# My real ADA 60pxd, Scapers tank 55 and UNS60f hobby return.



## Garuf (2 Jan 2021)

Morning all.
2020 was wall to wall dogmuck so in a moment of madness I shut down my main shrimp tank, gave away my vampire crabs and came back to the aquascaping side of the hobby with a pair of fake ADA tanks.

First up is my dsm pseudo 45f aquascape which was something of an experiment. Because iwagumi's can be a bit of a 1 trick pony I wanted to do something that rewarded taking interest in the aquascape by having a hidden foreground and incorporating a lot of texture.
And well, it worked when the tank was dry but, now it's wet and the optics change, the foreground is as instantly viewable but, next time I know what to do to make it work better.

Oh and because it's a one of those panorama tanks, it's "backwards", why I hear you say, well, it means there's no silicone line in the background, crisp lines at the front. Nice.

In terms of things noticed, I use tropica's dosing line, if dosed as recommended it was so lean as to cause stunting and I was seeing deficiencies. At some point I'll do the leg work and figure out what I'm actually dosing to use as a reference against EI but meh, a pump a day works well at the moment. The gratiola is also a real algae magnet for staghorn and is a sort of sickly plant, I'll give it a few months and see if it was deficiencies. I'll most likely replant this with something daintier as the first change, It didn't really produce the nice pillow of plant I expected.
The Rotala hitting the surface fast is also a bit of an issue which I really should have seen coming but it was an experiment and I expected more of a crawling habit.
It's been a pretty painless set up really, I'll keep the bones of the scape and get the current planting "perfect" and then will replant and try out some other plantings. Ultimately I'll replant it with all grassy leaved plants and then shut it down and move onto something else.

Next is my pseudo 45p, this one I wanted to do a "traditional" nature aquarium using a good number of plants I've not really used before.

Those plant I've not used before? Namely 40million buces, all of which promptly melted.
Even though I thought I'd done everything right by running the filter on my quarantine tank for a number of weeks, then running the tank black for 2 weeks, then planting. I put this down to aquaflora's cell culture plants sucking and the plantlets being wayyyyyy too small to really pull through.
The tropica and aquasabi plants had only partial melt compared, not the full scale mushing out. Same goes for the stems, the aquaflora rotala and myriophyllum guyana came as tiny plantlets none being bigger than 1.5cm, which you guessed it, promptly melted to nothing. I'll replant those very soon with tropica versions. I'm told that melt is normal for buce (and rotalas), especially cell cultured, but the deep purple doesn't really have a rhizome to regrow from and rotala's that die don't really regrow so we just have to see.
This one is only a couple of weeks old and is intended as a slow burner so I'm not really expecting to see much in the first few months, stems will grow and bulk up, I'll trim and form them into a concave scape, if them buces are to come back, they will, if they don't I'll have to purchase something in their place.
I'll likely add more fissidens as the tank matures and I can trim it out of the 45f. The bolbitits and java petite I'll keep trimming back in... It's a high maintenance low maintenance tank.
There's not a huge amount to say about this one except 100euros worth of buce's dissolved and I'm bitter.
Erm other notes, all the wood and stone work is self collected stagheaded oak, the sand is ungraded gravel mixed with self collected river stones.
I snapped a lilly pipe inlet pretty much instantly, but because I run shrimp guards, I figured no harm no foul - turns out, the lily strangled the flow and the shrimp guard only gives noticeably better flow.  I superglued my fingers to a cup of coffee preparing the moss stones, it took 3 afternoons and I bloody hated it but it is easier than using cotton. Yeah, just needs to grow in and mature.

Oh and twinstar users, did you notice a sort of "burn in" where the spectrum shifts? My 45f when planted for the first few weeks was just really ugly to look at a yellowy purple hue being obvious, the 45p I'm noticing the same thing.


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## dw1305 (2 Jan 2021)

Hi all, 


Garuf said:


> came back to the aquascaping side of the hobby with a pair of fake ADA tanks.


Welcome back,  it has been a while.

cheers Darrel


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## Arana (3 Jan 2021)

Welcome Back Garuf! Tanks are looking great mate 👍


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## Garuf (3 Jan 2021)

Thank you, thank you. 

Ahhhh... They're okay, I dunno about great.  
The iwagumi is definitely less problematic as an aquarium, much more stable, just much less teething issues. As an aquascape the rock work is unique but perhaps could be have been nicer with seriyu or manten et al. That said, this rock work was free... 
This wood tank I can already tell is going to go through some real teething issues with the melt issues I'm having but in about 3 months it should be good provided everything pulls through. The big thing missing is time for it to come together properly and see what works and what can be trimmed in or what does or doesn't work in the hardscape and needs to be hidden with plants. I'll add 40 or so black rose cherry shrimp when water changes go to bi weekly so as to not stress them out too much. 

I already have the fish settling in my quarantine tank, I ordered 20 M. Kubotai and received 31 which is more than I needed but they're a really attractive small fish. I'm already day dreaming of a 90F stream tank with gobies to show case them better.


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## TheOslo (8 Jan 2021)

hey does small lily pipes on the 45f, where did you get them from? I currently have the 45f and looking for some lily pipes. Yours are tiny af


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## Garuf (9 Jan 2021)

The outlet is from aqua rebell, the intake is an ehiem green crook cut to length and using a shrimp guard on it. There are extremely small intakes available periodically from MIG glass works but they're too expensive for my needs.


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## TheOslo (9 Jan 2021)

Wow you wasn’t lying about It being expensive!


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## GreenNeedle (10 Jan 2021)

We became re-interested at the same time Garuf   Will watch with interest because I had in mind to try Buce in my main tank if I can remove enough overgrowing Bolbitus to give it a chance.


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## Tim Harrison (10 Jan 2021)

Welcome back, it been a long while.


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## Garuf (10 Jan 2021)

Thank you, all. 
Them buces are finnicky things huh? The one that was okay turned to mush over the course of a few days and my staurgyne on the left lost all its leaves too, very odd indeed. 

Also, I added shrimps. Turns out the tanks a bit of a shrimp killer and every morning I'm finding them at the surface climbing the wood to get out of the tank, I do a water change and they're fine. Very strange indeed as no parameters are off on the test kits.


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## Garuf (19 Jan 2021)

Here's a thought, are some plants "greasier" for lack of a better word than others? I'm thinking that my 45p has much less surface agitation but has next to no film but my 45f that has a healthy churn has always had a noticeable film. 
Both will be getting a hard trim this weekend back to stumps. 
In terms of updates, not much change in either. I'll post photo's pre trim. In the 45p, none of the cell culture buces pulled through, first signs of algae and the tank generally has that new tank scruffiness.


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## Garuf (21 Jan 2021)

Came up with a suitably pretentious name for my 45f. "glade of the yellow butterflies". 
Go one, I'll give you 3 guesses how I got there.


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## Garuf (25 Jan 2021)

Obligatory tank maintenance glamour shot. 
It's the first time I've used superglue for plants and I have to say, I'm unimpressed, alllllll of the ferns have fallen off and of course are now a total pita to reglue.


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## Garuf (11 Feb 2021)

I've had a dwarf water lily bowl running for a little bit short of 6 months, unfortunately it started to smell like swamp, the soil for what ever reason had gone anoxic. Ever the one to look for an excuse to set up another tank when the opportunity allows l've added another fake 45f to the family. The bowl was a nice experiment but I think no-tech tanks are just destined to fail long term - or at least ones that small (3l) are. 

I stole some M.hirsuta from the iwagumi, some stones and unknown buce from the shrimp tank, some filter media from 45p. Added some C. undulatus and C.wendtii green and here we go. 
Low tech this time. 
When the weather warms up I'll try and get some emergent cotton grass for the instagram fame likes and see if someone wants me to shill their products and see how that takes. With the new soil and a light I'm hoping the lilys will throw out some new surface pads soon. I've got an extra co2 line I can add but at first I'll see what low-tech looks like.


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## Garuf (11 Feb 2021)

Yeah, probably should clean up before adding another tank to the horde.


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## not called Bob (11 Feb 2021)

Scraped by nature have some amazing low tec setups in the recent @George Farmer videos and James Wong is another with very nice setups.


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## Fred Dulley (11 Feb 2021)

Nice to see you again, Garuf. Didnt you used to have a profile pic/signature of a cartoon amano saying "I'm unplanting"?


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## Garuf (12 Feb 2021)

Yeah that's right on planted tank though not ukaps, it was an ms paint special I drew.


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## Hufsa (13 Feb 2021)

I cant be the only one who really wants to see this helpful unplanting amano 😁


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## Garuf (14 Feb 2021)

https://www.plantedtank.net/d3/avatars/l/12/12223.jpg?1611112029


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## nayr88 (28 Feb 2021)

Great to see you back Garuf


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## Garuf (29 Jul 2021)

Wellllllll… 
I did a thing.


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## Garuf (29 Jul 2021)

So!
I'll walk you through what I done did in and elaborate, overly wordy manner, as is my want.  

Confessions up front, the rescape wasn't exactly voluntary.
The last month or so I crashed both of the tanks... lets describe the technicalites of it as "health issues".
The chain of event goes as such: The 45f I ripped all of the rotalla out and replanted with blyxa which I ripped out from the faux 45p. It promptly over grew the entire rear of the tank, choked the flow, hair algae showed up and I checked out calling the whole thing a lost cause. If I'd pulled my finger out, yeah, two or three rounds of hard trimming would have fixed it but I left it too late and we all know the whole "ounce of prevention..."
Only I'm on the continent these days so "= 28.3495231 grams of prevention" which isn't so catchy which probably explains why it slipped my mind.

The 45p has been, lets generously call, "A'reet blahblahblahblahblahblahblah".
It never really got out of the algae phase. It's hardscape shifted, the super glue wont so super, plants melted, co2 was all over the place due to a crap inline diffuser that was so binary in operation it was laughable. Soil leaked everywhere and the plant choice was just... Bad. As was the fish choice, me oh my I love those Microrasbora kubotai but they need a bigger tank so back to the shop they went. I was extremely unhappy with the whole affair and I just couldn't be bothered because every day was a new sinking feeling and a sense of what's going to go wrong now set in, the scissors sat by the tank waiting to cut and never getting the pleasure until it was just too far gone. That wall of noise stem background I lusted for proved just too much of a tightrope to walk and the whole "slow burn" classic nature scape just never appeared.

That brings me to now.
Some vacation time showed up on the calendar and given that travel isn't something sensible, what with the world and all that, I used it to take stock and see what could be done. 
1 new scape and the barebones of an okay scape that with some work and taking stock of the lesssons learned could be something. Now, I'm somewhat the old gaurd here and remember a time before Ukaps was even founded and dioramas aren't where I'm at just yet, out came the nature aquarium world and I did the whole compare and contrast and tried to put my finger on what I want.

The 45f, classic iwagumi, no gimmicks this time, just some plants I've never cracked. This will be the gamble tank and that means, utricularia graminifolia, queue kalxons.
So with that one, I figured I'll throw the kitchen sink at it: mature filter -tick, old soil capped with new soil and then cycled for 2 weeks before planting - tick, purigen int'filter - tick, less rich substrate - tick, bacteria kick start products, oh yes 3 kinds, tick tick tick. So lets say I did everything I can and if it works, grand, if not I'll just plant hc and give everyone rug envy down the line. I recycled some tiny buces, mini needle leaf and "velvet blue" since you asked, I over purchased on, added some hygrophila lancea "araguaia" and pogostemon helfri for some darker green texture, same with the coral moss. We suck it n' see.

Now the 45p, I wish I'd known that there was a new optiwhite ScapersTank available 'cuz I'd have bought that and started a fresh with a bit more front to back, but I digress.
This one, I'll explain my poor choices the tl:dr is too many plants, no plan. 
The staurgyne - too big, too muscular a bush that made the tank look really small and just dissappeared into a meh wall in such a small space.
The blyxa much the same, beautiful plant, but when used without a plan except to act as a transition it similarly just got lost.
Rotala wall, on paper, great, in practice, way too dense when trying to make it work with two midground plants that in tanks this small ought best be used as background.
Buces I bought too many of and too many types and it made the tank look like a fruit stand because not knowing where to put them I just chucked them everywhere. 
Mosses, fissidens, on paper, great, pretty, well growing, shrimp favourite. In practice, got way too dense, ended up everywhere, then became an algae magnet because it collects detritus like a kebab shop attracts a drunk.
Hardscape, poor construction and missing something to balance the top and bottom and give real estate for all the epiphites. 

So fixing it, off to the shop I go for more wood, (poppi osterbro, Jack and Nicolai are my kinda guy).
Stuff some sponge in everywhere it'll fit, zip tie, glue and pray to the good lord below it stays put and no soil spills.
Give the midground breathing space so tiny tiny plants as a transition.
Relocate as many buces as I can to the midground and to the crooks of each branch, everything left over will just have to live somewhere else (more on that later).
Scrub every bit of fissidens from the tank I can and replace the moss with mini christmas which is far easier to pull back and keep thin.
The bolbitis can stay put, i'll just let it re-establish itself and then will thin super hard.
All the moss at substrate level was removed for ease of maintainance.
All of the anubias and larger leaved plants moved to the very front of the tank and if possible placed to create over hangs and add shadow.
The wall of rotala's can stay but this time it has room to breath and will be given a roughly triangular composition. The twinstar I'll run at 50% to help keep things in check, they're not fussy plants so running a small sun over the tank makes little sense.
I bought a tonne of stems because I can't help myself so I plant what I can until I run out of space, because yeah, of course I did, I had enough plants to easily plant a 90cm tank. (aquasabi - 10/10).
I never really cracked C.helfri so on a whim I put some of that in because it's such a classic Amano plant it's hard not to.
As for the midground, e hydropiper into H M, with buces planted for texture and soley to use them up, in the tank there's mini needle, deep purple, red, kedegang, velvet tricolor, cathrine,mini blue and at least 2 more I can't remember the name of and aren't sure where I got them to check.  See what I mean by too many and no plan?

End up with enough spare plants to comfortably plant another tank, oh yessssss, off to the basement to get my 30l cube quarantine tank and a second hand eheim that was too good a deal to turn down, off to the shop to get a light, fluval nano, realy nice little light, god awful bracket, if someone wants to design and 3d print one that isn't total ass I will gladly take one. (photo tomorrow). 

I'll add more photos tomorrow when lights are on and post water change so I can pretend everything always looks that good.


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## Garuf (30 Jul 2021)

Left overs and breedject endlers.


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## Garuf (2 Aug 2021)

Them little skimmer things make the tank top down a bit of a revelation, having only ran the eheim skimmers periodically to deal with bad scum. I keep finding myself look at these views and day dreaming and I don’t even have any fish in there yet.
Some signs of melt with the ug, I’m still touching wood and crossing fingers.
Any aspistogamma nerds in here? I used to bare tank breed aspisto caucatoides in 45x30x20 tanks and it’s so tempting to get a pair again for the 45p but I’m torn, long term care I think they need something bigger.


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## Garuf (30 Aug 2021)

Ug hasn’t gotten any easier of a plant, I bought 3 pots. All have melted.
I’ll get some hc in next time I’m by the fish shop. 
I ordered an aspistogamma borelli Opal pair for the 45p, a local breeder assures me my tank would be totally fine for a pair and are okay on my harder tap water than the trifaciata I had in mind.
First big trim on the cube last week, first big trim and upped the light on the 45p. If the 45f was my only tank I’d be feeling sad that it’s not doing so well compared to my previous scape but we keep on the water changes and we hope it turns about.


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## Garuf (30 Aug 2021)




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## Garuf (30 Aug 2021)

View attachment 173682View attachment 173683View attachment 173684


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## Garuf (2 Sep 2021)

Had a conversation with someone more in the know with ug than I and he seems to think I’m probably not giving it enough light running my lamp at 50%. That said, I will ramp that suckah up to full power and if it works: yay. If it crashes the tank… back to the hc plan.
I have also taken the shrimp back out and will nuke the tank with lethal levels of co2 to try and get things back on the rails. I’ll also keep the water change every 3 days rhythm ‘cause it’s pretty easy on this tank. 

I’m bumping up the co2 too generally across the board. The cube has proserpanica palustris in it and it’s real easy to see how good the co2 is as a result.

I took in 20 raccoon shrimp for that tank so I’ll take pictures tomorrow and do the whole proud parent thing where only they really care but insist on foisting the photos of their ugly kids onto your eye balls. I didn’t intentionally add any cherry shrimps into that tank but at feeding time this evening I counted at least 6… typical.


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## Garuf (3 Sep 2021)




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## Garuf (10 Sep 2021)

Well. As we all know, Friday, is new fish day and as such it was with much anticipation that I waited for the postman to deliver my new aspistogamma… 
Sadly however, mr postman it seems, was rather extremely heavy handed with the parcel and I received one half deflated bag of rather expensive smashed cichlid chowder. Sadly not a flavour I enjoy.
Nothing to do in the situation I hold a small ceremony and bury them in the garden.
As to not lose the Friday feeling totally, off to the fish shop I go and one empty wallet later I have 15 celestial Pearl danios, a trio of h.Formosa, 20 b.merah and some nerites of colours as yet unobtainable.


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## Garuf (11 Sep 2021)

You’d think that after keeping Endlers for 2 years now that the novelty of seeing new little guys swimming about would have worn off but apparently not.


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## Garuf (12 Sep 2021)




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## Garuf (15 Sep 2021)

This one is looking great.
This one…  ahhh less so.
Removed the floaters too soon and induced a massive stag horn bloom. I thought I’d turned a corner and was seeing small bits of growth from the ug here and there so added some amanos who didn’t much care for the co2 levels so I dropped the level and the stag horn increased exponentially compared to how fast the false start of the ug decreased.
I’m really not sure what to do. On one hand, the tank looks like dog eggs on the other I really want to crack the ug code before I give up and go with hc.
The Downoi doesn’t seem it’s best either… I have white tops which leads me to think that my hard water might be high in kh but low in mg. 

The stag horn seems on its way out but I’m loath to trim the plants like I know I should for fear of losing more plant mass and making things worse.
A nod from the experts to point me right is in need I think.
Water changes are currently 50% every other day, reluctant to add excel to clean the algae due to tiny little remnants of ug and having Ricardia in the tank.


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## Garuf (15 Sep 2021)




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## Garuf (15 Sep 2021)

And this one which I refer to as the farm is somewhere in the middle. After the big trim I’ve got some staghorn to deal with hear and there but I’m pleased with it over all given I never intended to set it up at all.
This tank is much more stable so I’m going to pick out the old leaves that are horned and add some excel, there’s nothing sensitive in there.
Sadly the least killis seem extremely sensitive to co2 and we’re having a bad time in the 45p so I moved them to the cube thinking maybe it was the big ol amanos stressing them out but no, as soon as the co2 came on in that tank they started having a bad time so they are now in with the endlers in their pond which was set up for the lilys I have that stubbornly refuse to do more than survive.

Bit of a shame given that I am a small brown fish fan but we live and learn.

The galaxies are starting to get a bit less timid now they’re settled a bit more. I’m doing the if I go in or near the tank they get fed training hopefully that will bring them out more. I’d heard they need around 20 to bring out their best but I honestly think 15 in this 40l is pushing it a bit already so we just wait and see.


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## Garuf (15 Sep 2021)

And while we’re on the subject of endlers, 

I wouldn’t believe these little guys are brothers if I hadn’t selected the male and female out myself.


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## Garuf (15 Sep 2021)




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## Garuf (15 Sep 2021)

Whoooop. And looking at these photos not on a phone, yikes. Sorry.


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## Garuf (17 Sep 2021)

Some would say I have a problem… 
I would agree - not enough space for more.
I should start a YouTube channel and get some freebies. I’d promote nearly anything for a bigger tank.


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## Garuf (25 Sep 2021)

The shrimp I intended to add to my pseudo 45p arrived. After drip acclimating them there’s now 30something tangerine tigers to go with the shrimps I tried not to add, my black rose cherry breedjects.


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## Garuf (27 Sep 2021)

Så! About that bigger tank… I just placed my order for a 60x40x36 (the biggest tank I can fit in the space I have) and this one is looking for a challenge so throw me some inspiration for a tank or scape or photo you wish you could capture in a little glass box.


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## Garuf (2 Oct 2021)

What a difference a week makes, the 45f seems to be rounding a corner. From nowhere some blades of ug have started to pop up into small plants. If I can keep the tank stable I’ll split every plant into blades and see if I can’t get it to work. I have to order some stuff this week so if it all vanishes within a couple of weeks I’ll likely plant the tank with hc. The other thing is something is eating all my p helfri. I suspect it to be the snails so I’ve been on a remove on sight erradication program to try and fix it. 

The cube too, seems to be coming into shape. Still need to work on the trimming pattern but over all it looks okay. In this tank too something is eating all the p helfri. I’ll likely remove it and just top and replant the h arauigia to build up the mid ground. 
The excel dosing is doing nothing to fix the staghorn in this tank, the limno Vietnam and the kedegang are just getting swamped. Ill swap to every other day 10l water changes to try and fix it as excel didn’t touch it. To my chagrin the raccoon tiger shrimp in this tank are extremely timid which is a shame because they’re stunning little guys when I do see them. Their eyes “seem” much less developed than say cherries so I think they might be rather photosensitive. The amanos true to their trickster nature insist on burying the hydropiper carpet by the end of every other day. 

And the 45p is well, changing. Not really for the best I’d say. I’ve been topping and replanting all the stems that bolt but the more I look the more staghorn I see starting. I put this down to putting off cleaning the pipe work for about a month too long. I’m loath the go scissor mad when all the slow growers are only just establishing but I think it might be the only option as I can’t use excel with their being Ricardia and mini Christmas moss which in my experience really aren’t happy to get into contact with the stuff. 

You can at least see the roughly triangle composition Im aiming for. The c helfri seems especially susceptible to stag horn, it also is in the wrong place in the scape so that will get pushed behind the wood more and more in line with 1/3rd position, right now it’s too central. I’ll also keep pushing the stems towards the triangle composition I had in mind. I’ll also siphon off the sand and replace it in a month or so, the amanos carry substrate out from all over the place only to dump it on the foreground and magnet fishing it out is a chore. 

At a distance the tank looks great but I can’t get a decent photo of anything.


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## Garuf (2 Oct 2021)

And well the pond remains an algae and endler farm, really it needs rescaping the role of “place to dump left overs” hasn’t been kind to the overall aesthetic.


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## Garuf (6 Oct 2021)

pretty  plant this one, shame it over powers the cube a bit but maybe it’ll be fine for a bunch more colour in the 45p? 🤔


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## Geoffrey Rea (6 Oct 2021)

Garuf said:


> pretty plant this one, shame it over powers the cube a bit but maybe it’ll be fine for a bunch more colour in the 45p? 🤔



Proserpinaca palustris?


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## Garuf (6 Oct 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Proserpinaca palustris?


Yup, it’s one I got from a plant nerd here who called it cf. jibacoa because it was meant to be collected there, it’s “meant” to be more pink than the usual one but I can’t tell the difference myself.


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## Garuf (11 Oct 2021)

Carpet is nearly there, will be due a trim in a couple of weeks to make it all the same density. 

Light spread isn’t so good with this light but it’s to be expected with this style of lamp and I’m not unduly worried, there’s nothing hard to grow. 

The fish have some serious death drive - I forgot to put the lid back on before going to work and I came home to 10 jumpers, I put the lid back on and came home to another 3 who seem stressed out by the drop in numbers. You could keep them in Tupperware and they’d find a way to throw themselves out. Extremely flighty. 

I’ll trim this one on Wednesday to go with the midweek water change and see if I can’t compensate for the poor light spread with some creative trimming. Worth a go anyway. If not I’ll swap the h’ra to one of the prettier/slower stems (prolly Ludwigia arcuata) to try something new. I’ll be adding a persicaria sp or two new pay cheque to try before planting it on into the pseudo45p to assess suitability as a foil to the c helfri.


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## Garuf (11 Oct 2021)

Or a different rotala sp, could be nice to try. Maybe a macandra variant?🤔


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## Garuf (8 Nov 2021)

Going through some plant health tribulations lately which has been very frustrating especially with the outright crash of my 45f again. 

To keep spirits up and act as a consolation prize, I started working on a little something to play around with a more “all the details”type scape. 
Oh. I also bought a 55l scapers tank to do it in… a fool and his money etc.


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## Garuf (8 Nov 2021)

And here’s the basic thoughts.


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## Garuf (11 Nov 2021)

Kept working with the rough wood and swapping in the stones. The idea will be that this scape is another “bowl” aquascaper with a hidden foreground in the central area.


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## Garuf (11 Nov 2021)




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## Angus (16 Nov 2021)

Talk about back with a bang! nice thread Garuf!


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## Garuf (17 Nov 2021)

Angus said:


> Talk about back with a bang! nice thread Garuf!


Well, y’know… I had some good luck with my first 45f and I found the love for wet plants again. My intention was 1 iwagumi, 1wood scape and then swap between nature and diorama adjacent to learn how things work. 

When I ended up with enough plants to plant my cube too it became a farm to see how stuff grows and master healthy growth before moving plants around to other scapes. 

This thread is really just me talking to myself and posting very poor quality photos. More power to you for going through it!


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## Garuf (17 Nov 2021)

Point… 


…and shoot!


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## erwin123 (17 Nov 2021)

I have one surviving stem of P. Palustris in my tank (the rest are happily converted to emersed growth in my HOB filter) and I'm still figuring how red it can get.  Are you doing anything special to turn it red, like nitrate lmitation?


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## Garuf (17 Nov 2021)

Nope nothing at all.
 It’s such a co2 hog that it makes a great indicator species other ferts it doesn’t respond clearly to, if anything it’s colouration is related to light more than anything else, it tends to get ratty rather than go red if you go too lean. 
My advice would be to just give it a lot of space around it, it hates being crowded and will sulk if you do and let it do it’s thing. 

My species isn’t the usual p.Palustris, it’s one I got that was collected in Cuba by a hobbyist and then passed around - it’s supposed to go more pink than red.


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## Garuf (21 Nov 2021)




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## Garuf (22 Nov 2021)

And the after to the before. 

I trimmed back the fastest growing stems really really hard, removed some more c.helfri, pushed the orange juice stems around some and then called it good for the evening. Next week I will trim the rotala green down to the substrate and replant all the healthier new growth and thin the epiphytes. It’s easy to go too hard in a small tank and loose all the balance.


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## Garuf (23 Nov 2021)

Removed around 1l or 2 tennis balls worth of mini Christmas (if anyone in/near Copenhagen wants it,pm me). It looks drastic but mini Christmas layers on itself so thinning reallllly hard is the best way to give it back it’s form and stimulate it to crawl.


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## Aqua360 (26 Nov 2021)

45p looks amazing


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## Wolf6 (26 Nov 2021)

Such relaxing tanks to see


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## Garuf (8 Dec 2021)

Hard trim and thinned the successful tanks. 
As planned I chopped and topped the rotala’ greens. The periya that was in there has been swamped out by the green which is a stronger plant. Shame because it’s much prettier.
There’s still some plant health issues I need to address but they are better than they were so we’re going the right way. 

I’ve given up on the 45f - it’s replacement has arrived and investing anything in it is good money after bad.


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## Garuf (26 Dec 2021)

Well. 
For Christmas this year I treated myself to 4 days in bed with the plague. 
And as with all prolonged periods spent in one location you start to be less satisfied with its decor. 

Looking at the tanks, for 2 weeks with no water changes and only minor algae here and there. Glass needs cleaning etc. The window for trimming of the elantine was missed and it’s floated but not much to be done there. 

The 45p is looking more and more overgrown and I think it’s either time for a very hard trim, almost a pseudo rescape, or a whole new scape. 
If I do go for option a, it will mainly be to get the sense of scale back and to simplify the stem planting. I like the rotala Ceylon, it’s a very blousy, pretty plant but it doesn’t do topiary very well. I have ‘standard’ rotala rotundifolia in the cube, that will probably take its place. 
I’m actually tempted to take all but the orange juice out and replant the back with only hm, orange juice and waynard. 
If option b, the tank is earmarked for an iwagumi, my 55scapers tank is going to be stem heavy so I’ll go for grasses/grass like planting. 

Other observations - the celestials have spawned and I often see fry. I also see the fry predated on, I have never seen on bigger than a mouth. 
Spending time with the tanks the celestials are real predators, shrimp safe they ain’t. 

The cube keeps on keeping’ on. Still haven’t gotten to the bottom of the necrosis, I’m starting to think it’s actually snail damage. 

I missed the window to trim the elantine on this one too and my amanos helpfully buried it as they want to do. 

I planted some polygonum but it’s done nothing. 

The prospinca is just too damn big a plant for such a small tank but as it’s a farm and not an aquascape it ain’t such a thing. But long term it’s going to get pulled and I’ll move onto something else…

I started to pull down the 45f before the pestilence with the intention of having the Christmas break to swap to the 55, so nothing to report there, ug can suck it. 

The 55 I shouldn’t need to buy plants for, the plan is to replicate the transition from the cube, steal buces and rotalas from everywhere and see what comes out the other side with a bowl type aquascape. I think that will get bumped to February now but let’s see. I need more wood and rocks.


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## Garuf (19 Jan 2022)




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## Garuf (19 Jan 2022)

Some small detailing to do with the wood and some more soil which will come out of the 45f to add and then Saturday “we” plant it up. 

Rock seems extremely large but will become less dominant once there is moss and ferns planted on it.


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## Garuf (20 Jan 2022)

Starting the dreaded gluing it together phase. From now on there’s no real going back, not easily anyway. Some tiny twigs will get added to lengthen some branches, some small stone work to plug holes but this is the skeleton on which it will all build. 

Feedback is most welcome, I often think that because I talk to myself so much that the scape is hard to read.


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## Garuf (20 Jan 2022)




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## Garuf (20 Jan 2022)




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## Garuf (20 Jan 2022)

Done for the day. Still a good amount of detail work to mess about with but it’s getting there. 

I wish I could take a good photo of the damn thing


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## Wolf6 (20 Jan 2022)

Looks pretty damn good!


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## KirstyF (20 Jan 2022)

That negative space in the middle is just lovely. Makes me think that valley is being hugged, like a little secret dell….and really nice depth in a small space.
Can’t wait to see it planted. 😊


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## Garuf (21 Jan 2022)

KirstyF said:


> That negative space in the middle is just lovely. Makes me think that valley is being hugged, like a little secret dell….and really nice depth in a small space.
> Can’t wait to see it planted. 😊


Exactly right! The phrase I had in mind was “through the gloom of the woods to the sparkling sea”. I was trying to create a tunnel to a low bright area in the rear that was the focal point with the bowl a dark acting as a volume to suggest a larger space than just planting or a scree alone could.


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## KirstyF (21 Jan 2022)

In which case, I think you nailed it! 
IMO, a very clever little ‘scape. 😊


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## Garuf (21 Jan 2022)

And now we’re ready for the plants to go in. Big day tomorrow 😌


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## Garuf (23 Jan 2022)

Half way done. And accepting defeat for the evening. Tomorrow all the epiphytes, moss etc will go in, the tank can then be flooded and we’re off the the races.


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## Adumlee (23 Jan 2022)

Tanks look great look forward to seeing the new scape. 😀


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## Garuf (24 Jan 2022)




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## Garuf (28 Jan 2022)

The hidden foreground/midground is already much more successful on this scape which is a nice proof of concept for myself. Tank is now at 5 days and no changes but often in the first weeks, no news is good news. Some small tweaks I know I want to change before livestock goes in. Namely a couple more twigs, some larger gravel and if I can get them next time I’m at “the shop” M.Guyana and P.erectus to add texture to the mid and back ground where it could be lacking.


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## Garuf (31 Jan 2022)

This one is looking very sad at the moment, I broke the hardscape (again😩) trying to get out the bolbitis to thin it all out. 

I’m torn, I love the scape but I don’t love that the foreground is so close the the glass. 

If I do rescape it will be another classic nature aquarium with bold wood. But ahhhhhhhh. 
I’d like to do another planting that will change the scape character again before I do a total rescape if I can get enough zip ties in there to get it stiff again. 

Feel free to throw in your suggestions! I’m all ears, nothing will happen until the scapers tank is stable and I can move the livestock over.


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## Garuf (31 Jan 2022)

Okay I take it all back. Caught the left hand wood while trying to hoover the substrate to replant the e hydropiper and the woodwork just collapsed on me so a more comprehensive rescape is on the horizon😩


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## Garuf (1 Feb 2022)

Life is suppose, It’s not all loss, I’ll recycle all the scape material and do another ryoboku but as the new tank is very stem heavy and will be pretty dark feeling this one should be open and light so I think I will replant with fine leaved and tape like plants while also fixing the nagging annoyance of having hardscape too close the the front pane.


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## Karmicnull (1 Feb 2022)

Garuf said:


> the nagging annoyance of having hardscape too close the the front pane.


I feel your pain on this one.  It's my #1 objective on this weekend's new scape.


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## Hufsa (1 Feb 2022)

Karmicnull said:


> new scape.


👁️👄👁️


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## dw1305 (2 Feb 2022)

Hi all, 


Garuf said:


> This one is looking very sad at the moment,


I was just going to say how lovely it looked.

cheers Darrel


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## Garuf (2 Feb 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I was just going to say how lovely it looked.
> 
> cheers Darrel


Thanks Darrel. 

Mature bolbitis is just one of those plants that makes a scape sing. 

So The next scape will be more of the same, if I’m honest with myself, I don’t have the heart to move onto an iwagumi like I had planned. 

And I mean, stems are nice n’all’tha but I want to try grass leavers , grassious, grassiform, gramminifoliaed? Plants


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## dw1305 (2 Feb 2022)

Hi all, 


Garuf said:


> Mature bolbitis is just one of those plants that makes a scape sing.


<"I love _Bolbitis heudelotti_">_, _it is the ultimate low maintenance plant for me, it grows in the darkest places, it never has any algae on it and it always look pristine.

cheers Darrel


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## Garuf (2 Feb 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> <"I love _Bolbitis heudelotti_">_, _it is the ultimate low maintenance plant for me, it grows in the darkest places, it never has any algae on it and it always look pristine.
> 
> cheers Darrel


You know something, I don’t think I’ve ever seen bolbitis with algae on it. 🤔
Poorly sickly bolbitis, yes, but algae, I’m drawing a blank.


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## Hufsa (2 Feb 2022)

Garuf said:


> I don’t think I’ve ever seen bolbitis with algae on it. 🤔


Oh boy do I have a treat for you then!


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## Garuf (6 Feb 2022)

Not much to report for this weekend, diatoms, thread and spiro algae have shown up in the scapers tank. Got and planted the p erectus and m Guyana, I expect they will be visible in about a month.  Tiny bit of melting on the buces. Tank isn’t ready for the algae eaters yet so I just have to watch it go through the ugly phase and hope that the spiro doesn’t become or isn’t mis identified clado which can be a real nightmare to get rid of. 

The farm is very bare after having all the plants stolen from them for the scapers tank, as is the 45p, until I can rehome the livestock in the scapers tank this tank too I have to just leave it looking ugly until it can be pulled apart to rescape. I say rescape, the sadness, regret (?) at breaking this scape has convinced me that another go at a ryoboku reusing the woodwork and finally getting it clumsy owner proof and also getting the woodwork away from the glass is the correct course of action. 

Filter clean tomorrow, Sunday laziness left it too late.


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## Garuf (7 Feb 2022)

*A question for the woodworkers. *
_My stands are made from 15mm thick pine and plywood and are 77cm wide, what would best practice be for putting a door on? Also how do I ensure the door won’t amplify the filter hum? _


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## Yugang (7 Feb 2022)

And your biggest tank is your CO2 tank, what a luxury.

The two smaller tanks look really cool 👍


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## Garuf (7 Feb 2022)

Yugang said:


> And your biggest tank is your CO2 tank, what a luxury.
> 
> The two smaller tanks look really cool 👍


I had the opportunity to buy 2 brewing bottles at basically the same price as a 2kg and when that falls in your lap you don’t ask questions you pay the money and make it work 😅


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## Garuf (8 Feb 2022)

Add circa 100 black roses and a handful of amanos. Let’s see ‘ow’it goes.


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## Garuf (8 Feb 2022)

Added some new plants. Let’s see ‘ow’tha’ goes!


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## Ian Holdich (8 Feb 2022)

Hey up mate, looks good!

Looks like we are both back 🙌🏻


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## MichaelJ (9 Feb 2022)

Garuf said:


> View attachment 182292
> Added some new plants. Let’s see ‘ow’tha’ goes!


I like the messed up style of this -  so nice @Garuf !


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## Garuf (9 Feb 2022)

Ian Holdich said:


> Hey up mate, looks good!
> 
> Looks like we are both back 🙌🏻


Send me a pm, I just saw your thread. I’ve a £40 gift voucher to aqua essentials with your name on it.


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## Garuf (9 Feb 2022)

MichaelJ said:


> I like the messed up style of this -  so nice @Garuf !


I don’t know how long it will last, the plant is ranalissima and will look much like a lime green e tennelus when it’s established.


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## Garuf (13 Feb 2022)




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## hypnogogia (13 Feb 2022)

Is that a skimmer you have on the filter pressure side, working on the Venturi principal? If so, where is it from?


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## Garuf (13 Feb 2022)

It is. It’s from AquaRio, it’s good for light scums and I don’t think I’ll run a tank without a skimmer again because they help so well with gas exchange. It can be fiddly to set up and the supplied diffuser can deaden flow a little too well are my main comments.


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## Garuf (13 Feb 2022)

A few assorted thoughts on the 55 so far. 
- The Eriocaulon is doing nothing right now and I put this down to the hardness of my water. I say it’s doing nothing, i think it’s likely trying to adapt because it’s neither melting nor showing obvious settling. I hope it settles and can tolerate my tap because the imagine in my head of the bull rush pincushion is something I had in mind to give the foreground more texture and lean the scape more toward the diorama than nature style. 

- I’ve been h2o2ing the thread algae that has taken hold in my coral moss and it seems to be slowing it but it’s not dying yet. I hope it’ll die off as the tank matures because it is sort of key to the depth in the very back but we just see. 

- of course the buce that melted was the brownie ghost, I noticed that there’s a few rhizomes left so I’ll resit the urge to attack it. 

- the rotala has settled down a lot and it turns out is a much more mixed set of stems than I thought. I have pulled out the h’ra stems that sneaked in but have left what I think is waynand and “standard” rotala because I like that variation in texture and colour. Doesn’t match my initial vision but some serendipity is always desirable. I will soon start to cut to stems that have bolted, I like to let them get long enough that they can be planted the full depth of the substrate. Dosing extra trace has brought a lot of colour back that wasn’t there in the first weeks. 

- p erectus and m Guyana as growing but are invisible in the scape, time will benefit them. Same for the ferns moss and elantine. I expect the first good trim will be in a couple of weeks but right now I’m content that it’s been pretty painless so far.


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## Garuf (20 Feb 2022)




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## Garuf (24 Feb 2022)




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## Garuf (24 Feb 2022)

Well. 
Good news, after making a few false starts I got notification my 60x45x36 has shipped and is winging its way to my door. 

Time for the 45p to come down.


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## Garuf (25 Feb 2022)

I’ve had a largely indifferent day at work and with days like that the mind obviously starts to drift onto such topics as why are my socks always uncomfortable before home time, what’s for lunch, ooof I’ve turned into a winter warmer, what to do with my bikes that doesn’t need doing and, of course, what to do with the new fish tank. 

As an act of recycling and because I regret breaking the 45p scape, it will be classic nature aquarium - that much is decided. The scape I was going to build in it is in the 55l sooooo… 

But this leads me to voicing my train of thought aloud. Choo choooooo! All aboard! 

Så! 
Given that the last scape had a lot of stems I want to do all grassy or open structured stem plants rather than rotala bushes. I already have a nymphaea, polygonum, ranalissima and hair grass. 
I’d also like to try h.a. Chai. Because pinks suit me much better than reds. 
I’d like to also try some needle leaved crypts. But what I aren’t sure. 

I want to recycle all the epiphytes but I’d also like to simplify the over all impression so will likely jettison the odd ducks favouring the bolbitis and Java petit. 

I also want to try and go for a theme and scape the tank with a fish selection already in mind. So with this in mind I’m going for a flooded meadow with a South American bent. 
 All the green neons and the twig cats will go into this new tank. I’m also hankering to try an aspistogamma or another cichlid and if at all possible, some corydoras and a second tetra sp or even a wildcard barb. 
My local lfs has nannocara anomola, A. Trificiata and a. Borelli to choice from, the least shrimp hungry would be my preference as I’ll be moving the tigershrimp that have been chewed down to nothing by my galaxies in. 
@dw1305 I suspect will have some thoughts - Perhaps even alternatives. 

So with that in mind I need to know as much info as possible on if this is all possible. The corys I suspect might be pushing things too far but I miss keeping them. 

 I have already started eyeing up cichlid caves and thinking how I can hide them in a ryoboku type scape. A trip to steal wood from the royals will also be on the cards with it being a bit blustery lately. 

In terms of how I’ll structure the tank I’m hoping to do 3 15cm thick bands for foreground, mid ground and background. This scape I plan to keep for at least a year or two.  Being only 60cm wide though I know it really limits my fish and scape choice to keep it from seeing too busy. 

I’m also thinking I should break to a new thread but I like to keep everything all in one place so I can keep track of my own meanderings. 

To those who read this far I look forward to your input! 
Here is a photo or 3 of what my mind is going toward.


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## dw1305 (26 Feb 2022)

Hi all,


Garuf said:


> My local lfs has nannocara anomola, A. Trificiata and a. Borelli to choice from, the least shrimp hungry would be my preference as I’ll be moving the tigershrimp that have been chewed down to nothing by my galaxies in.
> @dw1305 I suspect will have some thoughts - Perhaps even alternatives.


I haven't kept _Nannacara_ and shrimp, but I can't see anything other than the cichlids eating them. Same probably applies to _A. trifasciata, _ they aren't very large, but have a relatively  big mouth.

I tried _A. borellii _and Cherry Shrimp, it wasn't absolute carnage (like it was with _A. cacatuoides_) but they still removed them over time. _Dicrossus maculatus _was another cichlid that didn't apparently chase the shrimps, but still managed to remove them over time.

cheers Darrel


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## Garuf (26 Feb 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I haven't kept _Nannacara_ and shrimp, but I can't see anything other than the cichlids eating them. Same probably applies to _A. trifasciata, _ they aren't very large, but have a relatively  big mouth.
> 
> ...


Thanks Darrel, 
Is there any species I can keep a look out for, not necessarily a cichlid? 

I suppose no cichlid gives options for corys? 🤔


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## Garuf (27 Feb 2022)

Went and bought some wood.


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## Garuf (27 Feb 2022)

Probably should have bought a 120cm instead of a 60.

This isn’t anything like the final scape, just couldn’t resist playing.


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## dw1305 (27 Feb 2022)

Hi all, 


Garuf said:


> I suppose no cichlid gives options for corys?


A small _Corydoras_ would be good. _Corydoras panda_ is easy to find, but you may have access to _C. napoensis,  C. similis etc._

cheers Darrel


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## Garuf (28 Feb 2022)

Garuf’s guide to collecting wood for aquascaping if you’re cheap or if you are cheap but pretentious and want to express the genus loci of a place by using the found materials of your locale.

So!
You’re going to want to get on your bike, my personal recommendation is a 30year old hybrid with slicks and a close range cassette that you built for going around the city - this will be important later. You’ll also want to be about 8kg heavier than you we’re pre-plague and have done no cardio exercise for about 12 months.  
Next you’re going to want to pack a saw and a measuring stick - don’t forget that like I did and some work gloves and a flask of tea or coffee. Which I also forgot. If you’re on land where you might get bothered a top tip is a hi-vis. No one bothers you in a hi-vis, like when wearing one on the bike you become invisible.
Once packed, ride to your nearest royal estate. Remember it’s not theft it’s reparations and their land is your land. Look for oak beech and hawthorn, these I have the best success rates with.
When you find the trees look for “stagheaded” branches or whole felled trees.
For roots like redmore look for recently felled trees.
For horn or branch wood type branches look for trees that have been felled for a long time. If you’re looking for branches around the diameter of your thumb you’ll want to look for branches that are about 4 times that size and with an outer rotten area. The inner wood once that soft mush is off will be rock’ard. Same goes for roots.
For long thick branches you’ll likely want the saw and the look for more recently felled trees. These will often yield more detailed and branch like structures.
Once you’re fully loaded your going to want to look for that last perfect bit by trying to ride through a bog and have no traction and an insufficiently low gear.
Once wet and muddy ride home into a head wind and with slightly too much weight at a grindingly slow pace safe in the knowledge that you’ve only managed half the job so far.


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## Garuf (28 Feb 2022)

I think you can see what I’m trying. A dead tree that’s gotten stuck and is pining more branches in. Y’know, Amano stuff. 
I can’t wait to have the extra 15cm to see how this could actually work.


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## Garuf (28 Feb 2022)




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## Garuf (1 Mar 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> A small _Corydoras_ would be good. _Corydoras panda_ is easy to find, but you may have access to _C. napoensis,  C. similis etc._
> 
> cheers Darrel











						Pansermaller
					

Corydoras finder du i Akvariebutikken - Vi har dem og masser af andre fine fisk,foder og tilbehør til faste lave priser - Kig forbi en rigtig akvariebutik



					www.akvariebutikken.dk
				



Seems the other fish shop I like has quite some options available, but pandas are very cute.


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## Garuf (1 Mar 2022)

Plants that won’t get recycled are now also on the way! 😎


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## Garuf (4 Mar 2022)

Soon time for the first hard trim. 
Lots of staghorn shown up. 
Filter and tubing clean is due. 

45p scape has been taken apart and is now just a plant holding tank. 

The endler tank will also be shut down soon with the inhabitants going in the 45p and a experiment on the way for the 45f. 
If there’s anything worse than waiting, I’m not really sure what it is.


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## MichaelJ (4 Mar 2022)

Garuf said:


> If there’s anything worse than waiting, I’m not really sure what it is.


I would say never getting there, perhaps? 

Great Job on the Tank @Garuf  !

Cheers,
Michael


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## Karmicnull (4 Mar 2022)

Looking lovely!  Personally I kind of enjoy the build-up. Makes it all the more worthwhile when you finally get there


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## Garuf (5 Mar 2022)

Yeah generally speaking me too but shipping a glass box… that’s nerves.


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## Garuf (5 Mar 2022)

I’m not used to maintenance being this painless. I mean. Other than glass wiping and netting - that’s not iwagumi easy. 
Fixed a few niggles. I think the p erectus has died from being in the shadow but that’s just how the dice rolls sometimes. 
Will h2o2 the staghorn to see what if doing to trim out the old leaves. I’m certain that this twiggy wood dumps a tonne of sugar which is why it’s so bad only on that wood.


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## Garuf (5 Mar 2022)

The farm also looks a-okay. Did a thin and planted some new plants in the big gaps. Will have to keep an eye on the rotala to stop it spreading into their space.


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## Garuf (11 Mar 2022)

Rather “excitingly”, tnt called me today to tell me they have lost my aquarium. Which is good. 
It’s not like I have all the plants sat on my desk waiting to be planted or anything. 

Oh well. Best laid plans and all that. I just hope it arrives in one piece when they do find a great big box.


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## Garuf (14 Mar 2022)




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## Garuf (17 Mar 2022)

New stand built, all the equipment (minus a “better” light in my possession, a tonne o wood and bricks and ahhhhhhhhhh, where to start! 
All that depth and it’s like the first page in a sketchbook, it’s overwhelming because as soon as you start the clocks ticking when your plants are already ready to go. 

I have a theme and so on but the extra front to back made my mock up scape look naff.


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## heliophyte (18 Mar 2022)

Beautiful tank! Good luck


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## Garuf (18 Mar 2022)

My mother once commented that “it’s a nice frame” in regards to that years school photo.


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## Garuf (18 Mar 2022)




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## Garuf (18 Mar 2022)

I think the intention got lost amongst the epoxy.


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## Garuf (18 Mar 2022)

Stick a fork in it. It’s done. 



Only it isn’t. I have to go buy more soil. 

Sadly. I think I have insufficient sand for the panda corys Id been trying really hard to make space for. 

Looks o’reet though. Planting in the morning after a trip to the fish shop.


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## Garuf (19 Mar 2022)

Garuf “It should be minimal with as few species as I can whittle it down to”

Also Garuf “I have enough bolbitis and random epiphytes and stems to plant 3 tanks” 

Guess who won.


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## Geoffrey Rea (19 Mar 2022)

Really nice work @Garuf 😍 and excellent triangular layout. 

Having too many plants is the problem to have 👍🏽


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## plantnoobdude (19 Mar 2022)

Garuf said:


> View attachment 184728
> Garuf “It should be minimal with as few species as I can whittle it down to”
> 
> Also Garuf “I have enough bolbitis and random epiphytes and stems to plant 3 tanks”
> ...


is that hygrophila chai i see!!!!😍stunning scape.


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## Garuf (19 Mar 2022)

Thank you Geoffrey.
Yeah it’s very much a first world problem. I have about 30l of bolbitis still and as many stems of mixed rotala.


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## Garuf (19 Mar 2022)

It is. If it grows if grows and wonderful it’s the pop of pink I wanted to make the scape feel like spring. If it doesn’t, ahhhh we’ll we tried.


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## Garuf (20 Mar 2022)

First 24hour. No changes in the plants. Obviously.
I also have the luxury of time and a clean room now to go through my thoughts and explain what I was trying to do and highlight a few issues.

Firstly I’ll point to the major issues I encountered - pppppp.
Proper planning prevents piss poor performance. Don’t do what I did and buy your plants, equipment and tank expecting a just in time miracle. TNT will loose your aquarium, your light won’t arrive on time and your plants will be on your desk or thrown in other tanks and the condition won’t be 10/10.

Pppppp. When scaping to a plan. Go back to the plan and ask yourself “is this the plan or is this something new”.
With this scape I tried really really hard to picture branches that had been washed down stream and become trapped against a large rock. I was also trying to picture a flooded grassland.
Does what I made really reflect that? Right now, no.
Well, what happened?
Basically, I got home from work after eating a McDonald’s and decided to try and knock out the majority of the scape before going to bed knowing that Planting needed to happen on Saturday or Sunday otherwise it would be another week before I’d have time and I’d already pulled the 45p down so the clock was ticking.

My truing stand at work says “don’t drink and true” on it - I should have the same sticker that says don’t scape and drink.

Now, I haven’t drank more than 2 beers for over 2 years now, lock down and head health and so on, but customers insist on leaving beer as a tip so I put away 8 cans while working. 
This was a mistake. 
One because I had a stinking hangover in the morning and 2 because I defaulted to “near enough is good enough” and allowed to wood to “speak” to me and dictate the scape. The opposite of the scaping to a plan and finding the right wood for the plan ethos. 

If I’d not felt the time pressure, this scape would be much different with a much simpler structure. “Ahhh, thar’ll do” is the enemy of good work. 
Next time I scape and live with it for a minimum of 2 weeks before planting. I’d recommend this to everyone. Do as I say not as I do. 

Hopefully the planting will push the tank back to the theme, I’ve tried to use only grass like or needle leaved stems. 
 I have also used rotala Ceylon and HM as a filler. Because hm I had and Ceylon is pink and I had it. 
I’ll replace them when the tank is more mature but with what I aren’t sure. But what ever stem it will be it’s important that it forms loose bunches not dense hedges.

Things that also didn’t happen as I planned,  because of the time pressure, half the tank being sand. How did that happen? Easy. Insufficient pppppp and allowing the wood to dictate the scape. I was trying to get the woodwork in the foreground to not touch the bottom on the tank with sand all the way back. However the large wood that splits the tank just didn’t work like that so I used it as a retaining wall. What I should have done is use different wood and stuck to the plan but I’m lucky in that that outcome is like a 6-7/10 regardless.

Other notes.
“thermal glue” is crap.

Epoxy putty is a life saver when you need wood to poke at an angle for “drama”.

Silicone is even better but you have to remember to buy it.

Squirting liquid superglue onto filterfloss will save you a lot of swearing. 

Having too many plants is a nice luxury but the sadness of having 2 bucketfuls of plants and no way to save them is worse.

I have used tropica baselayer and new soil and then capped with old soil. Richest, rich, least rich.  Also adds bacteria, micro life etc to speed up maturity.

I used filter media taken from all of my filters so that the ceramic media is all mature. I also added 1l of carbon and a bag of pyrogen to help soak up organics from the wood.

The water is still slightly milky but I think this will pass with a couple of water changes, I think it’s from the ceramic media. It could also be bacterial.

I added the first ferts and co2 and now it’s just water out, water in for a few weeks.

That’s it for now.


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## Garuf (20 Mar 2022)




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## Garuf (20 Mar 2022)




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## Garuf (21 Mar 2022)

Wood two ways.




Prolly not enough room for corys, right? 

Also 
You can have potato on a pizza here. Wild.


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## Hufsa (21 Mar 2022)

Garuf said:


> Also
> You can have potato on a pizza here. Wild.


You guys put potato on a pizza but *we're* the ones with "the weird brown cheese" ok ok I see how it is..


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## Garuf (21 Mar 2022)

Perhaps. But we can both agree that kallekaviar is a dish best served to the bin.


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## Wolf6 (21 Mar 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I haven't kept _Nannacara_ and shrimp, but I can't see anything other than the cichlids eating them. Same probably applies to _A. trifasciata, _ they aren't very large, but have a relatively  big mouth.
> 
> ...


My borelli do not care for shrimp at all. Two females one male and 0 cares given. Here he is dutyfully ignoring a shrimp about half max size. Perspective is a bit wonky, the shrimp is smaller then it looks.


I think the trick is to introduce the borelli a bit young so they cant eat the shrimp at that stage, and they will continue to consider it not-food for the rest of their life. Or at least a few months this far.


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## Garuf (24 Mar 2022)

Thanks Wolf. I don’t think I’ll be taking in an apisto - at the moment the only local shop that has them is also the worst local shop so I’d rather wait for the guys I trust to have something in. 

Your post has had me thinking more about what I can or should stock, I hid 3 cichlid caves in the woodwork as I was building it so there’s some real covert hidey holes. 

I really would love some corydoras but I fear that they won’t be so happy with only 10x60cm of sand to go through. 

To keep things South American I was thinking green neons and ember tetras with maybe 10 pristella. In my minds eye I’m picturing nature aquarium world photos of old. 

I toyed with the idea of seeking out some unusual tetras but I keep my tanks cool (circa 22c in winter) and the newer sp. Seem to prefer it a bit warmer. 

I’ve at least a month to think about all that though so no rush.


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## Hufsa (24 Mar 2022)

Garuf said:


> I really would love some corydoras but I fear that they won’t be so happy with only 10x60cm of sand to go through.


It doesnt seem too bad to me, I think some corys would really love laying around all day giving you the stink-eye from under this shady spot in the scape!





As long as you get a species that is a suitable size for the tank I think it should be fine. Maybe Habrosus? Pygmaeus are also small but they shoal more above the bottom


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## Garuf (24 Mar 2022)

The shady spot is where there are the cichlid caves, they add about 8cm depth. Bonus is that the shade adds “drama”. ⚡️

Yeah, habrosus was my thought but I’m rather taken by c.panda as they’re very adaptable, like it cool, easy to get and charming.


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## Garuf (26 Mar 2022)

Nothing has obviously changed. Light is okay for this early doors transition. The pogostomon gayi is the only plant that seems to be having a bad time but it is also a plant that travels poorly so we just leave it be. I can see that I will need to thin the c helfri before too long. 
Adding shrimps and snails this evening.


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## Garuf (27 Mar 2022)

We don’t talk about the farm. 
I took my eye off the prize while I was messing about with the two show case tanks and missed the trimming window by about 2 weeks. This meant that the tank was on the verge of crashing so today was a gardening day, I ripped out all the ranalissima, gravel vacced and added some powder soil and replanted it all. 
While I’d got my hands in the tank I discovered a litre of mystery bucephandra. I’ve sorted out what I recognise and what I don’t and replanted the midground rocks with them. 
Did a few big water changes and the plan now will be to get everything back on its feet and then replant all the stems with new species I want to try in about a month. 

There’s a moral message in there somewhere…


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## Ady34 (28 Mar 2022)

Garuf said:


> First 24hour. No changes in the plants. Obviously.
> I also have the luxury of time and a clean room now to go through my thoughts and explain what I was trying to do and highlight a few issues.
> 
> Firstly I’ll point to the major issues I encountered - pppppp.
> ...


What a write up, loved that little read!! Had a few laugh out loud moments.
Really like the hardscape layout and the wood used. I think this will grow in lovely and sometimes veering from a plan isn’t a bad thing.
Great post and journal.


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## Garuf (3 Apr 2022)

Ady34 said:


> What a write up, loved that little read!! Had a few laugh out loud moments.
> Really like the hardscape layout and the wood used. I think this will grow in lovely and sometimes veering from a plan isn’t a bad thing.
> Great post and journal.


Thanks Ady, it’s fun to play the pretty words game but sometimes it’s more fun to be honest and own it. 

Thank you, the wood is just field oak, and what little rock work you can see is from road works, you don’t always have to drop coins to get something nice.


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## Garuf (3 Apr 2022)

Another week down, not much to say, 55 will get trimmed tomorrow. Farm is recovering, ranalissima doesn’t seem to like me. A little algae in the the big’un, but nothing too bad, I can add more amanos if need be.


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## Garuf (4 Apr 2022)

I’ve been holding onto a particularly charming stone for about 3 years now with the intention of using it for an iwagumi and it’s just never quite made it. 

(Yes that is a sensible, normal sentence, shut up mum). 




Here’s said brick. 

Given that my 60pxd didn’t go to plan now is the time to have another punt. 
I don’t know where I found this picture, I think I was looking for pictures of glacial erratics,  but I’ve been thinking that an iwagumi with minimal plant choice would give something similar in feeling. 



So with a 20% discount voucher in virtual sweaty grip I’ve ordered a uns60f, the biggest tank I could buy without needing to buy any equipment. 
And the challenge to myself to keep it to absolutely no more than 3 species and give a similar feeling.

Wish me luck. 
I’ll post my workings like the GCSE’s but more important.


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## Garuf (6 Apr 2022)

I did a little gardening. 
My instinct was to hack all the stems back as hard as possible but  instead elected to spend an hour with wet hands taking out all the tallest stems just below where I’d normally do a big trim. 
Perhaps the best thing to be said is you can’t tell I’d done anything.


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## Garuf (6 Apr 2022)




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## Garuf (7 Apr 2022)

And the 60f plants are ordered:
Hairgrass mini
Mini Christmas moss
Hc (mainly to put up against the front glass to increase the sense of depth, we’re not talking a carpet here) 
3 plants 🥳
I would have liked to also use h.tenellum red and blyxa to add warm tones like reflections off the flames but *minimal planting!*

That means the fish have to act as fireballs and what could be better than ember tetra? 

I’ve a good feeling about this.


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## Garuf (9 Apr 2022)

Cup of tea one.
Critique away. I can see in the photo it is too monotonous on the right and the left small stone doesn’t balance it like I thought. 

Let’s try again.


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## Garuf (9 Apr 2022)




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## Djoko Sauza (9 Apr 2022)

Can't help but feel like you need a bigger secondary stone. That or move the main stone so it's more central?


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## seedoubleyou (9 Apr 2022)

I think you could move those around all day, but ultimately probably need a wider selection of stone. Beside the large one, they’re all too similar in size.

The layout is almost there. There’s just no sense of scale or depth with stones all the same size.

You could just try banking the soil all up towards one corner and building the rockwork out from that.


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## Garuf (9 Apr 2022)

Perhaps I should leave my flavour text to show what I’m thinking for planting.


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## Garuf (9 Apr 2022)




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## Garuf (10 Apr 2022)

Occasionally, I’m competent enough that it could pass as knowing what I’m doing.


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## Garuf (12 Apr 2022)




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## Hufsa (12 Apr 2022)

"Give me the pleco tablet and the Alternanthera will live..."


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## Garuf (12 Apr 2022)




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## Laoshan (12 Apr 2022)

This looks great!


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## Garuf (12 Apr 2022)

Laoshan said:


> This looks great!


Thanks. 
I need to paint to background a deep purple grey for what I’ve got in mind. But as far as the bare bones go, I’m pretty pleased.


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## Garuf (12 Apr 2022)

I got a new fancy boy light. 
It produces what I can only describe as an imperial duck tonne of light. Also, the app makes sod all sense and I am a man of little patience for technology. 

new fancy boy light also shows just how much staghorn the old lights, let’s say, dodgy, light spread was being hiding. I think I need to have a good hard look at that before too long before my nice tank turns into a algae farm.

The lily seem to like the new light, from 0 to pearling in about 30mins of use.


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## Laoshan (12 Apr 2022)

Garuf said:


> Thanks.
> I need to paint to background a deep purple grey for what I’ve got in mind. But as far as the bare bones go, I’m pretty pleased.



Wouldn’t you rather try a purple led strip with a milky foil or something?

I often see old tanks for sale with painted or glued on backgrounds and then I kinda wish they hadn’t done that. Seems like a waste of capital.


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## Garuf (12 Apr 2022)

Laoshan said:


> Wouldn’t you rather try a purple led strip with a milky foil or something?
> 
> I often see old tanks for sale with painted or glued on backgrounds and then I kinda wish they hadn’t done that. Seems like a waste of capital.


Ahhh
I mean. 
I’m not insane…

I have a board behind the tank with a 5mm gap that will allow me to slide different coloured mount boards in for… drama.


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## Garuf (13 Apr 2022)




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## Garuf (14 Apr 2022)

Another day another bout of gardening. 
I got my hands on the Pogostemon I’d anticipated using so tore out the filler HM/HG, and thinned the rotala. I also cut away all the old leaves of c helfri, as many bolbitis and Java leaves as I could take before my hands started to get itchy. 

I bought another pot of chai to try, I’ll use c petchi pink if it doesn’t work again. 

I had a spare pot of hairgrass so bulked up there too. 

All the crypts I planted in the midground are starting to show up. I had started to think I’d been too rough when trimming them back to bare root bundles. 
That’s it for today. I should probably chill out on the updates but I’m off work and need something that’s not a chore to fill my time.


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## Hufsa (14 Apr 2022)

The little pops of pink plants are really stunning 🤩
I dont often see people successfully using H. chai, I wonder if its because its not common here yet or because it is just very difficult?


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## Garuf (14 Apr 2022)

Hufsa said:


> The little pops of pink plants are really stunning 🤩
> I dont often see people successfully using H. chai, I wonder if its because its not common here yet or because it is just very difficult?


Yeah, I’ll be sad if the pink doesn’t survive, it’s something I’ve had in mind for the planting from the minute water met wood to give a spring time feeling. 

I suspect it’s the latter. It’s a bit of a tulip collectors plant and reacts poorly to poor horticulture in my experience with it thus far.


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## erwin123 (15 Apr 2022)

Nice H. chai. They look nice and large rather than tiny Tissue culture specimens so it should be easier to grow them.


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## Garuf (21 Apr 2022)

A murder of crows, a flock of seagulls, a gang of corydoras? Or a pile up?


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## Hufsa (21 Apr 2022)

I propose "a stink-eye of Corydoras"


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## Garuf (22 Apr 2022)

I’m also considering a mugging of corys. 
If they weren’t pandas, I’d call them bandits. 

Shortlisting the schoolers. 
Originally I was going to go for neons and embers. 
But I want to go for embers in the 60f, so they’re off the list. 
An’, I was going to move the neons to get some tucanos, only they were so sad and beaten up by a Limia they gave me the 4 tailless little guys just out of guilt so that’s not happening anytime soon. 

So I went back to the Amano books and I think my shortlist is:
Big fish:
Pristella tetra
Yellow phantom tetra
Hemmigramus pulcher 
Maybe like 10-12 of each? 
Little fish:
Gold tetra 
Glow light tetra
Kerri tetra “blue”
Hyphessobrycon melanostichos (my favourite but rare)
Maybe like 15-20 of each? 



Card board box
Pure luck
Maybe just the one.


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## Laoshan (24 Apr 2022)

Do you plan to put these fish in the 60p?

If so I guess I would go for one species only. Like the gold tetra, it looks great. But I have never kept any of these fish.

Did you consider Cochu's blue tetra? One time I saw those at the shop and they were very pretty.


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## Garuf (26 Apr 2022)

Laoshan said:


> Do you plan to put these fish in the 60p?
> 
> If so I guess I would go for one species only. Like the gold tetra, it looks great. But I have never kept any of these fish.
> 
> Did you consider Cochu's blue tetra? One time I saw those at the shop and they were very pretty.



I did, bearing in mind its 95ish litres I figured more of a community than the typical 20 tetras would be more interesting though I have to admit, even then I'm likely being "ambitious" on stocking levels. 
I had but it's hard to get unless I'm more patient. inpaichthys kerri is on my list too but sizing varies wildly with some saying 6cm and others 3.5. the dwarf blue tetra also almost made the list. The more unusual the tetra the more sweet talking of my fish dealer man or patient I need to be. 
What I was thinking of was a less showy fish, something small and twinkly almost. The kind of fish you imagine would be catching the light in a sparkling brook.


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## Garuf (26 Apr 2022)




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## Garuf (26 Apr 2022)

Why must all photos come out like I used my webcam from 2009. Sweet baby satan. 🫠


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## Hufsa (26 Apr 2022)

Garuf said:


> Why must all photos come out like I used my webcam from 2009. Sweet baby satan. 🫠


Its the Vaseline gnomes


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## KirstyF (26 Apr 2022)

Garuf said:


> I did, bearing in mind its 95ish litres I figured more of a community than the typical 20 tetras would be more interesting though I have to admit, even then I'm likely being "ambitious" on stocking levels.
> I had but it's hard to get unless I'm more patient. inpaichthys kerri is on my list too but sizing varies wildly with some saying 6cm and others 3.5. the dwarf blue tetra also almost made the list. The more unusual the tetra the more sweet talking of my fish dealer man or patient I need to be.
> What I was thinking of was a less showy fish, something small and twinkly almost. The kind of fish you imagine would be catching the light in a sparkling brook.



Vietnamese Mountain Minnows? Small 👍sparkly 👍 adorable 👍……expensive 🙁

A really beautiful fish that’s not too in your face but is prettier and prettier the closer you look. 😊


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## Garuf (27 Apr 2022)

KirstyF said:


> Vietnamese Mountain Minnows? Small 👍sparkly 👍 adorable 👍……expensive 🙁
> 
> A really beautiful fish that’s not too in your face but is prettier and prettier the closer you look. 😊


Ahhh I mean. It’s all relative when it comes to cost. Some fish are worth much more than they cost. And other fish are discus’ and we leave those for doctors and dentists. 

They’re a handsome fish, though I do agree. I’ll have a chat with my fish man. 🤔


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## Laoshan (27 Apr 2022)

While you are at it don’t forget to mention the Hummingbird Tetra. Trochilocharax ornatus. Beautiful and subtle, no? Probably hard to find..

Or Rasbora Kubotai. Those are generally available. Looking forward to see your final  choice 🙂.


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## Garuf (27 Apr 2022)

Ahhh kubotai are a beautiful fish but they are extremely flighty. 

Even the net full of endler fry in with them trick to get them to chill out didn’t work.


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## Garuf (30 Apr 2022)

Let’s add to the list of things of things I intended then didn’t do: 
South America’s theme - buys oceanian fish. 

Ended up taking a liking to some pseudomugil and came home with “a number” of them. 

Aren’t sure on the sp. There was nothing on the tank but I suspect it’s Gertrude.


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## Garuf (1 May 2022)

Weekly update incoming:
Things aren’t so good in the wild world of sports this week.
In the big’un, since starting to use the new light, I’ve had a massive increase in staghorn growth to the point I’m losing a pint of moss a week just trying to keep things under check. I cut out as many old, slow growing leaves as I can but it seems largely uphill.
That said, in my experience, staghorn shows up when there is light and organics, within a couple of months it runs out of fuel and passes. However, with the change in lights and the large amount of wood I think things should stabilise in a couple of months if I just keep plodding on. I suspect by then I’ll have no moss left though.
I’ve had luck killing it with excel in the past so I’m dosing 5ml daily but it doesn’t really seem to be doing anything.
Maybe a blackout or h2o2 treatment is needed.

The flat’un also went all wobbly the last 10days. I missed a water change, tinkered with the co2 and cleaned the filter which was clogging and induced a massive diatoms bloom which turned the tank into a brown sludge fest. 
I have now added shrimps and nerites to combat that. 
My plan had been to get the hc and hairgrass to be basically grown in, what with shrimps propensity to unplant and nerites burying themselves but the plants were just not doing much to outrun the diatoms, so in they went. 

And wouldn’t you believe it, the shrimp promptly unplanted half the hc. 
While their buddies the nerites decided the bottom pane had the best dinner on it and did their best land shark impression to unplant a further third.
Insult to injury, the massive amano I put in decided the best show of indigence was to throw itself out of the tank and into the window sill with the cactus’. 
I’m sure you’ll agree, a less than suitable amano habitat.
Also staghorn is attacking my moss in this tank too.

The farm has gone a bit wobbly too. I removed 1/2 of the stems to try some new rotalas (colorata, giaos, Laos)  all of which didn’t make it through the transition. The results being I have had a staghorn bloom, a thread algae bloom and diatoms.  Only 1 of which I’ve managed to get under control. 
I ended up topping the 55 and putting in a handful of stems just to fill it back up. 

Things in the 55 are pretty good really, just need to get in there and thin all of the moss and put a bit of shape back in the rear.
I’ve got a small amount of rhizo that has attached itself to the tiny bits of coral moss so I’ll have to h2o2 that.

Having all this moss floating around I’ve been chucking it in my quarantine tank.
So, here’s what I’m thinking, I have 3female and 1 male tucano. And some very large female green neons that are in said tank. Maybe I should try and make some more? 

Anyone who knows their onions with breeding can chime in and advise, I’ve never had too much luck with tetras.


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## Garuf (1 May 2022)




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## Garuf (1 May 2022)




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## Garuf (3 May 2022)

The problem with being friendly with your local; it’s real easy to end up over stocked.


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## Garuf (5 May 2022)

If I could nuke this goddamm staghorn, it’s starting to look like the picture in my head. Nearly.


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## Garuf (13 May 2022)

It is a holiday today in Denmark and that means one of two things, either I’m ill or it is slattin’ it down. 
This time it’s just moist outside so I’m indoors gettin’ wet. 

All that preamble down means time for the weekly updates and things I’m annoyed by. 

The flat un has rounded a corner and if I can stop my nerites unplanting the hc will be getting it’s first trimming within a week or two, mainly just go get things to be nice and tidy. 
I did a h2o2 attack on the staghorn which is wrecking my moss and that with some luck will give me some breathing room to get it going in the right direction. 

The 55 needs it’s first trim and replant and I’m already thinking of what will come next. Not that I’m unhappy with the scape, just that the hidden foreground is a total pita to clean and it needs gravel vacuuming and magneting weekly and I just aren’t built the right way to get in there to do it. 

The farm is reaching the end of its useful life I fear. The plants that are in there I’m not so interested in and I don’t think there’s that much I want to try that will get on with my liquid rock water. Also staghorn and sickly growth is ruining my enjoyment of this one. 
I’m sure it’s down to nutrient management ie. I haven’t managed to get the nutrient levels right. 

The fat un is looking extremely sad and if it wasn’t my showcase long term tank I would be shutting the suckah down and starting again. 

The problem is this. Staghorn is overwhelming all the slow growers and ripping it out daily is just disturbing the plants, making them come unstuck or pulling them out of the substrate making the whole thing a losing battle.
I spend between an half and an hour on this tank daily working my way through the tank ripping out staghorn and nipping out old damaged growth and it’s just not making any difference the damn stuff grows so fast you can hear it. 

I’m not exactly sure what I’m meant to do to get ahead on this one, I did an excel/h202 treatment back to back and it barely touched the sides. It killed maybe 10% of it the rest changed colour then went back to normal. 

I do two 50%waterchanges a week. I dose 8ml of tropica specialized and 2ml of aquasabi eisen trace daily. 
Co2 comes on before lights 2.5 hours and if we trust teat kits is stable enough I can’t tell the difference in colour shade. 
Lights are on for 7hours including the ramping up and down which take circa an hour. 

The drastic choice I think might be to buy another light that I can figure out how to control. This one has a great looking light but if I can’t deal with how powerful it is… 

Answers on a postcard. Best suggestion I will post you some mystery goodies. 

In the meantime I’m going to order allllll the algaecides.


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## Garuf (13 May 2022)

The one in which I remove 5l of plants and dare the algae to stay at bay. 
I suspect I’ve been a bit brutal but that first cut was 5cm lower than I intended and like all people who have tried to cut their own hair knows, y’all gon’stuffed it and there’s no turning back.


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## Garuf (16 May 2022)




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## Garuf (16 May 2022)




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## Garuf (16 May 2022)




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## Garuf (16 May 2022)

In regards to the big’un. The keen eyes may notice something has changed. 
As part of pushing it back towards what I had in mind I added more crypts to bulk up the plantings that sadly staghorn infestation destroyed. 

I’ve also resolved to a new plan of attack, I think the best way to beat the staghorn is going to be a black out. As such, I’ll keep attacking it with glut and when my ph tester calibration stuff turns up I’ll do a co2 profile and then a black out. Just being able to see what I’m doing is going to be a boon. 

Other than that everything is just trucking along. 
I think trying to get the farm stable again will be good practice so a hard reset can go as my winter plan. Let’s see what comes.


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## Garuf (21 May 2022)

Had a visitor, they brought a camera.


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## Garuf (26 May 2022)




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## Garuf (26 May 2022)

It’s a real easy tank to run this one. It’s not without its faults, almost all of them to do with putting my sticks and bricks in a glass box in a stupid way, but it really has been a painless setup and that’s nice sometimes.
Still a couple more weeks before the stems look good again. Some small bits of algae and if i had a brain I’d have made it possible to actually get my hand into the foreground…


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## Karmicnull (26 May 2022)

Garuf said:


> It’s not without its faults, almost all of them to do with putting my sticks and bricks in a glass box in a stupid way


Ah yes. I subscribe to that design philosophy too!


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## Garuf (27 May 2022)

Karmicnull said:


> Ah yes. I subscribe to that design philosophy too!


It’s all part of my brand of being the best aquascaper who isn’t shilling on Instagram and calls it “a room” not a gallery and a fish tank not an aquascape.


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## ScareCrow (27 May 2022)

Garuf said:


> View attachment 189150
> It’s a real easy tank to run this one. It’s not without its faults, almost all of them to do with putting my sticks and bricks in a glass box in a stupid way, but it really has been a painless setup and that’s nice sometimes.
> Still a couple more weeks before the stems look good again. Some small bits of algae and if i had a brain I’d have made it possible to actually get my hand into the foreground…


I love this tank, it's how I wanted my tank to look but I lack self control when collecting plants and the discipline to keep on top of trimming.
With regards to spacing of the sticks, I found having a trial run of the layout in a cardboard box the same size as the tank really helped. I got fed up of my hand and arm bouncing around the hardscape like a pinball in my previous layouts.


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## Garuf (27 May 2022)

ScareCrow said:


> I love this tank, it's how I wanted my tank to look but I lack self control when collecting plants and the discipline to keep on top of trimming.
> With regards to spacing of the sticks, I found having a trial run of the layout in a cardboard box the same size as the tank really helped. I got fed up of my hand and arm bouncing around the hardscape like a pinball in my previous layouts.


Ahhhh, that’s very flattering and all and very kind but really the perceived self control is not really down to will power but more to poverty - the tank reused 90% of the plants from my farm and the previous scape the pots of plants I did buy were m. Guyana, a pot of h. araguai some erio and a pot of buce brownie ghost I had put in my aqua sabi basket on a whim and thought I’d removed but hadn’t and then got in a parcel. 
Same goes for the rotalas. They weren’t the first choice, particularly, they were just what I had and buying new ones just to get a different green seemed wasteful and my back of the envelope maths said I could buy a 60f instead if I didn’t do a total replant with new. 
I’ve added 2 plant sp since, ranunculus to fill a gap some krabi moss again on a whim. 

I will be totally honest with you, this is much easier to trim and keep tidy than you’d expect and easier than the big tank. I spend maybe 15-45mins a week doing little tweaks and trims daily and then do one big hard trim roughly every 6weeks and that takes roughly 3 hours with tidy up. I haven’t done a replant of the tops yet but it’s coming. I anticipate that will be a day long job from past experience. 

 I had one better than a box, I put my bricks in live and I still managed to make a scape where I need rubber bones to do maintenance. Classic “it looks good there, I’ll make it work” territory.


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## Garuf (28 May 2022)

Went to collect a bucket of seawater today.


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## Garuf (6 Jun 2022)




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## Garuf (12 Jun 2022)

And after a real hard trim this morning. I’d think it’ll be nice again in about 2 weeks.
Lots of substrate bound staghorn so I’ll do another water change this evening and glut the substrate zone to try and take care of it.


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## Garuf (12 Jun 2022)




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## Aqua360 (14 Jun 2022)

Great set-ups👍


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## Garuf (27 Jun 2022)

A pre-maintenance snap shot. 
It needs a little love soon to tidy the moss and some remnant algae. 

The cube and the 55 scapers days are numbered I feel. The cube for certain will come down in the next couple of weeks, I’d like to go back down to 3 scapes for the foreseeable. 

What to do next with the 55 though… I have no idea.


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## Garuf (3 Jul 2022)

Things have gone a little bit sideways in the 55 as of late. 

Like all hardscape endeavours that are 60% superglue the backbone of the scape has come unstuck with repair needing the kind of open heart surgery that is hit or miss. 

I’ve tried to pump a whole tube of gel superglue in there in the hopes to stabilise it but the only thing keeping the left hand wood in place now is the roots of the pinnatifida. 

In other news, the hot weather has absolutely destroyed my elantine carpet. Normally I can get it through the warm patch by keeping the substrate extremely clean (for me) but this time it didn’t really work. 
My shrimps deciding to level the substrate on top of it finished of what was left in the corners. 

I had resolved myself that this scape was short lived but I expected to take it into October and do a rescape as my winter holiday project. 

Now what next I aren’t sure.
 I have an iwagumi, a nature scape and this is a pseudo-diorama. So really to stick to my “one of each” plan I should go for similar in style but if I’m totally honest. I don’t really love dioramas. 
A more balanced wood and stone scape is most likely but do I really want to do another triangle composition again, I aren’t sure though it would be a good compliment to the scape in the big’un. 
Especially if it’s more colourful… 

The alternative is of course to try and carefully pull this layout apart and repair the wood and do a push things around while keeping most of what I can.


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## Garuf (7 Jul 2022)

I’ve been thinking a lot about this scape because it’s not really going the way I want and the stems I did add aren’t doing what I wanted. 

I was also wondering what had happened to my c.balansae and the e palifolia I’d added. The answer was found rather immediately when I started to pull out the rotala Ceylon, they are so badly shaded out that they have done little more than hold on. 
The rotala was always a filler plant so it carried little pain pulling it out. But even this showed that I need to do a rethink on my planting plan. Especially in the left corner. 
Not necessarily a rescape. But more a this plant is the wrong plant and a rationalising now I can see a bit more clearly how things grow in in reality vs principal. 

The p. Gayi is a very nice plant. It is also a total weed. I have yet to figure out how to maintain it and have instead elected to just rip it out at the root whenever it pops up where I’d prefer it didn’t. 
The bolbitis will get a trim soon and the Java fern too. 
I aren’t won over by the bucephelandra and crypts combo in the far left foreground but I am loathe to throw out good plants. Especially as I’ve only very recently managed to get rid of the staghorn that plagued my start up. 

The bones are fine but it requires a ruthlessness I have yet to find.


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## Garuf (7 Jul 2022)




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## Garuf (10 Jul 2022)




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## Garuf (12 Jul 2022)

Hmm. Black prolly isn’t going to fly.


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## Wookii (13 Jul 2022)

Garuf said:


> Hmm. Black prolly isn’t going to fly.



Nah, you need one of these (cut to size):









						The LightGround Gradient Blue/white
					

The Light Ground Gradient Blue/white Gradient film for The Light Ground backgrounds If you are buying a light ground from us this colour comes with all our light grounds




					www.horizonaquatics.co.uk
				




Might need to cut some of the blue and some of the white off to get the right effect visible behind the DHG.


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## Garuf (13 Jul 2022)

Wookii said:


> Nah, you need one of these (cut to size):
> 
> 
> 
> ...



“Ikea sells lighting panels that would probably work and they’re like 1/4 the price. Something to consider if I can get over the one more thing burning money.

I’m still leaning more towards a purple background for colour theory and to feel moody/post rain. But a very good thought.”

You can ignore all that, the link didn’t open so I thought you were talking about a light screen not a vinyl.


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## Garuf (14 Jul 2022)

I did some more gardening and I’m a bit more hopeful about how it’s going and the gut feeling that a major replant is necessary is perhaps misplaced for the moment. 
I removed all of the Pogostemon octopus, I removed what was left of the rotala and a whole tonne of p.gayi - I love how it looks, I hate how it gets absolutely everywhere. 

I also moved all the p.yatabeanus (a plant I chose because I thought the name was funny) you can’t see it but it’s there. I chopped back all the m.keisak back and reduced it down to about 8 stems worth, it’s where it was but, less of it. 

I dug around in the back and while ripping out p.gayi I found the e.Montevidensis I thought I’d lost. I also ripped out the hairgrass in the far left corner. It got lost behind the crypts so I replaced it by spreading out the e.Vietnam that also got smothered by the p.gayi. 

And that brings me onto the crypts; I figured out what I don’t like. Scale, they’re a bit too big for the midground. And colour. I am not into red plants, here it makes the eyes dart around and adds a sense of weight to the left hand side I don’t much care for. 
I couldn’t see the c.balansae in the back but it was tiny before and I suspect it didn’t pull through. The same goes for the e plaifolius. I’ll replant then eventually, but only once I have ripped out the dreaded p.gayi and have found something a bit less…prolific. 
My fear of bare substrate has gotten me in trouble here. 

Other thoughts. 
My Java fern is struggling. I do not know why. 

The intakeuttakes need to be moved to give better flow. I don’t know to where. 

I am having a boom of shrimps which is nice. 

I’m having a bolbitis boom, I need to get in there and hack it back but given that I removed a bucket full of plants already, I can let it be for a week or two more before attacking it. 

I also have bad news. My d!ckhead neighbours are doing renovations and drilled and hammered on the wall behind the tank. The first day I lost 5 rainbows that shat it and leaped out of the tank. I stayed at a friends and when I came back I’d lost all but 6 so - 15or so in 3 days.


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## Garuf (16 Jul 2022)




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## Garuf (16 Jul 2022)




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## Garuf (31 Oct 2022)

Life has a funny'ol way of becoming "a bit much" without you noticing, and in all that I've managed to go from 5 down to 3 aquariums running and yet It's still managed to all go a bit sideways.
Work has been so much that I've just not had any mental bandwidth left that on leaving the workshop, I manage to shovel blahblahblahblah food into my face and sleep in an evening and really, nothing more. That isn't even hyperbole, it's amazing how little I get done. Which I am sure you can agree makes it a surprise that such a small existence can be too much.
With the 60f and the scapers, I pushed things just a bit too far and ended up crashing them both by allowing them to just get way too overgrown. The 60f is still running, in that it is an algae farm which I'm only running to keep the filter alive.
The scapers tank is in a more shameful stasis as a dumping tank until I can summon the motivation and inspiration to complete a full strip and rescape after the wood collapsed on me and I was unable to rescue it.  Superglue and epoxy are both bad for longevity it seems.  
The cube crashed after a big replant where everything just started to stunt out, dosing tinkering made things worse and I got taken out by unbeatable staghorn. The heatwave took tank temps into the high 30's which took out my colony of racoon tigers. They are extremely heat sensitive. The decision to shut the tank down became very easy after that.
 A 45f failed to launch when in the first week after planting my light ballast failed, by the time I had a new one the tank was little more than a glass box of slurry.
The big'un has in all that actually been painless, everything grows so slowly in there that it was still rescuable, sporadic dosing and water changes had been enough tu sustain it okay and this weekend the decision was made that it should be rescued. Mainly because if I left it for many more weeks it would mean shutting it down and not just doing a day of gardening.
So after 9 hours of pruning, shuffling, swearing and resenting myself for ever planting rotala and p.gayi in there, I'm about halfway through. I've tried to rip out all of the gayi, again, and replaced the back right corner with more E.vietnam and e. japan needle leave. I've removed over half of the bolbitis by mass in plants and leaves and I can easily keep going as it's still too heavy. I have cut out 20l of plants either at the root or as trimmings, 5l in just moss alone. There still really needs to be more thinning and really I should replace the red crypts (they're meant to be pink godammit) but i've taken out so much plant mass I don't really dare keep going until I've let things settle down. I need to clean/top up/replace the sand. Clean the filter and the pipe work, wipe the glass etc.
I'm not exactly happy with the tank, I've not really been for a while, if I'm perfectly honest its actaully more that I'm not happy with myself because of plant choices not working, but it is at least stable right now and what I have is okay even if the picture doesn't match the one in my head.  But as I say, I've just had no mental bandwidth left to take care of things until my hand has been forced by things going too far wrong so hopefully this gives me a little breathing room with the worst of it being done and I can do more managable small bouts of work.
It's not all gloom and doom, I counted 8 baby panda cories and the gold tetras I thought I'd lost most of during the heatwave were actually just hiding which is nice.


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## Garuf (31 Oct 2022)




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