# Scapers Tank Aquascape Attempt (Looking for C&C)



## LukeDaly (2 Jan 2015)

Hey guys, 

Started a new scape, with what I personally think is an awesome piece of wood. 

Equipment:
Tank - 50 Liter Scaper's Tank
Light - 24 Watt Scapers Light
Co2 - 2kg FE with co2 art regulator and solenoid (Should I dose liquid co2 as well?)
Filter - Fluval 306 with carbon removed
Dosing - EI Dosing 10ml a day alternating days and a 50% water change every Sunday

Ok.. so that is the current list of equipment I have. Now for some photos. (Excuse the quality I took them with my phone)






Overall I think it looks ok, nothing on par with what I see on this forum tho but I like a challenge.
What C&C have you got for me? Anything you would personally change? 

Any equipment you would recommend getting to make life easier / make the tank look better. 
I have some lilly pipes ready to be fitted. And I am thinking about getting a Digital PH Reader.





I was thinking of maybe adding a grass type plant or something to carpet the rear right of the tank, from behind the piece of wood to the filter intake? What are the opinions on this? 





Also this is my first time trying to grow Dwarf Baby Tears, how does it look? My co2 is currently sitting at around 2bps is this too much? I used three pots up front if that helps. If I cant get the DBT to grow in or if my tank conditions aren't great would Monte Carlo be a better option?  

I understand that I may be doing some things wrong or that I may have jumped in at the deep end but thats why I am asking you guys to help me out  everyone here is friendly enough and will help point me in the right direction.  I am willing to spend money this is not a budget build as such I have saved up a bit of cash to help get me back into the hobby. Saying that my previous tank was only a little fluval spec V that you can have a look at in my imgur gallery if you like. It was dirted and I just used easycarbo & profito.

I intend to keep this as a progress thread as well as a journal. (I wish I had of took photos from the start but as I am sure many of you know when the post man arrives with new gear photos are the last thing on your mind.)

Thanks in advance to anyone with an input! 
Luke.


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## DivZero (2 Jan 2015)

Hi Luke,

First off: beautiful scape and I especially love the wood!

I am also just a beginner when it comes to high(er)-tech tanks, but as many people helped me out I'll do my best for you 

Regarding liquid CO2: I would say yes. I dose liquid CO2 because it's good for the plants (don't overdose!!) but I mainly add it because it's toxic for algae at the recommended dosing regime and helps keep algae at bay. But beware, it's toxic for just about everything else when you overdose. Also... don't drink it 

I'm not sure if you have enough light to get a nice carpet of HC (aka DBT). Also not sure if it would be enough for Monte Carlo. However MC is said to be an easier plant, and that's why I got MC instead of HC. So far I've not regretted  my decision and I love this little plant! If you light isn't enough you could always add another scrapers light, but I would ask for other people's advice regarding lighting.

About your CO2 bps: the bubble count isn't really important. The amount of dissolved CO2 is. This is why you have your drop checker. I looks a bit dark to me, but the photo can be deceiving. You should look up what color it should be for the right amount of CO2. Aim for around 30ppm CO2.

How long has you tank been running when the photo was taken? Or was it just setup? Also, at what temperature are you running? The photo shows 19.1C, but maybe you just filled it up with cold water 

I personally would not go for an pH meter right away, you have you drop checker, which is nothing more than an analogue pH meter that shifts color to indicate the pH. Depending on how high-tech you want to run your tank you will probably be better of either getting another light or a stronger filter. It was a shock to me when I first found out, but a minimum of 10 times turnover of your tanks volume per hour is recommended. Which on your case would be 500+ liters and your filter is rated at 300 liter.

I hope this helps! And if anyone disagrees with me, please let me know, I'm not claiming to be an expert.


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## Jose (2 Jan 2015)

f you have CO2 bubbles going over the carpet plant then it shall grow.


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## darren636 (2 Jan 2015)

Looks good so far
 I'd like to see the rock work take a more prominent role


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## LukeDaly (2 Jan 2015)

DivZero said:


> Hi Luke,
> 
> First off: beautiful scape and I especially love the wood!
> 
> ...



Thank you! 

I have a bottle of EasyCarbo left over from my first tank, would you recommend dosing this at a regular dose even when using compressed Co2? Haha ill try my best not to get to thirsty  

Its that beautiful carpet that everyone wants that I am aiming for! So ill do everything I can to make it work! Yeah I had thought about adding another Scapers light but its quite hard to get a hold of over here on its own and not with the kit. Luckily I get on very well with my LFS and they sorted me out took a few months to come in tho! 

Its definitely green been making sure it doesn't turn yellow on me. Saying that ive never seen it turn blue again since the first day I put it in, should it be going green each night? 

I literally took them photos about 2 minutes before making this post its been running from the 23rd of December  Yeah the tank is sitting at about 19C this is probably to low and I am planning on getting a hydor inline heater  

I didn't think id need a new filter I was told that the one I have is already overkill? My water is literally crystal clear! 

Of course it helps man thanks very much for taking the time to reply!



Jose said:


> f you have CO2 bubbles going over the carpet plant then it shall grow.



They are definitely going over it, perhaps you mean sticking to it? 



darren636 said:


> Looks good so far
> I'd like to see the rock work take a more prominent role



Do you mean bigger rocks? Or more rocks? 
I do have another bunch of rock and I can quite easily get some more or larger pieces in my LFS.


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## darren636 (2 Jan 2015)

The rocks seem squashed under the wood, that's all.


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## Jose (2 Jan 2015)

LukeDaly said:


> They are definitely going over it, perhaps you mean sticking to it?


Not necessarily. CO2 bubbles going near it. The water through which a co2 bubble is travelling has got CO2 dissolved in it. Plus gaseous CO2 is very accesible for plants. If you can manage this and dose enough ammount of ferts and light is not very very low (which it probably isnt) then its all sorted.

Also sometimes putting the difuser nearer the surface makes it easier for the flow to push the bubbles down to the ground. You might have already noticed this.


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## DivZero (2 Jan 2015)

Yeah, just the regular dose of EasyCarbo. The term "liquid CO2" is just fancy marketing. The active ingredient in in EasyCarbo have little to do with CO2. Thus dosing EasyCarbo will not increase your CO2 concentration in the water and not suffocate your (future) livestock or anything.

What's important about the drop checker is the right color when the lights are on, so your plants have the right amount of CO2 to do their photosynthesis. Please note, the drop checker can take about 2 hours to catch up with the actual pH/CO2 level.

About the filter. It's perfectly fine for the filtration part of the filter. As I understand it, you need it to achieve good flow in the aquarium which enables you to get CO2 and other nutrients to all your plants. But for now I would just see how it goes with your current filter


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## LukeDaly (2 Jan 2015)

Jose said:


> Not necessarily. CO2 bubbles going near it. The water through which a co2 bubble is travelling has got CO2 dissolved in it. Plus gaseous CO2 is very accesible for plants. If you can manage this and dose enough ammount of ferts and light is not very very low (which it probably isnt) then its all sorted.
> 
> Also sometimes putting the difuser nearer the surface makes it easier for the flow to push the bubbles down to the ground. You might have already noticed this.



Awesome, I noticed that having the filter outlet closer to the surface caused more bubbles to be pushed down so ive been sticking with that for the time being! 



DivZero said:


> Yeah, just the regular dose of EasyCarbo. The term "liquid CO2" is just fancy marketing. The active ingredient in in EasyCarbo have little to do with CO2. Thus dosing EasyCarbo will not increase your CO2 concentration in the water and not suffocate your (future) livestock or anything.
> 
> What's important about the drop checker is the right color when the lights are on, so your plants have the right amount of CO2 to do their photosynthesis. Please note, the drop checker can take about 2 hours to catch up with the actual pH/CO2 level.
> 
> About the filter. It's perfectly fine for the filtration part of the filter. As I understand it, you need it to achieve good flow in the aquarium which enables you to get CO2 and other nutrients to all your plants. But for now I would just see how it goes with your current filter



Sweet ill start dosing with EasyCarbo again tmo! I understand, hopefully when I add the lily pipes I will notice a little more flow! if not it is always easier to add a small power head than replace the filter!

Thanks


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## DivZero (2 Jan 2015)

LukeDaly said:


> if not it is always easier to add a small power head than replace the filter



Indeed, and cheaper


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## Jose (2 Jan 2015)

LukeDaly said:


> Sweet ill start dosing with EasyCarbo again tmo! I understand, hopefully when I add the lily pipes I will notice a little more flow! if not it is always easier to add a small power head than replace the filter!


Are you sure you need more flow? How strong is your filter? I would better spend my money in an inline atomizer (or even an intank one) in your place. Just saying that its not just about muscle flow cause your tank may start to look unnatural with so much flow (thats just my humble opinion).


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## LukeDaly (2 Jan 2015)

DivZero said:


> Indeed, and cheaper



Indeed well I just got the lily pipes out there now and I already have the clear tubing! So the Girlfriend has been roped into taking me to get me a hydor inline heater tomorrow haha! What model should I be looking at for a tank this size? 



Jose said:


> Are you sure you need more flow? How strong is your filter? I would better spend my money in an inline atomizer (or even an intank one) in your place. Just saying that its not just about muscle flow cause your tank may start to look unnatural with so much flow (thats just my humble opinion).



No I am not to sure yet, going to fit the lily pipes tomorrow after a trip to the LFS to see if I can pick up a hydor inline heater  after that I will be able to decide if flow is an issue I doubt it is at the minute. But if I really need a second opinion ill set up the good camera and get a video recorded .


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## darren636 (2 Jan 2015)

Hydor make 200 and 300 watt heaters.
 So 200 watt will be fine. If you can find them


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## Andy Thurston (2 Jan 2015)

Hc does OK in fairly low light  had it in a tank with liquid carbon at 3.5X dose Otto's and amano shrimp seemed OK
I currently dose lc 5ml into a 60l tank and drop checker is yellow throughout the photoperiod and all the livestock is healthy although Otto's gills are red from the high co2 concentration
IMO pH meters are a must have when pushing co2 limits and don't buy one of the yellow cheapys from eBay
Nice tank BTW


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## LukeDaly (3 Jan 2015)

darren636 said:


> Hydor make 200 and 300 watt heaters.
> So 200 watt will be fine. If you can find them



I know my LFS sells them but im not sure if they will have a 200 watt version tho. I can find a 300 watt for £47 delivered the next day on the net. So unless my LFS can beat that price in the morning ill have to order it.



Big clown said:


> Hc does OK in fairly low light  had it in a tank with liquid carbon at 3.5X dose Otto's and amano shrimp seemed OK
> I currently dose lc 5ml into a 60l tank and drop checker is yellow throughout the photoperiod and all the livestock is healthy although Otto's gills are red from the high co2 concentration
> IMO pH meters are a must have when pushing co2 limits and don't buy one of the yellow cheapys from eBay
> Nice tank BTW



I'm defo going to start dosing liquid carbon along with my co2. I never knew that dosing both would make a difference, glad I asked! I do have 4 Otto's in there so hopefully this wont cause them any harm!  

Are there any PH meters you would recommend? And thanks for the comment man, means a lot!


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## Andy Thurston (3 Jan 2015)

I use a Hannah one but there are cheaper ones that work well too.


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## LukeDaly (3 Jan 2015)

Big clown said:


> I use a Hannah one but there are cheaper ones that work well too.



I'll check them out!


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## TallDragon (3 Jan 2015)

Luke, 
Lovely tank. I will follow the 'attempt' with interest.
Was there a specific reason, you chose not to use the Dennerle Scaper's flow filter, that comes with the kit? Did you get the tank and light separately? Why did you choose the Fluval 306.


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## LukeDaly (3 Jan 2015)

TallDragon said:


> Luke,
> Lovely tank. I will follow the 'attempt' with interest.
> Was there a specific reason, you chose not to use the Dennerle Scaper's flow filter, that comes with the kit? Did you get the tank and light separately? Why did you choose the Fluval 306.


Thanks man very much appreciated! 
I didn't want or have the room for it to hang of the back tbh! I am a student so I don't really have that much living space especially since my computer takes up half of the room lol! I also loved the clean look of lily pipes in the high end tanks I see on here, and around this time last year the fluval 306 was on sale in my LFS for a great price so I picked it up! 

Currently have the carbon removed as the bag seemed to rip open.. Considering purigen but the water is spotless anyway. 

Yeah, I bought the tank on the Internet after Christmas last year (easy enough)  as I didn't want the substrate / filter etc and thought it would have been simple enough to get a light on its own but apparently it wasn't so easy.. After looking at several options I was recommended the scapers light anyway and decided to have one ordered into my LFS.. Took a while but got here eventually! 

Really appreciate the reply, actually all the responses I am getting are making me feel better about the whole high tech tank thing! Super exciting! Thanks everyone.


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## LukeDaly (4 Jan 2015)

Quick update, grabbed myself a bag of purigen in the LFS gonna install it tmo when doing tank maintenance. 

Also I have been reading about Hydor heaters a little more before I bite the bullet, are these still overheating on people? Even newer batches? 

I also found and lost a thread again on using an STC-1000 Temperature controller as a fail safe for Hydor heaters, has anyone tried this and can explain to me how it works im guessing the controller uses its own probe and shuts the unit off if the temperature gets to high? How long is the probe, would I need the unit to be sitting close to the tank? 

Thanks again guys,
Luke.


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## aquascape1987 (4 Jan 2015)

I've just got a hydor 300 watt inline heater from my gf for xmas.. ( obviously I asked for it). I've already taken it to bits and disabled the built in thermostat. This means that when the powers on, the heaters always on now. I plug this into a proper thermostat controller which switches the heater on and off. My experience of both previous  hydor heaters I've had are that the thermostats always go after a period of time. Either get stuck on heat which can cook your fish or they stop switching the heat on. I've also read loads of other stories around the world of people having the same problem.  Make sure you get the right heater for your hose size as the 200 watt comes in both 12 and 16mm


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## Andy Thurston (4 Jan 2015)

This thread
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/another-hydor-heater-failure.33372/
And yes the controller has its own probe


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## LukeDaly (4 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> I've just got a hydor 300 watt inline heater from my gf for xmas.. ( obviously I asked for it). I've already taken it to bits and disabled the built in thermostat. This means that when the powers on, the heaters always on now. I plug this into a proper thermostat controller which switches the heater on and off. My experience of both previous  hydor heaters I've had are that the thermostats always go after a period of time. Either get stuck on heat which can cook your fish or they stop switching the heat on. I've also read loads of other stories around the world of people having the same problem.  Make sure you get the right heater for your hose size as the 200 watt comes in both 12 and 16mm



Awesome, what controller are you using man? Couldn't you leave the Hydor heater in tact for warranty purposes and set the external controller a little higher as to turn it off when the temp gets to high? and I can get the 300 for the same price as the 200 atm would 200 still be the better option, or get the 300 for any possible tank upgrades? 



Big clown said:


> This thread
> http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/another-hydor-heater-failure.33372/
> And yes the controller has its own probe



That's the thread I was talking about, thanks very much man! Are you using a controller? Or an in line heater for that matter? Looking for as much information on this as possible before I bite the bullet.


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## Andy Thurston (5 Jan 2015)

Neither. I was going to get a hydor heater but found a few threads about failures hence my comments in the linked thread


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## LukeDaly (5 Jan 2015)

Big clown said:


> Neither. I was going to get a hydor heater but found a few threads about failures hence my comments in the linked thread



Are you using an internal heater or another brand of external?


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## Andy Thurston (5 Jan 2015)

Just a 50w internal Rena smart heater. Its a bit big but hides nicely against the black background


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## aquascape1987 (5 Jan 2015)

Hi mate... you could leave the heater intact and turn it up to max temp, but that would only work reliably as long as the thermostat inside did. If the heaters own thermostat failed and it constantly thought the temp was high, the heater would never come on. My last one failed in this way, instead of overheating. Once you take it apart you can see that there's not a right lot that can go wrong apart from the thermostat... its just a glass tube with a thermostat. Either inside the glass tube or on its surface, there is a foil that heats up when electrical current goes through it.. its a very simple electrical circuit,with no mechanical or moving parts,so personally I'm not worried about the warranty.The only other thing that can go wrong is it leaks,  but again, if you saw it inside, it's quite obvious that this would be an easy fix with some sealant. The thermostat I'm using is the Aquamedic T Controller Twin. I got it after a recommending review in PFK and it works great. You can also attach a cooling device (either fans or chiller) as it controls temp both up and down. I haven't bothered with cooling however.


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## aquascape1987 (5 Jan 2015)

Don't think there are any other external in lines on the market, otherwise I wouldn't bother with the Hydor and modifying it. Unless anyone else knows of any??? I would try something else. It's a shame that Hydor use such a crap component for the thermostats, as the heater it's self works great, and the inline concept is also great. I won't have heaters in my tank now so Hydor is the only option for me. But the products far from perfect. I modified this one before it even failed, straight out of the box. That was because the first I had cooked my fish. The second stopped coming in after 6 months. So I made this mod to the 2nd and used it like this with zero problems for 2 years. Only problem was that I had the 12 mm diameter one and when I upgraded my filter it didn't fit, which is why I got the 3rd


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## aquascape1987 (5 Jan 2015)

For your size tank,the 200 would do just fine. You could get the 300  and it would just bring the water up to temperature,quicker. Get the 300. You might as well if it's the same price. The 200 would also still work on tanks much larger than yours.


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## LukeDaly (6 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> For your size tank,the 200 would do just fine. You could get the 300  and it would just bring the water up to temperature,quicker. Get the 300. You might as well if it's the same price. The 200 would also still work on tanks much larger than yours.



Hey man thanks for all the input and help with this, I am going to order a heater now, what was it you had to do to disable the thermostat? Does this mean its basically always on full blast and the external controller, controls temperature rather than the cheapy one inside? I intend to order a controller as soon as possible, although I assume the same as anything there are good controllers and cheap controllers?

The controller mentioned in the previous thread looks good but it seems awful cheap? Cheap sometimes means poor quality.. Id love someone that has one of these controllers to drop in and let me know what they are like.

Also small tank update last night, took the C&C I was given at the start of the thread about the rocks looking squashed so I moved things a little and added a few more! Still not to sure I am happy with how the rocks look especially on the left.. Also added a bag of purigen to the 306! Will be back later (when I leave work) to upload some photos for more C&C


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## aquascape1987 (6 Jan 2015)

Which controller is cheap sorry? The aqua medic one or the one mentioned in the Hydor failure thread?


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## LukeDaly (7 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> Which controller is cheap sorry? The aqua medic one or the one mentioned in the Hydor failure thread?


The one mentioned in the Hydor failure thread. I'm not sure what to look for and what to avoid in controllers.


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## aquascape1987 (7 Jan 2015)

Ah, Not sure about that one as I haven't used it, however I have seen quite a few people mentioning it on the site. I'm happy with the one I am using mentioned above. It cost me around £50.00. With regards to the mod to the Hydor inline, its difficult to explain without showing you and I've already sealed it up now and installed it on the tank.
Inside the plastic casing, there is a printed circuit board and on it is the thermostat component. You basically remove this and then complete the circuit with a piece of wire. I wouldn't advise doing this without someone who knows what their doing advising you however. In my case, my Gfs Dad is an electrical engineer, so he took a look at it and advised what modification was needed, and then sat with me whilst I did it. You could try just switching the heater up to its max temperature and then  running it on an external thermostat if you don't have anyone who can help you make the mod properly.


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## Greenfinger2 (7 Jan 2015)

Hi LukeDaly, 
Love the Scape and planting The DW is a great piece with all the twists and turns  Looking forward to your updates


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## LukeDaly (7 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> Ah, Not sure about that one as I haven't used it, however I have seen quite a few people mentioning it on the site. I'm happy with the one I am using mentioned above. It cost me around £50.00. With regards to the mod to the Hydor inline, its difficult to explain without showing you and I've already sealed it up now and installed it on the tank.
> Inside the plastic casing, there is a printed circuit board and on it is the thermostat component. You basically remove this and then complete the circuit with a piece of wire. I wouldn't advise doing this without someone who knows what their doing advising you however. In my case, my Gfs Dad is an electrical engineer, so he took a look at it and advised what modification was needed, and then sat with me whilst I did it. You could try just switching the heater up to its max temperature and then  running it on an external thermostat if you don't have anyone who can help you make the mod properly.


Think I'll try it out then! I know my way around electronics alright I was just curious, but my computer type things are for another forum haha! Thanks for all your help and input in my thread man. 


Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi LukeDaly,
> Love the Scape and planting The DW is a great piece with all the twists and turns  Looking forward to your updates


Thanks Greenfinger! The wood is the best bit about the scape, I just can't seem to think of a way to compliment it or make the scape better, it's missing something.. Anyway since you asked here's a small update! 

Added a few more rocks, and a bag of purigen and also two messy ass cockatoo cichlids! 

FTS excuse the mess. 





New residents! Now I know these aren't crazy priced triple red cockatoo cichlids, but to be honest I'm more interested in their behaviour and trying to breed them (First time with cichlids) and so far I Love them awesome to watch! Any breeding tips wood be awesome. 

Male: 


His soon to be wife hopefully:


A little Rock cave I attempted to make at the back she tends to hang out around now:



And finally how the DBT is looking currently: (DBT masters, please tell me if this is looking like a failed attempt or how it looks for that matter I have no experience with this plant) 



The sand is starting to get dirty and this irritates me alot, so the sooner I see a carpet the better! 

Thanks again guys and I hope I get a few responses again!


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## aquascape1987 (7 Jan 2015)

Looks  really good mate.. I've also got Co2 Art kit but haven't installed it yet. I got one of their complete systems with solenoid and regulator, ph controller and inline atomizer etc. You had good experiences with the co2 art stuff?


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## LukeDaly (7 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> Looks  really good mate.. I've also got Co2 Art kit but haven't installed it yet. I got one of their complete systems with solenoid and regulator, ph controller and inline atomizer etc. You had good experiences with the co2 art stuff?


Thanks man, how does the carpet look? Anything you would change if it was your scape? 

And get on that on asap!  Awesome, I wish I had of got the full system at the time! I have the regulator with solenoid and all the glass co2 bubble counter etc and so far they have been great! This is my first time running a proper co2 system and so far I have had no problems at all. Bought a digital timer with battery back up and haven't touched it since set up. 

Upload a few photos once it's hooked up!


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## aquascape1987 (7 Jan 2015)

Well your further on than me mate. I'm building my first hi tech scape at the moment. Ill be using the Co2 art stuff with a 2.5 kg FE that i got cheap through work.Only ever kept fish previously and a few plants. I'm just waiting for an acrylic background to be manufactured, then onto hard scaping the tank, and planting probably mid to end of Feb. The main thing holding me back is the cost of all the equipment, which I've been getting bit by bit since about August... only got the glass spray bars to get now, plus my substrate and some rocks, but luckily I got loads of green machine vouchers for xmas, so ill be taking a trip down there soon.  Think I'm getting the glass from aquarium plant food. The only good thing about having to build it up so slowly is that I have had a long time to research everything, before I bought it, plus had a lot of time to look at what other people out there are doing with their scapes.  Hoping mine looks as good as yours to be honest. Don't think id personally change anything.. but like I say,I'm no expert


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## aquascape1987 (7 Jan 2015)

At the moment, my tank is just gravel and no decor, and about 10 fish keeping it cycled,  and slowly gathering equipment like the c02 art that's in position, but not switched on haha...


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## LukeDaly (7 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> At the moment, my tank is just gravel and no decor, and about 10 fish keeping it cycled,  and slowly gathering equipment like the c02 art that's in position, but not switched on haha...


Haha sweet! I'm waiting on my heater, heater controller, I have glass lilly pipes and an acrylic background to be fitted. I collected mine bit by bit too, this stuff costs a fortune! But at the end of the day the final result speaks for itself.


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## LukeDaly (14 Jan 2015)

So I got my lily pipes fitted and what can I say they are garbage.. the water hardly creates a current it just goes straight down and makes a mess. The Intake gaps are also to small, they don't create much suction at all.. Not impressed and wondering if anyone has a better solution?


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## aquascape1987 (14 Jan 2015)

What lilly pipes did you get? And what filter intake pipes?


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## Lindy (14 Jan 2015)

Glass spray bar from one of our sponsors?


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## LukeDaly (14 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> What lilly pipes did you get? And what filter intake pipes?


I bought these last year when I first got the tank, they are cheap Chinese ones cost me about £40.. Both glass. 


ldcgroomer said:


> Glass spray bar from one of our sponsors?


I wish I had of got one of these instead, have you tried one? What is the flow like? I have to turn the filter way down atm or sand goes everywhere with the lilly pipes connected. There is no flow at all not enough to reach the other side of the tank and push co2 and this is by no means a big tank.


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## Lindy (14 Jan 2015)

I use home made clear acrylic spray bars. They do a great job. My filters disturb substrate with open end inlets.


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## dw1305 (14 Jan 2015)

Hi all, 





LukeDaly said:


> Any breeding tips wood be awesome.


 Live food (for both adults and fry) and a choice of caves. Plenty of moss, and some leaf litter for the fry.

Have a look at <"Dwarf Cichlid Aquarium Care">.

cheers Darrel


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## Andy Thurston (14 Jan 2015)

LukeDaly said:


> I bought these last year when I first got the tank, they are cheap Chinese ones cost me about £40.. Both glass.
> 
> I wish I had of got one of these instead, have you tried one? What is the flow like? I have to turn the filter way down atm or sand goes everywhere with the lilly pipes connected. There is no flow at all not enough to reach the other side of the tank and push co2 and this is by no means a big tank.


I've got these spraybars flow is excellent 
Apfuk is the sponsor that sells them


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## aquascape1987 (17 Jan 2015)

I've recently been speaking with John at apfuk about getting some custom bars and outflow pipes. Great guy, and really good customer service. Only reason I didn't order is because I got quite a bit of advice on here against the arrangement I was proposing, but will definitely be going with apfuk once I have a tried and tested design in acrylic,to get them made in glass


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## LukeDaly (22 Jan 2015)

Time for an update! So I ripped the HC out it wasn't doing to great and was covered in algae. So I invested in three Armano shrimp to act as a clean up crew!
The front of the tank looked a little bare so I went ahead and ordered 3 tubs of Monte Carlo from aquariumgardens.co.uk and planted that at the front I personally think it looks awesome! 






Weird angle but here is another shot including the male Cockatoo!





The flow on these cheap lily pipes is ridiculous so I asked my dad to try and widen the slots on the intake this all went well until I tried to clean it befor going back into the tank and broke one of the slots out, hopefully you can see this in the photo.









It doesn't look to bad but I am worried a CPD could get sucked in.. as for the outlet I am in two minds what to do.. considering heating it up on the gas stove and pulling the bell section out for a more directed flow rather than straight down, has anyone tried this? 

I have noticed the odd brown spot on the leaves of some plants, what could be the cause of this? Is the tank lacking something? 

And finally I am happy with how the tank is coming along but it still is not looking how I imagined hopefully the creator of this tank doesn't mind me posting his/her photo and by all means I would love to know the creator to fire a message or two. But what is it I am lacking to make my tank look more 'Jungle like' if that means anything. 





Still no luck with the Cockatoo Cichlids breeding either  

Apologies for all of the questions, I am still a n00b. 
Thanks again, Luke.


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## Another Phil (22 Jan 2015)

Hi Luke,
looking good, excellent piece of wood.



LukeDaly said:


> I would love to know the creator


 
Would appear to be Takashi Amano!
http://www.mzvirgo.com/beautiful-nature-aquarium-design/nature-style-jungle-vallis-aquarium-800x389/
cheers phil


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## LukeDaly (22 Jan 2015)

Another Phil said:


> Hi Luke,
> looking good, excellent piece of wood.
> 
> Hey Phil, thanks for the comment! anything you would change or do to the tank to improve it?
> ...



Awesome i'll give that a wee read now!

Thanks, Luke.


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## aquascape1987 (22 Jan 2015)

I really like your scape mate. What tank did you say this was? Do you think you might get better,more evenly distributed flow with a glass spray on the back pointing towards the front of the glass? It would also be barely visible in your scape. I'd be really interested to see how you get on heating and reshaping your lilly pipes though... that would be some awesome extreme DIY if you manage to pull it off


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## LukeDaly (22 Jan 2015)

aquascape1987 said:


> I really like your scape mate. What tank did you say this was? Do you think you might get better,more evenly distributed flow with a glass spray on the back pointing towards the front of the glass? It would also be barely visible in your scape. I'd be really interested to see how you get on heating and reshaping your lilly pipes though... that would be some awesome extreme DIY if you manage to pull it off


Thanks I appreciate it dude. It's the Dennerle Scapers Tank, 50 Litre so still classed as a nano but I havnt got the room for bigger at the minute! I Love the tank the dimensions are awesome.  Thinking I need more/bigger rocks though.. I'm not to sure, because the wood does block a lot of flow, I am definitely going to try and bend the lily pipe, maybe tomorrow at some point! I will update afterwards for sure! Also thinking about ditching the large leaf plant at the back because it Isn't really to scale with the rest of the scape.


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## dw1305 (23 Jan 2015)

Hi all, 





LukeDaly said:


> Still no luck with the Cockatoo Cichlids breeding either


 Feed them some live food. I've got spare cultures you can have.

Darrel


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## LukeDaly (23 Jan 2015)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,  Feed them some live food. I've got spare cultures you can have.
> 
> Darrel


Awesome man! That would be sweet. 

Luke.


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## LukeDaly (23 Jan 2015)

Quick Update:

Looking closer at the tank a good few of my plants gave green spots on them some of them have holes right through.
What could be the cause of this and how do I fix it?

Thanks, Luke.

EDIT:

Another Update.. tried to bend the glass lily pipe but the kitchen stove could not get it hot enough! next attempt will be the blow torch! 

Also got a coconut cave in my LFS, and ordered catappa leave tea bags and live food to try and get the cockatoo in to breeding mode! 

I have been looking at PH pens on eBay with the solution to calibrate it, has any body got any experience with these? or could recommend me a decent one? 

Thanks, Luke.


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