# Beginners aquascape



## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Hello everyone,

After reading a few journals on here and everyone sort of asking for more journals to be made, especially new tanks etc I thought id share my story and progress!

Im going to generalise the last year or so and get into more detail when the journal becomes more recent

It all started in April 2012, I really wanted to have a tropical set up which I had never had before, so it was all new to me and quite overwhelming. But to make it harder I wanted and was determined to self teach as I believe you make mistakes and end up learning far more as you recover from said mistakes!
I bought a Juwel Koral 60ltr tank which came with; hood/light, heater and internal filter. I used theses bits for a little while but they soon become outdated to me, as I wanted bigger and better, and to much disappointment to the fiancée, more expensive (i KNOW weve all been there!). So I updated the hardware gradually (a couple of times) to what I have now. Hopefully the pics will tell all, If not i'll be obliged to answer any questions on the hardware and what I used to have and the new stuff.




 

That was a picture of how it all started, I had a mixture of plastic and real plants and some quite clearly naff pebbles and decor. But we all live and learn! The plants didnt exactly do very well as the lights were pants, there was no ferts and no co2 so they died after a few months, a shame but again it was a lesson learned which in all fairness I was happy to learn.



 

That second image was taken in March 2013 so you can see it rapidly changed as I learned new stuff and become aware of different filtration, lighting, heating etc. I went from hood lighting to a luminaire, internal box filter to a external canister (soon to change again) a bigger heater 100w as the 25w was crap and couldnt hold temp very well especially in winter. And now theres plants!! Some survived and some didnt yet again, the saggitaria sabulata died very quickly as my flow, substrate and ferts were rubbish, the mystery stem plant (reddish) died even quicker, it was terribly ugly though as the leaves were stunted again down to the above. The Bacopa caroliana (amplexicaulis) is still alive but it grew like crazy so its been propagated a few times but again down to low levels of ferts etc it didnt do too well so some parts of the plant look terrible as you'll see in another photo. The Echinodorus amazonicus is still alive a now looks great now ive trimmed the unhealthy leaves away, you'll see the difference in another photo. I took the egeria densa out as it did do very well, but my goodness is that hard to maintain, it goes beserk!!! 



 

Two days ago I did this, it looks terrible compared to pic 2 BUT, what ive learned since then is that you shouldnt over plant straight away especially with poor flow, no ferts etc as everything will die, algea will go mad and you'll be pulling your hair out!! Pic 2 didnt look like that for very long unfortunately and so I rescaped! This pic was on day 1, plants look depleted after being shoved into a bucket for 24 hours, stem plants have drooped and look terrible!

Mother wanted to put a new carpet down so i thought that would be the perfect chance to do it! I purchased a new filter JBL crystal profi e 701, and new substrate, caribsea eco complete, also a couple of weeks ago, I started using EI ferts to great results, which you can tell on the stem plants as the bottom half look terrible and the top half look great due to the ferts, better flow, and better co2!

I decided to trim everything and plant thinnly as I didnt want a repeat of before, which is why it doesnt look great. 
Im not particularly happy with the hardscape but im not good with that kind of thing so any advice would be great I have one piece of driftwood and 2 pieces of rock, please use your brilliant imaginations and help me out! 
I went for the symmetrical look so having the substrate rise on the flanks and at the back, an Echinodorus amazonicus on each side with vallisneria nana clumps behind each amazonicus. Sat infront is both bacopa amplexicaulis and limnopila aromatica(which has thrived since the ferts were introduced. I have Microsorum pteropus superglued to the driftwood and also vesicularia dubyana attached to the rock, hence the white patches where the glue has dried, hopefully the moss will cover that soon! 
Ive just purchased (from aqua essentials) Eleocharis acicularis, Hemianthus callitrichoides, sagittaria sabulata and some Limnophila aromatica, so that will all be going in soon, obviously the foreground plants will be going at front in front of the rock.



 



 



 

This is today 23.07.13 just 24 hrs after the scape was done and already the droopey stem plants are starting to stand up so im hoping (fingers crossed) they'll start to flourish and look healthy, but time will tell.

Im doing a few more water changes than normal for the next few weeks as the total drain and new filter (old filter media) and new substrate (mixed in with some of old substrate) has upset my biofilter so need to keep an eye on everything! Im thinking about doing two water changes per week anyway instead of one, I just dont want algae taking over again, it really annoys me and I find it hard to keep it away, seems to grow on my leaves and it kills them off, very frustrating. BUT onwards and upwards, co2 is running at 1bps, flow is now good, ferts are feeding plants (EI ferts, 1ml of profito and 2ml of easy carbo) and lights on on for 7 hours per day. Water changes will be done on Wednesday (30%) and sundays (50%) obviously once my biofilter has regrown so im thinking in a month or so. 

In a few months time I will be getting a 2kg FE with a reg/solenoid from aqua essentials as currently im using disposable 95g canisters 24/7 (solenoids dont work with disposable regulators) and its costing me a bloody fortune!!

I hope youve enjoyed to start of my journal and sorry for it being so long, but I wanted to get across where I started and where I am now in one thread!!

Cheers

Darren


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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Daz2162 said:


> (EI ferts, 1ml of profito and 2ml of easy carbo)


Meant to say EI ferts PLUS 1ml profito and 2ml of easycarbo per day!


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## aliclarke86 (23 Jul 2013)

Looking good mate. The val is looking a bit sorry but give it a week and you will have runners all over the place. Did your baby shrimp survive the move? Also I see you got rid of you drop checker and moved diffuser to the front. Are you getting good circulation of the bubbles?

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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Just moved the stones around,  stood the wood up and moved the moss ball,  looks abit better,  the java fern has more room and i also have more foreground for a lush grass.  What do you think?? 




 

Cheers

Darren


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## aliclarke86 (23 Jul 2013)

I think if you where to bury the stones slightly into the substrate it would give it a more natural look, like they have been there a while.

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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Vals okay,  just caught in the flow of the jbl,  which is kinda i what i wanted,  yeah hopefully it'll grow loads so i can have a decent covering on top.  Yeah drop cjecker was annoying me so took it out.  Yeah figured best place for it would be at front seeing as spray bar points back to front,  it makes it undertow as it hits glass ane re circulates,  also got power head pointing right to left at the front to make stuff around and also to take crap to eheim prefter which is hiding behind the left amazon sword! Thanks so mucb for the val and the moss dude! 
Fe and reg/solenoid is next. 

Cheers

Darren


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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Yeah that's an idea buddy,  I'll give that ago later see how it looks! I'll pop a pic up. Hows the stones look now ive  moved them? 

Cheers


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## aliclarke86 (23 Jul 2013)

Looking good mate. If you are about later when its dark try taking a FTS with only tank lights to get a good impression of the overall look. The window creates a lot of reflection.

I'm sure a few more of the folks on here will give you some feedback soon.
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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Yeah window is gay! Lol.  Remind me,  whats FTS? lol. 

I hope so,  hurry up and finish work folks!!


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## aliclarke86 (23 Jul 2013)

Full tank shot 

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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Done! Haha i totally new that!


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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Hows this,  ive buried the stones in substrate and i have done a fts with curtains closed.


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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Also once the moss takes over it should abit more aged

Cheers
Darren


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## Henry (23 Jul 2013)

Is there any way to pu the wood at an angle? Also, is the other side more gnarled? Might give a bit more texture.


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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Still stood up you mean? And kind of diagonally from back left to front right? Yeah i could do it and post a pic up for you,  see what you think.  Yes kind of,  its got a few more holes and is kind of more concave than the side showing.  If that works,  should i keep the fern and moss attached as it is and maybe add a few more on the other side too? 

Thanks for replying mate. 

Cheers

Darren


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## Daz2162 (23 Jul 2013)

Heres a few fts with no room lighg,  just tank. 



 



 



 

Cheers

Darren


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## Daz2162 (25 Jul 2013)

Been a busy boy and done some more shifting round and planting.  Henry,  youve got a good i mate,  ive turned the wood on a diagonal wonk and spun it round on its 'ugly'  side and planted a whole lot more java moss on it. Have a butchers folk and tell me what you think.  My photoperiod is now 9hrs and im dosing 2bps. 
Do i need to up my ei ferts,  im dosing 11ml micro 3 times a week 11ml macro 3 times a week,  profito 1ml per day and easycarbo 2ml per day.  Do you think its worth upping the ei ferts to 15ml each per week? Ive got a 60ltr tank. 



 



 

Regards

Darren


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## Daz2162 (25 Jul 2013)

If i do 2 water changes a week (1x 30% Wednesday + 1x 50% sunday) will it affect my ei ferts or is it okay?  

Cheers

Darren


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## Lindy (25 Jul 2013)

I have this tank too and I'm fairly certain it is 54l so that may alter your calculations. Looking much better now.


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## aliclarke86 (25 Jul 2013)

If you keep adding them in it shouldn't have any effect. the idea is unlimited nutrients so there should never be a shortage. If you think about it you are currently having a day off but not worried about lack of nutrients, so if you do a 30% water change but dose your daily fets after then there is no chance of a shortage. I wouldn't change your dosage either, your plants look really healthy.

Maybe think about splitting the eleocharis into smaller portions (even plant each blade seperatly if you have the patience) it should spread a bit quicker that way. Also is that all the HC you got in one pot? 

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## Daz2162 (25 Jul 2013)

Yeah i think it is 54ltr guess i just rounded up haha. Thinking the 11ml will be okay as it says to dose 10ml per 50ltr.
Ah cheers mate,  kind of you to say. 

Cheers

Darren


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## Lindy (25 Jul 2013)

I  would have put the HC at the front though as the hairgrass will block it from view. I don't know what the 3 plants are infront of the rocks but I would move them behind the rocks and maybe the wood depending on how big they will get.
From the front glass to the back my planting/hardscape would be hc, rocks/wood with hairgrass planted around the base of rocks(to the rear of if not mini variety) and then the larger of plants to the rear. There are thousands of scapes to look at on this forum so it might help to study them to see how hardscape and plants can be used for the best effect.


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## Daz2162 (25 Jul 2013)

Yeah it was a pain in the ass to split anyway but i may split it further,  I'll give it a week or so to see how it goes.  Yep thats all i got,  quite a small pot really,  that was really hard to get out of the growth sponge they send it in and is only just holding down in substrate, suprised it hasnt floated off yet.  Lol. 

Cheers


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## Daz2162 (25 Jul 2013)

Okay cool,  thats good feedback,  cheers.  I have a play round at the weekend and see how it looks.  Ive got some moss on the wood waiting to grow out,  you think its worth adding a little batch of java fern on there,  especially if im going to bring it forward and mor in view? 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Daz2162 (25 Jul 2013)

Ps those 3 plants are sagittaria sabulata,  guna try and keep it that sort of length if i can.  Also the hair grass I'll keep short as well as i want it to spread out rather than up. 
So your idea should look cool,  I'll give it a go. 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Lindy (25 Jul 2013)

Depends how big the variety of fern you have gets. Try to plant in a way that when they grow they won't obscure the plant behind completely.


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## Daz2162 (25 Jul 2013)

Well ive got some growing on the other side of the wood,  spose i could wait for that to grow offshoots and propagate. Think they're a dwarf species so should be okay, and all depends on if i have anything behind it. If i keep the sagittaria that size should i leave i front of wood or should i grow it taller and move behind? 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Lindy (25 Jul 2013)

Ah, I don't think I've seen Sagittaria subulata that big!


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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

Ldcgroomer,  i partially did what you said. I couldnt move the wood/rocks any further forward as the wood didnt stand up very well,  its very thin at the bottom,  i tried propping it up againsy the rocks but it looked obvious and rubbish.  Haha. 

Ive swapped the grass with the hc and ive also split the grass up again a doubled my yeild.  Im going to have to wait a week or so for everything to 'grow in'  before i go chopping etc,  so the grass doesnt quite look right,  so that will be chopped probably in half to keep it in check. 

Is there an easy way to plant hc in substrate, its extremely difficult to one get the roots pointing downwards and second of all get the tiny roots far enough into the substrate for it to stay put and not to bury too mamy leaves.  Im not convinced mine is going last that long theres bits floating away every now and then and some of the leaves are buried. Well see how it goes in a month or so.  

I Went shopping today and bought myself some new recruits to my clean up team,  3 more amano shrimp and 1 malasian trumpet snail. Also going to buy a fair few more cherry shrimp soon. 

Any advice,  critics etc etc are as always very welcome.




 



 



 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

ldcgroomer said:


> Ah, I don't think I've seen Sagittaria subulata that big!



Haha that's aqua essentials for you,  super healthy growth,  just hope i can keep up the healthyness! 

Cheers

Darren


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## aliclarke86 (27 Jul 2013)

Bury it (not completely) it will grow still. That's the only way I got it to stay down when trying to plant it in a filled tank

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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

Yeah iys a right pain in the ass isnt in,  quite a fragile little plant.  It seems okay atm,  so I'll leave it for a month to see how its taken. 

Cheers 

Darren


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## aliclarke86 (27 Jul 2013)

I agree with Lindy the sag looks massive... :-S

The roots will grow down, don't fret about that gravity will do its thing 

Hard scape is looking nice mate I like that you have got a bit more height to it 

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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

Well it's from aqua essentials so im  sure they no what their doing...... I hope.  Lol. 

Yeah will do,  will be fine. 

Changed the name of the journal to,  beginners aquascape. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Haha

Cheers

Darren


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## Lindy (27 Jul 2013)

You should maybe trim off the big leaves from the sag and see if you can encourage some small leaves/growth as it is generally undesirable for this plant to get so big. Unless it was labeled incorrectly?


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## Lindy (27 Jul 2013)

I find if you gently wiggle the tweezers as you pull them out of the substrate works for me.


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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

ldcgroomer said:


> I find if you gently wiggle the tweezers as you pull them out of the substrate works for me.



Is this for the hc?? 

As for the sag,  yeah i think i agree,  but i promised myself id not prune anything for the first week as i always ruin stuff,  haha,  so I'll trim the bigger leaves off next Sunday. And yeah i spose it couldve been labelled wrong,  if so,  any ideas what it could be? 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Andy Thurston (27 Jul 2013)

Looks more like Elocharis acicularis to me


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## aliclarke86 (27 Jul 2013)

Big clown said:


> Looks more like Elocharis acicularis to me


Hey Andy, talking about the plant behind the eleocharis 

Ali

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## Andy Thurston (27 Jul 2013)

Way too big compared to pics iv looked at and it looks to have broader leaves too. I realised about hair grass and thought my earlier post hadnt gone on.
Must have been a mobile data problem. At least it didnt do a double post. 
Itll look good as long as it dosent get too big, whatever it is. Nice tank btw


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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

Big clown said:


> Way too big compared to pics iv looked at and it looks to have broader leaves too. I realised about hair grass and thought my earlier post hadnt gone on.
> Must have been a mobile data problem. At least it didnt do a double post.
> Itll look good as long as it dosent get too big, whatever it is. Nice tank btw


Hiya mate, yeah i agree,  it does seem far bigger than what i had before,  not entirely sure what it could be though, have to look through a ton of plant archivesand see if i can spot it.  Could there be a dwarf version and a bigger version? Cos i had some sag a while ago and it looked similar but obviously alot smaller. 

Thank you mate,  its coming on, made many mistakes along the wah but its getting there,  but you learn and move on. 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

Just had a flick through on aqua essentials  and the only one i could see that close is Sagittaria platyphylla,  what do you all think?? 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Andy Thurston (27 Jul 2013)

Just found this
Plants & Flowers » Sagittaria subulata

I'll look at your link now


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## Andy Thurston (27 Jul 2013)

Yes that looks much more like it


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## Daz2162 (27 Jul 2013)

Yeah its got to be right? It looks nice so I'll keep it,  I'll just have to keep it in check,  size wise etc,  otherwise it'll  outgrow its position. 

Thank you for your help clowny! 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Daz2162 (29 Jul 2013)

Just had some new toys arrive.  My very first set of tweezers (angled and straight)  and some angled scissors! Cant wait to use them,  sunday hopefully!! Woop. 

Cheers 

Darren


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## Lindy (30 Jul 2013)

I have sag. platyphylla and it is much smaller with narrow arching leaves.


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## aliclarke86 (27 Oct 2013)

Darren. Update!!!


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## aliclarke86 (14 Feb 2014)

Update...... I know your there darren

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## Daz2162 (16 Feb 2014)

Hello friend, haha. 
Ummmm update, tank looks like a peice of s**t, snail infestation, over grown plants, which oddly enough are so healthy (no co2,no ferts or anything) so not sure whats happening there! 
The next fews weeks its getting an overhaul, the filter needs sorting (very low flow rate at the moment) my co2 set up needs sorting, my ferts cycle needs re starting, my water needs some serious tlc and the tank needs re stocking (once water is good again of course). 
Like i said on facebook, im actually ashamed of it at the moment, i might post a current state picture up, and then a few progress ones over the the next few weeks to see if my hard work pays off or not. 
Darren 

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## aliclarke86 (16 Feb 2014)

Get back on track mate it will be a beaut again in no time 

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## aliclarke86 (16 Feb 2014)

I have a bunch of Taiwan moss if you want any mate

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## Daz2162 (17 Feb 2014)

Any chance you can pop a pic up of it for me buddy? 

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## Daz2162 (18 Feb 2014)

I spent 2 hours last night having a good tidy up. Chopped all plants way back, did 50% water changed, cleaned filter out for the first time since ive had it (7 months or so) which was surprisingly clean, i use an eheim prefilter which really does work wonders! 
Think im going to remove current plants and buy a few new ones soon, I'll see how mine grow back first. 
Im going to start using carbon again in my filter, ive really noticed the difference in clarity since i stopped, contrary to popular belief, it really does make a difference! 

Now, i have a MAJOR snail infestation, anyone recommend an effective way of removing them, be it, chemicals or a fish or whatever. (not overly keen on assassin snails but will if i have to) 
Darren 

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## aliclarke86 (18 Feb 2014)

Do you still have shrimp?

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## Daz2162 (18 Feb 2014)

No mate, but going to get some at weekend hopefully. Doing a 30% wc every night this week to sort water out before anymore livestock go in. 



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## aliclarke86 (18 Feb 2014)

Why don't you get some snail killer stuff in there then? If you don't have to worry about it hurting shrimp.

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## Daz2162 (18 Feb 2014)

What stuff you talking about mate? 

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## Daz2162 (20 Feb 2014)

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## Daz2162 (20 Feb 2014)

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## Daz2162 (20 Feb 2014)

Beginning to look bettet, plants need removing for sure but at least they fit in yhe tank now and the water is to the top. 
Ive done 3 water changes in 4 days. 2x50% 1x30%. Water is in good condition now. 

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## aliclarke86 (20 Feb 2014)

Holly crap is that the small amount if Java moss I gave you?? Get dosing again that Valli's should have taken over!!

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## Daz2162 (20 Feb 2014)

Haha no. The stuff you gave me i put n the rocks, i got a pot from aqua essentials, stuck a few bits on with glue and it went buck wild!!! Yeah the val kmda started dying when i stopped dosing ferts and co2.i took the left bunch out cos it didnt do well, tooks some runners from the right hand bunch and planted them on left so I'll wait for them to grow out. 
Stems at front are bloody awful, so they're coming out and being replaced. Gunna keep the snails as i might get a loach! 

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