# Nelson's 75x45x45cm optiwhite



## Nelson (3 Nov 2010)

Tank:         75x45x45cm optiwhite,DIY cabinet
Filter:        JBL E1500
Lights:       2x39w
Co2:          JBL reg and FE,Up aqua inline diffuser
Substrate: colombo florabase(thanks Plantedbox)
Hardscape: pebbles and graded gravel





going to do a bigger version of my nano 2.





plants will probably be,
Hemianthus callitrichoides
Micranthemum micranthemoides
Micranthemum umbrosum
Rotala rotundifolia â€˜Greenâ€™
Rotala najeanshan
and various moss


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## mlgt (3 Nov 2010)

Its going to be an interesting scape this. Look forward to it.


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## Nelson (3 Nov 2010)

mlgt said:
			
		

> Its going to be an interesting scape this. Look forward to it.


thats not what you said elsewhere   .


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## Arana (3 Nov 2010)

Nice setup, should be fun watching it grow in


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## LondonDragon (4 Nov 2010)

Looking forward to this one, congrats on the new tank Neil 

I still stay large boulders


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## ghostsword (4 Nov 2010)

Congrats on the tank.. Where did you get it from? I am looking for a tank about that size and would be cool to get some sort of reference before I put the cash out..


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## Nelson (6 Nov 2010)

cheeres guys.

ok,heres the start of my first attempt.a long way to go yet    .





critique always welcome    .


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (6 Nov 2010)

nelson said:
			
		

> critique always welcome    .



Are you trying to lead us up the garden path or going up the creek without a paddle.

Regards
Paul


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## Arana (6 Nov 2010)

Nice start, haveing the path wander left looks cool


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## Krishs Bettas (6 Nov 2010)

The layout looks great IMO. It looks pretty mush the same as your nano (which looked awsome   ) Are you gonning to add the graded gravel around the pebbles?


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## Luketendo (6 Nov 2010)

Obvious problems are that the path is the wrong way round   .

Other than that I was also wondering if you were going to use graded gravel or something to ease the transition.


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## jay (7 Nov 2010)

Some great perception of depth to that path. Is a little artificial for my taste, like a garden path made on Ground Force. But if that's the look youre going for with planting also, then it's fine!
Just wondering how great it could be with your layout ability and some more natural stone work, rather than the polished pebbles. Reckon this is going to be a very clean tank no matter how you go. Good luck!!


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## Nelson (7 Nov 2010)

Flyfisherman said:
			
		

> nelson said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


you know me Paul   .


			
				Arana said:
			
		

> Nice start, haveing the path wander left looks cool



cheers Mark.


			
				Krish's Bettas said:
			
		

> The layout looks great IMO. It looks pretty mush the same as your nano (which looked awsome  ) Are you gonning to add the graded gravel around the pebbles?


cheers Krish.
that was the plan.still got to add smaller pebbles and gravel.


			
				Luketendo said:
			
		

> Obvious problems are that the path is the wrong way round  .
> 
> Other than that I was also wondering if you were going to use graded gravel or something to ease the transition.


lol   .yeah,gravel to come.


			
				jay said:
			
		

> Some great perception of depth to that path. Is a little artificial for my taste, like a garden path made on Ground Force. But if that's the look youre going for with planting also, then it's fine!
> Just wondering how great it could be with your layout ability and some more natural stone work, rather than the polished pebbles. Reckon this is going to be a very clean tank no matter how you go. Good luck!!


cheers Jay.
i don't think it will be to everyones taste.thanks for being honest   .
polished pebbles were all i could find of the right shape,size and colour.i really wanted grey pebbles.
i'm hoping they'll get some algae on them to hide the shine.
not sure what natural stone i could use that would break easily enough and have rounded edges.


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## Nelson (7 Nov 2010)

sorry about the bad pic.






need to "rough" it up a bit.looks too manicured.


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## flygja (8 Nov 2010)

Might I suggest increasing the height of the soil all around? The reason for this is that riverbanks are supposed to be banks, i.e. the land level is above the river. Right now it looks too much like a garden path to be a riverbank. Be careful of soil crumbling down into the river though. 

What are you planning to do with the rest of the scape? The area on the right is gonna be a challenge I think due to its size in relation to the other parts of the tank.


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## Nelson (8 Nov 2010)

thanks David.
once i'm happy with the pebbles i'll put more substrate in   .
on the right i'm going to have stem plants sort of curving round to the front right corner.then HC for the rest.


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## George Farmer (8 Nov 2010)

Should turn out to be a refreshing 'scape, Neil.


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## alan_uk (8 Nov 2010)

that looks great mate 

will look even better when its planted


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## Nelson (8 Nov 2010)

cheers George,Alan   .


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## Gill (9 Nov 2010)

Looking good, Are you going to be using any larger rocks to create the Banks. Also any thought to twigs protruding from the banks to simulate roots hanging down from trees near the riverbank.


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## Nelson (10 Nov 2010)

cheers Gill.
no larger rocks to go in.hadn't thought of tree roots,but probably not.
i may have a "fallen tree" across the river though.


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## Nelson (20 Nov 2010)

just spent all day planting and setting this up    .
i'll get some pics tomorrow    .


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## Piece-of-fish (20 Nov 2010)

Pics pics pics.... plz   Me want to see some more.


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## Nelson (21 Nov 2010)

well here it is.not quite happy with it.have already decided the Rotala sp. 'Nanjenshan' has to go   .will replace it with Myriophyllum mattogrossense.










still have some moss to add.


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## Krishs Bettas (21 Nov 2010)

I like the plant layout it looks brilliant. Where are you going to place the moss?


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## LondonDragon (21 Nov 2010)

Good start Neil, looking forward to seeing it develop and how the planting shapes up when it fills in, keep us posted


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## Themuleous (21 Nov 2010)

Thats gonna develop into a cracking scape 

Sam


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## Piece-of-fish (21 Nov 2010)

Looking good. This kind of planting has to get couple trims to look best as there is no much hardscape in there. Patience my friend and rotala will find its place. 
Good luck.


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## Nelson (21 Nov 2010)

Krish's Bettas said:
			
		

> I like the plant layout it looks brilliant. Where are you going to place the moss?


cheers Krish.
the moss will be between the pebbles and stems at the back left   .and probably some fissidens here and there.


			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Good start Neil, looking forward to seeing it develop and how the planting shapes up when it fills in, keep us posted


cheers Paulo.
still need to learn stem trimming   .


			
				Themuleous said:
			
		

> Thats gonna develop into a cracking scape
> Sam


cheers Sam.


			
				Piece-of-fish said:
			
		

> Looking good. This kind of planting has to get couple trims to look best as there is no much hardscape in there. Patience my friend and rotala will find its place.
> Good luck.


cheers Edward.
Patience ?.something i'm no good at   .i just think Myriophyllum mattogrossense would suit the scape better.


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## Dan Crawford (22 Nov 2010)

That looks superb, the sense of depth is awesome - something that's very hard to achieve. Your plant choice is good too, i recon it's gonna look brilliant.

Moss stones around the path will help greatly with softening. I'd suggest using something like the substrate supplied with a Biorb, i've had great success with it before. I wouldn't go buy them though, I only used some since I had them lying around. I do tend to think that rough stones are the future for moss, not really pebbles as I feel that the the moss finds it harder to attach it's self to a smooth surface.

Love it!


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## Nick16 (22 Nov 2010)

quick suggesttion...

get some sexy glassware in there, and also move the drop checker thats on the back glass, to hidden behind the stems on the riights hand side.


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## Nelson (22 Nov 2010)

cheers Dan.


			
				Dan Crawford said:
			
		

> I'd suggest using something like the substrate supplied with a Biorb, i've had great success with it before.


i used to have some of them but binned them a long time ago   .i'll probably use lava stone as i have loads   .



			
				Nick16 said:
			
		

> quick suggesttion...
> 
> get some sexy glassware in there, and also move the drop checker thats on the back glass, to hidden behind the stems on the riights hand side.


cheers Nick.
i'm just so heavy handed i'd break glassware.maybe one day  .i'm also just moving the DC's around at the moment to check i'm getting co2 everywhere   .


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## Nelson (29 Nov 2010)

not a lot happened so far,only a week   .
the HC is melting a bit and i've done a WC today,so excuse the bubbles.

day 1





day 8


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## Luketendo (29 Nov 2010)

Liking the growth there think this is going to turn out great when it fills in.


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## Ben M (29 Nov 2010)

+1. this scape is looking great. i really lie the pathway idea, so much i'm going to try it in my new nano. i think when it's fully grown in it'll look amazing!


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## Piece-of-fish (29 Nov 2010)

Mmmmm, its  growing  yammy.


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## ghostsword (30 Nov 2010)

The plants are growing very nicely, and they have a great healthy shine to it..


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## Nelson (5 Dec 2010)

thanks guys   .

i've now taken the Rotala sp. 'Nanjenshan' out and replaced it with Myriophyllum mattogrossense.
i'm a lot happier now.HC is still struggling a bit as is the HM/MM.

1 week




2 weeks


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## Mark Evans (5 Dec 2010)

nelson said:
			
		

> HC is still struggling a bit as is the HM/MM.



The hardest 2 to get going. just hang in there. Water Changes should help you out to.

looking sweet mate.


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## Arana (5 Dec 2010)

Looking great mate


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## CeeJay (5 Dec 2010)

Hi Nelson

Loving it.
This is going to look awesome when the HC gets going.
Great job


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## Garuf (5 Dec 2010)

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... eline.html

Keep it up, it's looks good!


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## Nelson (6 Dec 2010)

Mark Evans said:
			
		

> The hardest 2 to get going. just hang in there. Water Changes should help you out to.
> 
> looking sweet mate.


cheers Mark.patience i guess   .


			
				Arana said:
			
		

> Looking great mate


cheers Mark.


			
				CeeJay said:
			
		

> Hi Nelson
> 
> Loving it.
> This is going to look awesome when the HC gets going.
> Great job


cheers Chris.


			
				Garuf said:
			
		

> http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/general-aquarium-plants-discussions/57960-pruning-timeline.html
> Keep it up, it's looks good!


nice one Garuf   .


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## LondonDragon (6 Dec 2010)

Amazing growth Neil, just keeps getting better


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## flygja (9 Dec 2010)

From reading the online Aqujournal, they may take some time to establish. Once they take root, they're pretty much fine. I did see this once in my tank, they weren't doing well at all. Then I went away on a business trip for 2 weeks, giving instructions to my wife to dose EI once a week. When I came back, the HM grew huge, about 20cm within 2 weeks! Trimmed it and it never grew back properly, wasn't sure why. 

http://www.aquajournal.net/na/water/plants_prefer.html


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## Nelson (9 Dec 2010)

cheers Paulo     .

cheers for that David   .


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## Mark Evans (9 Dec 2010)

flygja said:
			
		

> Trimmed it and it never grew back properly, wasn't sure why.



that is odd. Usually, when it's established you can pretty do what you like to it. 

My latest nano has HM and HC...i have fingers crossed for both. especially with deadlines  :?


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## flygja (10 Dec 2010)

I suspected that the lower parts of the stems weren't doing well because of the tops shading them. Think nuclear explosion mushroom cloud and it'll look pretty much like that bunch of stems back then. When the tops were trimmed, they lower parts struggled to regrow. Tops were replanted but they had to go through that establishing cycle again. Vicious cycle for me


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## Tony Swinney (10 Dec 2010)

Very nice Nelson   You'll have to keep a check on that mattogrossense - it went crazy rampant in my tank and needed lots of pruning


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