# 'A Twist of Nature'



## Gary Nelson (18 Nov 2013)

As some of you read on my last journal 'Eruption' That has now been closed to make way for this scape 'A Twist of Nature'
Hard-scape was set-up 2 weeks ago, flooding and planting completed over the weekend along with some equipment changes and a few extra modifications.

It consists of the below.... 

TMC signature 600x450x450
Maxspect Razor Lighting
ADA Amazonia Soil
Manzanita wood
Seiryu Stone
Eheim 350T
Injected Co2 via the classic in tank ceramic diffuser

Plants:

Tropica 1-2 Grow Herianthus callitichoides 'Cuba'
Tropica 1-2 Grow Eleocharis sp 'Mini'
Tropica 1-2 Grow Ammania sp 'Bonsai'
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Vesicularia dubyana 'Christmas'
Fontinalis antipyretica 'Willow'
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Bucephanandra "Melawi"

Photos to follow very soon


----------



## Samuran (18 Nov 2013)

*waits*


----------



## Lee Sweeting (18 Nov 2013)

Any pictures yet Gary?


----------



## George Farmer (18 Nov 2013)

Watching...and waiting. I reckon this is gonna be one sweet ride.


----------



## Gary Nelson (18 Nov 2013)

Thank you George...  I will get some photos on now


----------



## Gary Nelson (18 Nov 2013)

Here we go then, a few photos - All clean and ready to go!


IMG_0055 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

I decided that I would run the inlet and outlet at the side of this tank this time as opposed to the back - this meant obviously cutting some sort of hole in the unit. Again I wanted this to look as neat as possible, as if it had came from the manufacturers this way and also a hole big enough to put hoses though without struggling. I opted for a 80mm hole, finished off with a grey desk hole tidy and lightly siliconed in place. After a couple of hours work I am pleased with the end result.


IMG_0056 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

I have found with the Maxspect Razor that it gave off a much better light with the unit raised a bit more from the standard brackets supplied, so I had a simple 'NA style' bracket fabricated to suspend the light from - It now sits about 12" from the water surface... it looks better, but I guess time will tell via the plants.


IMG_0057 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0058 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

This lump of Manzanita is about 5 bits put together, I was lucky that they pretty much slotted against one another and held firmly.


IMG_0061 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

Then a bit more wood added with some rock work and Amzonia soil.


IMG_0063 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0067 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0065 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

Tying some moss on, very fiddly but I am VERY lucky in that my Mrs has more patients than me and is a dab hand with the cotton.


IMG_0074 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0075 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

And Planted up - I still have a bit more to do this week, but I am not far off now.


IMG_0078 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0080 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


----------



## Andy D (18 Nov 2013)

Looking great!!


----------



## sa80mark (18 Nov 2013)

Looks great gary, you really do have a great eye, as always I will be following this one  just one thing though.... dont leave us hanging we all demand more regular updates


----------



## sanj (18 Nov 2013)

Nice wood.. did you get rid of your other tank, or is it in another part of the house?


----------



## Gary Nelson (18 Nov 2013)

Andy D said:


> Looking great!!


Thanks Andy 



sa80mark said:


> Looks great gary, you really do have a great eye, as always I will be following this one  just one thing though.... dont leave us hanging we all demand more regular updates



Cheers Mark... I will try my best to keep this one updated, I'm looking forward to seeing this develop as I've nearly always filled my other scapes with larger plants.



sanj said:


> Nice wood.. did you get rid of your other tank, or is it in another part of the house?



Thanks Sanj, yes I sold my Juwel Trigon a while back... This ones nice to work and I don't need a foot stool


----------



## Deano3 (18 Nov 2013)

looking good mate lovely rock and wood work been looking forward to this as I will be looking forward to updates 

cheers


----------



## Ian Holdich (18 Nov 2013)

Love it mate, really well executed again.


----------



## Gary Nelson (18 Nov 2013)

Deano3 said:


> looking good mate lovely rock and wood work been looking forward to this as I will be looking forward to updates
> 
> cheers


Thanks Dean  I'll keep the updates coming.



Ian Holdich said:


> Love it mate, really well executed again.



Cheers mate, the hard-scape did not seem to take too long this time, it was the planting that seemed to take ages! I started at 10am Saturday and finished at 4pm! I'll never win a competition  slow but sure... That my motto


----------



## Lee Sweeting (18 Nov 2013)

Looking good Gary.


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside (18 Nov 2013)

Yeah Gary looking great so far.
I like how you've gone tall so you get some real emergent growth space.
Have you got any plans for this section?


----------



## Martin in Holland (19 Nov 2013)

Sweeeeeeeet.....I will keep my eyes on this


----------



## Gary Nelson (19 Nov 2013)

Lee Sweeting said:


> Looking good Gary.


 

Cheers Lee 



Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Yeah Gary looking great so far.
> I like how you've gone tall so you get some real emergent growth space.
> Have you got any plans for this section?


 

Thanks Nath, yes its nice to fill the upper area a bit more, I have some moss on there, so will see what that does 



Martin in China said:


> Sweeeeeeeet.....I will keep my eyes on this


 

Cheers Martin


----------



## Gary Nelson (19 Nov 2013)

I have just resized all the photos I uploaded yesterday - on the original size they seemed to be taking forever to load on the page.... unless its my slow broadband... they seem better now anyway.


----------



## Little-AL (19 Nov 2013)

One of the better Signatures I've seen! Looks really good and will look impressive when the plants fill out 

What are your fish plans?


----------



## Gary Nelson (19 Nov 2013)

Little-AL said:


> One of the better Signatures I've seen! Looks really good and will look impressive when the plants fill out
> 
> What are your fish plans?


 
Thanks Little Al,  yes I'm looking forward to when they fill out more - fish wise I am going to adding my Honey Gourami's, Otto's and looking at adding 6 of something small, so ideas welcome  I quite like chili rasboras and not had them before.
I plan to not have as many fish as I normally go for in this scape.  The rest of the fish I have in my holding tank (mainly green neons) will be re-homed.  I am hopping to move some fish over this weekend


----------



## Ady34 (19 Nov 2013)

Very nice, and great use of the space again Gary 
Look forward to progress reports 
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## James D (19 Nov 2013)

I dunno if it's your photographic skills but that light looks awesome.


----------



## Gary Nelson (19 Nov 2013)

Ady34 said:


> Very nice, and great use of the space again Gary Look forward to progress reports Cheerio, Ady.


 
Thanks mate... I do my best to get updates on



James D said:


> I dunno if it's your photographic skills but that light looks awesome.


 
Cheers James  the light is a good bit of kit... so far so good.


----------



## Alastair (19 Nov 2013)

Verrry nice gary. Your scapes get better and better along with your photography skills too. Watching this for sure mate itll be a belter


----------



## steveno (19 Nov 2013)

Looks good now, but once it fills out will fantastic...will be following this one...


----------



## tim (19 Nov 2013)

Superb start Gary, will be another Gary Nelson stunner


----------



## Pinkmummy79 (19 Nov 2013)

Something's just ticked my box mate, looks just right can't wait to see this fill out nicely
Hopefully I can learn a bit from this for when I eventually get a proper tank like this, my vicenza 260 has been a steep learning curve, so I'm following this one too, you must be pleased as punch so far well done 

Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk


----------



## Gary Nelson (20 Nov 2013)

Alastair said:


> Verrry nice gary. Your scapes get better and better along with your photography skills too. Watching this for sure mate itll be a belter


 
Cheers mate I'm hopping so too.


steveno said:


> Looks good now, but once it fills out will fantastic...will be following this one...


 

Thank you  I have noticed some slight growth already on some plants.... just have to keep on top of those water changes now.



tim said:


> Superb start Gary, will be another Gary Nelson stunner


 
Cheers Tim  nice words 


Pinkmummy79 said:


> Something's just ticked my box mate, looks just right can't wait to see this fill out nicely
> Hopefully I can learn a bit from this for when I eventually get a proper tank like this, my vicenza 260 has been a steep learning curve, so I'm following this one too, you must be pleased as punch so far well done
> 
> Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk


 


Thank you  Yeah I keep looking at it and hope that it fills out as I want it to.... at the minute it looks 'very woody' signs of growth though on most plants so that's a good sign


----------



## richard powell (23 Nov 2013)

Tank looks great, I love the wood it looks amazing


----------



## Dave Pierce (23 Nov 2013)

Hey Gary just seen your new layout...going to be a sweet one!

Good luck pal


----------



## Curvball (23 Nov 2013)

Very cool 


Posted from the comfort of my iPhone...


----------



## Gary Nelson (24 Nov 2013)

richard powell said:


> Tank looks great, I love the wood it looks amazing


Thanks Richard 



Dave Pierce said:


> Hey Gary just seen your new layout...going to be a sweet one! Good luck pal


 
Cheers Dave, I added  some fish yesterday and they seem to be enjoying it so far




Curvball said:


> Very cool


 
Thank you


----------



## richard powell (24 Nov 2013)

No worries bud im thinking of setting up another tank n id love something like this


----------



## darren636 (28 Nov 2013)

Is that an NA  light stand?


----------



## Gary Nelson (28 Nov 2013)

darren636 said:


> Is that an NA  light stand?


No it is one I have had made... NA style though


----------



## Gary Nelson (29 Nov 2013)

Things seem to be going ok on this so far, but its been a busy week at work and then with water changes when back home...But hard work pays off right?!

The plants are spreading slow but sure and the fish have been moved over now from my holding tank.  Also my Manzanita seems to have stopped trying to turn into cotton wool!! Which is good.
I added 10 Ember tetras and I have 10 shrimp arriving from Ed tomorrow morning, so once they are in and happy I will get some photos up.


----------



## George Farmer (29 Nov 2013)

Hi mate,

Looking forward to seeing the progress and the new additions.  Embers are lovely little fish.


----------



## Gary Nelson (29 Nov 2013)

George Farmer said:


> Hi mate,
> 
> Looking forward to seeing the progress and the new additions.  Embers are lovely little fish.


Cheers George, yes the Embers are great, I've never had them before, I'm suprised how much colour they are showing too... Not expensive either really, think that's why the Mrs likes them as well.


----------



## George Farmer (29 Nov 2013)

Yeah, they're the perfect Nature Aquarium fish really.  Colourful without being gawdy, nice and small, well-mannered and can be good shoalers too.  They love soft water and lots of shade - then they go a really deep orange, almost red.  Feed them well and they look nice and plump too.


----------



## Gary Nelson (8 Dec 2013)

A bit of an update now that the scape is 21 days old today. Things are going well and the plants are giving a slow but steady growth but doing well. I have added some 'Crytocoryne costata' along the back and love this plant!... I think it balances out well with the rest of the scape.
I also decided to add a few Choco's (being very inspired by Alastair's) they have settled in nicely and seem to enjoy their new home.

Anyway, a few pics 

_*Day 1 - Planted*_

IMG_0078 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

*Day 21 - Planted*
IMG_0122 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0126 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0124 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

The Hemianthus micranthemoides and the moss is now starting to take off.

IMG_0132 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

IMG_0133 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr

In situ...

IMG_0140 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


----------



## sa80mark (8 Dec 2013)

Beautiful gary, looks superb and once again great fish choice


----------



## Gary Nelson (9 Dec 2013)

sa80mark said:


> Beautiful gary, looks superb and once again great fish choice


 
Thanks Mark


----------



## Alastair (9 Dec 2013)

Stunning pal. Your getting a dab hand at this now ha. I cant wait to see this grown in. Long term scape???

Your waters crystal clear too and I love the contrast of the yellow fish


----------



## kirk (9 Dec 2013)

Absolutely beautiful. I love it. that maspects razor  looks good too


----------



## Gary Nelson (9 Dec 2013)

Alastair said:


> Stunning pal. Your getting a dab hand at this now ha. I cant wait to see this grown in. Long term scape??? Your waters crystal clear too and I love the contrast of the yellow fish


Cheers mate  yes I am aiming to keep this scape running a bit longer than the last one... I am enjoying watching it grow, slooooooooowly.



kirk said:


> Absolutely beautiful. I love it. that maspects razor looks good too


Thanks Kirk, the Razor is a good bit of kit... very powerful though, its only on about 50% power on this scape... I dare not go to much higher


----------



## Daniel (10 Dec 2013)

Awesome! Exactly what I will be looking to do in the new year. I love the way the manzy just pokes out the water, there's just something about it.


----------



## Gary Nelson (10 Dec 2013)

Daniel said:


> Awesome! Exactly what I will be looking to do in the new year. I love the way the manzy just pokes out the water, there's just something about it.


 
Cheers Daniel   welcome to UKAPS too


----------



## Gary Nelson (15 Dec 2013)

A small update, things are still going well.... I have added some Eriocaulon cinereum to the scape and a few more Bucephalandra "Melawi" dotted around the bottom of the wood - the carpet plants seem to have really got a mad growth spurt on too at the moment.

I am thinking about adding a tiny bit of immersed planting to parts of the exposed wood, but not really sure on what to add? There are parts of the Christmas moss on the wood very near the surface which look nice, so something to compliment that would be good.... But nothing to wild or mad! Any ideas or pointers would be great


----------



## Ian Holdich (15 Dec 2013)

See, this is what I've missed. The way you're adding thing to make the scape evolve. It look tremendous Gary. Ime putting the moss just below surface level works best, the moss always goes towards the light and most c02.


----------



## Alastair (15 Dec 2013)

^^^^^^^^ what he said lol.... pics needed mate


----------



## Gary Nelson (17 Dec 2013)

I only have a couple of iPhone pics, taken last night... 10 minutes from lights out and back drop light on.


photo 1 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


photo 3 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside (17 Dec 2013)

Gary Nelson said:


> I only have a couple of iPhone pics, taken last night... 10 minutes from lights out and back drop light on.
> 
> 
> photo 1 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr
> ...



Sexy Twilight shots G.
Everything running well?


----------



## Gary Nelson (17 Dec 2013)

Thanks mate 
Yes all OK so far.... famous last words


----------



## Alastair (17 Dec 2013)

Gary Nelson said:


> I only have a couple of iPhone pics, taken last night... 10 minutes from lights out and back drop light on.
> 
> 
> photo 1 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr
> ...



Why does that kind of make me think of beetle juice ha ha


----------



## sanj (17 Dec 2013)

Alastair said:


> Why does that kind of make me think of beetle juice ha ha


 
I loved that movie.

I like the look, slightly eerie, but I like it.


----------



## James O (17 Dec 2013)

Alastair said:


> Why does that kind of make me think of beetle juice ha ha



Now if we say beetle juice 3 times on a single forum, what will happen?

Ooh poop! That's twice!


----------



## Gary Nelson (28 Jan 2014)

I thought I had best update my journal a bit, as its long over due... Work life has been a little bit upside down, but all back on track now and I'm starting my new job on Monday  so I can really concentrate on the tank a bit more.

The tank has had very little maintenance done on it over the last month, with just the weekly water change and ferts dropped in, but luckily its been ticking along and it has not given me any grief whilst other things have taken priority. I've decided to have a play about with another light system for a few weeks and have a change from the 'Maxspect Razor' that I was running before.

I have added an auto water top, for the money it an excellent bit of kit and it stops my skimmer sucking air as water level drops... much to the annoyance of waking my mrs at 3am 

Anyway a few pics...


IMG_0159 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0154 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0156 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0161 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


IMG_0163 by DigitalDream3, on Flickr


----------



## Wallace (28 Jan 2014)

Looking awesome, as ever. 

Beamswork?

Why change from the Maxspect?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Crumbs (28 Jan 2014)

Lovely looking tank, very inspirational


----------



## aliclarke86 (28 Jan 2014)

Garry. This looks great especially as you have not touched it!  Very good work!

How have you gone about engineering the auto top up without pulling plumbing out of the walls?

Ali

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## nduli (28 Jan 2014)

Gary is it the tmc v2 top up system? Looks like nice little solution.


----------



## Gary Nelson (28 Jan 2014)

Wallace said:


> Looking awesome, as ever.
> 
> Beamswork?
> 
> ...


 
Thanks  yes it is the Beamswork light, i just thought i'd have a play 



Crumbs said:


> Lovely looking tank, very inspirational


 
Thank you 



aliclarke86 said:


> Garry. This looks great especially as you have not touched it! Very good work!
> 
> How have you gone about engineering the auto top up without pulling plumbing out of the walls?
> 
> ...


 
Thanks the auto top up is the TMC kit, a really easy thing to set-up and works great.


----------



## Gary Nelson (28 Jan 2014)

nduli said:


> Gary is it the tmc v2 top up system? Looks like nice little solution.


 
Yes it is...well spotted - it is a very easy solution


----------



## aliclarke86 (28 Jan 2014)

I will have to have a look at that. I seem to lose about a cm a day and its winter!!!

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## aliclarke86 (28 Jan 2014)

Any chance of a closer shot of any in tank parts? It seems like its pretty small?

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## Gary Nelson (28 Jan 2014)

aliclarke86 said:


> I will have to have a look at that. I seem to lose about a cm a day and its winter!!!
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


 
Yes its worth it - I was putting about half a litre a day in mine.  I just use a 5L container for the water feed... seems to work OK.


----------



## LondonDragon (28 Jan 2014)

Lovely Gary, that light unit is a work of art  nice to see a tidy cabinet


----------



## Ady34 (28 Jan 2014)

Looking very nice Gary.
I especially like those pencilfish!


----------



## Antoni (28 Jan 2014)

Wow, that is awesome tree scape, Gary! Wonderful execution.


----------



## Deano3 (28 Jan 2014)

looking great gary and cabinet nice and neat as always, I love the LED lighting units will invest in one soon I think looking great anyway mate don't leave so long before next update


----------



## nduli (28 Jan 2014)

Gary Nelson said:


> Yes its worth it - I was putting about half a litre a day in mine.  I just use a 5L container for the water feed... seems to work OK.



Gary is the container a Tupperware cereal container with a hole drilled in the top?


----------



## Gary Nelson (29 Jan 2014)

LondonDragon said:


> Lovely Gary, that light unit is a work of art  nice to see a tidy cabinet


Cheers Paulo - for the price of the light its fairly good, but I am missing being able to dim it down a bit. 



Ady34 said:


> Looking very nice Gary.
> I especially like those pencilfish!


 


Thanks mate... the Pencilfish are great - I just have the 4 but seeing as they have settled really well I am tempted to get some more.... the colours are stunning 



Antoni said:


> Wow, that is awesome tree scape, Gary! Wonderful execution.


 
Thank you Antoni 



Deano3 said:


> looking great gary and cabinet nice and neat as always, I love the LED lighting units will invest in one soon I think looking great anyway mate don't leave so long before next update


 

Cheers Dean - you know me a neat freak  Since moving over from T5 lighting to LED things are great... mind you still have to watch LED's as most are very powerful.



nduli said:


> Gary is the container a Tupperware cereal container with a hole drilled in the top?


 

Yes it is, its a 5 litre one (asda is your friend).  I just put a hole in the top (slightly larger than the pipe)  I thought 5 litres was enough and also I thought if this thing ever failed at worst it would only brim my tank and not overfill it.


----------



## MARKCOUSINS (29 Jan 2014)

Really nice!Great set up in and under the tankThe auto top-up system is very interesting indeed!Can you give me some details,like where you got it,price,make....Cheers Mark.


----------



## nduli (29 Jan 2014)

Mark it's covered above. Search for tmc v2 top up system. Swelluk do them. About 35-40. Looking at them too. Great little idea and not that costly  (for once)


----------



## MARKCOUSINS (29 Jan 2014)

nduli said:


> Mark it's covered above. Search for tmc v2 top up system. Swelluk do them. About 35-40. Looking at them too. Great little idea and not that costly  (for once)


Thanks mate!Missed that no excuses!


----------



## Ian Holdich (29 Jan 2014)

Looking great mate, I see this is getting shared around Facebook, well done mate!


----------



## Gary Nelson (29 Jan 2014)

Ian Holdich said:


> Looking great mate, I see this is getting shared around Facebook, well done mate!


Thanks mate... Yes I've just seen that.... Global! I'm really chuffed too  are you going this weekend?


----------



## Ian Holdich (29 Jan 2014)

Gary Nelson said:


> Thanks mate... Yes I've just seen that.... Global! I'm really chuffed too  are you going this weekend?



I'm not I'm afraid, I have to work Saturday...shame, as it'd be a good weekend!


----------



## tim (29 Jan 2014)

Looking superb Gary, about time you had the recognition you deserve for your scapes, don't think you'll switch back to a trigon ?


----------



## Gary Nelson (29 Jan 2014)

Ian Holdich said:


> I'm not I'm afraid, I have to work Saturday...shame, as it'd be a good weekend!


That is a shame mate, it would of been good to see you again and you buy me a beer  I'm sure there will be other events coming up through the year, so hopefully you can make it and buy me that beer then


----------



## Gary Nelson (29 Jan 2014)

tim said:


> Looking superb Gary, about time you had the recognition you deserve for your scapes, don't think you'll switch back to a trigon ?


Cheers Tim... Yeah I'm really chuffed mate - I do miss the Trigon sometimes so you never know  but I do like this open topped tank and lighting, it's so much easier to work on


----------



## nduli (4 Jan 2015)

Gary,

Looking for some advice on how you cut the hole in the side of the cabinet. I have a tmc high gloss cabinet and want to cut a circular hole in to run a Lilly pipe in the same way you have. I was planning on masking over the area with masking tape and hole sawing through the masking tape in a hope it won't splinter the wood or the surrounding gloss veneer. Is that how you did it? Looks a neat job. I will be using a desk grommet too so have some room for the cock up fairy but not much.

Rich


----------



## Graham Bell (5 Apr 2016)

Bump, more updates please, looking good


----------

