# Aquascapers, you have my utmost respect



## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

All I had was one li'l old 8 gallon Fluval Ebi, and it took me pretty much the whole day to come up with something that didn't totally and abjectedly suck. I can only say, Well old boy, at least its better than a 4 year old can do, and even that might be stretching it  

One piece of driftwood with an anubias, one clump of dwarf hairgrass in an Aquaflora tub, and 2 or 3 bunches of Unidentified Floating Objects from King Ed. Oh, and a last second impulse bought handful of Taiwan moss (thanks Fishwife).

And it took me a whole bloody day 

It was a fun day, but damn. Y'all must be saintly folk because only Zen-like patience and a calm and collected mind could refrain from breaking as the stems keep breaking free from the substrate and keep bobbing their way to the top...

And gah! HAIRGRASS! The less said about that...

Just wanted to tip my hat to all of you who make it look easy!


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## cdsgo1974 (Sep 25, 2011)

No picture?


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Any type of foreground plant that is not riccia or moss is a royal pain. It takes a bit to get the hang of planting and many of the enriched substrates are really light making it more difficult. The worst is when you go to plant one stem and two others spring up.

Ways to make it easier is to trim the leaves off the part going in the substrate, but leave a bit of each leaf so it acts like barbs. The other way is using angle tipped tongs so you dont hit the stem uprooting it once you got it in place
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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

That's what makes this hobby and aquascaping fun and enjoyable....and addictive.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

I agree....i don't think theres a more stressful thing then planting a tank without perfect funding for it. Makes me yell in frustration frequently


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

HAHAHAHA 

Man, as my wife said as she watched the beads of sweat on my brow, "I thought you said this would be a relaxing hobby." As for pictures... OK. I'll snap one tomorrow and post it up for you fine folks to see!


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I can't wait to see the photos! You've put so much thought into your Ebi. Wow!

I have planted my Ebi a couple of times, but only with plants that are easy to place and stay down. So, it's only been a few minutes' work each time. Substrate, water, plants, more water. But then, it definitely does not look like it's been aquascaped. More like someone shovelled a weedy and lightly neglected corner of our garden into an exquisite glass container.


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

Morainy said:


> More like someone shovelled a weedy and lightly neglected corner of our garden into an exquisite glass container.


I'm more than certain you're selling yourself short...!  OK I'm going to figure out the whole picture thing here and see how that goes...


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

*Arrrrr! There be pix, mateys!*

Here's some pix from my first attempt to plant a tank.

The blank canvas:









What I ended up with yesterday:









Close-up of the anubias nana petite. Transplanted from the betta's original tank:









Wider view of the front of the tank:









Full front view:









Mystery plant from King Ed. Employee: "Ah. Common water plant." Thanks dude  But 50% off was too much to resist so it came home with me.









Dwarf hairgrass. Planted in clumps - hoping they will spread and carpet. Fingers crossed.









Mystery plant #2 with the rounded leaves. Employee: "Ah, yes. Also common water plant." Thanks again... 









More of MP2. If you happen to know what it is... have your people call my people!









Side view. I put all the technology to one side, hopefully they will be hidden from view by the tall stem plants once they grow up and out.









Thanks for looking folks, and even more importantly, thanks for all the words of wisdom that have led to this next of many steps


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Looking good. It's often tougher to aquascape a nano to your expectations than a larger tank.


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## fraggalrock (Apr 21, 2010)

Stuart will know what these "mystery" plants are for sure...shoot him a PM


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

First one seems to be Water Wysteria and the second would be a Bacopa sp. I am no expert though  Nice tank, it'll look amazing when it fills in!


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## Bfunk89 (Dec 1, 2011)

My guess is the same as momobobo for the water wisteria, the second my guess is a moneywort.


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

Hey thanks guys, gives me a place to start looking them up


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Tank is looking good. Great job.

As to the amount of work scaping it, the worst part is that within a few weeks, the pain will have been forgotten and you'll likely feel the urge to rearrange it.


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## tang daddy (Apr 21, 2010)

I had lots of back pains planting HC by the sprigs tiny clumps really close to each other.... then there is stuffing mini pellia into notches of the wood.

looks like a great start, are you planning to dose metricide or co2


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

tang daddy said:


> I had lots of back pains planting HC by the sprigs tiny clumps really close to each other.... then there is stuffing mini pellia into notches of the wood.
> 
> looks like a great start, are you planning to dose metricide or co2


Thanks everyone  Appreciate the encouragement!

You know... I can now say I have an inkling of how you felt. Gah... hairgrass....! I'm dosing with Excel & Comprehensive to start; the CO2 thing is really attractive, but I need to gauge how crazy I'm going to get.

If all goes well, I'll do an upgrade next year and try it on a larger scale.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The first mystery is Hygrophila difformis and the second one appears to be Bacopa carolinia. Both very fast growing plants which are easy to grow, but likely too fast for that size tank eventually. But they are good plants to get the tank cycled and things growing. Looking good.


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

Thanks 2wheelsx2!


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