# aquascape renovation



## MaxAltitude (Mar 14, 2017)

Hi guys,
I'm looking for some ideas on how to re-arrange some of my plants.
Take a look at the photos and you can see the existing layout:
On the left I had 5 plants of Cryptocoryn wendtii that has now grown to maybe 9 plants. They are a lot shorter than the original plants, but they are doing well. 
Just in front of & next to this I had planted a single leaf dwarf lily, it disappeared then reappeared about 1" further back. If has now grown to have 6 leaves, but is quite small, yeah, it's a dwarf alright.
I have acquired some runners of hygrophila pinnatifida and just put them wherever I could in the hopes that some of them would take root without my Julii Corydora catfish digging them all up. Well, they have rooted and are doing very well, One of the big ones is taking over the area where I have my Cryptocoryn wendtii and dwarf lily.
In the center of the tank I have three pieces of cholla cactus laying down that are holding more hygrophila pinnatifida, and anubias nana. There's also a piece of driftwood that's holding some narrow leaf java fern. At the front of the left piece of cholla is a single sad Rotala Macranda that may actually be growing now. I can see that the top few leaves are relatively large.
At the back I have more hygrophila pinnatifida, a sad lone barely surviving Rotala walichii, and some rotala rotundifolia that is finally growing, I think.
To the right of the chola cactus group I have two Helanthium Vesuvius. I really like these and I hope they do well & multiply. In front of these I have some more hygrophila pinnatifida.
The left bottom edge of the large driftwood is holding down some Hydrocotyle tripartita - dwarf pennywort. It is not doing as well as it was when I got it, but it has survived.

Shortly after I planted most of these plants, I ended up treating my fish with some meds. My plants were not happy and I lost many of them. The Rotala walichii was mostly destroyed with a single one barely surviving. I was also lacking proper fertilizers for the plants. I think I have the fertilizers mostly figured out now and all the plants seem to be doing well. Now that I think my plants could survive, I may get a new batch of Rotala walichii as they looked pretty good when I first got them.
I wasn't planning on having the hygrophila pinnatifida spread all over the tank. I was given some runners that I cut into many tiny plants and I put them all over in the hopes that some of them would survive. They have survived, and now I need a better plan on what to do with them. I don't want to have the dwarf lily or the Helanthium Vesuvius crowded from the hygrophila pinnatifida. My cherry barbs like chilling down low in the cover of the Cryptocoryn wendtii, and the newer hygrophila pinnatifida as well. I don't think I want the hygrophila pinnatifida to take over the Cryptocoryn wendtii section though.
Dos anybody have any ideas on how I could improve my layout??

Thanks to Redshrimp2709 & CRS Fan for the plants!


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

You could attach some java fern to the log. Also, maybe get some floating plants. Hornwort grows well when unplanted. Do you use Flourish Excel? In no CO2 tanks it can make a big difference, though read up on it as it melts some species of plant. I use half the recommended dose every second day. What substrate are you using?


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## MaxAltitude (Mar 14, 2017)

I have had some java fern on the log, but it ended up getting what I think was BBA on it. I treated the log with peroxide, and then the rest of the java fern that was put back on had gradually turned black and died. I have another posting here about the java fern. I haven’t tried again yet.
The bubbles and water flow from the sponge filters creates quite a bit of surface movement. I haven’t had the best luck with the floating plants because if that.
I use regular Seachem Flourish liquid, Flourish tabs, Flourish Nitrogen, and PMDD a.k.a. Poor Man's Dupla Drop Mix from Canadian Aquatics. I haven’t used Flourish Excel. My Flourish is running low and I’m going to switch to the PPS-PRO- Perpetual Preservation System of micro and macro fertilizers from Canadian Aquatics.
I do have CO2, you can see the bazooka tube at the right rear of the tank. Lights are running at 80% for 8 hours per day.
The substrate is Black Diamond fine blasting sand from Tractor Supply in Lynden, WA. The plants and Cory’s seem to do very well with it, and I think it looks great.


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## Kal204 (Jan 2, 2019)

Hi. Wondering is this Black Diamond (Iron Silicate) or Black Diamond (Coal Slag). Thanks.


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## MaxAltitude (Mar 14, 2017)

Web site shows it as Coal Slag.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-fine-blasting-abrasives


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Personally, I like the nice clean look of your present aquascape. My wife would like this relatively minimalist look too.


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## MaxAltitude (Mar 14, 2017)

I just wanted to share an updated photo.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Hello Rob.

Looking good! Being that you have 2 prolific creeping plants (H pinnatifida and H ‘vesuvius’), I would suggest keeping them in 1-2 groups (mostly on the sides of the tank). If you aggressively trim the pinnatifida runners, the mother plant will grow upwards and tall and bushier. You can also tie the Pinnatifida to the log to break up its sharp contrast. I might also suggest getting one of the variants of Cryptocoryne wendtii (Tropica, Mi Oya, Gecko, and Brown come to mind) and place it left of centre in the mid ground. I hope that makes sense, Rob.

Best regards,

Stuart 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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