75g tank and will be rescaping it as an African tank (with a little bit of cheating).
Here is where it stands today: scavenged Anubias left over from the old set up, repurposed driftwood ("The Beast" on the left hand side was even bigger before I cut it down to size), and a few crypto and Val nubs:
View attachment 3989
I thought it looked bare, so I added this rock work in the middle:
View attachment 3990
Here is a close up of The Beast:
View attachment 3991
These are ceramic spawning caves for Pelvacachromis taeniatus I will be adding in January:
View attachment 3992
Here is how it all looks together:
View attachment 3993
Currently it is stocked with Congo tetras, Botia sidthimunki (substitute syndodontis) and rhombo (or snakeskin, or orange buffalo) barbs (substitute Barbus fasciatus).
For now I am picturing Aponogeton longiplumulosus in the back left corner (behind the Beast) and Aponogeton ulvaceus right-of-center, just behind that edge of the rock work. I would love some Aponogeton cripus "red", but I can't find it anywhere. The rest of the back right side will be jungle Val. In the mid areas, between the driftwood pieces (spaces are hard to see in the pictures) I will have ambulia, Nesaea crassicaulis, and Nesaea pedicellata 'Golden'. For the foreground I am thinking of either 10-12 sprigs of dwarf Sagittarius (still leaving the center "path" to the rocks open) or plant some star grass and keep it trimmed down low. I will also fill in the crypt parva I have in the front, right corner.
If I can find some nice moss, I will add some to my driftwood and get some growing on the tops of the rock pile.
Also, I trimmed back my Anubias considerably, and I expect them to fill in over time.
I will be re-doing my CO2 set up, with a new diffuser that looks to be much more effective than my last set up, and an internal pH probe, rather than my old hang-in-the-tank sensor that never seemed to read accurately.
CO2 and 4 x 54w T5 lights will be set up by next weekend, then plants the week following (hopefully).
What does everyone think? Open to feedback/suggestions.
Thanks so much!