# A Shady Glen - The Recovery - Photographs



## REDSTEVEO (12 May 2010)

A Shady Glen
By 
Steve Lancashire

Hello everyone out there in UKAPS land. Its been a while. After living in a rented house for nearly a year we finally moved in to our new house in March 2010. Having spent some time and a lot of money refurbishing the house, April and Easter saw the perfect opportunity for me to finally think about what I was going to do with my aquarium. Following the last re-scape â€˜A Simple Plainâ€™ nothing much happened and the will to push the boat out on expensive substrate and planting wasnâ€™t there because living in a rented house and not really knowing how long we would be in there for led to the tank being pretty much left to do its own thing.

This what the tank looked like shortly after moving in to the rented house in April 2008.






This is more or less what it ended up like several months later.





So being â€˜inspiration-lessâ€™ I put a post up on UKAPS for ideas on what to do for the new scape. Thanks to Lisa Perry, Nelson, and Steve UK for leaving posts with ideas and suggestions. The problem with scaping a bow fronted corner tank (Jewel Trigon 190 litre)





is that by the time you have put your hardscape in there isnâ€™t usually a lot of room left for planting, and by the time the plants have become established the hardscape is usually hidden or lost. 

Just like the picture below.





So what was I going to do this time? I have often thought about trying to maximise the sides of the tank and use the height for the hardscape, leaving as much room as possible for the planting in the centre. The trouble with this idea is that again, by the time the hardscape is built up to a substantial enough base to build up the height, there is no room left for planting. 

I have always wondered what it would be like to create a â€˜valleyâ€™ of some description with a banked wall up both sides of the tank. Again this is difficult when the two sides are not exactly opposite each other, so instead of creating a valley with two sloping sides facing each other, with a corner unit, the two sides form more of a â€˜Vâ€™ shape. So I ditched the idea and set about a traditional hardscape. Plan A. What could possibly go wrong?  

First stop, a visit to the Green Machine in Wrexham and a chat with Mark, Jim and Graham. With my credit card nervously twitching inside my wallet with the expectation of what was coming I left the shop with Â£320.00 worth of ADA Aquasoil, Aquasoil Powder, Power Sand, a box of varying size pieces (lotâ€™s of) lava rock, and a good selection of plants. As usual my better half, my wife Gaby was off on her annual sojourn to Germany for Easter.   





So with the house newly refurbished I was free to make a mess with plenty of time to clean up before she got back. :?   

Having fitted the garage out with what was left of the old kitchen units from the house, I had two small tanks set up in the garage, one with my with my fish in and the other a storage tank for my plants whilst the filter was maturing, hopefully with the intention of combating the expected meteoric rise in Ammonia levels from the ADA Aquasoil. 




ps The Fridge Freezer in the corner is for sale!!  

Storage tank for the plants.





So with the plants stored and fish waiting patiently for their new home to be completed I set about my task. 

Plan A.
First I need to get my rock sorted for the hardscape using a sieve to separate out the big bits.



  





Then get my Aquasoil sorted.





And grade my substrate.









Then of course you need to do a dry run to test out the space available to see if everything is going to fit.





Dispose of any left over Aquasoil responsibly.



  

EEEEeeeeerrrangonaminnit I think I'm looking at the wrong project here, that's another journal altogether, too much going on at once, sorry about that. Where was I? Oh yes the Aquajournal, so like I was saying, get yourself well prepared before you start could you could be in for a long day / night.

Make sure you have got some nutritious supplies to keep you going. (Recognise the towel anyone?)



  

Okay so they have got chocolate on, but they are wholemeal!!

Get your favourite programme  on the tele, preferably the Omnibus version that you have recorded earlier.



  

Can you tell what it is yet?

Here's another clue.



  

Yes I know, very sad but true, I blame my mother. So moving on. Make sure you have got everything to hand ready to go, there is nothing worse than when you get to that stage when you are looking for the thingymajigg and everything comes to a stop while you look for it. Then you get distracted and start working on something else. eg.




This is not for sale!

All useful tools on standby. Car keys where you can find them if you need to rush out and buy something you have forgotten.  







After several attempts I made what I thought was a reasonable attempt at hardscaping the tank, but quickly realised that I had fell in to the old trap of covering more floor space inside the tank than I wanted, leaving less room for planting. 

This is pants!!  










So, disappointed, I scrapped the idea, took out the Lava rock and contemplated Plan B. :idea: 

Plan B was to go back to the original idea of creating height in the form of two rock walls to use the height at the sides of the tank and free up more area for planting and make the investment in the ADA substrates worthwhile, after all, there is no point in going for top grade substrates and not being able to plant anything in it.









Authors note: The dining room table and chairs are for sale  

Having seen an article on the use of â€˜Eggshell Crateâ€™ in saltwater reef aquariums on another forum website, I thought that this might be something worth considering. So, straight on to the Internet to find a supplier of â€˜Eggshell Crateâ€™ As luck would have it I found a local supplier in Queensferry and rushed around to pick up my rather large piece of plastic for Â£5.95. Bargain!!





The next job was to cut two pieces to fit the area I wanted to cover. A quick snip here and there with a pair of pliers, job done. A note to anyone trying this, if you donâ€™t want to be finding small bits of plastic in your house two weeks later do the job outside!  





A little tip here, and that is if you decide to embark on this crazy idea, make sure you cut the piece you want slightly bigger than planned, you can always trim it down later, but you can't make it bigger!

I made sure that all my Lava rock had been thoroughly washed and then soaked in mature aquarium water in the hope that this would add more useful bacteria to the start up process, again thinking about the ammonia spike.









Next I set about preparing the Lava rock, by basically smashing it up with a lump hammer and a bolster. Another note worth mentioning here, and that is make sure you keep any bits bigger than the dust particles, they come in very handy later for fixing small bits of plant on to. 





After this again I soaked all the Lava rock in mature aquarium water for the rock to absorb some of the bacteria and also wash off any small bits of loose debris. Examine all the pieces and look for natural holes and crevices where you can either thread the strimmer cable through or plant smaller bits of Hemianthus or Uticulara etc. I used strimmer cable for two reasons, one because it was easier to work with, and two because it doesnâ€™t snap when it comes into contact with the sharp edges of the rock. The clear cable becomes virtually invisible when placed into the water, and when the plants are attached you canâ€™t see it anyway. 





Any rock without holes can be drilled or basically just push a pointed screwdriver through it. Watch your hands though!





Anything too big or tough that you can't push a screwdriver through gets a different treatment.

Don't try this at home folks.  





Then cut loads of pieces of strimmer cable ready to thread through the Lava rock, six to eight inches long, and tie it on to the Eggshell Crate. I did this with military precision, by counting the total amount of pieces I had, split them into small piles according to size and made sure that I had the same amount for each piece of Eggshell Crate. 









Next, starting with the larger pieces at the bottom I tied the Lava Rock on to the crate using the strimmer cable. Keep going here and donâ€™t be too worried about the appearance. 









Donâ€™t worry about any visible loops and donâ€™t try to tie the rock on too tightly. You need the loops to slip plant roots under, and you need some â€˜giveâ€™ in the movement of the rock so that you can place other bits and pieces in between. I used small cut offs from Redmoor roots, pre soaked and with the Willow Moss and Flame Moss already tied on. I did this earlier as part of the preparation using 2kg breaking strain fishing line. I had the roots in the tank in the garage allowing time for the moss to begin taking hold.  









When attaching the rock with the strimmer cable make sure you leave plenty of cable at the back. I then tied the loose ends from one piece to those of another as a sort of double locking technique in case one bit came loose. Once it is finished you can then trim off any loose ends leaving about an inch so that the knot does not come undone. When tying knots, I used a double reef knot, alternatively speak to your granny who might be able to assist in this department.  

With the crate finally virtually covered in rock, larger pieces at the bottom and smaller pieces at the top, stand back and admire your handy work. 





I still wasn't convinced at this point that it was going to work or look right, but I thought what the hell, I have come this far I may as well keep going. If I am not happy I just needed to lift the Eggshell Crate out and come up with another plan.  

So, thatâ€™s the hard bit done next comes the fun bit. I mainly used Bolbitis Deformis, Java Fern, and Dwarf Anubias as the main planting structure and then used Flame Moss, Christmas Tree Moss, Hemianthus and Uticulara to fill in the gaps. Make sure you identify where you want to place your Redmoor roots and leave enough space to lodge them firmly in between the rock. Another tip here is that you will need to place a few large â€“ ish pieces of Lava rock inside the tank at the base of the finished piece of crate. If you try to stand the crate perfectly upright you will find that it wants to topple over. If you lean it at a very slight angle and wedge the larger pieces of rock under and in between the others it will remain in position. There is a slight gap at the back but this negligible in terms of lost space compared to filling the planting space full of hardscape.





Keep the plants moist by spraying them with a fine spray bottle, I used mature aquarium water with a little splash of plant nutrient CSM+B.





So, now that you know your crate fits, put it to one side while you get on with job of adding water nice and gently so that you can get the foreground plants in. I split my Uticulara, Hemianthus, Dwarf Hair Grass and other foreground plants into as many portions as I could safely get away with and set about planting it using my planting tweezers. 





Did I mention that the Dining table and chairs were for sale?









Once the foreground plants were in and I was happy, I placed my Eggshell Crate onto a large plastic tray with some mature aquarium water in it. I also had a water sprayer with a mixture of mature aquarium water and a small amount of CSM+B mixed in with it. I used the spray to keep the plants moist as I was tying them into position on the rock. This takes some time, but the end result is, I think worth the effort. Then I filled the tank up with two thirds Re-mineralised RO water and one third matured tank water.

Once the first piece of crate with the Lava rock planted up was finished I placed it in the tank, remembering to place the larger loose bits of rock for support at the bottom. Do exactly the same with the second piece of crate. The Java Fern all looks a bit floppy and long at first, but the idea is wait for the roots to grab hold of the lava rock and new shoots start to sprout before trimming off any excesses. Same goes for the Bolbitus. One thing I should mention here and this I found particularly fascinating, and that is that any bits of Hemianthus or Uticulara that came loose from the foreground area just got blown around the tank until it found its own place in a crevice or nook and cranny, even the tiniest bits are now beginning to creep across the lava rock and take up a natural position as they probably would in the wild.

You can also use your tweezers to slot in any other bits of moss and so on that you have spare to cover any areas of the Eggshell Crate that are still exposed. I am hoping that before too long everything will be covered like a natural wall in as close to a natural environment I can achieve as possible.





In this picture I have added another internal filter which had been maturing in another tank for a month all with the hope of minimising the effect of the ammonia spike. 





Then you can place you pieces of Redmoor root in position. I found that the wood just sort of found its own position after jiggling it between pieces of rock. The last thing I did was to fix all my left over bits of moss and other cuttings into the natural holes and crevices. Once I was relatively happy I switched the filters and the heater on and waited for the water to clear slightly. At some time during this whole process I might have slept and occasionally paused for something to eat. Canâ€™t remember the exact details.  





The next day, or was it the day after that, just to satisfy my curiosity I measured the Ammonia levels using a Tetra Ammonia Test Kit. Shock!! Horror!! Itâ€™s all true!! Never mind waiting twenty minutes at room temperature, within seconds the reading was positively nuclear toxic level, off the scale, bluer than blue. Gulp. Oh well better settle down to a week or two of 50% water changes every other day. Even after a 50% water change the reading was still off the scale.   

OOOooer. I thought that the Eheim Professional 2 filter which had been maturing nicely for at least 2 months would have quickly reduced the Ammonia Levels. Wrong! However after the end of the first week at least the reading was on the scale. After two weeks I came down one morning, did the test and amazingly, literally overnight the reading was bright yellow and has been ever since. So maybe working with the mature filter did help after all. I would be interested in hearing other members experiences and how long it took for the ammonia to disappear.


It has now been four weeks since I finished the Aquascape and I have just added six Otticinclus and twelve shrimps, six Amanoâ€™s and six Red Tails. All occupants are doing fine so far. The plants all seem to be doing well. There are one or two signs of a very fine hair algae but nothing to be concerned about at the moment. I put this down to the short period of high ammonia levels in the initial stages. Fingers crossed it does not get any worse!  I have only got 2 x 18 watt fluorescent tubes that came with the tank originally, but I have added 2 x 15 watt tubes in both of the lids - 66 watt total. So based on the Wattage Per Gallon (WPG) watts per US Gallon, if I have understood it right (watts divided by the US Gallon) I have only got 66 watts in total, so divided by 40 equals 1.65 watts per gallon. I am seriously considering buying an Arcadia Series 4 Pendant light with 1 x 150 watt 5200 kelvin metal halide, and 2 x 24 watt fluorescent tubes. So I would appreciate any input from the lighting gurus on how much light is need for this tank before I splash out.

The lights are on individual timers and only set to come on for around 5-6 hours per day at the moment. I will probably increase this in the next week or two (unless someone advises me differently) 

As far as fish stock goes, in my tank in the garage I have got about 10 Ember Tetras, 2 Clown Loaches, 2 Coryadorus, a few more Otticinclus and 3 Red Turquoise Discus. Firstly, let me say right off, that the clown loaches are going nowhere near this tank and for at least a month or two, nor are the Coryadorus. I have also decided that the Discus are far too big to put into this tank, so the question right now is, what exactly should I put in the tank.

If there are any Biotope experts out there who think that the look and the setup fit a particular region of the world and that therefore a particular species of fish should go in then please feel free to let me know. If it were down to my personal choice I would go for a large shoal of Cardinal Tetras and nothing else. So far I have only just resisted the temptation to go out and get some!! I might still do this yet, but I want to wait a bit longer for all the plants to get established and the tank has matured up a bit more. 

So thatâ€™s just about it, another Re-scape finished for at least another year and I hope even longer all being well. I will post some more pictures in a week or two as the tank develops, who knows it might just finish up looking half decent. 

PS As of the time of submitting this journal I am happy to say that the hair algae suddenly turned white almost overnight and has become completely limp and wispy. I am thinking that it has died. Ahh shame!


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## Kosh42-EFG (12 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Long but nice and comprehensive journal...

I like the idea of using the egg crate to make a rock wall... Maybe you could attach a moss wall to the exposed egg crate at the top to cover it up?

Also, where did you get the egg crate that cheap? Cheapest I can find online is Â£7.50 for a two foot square...


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## REDSTEVEO (14 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I got the Eggshell Crate from a Lighting Specialist at 96 Welsh Road, Deeside, Queensferry, in North Wales. If you need it I can get you the contact mumber.

The Mosses that I planted are really starting to spread nicely now and it won't be long before you can't see anymore of the exposed egg crate. I need a decent camera to get some good shots of how it looks now, it is really growing on me.  

In the mean time I will post some pictures over the weekend. 

ps Any one got any suggestions on what fish to put in here?

Thanks.


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## LondonDragon (15 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Welcome back Steve  
What a journal, good read hehe I like the idea with the wall, lets see how it grows in over the next few months and see the final effect, I would be tempted to join it at the back and as suggested plenty of mosses mixed in there to cover the egg crate.

Looking good and keep us updated


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## REDSTEVEO (15 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Hi London Dragon, (we met briefly at the Green Machine when you all came up from London)

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I did think about joining the two pieces in the corner but decide against it in case I ever have a problem and need to take one side out without disturbing the other. I have managed to hide the corner by adding some more roots with moss on. Also the rest of the moss is starting to spread and it is filling in slowly.

Here are a few more pictures that I took today after a 50% water change.









The Hemianthus is struggling a bit and so is the Uticulara, I think it it is probably the poor lighting.





I have just ordered off the Internet a new Juwel 'I' bar with 2 X 24 watt T5 tubes High Output (HO) and new reflectors to replace the original T8 18 watt tubes. I have also got 2 x 15 watt T8 tubes, one in each section of the lid. 

Do think the new T5 24 watt tubes will make much difference?

























Sorry about the glare coming from the windows behind me. The next pictures I am going to take at night time and hopefully they will turn out better.


Cheers.

Steve


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## LondonDragon (16 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

I did not forget we met at TGM  was good to finally put some faces to the nicks from the guys up north 

Its also good to see you bring the tank back to life, its really taking shape now, although I am not a fan or corner tanks, you have a done a nice job with this one  

Its taking shape nicely now


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## REDSTEVEO (19 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Cheers London Dragon,

It is filling out really well but got the dreaded staghorn type hair algae at the moment, as usual its doing my head in.    Must be new tank syndrome I suspect. So I have been reading every article on UKAPS related to algae. Everyone talks about flow rate, CO2, lighting, clogged filters, and the use of either Easycarbo or Flourish Excel. 

So I am hitting it from all sides. The new T5 Juwel Light unit came to day which I have now installed. I also cleaned the filter out yesterday and got rid of some of the old media and replaced with new Siporax. Also increased the flow by adding a powerhead low down in the corner just above the CO2 diffuser. Tomorrow my Flourish Excel should arrive so I can start zapping it with that.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## flygja (21 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

That was an interesting read! And a really interesting scape too, first time I've seen something like this to be honest. I really like it. I doubt my granny would be able to help me tie stuff though


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## REDSTEVEO (21 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Cheers, I think it is turning out something like what I expected, just having a slight nightmare with some algae issues at the moment. Am about to post something on the general planted section under Algae.

More pictures to come as soon as the algae is sorted.

Steve.


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## REDSTEVEO (25 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Sorry, no nice photos with updates at the moment.

   See the post in the Algae section under 'Overdosed Flourish Excel - Nightmare.

Steve.


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## flygja (27 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Don't worry, you'll bounce right back!


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## glenn (27 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

looking good  
at this stage i would have been tempted to stick a humidifier in there, a pool of water and some poision dart frogs...its could look so nice as a viv


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## REDSTEVEO (27 May 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

You know I could just be tempted!!

Tell me more.

Steve


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## JohnC (5 Jun 2010)

*Re: Aqua Journal May 2010 - A Shady Glen*

Hi,

thanks for posting this! as a fellow corner tank owner its great to see idea's on how to use this difficult space.

hope things are clearing and returning to goodness.

Best Regards,
John


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## REDSTEVEO (27 Jun 2010)

*Re: A Shady Glen - The Recovery - Photo's*

Well it has been about three weeks since I nuked my tank with Flourish Excel to get rid of the staghorn algae. As you know by now if you read my post 'Overdosed Flourish Excel - Nightmare' the good news was that I certainly got rid of the staghorn algae, the bad news was that because I sprayed the plants that were affected by the algae with neat Flourish Excel, (that's right folks you heard right, neat no ice) all the plants died including my flame mosses, hemianthus, riccia, bolbitus and java fern. I also lost all my fish bar three.

Any way I am glad to say that the nightmare is well and truly over and a very sharp lesson learnt. Here are a few photo's now that things have recovered.

The foreground plants of dwarf hair grass and hemianthus were not that badly affected because they were still under water when I sprayed the tank but they were not doing too well and the staghorn algae was starting to take hold. 

This is the photo with the plants struggling.





Now they are thriving, nice and green, no algae.













Here is the left hand side after overdosing excel. Not a pretty sight!  













I stripped out the dead plants and replaced the mosses, in the walls, added some other plants.  

















This is the right hand side after the overdose.  













A shot of the right hand side showing signs of recovery. (if someone can flip this for me please do)  





The centre going back into the corner.  













Here are some photo's of the whole tank.













So as you can see, after three weeks and a lot of TLC and more patience things are not looking so bad. I am still sad about losing my fish, but at least anyone who has read the article in the algae section and seen the state of the plants in the photo's hopefully won't make the same mistake as me. 

Cheers.

Steve


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## Garuf (28 Jun 2010)

The TLC is paying off, it really looks the part!


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## Burnleygaz (28 Jun 2010)

Looking nice again after the nuking


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## JohnC (29 Jun 2010)

yup coming back nicely,

re:lighting = ive got 2x24w on my corner, with a aqua beam led thingy. i'm inspired to see you have HC going happily in there, ive been shying away from the lower carpeting plants. You have inspired me to give it a go next rescape.

best regards, 
john


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## a1Matt (29 Jun 2010)

What a fantastic journal   

Great humour and writing style; the posts about the aquasoil with the pictures of rubble in the skip in particular had me creasing up.

The lavarock\eggcrate wall is really original and looks great too. I think that will inspire a few people.

Really sad about your liquid carbon overdose, but great to see you get back on track so quickly   

I also met you at the TGM meet


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## flygja (1 Jul 2010)

That shot of pearling Riccia after that shot of melting moss.. you must be real happy with the turnaround!


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## LondonDragon (1 Jul 2010)

Master recovery well done Steve, really liking the tank now, how about some larger frontal shots?

Good work and keep it up  TLC is what every tank needs


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## REDSTEVEO (4 Jul 2010)

Garuf said:
			
		

> The TLC is paying off, it really looks the part!



Yes TLC mixed with a large dose of determination tempered with a little patience = result.
Thanks,

Steve



			
				Burnleygaz said:
			
		

> Looking nice again after the nuking


The photo's don't really do it justice, you should see it in real life, I am well chuffed.  



			
				hijac said:
			
		

> yup coming back nicely,
> 
> re:lighting = ive got 2x24w on my corner, with a aqua beam led thingy. i'm inspired to see you have HC going happily in there, ive been shying away from the lower carpeting plants. You have inspired me to give it a go next rescape.
> best regards,
> ...



Hi John, yes the HC is doing better than I expected. need to keep the dwarf hair grass in check though other wise it buries the HC.

Cheers Steve.




			
				a1Matt said:
			
		

> What a fantastic journal
> 
> Great humour and writing style; the posts about the aquasoil with the pictures of rubble in the skip in particular had me creasing up.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the CLAP Matt I am really glad you liked it, it made someone happy. I had my doubts at first but you should see it now. New pictures coming soon.

Steve.



			
				flygja said:
			
		

> That shot of pearling Riccia after that shot of melting moss.. you must be real happy with the turnaround!



You bet, I moved the filter inlet pipe above the CO2 diffuser and changed the angle on the glass lily pipe to redirect the flow and voila - hey presto everything pearling like mad. You should have seen the amount of cuttings I had after the first trim. I have planted up my spare tank in the garage with the cuttings alone. Apart from the mosses I have almost got as many plants as I started with originally  

Cheers, Steve.




			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Master recovery well done Steve, really liking the tank now, how about some larger frontal shots?
> 
> Good work and keep it up  TLC is what every tank needs



Thanks LD, if I ever had any doubts when writing this journal on how it would turn out they are all gone now. I would highly recommend it. I just put some threadfin rainbows and a couple more ember tetras in today and it looks amazing.

As requested, some larger frontal shots on their way very soon. Thanks for all the encouragement after the disaster.

Thanks, Steve.


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## FishBeast (5 Jul 2010)

I am really glad that your efforts are paying off. It must have been very frustrating to see it all go wrong. Its all learning.


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## REDSTEVEO (5 Jul 2010)

Cheers 'Fishbeast'

Yes it was frustrating but...it taught me another lesson which I managed to share to save anyone else the hassle.

Steve.


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## REDSTEVEO (6 Jul 2010)

*Re: A Shady Glen - The Recovery - New Photographs*

Hi, As per LD's request I have taken some photographs tonight and saved them on Photobucket in a slightly larger format, I had to wait until it was dark outside so as to avoid the glare and reflections coming through the dining room window.

The pictures don't do full justice but it is the best I can do with the camera that I have got. Here goes, I hope you enjoy them.






There is just a tiny spot at the back exposed where the eggshell crate is still visible, I am sorting that this weekend with a nice piece of wood with flame moss on that I have been growing on.











 8) 

View of the left side along the top of the wall








Looking from the right side through to the back









The Java Fern has sprouted the new plants really well now

The Dwarf Hair grass looking nice and green and really getting stuck into the ADA soil with the roots





Roots covered in Riccia and moss









I hope you enjoy the pictures LD and anyone else who has read the journal and seen the 'disaster' photos.

Update in a few weeks,

Cheers 

Steve


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## Burnleygaz (6 Jul 2010)

Such lush growth! If i can get my tank to look 1 tenth of that i`ll be a happy newbie


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## flygja (6 Jul 2010)

Mad growth that is. Especially the Java fern, they're supposed to be slow growers ya know..


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## REDSTEVEO (23 Jul 2010)

Thanks, I am really pleased with it now. I will just have to see how long I can keep as good as it is even though I know it will evolve over time.

Steve

ps Occasionally at work I get the chance to log on to the UKAPS site and have look at what is going on. Can anyone tell me why I can't see the photographs on my own posts, just a white box with a red cross in it, and yet on every one else's posts I can see the pictures as well???  :?


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## REDSTEVEO (23 Jul 2010)

*Re: A Shady Glen - Overgrown Already Pictures now before tri*

In the space of two weeks the tank has gone ballistic!! Big trim coming up this weekend. Here are the photo's of how it looks now.

















































The Dwarf Hair Grass has completely swamped the Hemianthus, so I am trimming it out this weekend. If anyone wants any let me know. It is free if you live nearby and want to pick it up!!

















Loads of stems and hairgrass available if you want any, free if you can pick it up.

Cheers Steve


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## Mark Evans (23 Jul 2010)

Looking Fantastic! I can see this image was taken right at the end of the photo period? The rotala is firmly closed up for the night


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## chilled84 (23 Jul 2010)

Ha Ha where is the algae you git lol Joke. You have done so well! Thats amazing. The growth is out of this world!


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## Ray (24 Jul 2010)

Love it Steve, truly a work of madcap genius and good to see you still around too!

Is this _Eusteralis Stellata_ or _Limnophilia Aromatica_?



I had some once, it used to take over like yours, but I'd weep every time I trimmed it.


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Jul 2010)

saintly said:
			
		

> Looking Fantastic! I can see this image was taken right at the end of the photo period? The rotala is firmly closed up for the night



Thanks Saintly, I'll take that as a big compliment coming from you. 8) 

Yes you are right the photo was taken about nine o clock in the evening. I have to wait until it is dark outside to avoid the reflections from the window outside.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Jul 2010)

chilled84 said:
			
		

> Ha Ha where is the algae you git lol Joke. You have done so well! Thats amazing. The growth is out of this world!



Thanks chilled, no algae whatsoever in sight, you wouldn't believe how pleased I am especially after the slight hiccup with the Flourish Excel. I am still using the stuff, but ever so carefully!!

Patience is a virtue.

Steve.


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Jul 2010)

Ray said:
			
		

> Love it Steve, truly a work of madcap genius and good to see you still around too!
> 
> Is this _Eusteralis Stellata_ or _Limnophilia Aromatica_?
> 
> ...



Ray, I am honoured to be called a madcap genius, I must admit I had my doubts when I first set about this idea with the eggshell crate and I did think that I was taking a risk (bit of a nutter) but seeing how it has turned out it was worth it. I would highly recommend it.

Compare what it started off like to now.

At the start.









Now!





The large stems are I think Limnophilia Aromatica and yes it does hurt when you have to prune them out. I reckon I have chopped about three feet off in cuttings.  

Cheers,

Steve


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## Ian Holdich (24 Jul 2010)

was looking for this thread earlier and there it is!! 

I was having a look through corner scaped tanks when i got my corner 8 months ago, and this thread came up in a google image search. It was good to read it again, and the tank looks brilliant!

Ian


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Jul 2010)

Gosh I'm choked, my tank came up in a Google Search........wow   

What did you type into Google?


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## Ian Holdich (25 Jul 2010)

i can't remember now, it was something along the lines of Trigon scape/corner scape. It linked to this journal.


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## REDSTEVEO (26 Jul 2010)

I looked and found loads of sites with planted corner tanks, I don't like blowing my own trumpet...but mine looked better than all of them 8) 

Cheers,

Steve.


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## PM (26 Jul 2010)

Stunning!


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## George Farmer (26 Jul 2010)

Now that's what I call recovered!  Well done, Steve!


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## russchilds (27 Jul 2010)

Looks great!! A brilliant scape!!!


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## REDSTEVEO (27 Jul 2010)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Now that's what I call recovered!  Well done, Steve!



Thanks George!! Not sure if it is good enough to win any prizes though. My photography is a little lacking I'm afraid  

My brother in law has got a decent camera, next time he is due to visit us I will ask him to bring it with him. Any tips on lighting, apertures and all that techno stuff??

Cheers,

Steve


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## REDSTEVEO (27 Jul 2010)

russchilds said:
			
		

> Looks great!! A brilliant scape!!!



Cheers Russ! Did I see you at the Green Machine a while back when the boys came up from darn sarf?

Steve


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Nov 2011)

*Re: A Shady Glen - A Year and a Half later Photographs*

Hello all you mad aquascapers, (and I mean that in the nicest possible way)  

It has been about eighteen months since I last posted any news about the 'Shady Glen Aquascape Journal so I thought it was about time I posted an update  

The scape has gone through many stages of development in this time and is almost unrecognisable from how it was a few months after setting it up. Here are some photographs, I hope you will agree it still looks pretty good!

This a view from the front of the whole tank.






The main reason for posting again now is because I wanted people to see how the Lava Rock Walls I made from Egg Shell crate and lava rock have evolved and thrived in case any one decides to give it a go.

This is a view of the right hand side wall. The java fern and mosses are totally wild. There is also still some Riccia Fluitans amongst the moss on the left hand section.



 

This one view of the left hand wall.





These walls have created a refuge for my egg laying tetras to spawn their eggs and the fry have survived despite there being other fish present in the tank.









I have decided that I am going to re-scape this tank after all this time so I have advertised the walls for sale on a well known auction site if anyone is interested.

Also if anyone knows of someone who has Wild Heckel / Tefe Discus for sale I would be keen to hear about them. I will post something in the wanted section later.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## Greenfinger2 (4 Sep 2014)

Hi Redstevo  I know this is an old thread but a great Thread & Superb Scape


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Sep 2017)

Better late than never Wish I still had it!


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## REDSTEVEO (17 Jul 2020)

Pity all the photographs have mostly disappeared from this journal. That's Photobucket for you.

Glad to see we can now upload photographs straight from our PC and mobile devices. 

I must see if I can find the original photographs and replace them.

I hate those blanks....


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## Melll (18 Jul 2020)

REDSTEVEO said:


> Pity all the photographs have mostly disappeared from this journal.   I must see if I can find the original photographs and replace them.




Yes please, I would like to see them


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