# Kaze's Jungle



## SpookyTooth (Dec 23, 2011)

My betta, Kaze, is beginning to show signs of age. His vision is going and he's slowing down, he also has that look about him that tells me he is getting on in years. I do not know how old he was when I brought him home but I estimate he was at least a year, I've had him for ten months now and he's endured many aquarium changes and alterations... I guess the stress may have had an impact on his longevity.

I thought I'd finished his aquarium; I had the beautiful piece of driftwood that I'd always wanted and had adorned his tank with as many plants as I could fit (that bit of driftwood was big!), he was hyper and healthy but his tail and fins gradually started disappearing. I ruled out fin rot and tail biting due to the manner of the damage he was receiving and how clean the edges were so I thought it was the large piece of driftwood; I decided I was going to take it out but I also realized that if I removed it I'd have a huge gap and that might stress Kaze more. Being my birthday and having been gifted a voucher for my favourite aquatics store I headed over there today to pick up a couple of small driftwood pieces and extra plants.

I felt awful that my decision had led to him losing lots of his tail but I knew I could fix it so I set to work.

*Before...* 









*After...*









I picked up some fertilizers on the advice of one of the employees (thank you kindly, sir) as well as an assassin snail to help with my freshwater limpet and bladder snail troubles. Kaze is gradually exploring and has discovered a cave that I think he will utilize as his sleeping hole. I'm sure that the new driftwood pieces will be much safer for him and hope he enjoys the forest at the back of his tank.

We changed his filter, downsized it and used all old filter media and that (as well as the heater) are hidden behind the forest at the back. Let's just hope the plants stay rooted and like my lighting...


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Awesome job....I love it and I really love that big piece of driftwood and then I looked at the next pic and WOW...even better....Good choice on removing the driftwood and replacing it with more plants and smaller piece of wood...

Every time I use driftwood it seems to disappear within the mass amount of plant growth....lol.....so I never see it anyway...but my plecos need it to rasp on for digestion so I always need some in most of my tanks....


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

Wow his tank looks awesome ....wonderful job !!!!


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

:shock: Oh my! Your tank looks positively wild! Jungle is a good word for it. lol I love it! The driftwood is a lovely touch- I love how it looks like a submerged fallen tree. Awesome! :-D


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Great job!! I always imagined my tanks to fill in like this.


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## SpookyTooth (Dec 23, 2011)

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words! Kaze is very perky this morning and has been exploring around the vallis at the back. I need to add a little extra substrate into the back corners as the rhizomes of the valls aren't completely buried (the substrate is immensely light) but that won't cause any issues and will be quick and easy to do.

I'm hoping to dry the big bit of wood out and get some slate nailed to the bottom so I can reuse it at a later date (it refuses to sink on its own) but for now I have plenty of time to think of something interesting to do with it.

Thank you all again  I'm just hoping I get the ferts right and the plants don't all melt down! :lol:


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

*rooting for Kaze*

Tank looks much more. Fish friendly! Good work!


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## toad (Jul 17, 2012)

Gorgeous! I loved the first set up, but the second one is stunning!

Can you come scape my tanks now?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

How big is it? I love your tank. No matter how many plants I add to my tank it is too open. Hope your beta lives a lot longer.


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## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

Great job on the remake! What type of substrate are you using?


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## SpookyTooth (Dec 23, 2011)

Thanks again  The tank is 27 litres so roughly 7 gallons; the substrate I use is called JBL Manado, it's a type of fired clay that has a high gas exchange rate apparently... it also apparently absorbs nutrients from the water and stores it to be fed directly to plant roots, whether that's true or not I don't know but the plants absolutely love it and the colour is wonderful.


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

*giggles* one plants uprooted in the bottom pic already but looks fantastic, i dont have te aquatic green thumb im afraid, we also cant get decent planting here


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## SpookyTooth (Dec 23, 2011)

Thank you Abby  The fertilizers are clearly doing their job as the java ferns have started pearling! Yay!


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## whimsicalbrainpan (Aug 4, 2012)

Wow! I'm sure Kaze is very happy. That looks amazing! A couple of questions; what fertilizer are you using, and where did you find the small driftwood? I can only find large pieces.

I just got finished planting Bradbury's tank and my hope is that it'll look like yours.


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## SpookyTooth (Dec 23, 2011)

Thank you for the compliment and the fertilizer I'm using is called Ferropol 24 by a company known as JBL. It's a daily fert but you simply add a single drop per 50 litres (my tank is 27 litres so the drop does more than enough), the tiny bottle lasts for 10,000 litres and only costs £5.29 so it's great value and it has all essential nutrients in it including iron. The driftwood was from a local aquatics store and came with plants already attached, they have a sale on for two small pieces for £15, great deal! The driftwood without the plants would usually cost about that.


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## whimsicalbrainpan (Aug 4, 2012)

Compliment, pffft! I speak the truth. 

Thanks for the info.


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