# ADA Mini M - Rescape



## viktorlantos (31 Mar 2010)

Allright i did that... Did a rescape on my nano yesterday. 
Had that for a year, a few months longer than i expected, but did not had time to do a new tank.
Who is not familiar with the past form here it is: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6440&start=50&hilit=memorable+night

The new tank updates:
Substrate: ADA Penac P, Powersand Spec M, Amazonia I, Amazonia I Powder
Plants: hemianthus callitrichoides, utricularia graminifolia, bit of byxa, lilaeopsis brasiliensis, crypto parva, rotala. The rotala i may will remove later but i kind of like the redish color behind the stone now.
The rest of the specs is the same as before.
Decor: Seiryu stones
Ferts: same as before ADA Step 1, Brighty K, ECA. At WC Green Bacter, Green Gain, Phyton Git

Started the rescape with a removal. Removed everything, plants, wood, fishes, shrimps, soil. I had the filter running with NA Carbon for 4 months now. I left it run til i worked on the scape in a bucket full with my fishes and shrimps.

This time i did some kind of Iwagumi, but i was limited in many ways. Did not got the plants i needed, i was not sure to do a stone, stone and wood or a wood scape again. Did not spent enough time to work out a scape and decide on the stone form. Manten or Seiryu. At the end Seiryu won because the smallest Manten was still too much in this small tank.

This time i did not spent too much to think about how this will look like i just did it. And will see how this goes in the next month, but really refreshing to see a new scape again, and finally i see my shrimps.  Haven't seen any babies as all of them was hided in the moss forest earlier.

The steps:

Penac P and Powersand Spec M






Amazonia is in with the stones





Powder is in, and i messed up the landscape a bit





Plants are in and tank is filled up with water. Amazonia cloud is here as i expected





Then i switched on my filter with the old NA Carbon in it and after 5 minutes it was ok 





At this point i did the following. Since my filter was matured i thought i will put back all my fishes and shrimps to this tank. Of course i tested the water hourly etc, and additionally added Green Bacter to the water and used Seachem Prime to handle the tap water which was fresh in the tank (not used any water from the old tank except the filter).

The water looked ok so i added in all of my shrimps, baby shrimps and fishes. And turned on an air pump next to the filter inlet to boost the bacterial activity in the first day.

Today was ok. Shrimps and fishes felt good, and as i tested the water several times a day there was no danger at all.
Was amazing to see these beauties as they walked in the new tank. Really enjoyed the open view.

















made a quick video from the tank to see how this looks with all the movement. just a quick vid nothing fancy 



(The DC is blue because i added that in before the video to test my CO2 in the next few days til i set up the right ammount again.)

So this was the first day after the setup. Was nice to see a fresh tank, all my shrimps, this is my first iwagumi tank. Hopefully will do well in the next few months so this will look better probably 

Also was intresting to see which is the strongest, how the start will work out:
Matured filter with a 4 month old NA Carbon in it, Seachem Prime, Green Bacter, Air Pump
or the Fresh setup 1 liter substrate fert (powersand spec), 4 liter of Amazonia with 100% tapwater.
From what i see now the first group handled the job pretty well, however this is not something what i would recommend to anyone. The goal was not to test things on my fav shrimps and fishes, but i did not had a container to hold them for a week or 2 til the tank is prepared. So i decided to throw in all kind of booster, as i had to speed up the process. Also if i found that the test shows unaccceptable results i would never add in the residents.

That's it. A new scape. Will update this journal in the future. And of course your questions, comments, concerns or ideas are welcome 

Who read all of this won a baby shrimp already from me


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## andyh (31 Mar 2010)

I am a winner!Free shrimp!   

Looks good, nice detailed journal which i like!

You have some nice shrimp in there, what are the white ones?


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## viktorlantos (31 Mar 2010)

andyh said:
			
		

> I am a winner!Free shrimp!
> 
> Looks good, nice detailed journal which i like!
> 
> You have some nice shrimp in there, what are the white ones?



You're the man!    
Thanks for your nice words.

Well this shrimp group was an initial test if i can keep them or not in this small tank. They are not the top expensive ones, but i keep them and looks like breed them in the last 4 months. Next i may will get some Mosura ones as that's my fav one. I did not thad luck before with the Sulawesi shrimps. But i feels like Carbon just keep control the water in this small tank so these sensitive species can live without any problem.

The white ones are golden snow bee.


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## flygja (31 Mar 2010)

Nice rock formation! So much texture in them.


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## JamesM (31 Mar 2010)

Very nice Viktor 8) Like the video, the music is cool too


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## George Farmer (31 Mar 2010)

Lovely looking set-up, Viktor!  I am sure this is going to turn into another great layout and it looks very promising already. Excellent photography and video too!

It will be interesting to see if you do get any ammonia spikes, even with a mature filter etc.

It will also be nice to see someone succeed with Utricularia graminifolia!

What water changes are you performing - how much and how often?

Gotta love the ADA gear mate.    

Thanks for sharing, as always, Mr Lantos!


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## viktorlantos (31 Mar 2010)

Thanks guys for your nice words   



			
				flygja said:
			
		

> Nice rock formation! So much texture in them.



cheers   had played a bit with the stones i had, til i selected these pieces. unfortunatelly they appeared to be bigger out of the tank  but i added a bit more soil on the top of them and forget to lift them up.   i kind of like these sharp edges and textures too.



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Very nice Viktor 8) Like the video, the music is cool too



Thank you James   



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Lovely looking set-up, Viktor! I am sure this is going to turn into another great layout and it looks very promising already. Excellent photography and video too!



Thanks George   Well that's happen if someone spend here a bit more time. Getting inspired by all the members rocky, gravel scape, and as we get daily dose from the photo masters, we try to keep up. UKAPS   



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> It will be interesting to see if you do get any ammonia spikes, even with a mature filter etc.



Absolutelly, of course i would never try this in my large tank where 4-5 9liter bag of soil needed. Do not think that would happen the same way. But the 4 liter soil versus the current eheim ecco pro filter seems a doable way.



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> It will also be nice to see someone succeed with Utricularia graminifolia!



Fingers crossed!   



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> What water changes are you performing - how much and how often?



Currently daily 50% in the first week. From the second i will probably change back to regular maintenance if things goes well. That's 40-50% weekly.



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Gotta love the ADA gear mate.



lovely piece. just that giant diffuser need to be replaced.  i had a nano one but that was too small to perform well. then i added one of my large diffuser from the large tank. it was ok as i just dropped behind the mosss forest. was not visible. but on a layout like this.... will replace shortly.


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## Jase (31 Mar 2010)

It looks great Viktor    It's nice to see step by step pictures - ADA porn  

I think the Rotala will look nice behind the rock. I'll be interested to see how the UG develops for you, it's a plant i'm interested in using in the future.


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## LondonDragon (31 Mar 2010)

Looking great Viktor  definitely one to watch  congrats on the new setup, those yellow shrimp look great too


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## mlgt (31 Mar 2010)

Really liking this one. 

Can imagine once everything will grow out will be a very pretty picture.

The shrimps are lucky to have such a lovely home.


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## TBRO (31 Mar 2010)

Like George, I'm interested to see if you can get the UG to grow, I'm currently trying it emergent. I've heard that it likes low fert conditions which may be at odds with the regimen for the other plants. Carbon is quite impressive, the way it sorted out the clarity. Best of luck, Tom


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## Stu Worrall (31 Mar 2010)

lovely looking re-scape viktor, the stone setup looks great!  im with the others on the UG and wishing you luck.  Id really like to see someone successfully growing it in AS. It failed terribly in mine


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## viktorlantos (1 Apr 2010)

This is the 3rd day after the setup. Everything went well, no prob with the new soil. i captured a few shots today.


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## Garuf (1 Apr 2010)

Really looking forward to seeing how you do with the UG, a plant that definitely deserves it's very difficult tag.


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## Mark Evans (1 Apr 2010)

Quality viktor. looks like the UG is doing good. Do you have any bits of information for this plant on start up?


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## viktorlantos (3 Apr 2010)

saintly said:
			
		

> Quality viktor. looks like the UG is doing good. Do you have any bits of information for this plant on start up?



cheers Mark   
I do not have any spec thing to do with it. I guess it's too early to say anything. Earlier when i've tried this melted. Used different kind of sources like Anubias gel type and Tropica ones too. This time Tropica again, but as this is a small nano i can watch every details more carefully. I got these 2 pots in perfect condition probably they were under water with co2 earlier. I had to keep it in my large tank for 4 days before i rescaped my nano. there i kept it close to the co2 and i've seen it's really like it.





currently after 4 days this started to release from the soil. so i put all those back deeper into the soil. will see how that goes.


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## hydrophyte (3 Apr 2010)

That is looking great Viktor. Everything is so _clean_.


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## viktorlantos (10 Apr 2010)

the tank is nearly 2 weeks old around this time. the initial cycling period went well with all those fish and shrimp in the tank. did not had any problem at all. even the baby shrimps doing well. no algae, the small on the rock which i had for 3 days also disappeared. so the new soil ammonia leach handled well.

plants are settling in nicely. HC is sending its roots everywhere. rotala, blyxa also doing well. Utricularia is the only one where i may will loose again. part of that is melted. some others grew out from the soil. a few days ago i removed the wool which i used to plant these to the soil and replanted the UG deeply into the soil. will see if this start to grow.

still using only the NA Carbon as a filtration for many months now and i do not see problem with it yet. But will replace it shortly to a new one.





used a black photo backround to see how the tank would look with a dark background. clear one looks better to me.





and a few shrimp shots at the end:

this one is a small one but not the smallest in the group  you can see how small it is as there's a powder soil next to that





nice group capture





this one is intresting as you can see all 3 color versions. the black, red and the white one.





as the plant started to grow i expect big changes in the next 2 weeks. and finaly my new diffuser is on the way so i can replace this giant ceramic one


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## Mark Evans (11 Apr 2010)

looks really nice viktor.

I see you've still got liliaeopsis leaves still in tact, and some wilting....cut these off now my friend.

The clear background is better! Have you tried placing a second light at the rear of the tank, shining upwards?


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## George Farmer (11 Apr 2010)

Coming along very nicely, Viktor! 

Good luck with the UG!



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> still using only the NA Carbon as a filtration for many months now and i do not see problem with it yet. But will replace it shortly to a new one.


The carbon will have turned from a chemical adsorbtion media into biological media.  Beware that you may lose a lot of biological filtration capacity by replacing it with new carbon in the initial period.


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## viktorlantos (11 Apr 2010)

saintly said:
			
		

> looks really nice viktor.
> 
> I see you've still got liliaeopsis leaves still in tact, and some wilting....cut these off now my friend.
> 
> The clear background is better! Have you tried placing a second light at the rear of the tank, shining upwards?



cheers Mark, sure will do with lilaeopsis, thanks for the tip   
i like the clear one better too. that way the edges of the tank and the glass stuff really blend into the scape. with black one everything is so visible. not tried backlight on this tank yet, but will do as the bottom part looks dark now. what would you recommend to these type of lighting? 



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> The carbon will have turned from a chemical adsorbtion media into biological media. Beware that you may lose a lot of biological filtration capacity by replacing it with new carbon in the initial period.



Hi George, actually i am not sure what's going on with this media.   i mean carbons even the ADA ones would be exchausted in 2-4 weeks. from that time as you said this tuns to a bio media. now i am using this for 4-5 months. and the media act as a carbon filtration still. clearing up the water quickly, reducing chlor etc. this is one of the reason why i do not have any algae (only lilaeopsis leaves has some because of the ECA dosage). with all those good things i keep my eye on the plants as if i see any defficiency problems there. probably all above is because i used the factory 750mg for this small tank which is a lot, and not exchausted fully yet, but i do not know.

sure will take care with the replacement.   i am waiting a little to have a good bacterial activity in the soil as then it is easier to fully remove the media. i have powersand spec under the soil and i also dose green bacter weekly. this establish a good bacterial colony in the soil. so for me killing the colony is not an option  bulletproof jacket   

however i am hesitating a little which way to go. if i replace to a new carbon i do not need to worry about anything except plant defficiency. as this would not give chances to any algae from startup. but probably my plants would not grew as it should do with normal medium. with normal medium like substrat pro, matrix, bio filtration would be good, but would loose all advantages of the carbon control. having harder times with algae again and with my shrimps. of course there's sitll an option to mix it. using just a little carbon with mainly bio media. hmm too much option   

thanks for the tip anyway.


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## nry (11 Apr 2010)

I always thought carbon was bad for planted tanks as it removes all the nutrients we add?


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## viktorlantos (11 Apr 2010)

nry said:
			
		

> I always thought carbon was bad for planted tanks as it removes all the nutrients we add?



a good carbon media removes enough ferts to have defficiency. for me this time i put shrimps a little above the plants meanwhile i would like to keep algae at the bay. this small tank has 27watt power compact for 20 liter which is a lot of light. giving hard times along the year. especially as with summer i get a lot of extra lights through the windows too.

i started to use this media for 3 reasons ealrier. clear water, algae problems, shrimp sensivity. and it performed great on these areas. but after months of use i see some defficiency on my old HC carpet and Microsorum. So this is a second attempt as now i can watch my plants closely to see if this medium cause any problem.

also seen that Amano used it (or at least marked that) on his sukei on these nanos. so i wanted to try it.
http://aquajournal.net/suikei_data/004/gallery_03.html
http://aquajournal.net/suikei_data/006/gallery_01.html

by the way i fully recommend this type of filter medium for any cycling/startup period. for 2-3 weeks this do an excellent job, like nothing else.


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## Mark Evans (11 Apr 2010)

viktorlantos said:
			
		

> what would you recommend to these type of lighting?



for this tank, maybe 1 x 24w t5 with reflector   



			
				nry said:
			
		

> I always thought carbon was bad for planted tanks as it removes all the nutrients we add?



it's minimal mate. i use carbon on every tank, and lots of it.


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## nry (11 Apr 2010)

Has the opinion of carbon in planted tanks changed then?  (Sorry for the brief hi-jack!).


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## Paulus (11 Apr 2010)

looking good   

question: i was wondering, when you guys rescape your tanks are you using the same substrate? or always new? i never worked with ADA substrate or other brands. how long can you work with a substrate?


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## viktorlantos (11 Apr 2010)

Paulus said:
			
		

> looking good
> 
> question: i was wondering, when you guys rescape your tanks are you using the same substrate? or always new? i never worked with ADA substrate or other brands. how long can you work with a substrate?



well in a small tank like this, sometimes easier to replace the soil and substrate and start with a clean page. as this way you can have fresh substrate packed with nutrients not an exchausted one.

but on my large tank i just removed the top mud and cloud with a pipe and added a new bag of soil on the top of that.
these clay soils could work for 2-3 years i bet, but since they slowly release their ferts you need to use bottom ferts to make the soil rich in nutrients after a year.

so the short answer is that this is usable for a few years but not forever.


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## andyh (13 May 2010)

Viktor! Where are your updates on this tank! Stop playing BF2 and get some pictures posted!


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## viktorlantos (3 Jun 2010)

not posted a while ago... i had an algae attack in the past few weeks which i try to remove. had some brush on the stone and some other on the HC. in the meantime UG melted. and i just throwed in some additional blyxa and UG. not giving up  as soon as i get over on the algae attack i will remove some plants which not fit to the scape. for now this is how it looks...


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## TBRO (3 Jun 2010)

I really like the pencil fish, maybe the UG didn't like a high ferts environment? T


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## Garuf (4 Jun 2010)

Hmmm, take the fish out and nuke it with co2 for a bit? I think UG might just need a long time to settle down after planting.


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## lil-lynx (4 Jun 2010)

what background did you use and love the layout of the tank  keep it up


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## viktorlantos (4 Jun 2010)

lil-lynx said:
			
		

> what background did you use and love the layout of the tank  keep it up



no background there. just white wall. the light do the effect  thanks for your nice words.



			
				Garuf said:
			
		

> Hmmm, take the fish out and nuke it with co2 for a bit? I think UG might just need a long time to settle down after planting.



had more co2 before but because of the co2 fluctation i got the BBA. 



			
				TBRO said:
			
		

> I really like the pencil fish, maybe the UG didn't like a high ferts environment? T



thanks  i think it need only a softer water than i have (GH15 currently)


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## viktorlantos (13 Jun 2010)

HC, UG pruned, rotala trimmed. I still have some algae issues, so using the "FIFA World Cup solution" throwed in 11 amanos to kick off the remaing algae from my grass. 

Some pics from the current look...













and a short vid from the front:


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## samc (13 Jun 2010)

looking good viktor  

looks like the UG has settled down now.


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## viktorlantos (13 Jun 2010)

samc said:
			
		

> looking good viktor
> 
> looks like the UG has settled down now.



Thanks mate   Yup getting better. I guess the pruning helped a lot. Leaves are not floating and generating a bunch of new leaves daily. Will see, but promising


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## JEK (13 Jun 2010)

Very nice 'scape, Viktor. I just love ADA's mini lamps and tanks.


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## bogwood (14 Jun 2010)

I think your choice of rocks and their positioning is ..........spot on.
And the ADA gear ....... stunning. I can see why people get so excited about it.


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## viktorlantos (13 Jul 2010)

bit of an update  
shoot this a few days ago. started to eliminate brushes. currently i am softening the water from GH15 to somewhere around GH7-8. 

because of the hard light the Blyxa Japonica grows really compact, which i like a lot. Gives a different feeling to this tank as it looks much bigger than it is (20 liters)

one more week and the HC will fill fully the left side too. we have a really hot weather around this time. so i keep running the air conditioners in the room to keep the 26 celsius in this tank. otherwise would be 30+ which would eliminate my green grass quickly


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## LondonDragon (13 Jul 2010)

Looking great Viktor  carpet is coming along nicely


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## viktorlantos (14 Jul 2010)

i had a water change today. meanwhile the water level was down i captured the moment. i kind of like how the tank looks this way. kind of remind me to those Aqua Zoom tanks even if it if not that detailed etc 

sometime i may will try a tank like that. http://www.flickr.com/photos/saimo_mx70 ... torlantos/


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## NeilW (14 Jul 2010)

viktorlantos said:
			
		

> i kind of like how the tank looks this way. kind of remind me to those Aqua Zoom tanks even if it if not that detailed etc
> 
> sometime i may will try a tank like that.


Agreed that looks awesome viktor!

Looking forward to the day when you set your expert hand on a style like that


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## viktorlantos (17 Jul 2010)

Made a few shots today... more of a good feeling then a progress 
But my BBA is started to die off from many places. 













And a quick vid: 
a little dark, but i am still testing out the video part.


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## Mark Evans (18 Jul 2010)

Viktor! these images look great!

may I ask which settings your using for the video? it should be possible to recreate the same look in video, that you get from the images. That said it takes some time to work fluidly with video. I'm only still at basic level 1 

As a rule of thumb, set the rear LCD panel to number 3 for a true or similar representation on your pc monitor. it's often hard to try and correct an under exposed video without other factors deteriorating. pro's say to never go under 1/50th too.  

On  the scaping front...this is the best nano i've seen for some time.


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## viktorlantos (18 Jul 2010)

saintly said:
			
		

> Viktor! these images look great!



Thanks Mark.   The tank looks nice in real life but for some reason i am not able to capture the full beauty of it. Maybe this is the special ADA lamp which do the trick with me   but the above images getting closer.



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> may I ask which settings your using for the video? it should be possible to recreate the same look in video, that you get from the images. That said it takes some time to work fluidly with video. I'm only still at basic level 1



I played with Premier before. But based on your recommendation i tried again Edius. And all i can say i am in love with that tool. Especially the quality and the speed of it.  

When i played with the capturing for some reason i kept the white balance on another program. Probably landscape or so. This is why the full movie looks different. I am still on level -1  
But next time will prepare better for a movie. EDIUS is very fast, i had 3-4 times longer work with every single file with Premier before. 

On the other hand your videos gives so much inspiration.  so the target is there i just need to grow up to that point  



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> As a rule of thumb, set the rear LCD panel to number 3 for a true or similar representation on your pc monitor. it's often hard to try and correct an under exposed video without other factors deteriorating. pro's say to never go under 1/50th too.



Will check this setting. I never played with the LCD before. Thanks for the tip mate 
Usually i shoot the big photos remotely, but these just happened with a tripod no remote connection to my pc. 
1/50 is fine. Using that usually.  



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> On the scaping front...this is the best nano i've seen for some time.



Thank you Sir!  
Not a typical iwagumi as i try many things meanwhile the scape is forming (mostly with plants), but it's an intresting journey after my woody moss scape.

Thanks Mark for your comments.


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## Mark Evans (18 Jul 2010)

no probs mate



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> EDIUS is very fast, i had 3-4 times longer work with every single file with Premier before.



drag a file into the 'bin' the right click 'convert' or 'batch convert' for multiple images, to edius HQI file. will work even faster


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## Gill (18 Jul 2010)

Looks Amazing and the partially filled look really does suit it.


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## eternal optimist (20 Jul 2010)

amazing, i loved the shot of aquazoom you linked to - the website is pretty good 

http://aquazoom.org


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## viktorlantos (21 Jul 2010)

Thanks guys  

How about some pinsharp update? I had played with the backlight today. 
The water is almost invisible in this tank.  feels like the fishes just floating around the stone.


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## viktorlantos (22 Jul 2010)

cleaned up the video too:


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## bogwood (22 Jul 2010)

Lovely tranquil scene. Clarity is amazing. 
The CPD takes some beating in that setting.  

Cheers


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## lil-lynx (23 Jul 2010)

ok please don't take this the wrong way !. But your diffuser being so close to the top of the tank are you losing much co2 ?  im not expert.


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## viktorlantos (23 Jul 2010)

lil-lynx said:
			
		

> ok please don't take this the wrong way !. But your diffuser being so close to the top of the tank are you losing much co2 ?  im not expert.



yeah i had the same thought when i looked after that. the only reason why i spent more time reading about it, because it was on all the mini tanks in the ADA gallery and they worked great there.

the diffuser do a great job even if this is closer to the surface level. the jet pipe spread its bubbles nicely in the tank.
http://adana.co.jp/_e_product/23_index.html 

btw i could not move lower because of its structure....

somewhere i read that in one of the ADA articles that it does not really matter you put a diffuser to the bottom or to the upper part in your tank. they did not measured any difference in the injection. 

of course you need to keep it clean to diffuse micro bubbles otherwise it will not be so efficient. and getting closer to the surface means also getting greener (dirty) sooner. so more frequent cleaning needed. i do weekly usually.


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## lil-lynx (24 Jul 2010)

oo I see. Its a very nice piece of kit. Would love to own one. By the love the tank !


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## viktorlantos (29 Jul 2010)

Earlier this week, i checked back my archive photos and i realized how this tank looked at the beginning. 
I thought would be nice to put together the photos to show the progress from the past 4 months.

Hopefully you will like it


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## Nelson (29 Jul 2010)

not working for me   .


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## Mark Evans (29 Jul 2010)

working for me. Looks great viktor. must try something similar. I never put the camera in the same place twice though


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## Nelson (29 Jul 2010)

working now  :? .

looking great Viktor  .


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## B7fec (30 Jul 2010)

Hi Victor,

Great looking tank, and love the video!


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## viktorlantos (2 Aug 2010)

thanks guys  

2 new shots for today. To keep the journal topic active


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## George Farmer (2 Aug 2010)

Great video and nice update, Viktor!

What's your thinking regarding the Blyxa?

For me it is a little overpowering as a transition between the HC and rock.  It's so bold my eye is drawn to it immediately and I can't help thinking the main rock should be the focus.  It's like it's competing for my attention.  It's also dead-center, which has an impact too.

It's a minor niggle, and these are easy to pick up on in such great-looking tanks... 

Keep up the great work mate.


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## viktorlantos (7 Aug 2010)

hey George, you're right.  

Of course the whole tank is more of plant school/attempt to me than a real scape. I never had success with carpet HC or Blyxa before. Fissidens was also one of my wish. So i ended up a a small thank which has more plant than i need.   
But it was a pretty good learning cycle with these plants, so i will use them for sure for my future tanks without any issue from now on. Also finally i use RO water here and have time to watch how plants changing to good or bad just by softening the tap water. Interesting 

Before i redo this scape fully, i will make a cleaner look probably, when blyxa will go behind the big rock, will remove rotala and fissidens too. But around these days i just enjoy so much watching the tank. Not really the scape, but the plant health and the green mass  its a small world and still gives so much energy. Very different impression than a big one.

Anyway you're right should have been much better focusing to the scape with better plant selection and transitions.

Without driving you and anyone else crazy i shoot another photo today with backlight etc. 1 week after the previous photo. Looking forward to better qual shots. This is why i try so many settings.

The current shot was done with a tripod and remote shooting via PC. 2x40Watt backlight additionally to the tank 27Watt light. ISO 100, 1/50, f/4.0, focal 21mm. Any suggestion how the photo could be better?


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## TBRO (8 Aug 2010)

Love the moss around the rocks. What do you think about the stems. Seems more recent ADA scapes favour single tall strands of stems rether than very bush trimmed mass of stems ?


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## viktorlantos (8 Aug 2010)

TBRO said:
			
		

> Love the moss around the rocks. What do you think about the stems. Seems more recent ADA scapes favour single tall strands of stems rether than very bush trimmed mass of stems ?



thanks TBRO  I like the busy stem forest better. especially when that is trimmed and colored perfectly.

But here i tried only to use a few piece to have a red color in the tank. Unfortunatelly rotala lost it's deep red color shotly after planting. Because of the NA Carbon in the filter i do not know, but i lost the visual effect this way.   

i had a hope that after softening the water the red color will come back partially especially as i dose ECA, but iron is nearly zero in the tank as i tested sometimes. whatever iron i add in the 750ml NA Carbon remove it. It's a trade off now which is kind of ok. But i miss the refreshing red now a lot.


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## George Farmer (8 Aug 2010)

viktorlantos said:
			
		

> hey George, you're right.
> 
> Of course the whole tank is more of plant school/attempt to me than a real scape. I never had success with carpet HC or Blyxa before. Fissidens was also one of my wish. So i ended up a a small thank which has more plant than i need.
> But it was a pretty good learning cycle with these plants, so i will use them for sure for my future tanks without any issue from now on. Also finally i use RO water here and have time to watch how plants changing to good or bad just by softening the tap water. Interesting
> ...


Hi mate

I hope you weren't offended by my comments.  It was just an observation and I thought you may have a master plan behind the Blyxa use.

The photo looks excellent. 

Some improvements would be to remove equipment and get better fish positioning.  I'd also be tempted to go for a smaller aperture i.e. f/8 to f/11 to get a better depth of field.  Increase ISO to 400 to 640 and get a 1/100 sec shutter speed.  There's no visible noise at ISO 400 on most Canon DSLRs and the faster shutter speed will freeze the fish better.

Keep up the great work mate.


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## viktorlantos (8 Aug 2010)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Hi mate
> 
> I hope you weren't offended by my comments. It was just an observation and I thought you may have a master plan behind the Blyxa use.



nah, there was not really an offense in your words George. i really appreciate all your comments and feedback. initially i thought blyxa will stay compact because of the strong light but as i softened the water blyxa started to grow like a hell and for now it's hard to see my original rock behind it  



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Some improvements would be to remove equipment and get better fish positioning. I'd also be tempted to go for a smaller aperture i.e. f/8 to f/11 to get a better depth of field. Increase ISO to 400 to 640 and get a 1/100 sec shutter speed. There's no visible noise at ISO 400 on most Canon DSLRs and the faster shutter speed will freeze the fish better.



will do a test with a these settings next time. would be intresting to see the difference. have the 2 photos next to each other for example.

thanks for the tip mate keep your comments coming


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## viktorlantos (2 Sep 2010)

not posted a month ago. still not relocated the plants just live with it a little more yet.  

This one i shot a week ago or so. Rotala was big enough and after this shot i trimmed them heavily.









shortly after the trimming. still not luck with UG of course.  





and some fresh one from today.













Filtration: Ecco Pro 130 with NA Carbon
Water Change: 2 times a week 50% with full RO
Ferts: ADA Brighty K 2ml/day, Step 2 2ml/day, Easy Carbo 0.8ml/day, ECA 4 drops between WC.
At water changes 4 drop Green Bacter and Green Gain, 8 drop Phyton Git, 4 drop ECA
Current water hardness: GH 6, KH 4

Thanks for watching


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## fluffiebugie (3 Sep 2010)

Wow, that really is quite beautiful. Well done.

On the UG, I had the same problem when I tried it for the first time, and someone told me to cut it back to just under a cm.
I did this on half of it and left the rest. And it worked. Most of the half I left just disolved (thought some did come back with new shoots), while the half I cut soon bounced back almost completely and started spreading quite quickly.

I had this in a low light tank too.

It really is an amazing plant, but from my experience, it is extremely tempramental and I wonder if there are now many variants with different lighting preferences, hardiness and so on. It seems many have luck with UG in low-tech while many others say it's very demanding.  :?:


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## viktorlantos (7 Sep 2010)

tank is still fine. good to have a point in the living room which is always there in good shape just need to capture it  anyway a few moments from yesterday.


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## andyh (8 Sep 2010)

Viktor 

It all looks so healthy, a testament to your skills and ADA products!

Andyh


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## Jur4ik (8 Sep 2010)

Hi Viktor,
In love this nano, the simplicity is stunning and the plant health is superb!


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