That's IT, Mr.B! You have totally inspired me! I now know what i want! You are spot-on with the stream edge/riverbank idea! So, I will now make one very large, fake tree going down into the water. It will be enormous, like a very old red-wood or Douglas fir, or even a mangrove, and you will see about 3 feet of trunk, and then about 2 feet of roots going down into the water. The rest of the walls will be the 'riverbank'. This is still realistic because the tree can be growing out of the side of a riverbank, not just on top of it. And it also allows for realism with branches coming down from the canopy (most likely fake, since I want everything to weigh as little as possible) or fallen branches sticking out of the riverbank. I will also then make my 'pool' like a river, with directional flow. This wil be very well-suited to discus, who live amongst the tree roots going down into the Amazon in nature. Sweet! I'm REALLY excited about this now! Not to mention eternally grateful for this forum that enables me to communicate with people I don't know and would never have met! As for where my tree will be, I don't know. Perhaps the back left corner, so that I'm not totally copying Mr.B =) and so that my waterfall can still be on the right side, now more of a stream that is flowing down the riverbank and into the river. I will also likely put some more tree roots entering the water on the right side, to suggest the larger picture. Hmmmmmm. . . I think I will leave the tree trunk hollow, so that it weighs less and also provides space to hide cables and whatnot. And of course I will have some jungle vines draping down, to provide additional space for epiphytes. I am really excited about making the texture of the bark! I love how moss grows on the ridges of tree bark in the forest, and I will strive to emulate that in my tank. What would y'all suggest for my main tree form, since I want it hollow? I think that a piece of PVC that large would be too expensive. Perhaps I could build a plywood frame that is sort of hexagonal (only not totally round, because the tree will disappear into the back of the tank, not be entirely molded 'in the round' so to speak)? Oh, another thing I am very excited about is the plants. I have decided that I must have a super dwarf lotus in my tank! I adore these plants, but it is just too cool here in the summer to grow them successfully. I think a terrarium could be just the thing! And mine would have enough space (I think) for the smallest variety out there, right? Gary, please chime in here and tell me if this will work or not at all. Would it require a cooler dormancy? If so, could this be accomplished by removing the plant and storing it somewhere for the neccessary dormancy period? And also, since I'm going with a riverbank idea, I think I will make some holes in the bank to contain pots for terrestrials. Some paphs. and phrags. would be REALLY sweet! Especially with the flowers arching over the water. . . oh my goodness, I hope you all can see this in your head like I can. It's a piece of paradise! One question about the fake branches: how does one heat the PVC pipes in order to bend them to the desired shape (a la the Dutch vivs)? Heat gun? Blowtorch? Homer, I don't mind you being contradictory. =) I think that I will need excellent air movement in my tank though, especially if I want a lotus. You're probably right, I probably am too worried about the technical aspects (I'm more artsy-fartsy than handy, especially when it comes to electricity. Thank goodness I married an electrician!). And the wet/dry filter probably scares me more than it should because I simply have no experience with them. I should go check out the pond forum, so that I at least know what you guys are talking about. =) Are they similar to the sump method of filtration for fish tanks? Because that's what I want to use. You know, the water flows out of the main tank via an overflow, which contains a pre-filter, and then it goes down into the sump, where it flows through various chambers containing foam, sponges, 'bio-balls' or other media good for growing beneficial bacteria, etc., and then back into the tank via some powerheads. I think I will need two, maybe three powerheads on the right side to create my river flow effect. Am I making kind of a riffle tank here?

Hi Neesie, welcome and its nice to meet you! Hope you enjoy this Forum, we have some great folks here. The tablesettings and Kathleen's fattening fotos, LOL, keep us going thru the non-holidays. But its such fun to see all the decor when we are decorating everything up. Hope you had a chance to check out our Inspiration Album too. On my main page where you can go to, there is also a link for tablesettings the gals here have done. I am seriously dish-challenged but love seeing all the creations. hugs, Karen Here is a link that might be useful: Holiday Inspiration Album

Thanks for the positive feedback, I tend write... err... montages... When I'm stressed out. This has been along time coming. When I bought my house it was for the neighborhood not for the kitchen. (Or the bathroom for that matter but that was before I knew about Gardenweb.) It's about a quarter of a mile from the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, MN. It's a great location. (Eagles play in my backyard... Frickin' eagles.) The big renovation started last fall with the garage, which we completely ripped out, concrete and all. You can see it some of my flickr pics with the Tyvek wrap still on it and my '47 Willys... (I'm sure the neighbors are thanking me for that.) Now the kitchen, which moves a patio door, which means a new deck, which is going to force me to re-landscape the whole back yard. And somewhere in there I'm going to put a new roof on it. Which means taking off the chimney, which leads to a new hot water heater. (The furnace is already new and already vents out the side.)

Lynxe, that kitchen is long gone. It was in terrible disrepair. The laminate counter was completely separated from the wall, many of the cabinets were separating from the wall. Most of the drawers were broken and not even usable. The linoleum floor was stained. It also had a separate utility room for storage, and a washer and dryer. We decided to grab the space from that to make the kitchen larger. We ended up removing 2 walls, one of which was load bearing and we had to put in a lam beam to keep the house structurally sound. The kitchen is now completely open to the dining room. I will add more pictures of the kitchen when I get a chance. It is not the typical "period/cottage" kitchen that is so prevalent in magazines. Since it is open to the rest of the house I wanted something a little more warm, and a little more french country. I love how it is turning out, it is not yet complete as my DH has done everything with the exception of the counters himself. Sorry about the toilet lid, didn't realize it was such a no-no. If you notice there is also a little pink plastic microphone in the pic, I suspect I know who left the lid up.