# Autumn Sunrise (9th place in Nano category AAC 2009)



## James Marshall (23 Jun 2009)

Hello fellow aquascapers

This is my contest scape, it is the first time i have entered a contest, so I am very pleased to have placed 9th in category. The idea behind this scape was maintainability, so i chose plants that could be easily pruned and would recover quickly thereafter. My inspiration came from watching the sun rise on the Dorset coast one autumn morning.

Aquascape title : Autumn Sunrise
Tank volume (liter) : 21 liters
Tank size (Length x width x height) : 36 x 22 x 26 cm

Plants :
Riccia fluitans, Rotala rotundifolia

Lightning :
Two 24 Watt cool white power compacts (over tank)
One 7 Watt warm white tulip bulb (backlight
For 10 hours per day

Fish & Invertebrates : 
Nannostomus Beckfordi

Fertilization, CO2, Substrate :
Fertilization: 
3/4ml Tropica plant nutrition+ and 3/4ml Tropica plant nutrition per day
CO2: One bubble per second for 11 hours per day
Substrate: Eco Complete and GEOsystems sand

Regards James


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## ceg4048 (23 Jun 2009)

Wow, lovely, clean scape and brilliant interpretation. Congratulations and well earned mate. Thanks for sharing!  I like the backlighting effect for the sunrise. What is the Riccia mounted on?

Cheers,


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## James Marshall (23 Jun 2009)

Thanks for your comments, they are much appreciated.
To answer your question about the Riccia, it is tied directly on to the metamorphic rocks with fishing line, however it was necessary to chisel small grooves in the rocks to hook the fishing line around, so that none of it was running over the bare parts of the rock.


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## a1Matt (23 Jun 2009)

Even without the well deserved competition result, I'd be chuffed to bits to have achieved a scape like that.   It really does evoke an autumn sunrise feeling.


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## TDI-line (23 Jun 2009)

Lovely scape James, and congratulations on 9th place.


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## Steve Smith (23 Jun 2009)

Great tank James   I'm interested in the light unit.  Is it custom made?


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## Cyworld (23 Jun 2009)

Good GOD!
Nice tank, Incredibly clean looking.


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## Mark Evans (23 Jun 2009)

wonderfully crisp and clean. a pretty quickly completed scape i'd guess?


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## James Marshall (23 Jun 2009)

Thank you all very much for your kind comments.

SteveUK - the lighting is DIY, however I am a workshop technician with access to a fair bit of manufacturing equipment.

Mark - although the tank looked fairly good after only a couple of weeks, one of the main ideas behind this scape was long-term and easy maintainability.  The pictures you see here were taken at two months old and the scape continued to mature for a further two months, at which point I got bored and rescaped.  Can post some pictures at four months if you're interested.  

Cheers James


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## Mark Evans (23 Jun 2009)

James Marshall said:
			
		

> Can post some pictures at four months if you're interested.



go for it ,mate!


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## George Farmer (23 Jun 2009)

Hi James,

Welcome to UKAPS and congratulations on your 9th place!   It's a very impressive layout   

Thanks for sharing and I hope to see you around the forums in the future.


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## LondonDragon (23 Jun 2009)

Welcome aboard James, nice looking tank and congrats on the 9th place 
Now you need to start the new one for next year to better that


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## James Marshall (24 Jun 2009)

Thanks for the compliments guys, they are much appreciated.

George - congratulations on your placements, I thought your nano iwagumi was absolutely stunning.

Paulo - I have a few ideas for next years contests, but I feel I may have peaked too early  

Here is a pic of the scape at about 4 months





Cheers James


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## Stu Worrall (24 Jun 2009)

very nice scape James, congrats


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## lljdma06 (29 Jun 2009)

Beautiful tank. The Riccia looks so poofy.  I love it.   Congratulations on your placement.

llj


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## Themuleous (29 Jun 2009)

Nice one, lovely little tank 

Sam


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