# Fallen branch; regrowth.



## Ady34 (13 Oct 2021)

Hello scapers 
I thought I would create another journal after missing out my last scape.
A few months ago we made the decision to take down my sons aquariums as they unfortunately were showing little interest in maintaining them themselves and it was left to me.
So with two tanks down upstairs I got slightly itchy to have another for myself, and after a visit from George Farmer who publically suggested another, I got the go ahead from the Mrs. 

The tank is an ADA 45p and fits in a nice little space at the base of my stairs in the hallway.
Due to space limitations I opted for the slightly narrower dimensions of the Ada tank, and chose an open fronted ‘woody’ cabinet from wio. This allows easy access and has no doors that need opening into the narrow hallway space.
The aesthetic of the woody cabinet also fits well in the hallway, although a coat of stain was required to colour suit it.

The raw wio woody cabinet:






Stained with the tank added:




Recently I have been inspired by fallen trees and branches so the scape was to be based loosely around this theme…..

Cheerio for now,
Ady.


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## shangman (13 Oct 2021)

Looking forward to seeing how it develops! All your tanks are really gorgeous, especially LOVED the one you scaped for Horizon Aquatics so can't wait to see what you do with this one


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## Garuf (13 Oct 2021)

I think I preferred the stand before stain but I have notoriously bad taste. 

My next scape is around the same theme so I’m waiting with anticipation to see where you go.


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## Wolf6 (13 Oct 2021)

Looking forward to seeing it, in name and description at least we seem to have similar inspirations


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## Ady34 (13 Oct 2021)

shangman said:


> Looking forward to seeing how it develops! All your tanks are really gorgeous, especially LOVED the one you scaped for Horizon Aquatics so can't wait to see what you do with this one


Thanks, yeah another scape with the same inspiration, I have a few scapes in mind as a series.
That scape at @Horizon Aquatics i named ‘the fallen branch’. I had already purchased the hardscape a while ago from @Scaped Nature to rescape my 1500 in the future with ‘the fallen tree’ and this little scape is ‘the fallen branch; regrowth’.

Horizon scape:




Here’s a link to the video build of ‘the fallen branch’ at Horizon Aquatics:



I feel privileged to have been offered the opportunity to create scapes in their gallery. I did a ryoboku one a while ago also in a 45p with hornwood which has matured nicely:







Garuf said:


> I think I preferred the stand before stain but I have notoriously bad taste.
> 
> My next scape is around the same theme so I’m waiting with anticipation to see where you go.


That’s the beauty of those cabinets, you can leave them or stain to suit.
They are nice raw and are treated but I felt it was too light compared to the surroundings.



Wolf6 said:


> Looking forward to seeing it, in name and description at least we seem to have similar inspirations


Awesome, I took it walking the dog. Some fallen branches over a stream that then sprouted new growth.








With this in mind I purchased a rather uninspiring but correctly shaped piece of Talawa wood, some nano detailing wood and some ice age stone to weigh it all down and set to epoxying a bespoke hardscape piece……




Cheerio,


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## Ady34 (13 Oct 2021)

I wanted to make the hardscape for this tank as finding a single wood piece which would offer the look I wanted would have been impossible. Building the more complicated hardscape I wanted in a small tank would also make maintenance difficult so I wanted to ensure everything was solid and would stand up to a few knocks from hands in the tank.

To construct the hardscape I first bonded the largest ice age stone to the Talawa wood. This will hold the whole construction down in the initial stages before the wood is waterlogged.
The Talawa wood has large areas still covered in bark. To make bonding more successful I scored and removed any bark from these areas…











I added a couple of pieces each night over the course of three nights. This was to ensure full curing of the epoxy so I could add the hardscape to the tank and check where I wanted to add the next pieces without knocking them off. I also used small amounts of faster drying superglue to hold the branches in place while the slower epoxy cured.
I crumbled little pieces of detailing roots and shavings over any visible joins to give a more natural look.







I added detailing roots once all the nano wood was attached to finish it off….




I eventually ended up with this single piece hardscape:




And in the tank:




Next was choosing lighting and equipment and finalising a plant list and substrate choice. I had an initial vision of how I wanted the scape but there seemed to be a lot of potential options with this one…..


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## Ady34 (13 Oct 2021)

Lighting was the next big decision.
I wanted a different aesthetic to what I have on my other tanks. This alongside protruding wood and limited access lead me down a hanging unit. This had the benefit of fitting the surroundings also with the vertical element from the staircase balustrade behind the tank.
I wanted something that was a little subtle also so opted for the Aqua Illumination prime freshwater in white. It is a small hanging unit which blends into the space nicely but plenty powerful enough for this tank.

I used a plum line and the tank centre point to ensure I hung the light in the correct place:










Once the light was sorted I could think more about planting and substrates as it gave me a better idea of shadowing.

I did have an initial plan for substrate but I have umm’d and ahhh’d about it for a while. 
This layout lends itself to so many styles so I’ve been backwards and forwards between full soil and sand and shale and back again.
I was unsure whether to keep the ‘bridge’ formation or not 🤷🏼‍♂️ There is a ‘look through’ with the wood so that maintains an interest in that respect.
In the end I went with my original plan of a little sand with a heavy shale look and separate foreground and background areas for ease of construction. The tank hardscape lends itself to a hands out of the tank approach so I stuck with that philosophy 😃
The substrates used are:
Active: Tropica soil (normal topped with powder) over ADA power sand with additional supplements of tourmaline bc, Bacter 100 and clear super - magic powders to mature and stabilise the substrate -  not necessary but I have them and feel they do help.
Inactive: Ada Colorado sand, dennerle plantahunter rio xingu, river, and Ada aqua gravel.

Adding the sand, one shot at a time….a perfect tool for small tanks or limited access….







Power sand added to the rear, keeping away from the visible edges of the tank:




Adding the supplements:







And all substrate added.




This is now the journal up to date, I added substrate last night and am finalising plant choices.
I do enjoy the hardscaping phase and don’t mind taking time to enjoy the scape in its empty state.

Cheerio,


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## CooKieS (13 Oct 2021)

Loving it Ady!

May I ask which brand is your lightscreen? Thanks! 😊


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## Ady34 (13 Oct 2021)

CooKieS said:


> Loving it Ady!
> 
> May I ask which brand is your lightscreen? Thanks! 😊


Thanks Thierry, it is a lightground.


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## Deano3 (14 Oct 2021)

Looking forward to this one i was at horizon yesterday admiring your scapes, i was actually going to PM you and ask what stones you used around the bottom of the frodo on the fallen branch, i also seen the wio stand at horizon and they look great but looks even better stained to match your interior decor. 

Cant wait to see planted 👍


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## Ady34 (14 Oct 2021)

Deano3 said:


> Looking forward to this one i was at horizon yesterday admiring your scapes, i was actually going to PM you and ask what stones you used around the bottom of the frodo on the fallen branch, i also seen the wio stand at horizon and they look great but looks even better stained to match your interior decor.
> 
> Cant wait to see planted 👍


Cheers Dean, the new one at horizon is going through the ‘ugly duckling’ phase at the moment but is showing signs of life now so won’t be long until it blossoms into a swan  
The graded gravel is dennerle plantahunter rio xingu, same as what I’ve used in this little 45p.
The wio stands are basic but fit in certain situations perfectly. I really like it but have now removed the two lower shelves to allow space for the superjet filter and co2 bottle  
With the open stand it seemed fitting to utilise an Ada filter again as it looks so nice  




Cheerio,


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## Deano3 (14 Oct 2021)

Very nice 👌 and thanks for that I was looking but could match up and James and Nicole wernt there to ask so will get some of that 😁 also filter looks great in there perfect or open cabinet


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## Ady34 (14 Oct 2021)

Deano3 said:


> Very nice 👌 and thanks for that I was looking but could match up and James and Nicole wernt there to ask so will get some of that 😁 also filter looks great in there perfect or open cabinet


There is none of that particular type of graded gravel left at horizon currently


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## Deano3 (14 Oct 2021)

Thanks mate will keep eye out and get when they stock back up 😁


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## Ady34 (24 Oct 2021)

Update.
Once all plants became available again I began planting.
I split into two phases, firstly the substrate planted part, and then the epiphytes over the course of a couple of nights. This was more down to available time but it’s just worth noting that we don’t have to plant all in one sitting. Simply soak your plants and substrate, cover the tank with cling film and that will maintain sufficient moisture to prevent the plants from drying out 
The plants used are:
Bucephelandra kedegang
Bucephelandra mini needle leaf
Bucephelandra serimbu brown
Anubias nana pongolino 
Taxiphyllum barbieri 
Riccardia chamedryfolia 
Marsilea hirsuta
Marsilea crenata
Eleocharis acicularis mini
Cryptocoryne albida brown 
Cryptocoryne parva 
Cryptocoryne lutea ‘hobbit’

I think I will add some red root floaters also.

The plants are intentionally mainly slower growing  which won’t need massively regular trimming sessions. I wanted this style as space is limited with the complex hardscape so keeping the hands out is a good thing for longevity  
Subsequently lighting intensity will be kept modest through the AI prime light unit.

The substrate planting was completed in dry soil as I find this easier:











My new favourite plant, cryptocoryne lutea’hobbit’…..hopefully it doesn’t melt 























Cling filmed over ready for round two the next day….




The second phase was the epiphytes…..








During this phase I noticed an imbalance of hardscape on the far right hand side towards the foreground.
The scape appeared to end prematurely so I decided to add an extra piece of Talawa wood. I broke a small branch from a larger piece and glued it to some small stones to keep it from floating. I then added more buce mini needle leaf to fit with the existing planting. The final result just finishes the scape off as I intended.













I cling filmed the tank over again ready to fill and install running gear the next day.




Here is the scape filled and operational:








I filled the tank with about 1/3 ‘old’ water from my 30c cube scape ‘Twenty Seven Thousand’ and also added some mature bio media from the filter on that tank to hopefully cycle this tank faster. I will carry out large daily water changes for at least a week, potentially longer, whilst the tank balances.
Lighting is set to a relatively low intensity using about 13w of power.
I’m hoping not to experience melt however I have suffered this a lot in recent scapes so do fear the worst. In a tank like this where it is more reliant upon crypts and the buce for plant mass I really don’t want them to fail…..🤞

Cheerio,


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## Garuf (24 Oct 2021)

I really need to try me one of these all details tanks. It’s a stunner. 
Crypts have always had the rep for melting so I’ve always planted them as just the core rosette - no pretty but most successful.


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## Wolf6 (24 Oct 2021)

Amazing scape, love it!


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## Wookii (24 Oct 2021)

Ady34 said:


> I’m hoping not to experience melt however I have suffered this a lot in recent scapes so do fear the worst. In a tank like this where it is more reliant upon crypts and the buce for plant mass I really don’t want them to fail…..🤞



The scape looks great Ady! If you need to add lots of plant mass that grows rapidly to help stabilise the tank while the slow growers get established, add loads of floaters in - if you need any let me know, I chuck away a litre or two of them every week!


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## bazz (25 Oct 2021)

Ady34 said:


> My new favourite plant, cryptocoryne lutea’hobbit’…..hopefully it doesn’t melt


Mine didn't melt overnight but all the original leaves slowly deteriorated as they were replaced with new growth which is a brown/red colour.
The thing with Crypts is though, they don't always do what it says on the tin.
Cheers!


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## noodlesuk (25 Oct 2021)

Ady34 said:


> Update.
> Once all plants became available again I began planting.
> I split into two phases, firstly the substrate planted part, and then the epiphytes over the course of a couple of nights. This was more down to available time but it’s just worth noting that we don’t have to plant all in one sitting. Simply soak your plants and substrate, cover the tank with cling film and that will maintain sufficient moisture to prevent the plants from drying out
> The plants used are:
> ...


Really nice scape, love the little details, like the smaller pebbles at the bottom. Stunning.


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## Lex_ac.aquarium (25 Oct 2021)

This looks amazing Ady!


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## Ady34 (25 Oct 2021)

Garuf said:


> I really need to try me one of these all details tanks. It’s a stunner.
> Crypts have always had the rep for melting so I’ve always planted them as just the core rosette - no pretty but most successful.


Thanks @Garuf, yeah I haven’t had a great track record with them but just can’t bring myself to trim all the leaves before planting.


Wolf6 said:


> Amazing scape, love it!


Thanks @Wolf6


Wookii said:


> The scape looks great Ady! If you need to add lots of plant mass that grows rapidly to help stabilise the tank while the slow growers get established, add loads of floaters in - if you need any let me know, I chuck away a litre or two of them every week!


Thank you, and thanks for the offer but I’ve got a bit of a floater farm myself. I have added a few last night.


bazz said:


> Mine didn't melt overnight but all the original leaves slowly deteriorated as they were replaced with new growth which is a brown/red colour.
> The thing with Crypts is though, they don't always do what it says on the tin.
> Cheers!


Ah thanks for that, it’s good to know first hand experience. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out 


noodlesuk said:


> Really nice scape, love the little details, like the smaller pebbles at the bottom. Stunning.


Thanks @noodlesuk, I’m loving the detailing gravels at the minute 


Lex_ac.aquarium said:


> This looks amazing Ady!


Thank you Lex, I’m really enjoying looking into the scape and spend far too much time in the hallway now


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## Fiske (25 Oct 2021)

Ady34 said:


> Thanks @Garuf, yeah I haven’t had a great track record with them but just can’t bring myself to trim all the leaves before planting.



I feel the same way, but recent experience indicate to me this might be the best way. Definitely trying the next time I plant cryptocorynes.


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## Deano3 (25 Oct 2021)

Looks great ady, love the detail of this little scape, also that crypt hobbit 😍 obviously a small crypt i never heard of this one but looks great, lookomg forward to seeing this one mature


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## afroturf (25 Oct 2021)

As ever scape looks excellent, hard to tell if the hobbit leaves are the emersed form, but with emersed crypt leaves it's usually a matter of time till they melt some melt in a few days others last many weeks.
Big thumbs up to using the prime also, I love mine and would be my first consideration on every tank I set up, really surprised not to see them more often used on planted tanks, especially on smaller tanks, love the small form factor, slight but not excessive shimmer and super app/controllability.
Looking forward to this develop any thoughts to fish selection yet?


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## Ady34 (25 Oct 2021)

Deano3 said:


> Looks great ady, love the detail of this little scape, also that crypt hobbit 😍 obviously a small crypt i never heard of this one but looks great, lookomg forward to seeing this one mature


Thank you Dean.
I saw the crypt hobbit over the Internet somewhere recently and then when I was in @Horizon Aquatics the other day buying my plants they had some just arrived….it was meant to be 



afroturf said:


> As ever scape looks excellent, hard to tell if the hobbit leaves are the emersed form, but with emersed crypt leaves it's usually a matter of time till they melt some melt in a few days others last many weeks.
> Big thumbs up to using the prime also, I love mine and would be my first consideration on every tank I set up, really surprised not to see them more often used on planted tanks, especially on smaller tanks, love the small form factor, slight but not excessive shimmer and super app/controllability.
> Looking forward to this develop any thoughts to fish selection yet?


Thanks, yeah they are emersed leaves so may or may not last.
So far I’m liking the prime, love the colour renditions you can get and the shimmer. I’m just utilising the easy set up system at the moment until I find time to go more advanced.
As far as fish are concerned I was waiting until I found the settled temperature. The tank is in the hallway so not the warmest area, however my other un-heated tanks sit at 21-22celcius. This one seems to be at 21 over the past couple of days so my options are quite good. I was thinking either ruby tetra, tucano tetra or galaxy rasbora.

Cheerio,


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## Garuf (25 Oct 2021)

Tucano prefer it a bit warmer to stay healthy from speaking with my local fish man. 23c he said was the coolest they’d like to be long term. Galaxy or emerald would be my preference - more charming in character than Ruby’s.


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## Garuf (25 Oct 2021)

Garuf said:


> Tucano prefer it a bit warmer to stay healthy from speaking with my local fish man. 23c he said was the coolest they’d like to be long term. Galaxy or emerald would be my preference - more charming in character than Ruby’s.


I’ll add to that “so I was told” so grain of salt.


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## Ady34 (25 Oct 2021)

Garuf said:


> Tucano prefer it a bit warmer to stay healthy from speaking with my local fish man. 23c he said was the coolest they’d like to be long term. Galaxy or emerald would be my preference - more charming in character than Ruby’s.





Garuf said:


> I’ll add to that “so I was told” so grain of salt.


Ah good to know. Seriously fish has them from 20-28 celcius so I was slightly wary anyway. To be honest galaxy rasbora were becoming more of a consideration having had some for some time in a couple of scapes and I like their character. I think also the planting will suit their behaviour and needs as will my water…..although for quite some time I have considered adding remineralisation to my very soft water as I have an itch for some guppies……this may not be the ‘fresh’ looking scape they would suit though 🤷‍♂️
Thanks for the input


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## Conort2 (25 Oct 2021)

Ady34 said:


> ruby tetra, tucano tetra or galaxy rasbora.


I think galaxy rasbora would be your best bet at that temperature. They’ll look lovely in there, the males are spectacular when sparring with each other in and out of the plants.


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## Garuf (25 Oct 2021)

Endlers are real beauties and have a charm that comes from their stupidity and constant motion. I really love the ones sold as “watercolour” they are like a pastel drawing of a wild form.

Going the total other way, a small brown fish with a tiger barb type colouration could be reallllll nice.


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## afroturf (26 Oct 2021)

Maybe a small rasbora/barb may be better in unheated tanks, but pretty sure either ruby or tucanos would be fine at low 20's, I personally love the subtle ruby tetra a male in good condition is stunning much nicer than the 🥱 ember tetra.


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## Ady34 (26 Oct 2021)

Ahh, decisions decisions. I’ll see over the coming weeks how things develop and make a more informed choice on fish then.

In the mean time it’s daily early morning water changes….





I’ve got nice clear water now 
















Cheerio,


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## Deano3 (26 Oct 2021)

Very nice and as said some sort of rasboras look great in there, do you literaly drain and refill in week 1 and pick out loose leaves etc but is that all you do ? Just curious, i have been doing that and a slight waft of the leaves?

Also i am having a nightmare with floating plants as loads of bits of monte carlo floating amongst the red root floater and my lilly pipes are strong flow so have to place in a ring so when drain they go all over 🤣 but looks great so far ady


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## Ady34 (28 Oct 2021)

Deano3 said:


> Very nice and as said some sort of rasboras look great in there, do you literaly drain and refill in week 1 and pick out loose leaves etc but is that all you do ? Just curious, i have been doing that and a slight waft of the leaves?
> 
> Also i am having a nightmare with floating plants as loads of bits of monte carlo floating amongst the red root floater and my lilly pipes are strong flow so have to place in a ring so when drain they go all over 🤣 but looks great so far ady


Hi Dean, yes just drain and refill for the most part and remove any loose leaves. I’ll also siphon any fungus from the wood that is easily accessible with the hose. I may even give the glass a wipe if necessary.
I try to remove my floating plants when trimming but feel your pain during water changes.
Cheerio,


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## Gill (28 Oct 2021)

This is stunning. 
The fish choice will be hard for this, as I would want some to compliment the feel of the scape. And something Slow and Graceful to drift around aimlessly amongst the twigs and branches.  How about some rocket pencil fish, they would drift about the upper levels in-between the twigs etc.


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## Ady34 (31 Oct 2021)

Gill said:


> This is stunning.
> The fish choice will be hard for this, as I would want some to compliment the feel of the scape. And something Slow and Graceful to drift around aimlessly amongst the twigs and branches.  How about some rocket pencil fish, they would drift about the upper levels in-between the twigs etc.


Thanks Gill, those tickets pencilfish would look great but I fear they may jump….I really don’t want crisps on the floor


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## Ady34 (31 Oct 2021)

1 week old.
Today I planted the final plants in this scape.
I had been awaiting some bolbitis heteroclita difformis from my local @Horizon Aquatics. They arrived yesterday, so during todays water change I added them to the branch.

Without:



With:




FTS, without:



FTS, with:




I was slightly concerned after viewing the tank for a week without the difformis that i prefered it with the fully exposed uprights, however in person I like it and that was always my intended plant plan. I wanted a small fern like plant to give a nod to ferns growing on branches in nature. With this slow grower I should easily be able to maintain the silhouette and openness still left between the fronds.

I will get my water tested in the coming days and if the mature water and media has helped the cycle I may well add the first batch of shrimp 

Touch wood everything is going as it should. No melt, I can see plants rooting but there is a little wood fungus as to be expected that I am siphoning with an airline during water changes.
I will keep on with daily water changes for another week. Depending on the water test results I may reduce volume down to around 50-75% per day, especially if I add livestock.

Cheerio,


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## MrClockOff (31 Oct 2021)

Ady34 said:


> Update.
> Once all plants became available again I began planting.
> I split into two phases, firstly the substrate planted part, and then the epiphytes over the course of a couple of nights. This was more down to available time but it’s just worth noting that we don’t have to plant all in one sitting. Simply soak your plants and substrate, cover the tank with cling film and that will maintain sufficient moisture to prevent the plants from drying out
> The plants used are:
> ...


Awesome scape 👍 Looking forward to se how it involves matures 🤓


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## Deano3 (31 Oct 2021)

Looks great @Ady34 i like the bolbits and as said you can easily keep in check, i have did daily water changes for 8 days now but back at work today so going to every other day now hopefully all ok, i am going to horizon when off for some more hra and maybe a few more pots of mpnte carlo as loads just seems to have disappeared 😅 anyway i think looking great so far mate


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## Ady34 (21 Dec 2021)

Apologies for the lack of updates on this one.
This little scape has been a dream. I had very mild diatoms after a few weeks which went as quickly as they came. The tank received daily water changes for three weeks at which point I reduced them down as the system settled. I had a few in vitro bucephelandra needle melt, but very limited and I feel the prolonged daily water changes helped.
The lighting remains on very low intensity for this slow growing scape, but it has slowly filled in and is developing exactly how I envisaged. Not a great deal of change in the plants, however they do now look mature and natural and the scape holds a huge amount of interest for me and i get lost in it for long periods of time. For such a small scape it has a lot of engagement, attributed to the scape style, plant choice and the livestock choices I eventually made.
I wanted tucano tetra, but found with the hallway location beside the frequently opened front door the temperature was too cool. I opted to add an in-line heater to maintain temperature and allow me the fish I wanted.
A group of 12 tucano were added after a couple of weeks of adding various caridina shrimp, blue bolts, fancy red tigers and cbs.
I then added three parotocinclus haroldi to finish the fish stocking.
The combination is so interesting and the tank is buzzing with activity. The tucano are so beautiful and the shrimp are like little jelly sweets popping around the scape.

Here is a collection of images:





































































































Cheerio,


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## Wookii (21 Dec 2021)

Tank is looking great as always @Ady34!



Ady34 said:


> I then added three parotocinclus haroldi to finish the fish stocking.



Thats a new one on me - I had to google them - really pretty little fish an Oto relative that looks like a Plec? Where did you source them from, and the Tucano's for that matter?


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## Geoffrey Rea (21 Dec 2021)

Beautiful work @Ady34 😎


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## Conort2 (21 Dec 2021)

Ady34 said:


> then added three parotocinclus haroldi to finish the fish stocking


Love these! How are they getting on? Not many people keep these as far as I know.

Cheers


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## Wolf6 (21 Dec 2021)

Great choices, lovely tank, really amazing work! You say you are done stock wise, but wouldt a pair of dario dario totally finish it? They would fit well with the colours of the shrimp


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## Ady34 (21 Dec 2021)

Wookii said:


> Tank is looking great as always @Ady34!
> 
> 
> 
> Thats a new one on me - I had to google them - really pretty little fish an Oto relative that looks like a Plec? Where did you source them from, and the Tucano's for that matter?


Yeah they are not common.
Sourced both at my local @Horizon Aquatics.
The tucanos are so bold I love them. They are stunning to look at closely also, with blue eyes, blushing gill plates and a hue of yellow along the flanks.



Geoffrey Rea said:


> Beautiful work @Ady34 😎


Thanks @Geoffrey Rea
I took advice read from one of your posts about prolonged large daily water changes in the early stages with this one and water changed daily for  three weeks.




Conort2 said:


> Love these! How are they getting on? Not many people keep these as far as I know.
> 
> Cheers


I love them too. They are doing good thanks, busy around the tank 



Wolf6 said:


> Great choices, lovely tank, really amazing work! You say you are done stock wise, but wouldt a pair of dario dario totally finish it? They would fit well with the colours of the shrimp


Thanks so much.
They are lovely fish and quite tank appropriate for this set up so never say never. I may wait a while and see if my shrimp breed first as I’d like to increase their numbers and I feel they would be excellent shrimplet hunters.

Cheerio,


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## Ady34 (21 Jan 2022)

A little update.
This little tank has slowly filled in, but was never intended to have a full look, especially in the higher regions of the tank. The wood branches were to add the interest there.
The crypt albida brown is slowly increasing in volume and the long narrow leaves are perfect for the vertical aesthetic, with the colour blending nicely.
I love watching the inhabitants and have even had some berried shrimp, although I’m yet to see any shrimplets.
Recently I have had a little bba and now a staghorn outbreak. I have cleaned the filter, began a regular dosing routine and will carry out additional water changes to hopefully rid the algae. I am also using the baster technique to disturb any detritus that I find builds up in the graded gravel foreground for siphon removal.




























Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Deano3 (22 Jan 2022)

Looks great ady,  the update george did showed this tank and how great it looks in its location, i love that narrow leaf crypt i am ater a few more crypts so think will pick a pot of them up on next visit 😀


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## mort (23 Jan 2022)

The intricacies and scale of everything is mind blowing.


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## Yugang (23 Jan 2022)

If this piece of art is in your hallway, can only start to imagine what your treasures will be in your living room….


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## Wookii (23 Jan 2022)

Yugang said:


> If this piece of art is in your hallway, can only start to imagine what your treasures will be in your living room….











						Aftermath.
					

Hi, It’s been a while. After a three week golden spell with insane growth this tank took a turn for the worse and has suffered ever since. The balance went and it began dropping leaves and gaining algae. I’ve suffered green spot algae and bba. I have tried multiple avenues of natural treatment...




					www.ukaps.org


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## Yugang (23 Jan 2022)

Amazing


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## heliophyte (23 Jan 2022)

I like this scape, but I LOVE those oto's. Now I have a quest to find some of these in the Netherlands.


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## Garuf (24 Jan 2022)

It looks so nice. 
I’m hoping my own tank inspired by the same theme and all your detail settles in just as well.


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## Ady34 (23 Feb 2022)

Thanks everyone. 
Really enjoy this little scape but the staghorn is being persistent. After a two week period of every other day water changes I have given in and started dosing excel. The staghorn has subsided massively but still lingers annoyingly. 
On the plus side the shrimp are breeding and I have fancy red tiger shrimplets currently  

Few current images….












And a little video from Instagram of a fancy red tiger shrimp, parotocinclus haroldi and a tucano tetra:


Cheerio,
Ady.


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## hypnogogia (23 Feb 2022)

Lovely tanks and lovely Schnauzer.


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## Rich Jackson (23 Feb 2022)

Love the layout. Fantastic looking tank.


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## Garuf (24 Feb 2022)

How do you feel about the light? 
I’m really struggling to be decisive about picking a light for my 60x45x36 and like the small size and that it’s an unusual equipment choice. 

How do you find the tucanos? My lfs has them in at the moment but I can’t justify quite such shameless copying.


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## Conort2 (24 Feb 2022)

Ady34 said:


> And a little video from Instagram of a fancy red tiger shrimp, parotocinclus haroldi and a tucano tetra:


Has to be one of my favourite tanks on here, the fish and plant choice is spot on.


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## Ady34 (24 Feb 2022)

hypnogogia said:


> Lovely tanks and lovely Schnauzer.


Thanks  


Rich Jackson said:


> Love the layout. Fantastic looking tank.


Thank you.


Garuf said:


> How do you feel about the light?
> I’m really struggling to be decisive about picking a light for my 60x45x36 and like the small size and that it’s an unusual equipment choice.
> 
> How do you find the tucanos? My lfs has them in at the moment but I can’t justify quite such shameless copying.


Hi Garuf.
I really like the light. It has good colour control and is simple to use but I have to confess I haven’t even tried the more complex lighting schedule settings. I just utilise the easy option and it has worked well. 
One thing to consider with this unit is the fan. I run the light on a very low power setting so the fan rarely kicks in…..the tank is also located out of the way in the hallway. If running higher intensity the fan will operate regularly and it is relitively noisy if for example it were located in a living room alongside a tv.
With regards the tucano, an absolute favourite of mine now. They are always hungry, never shy and really subtly beautiful.  Don’t worry about copying, if you see something you like go for it  


Conort2 said:


> Has to be one of my favourite tanks on here, the fish and plant choice is spot on.


Thanks for that, really nice of you to say.

Cheerio
Ady.


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## cldskt (13 Apr 2022)

Amazing journal mate.

Tempted to go with Tucanos with my new scape instead of Rummynoses lol. Do they shoal, if at all? Maybe I should just get both 😅 Always have soft spots for more uncommon nano fishes.


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## Ady34 (12 May 2022)

cldskt said:


> Amazing journal mate.
> 
> Tempted to go with Tucanos with my new scape instead of Rummynoses lol. Do they shoal, if at all? Maybe I should just get both 😅 Always have soft spots for more uncommon nano fishes.


Hi, thank you.
The tucano don’t really shoal, they form a loose group, however this is a small tank so they can always see each other. Maybe in a larger system their behaviour would be different. I would say get both though as they tend to inhabit the mid to upper regions and rummy noses the opposite. They will make a nice contrast 

The tank has been ticking along, staghorn remains persistent but not overbearing, and excel is dosed daily now. I have just began daily fertiliser dosing also with the Ada fertiliser range that I use with good success on my 30c tank.
I would say that the 45p is my most engaging scape. Situated in the hallway it has made me connect with it in a different and refreshing way.  I stop regularly for moments rather than long periods seated in front of it. Every time I pass it I have a nosey in to see what I can find, shrimp, ottos and liquorice gourami can all be elusive so it’s fun searching them out or catching a glimpse.

Here’s a few images with the last a post I added on Instagram recently as a synopsis of planting within the scape. Below is the little write up 


































TEXTURAL TOP DOWN TUESDAY - A PLANTING SYNOPSIS.

I love the uninterrupted open top aesthetic which allows for a great view of the different textures within the planting and hardscape materials.
From above, Marsilea hirsuta ‘clovers’ compliment the rounded shapes of the Phyllanthus fluitans floating plants in both form and colour. These blend with the Marsilea crenata and subtly soft Riccardia chamedryfolia cushions, and also with the pebbles used to transition into the open sand foreground.
Soft blankets of Java moss have been free to fill any open spaces along the horizontal ‘fallen branch’.
Variations of Bucephelandra kedegang, caterina and the smaller mini needle leaf, along with cryptocoryne parva add a contrast in size and colour but accent the leaf shape of the tiny Anubias pangolino.
Cryptocoryne albida brown has a narrow vertical aesthetic, represented again with the Eleocharis acicularis mini which blends with the midground upright ramous wood hardscape roots. The Bolbitis heteroclita difformis fern like appearance adds an aged forest feel and again helps transition the different leaf sizes and forms below with the detailed higher level and emergent wood structures.
There is a lot going on in this tiny space, but it all commingles to create an unpretentious nature inspired aquascape 💚

Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Conort2 (12 May 2022)

Everything about this tank is spot on, it just gets better and better!


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## Ady34 (15 May 2022)

Conort2 said:


> Everything about this tank is spot on, it just gets better and better!


Thank you…..except the staghorn algae 😂


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