# From Borneo with love



## Manu (28 Jan 2016)

Hello everybody,

Here is the beginning of my second journal 

It’s only been 10 months that I discovered aquascaping, and here comes a second tank in the house! Actually, a third one arrived last sunday… maybe another journal later…

The first time I went in our lfs with my girlfriend to look at fish, we loved a particular fish: the Boraras brigittae, or Mosquito Rasbora. Reading about their needs, we knew that the tank we were setting up at that time would not suit them and we decided to postpone our dream of keeping them…

But in November, Kirk from our great forum, sold me his fantastic set up:
a TMC signature 45*45*30 and all the gear that went with it 
It was then the time to set up biotope for our loved Boraras brigittae!!!

Here is a brief description of the set up:

*Tank* - TMC signature 45*45*30

*Substrate* - ADA Amazonia and ADA Sarawak sand

*Filtration* - JBL 701e

*Light *- Maxspect R420R LED 120w

*Plants*
-Cryptocoryne balansea - at the right back corner, the long leaves will grow toward the front of the tank, giving shade and cover for the other plants and fish.
-Limnophila rugosa - in front of the crypt balansea, I will try to get this bushy.
-Hygrophila polysperma - on the front right of the DW.
-various cryptocoryne which I don't know the names - between the DW and the sand.
-Rotala wallichi - completely on the left side, a bit worried about that one but I wanted to give it a go...
-Microsorum pteropus (Java fern)
-Microsorum pteropus "orange narrow" - Thank you Roy and Marcel
-Microsorum pteropus "Trident"
-Taxiphyllum barbieri (Java moss)
-Fissiden fontanus
-Bucephalandras (various species arriving on tuesday)

I am planing to do a dry start using the greek yogurt recipe from George to cover about 50% of the wood in moss. There will be crypts, ferns, bucephalandras and more 

Here are some pictures:









































I hope you like it...
Can't wait to plant 

Cheers,
Manu


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## Tim Harrison (28 Jan 2016)

Wow nice job Manu - lovely chunk of DW...I can see you've really given this some great thought. Have you decided on a plant list yet? Either way I'm sure it'll look awesome and be an amazing home for chilies.


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## Greenfinger2 (28 Jan 2016)

Hi Manu, Great piece of DW Scape is coming together well mate. Looking forward to the updates


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## Boxerbrad (28 Jan 2016)

Going to keep an eye on this, I've always loved biotopes and I love watching them evolve into beautiful pieces like this.


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## jag51186 (28 Jan 2016)

That driftwood is fantastic, looks great! Can't wait to see it planted!


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## Boxerbrad (28 Jan 2016)

You mentioned the Greek yoghurt method, what is this or could someone link me it? I am intrigued


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## zozo (28 Jan 2016)

Wonderfull piece of wood..  It's like a Madonna statue, without the baby... Well the baby you got to plant in there.. Me too, very curious about your plant list..

ISince your wood goes emersed and consider a biotope, if you like an Asian Moss sp. that nicely grows submersed as well emersed you should definitively look at Taxiphyllum sp. "Peacock Moss".. Very beautiful moss..


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## zozo (28 Jan 2016)

Boxerbrad said:


> You mentioned the Greek yoghurt method, what is this or could someone link me it? I am intrigued



http://tropica.com/en/inspiration/layout/Layout77/5281
3th paragraph


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## Greenfinger2 (29 Jan 2016)

zozo said:


> http://tropica.com/en/inspiration/layout/Layout77/5281
> 3th paragraph



Works well too


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## Boxerbrad (29 Jan 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Works well too


Cheers you guys 
Sorry to hijack the thread. But when you use this method does the moss just naturally creep along the surface?


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## Greenfinger2 (29 Jan 2016)

Boxerbrad said:


> Cheers you guys
> Sorry to hijack the thread. But when you use this method does the moss just naturally creep along the surface?



Yes it takes time but grows with great results.


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## zozo (29 Jan 2016)

There are several recipes that'l work, yogurt, beer and sugar blended together seems to work very good on any kind of moss. Only yogurt seems to work, only beer also but little less effective. Using it as drystart with aquatic mosses it still needs to be kept relatively moist, some people reported molt growing the first weeks.. Make sure the hardware you smear the goody on is very clean, rinse it off with a hard brush and hot water before applying it. .. Don't use mosses found in the garden or forest with this method in the tank, mosses found in nature certainly can contain fungal spores.


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## Boxerbrad (29 Jan 2016)

zozo said:


> There are several recipes that'l work, yogurt, beer and sugar blended together seems to work very good on any kind of moss. Only yogurt seems to work, only beer also but little less effective. Using it as drystart with aquatic mosses it still needs to be kept relatively moist, some people reported molt growing the first weeks.. Make sure the hardware you smear the goody on is very clean, rinse it off with a hard brush and hot water before applying it. .. Don't use mosses found in the garden or forest with this method in the tank, mosses found in nature certainly can contain fungal spores.



Thank you both for the advice. When growing as a dry start do you just keep the spay routine up till you are happy with the results, or do you do it for 'x' amount of time then submerge to let it grow?
I've always struggled with getting a nice spread of aquatic moss. I'd love to achieve a nice moss covered boulder look


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## piotr88 (29 Jan 2016)

Nice job 

Wysłane z mojego SM-N9005 przy użyciu Tapatalka


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## CooKieS (29 Jan 2016)

hi, looking good!

Awesome piece of wood!  Fissidens fontanus would look perfect on this.


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## Joe Turner (29 Jan 2016)

Can't wait to see this planted!!


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## Nelson (29 Jan 2016)

Fantastic wood.
I've been wanting to do a tank for Boraras brigittae.Got two tanks already though .
Looking forward to seeing this planted and flooded.


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## tim (29 Jan 2016)

Love the scape, very impressive use of the wood Manu, are you planning to add any rocks or pebbles to separate the aquasoil/sand border ? That soil will slide over time and if you plant to add shrimp they will do a great job of moving the soil onto the sand area, subscribed


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## Manu (30 Jan 2016)

Hi everybody 

Thanks a lot for the great comments! 



Troi said:


> Wow nice job Manu - lovely chunk of DW...



Hi Tim, thanks a lot! Very happy with the wood too  Funny enough, when I bought it in the lfs, one customer made a slightly sarcastic comment : "well, someone's got a big tank!". I replied that the tank was only 60 litters and the guy looked at me like I was completely mad 



Troi said:


> I can see you've really given this some great thought.


Yes, a lot  Waking up at night wondering about where to place the plants,...  



Troi said:


> Have you decided on a plant list yet?


Here is the plant list which I will add to the first post too :
-Cryptocoryne balansea - at the right back corner, the long leaves will grow toward the front of the tank, giving shade and cover for the other plants and fish.
-Limnophila rugosa - in front of the crypt balansea, I will try to get this bushy.
-Hygrophila polysperma - on the front right of the DW.
-various cryptocoryne which I don't know the names - between the DW and the sand.
-Rotala wallichi - completely on the left side, a bit worried about that one but I wanted to give it a go...
-Microsorum pteropus (Java fern)
-Microsorum pteropus "orange narrow" - Thank you Roy 
-Microsorum pteropus "Trident"
-Taxiphyllum barbieri (Java moss)
-Fissiden fontanus
-Bucephalandras (various species arriving on tuesday)



Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Manu, Great piece of DW Scape is coming together well mate. Looking forward to the updates


Thanks a lot Roy 



Boxerbrad said:


> Going to keep an eye on this, I've always loved biotopes and I love watching them evolve into beautiful pieces like this.


Thank you Boxerbrad  I hope not to disappoint 



jag51186 said:


> That driftwood is fantastic, looks great! Can't wait to see it planted!


Thanks a lot jag51186 



zozo said:


> Wonderfull piece of wood..


Thanks Marcel  



zozo said:


> It's like a Madonna statue, without the baby... Well the baby you got to plant in there..






zozo said:


> Since your wood goes emersed and consider a biotope, if you like an Asian Moss sp. that nicely grows submersed as well emersed you should definitively look at Taxiphyllum sp. "Peacock Moss".. Very beautiful moss..


I am already "painted the wood with a mix of Fissiden fontanus and Java moss but mr.Luke on Ukaps is sending some more mosses (with the Bucephalandras) that I will add to the top of the wood. Hopefully it will grow well 



piotr88 said:


> Nice job


Thank you Piotr 



CooKieS said:


> hi, looking good!
> 
> Awesome piece of wood! Fissidens fontanus would look perfect on this.


Cheers CooKieS!  I love the Fissiden fontanus, and you're right it should look great on the wood 



Joe Turner said:


> Can't wait to see this planted!!


Thank you 



Nelson said:


> Fantastic wood.
> I've been wanting to do a tank for Boraras brigittae.Got two tanks already though .
> Looking forward to seeing this planted and flooded.


Thanks a lot Nelson, can't wait too. Planted is done, but I've got to be patient with flooding the tank 
First time I try the dry start...



tim said:


> Love the scape, very impressive use of the wood


Thanks a lot Tim 


tim said:


> Manu are you planning to add any rocks or pebbles to separate the aquasoil/sand border ? That soil will slide over time and if you plant to add shrimp they will do a great job of moving the soil onto the sand area


Yes, I do, but thanks for making sure  Happy with the advise.

Here is the picture of the pebbles covered in moss "paste":



 

And here is the tank with most of the plants in it:



 



 



 

I've put a co2 diffuser on an air pump just below the water surface to moisten the air a bit (plus the spraying of course)
There's a heating mat inside, to keep the plants warm.

I just want a three weeks jump in time  can't wait to see the plants grow 

Thanks for watching 

Cheers,
Manu


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## Ryan Thang To (30 Jan 2016)

hey
tank looking good. be nice to see how it turn out like. sound like a cup of tea and talk about tank soon

cheers
ryan


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## Tim Harrison (30 Jan 2016)

Manu said:


> Hi Tim, thanks a lot! Very happy with the wood too  Funny enough, when I bought it in the lfs, one customer made a slightly sarcastic comment : "well, someone's got a big tank!". I replied that the tank was only 60 litters and the guy looked at me like I was completely mad



Huh...Muggles...what do they know?


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## zozo (30 Jan 2016)

Manu said:


> the guy looked at me like I was completely mad


I know the feeling i get that a lot..  

Looking realy good manu.. You have talent..  And if it is the Java Orange i think it is.. I'm not sure if it is the one you planted in fron of the wood. Beware it's going to grow huge, it's one of the biggest java's i've seen till now.


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## EvitaL (31 Jan 2016)

I like this a lot! Keep the pics and updates coming! 

Lähetetty minun GT-I9305 laitteesta Tapatalkilla


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## Greenfinger2 (31 Jan 2016)

zozo said:


> I know the feeling i get that a lot..
> 
> Looking realy good manu.. You have talent..  And if it is the Java Orange i think it is.. I'm not sure if it is the one you planted in fron of the wood. Beware it's going to grow huge, it's one of the biggest java's i've seen till now.



Yes It is Java Orange its a piece from your plant  you sent me I gave a bit to Manu.


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## zozo (31 Jan 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Yes It is Java Orange its a piece from your plant  you sent me I gave a bit to Manu.



Well that's great Roy, would love to see it grow in this scape .. Very beautifull bright green fern.. I already thought it came from my stable..  Just to inform Manu, it's not the Orange narrow as discribed at the flow grow site. Probably an other strain, i bought it as Orange XXL and have seen the mother plant my little cutting came from and it was huge but manny years old. It definitely isn't a forground/midground java in small tanks unless you'll keep cutting it back. It also isn't particulary narrow i have addult leaves on it over an inch wide..  It also grows relatively fast and dense and propagates happily from the (older) leaves in a non co2 tank.

Here you see it in 90 cm x 35 cm tank RH side of the DW in background.. And did cut it back relatively much.. If fully grown it will easily occupy 1/3 of the tank. The mother was much bigger..


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## Manu (1 Feb 2016)

zozo said:


> Well that's great Roy, would love to see it grow in this scape .. Very beautifull bright green fern.. I already thought it came from my stable..  Just to inform Manu, it's not the Orange narrow as discribed at the flow grow site. Probably an other strain, i bought it as Orange XXL and have seen the mother plant my little cutting came from and it was huge but manny years old. It definitely isn't a forground/midground java in small tanks unless you'll keep cutting it back. It also isn't particulary narrow i have addult leaves on it over an inch wide..It also grows relatively fast and dense and propagates happily from the (older) leaves in a non co2 tank.
> 
> Here you see it in 90 cm x 35 cm tank RH side of the DW in background.. And did cut it back relatively much.. If fully grown it will easily occupy 1/3 of the tank. The mother was much bigger..
> View attachment 80876


Thanks Marcel for the warning   I might move it to the back then and keep trimming it, and if it get too big I'll have to buy a new tank  

So far no issues with the plants, it seems to be enough humidity but I thought to have a go at using a mist maker. I'd like to keep the top part of the wood more moist so I've ordered the USB type mist maker that screws to a bottle. I will attach it to the glass with the cotton thing dipping in the water and this should help. Thanks Marcel as I've seen your diy thread on mist maker and have been inspired  

I also forgot a plant that Roy gave - thanks a lot mate! - It's a cryptocoryne bullosa. It's seating at the top of the wood will grow partially emersed. Roy had it in a Wabi-Kusa so it's already very strong. I'll have to do my best keep it happy...

I'll post more pictures soon  

Thanks for watching everyone!

Manu


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## Greenfinger2 (1 Feb 2016)

Hi Manu, Glad all going well.Cannot wait to see some photos  Your welcome to the plants mate pleased I could help. 

Looking forward to my next visit to MK and seeing your scapes again.The last time I was there they looked superb


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## zozo (1 Feb 2016)

Manu said:


> mist maker.


 They work great for making mist, even fertilized mist.. 
While ago i ordered this one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400950084447?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
They have a replaceable ceramic disk, need 24 volt power supply  but they mist like hell..


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## Manu (7 Feb 2016)

Hi everybody,

It's now 10 days since setting this tank . No big trouble so far. The crypts are melting a bit, but they should recover soon. The other plants are doing ok although the ferns are suffering a bit as I struggle to keep the air moist. I've ordered a mist maker on ebay, it should have arrived last Thursday but no luck...
I have moved the heat matt and attached it underneath the tank, inside the cabinet. When inside the tank it was actually drying out the air...not such a great idea for growing aquatic plants emersed 
I am still waiting for another fern called Asplenium cf. normale, I would like to place it behind the wood, mostly emersed. It's a plant from Dennerle, it looks beautiful on the pictures 

I have received and "planted" the bucephalandras from Mr Luke and he gave me some moss from Borneo . I could not be bothered to go again with blender, so I stuck the moss in small splits in the wood and I hope it will attach itself very soon 
Today I have spotted a few threads of moss that are already in the water so I will keep an eye on them to check the growth.

Here are few pictures of the tank and plants:



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

Cheers !

Manu


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## Boxerbrad (7 Feb 2016)

Looking fab!!!


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## Greenfinger2 (7 Feb 2016)

Hi Manu,  Its looking great plants are looking wonderful


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## zozo (7 Feb 2016)

Nice looking, can't wait to see this develop.. 

Especialy this


Manu said:


> Asplenium cf. normale


very intresting fern.  seems after several name changes to be Hymenasplenium obscurum
Identified by some Belgium biologist, can grow submersed but only seems to able to be truly identified when growing emersed with developed spores.
http://www.flowgrow.de/db/wasserpflanzen/hymenasplenium-obscurum


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## Manu (15 Feb 2016)

Hi everybody,

It's time for an update 

Last week I received the humidifier/mist maker device and this was really fantastic. I recommend to anyone doing a dry start. Actually, it wasn't dry at all, it kept all the plants nicely moist and the only thing I had to do was to disconnect and connect again twice or thrice a day as it seems to stop after a few hours (7hours I think). But it's better than the spray that risks blowing the threads of moss away. The one I got is meant to screw on a bottle and not to be kept in such a moist environment... but it still works 

So here are some pictures: 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

Yesterday, I had a bit of time and as I am an impatient person, I couldn't resist to flood the tank 
So I tested how the moss is securely attached to the wood by just running a bit of water on the wood, first gently and then not so gently. It wasn't moving! 
Yeah, I could finally flood the tank 

I did, everything went well. only two of the Bucelphalandras had to be reattached.
Although it will be a low tech tank, I have set up a co2 diffuser to help the transition from immersed to submersed. Once the plants have settled, I will slowly decrease the amount of co2. I hope this is a good idea. Do let me know your thoughts, it's all new for me...

Painting the rocks with moss didn't seem to work so well so I got more Java moss and attached it to the rocks.

Here are some pictures taken today, 24 hours after filling up the tank:



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

Cheers,
Manu


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## Greenfinger2 (15 Feb 2016)

Hi Manu,  Wow Looking great mate. Will have to come up soon and see it in the real


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## mr. luke (24 Feb 2016)

Looking awesome


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## Joe Turner (26 Feb 2016)

Wicked! I'm really liking the steep bank look, looking forward to see the moss develop


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## BexHaystack (11 Mar 2016)

Hey Manu, what a great tank, it looks very promising! Updates please


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## Manu (18 Mar 2016)

Hi everybody,

one month since the last update and everything is going well so far.
I am so happy with the Rotana wallichii as it is growing really well and few stems have now reach the surface 
It won't go orange or red as there is not enough light but the plants look pretty and healthy.

The Bucephanandras from Mr Luke are doing really well too, I have new growth on all of them 

I have learn that the Limnophila rugosa don't like to cut right back... so I lost a few stems but the tops that I had replanted survived, no disaster 

The moss start to really spread on the wood, it's also covering the stones nicely  It should look great in a few weeks.

By the way, how do you guys keep your moss clean?? It tends to collect everything that is floating in the water...

Oh, yes, I almost forgot: I finally got the Asplenium cf. normale  Thanks to Darren from Living Waters  It's also doing well with new shoots coming out 

The ferns are now growing plantlets which I will attach to wood once they are strong enough.

So here are a few picture, I hope you like them 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

Cheers,
Manu


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## Manu (18 Mar 2016)

I forgot the shot from the front:



 

Cheers,
Manu


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## Greenfinger2 (18 Mar 2016)

Hi Manu, Looking wonderful  Nice plant growth 

Cleaning the moss I use my fingers just waving the moss up and down when doing a water change.This gets a lot of the muck out


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## BexHaystack (18 Mar 2016)

Fantastic work Manu, looking great! May I ask, are your inflow/outflow pipes acrylic? And where did you get them from?


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## zozo (18 Mar 2016)

Delightfull little tank..  Grows like crazy good job..


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## Nelson (18 Mar 2016)

Looking great .
Is the Asplenium cf. normale all emersed ?.


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## Manu (19 Mar 2016)

Hi everybody and thanks for the nice comments 



Greenfinger2 said:


> Cleaning the moss I use my fingers just waving the moss up and down when doing a water change.This gets a lot of the muck out


Cheers Roy, I'll try that 



BexHaystack said:


> Fantastic work Manu, looking great! May I ask, are your inflow/outflow pipes acrylic? And where did you get them from?


Thanks a lot 
Concerning the pipes, the outflow is made of glass and the spray bar is acrylic, home made 
You can find lots of different sizes on eBay for very good prices, then you just have to be accurate with marking the holes in a straight line and drill square. Also drill in steps of 0.5mm starting at 1.5mm.
Have a look here, there's more info 
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-spraybar-for-eheim-tubing.38884/



zozo said:


> Delightfull little tank..  Grows like crazy good job..


Thank you very much Marcel! Your fern is growing well too 



Nelson said:


> Looking great .
> Is the Asplenium cf. normale all emersed ?.


Thanks a lot Nelson!
Yes, most of them are but the one on the right side of the wood (on the third picture) is actually under the surface with the leaves growing emersed. I wanted to see how it would do with roots and rhizome submersed as I read that they don't do well being a long time under water. We'll see 

Cheers,
Manu


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## zozo (19 Mar 2016)

Manu said:


> Thank you very much Marcel! Your fern is growing well too



Well that's nice..  it indeed is a very beautifull bright green java. Can't wait to see it all grown in after a few months.
Mine is making babys like crazy.. now in 4 months time i took of more than 15 little plantlets from it's leave tips and they keep comming. Does yours do that too??



Manu said:


> I read that they don't do well being a long time under water. We'll see



This information is usualy aimed to ferns in pots with soil.. That's rather a bad idea to keep that to wet, because of fungus development and lak of aeration and will eventuely start to rot. But with a good flow around it's rhizome freely in the water they probably addapt after a while.


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## Finn (19 Mar 2016)

Wonderful tank Manu, I'm very envious of your Rotala wallichii, I can never get it to grow in my low tech tanks! Maybe I should bite the bullet and try some gas...

 With regards to your Asplenium cf. normale though (which I believe is now named Hymenasplenium obscurum), I've been growing it for over 8 months fully submersed and have so far seen good growth from it, and in some cases have found it to prefer the shadier, more sluggish waters than my M. pteropus 'Trident'. If my experiences are anything to go by, you shouldn't have any problems with it under the water line.


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## Manu (19 Mar 2016)

zozo said:


> Well that's nice..  it indeed is a very beautifull bright green java. Can't wait to see it all grown in after a few months.
> Mine is making babys like crazy.. now in 4 months time i took of more than 15 little plantlets from it's leave tips and they keep comming. Does yours do that too??


Hi Marcel,
I think I can see the growth of some babies on one of the leaves, and there is a new leaf coming from the rhizome 
It will look great when it start to go wild 



zozo said:


> This information is usualy aimed to ferns in pots with soil.. That's rather a bad idea to keep that to wet, because of fungus development and lak of aeration and will eventuely start to rot. But with a good flow around it's rhizome freely in the water they probably addapt after a while.


Cheers for that, I will give it a go as soon as possible. When I get some babies  




Finn said:


> Wonderful tank Manu, I'm very envious of your Rotala wallichii, I can never get it to grow in my low tech tanks! Maybe I should bite the bullet and try some gas...


Hello Finn,
Thanks for the compliment on the tank and the Rotala, I am so glad it grows well. I have the feeling that the reason it likes it so much in this tank is that I am lucky to have the right water parameters. I am using rain water, the TDS is around 150 and the ph around 5.8. Before setting this tank I had "thrown" plants in using also the rain water and plants were not doing so well in my hi tech were thriving in it although the light level were quite low, the flow was poor and the maintenance... non existent  
I had tried the walichii in my hi tech and it was a failure... yesterday, I trimmed the one you saw on the picture and planted some of the cuttings in the hi tech to see how is goes. Just as an experiment really. But the TDS in that hi tech tank is very high, around 370 I think.
Anyway, regarding the co2, I have slowly decreased the bubble rate and I am now at about one bubble every two seconds. We'll see if the Rotala stays happy, if not we will both know what to do 



Finn said:


> With regards to your Asplenium cf. normale though (which I believe is now named Hymenasplenium obscurum), I've been growing it for over 8 months fully submersed and have so far seen good growth from it, and in some cases have found it to prefer the shadier, more sluggish waters than my M. pteropus 'Trident'. If my experiences are anything to go by, you shouldn't have any problems with it under the water line.


Great to know, thanks!  I will give it a go when I have got new plantlets 

Cheers,
Manu


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## zozo (19 Mar 2016)

Manu said:


> Cheers for that, I will give it a go as soon as possible.


[NANO] Double Opti White - Cherry/Sakura/White Pearl  Breeding Colony


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## Finn (23 Mar 2016)

Hi Manu, You may already be aware of this, but in case you or for anyone else who might be interested, leaf cuttings of Hymenasplenium (and some of Bolbitis spp.) is an easy if albeit slow way of propagating them if you want to increase your stock.
I just take an older or damaged frond after pruning (a nice fresh one would do too if you're so inclined!), lay them on a moist bed of any substrate I have lying around (I tend to use peat, aquasoil would be a fancy alternative) in a plastic takeaway tub or even a sandwich bag, and leave in a place with a stable room temp. and medium/low light, making sure to give them a squirt of water when checking them. After a month or two you should have plantlets forming at the terminal ends of the frond's vascular tissues which you should be able to remove and grow on in the aquarium after their first true leaves develop (which may take a while, you could move them to a higher light area to give them a boost). I find it's a nice way of recycling what would otherwise be composted, plus I've never seen anyone use these plants to densely populate an area so kind of want to try that myself!


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## Ryan Thang To (23 Mar 2016)

hello manu
nice to catch up with you last week. your tanks are looking awesome. better view in person to be honest loving the fern growing out of the driftwood. im 1st in line for some trimmings hahah. keep up the good work

cheers
ryan


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## Greenfinger2 (23 Mar 2016)

legytt said:


> hello manu
> nice to catch up with you last week. your tanks are looking awesome. better view in person to be honest loving the fern growing out of the driftwood. im 1st in line for some trimmings hahah. keep up the good work
> 
> cheers
> ryan



Hi Ryan,Your so right the tank photos are good Seeing yours and Manu's tanks in the real  Eye candy for the eyes there Exquisite 

Looking forward to meeting up with you guys again soon


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## Manu (24 Mar 2016)

Finn said:


> Hi Manu, You may already be aware of this, but in case you or for anyone else who might be interested, leaf cuttings of Hymenasplenium (and some of Bolbitis spp.) is an easy if albeit slow way of propagating them if you want to increase your stock.
> I just take an older or damaged frond after pruning (a nice fresh one would do too if you're so inclined!), lay them on a moist bed of any substrate I have lying around (I tend to use peat, aquasoil would be a fancy alternative) in a plastic takeaway tub or even a sandwich bag, and leave in a place with a stable room temp. and medium/low light, making sure to give them a squirt of water when checking them. After a month or two you should have plantlets forming at the terminal ends of the frond's vascular tissues which you should be able to remove and grow on in the aquarium after their first true leaves develop (which may take a while, you could move them to a higher light area to give them a boost). I find it's a nice way of recycling what would otherwise be composted, plus I've never seen anyone use these plants to densely populate an area so kind of want to try that myself!



Hi Finn,
Thanks a lot for that, I'll definitely give it a try! This naturally occurs on the older the leaves of the ferns, but your method sounds great for propagating them, especially when getting plants ready before setting up a tank. Thanks for the tip 
Cheers,
Manu


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## Manu (24 Mar 2016)

legytt said:


> hello manu
> nice to catch up with you last week. your tanks are looking awesome. better view in person to be honest loving the fern growing out of the driftwood. im 1st in line for some trimmings hahah. keep up the good work
> 
> cheers
> ryan



Hi Ryan, Thanks a lot! It was great to see you too 
I've trimmed the walichii but replanted everything... Next time I'll keep some for you then 
Speak soon! 
Manu


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## Tim Harrison (24 Mar 2016)

Looking great Manu...


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## Manu (17 Apr 2016)

Finn said:


> Wonderful tank Manu, I'm very envious of your Rotala wallichii, I can never get it to grow in my low tech tanks! Maybe I should bite the bullet and try some gas...
> 
> With regards to your Asplenium cf. normale though (which I believe is now named Hymenasplenium obscurum), I've been growing it for over 8 months fully submersed and have so far seen good growth from it, and in some cases have found it to prefer the shadier, more sluggish waters than my M. pteropus 'Trident'. If my experiences are anything to go by, you shouldn't have any problems with it under the water line.


Hello Finn,

I thought I should let you know that I've done an experiment, planted some Rotala walichii in my high tech tank. This tank is on tap water only, and the tds is quite high (350 I think). Well, the walichii hates it and is now melting away, covered in BBA... But the one in the Borneo tank is still doing great, growing very fast. So, I'm not an expert but that tells me that it really prefers soft and maybe acidic water...
Just thought I should share that with you 

Update coming soon... There's fish in the tank 

Cheers,
Manu

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## Nelson (17 Apr 2016)

Manu said:


> Update coming soon... There's fish in the tank


As in today ? .


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## Manu (17 Apr 2016)

Nelson said:


> As in today ? .


Let's say, sometime this week... after I've cleaned the moss 

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## Nelson (17 Apr 2016)

.


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## Nelson (23 Apr 2016)

Manu said:


> Let's say, sometime this week.


.


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## Greenfinger2 (24 Apr 2016)

??


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## Manu (24 Apr 2016)

Nelson said:


> .


Sorry guys, unexpected diving day yesterday  and a lot of socialising too  
I'll do my best to post some pictures tomorrow right after work


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## Nelson (24 Apr 2016)

Manu said:


> and a lot of socialising too


That's why I have no friends .


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## Manu (25 Apr 2016)

Hi everybody!

Sorry for being lazy and very slow at updating the journal. It doesn't mean that I do nothing on the tank, it's just that when I finish cleaning the tank, it's usually quite late and time to sleep 
I have changed a few things: I got rid of the Limnophila rugosa as the leaves were just too big for the scale of the tank.
The Hygrophila polysperma is on the way out as the leaves are too long, it grows too fast, and as I mentioned, I am lazy 
I also had to plant the Asplenium cf. normal in the water as it didn't look too happy in the dry air of the living room 
I had some problem with some brown algae in the dead space between the DW and the glass behind the Rotala waliichi.
I got rid of the spray bar, fitted a violet pipe on the front left, and the outflow is now in the right back corner and will disappear behind the Crypt balansea once it will take over.
I also reduced the light level, added some pine cones and leaves in the filter. I am very happy with colour of the water 

The first fish went in three weeks ago and the rest a week after. They look great and they have coloured up a lot. The only issue is: I believe the last group I bought was wrongly advertised as Chilli rasboras. I am pretty sure that they are Boraras merah... I am waiting to hear from the shop... one of the sponsor 
Anyway, they look good too, just not as red as the Brigittae.

Here are some pictures, not too close, so you guys can't see the dirt on the moss 




 



 

Boraras brigittae:


 

Boraras merah:


 

Any suggestions welcome, especially for emersed plants 


Cheers,
Manu


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## Nelson (26 Apr 2016)

Tank looks great Manu .I really like the merah with the brigittae.Had both myself years ago.
Can only think of Bucephalandras or crypts,at the moment,for emersed plants.


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## Nelson (26 Apr 2016)

?.
http://www.xoum.fr/gb/bolbitis/504-bolbitis-heteroclita-var-cuspidata.html
http://www.xoum.fr/gb/bolbitis/505-bolbitis-heteroclita-var-cuspidata.html
http://www.xoum.fr/gb/-a-h/462-callicostella-sp-gunung-sumpit-sur-pad.html
http://www.xoum.fr/gb/rare/485-riccardia-sp-borneo-sur-bois.html


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## Tim Harrison (26 Apr 2016)

Lovely scape Manu...and love those micro boraras. Seriously considering them for my scape as well.


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## Manu (28 Apr 2016)

Nelson said:


> Tank looks great Manu .I really like the merah with the brigittae.Had both myself years ago.
> Can only think of Bucephalandras or crypts,at the moment,for emersed plants.


Thanks a lot Neil, and thanks for the link to this shop, first time I have heard of it, and it's a French website 
I'll check with them which of the ferns would do well emersed and at low humidity...
They've also got the moss I was looking for!!! 

Hope you're Wabi-Kusa are doing well!

Cheers,
Manu

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## Manu (28 Apr 2016)

Troi said:


> Lovely scape Manu...and love those micro boraras. Seriously considering them for my scape as well.


Hi Tim, thank you 
The boraras are great little fish! I love the way they hover in the water, and they use all the depth, going for food at the bottom but also right at the surface in the shallow area above the DW. I am sure you know, they really don't like too much light and too much flow... Since I changed to the violet pipe, they seem much more relax, and I've got some floaters to give them some cover until the balansae reaches the surface.
I prefer the brigittae but the merah start to colour up and look great too. Reducing the light has helped a lot too make them feel better. Hopefully the Rotala walichii will still be growing 

I'm following your journal with lots of interest 

Cheers,
Manu


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## zozo (28 Apr 2016)

Realy nice scape Manu. Very realistic jungle look.  Those boraras are indeed very lovely tiny fish and a perfect choise for this setup.
I thought long about it but few weeks ago i got me  also 20 b. maculatus and 10 b. urophthalmoides and it's realy a great sight when they hudlle up and start schooling around.. Recently i added Hygroryza aristata, this grows like crazy and develops a very dense rootsystem almost touching the bottom and i see them realy liking this forest of roots, gives a very natural display seeing them fanaticaly foraging between these roots..

Regarding the emersed wood part..  It's going to be tough to grow anything like a tropical bog plant up there with some size to it.. The most succedfull would be finding some terrestrial mosses and maybe a fern like some terrestrial Microsorum sp. using the moss as anchor and moist provider. And it still is Borneo style, some Microsorums sometimes regularl in the trade are. Microsorum steerei, Microsorum pustulatum, Microsorum diversifolium, Microsorum mussifolium, M. sp 1A of which i suspect is in fact the Microsorium species Philippines 'Variegata' # 1, but i'm not sure, but this one resambles the java fern the most. Sometimes they are offered at the strangest places where you wouldn't expect them to find, like between the plants outlet at some supermarket, walmart or Ikea and then they go out of stock for considerable time or search terrarium plant channels.. It's rather strange..  Anyway most terrestrial ferns in the regular trade if not almost all like wet feet are epiphytic and don't mind a bit dryer air.. 

maybe that new Dennerle fern Crepidomanes cf. malabaricum (also asian origin) might do very good as devider from waterline growing up to and over the terrestrial moss. 

http://www.araflora.com/plantfinder?description=1&model=1&keyword=fern&old_keyword=Search...


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## mr. luke (28 Apr 2016)

Is crepidomanes not Indian?
I *may* have a semi aquatic fern from borneo soon. Trying to persuade him at the moment but if it turns up I'm happy to let you have a small sprig


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## zozo (28 Apr 2016)

mr. luke said:


> Is crepidomanes not Indian?



As far as i know, i have no idea, could be, if first findings are reported in India. Plants do not realy respect borders the way we do and travel around where ever birds go and grow where ever the invironment is suitable. It's a matter of being and looking at the right time at the right place to find it i guess. Like blyxa grows everywhere across south east asia and beyond, also in India as many others do.  IMHO poeple are more fanatic to determine biotope than plants are..


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## Nelson (6 Aug 2016)

Cough,nudge,bump .
Not sure what it is about guys from MK not updating their journals .


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## Andy Thurston (6 Aug 2016)

Nelson said:


> Cough,nudge,bump .
> Not sure what it is about guys from MK not updating their journals .


Yeah Manu more pics


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## Ryan Thang To (6 Aug 2016)

meeeee 33333 

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## Tim Harrison (6 Aug 2016)

+4...


Nelson said:


> Cough,nudge,bump .
> Not sure what it is about guys from MK not updating their journals .


Maybe he's struggling to get out of his wetsuit


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## Ryan Thang To (6 Aug 2016)

Tim Harrison said:


> +4...
> 
> Maybe he's struggling to get out of his wetsuit


finding dorey


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## Andy Thurston (7 Aug 2016)

Tim Harrison said:


> +4...
> 
> Maybe he's struggling to get out of his wetsuit


he can leave his wetsuit on to take pics... we dont care


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## AnhBui (7 Aug 2016)

Nelson said:


> Cough,nudge,bump .
> Not sure what it is about guys from MK not updating their journals .



MK stands for Mortal Kombat?


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## Nelson (7 Aug 2016)

AnhBui said:


> MK stands for Mortal Kombat?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Sorry,Milton Keynes.


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## Ryan Thang To (7 Aug 2016)

AnhBui said:


> MK stands for Mortal Kombat?hahahahah


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## J Art (7 Aug 2016)

very nice. 


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## mr. luke (8 Aug 2016)

If you'd like to pm me I'll send you something suitable for the emersed part that is biotope correct


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## Manu (11 Aug 2016)

Hello guys, thanks for your messages and sorry for being not updating the journal. Tim is right, I just can't stop diving  Spent Saturday and Sunday diving with seals in the Farne Islands, Monday and Tuesday diving at St Abbs. Diving with the seals was an amazing experience!!!!
All the time spent diving makes it a bit difficult to keep the journal up to date and I've started another new 200l tank, and it's been a bit of mess...but It's getting better...

Alright, concerning the Borneo tank, it's going really well, the plants are growing, slow due to the low light but they look healthy. Fish look good and relaxed too 
The maintenance on this tank is very easy, so easy that I don't remember when I did the last water change...
I'll get some pictures on Sunday, as I'm only diving on Saturday. Yes, it sounds like I'm completely addicted, and I am... )))

Cheers!!
Manu

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## Tim Harrison (11 Aug 2016)

You need to build a tank like this then you can have the best of both worlds...just fill it with plants instead


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## Manu (14 Aug 2016)

Tim Harrison said:


> You need to build a tank like this then you can have the best of both worlds...just fill it with plants instead



Hi Tim,
That's a good idea, diving with a thousand cardinals  Getting cleaned and tickled by Amano shrimps 

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## Manu (14 Aug 2016)

Hi everybody,

A very poor picture taken from the phone as I didn't get the time to take some nice shots with the slr:





And this is a shot of the new 200l tank, replacing the one that was recessed in a wall. I just moved the fish and shrimps in, and they seem to love there new home:





I've spent the day catching the fish, planting, emptying the old tank, doing some plumbing... That's why the pictures were taken from the phone...
I don't know if I'll have time to do a journal on that one, we'll see 

Cheers, 
Manu 

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## Nelson (14 Aug 2016)

Looking good and really healthy .Non ciseaux ?.


Manu said:


> I don't I'll have time to do a journal on that one, we'll see


So lazy .


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## Manu (14 Aug 2016)

Nelson said:


> Looking good and really healthy .Non ciseaux ?.


No, I've lost them  

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## Ryan Thang To (15 Aug 2016)

looking good manu. if only your tank was that big you could teach me to go driving lol

new tank is getting there looking good. if you need more weeping moss let me know


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## Joe Turner (16 Aug 2016)

Beautiful, more pics pleeease!  How's the emersed section going?


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## Greenfinger2 (13 Sep 2016)

Hi Manu, Looking good mate Will have to meet up soon  So I can see the tanks in the real


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