Hello james!

terracing now that was a word that I was thinking of.
I don't really know if I want to do cork along the walls but am definately
looking the add some kind of "dimension" to the bottom. I am thinkingof
going 96% with a carpet plant and let em really grow in thick. Then
possible have one maybe two slow growing showpieces (anubias or something
similiar). And have the focal point be rockwork with only 2-3 big rocks.
BTW where can I get REEEAAAALLLLYYYY cool rocks? Like petrified wood or
something.
Basically I am looking for a way to give shape/layering to the bottom. I
mean if it's not reinforced gravity will just pull it down and flat
eventually.
thanks again,
Ben

"elwood" wrote in message
m...
Some ideas re cork:
http://www.koedcandies.com/Cork.htm

I did some terracing with slate. Had to split it down pretty thin,
but covered the whole back of a 20g and have some plants in the wall,
similar to what you would do with cork.

If you want to slow down the tank, you can chuck the CO2, and start
reducing your ferts- you can go back to testing water macro parameters
while things are changing. And maybe chuck one of the light tubes if
you can- shooting for about 2wpg. Add some floating plants to shade
things a bit. Some peat in the substrate (lower quarter) would be
helpful- but that requires a lot of work (not an issue if you are
doing a major rescape). Replace the fast stems with crypts (XL if you
can find them), not all at once, some stems might still do OK. One
gentleman on the APD stopped his CO2, let his vals overgrow the
surface to shade it, and it worked great for him. The vals continued
to pearl, and the tank slowed enough to be low maintenance. Make sure
you have an algae crew (SAEs, Amano shrimp).

Advantages are few water changes, no fert regime, no constant pruning
and replanting.
Disadvantages are a less forgiving tank to mistakes, difficulty in
balancing and keeping algae in check. But then, there’s a
reason the CO2/high light/fert thing got popular, no? ;^)

James