# "Fallen Wilderness" - New Photographs First big trim!



## REDSTEVEO (30 May 2008)

Steveâ€™s Aqua Journal 23rd May â€“ 25th May 2008

A rescape based on a scene from nature which I have called â€œFallen Wildernessâ€

Here is a picture of what my tank looked like before the rescape,






So why would I want to change it?

a. Because I needed a new challenge
b. Because I couldn't get an idea out of my head
c. It was time for a change

Here's why I did it, when and how I did it.

A few months back early on a Sunday morning in March I was out walking with my wife Gaby in North Wales. We walked from the Woollen Mill in Trefirw near Llanwrst in North Wales up to Llyn Geirionydd and Llyn Crafnant. On route to Llyn Geirionydd we passed uphill through a wooded area with lots of trees and rocks covered in moss and lichens. There were fallen trees and branches overhanging some of the rocks with ferns growing in between. It all looked very wild and natural. Also at the waters edge of Llyn Geirionydd there was a natural beach of ash coloured sand with smaller pebbles of various shades of grey and black and brown. When all of a sudden an idea occurred to meâ€¦..what if? :idea: 

Inspired by these wonderful scenes from nature I took some photographs and slowly I my made my mind up that maybe I could have a go at reproducing something like this as an aquascape in my aquarium. This was the effect that I wanted to try and re-create coupled with the scape from the woods.









That was it, the seed was planted and it grew and grew until I could not stop thinking about it. I went asleep thinking and dreaming about how I would do it. I planned it in my head until I was sure I knew exactly what I was going to do. I wanted to reproduce the scape that I had seen in the woods and the lakeside of Llyn Geirionydd.   

Before undertaking a task of this level it is preferable that the other half is out of the house for the weekend or even better if she is out of the country for a week or so.





This gives you plenty of time for drying out carpets and any other furniture that accidentally gets soaked. (Only joking.....not)  

Whit weekend was a good time to start. My better half, my wife Gaby was going to Germany for two weeks visiting family and friends. This was going to be my opportunity. I had already set up a spare tank in the garage and had it running for two weeks so that I could store the fish and Amano shrimps in it without having to rush the new aquascape. In the preceding week before Gaby went to Germany I had everything ready. Gravel graded, washed and boiled, roots soaked for two weeks before they sank, a rough plan in my head of how the main rocks were going to be positioned.

During the two weeks prior to the Whit weekend I started doing some preparations like,

Sieving, grading and washing the gravel,









The wire mesh magazine rack from IKEA makes a great sieve  









Preparing a spare tank in the garage to store the fish while I worked on the new aquascape, 





Soaking the roots so that they would sink properly,









I needed to get the rocks and gravel sorted and source the wooden roots that I was going to use as the fallen trees. I collected the gravel from a natural quarry. It had to be a greyish ash colour with different grades from very fine to quite large. The rocks I decided would be petrified wood similar to the rocks I had seen at the Green Machine a few weeks before. I was also going to follow the lessons that I had learnt from Andy and Elaine after watching their planted tank demo at the Green Machine recently. I bought the roots and rocks from Jim and Mark and set about grading the gravel into four sizes. 






I used a large size normal garden sieve to filter out the largish pebbles first of all. Then I used a cheap garden bird feeder to grade the next size of gravel.





I did all the sieving and grading under slowly running water this helped speed up the process and helped wash out most of the muck. 

After all the sieving, lastly with a fine wire mesh to filter the sand from what was left. The idea being that I would have four grades of gravel to play around with. Once it was all graded I washed and boiled each grade until I was completely happy with it. 

I finally finished up with a beautiful coloured natural sandy gravel of all shades of grey, black and brown. 









I also had to soak some plants in a 5g to 1 litre of water mixture of Potassium Permangamate to get rid of some snails, eggs and any potential nasties, soak for 1 hour,




I started at 8:30 pm on 23rd May after seeing Gaby off to the airport and carried on until 1:40 am before going to bed with most of the hard work done. All plants out, substrate and gravel out, fish relocated in spare tank, table in dining room covered in towels and plastic sheeting, coffee table covered, towels on the floor, kettle on blood pressure monitor at the ready. Sandwiches in fridge. It was going to be a long night. The plan was to do all the dirty work and get everything ready for the creative bit in the morning.

Covering areas to be used for storing wet things, spare towels at the ready, (you can never have too many towels :? ,




Not just any old towels though,




Draining the tank and saving 50% of the tank water,




Storing the plants that I wanted to keep in preserved tank water,




I had also already prepared the Riccia and roots, when doing this make sure you are comfy,









Make sure the kettle is on and have a nice cup of tea,




Scissors and monofilament fishing line and loads of patience,




Check your stress levels this bit takes a while,




Make sure there is something really good on the telly,




Check time,




Get all the hard work done before going to bed,

Like draining the tank and saving 50% of the water,




Getting the base substrate in,




And the first layer of sand,




Gently does it,




Almost time to go to bed, (1:35 am)




Get the water in and the main feature rocks, filters going and heater on,








"Its a bit cloudy Rick. Oh look my bi......"




Night night....Zzzzzzzzzzzz

7:00 am Saturday 24th May.
Up bright and early and breakfast by 7:30 and work began at 08:30 am and went on and on and on and on until 08:30 pm Saturday night. Then I got my self a curry take out and drank two bottles of Tiger Beer with one eye watching Britainâ€™s got Talent and the other eye watching and waiting for the water to show some signs of clearing.
Iâ€™d used 50% of the original tank water and 25% each of RO and prepared tap water.

For the base substrate Iâ€™d used 7.5 litres of Tropica clay mineral substrate and kept my fingers crossed. Unless you try it you never know if it is going to work or not do you  

Iâ€™d added the fine Ash coloured sand over the whole base Tropica substrate and then added handfuls of different size gravel in various places. Positioned and fiddled, positioned and fiddled and the fiddled and positioned some more until I was reasonably happy with the final look of where the rocks were going to be and then  planted around the rocks. 

I had prepared the roots using Riccia and Willow Moss tied on with monofilament fishing line. Itâ€™s a tricky task this so make sure you are comfortable and relaxed prior to starting the job. The smaller rocks had already been covered in Riccia using James Flextonâ€™s techniques with hairnets. Thanks to his brilliant article on UKAPS I had plenty of Riccia for the job. Once everything was in and the tank refilled I got the heater and the filters running and left it until Sunday 25th May before doing a final bit of tweaking and adding some Undulata ferns amongst the rocks and roots to soften things up a bit. 

Pictures from Sunday and Sunday Night, Close ups gravel and substrate.

Its a bit spooky looking at first,




Getting better,




Now that the water has cleared I can get a better idea of whether or not I have achieved what I set out to do. 




Fine sand 3 to 4 cms on top of Tropica Substrate,




More substrate,




The Amano shrimps seem happy,




Experimenting with wild red aquatic grass,




A bit more gravel,




Although I have had a good crack at it I am not 100% convinced that I have achieved the effect I was looking for. But it is early days yet and I need to be patient and allow time for it to evolve and the foreground plants to establish themselves.

I have tried to take some close up photographs of the Tropica substrate and the gravel effect of very fine shale and sand. So far I have not found a use for the larger grade of gravel that I sieved out with the pebbles.

Here is a list of some techy details for those interested. 
Tank is a Trigon 190 bow fronted tank.
Lighting: 2 x 18 watt Sera Tubes in the centre, 1 x 15 watt Sera tube at the rear and a 24-watt T5 right at the front. I added the extra lights by attaching them to the lift up lids at the front and rear with reflectors
All lights are on separate timers with the 15-watt coming on at 10:30 am and going off at 8:30pm
The 2 x 24 Sera tubes come on at 11 am and go off at 6pm
The 24 watt T5 comes on at 12:30 pm and goes off at 5:30 pm

Water parameters:
Temp 26 degrees
KH 4.0, GH 6.0, PH 6.5
Water driven CO2 Injection with Dupla diffuser 2 bubbles per second through bubble counter

I am using the EI Dosing method adding 100mls of KPN every other day and adding 5mls of Tropica Plant Nutrition plus each day.
I also use Sera KH buffer and Iron when I do the 50% water change on the seventh day.

Fish / live stock:
4 x Flying Fox, 10 x Ottocinclus, 4 x Serpai Tetras, 10 x Lemon Tetras and 10 x White tipped Tetras, and 12 Amano shrimp. I keep the fish stocks fairly low - ish so that I donâ€™t have to feed too much. This is in an attempt to avoid polluting the tank (I always tend to overfeed otherwise)

I would love to hear of any suggestions of fish that might be better suited to this aquatic biotope so please post a message here or PM me to let me know.  I am going to leave it for a while before taking any more pictures until the tank has settled and the foreground plants have established themselves a bit. I will post an update a week or two.

Cheers,

Steve,

I'm off for a cup of tea and to watch an episode of Britains got talent that I taped earlier, can't wait for the final on Saturday, How sad is that!!   :?


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## TDI-line (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Great jorunal Steve.

This must off taken you hours just to put this together, geat pictures and running commentory/


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## johnny70 (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Nice Journal

Love the look of the new tank, very 'dark' thats the impression it give off, I think this will be a stunner given a little time

JOHNNY


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## REDSTEVEO (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				TDI-line said:
			
		

> Great jorunal Steve.
> 
> This must off taken you hours just to put this together, geat pictures and running commentory/



Thanks very much. You are right it did take me hours, and here is the sad thing. I did it once live on the site and by the time that I had finished it and got the photos uploaded I went to submit it and I had been logged out. I had to log back in again only to find that the whole journal, text photos had disappeared.  Won't make that mistake again. Now I prepare the text in a word document, sort out the order of photographs and then copy and paste the whole thing in.  

Ta!

Steve.


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## Luketendo (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

This was amazing I enjoyed it throughout.


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## Graeme Edwards (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Nice journal.
Nice looking scape too, once this fills in, its going to look awesome.
I take it TGM is now your place for all things planted?
Tut tut on the TV choice, get some Hedrix on while you scape man. 8) 

Cheers for spending the time posting.


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## Steve Smith (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

That's a beauty   Love the inspirational photos too.  You know, I'm seeing riccia in setups like this more and more and it's making me want to try it after my last failed effort...


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## Ray (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



> Before undertaking a task of this level it is preferable that the other half is out of the house for the weekend or even better if she is out of the country for a week or so.
> 
> This gives you plenty of time for drying out carpets and any other furniture that accidentally gets soaked. (Only joking.....not)


 Funny because its true - just like what happens in the saussage factory, aquarium building is another case where what they don't know won't hurt them.

Your photo's are very inspirational, I think the reason it doesn't look quite like your inspiration is because you choose an island theme which causes the rocks and branches to dominate more than they do in your photo's.  With all your special gravel its almost a shame there is not a wider expanse of clear space where we can see it.  Still its a good effect and certainly the most interesting journal to appear on here for some time.

Looknig forward to the 2 week photo when the Mrs gets back


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## REDSTEVEO (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Thanks,
Photos of the tank or the Mrs?


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## LondonDragon (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Great write up, thanks for sharing your experience with us, will give some of us encouragement to rescape too 
Looks great the tank hope the missus likes it upon her return hehehe 

Keep us posted on the progress


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## TDI-line (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				REDSTEVEO said:
			
		

> TDI-line said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Steve, did you know you could save your journal as a draft, then keep adding to it before it is posted as a thread. 

Under user control panel.


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## JamesM (30 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

hehehe, great journal, I enjoyed that. Tank looks great too btw


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## REDSTEVEO (31 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				Graeme Edwards said:
			
		

> Nice journal.
> Nice looking scape too, once this fills in, its going to look awesome.
> I take it TGM is now your place for all things planted?
> Tut tut on the TV choice, get some Hedrix on while you scape man. 8)
> ...



Thanks Graham, Yes TGM is my local although it is about 25 miles away and takes about 30 - 40 minutes to get there.

Music wise I have never been much of  a Hendrix fan myself, more of a Roxy Music / Bryan Ferry / Dylan fan. But you are right music is definitely more relaxing / inspirational than telly.

Steve


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## REDSTEVEO (31 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				TDI-line said:
			
		

> REDSTEVEO said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks, you learn something every day on this site. I'll try that next time.


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## REDSTEVEO (31 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> hehehe, great journal, I enjoyed that. Tank looks great too btw



Cheers James,
I am glad you enjoyed reading it. I thought I would make it slightly less serious and less techie in the hope that people would enjoy reading it.

Steve.


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## GreenNeedle (31 May 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Really good write up and nice work.  I tend to keep going until the whole thing is planted, positioned and filled.  That means I can then get the filters on and they will clean the water overnight.

When you wake up you can then see the scape in nice clear water and see if anything is wrong before putting the fish back in.  (I am often up until 5/6 in the morning when I do a rescape. lol)

Music is definately better than TV.  TV distracts your eye whereas music keeps you moving along.  I think I had a mix of Pantera, Muse, Marillion and Dire Straits through my last change and like you the missus had been packed off to Portugal for 3 weeks visiting friends and family and hometown. lol.

Not a huge fan of the whole redmoor 'cliche' as loads of tanks all looking the same doesn't really appeal to me BUT I quite like the idea of it in a triangular tank like yours.  Different aspect and you do have quite a nice example there.  One problem though is that those 2 huge rocks are hiding it. lol

Will be good to see how this pans out though as at the moment it looks quite good and not the usual Amano copycat tanks we see.

Keep us posted.
Andy


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## REDSTEVEO (1 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Thanks Ray,

Ray wrote,
Your photo's are very inspirational, I think the reason it doesn't look quite like your inspiration is because you choose an island theme which causes the rocks and branches to dominate more than they do in your photo's.  With all your special gravel its almost a shame there is not a wider expanse of clear space where we can see it.  


Ray,
You are absolutely right in your comment about it being a shame that there is not a wider expanse of space to see the special gravel, especially as I spent so much time preparing it. So guess what...............

Yep a rescape of the rescape. It took until this Saturday for me to digest your comment and think about why I wasn't 100% happy with it. The space at the front wasn't right. Sooooo..... from 3:30pm until 8:30pm on Saturday I set about moving stuff about and pushing everything back towards the corner so that there was more room in the front area. I broke up some of the rocks because they seemed too large - out of perspective, and recovered them with Riccia. I am much happier with it now.

I am not taking any photos of it just yet because it needs to settle down and give time for the Riccia to recover and brighten up. I am keeping my hands out of the water for at least a week.

Watch this space for the photos.

Thanks.

Steve.


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## aaronnorth (2 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

looks fantastic, one of my favourite scapes i have to admit.


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## REDSTEVEO (2 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Thanks Aaron,

Any particular reason for that?

Cheers.

Steve


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## aaronnorth (3 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				REDSTEVEO said:
			
		

> Thanks Aaron,
> 
> Any particular reason for that?
> 
> ...



I just love jungle scapes and the plants & hardscape go together very well,


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## John Starkey (3 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Hi teve,great journal and a great aquascape i am looking forward to it filling out,regards john. by the way when i work on my setup i listen to u2 great band  8)


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## REDSTEVEO (3 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Hi John,

Glad you like it. The Echinodorus is sending out lots of runners and new small plants are appearing. I have got some wild aquatic RED grass that I have planted as part of an experiment. I wasn't sure whether it would survive. But yesterday I noticed that there are new shoots appearing which start off like minature bamboo shoots and then they split and send out roots to the gravel to re-plant themselves. So I am quite chuffed with their development. I also have some wild GREEN broad leaved grass to the left of the tank which has sprouted some amazing shoots that have little green buds on, so I am keeping an eye on what they develop into.

I am still waiting for the Riccia to recover and start pearling again. I reckon it will take about another 5 days before it is worth taking any photographs for the update. But I could take some just of the wild Red grass and the weird green shoots with their buds. Maybe when I get home tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Steve.


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## REDSTEVEO (9 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Hi Guys,

Well it has been two weeks now since the rescape and then the mini rescape after that. The Riccia has recovered and the Echinodorus Tenellus is sending sproggets out. I have also got some pictures of a strange shoot sprouting out from the natural aquatic grass that I am experimenting with. The grass came from a Resevoir in Wales, it is a bit like Echinodorus Tenellus but the leaves are thicker and more rounded.

I am using the EI dosing every other day and now that I have got hold of the CSM+ trace elements from Richard at AE I have started to use that on the alternate days. I think I might reduce the dosage because the water by the middle of the week is taking on a sort of browny yellow colour. I have not experienced any algae problems so far.

Most of the Riccia is attached to the redwood roots using monofilament fishing line.






Happiness is seeing your plants pearling. Here is one of my favourites at the moment.





Here is the strange looking shoot. I did not see any of these shoots in the grass at the resevoir. I will wait and see what becomes of it before deciding on what to do. I'm still not sure whether I am going to stick with this grass or not. The Crypts in the background suffered a bit during the replant but are now making a full recovery with new leaves appearing from the substrate all the time.









Its looking a bit greener now, maybe too green so if anyone can suggest something that might contrast a bit I would appreciate it. I was thinking something along the lines of Barclay Longifolia  A sort of long leaved reddish colour that grows from a bulb.





Loose bits of Riccia off the redwood roots collecting in the ET at the front of the tank.





The Hair grass to the right of the tank has transplanted very well and has started to spread its sproggets out and it is interesting to watch the roots working their way through the substrate. I must say though, that so far as I can see none of the roots have reached the Tropica base substrate   I'm wondering if the base substrate will ever get used? Although I am fairly sure that the Crypts on both sides of the tank will reach it eventually.









In these pictures you can probably see the yellowish brownish hue colour to the water I was talking about.  :idea: I'm thinking that maybe this is being caused by the Tropica Substrate leaching slightly   Has anyone else experienced this?





Hopefully this picture gives a better view of the natural gravel effect that I have been trying to achieve. I opened up the space by moving things further back into the corner so that there is more space at the front to appreciate the substrate structure.












Obviously it is still early days yet and there is a long way to go before this scape has evolved fully. Any views, opinions or suggestions as always are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## planter (9 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Great journal, This is exactly the kind of aquascaping im into at the moment. I love the way youve been inspired by a real scenario. It seems Im not the only one who sees an aquascape in every rock or bit of water/moss I stumble across lol. I think this will look great once its all grown in, Might find it high maitenance though keeping alll that riccia trim! The effect will be worth the trouble though.

I think the browny yellow tinge in probobly from the redmoor roots. They leach tanin for a long time, I added purigen to my cannister filter and the water cleared up lovely. Just for the record im with Graeme on the Hendrix!

Great journal, great scape 
Cheers


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## LondonDragon (10 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Looking great, just love that riccia, shame like planter said its very high maintenance, I had it in my previous version of my tank and I had to keep redoing mine every 3/4 weeks as it became loose from the wood. Keep up the good work


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## beeky (10 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

I've had wood in my tank for a number of years and there is still a tinge in the water. I only notice when I siphon it out into a white bucket though, I don't notice it in the tank.


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## REDSTEVEO (10 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Cheers Guys,

I never thought about the wood causing the discolouration of the water   I have never used or heard of Purigen before "doh"  Can you give me some more info on it. Also has anyone got a suggestion to contrast the "green planting"

I think I will persevere with the Riccia until it gets to the point where it is totally unmanagable. Having said that I think the trick is to get the rock or the wood out and give it a right good trimming before it gets out of hand.

Regarding the long stem shooting up from the grass it looks as if it is about to either flower or pop seeds. 

Cheers.

Steve.


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## JamesM (10 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Nice 

I wish my plants would pearl


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## REDSTEVEO (10 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> Nice
> 
> I wish my plants would pearl



I don't get it all the time either but when they do it is great. I followed some advice from Clive about putting the CO2 on a timer so that it comes on 2 hours before the lights come on, reduced the rate slightly so that it was a constant flow instead of a massive dump of CO2 and then it would switch off because of my PH sensor. I set the PH sensor to 5.8 as an emergency cut off but so far the PH has never dropped that low. I now have the CO2 going off around 5:30 pm so that it is off about 2-3 hours before the last light goes out. 

As Clive says it is just like training the plants to react through habit and practice, almost as if they learn from the light and CO2 settings.

Hope this helps.

Steve.


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## JamesM (10 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Already setup like that - co2 on two hours before lights on, and off two hours before lights off. I dose just before lights on. Its wacko :? I've heard loads of people never get pearling, even with 3+ w/g. Its not fair


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## ceg4048 (11 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> Already setup like that - co2 on two hours before lights on, and off two hours before lights off. I dose just before lights on. Its wacko :? I've heard loads of people never get pearling, even with 3+ w/g. Its not fair



More light without more CO2 won't work. Inject a higher rate of CO2...  

Cheers,


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## REDSTEVEO (11 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Thanks Clive,

Where you been? I've missed your mega posts!!

Cheers,

Steve


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## alexandre (11 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

I really like the atmosphere. You say spooky and I think you are right, but it's a good thing. It is a nice change from the more conventional aquascapes.


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## TDI-line (12 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Great pics Steve.


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## REDSTEVEO (21 Jun 2008)

*"Fallen Wilderness" An update with pictures 4 weeks later*

Hi,

I did my water change this afternoon and waited until this evening to take some photos. The Riccia has gone ballistic and pearling like mad. The ET is sprouting all over and things generally looking good. Still a bit spooky, still a bit samey green. Need some suggestions on plant variations / additions. The 30 ember tetras I bought from The Green Machine and put in the tank yesterday have coloured up nicley, so there is a bit of colour there now.

Hope you like the pics.









































If anyone fancies having a go with Riccia Fluitans I might have some going spare in a few weeks. You don't need much to get started. I started of with a small clump and thanks to James Flexton's brilliant guide in the tutorial section look how much I have got now. I have only got 2.5WPG using EI and CO2 and the growth rate doubles in a week! It reproduces much quicker submerged than it does on the surface.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## JamesM (21 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Bah! Take your pearly pictures elsewhere. It looks rubbish.


 

Love it mate, but you're right, it needs some additional colour. What about a Red Tiger Lotus or similar? Some nice pics and details in the plant section. Just got one myself for added colour 

If I catch your topic at the time, I'll take some riccia off you too


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## Fred Dulley (21 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*

Wow. How did I miss this one.
Tank looks superb! Nice to see something a bit different, and I think it's worked very well indeed.


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## REDSTEVEO (21 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> Bah! Take your pearly pictures elsewhere. It looks rubbish.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



No problem James,

I thought about the Red Tiger Lotus and I even kept some from the original tank set up and planted in them in my spare tankin the garage. The thing is they grew so big they overshadowed everything else and altered the perspective if you know what I mean. 

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (21 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire*



			
				Graeme Edwards said:
			
		

> Tut tut on the TV choice, get some Hedrix on while you scape man. 8)



lol I was so thinking the same thing!  

great journal  always copy to clipboard before you hit submit  

lovely looking scape too

re: red tiger lotus.  If you restrict the roots with some kind of pot (with no holes in except for the bottom) then it wont grow so big.. failling that, chop the roots through fortnightly.. itll keep the leaves small and under control


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## REDSTEVEO (21 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

Cheers Guys,

I think I might give that a go.


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## TDI-line (21 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

Looks great Steve.


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## planter (22 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

Looking good steve! I quite like it as green as it is! 

is that dwarf Riccia?


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## REDSTEVEO (22 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

Cheers everyone for the comments and replies.

The Riccia is not dwarf Riccia as far as I know, it is just called Ricia Fluitans.

The bubbles caused by the pearling under the light make it look ther is ice or white crystals on everything, it looks weird when the lights have gone off "still spooky"

If anyone would like a starter clump of Riccia I will probably have some next week when I give it a bit of a trim. I have no idea what to ask for it, but I was thinking a couple of quid plus the postage. If I was posting it I suppose I would seal it in a plastic sandwich bag and post it in a small jiffy bag so that it didn't get too squashed in transit, unless anyone has a better suggestion?

Thanks again,

Steve.


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## tko187 (22 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

would love some riccia, i dont have c02 will it still work?? Message me im interested.


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## REDSTEVEO (22 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

Hi,

The Riccia will probably survive without CO2 but probably won't thrive. i.e You won't see as much growth rate or the pearling as a result of photosynthesis.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (22 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*



			
				tko187 said:
			
		

> would love some riccia, i dont have c02 will it still work?? Message me im interested.



Itll struggle thats for sure.. its very CO2 thirsty under the high light conditions it seems to prefer.


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## Themuleous (23 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

Very nice 

Sam


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## LondonDragon (23 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*

Looks great, that riccia just keeps on growing


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## REDSTEVEO (25 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*



			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Looks great, that riccia just keeps on growing



 Tell me about it!! Its all James Flextons fault, him and his clever article  

I came home from work tonight and finally two large clumps the size of saucers had oxygenated so much that they managed to break away from the roots they were growing on. JAMES HELP!!

I really should have got in there and trimmed it all back by now and if I don't do so soon.....trouble is it seems such a shame to chop it when it looks so nice. 

I will photograph the bits that have come off so that if anyone wants them they can see what they will get, which will be more than I started out with. I was thinking about Â£6.00  (is that too much) per clump plus cost of jiffy bag and postage. If any one lives localish to Ellesmere Port feel free to pop by and collect.

Cheers

Steve.


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## LondonDragon (25 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*



			
				REDSTEVEO said:
			
		

> I came home from work tonight and finally two large clumps the size of saucers had oxygenated so much that they managed to break away from the roots they were growing on. JAMES HELP!!


If you don't trim it the part that is attached to the wood won't get much light and will start rotting away, reason it breaks away, happened on mine too, reason I redid mine every 4/5 weeks.


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## REDSTEVEO (26 Jun 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update with pics 4 weeks later*



			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> REDSTEVEO said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I agree, I can see underneath where the clumps have broken away. I am going to give it a trim this weekend. Here are three pictures of the clumps that are now floating at the top of the tank.













Let me know if anyone wants any.

Cheers,

Steve


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## REDSTEVEO (7 Jul 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update - New Photographs 6 weeks on!!*

Well it has been six weeks since the rescape "Fallen Wilderness" was completed. There has been quite a bit of growth and two trims since I planted it, mainly of the Riccia I have to say. The Tennellus has filled the whole front and probably needs thinning out now. If anyone would like any ET let me know.

I took these photos tonight from different angles and at different stages as the lights were going off from the timers. The spooky ones are at the end. Although I think now that I have achieved what I set out to do by creating my own bit of wilderness based on my original thoughts on scenes I had seen while out walking, there is probably still some evolvement to go. I have no idea how much or what it will look like in 12 months time but I am happy with it for now........  

Here are the photos.

From the front with all lights still on.





As above zoomed in slightly.





Side view from the right.





Side view from the left.





Front view after the 24 watt T5 Light has gone out at the front of the tank.





A close up trying to catch some of the 30 Ember Tetras I put in 2 weeks ago. Sorry about the fuzzines I'm pretty crap at photography.





Another close up.





The two 18 watt Sera tubes in the centre have just gone out.





The Riccia still pearling an hour later.





A closer view. Sorry the photography is not brilliant.





I'm using a Canon Digital IXUS 400, 4.0 Megapixels. It was the first one of the type so quite old. Mobile phones have got better quality / more megapixels than my camera. Arthur Negus asked me if I would bring it along to the next Antiques Roadshow  





As ever if anyone has any suggestions for improvements I'm all ears. For tank specs etc please see the earlier part of the journal.

Cheers,
Steve.


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## jay (8 Jul 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update - New Photographs 6 weeks on!!*

Look at that Tenellus!!
Mine just wot run. keep thinking about getting rid of it, but then I check this tank out and I just think 'lets give it another go'  

lovely tank, looks like it should be in a fantasy novel.


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## Ray (8 Jul 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update - New Photographs 6 weeks on!!*

Maturing nicely Steve, looking good and quite unique with the gravel, the triangle and the theme - as the other plants fill out, especially the ferns, it balances the riccia nicely.  The mood shots are indeed spooky, remind me of a Tim Burton movie!  If I were you I'd loose the printed backdrop - try some plain colours or graduated shades, I think you will have some very interesting effects if you play around with that.  Please post in another few weeks when it looks even better...

IXUS 400 was my first digital camera 4 years ago.  Very robust and decent quality - still going strong (although I got a Nikon D40 starter set recently and reccomend it).


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## aaronnorth (8 Jul 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update - New Photographs 6 weeks on!!*

interesting shot when the 2 sera tubes have gone out, reall yshows off the riccia.


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## REDSTEVEO (8 Jul 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update - New Photographs 6 weeks on!!*



			
				jay said:
			
		

> Look at that Tenellus!!
> Mine just wot run. keep thinking about getting rid of it, but then I check this tank out and I just think 'lets give it another go'
> 
> lovely tank, looks like it should be in a fantasy novel.



Jay,

My Tennellus has got more runners than the London Marathon  

I am going to be cutting quite a few out this weekend.

Cheers,

Steve


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## REDSTEVEO (8 Jul 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update - New Photographs 6 weeks on!!*



			
				Ray said:
			
		

> Maturing nicely Steve, looking good and quite unique with the gravel, the triangle and the theme - as the other plants fill out, especially the ferns, it balances the riccia nicely.  The mood shots are indeed spooky, remind me of a Tim Burton movie!  If I were you I'd loose the printed backdrop - try some plain colours or graduated shades, I think you will have some very interesting effects if you play around with that.  Please post in another few weeks when it looks even better...
> 
> IXUS 400 was my first digital camera 4 years ago.  Very robust and decent quality - still going strong (although I got a Nikon D40 starter set recently and recommend it).



Thanks Ray,   you must be a mind reader or psychic or something. I have thought about this myself. Can you advise anything in particular that you think will enhance the overall look, plain colours such as? graduated shades such as? and where do you get them from.

Thanks for the advice.

Steve


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (8 Jul 2008)

*Re: "Fallen Wilderness" Update - New Photographs 6 weeks on!!*

looks lovely 

whenever I see riccia mounds I think.. urrrrg high maintenance! lol


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## REDSTEVEO (19 Jul 2008)

Hi all,
Well its been few weeks and the fallen wilderness was definitely getting a bit wilder and needed a really good pruning. So today I finally got stuck in and pruned it. I think it was worth the effort, here are a few pictures after the trim.





Some of the roots are really starting to find the Tropica Aquasoil now and I think it really makes a difference.









I have sort of let the Riccia do its own thing as you can see









Some really dense growth here













I'm surprised that the Crypts have not gone ballistic yet, but they did take a bit of a fall during the rescape so I suppose I can not complain. Space in the corner, any suggestions? Or should I just let the Crypts fill out that space?









Next Time I hope to have changed the backdrop to a lighter colour, some kind of shaded - graded plain background.

My 30 Ember Tetras are doing really well and I have got lots of baby Armano Shrimp larvae hopping about amongst the Tenellus. They won't last though, never seem to last for more than a week or two.

I have got a bag full of Tennellus and Riccia.

Cheers,

Steve


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## Garuf (19 Jul 2008)

Sorry to disappoint you but there are no Amano shrimp larvae in the foreground, Amano shrimp have a brackish water larval stage and will _not_ produce live larva in freshwater tanks, no matter how good the water quality. 
That aside I love the tank, I just wish I liked Riccia, for me it's the only thing that lets this tank down.


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## TDI-line (20 Jul 2008)

Looks lovely Steve, it's coming together very well.

As Garuf said, you probably have a a common Algae eating shrimp in there, similiar to cherrys etc, who multiply very quickly, Amano's just don't release any young into non-brackish water.   Which is a shame, as i'd have hundreds by now.


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## REDSTEVEO (20 Jul 2008)

Hi Guys, I beg to differ here if I may. The only adult shrimp that I have got in my tank are Armano shrimp, approximately 12 in total consisting of 7 females and 5 males. Every month or so the females are full of larvae literally hundreds. Mos of the time they just seem to be there one day and gone the next..........however 8) Since I started doing the big water changes I have been using SERA Mineral salts and SERA KH Buffer and hey presto a few hours later theres hundreds of the litle things like tint water fleas bopping about all over the place. The adults are definitely Armano shrimp I have seen enough and kept them long enough to know what they look like.

One thing I will agree on though and that is they need a brackish water quality to survive, mine don't survive because the mineral salts only go in at the big water changes so the salts dissipate over time.

If I can get close enough with the camera to take a decent picture of one of the adult females I post a shot.


Cheers.

Steve.


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## Ray (20 Jul 2008)

Could you suck some up with a turkey baster and zap them into a brakish nano tank?


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## TDI-line (20 Jul 2008)

I see now Steve, that does make sense.


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## Garuf (20 Jul 2008)

Not to me it doesn't why are you adding salt into your tank?!


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## johnny70 (20 Jul 2008)

Love this tank  

Beautiful, riccia looks fantastic, how are you keeping it attached like that?

Cheers,
JOHNNY


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## REDSTEVEO (20 Jul 2008)

Garuf said:
			
		

> Not to me it doesn't why are you adding salt into your tank?!



I don't think it is salt in the true sense of the word (sodium chloride) but there is no doubt that it has an effect on the chemical properties of the water. I just looked at the bottle and it says it contains Magnesium, Calcium and K whatever that is. It has an affect and changes the microsiemens - electrical conductivity of the water which is exactly the same thing that salt does if you add it to your water. When I used to breed discus the higher the microsiemens - electrical conductivity of the water the less chance there was of the eggs  hatching. The salt / mineral would penetrate the membrane of the eggs and they would all go white and fluffy.



			
				Ray said:
			
		

> Could you suck some up with a turkey baster and zap them into a brakish nano tank?



I did actually try this once as an experiment but even when I used a fine sponge filter over the filter inlet pipe the little blighters still got sucked into the sponge and died very quickly. If I was going to do it again I would probably just use an air pump driven sponge filter and do larger water changes. A bit of trial and error  Feeding them would be difficult but I have used products for feeding the newly hatched brine shrimp for my baby discus which I think would do the trick.  



			
				johnny70 said:
			
		

> Love this tank
> 
> Beautiful, riccia looks fantastic, how are you keeping it attached like that?
> 
> ...



I tied all the Riccia on to the wood and redmoor roots using monofilament fishing line and used hairnets to tie it down on to the rocks. Once it adapts to growing underwater bits of it get stuck between the hairgrass and the Tennellus and it spreads. This way it stays under the water by itself and does not need tying down. It does not have any roots so to speak so it won't attach itself to anything.

Cheers,

Steve


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## beeky (22 Jul 2008)

Anything dissolved in water will increase it's conductivity - even sugar. The salts you've added are salts of Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium (the K). Table/sea salt is the salt of Sodium and is crucial. Otherwise It's a bit like trying to keep a clownfish in a tanganikan setup!


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## REDSTEVEO (23 Jul 2008)

Wey Hey Beeky, well thats cleared that up nicely. Salt in a freshwater aquarium?   Whoever heard of such a thing 8)   

Steve


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