# Asian spirit



## viktorlantos (4 Nov 2011)

Ok here is my new journal  Hope you do not hate me with the spamming  

This tank is in my living room at home, so this is not a gallery tank. Earlier i had this scape there:


ADA IAPLC 2010 #96 final shoot by viktorlantos, on Flickr

A few weeks ago i sold the tank and the hood. Bought an optiwhite tank and changed the Arcadia legs to a hanging one. The overall impression is already better, so it was a nice moment to start a new scape   






*A few specs:*
Filters: 2 x Eheim 2075 prof 3 with glass pipes
CO2: pressurized with AM1000 external reactor
Light: Arcadia OT2 4x54W with Osram 865 tubes 8 hours a day
Substrate: ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia New 27L, ADA Power Sand Spec M 6L, Mekong Sand SS 8KG, Penac W, Penac P, Tourmaline BC
Decor: 30-40kg Seiryu Stone, Red Moor woods
Curent plant list (in progress still): Parvula, HC, Tenellus, Hydro Sp, Stauro Sp, Fissidens, Riccardia, Christmass moss, Ranunculus inundatus, Rotala Sp. Green, Rotala Rotundifolia, HM
Fertilizers: ADA Brighty K, ADA Step series

The initial version is a 1st step only. I would like to work on the details in the following weeks. The bottom part will have some supportive stones or pebbles, upper part will be expanded once i remove the 5 supportive stones which weight down the red moor woods currently.

So take it as a draft 1st version and you will see how this progress with the add-ons in the following months. The goal is to have a nice scape again for IAPLC 2012.

Setup day:


New setup is in progress by viktorlantos, on Flickr


New setup is in progress by viktorlantos, on Flickr

after i filled up with water


New setup is in progress by viktorlantos, on Flickr

on the 4th day i added in some extra items to the bottom part and refined the hills with HC and mosses


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

The tank will be a week old tomorrow. So i will throw in the cleaning staff as the water parameters are optimal by now.

This time i choose a name from the start, as i was inspired by many asian talent nowadays and in the past. SO the plan is to build an asian style NA tank with many details.

Will keep you updated, but in the meantime please shoot me any questions, feedback you have.  
Thanks for watching my new journal.


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## Westyggx (4 Nov 2011)

Looks great so far victor!


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## Orlando (5 Nov 2011)

Another spectacular start.


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## Alastair (5 Nov 2011)

If your a spammer then you must spam more often lol. Looking great viktor. What size is the tank?


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## flygja (5 Nov 2011)

Gonna miss that old tank. That was the one which introduced Viktor Lantos to the world 

Latest one looks great and would mature quickly and nicely. Its a 120x45x45?


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## Mark Evans (5 Nov 2011)

Another quality scape. Spam all you like viktor.


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## spyder (5 Nov 2011)

Gief moar spam haha.

Looking good, another one to watch and learn from. Great stuff.


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## viktorlantos (5 Nov 2011)

Westyggx said:
			
		

> Looks great so far victor!





			
				Orlando said:
			
		

> Another spectacular start.





			
				Alastair said:
			
		

> If your a spammer then you must spam more often lol. Looking great viktor.



Thank you guys 



			
				Alastair said:
			
		

> What size is the tank?



This is 121x41x45 10mm glass. If i deduct the glass thickness i have only 39cm deepness on this tank which is not too much. So the idea was that to make it look much deeper and wider than it is.   



			
				flygja said:
			
		

> Gonna miss that old tank. That was the one which introduced Viktor Lantos to the world
> Latest one looks great and would mature quickly and nicely.



Thank you my friend. Just need to add a bit more details to look more exciting.  



			
				Mark Evans said:
			
		

> Another quality scape. Spam all you like viktor.



Thank you Mark.   I am coming after you  



			
				spyder said:
			
		

> Gief moar spam haha.
> Looking good, another one to watch and learn from. Great stuff.



Thank you   

I did not documented the back side of the tank, but i kept a 5 cm deep by 5-10cm height area on the back for stems. So the bottom part of the stems are not visible on the front side, only the crown. At least that's the plan  Will see how this work out.


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## viktorlantos (5 Nov 2011)

A few shots from today. The tank is a week old now. 2nd water change is coming tomorrow. Just started to add ferts.

Plants are growing and the algae is here too  I see some brush on the red moor wood. Will change the CO2 to the optimal level, currently this is too much now. Also will add in some shrimp and otocinclus by monday to clean up the tank.


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

here is the back side with the stems. you can see how deep we planted them behind the decors


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

close up


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

cheers


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## andyh (5 Nov 2011)

Viktor

Its always a pleasure reading your journals and real inspiration to us all, never worry about spamming us. We all love the fact you share all the equipment, specification, dosing, good and bad stuff! 

The scape is truly world class, NA style tanks are by far my favourite, i can't wait to see it fill in a little. Interesting photo of the back side of the tank, showing how deep you planted the stems. Great tip!

Quick questions:

1. How do you keep the substrate from mixing with the sand? 
2. Have you got any pics before the Hardscape went in?

Keep up the good work
Andyh

P.s you playing BF3 yet?


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## Jur4ik (5 Nov 2011)

Hi Viktor,
already seen this beauty on your flickr account, doesn't took long to appear on forum 

Asians are dominating IAPLC world ranking so their work is good source for inspiration, but after the Amano lecture in Denmark I believe nature observation and landscape photography is much better to learn from. I'm not sure Amano said that, but this must have been the sense of what the translator has said: copy from the nature and not from a copy, otherwise you will copy the mistakes automatically. Good example was the placement of stones and plants in his nature photography, he said nobody is using Anubias the right way, as nobody has seen how Anubias is growing in nature and than he showed some photos with just Anubais in a fast lake stream. I would never have used them that way, because I have never seen them in their natural habitat before..


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## viktorlantos (13 Nov 2011)

cheers guys thank you for your feedback   



			
				andyh said:
			
		

> 1. How do you keep the substrate from mixing with the sand?
> 2. Have you got any pics before the Hardscape went in?



Andy, the substrate will not mix with the sand as the stones keeping it away. I put extra stones to fix the weak points. The tank is 2 weeks old now and i do not see any problem with it.

Unfortunatelly i do not have pic before the hardscape. But i used the standard 2 island with sand in the middle layout. Only added in powersand under the islands.



			
				Jur4ik said:
			
		

> Hi Viktor,
> already seen this beauty on your flickr account, doesn't took long to appear on forum
> 
> Asians are dominating IAPLC world ranking so their work is good source for inspiration, but after the Amano lecture in Denmark I believe nature observation and landscape photography is much better to learn from. I'm not sure Amano said that, but this must have been the sense of what the translator has said: copy from the nature and not from a copy, otherwise you will copy the mistakes automatically. Good example was the placement of stones and plants in his nature photography, he said nobody is using Anubias the right way, as nobody has seen how Anubias is growing in nature and than he showed some photos with just Anubais in a fast lake stream. I would never have used them that way, because I have never seen them in their natural habitat before..



You're right my friend. Nature is the best for inspiration for sure, but many asian folks teached us how detailed a tank can be with some additional work.


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## viktorlantos (13 Nov 2011)

update as the tank become 2 weeks old now.

So far so good. After 2 weeks the tank is running well. I do not have any algae issues. Had a bit of a BGA as i added in a plant which had it, but that's gone. Last week the CO2 was too much and i got brush algae on the wood. Shortly after i fixed the injection (lowered) the brush eliminated in a day! I do not see the regular new tank algae yet like diatom or brown one. Well they still could come will wait for them  

The water is crystal clear. Using 200mg Purigen to make sure it is  100mg in each filter.

Last week i added in some sawbwa resplendens, otocinclus, and amano shrimps. They are doing really well and the maintenance crew keep the decors clean. Did not cleaned them at all yet. But they cleaned the old tank mess on the stones too (some stones i reused from the old tank and they were green and brushy). 

Changed the light bulbs today as the old was too old i guess. Forgot when i changed them last time  Hope i will not forgot where i live.... more problems with aging  

HC is not doing well, probably i do not have enough CO2 now. Using a 3 yrs old CAL indicator, and that's probably not working anymore. Will change that tomorrow to a new one. Warm water is not a problem probably as the tank is running with 25 Celsius.

Water is still hard and i am softening it continously but with this much stone it is not easy  

Next week will trim the stems and the parvula too. I already trimmed the Hydrocotyle SP Japan as that was the fastest.


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


2 weeks comparsion:


New setup is in progress by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


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## Mark Evans (13 Nov 2011)

This will look great Viktor.

On the HC, this is interesting. We have similar selection i.e stone etc.

My HC is rapid with very low CO2 and relatively low light. I guess HC is temperamental, and if it starts good it's OK. Ive had HC fail even though I've added lots of co2, light and ferts.


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## schruz (13 Nov 2011)

Still a spectacular new setup Vik  And its developing very well!


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## schraptor (13 Nov 2011)

Looking really good Viktor   
One thing made me think, too much CO2 causing algae, that I was not aware of. I knew varying levels are not good - as always learning new things from you guys. Thanks for sharing !


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## viktorlantos (13 Nov 2011)

schraptor said:
			
		

> Looking really good Viktor
> One thing made me think, too much CO2 causing algae, that I was not aware of. I knew varying levels are not good - as always learning new things from you guys. Thanks for sharing !



Thanks mate  

Yup too much CO2 and you will have brush algae. I've seen this in several cases and i hope some expert here will confirm this. Funny but you will have brush too probably if you do not use any  

This is especially something what need to check, as with the more precise CO2 injection methods like in-line diffusers, external reactors people can fall easily in this trap. Too easy to inject more with these equipments. Every time i had this i do lowered the CO2 and the brush died off shortly.


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## viktorlantos (2 Dec 2011)

Cheers guys,  a quick update on this tank. Last week i removed the stones from the wood. So it is time to grow really.  

Currently have some diatom an hair algae. Will throw in a mass ammount of amanos tomorrow.
Had a bit less algae when i shot these images last week.


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

Still a long way to go to achieve the final form. The tons of Seiryu harden the water a lot. So need more RO to keep it down.


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## viktorlantos (30 Dec 2011)

Not updated this journal a while ago. A week ago my daughter was born, so the time is a bit hectic around me these days 

The tank is 2 months old now. Not everything is in that shape as i had planned, but there's still time for progress.

Just a reminder i started the tank 2 months ago with this:


New setup is in progress by viktorlantos, on Flickr 

the current phase is this. i used a different camera setting that's why it' not that vivid green here.


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

As soon as the background stems will look good and i add in a few more wood sticks with mosses and align the rest of the mosses on the rocks a bit better the scape will be completed. I may will replace Rotala Rotundifolia to a finer red plant like L. Arcuata etc.

Cheers   
Happy New Year to you guys


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## Mark Evans (30 Dec 2011)

Getting there Viktor.  

Congrats on the new arrival!


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## ZliBrka (30 Dec 2011)

Congrats to you and your wife!


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## Callum (31 Dec 2011)

Agreed with mark, starting to take shape, good job!


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## greenink (31 Dec 2011)

Congrats! 

Anything you'd recommend on flow with a two island layout? Am going to do this for my next tank.


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## viktorlantos (6 Jan 2012)

Thanks for your kind words guys. Seems like the battle with the BGA come to an end. So now i can focus on the details in the remaining time   

I shot this today morning.  


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

cheers


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## Callum (7 Jan 2012)

Beautiful


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## Mark Evans (7 Jan 2012)

I might of missed this Viktor, but could you tell me what tubes you are using?...do they look like this in real life?

I do like the colour rendition


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## viktorlantos (11 Jan 2012)

Callum said:
			
		

> Beautiful



Thank you  



			
				Mark Evans said:
			
		

> I might of missed this Viktor, but could you tell me what tubes you are using?...do they look like this in real life?
> 
> I do like the colour rendition



Cheers Mark, i do use Osram 865HO T5 tubes. We love this however they are very bright. I am having hard time to capture this tank as it looks in the real life. The room is dark and the 17-40 f4 lens is not too good with low light.


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## mitchelllawson (11 Jan 2012)

Hate tank that look like this, they make me to jealous


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## viktorlantos (11 Jan 2012)

A few shots from today. Hope you do not mind.   


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

The tank is getting better and better, however still there need work til the final form.


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## viktorlantos (11 Jan 2012)

mitchelllawson said:
			
		

> Hate tank that look like this, they make me to jealous



Nah, no worry they give some work to look like this.  Just finished a looooong battle with BGA.  

I am glad i can share these with you guys. I got so mucch inspiration here, hopefully some of these stuff help others too.


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## AndersH (11 Jan 2012)

Don't mind at all 

One thing that springs to mind, and a very small one is the turfs of moss in the path. They seem a bit out of context with the rest of the 2 islands. Is the plan to make them more in line with the islands. 
This is only a very minor thing if any, as I really think its an amazing scape. 

How do you find the "holes" you planted the stems in at the back? Is it giving any problems flow-wise or other?

But please share more photos. Great quality


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## viktorlantos (11 Jan 2012)

AndersH said:
			
		

> Don't mind at all
> 
> One thing that springs to mind, and a very small one is the turfs of moss in the path. They seem a bit out of context with the rest of the 2 islands. Is the plan to make them more in line with the islands.
> This is only a very minor thing if any, as I really think its an amazing scape.
> ...



Thanks for your comment  
The tank started very slowly at the beginning, because of that many plants not trimmed yet like the mosses.
Sure that need some work. I think i need to work on the path and these mossy parts. On the back the master plan was to have the stems trimmed like the left side. HM blend nicely with Rotala Sp. Green. I thougth Rotundifolia will give a nice color as the last stem in the row. But that is not visible yet. I may will try a different stems behind the Sp.Green.

Hydrocotyle blend nicely with the stem forest on the center back. That's the effect i planned for the stem plants.

So a couple things needed especially need to work on the trimming and the small details, but i am quite happy that after 2.5 months even with this super slow start the tank is getting close to the form what was my original idea.

No prob with the hole on the back. Stems of course rob a lot of flow, but with the added in Koralia and the left lily on the front gives enough flow around the tank.


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## Lewisr (12 Jan 2012)

Have you ever done a scape that wasnt incredible?


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## viktorlantos (29 Jan 2012)

Lewisr said:
			
		

> Have you ever done a scape that wasnt incredible?



 Sure many  
But i really enjoy the journey of this progress.


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## viktorlantos (29 Jan 2012)

I had to learn that beeing a father slows me down a bit at least on my home tanks  

Did not had enough time on the maintenance. This tank is getting to the stage when much more trimming needed and some fine adjustment as it's slowly gets to the point when i had to shoot "the photo" for the contests. Running out of time....

Anyway i trimmed the tank today mainly the stems and the hydrocotyle sp a bit. The photos were captured without tripods now so the quality is not that good. Luckily the tank was captured yesterday before the trimming, so you can see what i did with the stems in 5 minutes today.

Bushy forest....


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

some trimming on the back and the center part


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

lovely view from the ground


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

on the top with stars...  


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

the residents, love them!


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


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## Iain Sutherland (29 Jan 2012)

Both new and old are lovely lookings scapes as always viktor. Any tips on how to cut stems.. mine never recover fully for ages!!
The old scape in this tank is very similar to my new scape I'm starting, bet it won't look a patch on yours though!!! 
What are the fish with red spot tails? They are very cool!


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## wearsbunnyslippers (30 Jan 2012)

Those sawbas are gorgeous fish!

Lovely layout!


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## viktorlantos (30 Jan 2012)

wearsbunnyslippers said:
			
		

> Those sawbas are gorgeous fish!
> 
> Lovely layout!



Thank you  Yup i love them. Very friendly ones and once they color up they looks pretty nice also blend well to a scape like this.



			
				easerthegeezer said:
			
		

> Both new and old are lovely lookings scapes as always viktor. Any tips on how to cut stems.. mine never recover fully for ages!!
> The old scape in this tank is very similar to my new scape I'm starting, bet it won't look a patch on yours though!!!
> What are the fish with red spot tails? They are very cool!



Thanks for your kind words. Well on stems i shoot them with enough light and CO2. Other than that nothing special. Currently ADA fetilizers, but they can be EI or anything else which you feel comfortable with. 

They started slower on this tank i felt they are stressed for some reason. Probably the tap water was hard and with the 40/50kg of Seiryu stone this gone up even harder at the beginning. All water changes i do now with 100% RO, but still hardness is changing between the WCs. This was slow for 2 months, but since then i had to trim it weekly.

I always wait for the stems to grow up to the surface, then just trim 5-10cm max from the height in this stage. This way it looks brill on a longer term.


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## Iain Sutherland (31 Jan 2012)

thanks viktor. What ever your doing it seems to work!!

Still cant find the fish on and internet search.. sawbas??
thanks

*edit* scratch that got 'em!!


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## viktorlantos (31 Jan 2012)

Yeah the fish name was misspelled: sawbwa resplendens is the correct one.

We keep them in our store too, but this is very far from as it looks in a planted tank with more light. 
Will try to make a vid on them in the following days.


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## Iain Sutherland (31 Jan 2012)

beautiful fish, premium price in the UK.  Still looking to source them though


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## clonitza (31 Jan 2012)

I'd shorten the two joining branches in the middle 'cause they move the focal point in the center of the tank, otherwise it looks fantastic!    Guess Vuppa hasn't arrived yet. 

Cheers,
Mike


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## Iain Sutherland (31 Jan 2012)

Hi Viktor, a video of the asian rummy's would be great.
I have found a source for them here at a good price now.
Would you be able to give me any info about how you keep them as a lot of sites say they are difficult to keep, max temp 22C, soft water and only live foods and others say 12-16gKH, 25C and except flake???
Many thanks


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## viktorlantos (31 Jan 2012)

clonitza said:
			
		

> I'd shorten the two joining branches in the middle 'cause they move the focal point in the center of the tank, otherwise it looks fantastic!    Guess Vuppa hasn't arrived yet.
> 
> Cheers,
> Mike



Thanks Mike  Yup there are many place which need some improovement. Let's see how i can refine them in the following weeks. Thanks for the tip anyway  

Vuppa is not here yet  But i try to solve the surface scum when it comes with the Lilys.


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## viktorlantos (31 Jan 2012)

easerthegeezer said:
			
		

> Hi Viktor, a video of the asian rummy's would be great.
> I have found a source for them here at a good price now.
> Would you be able to give me any info about how you keep them as a lot of sites say they are difficult to keep, max temp 22C, soft water and only live foods and others say 12-16gKH, 25C and except flake???
> Many thanks



We keep it in soft, mid, and harder water too. I do not see problem with them however was a bit hard to settle in with a CO2 tank. On temp we have between 21-25 no prob at all. 

The food is right you can feed them with live food or small food types like Cyclopeeze or ADA AP1-Gold which i use too. No flake food for sure.


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## yankadi (1 Feb 2012)

This is one of the most impressive scape I have seen in last few moths! Masterpiece!


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## viktorlantos (2 Feb 2012)

yankadi said:
			
		

> This is one of the most impressive scape I have seen in last few moths! Masterpiece!


 
Thank you, i am glad you like it 

As i promise ealrier i captured the Sawbwas today for a few sec. Enjoy


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## viktorlantos (4 Feb 2012)

Had a maintenance today on the tank. Trimming, pipe cleaning, and added in some extra wood pieces to complete the hardscape work.

I think i will wait a few more weeks til the stems grows back and the mosses grows a little, then will do the IAPLC shooting. So probably will not publish more on the tank nowadays.

I am hoping the journal was enjoyable and worth a share for some of you. A few pics for last....   

Before WC today. Pipes are dirty and not added in the extra woods yet:


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

Then with the refinements and after full maintenance:

24mm, daylight setting


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

Then with 17 mm and auto wb. I kind of like better this color. The 17mm gives more deepness so may will use it on the final shot and will do lens correction after the shooting.


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

This is where we started 3 months ago:


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

And this is where we are now:


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr

Thanks for watching guys


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## m_attt (4 Feb 2012)

yet another amazing tank, really love your work.


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## Mark Evans (5 Feb 2012)

This is starting to take on such a natural look. Great stuff Viktor. Great stuff indeed.


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## toadass (18 Feb 2012)

Great tank Victor, i bet the IAPLC pic for this will be stunning. Best of luck, quality scape this!


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## viktorlantos (19 Feb 2012)

Captured this today. Slowly getting there where i wanted. 
Just another trim on the stems and the mosses and 2 weeks later i am ready for the final pics.  


Asian Spirit by viktorlantos, on Flickr


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## Ady34 (20 Feb 2012)

Hi Victor,
ive seen many of your scapes, all of which are excellent. I particularly liked your 'my private island' scape.
This tank, as are all of your tanks, is pristine with great attention to detail and still maintains a very natural look.
The photography is also excellent.
I only wish i knew of your shop when i visited Budapest a year and a half ago as i would have loved to have popped in and seen some of your set ups in person.
Keep posting as its a pleasure to view your pics.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## whinnie (20 Feb 2012)

Incredible, love it


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## clonitza (20 Feb 2012)

Hi Viktor, it's coming along nicely and for sure it will get a nice placement at IAPLC.   
I'd like to tell you to have a little bit of patience though, there are many places not covered by "clover" especially on the left side and in some there's a bit too much. I'd also pull out the stems on the bottom left and right of the scape, they are a little bit distracting.

Cheers,
Mike


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## viktorlantos (4 May 2012)

Wow i did not updated this journal in the past 2 months. Sorry about that i thought i do my final stretch to the contest in this timeframe.

As the final shooting was done at the end of april i am happy to share the last post from me. Luckily at the end all turned good  

http://viktorlantos.com/wordpress/2012/ ... versenyre/

Sorry for the hungarian language. But images maybe speak from themself.

And a few second vid which i've done after the photo session. No extra light no fancy image manipulation. Just as i see it on the weekdays. Hope you enjoyed the journal. I learned a lot from this scape, which i hope can use in my future layouts.

Thanks for watching guys. Will share the final photo after the IAPLC.   

https://vimeo.com/41577665


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## Ian Holdich (4 May 2012)

just seen this on Facebook Vik and it looks truly awesome mate, very well done!


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## Ady34 (4 May 2012)

Plastic fish for the last photos though........   .... only joking, it amazes me how patient photographers must be to get 'the' shot where everything is sitting just right.
Amazing scape   
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## awtong (5 May 2012)

One of my all time favorite tanks.  Thanks for sharing.

Andy


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## viktorlantos (5 Aug 2012)

Meanwhile the tank in it's past form is in the top 200 at IAPLC around this time i changed the scape a bit.

The original form was amazing in person, but meanwhile i worked on that to make the stem forest denser, i got to a point when i lost the control over on them. So the only option was to trim heavily the stems. And i knew this will take at least 2-3 months again to get to the same level.

As i wanted to change the layout at the end of this year to something else, i thought i give a quick update to the layout for the next 6 months.

Removed all the wood pieces, stems, mosses. Kept in the soil with all the stones i had. Added in some more stones and filled in 9L fresh Amazonia on the top to have a connection between the left and the right side and make the sides higher.

It was so inspirational to see Amano's tank with the creative rescape just like George ones in the past year. So i gave a shot to this   

The tank is 5 weeks old around this time.

This was the earlier scape. This isn't the IAPLC photo so i can publish it here






the mid phase after removal..... man it's like on the moon   





I am a lazy guy did not even cleaned the stones. I left it for the tank to kill this algae after the start.

This is how it looked 1 weeks after the planting





And the current status from yesterday the tank is 5 weeks old now.... this time i shoot from hand so the quality is poor. Also the tank was before maintenance. So the glass etc is dirty but i kind of wanted to put this to the record.





As you see this has some hair algae. I thought i will hit by diatom too, but this was not there in the first weeks.

One of the reason why i posted this tank to see what kind of issues i am facing with.

The tank is running by a powerful filtration. 2x2075 Eheim Prof 3. This is a 223L tank.
Running 4x54 Watt light from Arcadia (not as powerful as ATI ones so this is ok)
CO2 external reactor injecting the CO2. Now i am running with ADA ferts.
Soil is Amazonia.

I do use RO for water changes. 100% pure RO approx 100-120 liter per week.
The TDS is 150-170ppm after water changes. However after a week the hardness goes up to the tap water level which is 330 ppm.

Yeah Seiryu stones.... around 50kg of them in place.

Parvula and Acicularis do not care about fluctuating hardness level. They grow just like they would in soft water.
But Hemianthus Cuba and Elatine Hydropiper isn't doing well here.

So i try to think about what shoud i do to keep the hardness level lower along the week between the 2 water changes.

Added in softenizer as we had them, but this isn't enough for this tank. Now i placed in a soft water resin to the filter too and doing another test for this week. Chemicals not helps at least the few i tried as the stones pushes heavily the hardness level.

Any idea suggestion i could use? Doing 2 water changes per week would be doable, but i would hurt on other part with that on long term so this isn't an option.

Sorry for beeing long. I usually photo these things and publish it to have it on record and learn from it.
Thanks for reading it, your comments/tips are welcome


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## viktorlantos (5 Aug 2012)

Temp isn't high in the tank. Using air condition to keep the temp around 25 in the tank. So this is not the cause of the fault with the plants.


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## Garuf (5 Aug 2012)

I've yet to see a scape I dislike of yours, Viktor. I'm super jealous.


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## Aquadream (5 Aug 2012)

If the stones are pushing the hardness level too much it means that they are suitable only for non CO2 tank. The reaction with the stones will stop once the PH have reached 7 and the water have become neutral. In most cases CO2 will affect stones in aquatic enviornment only at PH below 7.
You could try to stabilize as much as you can the PH at about 6.8, just slightly acidic. plants will be fine and the stones will give you little trouble.

As a general rule stones that can react with CO2 are not good for acidic set up.


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## B7fec (5 Aug 2012)

I agree with Garuf... Great scaping and yet to see anything I dislike.... This scape was one of my favs, very natural looking, and loving the composition. I'm going to try something similar in my next scape with inspiration coming from yours for sure.


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## Iain Sutherland (5 Aug 2012)

Garuf said:
			
		

> I've yet to see a scape I dislike of yours, Viktor.



 

Loved the IAPLC version and this looks ace too.  Will you be keeping the Swabwa or something different now?


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## viktorlantos (5 Aug 2012)

easerthegeezer said:
			
		

> Garuf said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks guys   

My first thought was to keep them for the next 6 months, but they are not working very well here. Not like in the earlier version of the tank. So i am thinking on to replace them to something else. Like 100 Paracheirodon simulans or something in the same size. Would love to see a larger group of them flying over the hills. If the fishes are too big the effect is not the same. So try to keep a smaller fish than Sawbwa now.

If you guys have any tips let me know   



			
				Aquadream said:
			
		

> If the stones are pushing the hardness level too much it means that they are suitable only for non CO2 tank. The reaction with the stones will stop once the PH have reached 7 and the water have become neutral. In most cases CO2 will affect stones in aquatic enviornment only at PH below 7.
> You could try to stabilize as much as you can the PH at about 6.8, just slightly acidic. plants will be fine and the stones will give you little trouble.
> 
> As a general rule stones that can react with CO2 are not good for acidic set up.



Yup that's right. However we had a luck before with this one






As far as i remember this tank has much colder water and probably more frequent water change at the beginning. This tank had 21 celsius water temp and at the beginning we changed water daily later bi-weekly til the carpet completed. From that point only weekly.

This also had much more Seiryu in it. But i remember we had hard time to grow HC here. Taken much longer





So it may will work but makes it much more harder and slower. We currently grow HC in some of our tanks and i am jellous to that carpet quality. This was the reason why i tried to find a solution to keep the water more stable.

Thanks guys for your feedback. Maybe i am just impatient with the tank. It is just 5 weeks old now. But if the quality will be the same in the next month then it's not a good sign


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## viktorlantos (5 Aug 2012)

Well by the way as the Voting round completed i think i can share it 





Was nice to keep, nice to grow, but the stones made my life much harder. However the final shot was done around 5 month of the tank age. This was a massive maintenance required tank so with a little baby i had to give it up. The new form require much less maintenance and looks the same for month. But i loved the final form with the little Rotala Indica in the middle.


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## Ady34 (6 Aug 2012)

Hi Viktor,
love that shot of the previous scape....i think i actually prefer it with the fuller stems to the iaplc shot ....sorry   
Im not knowledgeable on the ins and outs of ro units and they may need high pressure or something to work so forgive me if this sounds obviously ridiculous, but could you not run an ro unit inline permanently or overnight on the tank water itself via a seperate filter/pump and glassware. This way you'd be constantly softening the water and removing the mineral content from the rocks...it may take some tweaking but may be an option. You may have to increase ferts etc that get removed.
Dont know if anyone has done this before?
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## viktorlantos (6 Aug 2012)

Cheers Andy,

yeah the IAPLC version was built for a contest tank really. however keeping the tank in that shape with a little baby is not doable especially as i do maintenance a couple others too in GA.  The current form will not be a rockstar, but something which nice to look at for the next 6 months and no need to worry about stems. Maybe will do another fast growing scape to the IAPLC 2013 

On the RO. My RO unit pushing 1L/hr has booster pump too. That's why i can refill the tank within 2 hrs at water changes.  This also means that if i run it on a longer time i will produce a tons of waste water.

But you're right, maybe connecting this to some auto water changer and having a water change on the fly whenever i need would be a solution. So 2-3 water change a week. I may will end up doing this, but hoped to have something easier.


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## viktorlantos (9 Aug 2012)

The baby is 6 wks old now. Thought i post the new image as i finally shoot with a tripod.   


Reborn - update - 6wks by viktorlantos, on Flickr


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## Timms2011 (9 Aug 2012)

Your work is amazing!


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## greenink (10 Aug 2012)

Just looked through your flickr stream - amazing. Your shop looks fantastic.


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## viktorlantos (19 Aug 2012)

Cheers guys   Thank you for your feedback.

The tank passed the 7weeks in it's lifetime. Things getting better now. I need to trim the plants, but wanted to do a capture before that.

Elatine Hydropiper melted in the past weeks, but all others are fine now.


Reborn - update - 7wks by viktorlantos, on Flickr

The shot without strobe at this time, so a bit darker sorry about that  

This is a low maintenance beauty for me especially with an 8 month old baby i do not have to spend all day with the tank.   


Lili in her Director seat  by viktorlantos, on Flickr

cheers


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (19 Aug 2012)

Lucky Lili,

I wish I had a Lil' Seat up there too!   
Fantastic, the look on her face of utter fascination, taking in the aquascape.

Great job Viktor, as usual


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## C00ki3 (20 Aug 2012)

Eyes wide mouth open, Lili has the same look as I do when I see such a great tank. Beautiful baby and beautiful tank, congratulations


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## viktorlantos (28 Oct 2012)

Well after the IAPLC party yesterday i can share the contest shot. The Asian Spirit ranked #67 on the contest. 


IAPLC 2012 entries Rank #67 by viktorlantos, on Flickr

3 of our others tank ranked 111, 155, 404. The last one was added only to have more professionally photographed scape on the contest.


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## Ian Holdich (28 Oct 2012)

well done Viktor, this needs to go in the planted gallery on it's own.


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## Stu Worrall (28 Oct 2012)

well done Viktor. Stunning entry and well deserved!  Thanks for the link to the 200 results


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## Ady34 (28 Oct 2012)

Congrats Viktor, another great scape.


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