# My custom build shallow tank  RESCAPE (The 3 Peaks)



## jarcher1390 (17 May 2015)

Hi All,

I have been designing a tank, cabinet and light stand for a year now and i've finally got it built and now got water in it.

So this is my dry run (well you know what i mean) for the tank to make sure my set up works before i start the scape.

Hope you enjoy the video.



Tank will hopefully scaped shortly

Regards

Jonny


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## Christos Ioannou (17 May 2015)

All the best very nice and practical setup love the diy!
I think you will be safer with the heater & atomiser in a full vertical position. My 2 cents.


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## Henrik J. (18 May 2015)

Really nice work Jonny, congratulations on the results. I look forward to seeing your scape. Did you also make the turning light-"pole" yourself?


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## Edvet (18 May 2015)

Very nice work on the light, grats!


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## Rahms (18 May 2015)

got any progress pics of the stand build? Looks great. Is that a few spaces for wine bottles?! I also quite like the light fixture, how'd you make that (and how is it attached)?  giving me ideas for my stand!


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## Jose (18 May 2015)

I really like. Looks very "laboratory grade". I would only do one thing: Put something in front of the leds as to not go blind hehe.


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## ian_m (18 May 2015)

Nice....

Couple of things to look out for....please ignore my advice as you see fit...

1. The Hydor inline heater should be operated vertically.
2. The atomiser should be operated vertically.
3. Running the atomiser on the filter inlet means it will need weekly (or quite frequent) cleaning, you will need some way of taking it out easily without having to drain things down.
4. Too much light spread for my liking. You have some super sexy LED fixture  but you are wasting the light to light your wall and blind the viewing public.
5. I assume you have some way of reducing the light level, as from the video these LED's look bright enough to vaporise plants and farm algae, especially when starting out.
6. I suspect you will have flow issues trying to run flow across such a large width tank. I assume you have at least x10 flow from the filter.

Great


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## Ryan Thang To (18 May 2015)

The heater and atomiser doesn't have to vertically as long there flow passing by.

Putting the atomiser on the inlet actually diffuse co2 better but yes it need cleaning frequent. Other than that the light stand and tank is very nice. Love the way you done with the light fixture. You have good diy skills.

cheers
Ryan


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## ian_m (18 May 2015)

legytt said:


> The heater and atomiser doesn't have to vertically as long there flow passing by.


Wrong. Prone failure if not installed vertically.

From the instruction manual. Please read.


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## Rahms (18 May 2015)

If there are any areas wihin the heater which are higher than the top of the outlet tube, air can get trapped, as well as if there are any nooks and crannies (such as heating coil? no idea what these look like inside) that may trap air if not vertical. So depending on the internals of the heater, it may or may not be fine. Considering there will be lots of gas coming from the atomiser, I wouldn't risk horizontal!


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## Iain Sutherland (18 May 2015)

think all my hydors run horizontally (for years), it may not be best but dont think its an issue, especially the atomiser.

Great looking set up, keep us updated fella


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## Ryan Thang To (18 May 2015)

Iain Sutherland said:


> think all my hydors run horizontally (for years), it may not be best but dont think its an issue, especially the atomiser.
> 
> Great looking set up, keep us updated fella


Me too. I cant really see a problem. As long water if flowing through.


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## Jose (18 May 2015)

legytt said:


> Me too. I cant really see a problem. As long water if flowing through.



There is a chance of a big bubble getting trapped in there making it possible to burn the heater if its not vertical. Chances arent very high, but why run the risk.


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## Ryan Thang To (18 May 2015)

Jose said:


> There is a chance of a big bubble getting trapped in there making it possible to burn the heater if its not vertical. Chances arent very high, but why run the risk.


Like i said i never had a problem with 3 of my tanks. Heater are over 2 year old too.

Its up to Jarcher by the way. Sorry about this i didn't want it to carry on in your journal


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## Martin in Holland (18 May 2015)

Very nice build.


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## krzysiekh (18 May 2015)

Very nice tank 
Can you share its dimensions?


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## Noman (18 May 2015)

I am so in love with your lighting setup. Can I get more info on that?


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## jarcher1390 (18 May 2015)

First of thanks you all for your likes, kind words and also the words of wisdom. 

Im glad I made the video and making this a dry run as i hadn't even considered some of the points made. I also discovered i have an uneven floor :-/ so will need to empty it and stuff some stuff under the right hand side leg.



Christos Ioannou said:


> All the best very nice and practical setup love the diy!
> I think you will be safer with the heater & atomiser in a full vertical position. My 2 cents.



Im going to swap the heater and atomiser around and see how that works. From what i have gathered from the comments above is that the heater will work in any position but the more horizontal runs the risk of developing a fault so I'm going to try and make them more vertical I don't see any point of running the risk of causing a fault if it can be easily avoided. 



Henrik J. said:


> Really nice work Jonny, congratulations on the results. I look forward to seeing your scape. Did you also make the turning light-"pole" yourself?



Thanks Henrik J, I'm very lucky to say that I have a friend that employs a carpenter and he has a metal work shop which he took my designs and concepts and made them look "almost shop bought" as a friend of mine put it. 



Rahms said:


> got any progress pics of the stand build? Looks great. Is that a few spaces for wine bottles?! I also quite like the light fixture, how'd you make that (and how is it attached)?  giving me ideas for my stand!



Thanks Rahms, i don't have many but ill have a dig around my computer and see what I can find. Yes that is spaces for wine bottles!!! 14 to be exact  ill get pictures of the bracket that holds it all together for you.



ian_m said:


> Nice....
> 
> Couple of things to look out for....please ignore my advice as you see fit...
> 
> ...



Thanks ian_m, I actually don't mind the light spilling over and i think will look better for my scape that way. The lights are 2x TMC aquabars 1000 freshwater i think i can get dimmers for these lights but I'm not convinced by dimmers to be honest. I have actually took out my seneye and done some light readings and i can vary it from 15par to 74par / 574 lux to 2741lux by varying the height of the stand and having one aqua bar at a time. I will post my finding on a graph later on. 

The tank volume is roughly 100 litres and I have a JBL profie greenline 1501 rated at 1400lph for a 14x turn over. I suspect it may not be that high because of the shallow tank height, inline heater and atomiser. I suppose only time will tell if its enough.......I HOPE SO



krzysiekh said:


> Very nice tank
> Can you share its dimensions?



The tank is 100cm(l) x 50cm(w) x 22cm(h).  The cabinet is 88cm in height, i was actually a little worried about the cabinet height before I got the tank but now I like it. The light can be raised or lowered in a range of 76cm. Hopefully so i can find that sweet spot in my light levels

I hope i've covered everyones comments and post if not directly. I'll get the charts and a couple more pictures up when I get a moment.

Regards 

Jonny


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## jarcher1390 (19 May 2015)

Hi all

So i though some of you might like to see the out put of PAR at the various heights with one or both lights on.

I took 3 readings on each height and number of lights. one 1cm below surface (top),  2nd 10cm below the surface (middle) and lastly the seneye sat snuggly on the bottom of the tank (Bottom). Hope the charts are clear enough for you.

PAR Readings by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Edited new chart as suggested by Rahms

Regards

Jonny


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## Rahms (19 May 2015)

What are the specifics of your LEDs? Manufacturer/power/number if DIY!

I think people will find it easier to interpret those graphs if its an XY scatter, distance from light on X axis and PAR on Y. Then you add a curve (series) for each # of lights.  It took me a minute to actually work out what was going on!


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## jarcher1390 (23 May 2015)

Rahms said:


> What are the specifics of your LEDs? Manufacturer/power/number if DIY!
> 
> I think people will find it easier to interpret those graphs if its an XY scatter, distance from light on X axis and PAR on Y. Then you add a curve (series) for each # of lights.  It took me a minute to actually work out what was going on!



Hi Rahms Ive update the chart, any better? The light stands holds 2x TMC Aquabar freshwater 1000mm http://www.tropicalmarinecentre.co.uk/flipping/aquaray/index.html#/25/zoomed

As for the scape I have just order 50kg of mini landscape through work. I know its probably more than what I need but it gives me options for when I'm doing the hard scape.

Regards 

Jonny


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## Rahms (23 May 2015)

jarcher1390 said:


> As for the scape I have just order 50kg of mini landscape through work. I know its probably more than what I need but it gives me options for when I'm doing the hard scape.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Jonny



I guess you'll have plenty of reason to start another tank after as well, wouldn't want all that rock going to waste 

Don't think I described the chart very well, here's what I was meaning (I put in made up numbers):






You'd have another 2 lines for your 46cm results, but they should be similar for equal distance eg. for 22cm x 1 at the bottom of your tank, the distance from probe to light is 44cm (22cm light->tank + 22cm below surface), and your PAR is ~24.  For 46cmx1, your distance to the top probe is 47cm (46cm to light + 1cm below surface), and PAR is ~20.  The difference is most likely experimental error. Water does attenuate more than air but I'm not sure how much you'd see (and this example indicates the opposite).

This is more of a "for future reference" type thing, can still see all this info from your current plots!


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## jarcher1390 (25 May 2015)

Hi all,

While I impatiently wait for my rock to arrive, I decided I would try sketch out my scape idea. My drawing skills are not great but I think they show what ill be trying to achieve.
Sketch 3 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
Sketch 1 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr 

I also got a moment this morning to take some close up shots of the lighting bracket. Hope these are informative enough.
IMG_1797 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1786 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1782 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1787 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1788 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1795 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1796 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1789 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

If you have any questions, fire away!!

Regards

Jonny


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## Andy Thurston (25 May 2015)

love the light bracket but perhaps your friend should have fully welded all the joints to stop water getting in and rust forming.
I've got a 4' tank that needs some new lighting, I might have to steal your design and rework it to include a shade.
Also your sketches are much better than I could do, looking forward to see what you do with the rocks when they arrive


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## Martin in Holland (27 May 2015)

Great sketches, this will look awesome with rocks sticking out of the water.


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## jarcher1390 (30 May 2015)

Big clown said:


> love the light bracket but perhaps your friend should have fully welded all the joints to stop water getting in and rust forming.
> I've got a 4' tank that needs some new lighting, I might have to steal your design and rework it to include a shade.
> Also your sketches are much better than I could do, looking forward to see what you do with the rocks when they arrive



Thanks Big clown, yer I try not to look at it I think I need to get him to make a cap or something to hide the cables. 

@Martin in China thanks I hope hardscape lives up to my expectations.


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## jarcher1390 (30 May 2015)

So today I was working on our stall for work at Gardening Scotland and I decided to take a wander around the other stalls (i was aiming for the bonsai stalls) On my way back I stumbled across this bog plant and after speaking to guy behind the stall I was confident that i have stubbled onto my plant to go above the water line. That plant is _Utricularia sandersonii_

IMG_0741 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

IMG_0742 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

So the idea is to have 5 peaks above the water line, the inspiration came from @Greenfinger2 and his lovely wabi kusa thread, i hope i can use the inspiration from his thread and create 5 lovely peaks above the waterline using wabi kusa techniques.

Jonny


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## Greenfinger2 (31 May 2015)

Hi Jonny, Thank you for your kind words _Utricularia sandersonii_ Wonderful plant Stunning little flower Looking forward to seeing this one come together


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## jarcher1390 (2 Jun 2015)

So it turns out carrying 50kg of rock 1 mile in two trips was a lot harder than I thought . but with many stops later I got it all back to my flat and was ready to scape. Then I get a call from the boss saying I'm working away for a couple days so.........i will have to wait TWO More days  whats 2 more days in 6 months of waiting??


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## tmiravent (2 Jun 2015)

absolutely fantastic!
congrats with the project!
i'll follow this one,
cheers


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## Edvet (3 Jun 2015)

Inspecting that last picture: looks like you are getting some other mosses for your bog too. Could be nice.


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## jarcher1390 (4 Jun 2015)

Hi all,

I decided to fling some rock in just to get a basic idea on how i would like my layout and i got something that i kinda like. So I thought id take a quick and dirty phone snap of the tank with rock in.

IMG_0766 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_0767 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_0768 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

layout and rock orientation will need tweaking. Ill be ordering plants on Monday to arrive next Thursday so I have plenty of time

Please hurl constructive criticism at me because my hardscaping has not been great in the past.

Jonny


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## jarcher1390 (8 Jun 2015)

HI all,

Hardscape in place. 

IMG_1810 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1800 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Im now ready to start planting,

Plant list so far

Substrate: _Eleocharis parvula_
Rock: _Hemianthus callitrichoides_
Emersed: _Utricularia sandersonii 
_
Plants arrive Thursday.

Regards

Jonny


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## Greenfinger2 (8 Jun 2015)

Hi Jonny, Looking really cool


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## Iain Sutherland (8 Jun 2015)

Looking good Jonny, Your biggest challenge will be getting flow around all those rocks, no doubt you have a plan though.
If you want to make life easier monte carlo grows far easier and better with no substrate than HC.

Look forward to seeing it planted.


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## jarcher1390 (8 Jun 2015)

Thanks greenfinger2



Iain Sutherland said:


> Looking good Jonny, Your biggest challenge will be getting flow around all those rocks, no doubt you have a plan though.
> If you want to make life easier monte carlo grows far easier and better with no substrate than HC.
> 
> Look forward to seeing it planted.



Thanks Iain, I have arranged the rocks to allow the water to flow around however if I do need to add more flow I have created a channel that can only be seen at a certain angle that a single power head will provide more than enough flow to the planted regions. Thats the theory at least.

Thanks I'll try HC, but I'll keep the Monte Carlo in mind.

Heres a cheeky video of the scape.

https://vimeo.com/user37019755 

Hope you enjoyed the video

Jonny


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## Greenfinger2 (8 Jun 2015)

Hi Jonny, Love the video  Enjoyed the More from Jonny Archer after Great stuff


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## Ryan Thang To (8 Jun 2015)

really liking the big rocks. nice layout


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## Alexander Belchenko (8 Jun 2015)

Nice little rocks you have in there. Very nice layout, a lot of room for plants and fish.


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## tmiravent (9 Jun 2015)

love those rocks! keep on the good work, cheers


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## jarcher1390 (11 Jun 2015)

hi all,

So tonight has been a fun night,

IMG_1829 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

I didn't get the_ U, sandersonii _planted but theres plenty of time in the near future to get that sorted.

Once i get my camera cleaned (dirt in the lens is so annoying ), ill take some time and get so better photos and ill write up my equipment list as i have been meaning to do that for a while.

Regards

Jonny


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## Ryan Thang To (12 Jun 2015)

oh wow I like the rock layout. keep us posted 

cheers
ryan


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## Andy D (12 Jun 2015)

Looking forward to the progression!


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## jarcher1390 (18 Jun 2015)

Hi all,

So one week has passed since it has been set up and let just say progress is Sloooooowwww I forget these are not stem plants but they are coming along.

I got my camera lens cleaned then realised that it was actually my laptop screen which was the culprit for the black marks  so that was easy to sort out. In the end I got a good fts (pic below) so its easy to see it progress over the coming months I've also added some specs for the tank.

*Tank and Cabinet* - Custom build cabinet with seashell optiwhite tank (100cm x 50cm 22cm) underlining JBL aquapad
*Lighting* - Custom light stand holding, 2x TMC aquabar 1000 freshwater. Total photo period 6 hours 1x 3hr and 1x 4 hours giving 1hr with both light on. Light stand at its extended maximum from the water at the moment (45cm).
*CO2* - Colombo FloraGrow CO2 fertiliser (2 squirts daily), 500g bottle with JBL ProFlora m001 regulator (working pressure 2.5bar), with JBL solenoid , 1BPS last week (now for 3 BPS) 2hours on before lights on, off 1 hour before light off, JBL Countsafe bubble counter, Up Aqua inline diffuser
*Filter* - JBL Profie greenline 1501, with cascade glassware.
*Heater - *Hydor external inline 300w (not currently turned on) Tank is at 20 degrees Celsius
*Substrate* - 20kg JBL Sansibar river, for nutrients JBL Florapol (500g). JBL aqua basis planting soil for plants in rock crevases 
*Ferts* - JBL Ferropol weekly (when doing water change), JBL proscape NPK + Fe with micronutrients daily (2 squirts daily),
*Hardscape* - 35kg (roughly) Mini landscape rock
*Plants* - Aquafleur Easy Grow pots - _Eleocharis parvula, Micranthemum micranthemoides. _and_ U sandersonii _(eventually)

*Water changes -* 50% daily, last week, this week will go down to 50% every other day

I hope that was not over the top on information.

IMG_1859 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Problems (Warts)
I have had a slight problem with diatoms recently I'm guessing with a new tank and low nutrients that is a given? A round with a tooth brush and 50% daily water changes has kept it at bay. 

Ive also noticed the oily film problem so I have upped my CO2 to 3 BPS and upped my ferts also. With the slow growth I'm wondering have I've staved them? I will see if the upping of the CO2 and ferts will solve the growth rate and the oily film. I hope so.

Well that is all for today if any one has any questions please fire away.

Regards

Jonny


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## jarcher1390 (23 Jun 2015)

Hi all

Heres a couple of photos for the _Utricularia sandersonii_ for growth above the water. I have my fingers crossed that my impulse buy on this plant pays off.....only time will tell

image by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

IMG_1873 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

As for below the water, plants are growing faster with higher co2 and Ferts. Diatoms have been reduced. Oily film still present though. But no sign of any green or black algae yet 

Please feel free to comment and criticise.

Regards

Jonny


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## Edvet (24 Jun 2015)

Like the Urticularia's. Maybe you can wicker some moist to it with some cotton threads.


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## James D (24 Jun 2015)

Looking good Jonny! Really like your hardscape.


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## Greenfinger2 (24 Jun 2015)

Hi Jonny, Stunning


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## jarcher1390 (10 Jul 2015)

Hi All

It has been 1 month with water in so its time for an update me thinks. Ive added 5 CRS and 5 _Pseudomugil paskai _for live stock, they were added Tuesday night, so paskai are not looking what they can be but in time they will.

*Observations and **maintenance*
The tank has been running soo smoothly it scares me, I think green algae is going to come around the corner any day now. I have been getting brown algae but after the initial week it has been very easy to keep under control with a water change and a toothbrush. I have also only needed to clean the glassware once and that was last week.

Light photoperiod is now at 8 hours 3pm-11pm with one hour with both lights on at 7pm, CO2 at 3 BPS comes on 2hours before lights goes on then one hour before lights off. Temperature now at 24 degrees Celsius.

The plants growth have been vary variable, the _Ultricualria sandersoni_ is growing but very slowly, i did get bran new little flower so I'm happy with that . @Edvet Thanks for the idea however each bit is sat on and above the water line so every bit is nice and moist, the tallest bit I had actually manage to get the soil to dangle into the water to draw up moister, unfortunately the earlier photos did not show that.

The _Micranthemum micranthemoides _in the middle and the right hand side are growing really nicely. In a week or two I think they will be ready to trim. The bit on the left hand side just off centre is not doing as well so i might just rip it out.

When setting up the tank with the _Eleocharis parvula _i noticed a distinct difference in the 8 pots of_ Eleocharis parvula _that I had bought. In some tubs the growth and root structure seemed uniformed in growth, in the others the root structure seemed to be clumped and it was very easy to separate the clumps out into little plant clumps. I don't know why there was a difference my theory is the clumped ones had been grown in the tubs for longer. Interestingly enough it is the ones which have been clumped in the pots have grown really well. You can see for yourself they are on the right hand side of the tank (picture below).  Obversely this is highly anecdotal stuff but my *BUYERS TIP *when buying this plant in the aquafluer easy grow range select the tubs with a more clumped structure.

*Pictures 
IMG_2087 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_2090 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_2018 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_2071 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_2020 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_2005 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
*
Please feel free to comment and criticise

Regards

Jonny


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## Dantrasy (10 Jul 2015)

Epic build mate, keep the pics coming. Some small rocks at the base of the big rocks might be a nice idea.


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## Edvet (10 Jul 2015)

Nice fish choice


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## jarcher1390 (10 Jul 2015)

Dantrasy said:


> Epic build mate, keep the pics coming. Some small rocks at the base of the big rocks might be a nice idea.


Thanks Dantrasy, I need to invest in a masonry chisel i've still got plenty of rocks to smash up, i feel a trip to B&Q is needed 


Edvet said:


> Nice fish choice


Thanks Edvet, i just hope they don't jump :-/


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## Tim Harrison (10 Jul 2015)

Interesting scape, looking forward to seeing where you take this.


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## Greenfinger2 (10 Jul 2015)

Hi Jonny,

Coming on nicely love the fish great photos too


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## jarcher1390 (2 Sep 2015)

Hi All,

Its been a while since I last posted, and theres been a lot on these past 6 weeks (promotion at work  ) which means the tank has been left to its own devices for longer than id like.

After my last post i went on holiday and discovered my Paskai rainbow were too jumpy so i had to return them. The water level also dropped such an amount that the _Utricularia sandersonii_ dried out. This turned out to be a blessing and stimulated bran new growth of a different leaf morphology. My _Micranthemum micranthemoides _has not done well at all except on the far right. The _Eleocharis parvula _on the right is doing great but the ones on the left are still not growing too well so i have increased the CO2 bought a Hydro Korallia 1600lph pump which the rocks block out I challenge you to find it in the fts photo. I think I may have also solved my oily film problem with the increased flow, changing the direction of the spray bar, increased CO2 and increase my fertilisers x 5

I also found a strange growth on the rocks any idea what it is?
IMG_1058 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

FTS
IMG_3033 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

IMG_1032 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_1031 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Jonny


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## Alexander Belchenko (2 Sep 2015)

That strange thing on the rock is probably some sp. of ferns. But I even don't try to guess which one. Because it's too young now.


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## Greenfinger2 (2 Sep 2015)

Hi Jonny, I have no idea sorry. Looks wonderful


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## Martin in Holland (3 Sep 2015)

Nice Islands with UG, I always love shallow tanks.


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## dw1305 (3 Sep 2015)

Hi all,





jarcher1390 said:


> I also found a strange growth on the rocks any idea what it is?





Alexander Belchenko said:


> That strange thing on the rock is probably some sp. of ferns. But I even don't try to guess which one. Because it's too young now.


Definitely a fern. The "liverwort" looking bit is the fern prothallus (gametophyte), which holds the "archegonia" and "antheridia".




 

It may be a Maidenhair Fern (_Adiantum_ sp.) if you have a plant in the house, they often come up from spores in strange places. 

cheers Darrel


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## jarcher1390 (3 Sep 2015)

Thats pretty cool

Thanks Darrel

It must be a spore left over from where ever the rock has come from...Not sure if a fern will add to the scape though but be interesting to find out.

I should add livestock is now 5 otocinclus affins and 20 ember tetras. Im thinking of getting some khulie loaches tomorrow.

Jonny


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## Joe Turner (16 Sep 2015)

Love the _Micranthemum_ growth Jonny, tank is looking great! Get yourself to B&Q and start hammering that rock, it would look even cooler with shale style chips at the base


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## jarcher1390 (16 Sep 2015)

Joe Turner said:


> Love the _Micranthemum_ growth Jonny, tank is looking great! Get yourself to B&Q and start hammering that rock, it would look even cooler with shale style chips at the base



Thanks Joe. 

Once I've got the parvula to a certain stage I'm going to get a FTS the do a re scape.

Jonny


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## jarcher1390 (23 Sep 2015)

HI all

You may remember that 4 Weeks ago I altered my flow and Fert regime, with a highly positive effect, the _Eleocharis parvula_ on the right grew like wild fire and the plants on the left started growing. I was happy as I was just gonna wait for it to grow in and get a fts before changing things around, however when cleaning the tank yesterday I knocked over a rock which has always been precarious I tried to re-right it but did not prevail .

I decided to use this as an opportunity to change things, maybe get the flow much better.........however.......once I got to this stage and knew I was at a point of no return. (see pic below)   

IMG_1172 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

I walked away in a fit of anger. Once i had calmed down I decided to start the scape again.

I looked back at my thread and decided it was time to take on some points,
1. Christos Ioannou, put heater in vertical position(could have done it any point but couldn't be bothered)
2. @Iain Sutherland too many large rocks hindering flow
3. Dantrasy, @Joe Turner,  not enough detail needed some smaller rocks

It is also time to change things that have bugged me
1. Im not sure the ember tetra were enjoying the last scape maybe a bit too bright.
2. the rock on the far right is growing the Utriularia sandersonii amazingly well and every passing week the plant is creeping up the soil . But it is not visible from the front.
3. i want both inlet and out let on the same side
4. Sand needs to banked at the back of the tank allowing more viewing space and more persective
5. I wanted a more traditional scape layout
6. Grow Eleocharis mini.
7.the rock that was in the middle like to start growing something emersed on it.

Things I liked and don't want to change
1. There is 3 large rocks I liked them sticking above the water surface as I really like having emerged growth forming little islands
2. Eleocharis parvula carpet
3. an area of sand exposed

I will need to wait to end of the moth to get some additional sand, floropol and plants. to complete the new scape

This is a quick and dirty shot of one side.

IMG_1175 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

As this was totally unexpected  this was thrown together with no planning within the day. I will post a FTS once i have tweeked it a bit, and the tank isn't in a snow blizzard from all the cloudiness.

Regards

Jonny


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## alto (23 Sep 2015)

Well done!


... though as you've (I think) now moved the 3 peaks in closer proximity, you'll need to work out flow again


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## Joe Turner (23 Sep 2015)

Looks like it's going to be even better Jonny, can't wait for an FTS!


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## Dantrasy (24 Sep 2015)

Your re-conception appears to be going well. Looking forward to a fts.


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## Martin in Holland (24 Sep 2015)

I love the UG on the islands...I was never able to get it to grow this nice, I guess it's to hot here.


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## jarcher1390 (26 Sep 2015)

alto said:


> Well done!
> 
> 
> ... though as you've (I think) now moved the 3 peaks in closer proximity, you'll need to work out flow again



thanks. Im seriously hoping that is not the case  Only time will tell.

Today the water has cleared up nicely, so I thought i would mess around with my 50mm lens very very rarely use it, that might change now. Sorry still no FTS, waiting to the end of the month to get paid so i can finish off the other side. in the mean time.....

IMG_3509 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

EDIT: whats the best way of keeping the rocks cleans? Tooth brush, shrimp/loaches/catfish, twistar? as keeping on top of the rocks is a little difficult. 

Regards

Jonny


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## jarcher1390 (20 Nov 2015)

Hi All

In the past 8 weeks i have added some new tank inhabitants 16 Copper harlequins and 4 Apistogramma purple i have to admit that they were needed for the tank to come alive. I decided to stop obsessing over the tank and leave it alone (still feeding, dosing and water changes) for 4 weeks to see what would happen. It turns out quite a lot really the clarity of the water has degraded considerable (yellowy and brown tinge) which can easily been seen in the coming photos. The main reason I decided to stop obsessing is that Elecocharis parvula is such a slow grower for me that is was starting to frustrate me. So the first photo is roughly the same as above photo after 8 weeks.

IMG_3748 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Now some warts. My plant growth above the water have not gone too well. The _Utricularia sandersonii_ has started to get a white fungus growth over it and its just looking a bit tatty. I have had the water level sat 2 cm lower than normal which I'm gonna guess is the cause of the white fungus giving it more favourable conditions than the _Utricularia sandersonii_. Im not sure how I'm going to solve this but I'm guessing some manual removal might be needed.

IMG_3722 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

I have now decided to kick myself and start putting some more tlc into the tank and finish off the scape. 8 weeks ago I only scaped one side so 4 days ago I bought more sand and JBL florropol, placed some new rocks and ripped up a stretch of Eleocharis parvula so I would have some plants to grow on the other side.

Because the water clarity is poor I decided to use my iPhone6 and a camera app called Moment where u have more control over exposure and focus just to see what I could come out with. Below is the best result i came up with

IMG_0091 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

And an in situ shot just cause i could

IMG_3727 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Whats next
I have decided to move onto a new scape because my mind has started wondering. This means that I'm going to run this into the new year (6-8 weeks more) and get a final shot of the tank. What I'm going to do to achieve this is.....

I'm lowering my lights to the height in the in situ shot, they have been fully extended throughout this scape
up my co2 a little
have both lights on at the same time for 2hours instead of 1hr
Up my water changes
Actually buy and use carbon to keep the water clarity tip top.
4 apistos is a bit too many so I'm going to give 2 away
I feel like i have sat in 3rd gear (not had 1 single problem with algae in 5 months ) with this tank never really seeing how fast i can get the plants to grow, so I'm going to see what I can achieve in growth if i do the above.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this. Stay tuned

Jonny


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## aaron.c (20 Nov 2015)

Looks really nice Jonny!! 


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## alto (20 Nov 2015)

jarcher1390 said:


> 4 Apistogramma purple


You might check which species before removing the "extra" 2, if they are a harem species rather than pair species, you may do better keeping 2-3 females & a single male; also consider adding some "caves" as the scape seems quite open (any sort of small cave shape will do, apply a layer of silicon (or whatever "glue"), then coat in substrate, allow to cure etc; you can also attach mosses or various plants)

A 100cm x 50cm surface area _may_ suffice for 2 apisto pairs but would need to scape with this in mind, it may also work better with pairs of different (compatible) species - you might do some searches in this regard on some of the apistogramma forums.

The water tint is interesting as it's more usually seen with wood scapes so you might try pressure washing the rock if it looks to be coming out of the crevices ...
(I'm assuming you're still doing 50% weekly water changes)
It's also possibly tap water quality - sorry don't recall if you're using RO/DI etc

Purigen may be a better investment than carbon, as you can re-charge the purigen fairly easily/efficiently (just invest in 2 "bags" etc)

There are lots of interesting shrimp to consider (not so compatible with most apisto's though )

This tank has such potential - looking forward to updates!


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## jagillham (20 Nov 2015)

Skimmed the thread, so apologies if you already said... what kind of rock is that?


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## jarcher1390 (20 Nov 2015)

alto said:


> You might check which species before removing the "extra" 2, if they are a harem species rather than pair species, you may do better keeping 2-3 females & a single male; also consider adding some "caves" as the scape seems quite open (any sort of small cave shape will do, apply a layer of silicon (or whatever "glue"), then coat in substrate, allow to cure etc; you can also attach mosses or various plants)
> 
> A 100cm x 50cm surface area _may_ suffice for 2 apisto pairs but would need to scape with this in mind, it may also work better with pairs of different (compatible) species - you might do some searches in this regard on some of the apistogramma forums.
> 
> ...



Thanks Alto ill bare all this in mind. I did however give up on shrimp as they just kept climbing out which was damn annoying.



jagillham said:


> Skimmed the thread, so apologies if you already said... what kind of rock is that?



Hi jag, the rock is Mini landscape rock


Regards

Jonny


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## Martin in Holland (21 Nov 2015)

I simply love it....great placement of that big rock in front, this gives the whole scape good depth.


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## jarcher1390 (11 Dec 2015)

HI All

So its been exactly 3 weeks since my last update on the scape.  And the tank has grown a wart ..... algae. So I decided in the spirit of a journal to take a picture of it. Fun stuff I know!!!
Ive kept on top of the algae but for giggles (well scientific curiosity) I left a patch to see how much it would grow before I decided its time to get on top of it so this is 3 weeks of algae growth.
IMG_0003 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Im now the proud owner of algae, but on the up side I have had 8 weeks of growth in 3 weeks. The increased growth of algae to the tank has been down to the fact I dropped the lights 27cm to the lights were 22cm above the water surface. Im going to increase the height by 7cm to see if I can find the sweet spot between optimum plant growth and very minimal algae growth. Deciding to design the light bracket to be adjustable in height is becoming very handy.

In other news, the emerged soil is changing from _U, sandersonii_ to more of a sphagnum moss? (I will  get a close up shot for a proper id soon). I'm going to plant some _U sandersonii _and see if i can grow it submerged as a wee additional experiment.

The _Micranthemum micranthemoides _is growing really well and after some more pruning will hopefully become dense and will have a great effect.

All in All I'm happy with how this scape is coming along. Hopefully I will get a proper FTS early new year.

Thanks for reading

Please feel to comment and criticise  

Jonny


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## Joe Turner (12 Dec 2015)

jarcher1390 said:


> HI All
> 
> So its been exactly 3 weeks since my last update on the scape.  And the tank has grown a wart ..... algae. So I decided in the spirit of a journal to take a picture of it. Fun stuff I know!!!
> Ive kept on top of the algae but for giggles (well scientific curiosity) I left a patch to see how much it would grow before I decided its time to get on top of it so this is 3 weeks of algae growth.
> ...



Eleocharis growth is lush man, it might feel slow to you, but in terms of this journal: that's exceptional growth!

Looking forward to FTS


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## jarcher1390 (22 Jan 2016)

Hi All

8 Weeks ago I decided that this scape needed to come to an end and I gave my self 8 weeks to get to that stage I'm happy to say the tank is looking great but its a lil annoying that I feel that I'm still 4 weeks away for the plants to be in perfect in condition (mostly on the right hand side. Oh well I'm gonna take these next 4 weeks to practice my FTS and my camera techniques in order to get the final shot. I have also got some new ND lenses for my camera in order to get better shots. Anyways without any further ado here is a FTS

IMG_4372 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

I didn't bother taking out the pipes and equipment for this one but will do for the very last shot (hopefully in 4 weeks time).

As always please feel free comment and criticise.

Jonny


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## James O (22 Jan 2016)

No criticisms 

I would just love to see this evolve into something like a clean bigTom's tank.  All the big stones back in and some amazing wood and lush bigger leaves of anubias etc with loads of emersed growth.  Like a shallow mangrove type thing with stone and more plants.  Fish would love the leafy shade!  Toms breed like rabbits

Brain fart off


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## NC10 (22 Jan 2016)

Looking good mate, good luck with the new scape. Do you know what you're doing with it yet?

I've just ordered a similarly proportioned 72x24x15 so looking for inspiration, or to just blatantly pinch ideas really


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## jarcher1390 (23 Jan 2016)

James O said:


> No criticisms
> 
> I would just love to see this evolve into something like a clean bigTom's tank.  All the big stones back in and some amazing wood and lush bigger leaves of anubias etc with loads of emersed growth.  Like a shallow mangrove type thing with stone and more plants.  Fish would love the leafy shade!  Toms breed like rabbits
> 
> Brain fart off



Thanks James

Hehe I actually thought about going crazy with it and doing some emerged growth type thing but unfortunately cause it it open top I'm getting way too much humidity for the room so emerged growth isn't on the cards 



NC10 said:


> Looking good mate, good luck with the new scape. Do you know what you're doing with it yet?
> 
> I've just ordered a similarly proportioned 72x24x15 so looking for inspiration, or to just blatantly pinch ideas really



Thanks NC10

Thats would be a lovely sized and shape tank!! Im well jealous. I know what you mean about pinching ideas if think in some shape or form we are all guilty of this. 

My next scape was going to be a Mexico style underwater cave like the one in this link.

6a9067e2-a52f-4209-b6a7-67b3b6dd4b57_seven_hundred.jpg 

But I have a learning curve to over come in hardscaping (one of my weakest disciplines) to create a mega structure into a cave and to do it justice. so I'm thinking of doing two things 

1. Make a miniature scale cave in a smaller tank to keep cost of my learning curve down. 
2. Converting this tank into a marine tank (I KNOW I KNOW the dark side ). Im lucky enough that I work in this hobby and i got the pleasure of set up a marine tank at work and i have to say taking things i have learned from aquascaping really help me on the tank in the shop. Im now hoping it will work the other way round 

Jonny


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## Keybo (23 Jan 2016)

Wow Jonny, a lot has happened since I last checked in on your journal. Bummer about the accident but nice one on the end result mate!


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## Martin in Holland (24 Jan 2016)

Simply beautiful...loving it


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## Joe Turner (24 Jan 2016)

Awesome work Jonny, you really brought it back after that algae outbreak. Plants look super healthy, as does the tank! 

Excited to see it in the flesh!!


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## tmiravent (24 Jan 2016)

This tank would look nice with stell pipes!
Love the look of eleocharis! 
Nicely done, congrats.
Cheers


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## jarcher1390 (17 Mar 2016)

HI All 

Today I'm shooting my final FTS and a Video but first, lets recap a little.

My rock work at the beginning was a lil ambitious and the lack of flow around the rocks became to much of a hinderance
IMG_1859 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

I continued with the layout but during some cleaning one day I knocked over a rock and when i tried to correct my mistake it went terribly wrong. 
IMG_1172 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

So I did a total re-scape, although a lilt messy. It did at least I solved my flow problem.
IMG_0091 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

After a few weeks i were getting somewhere.
FullSizeRender[1] by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

On my dummy run FTS, every thing was in place except  except the _Eleocharis parvula_ had not grown in. 
IMG_4372 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Stay Tuned for the Final shots and videos.

Regards

Jonny


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## jarcher1390 (17 Mar 2016)

HI All

My Final FTS
IMG_4576 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Two In-Situs
IMG_4397 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_4398 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Some detail shots
IMG_4607 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_4695 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_4717 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr
IMG_4712 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

And finally
IMG_4637 by Jonathan Archer, on Flickr

Video to follow

Regards

Jonny


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## FIsh i (17 Mar 2016)

Killer tank=Geting the pop corn ready for the vid...


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## chris-w-89 (17 Mar 2016)

Looks great Jonny... Still can't believe you are going to strip this but looking forward to the next one 


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## Ryan Thang To (17 Mar 2016)

very nice. good work ☺

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## Martin in Holland (18 Mar 2016)

jarcher1390 said:


>


I'm completely in love with this photo.


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## mlgt (18 Mar 2016)

Lovely tank and looking forward to the video!


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## jarcher1390 (18 Mar 2016)

HI All

So i've run into some problem with the video. I forgot that its a different mind set to taking pictures so I'm having to re shoot some footage.

Anyways I was rummaging through my archive photos and videos and notice a video i took when i first set up the scape. Anyways i threw a couple of clips to make this wee video.



Full vid coming soon

Jonny


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## jarcher1390 (18 Mar 2016)

The final instalment.

This tank marks a special point. Unlike my previous 2 scapes "Messing about with an Arcadia Arc" and "The tank of sentimentality" I didn't reach a point in those scapes that I was happy with. This scape almost ended up the same way with a careless cleaning mishap, I was very annoyed at the time but turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Now when i look back the first two where time killers, while I was designing and getting the cabinet built. I was in a rush with those two and didn't think the whole scape through. What this scape has taught me though is it importance of managing change with patient. After I knocked over the rock and had to redo my scape it gave me the confidence to change the scape around. In fact I was changing the scape on a weekly basis. It was this change that enabled me to perfect the scape to my liking. Change although a crucial part of this scape it needed to be coupled with patience in order to see the changes through to its full fruition. Without patience i probably would have called it a day and thrown in the towel at a couple of points in time. Obviously I'm glad I didn't.

What i will take onto my next scape is this

_Creativity is only achieved through change and patients solves all mistakes. Together they are a powerful combo_

Okay thats enough sentiment for one evening.

Heres the Video



I hope you have all enjoyed reading this journal.

Regards

Jonny


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## FIsh i (19 Mar 2016)

Watched this far to much today...


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## jarcher1390 (20 Mar 2016)

FIsh i said:


> Watched this far to much today...



I Hope you didn't run out of pop corn then


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## Greenfinger2 (26 Mar 2016)

Hi Jonny, Fantastic Scape wonderful videos


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## jarcher1390 (26 Mar 2016)

Epilogue

Before I started shooting for my FTS my friend, colleague (well.... ex colleague now ), fellow scaper and UKAPS member @Joe Turner who also happens to be a professional photographer. Came over to see my tank. Unfortunately he was pressed for time and had to dart off but thankfully he managed to get a few snaps of the tank before he left. Its nice to see the tank from a different artists point of view and camera technique. I hope you will agree.

View attachment 25450678573_38cd81bbdd_o.jpg
View attachment 25448612594_d7c6357bcf_o.jpg
View attachment 25960646112_6ff1a25f31_o.jpg
View attachment 26027506216_19c5fe1382_o.jpg

Thanks Joe for letting me share your photos. The 3rd photo is still my favourite.

Cheers

Jonny


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## Greenfinger2 (26 Mar 2016)

Hi Jonny, Nice photos love the angel shots


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## Martin in Holland (27 Mar 2016)

Great pictures, but it's easy to take nice photo's with a tank this beautiful.


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## Lewisr (28 Mar 2016)

Wow that end result. Great work


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## tim (28 Mar 2016)

This turned out really well Jonny, some lovely images and video, that 3rd image in your last post awesome !!


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