Aquarium Update: Driftwood Removed

Over the past few days I've been staring at my 29 gallon tank (the one that I took the moss out of) and I didn't really like the driftwood. It was one of those purchases made way before I found any of the cool websites or forums devoted to aquascaping that frown on such hulking, man-made decorations, but I always held out hope that I could work it into something. Eventually, it was just enveloped by the moss and it disappeared. When I trimmed the moss though, there it was again, as ugly as ever. So I decided to take it out of the tank.

Easier said than done. You see, it was in the tank when it was placed on my tank rack and I never thought about what if I had to take it out in the future. I figured I would have to take off the lights hanging above the tank, which wasn't so bad. But when I tried to get it out, I realized the low clearance was going to be a big pain in the butt. You see, this isn't the real Malaysian driftwood that actually sinks by itself. This has a big slab of slate screwed to the bottom to hold it under. After some fancy maneuvering and some not so gentle coaxing, I managed to get the piece out.

I rearranged only a few plants (I'm going for the "island" look) and this is what I have:



Boy what a difference. The tank looks 10 times bigger. It looks brighter and wider and just nicer overall. I haven't decided what sort of ground cover to put on the left side, either dwarf hair grass like the right or something different. I think I may try Glossostigma elatinoides just to see what it looks like, and if I don't like it I'll rip it up. The left side needs to grow in a little, obviously since that's where the wood was, but I'm definitely pleased with the new scape.

A word of advice: Never buy driftwood with a piece of slate screwed to the bottom; it's not real driftwood, and chances are, it's manufactured and will always look that way.