The Variegated Thumb

bird’s eye view concept drawing for 10 gallon office tank

General Setup
This aquarium is going to be a dedicated planted tank.  I will be using inspiration from the greatest aquascaper (yes, this is actually a word) of all time, Takashi Amano.  The aquascapes designed by Amano are simply amazing.  Whether you are into aquariums or not, I suggest you take a couple minutes out of your day to do a google image search using his name.  You’ll be glad you did.

Back to my aquarium, which will not compare to anything Amano has every done…  The picture above is a bird’s eye view of my plan for the aquarium.  The aquarium will have a center feature that I would like to think of as a pasture.  The substrate will be good, rich black aquatic soil in this center section.  I will go ahead and plant it fairly dense from the start with low-lying plants.  There will be a line of rocks sectioning off this “pasture” from the background plants, which will be taller and maybe have a higher substrate level.  I think I will probably use the same substrate in the back, even though it doesn’t look that way in the picture above.  In the very front I will use white sand as an aesthetic feature only.  This is a pretty common feature in planted tanks and I think it looks really great.

Flora
Since this is a plant blog, I will start with the plants of my aquarium and save the fish for second.  Actually, this tank is really going to be focused on the plants more than the fish anyway.  I will probably order all of my plants online 2 or 3 days before I am ready to set it all up.  Ideally I would like the plants to arrive on a Saturday so that I can be at home when they arrive and take my tank to work immediately.  I will add the substrate and about a 1/4 inch of water.  Then I will carefully plant all of my new plants.  Cryptocorynes have delicate root systems and often have trouble making transitions.  Many times the leaves will rot away shortly after the plants are replanted and then new leaves will have to grow.  I have had about 50% success with Crypts.  I’ll probably have to buy more than I need, expecting some of them to not make it.  Here is my list of plants that will occupy the picture above.  Check out the links below to see pictures of these plants.

Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae “microsword” (1/2 sq ft for $20) as ground cover in the “pasture” section.  This plant sends off runners and should fill in nicely over time, but I would like to plant it fairly dense from the get-go, so that my office tank looks more or less established whenever I set it up.
Echinodorus tennelus “narrow leaf chain sword” (10 plants for $8) - a little taller than microsword.  These will be planted behind the rock barrier.
Cryptocoryne spiralis (3 plants for $6) and Cryptocoryne retrospiralis (2 plants for $4) - These are some cool Crypts.  They will be planted as accents in the background with the chain sword.

Other “Decor”
I will place a couple pieces of driftwood (more stick-like than log-like) (~$15-20) in the center of the pasture.  I think I will leave these bare.  I could plant some mosses on them later, if I wanted to change the look a little, but I think I would prefer to have the contrast of the brown wood over the bright green layer below.

I have already picked out some rocks (some free ones that I found).  I think these will work rather well.

Fauna

Celestichthys margaritatus

A small school (probably 6) celestial pearl danios Celestichthys margaritatus.
These little fish are great.  They are relatively new to the aquarium hobby.  I have had a subscription to Tropical Fish Hobbyist for a couple of years now and I remember the issue where one of these little guys graced the cover as the next new fish that everyone would fawn over.

Corydoras Pygmaeus

A small shoal (6) of pygmy corydoras Corydoras pygmaeus.
I have to say this is one of my favorite fish.  I have six of these in my 10 gallon aquarium at home and they are simply hilarious.  They are so tiny and they spend all their time wiggling their little hind ends as they zip around the aquarium.  And they do really well in shoals.  Just google their name and you will find quite a few pictures of 5 or 6 of these guys swimming around together.

I might also add a couple of cherry shrimp later, if all goes well.  I have never kept cherry shrimp, but they are very intriguing.  I have two bamboo shrimp right now in my 10 gallon aquarium at home, and they have done remarkably well.  I have just fed my fish daily on flake food and occasionally added an algae wafer for my catfish to nibble on.  I guess the shrimp eat the algae on my plants and probably eat some of the flake food, as well.  I just might do the red cherry shrimp a couple months after setting up my office tank.  We’ll see…

Substrate
Eco Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate for center planted section
White sand for front arc

Lighting
The 10 gallon aquariums that I already have do not have light hoods already.  I haven’t decided if I should go all out and buy an expensive light bar that reaches over the top, while leaving the top surface of water exposed, or if I should just get one of the cheap black hoods that covers the top of the tank.  I have some time to think about it and check on prices before the Spring, I guess.