# CovaMoura



## tmiravent (8 Feb 2014)

Hi,
starting my first journal, _CouvaMoura_.
It's my second try with this nano/panoramic tank.
This time i'll try the stones.
Here is the first image:




cheers,
tiago


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## tmiravent (8 Feb 2014)

Setup
Tank GAD: 100x23x17 (30 liters)
Light DIY Led Gu10 with 4 independent channels [ 3xBLUE 1,3W + 2xRED 1,3W + 2x4W 4000ºK + 4x3W 6500ºK + 2x4W 6500ºK dimmable]
HELP Specialized Plant [and maybe black volcanic sand above, the Help substrate is too light]
Eheim 2211 and connected to a bigger tank (for heating, filtering, fertilizing, Co2, etc)

plants (already in stock)
vallisneria spiralis mini
eleocharis sp mini
staurogyne repens
rotala nanjenshan
hemianthus micranthemoides (para o arranque)
hemianthus callitrichoides
alternanthera reineckii 'Mini'


To buy (or not)
Anúbia petit ou nana
Pogostemon Helferi (1 or 2 )
Ríccia dwarf (maybe)
Utriculária graminifolia
2 small surprises

Fish
corydoras habrosus
corydoras pygmaeus
boraras
Shrimp (not shore yet)


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## Nuno M. (8 Feb 2014)

Hi there Tiago, 

Looking forward to the development of your thank, if you need Staurogyne Repens , give me a call, plenty to spend 

Cheers, Nuno Matos


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## tmiravent (8 Feb 2014)

Hi there Nuno!
This tank is really difficult, to small for most plants. I'm learning to think small, it's a challenge.
I'm letting the stones for some time to play and adjust them i'll glue them!

The green list is what i have already! The alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' is doing fine (your production)!
The ones that i need Anúbia petit, P. Helferi and U. Graminifoilia (but very small portions).
I have lot's of plants (in the big one) if you need anything for your next tank just knock my door!  

Nice to see you here,
cheers
tiago


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## Nuno M. (8 Feb 2014)

A. Reineckii Mini is  a wonderful plant, I'm glad you like it ...

Will be following your Journal , very different measures to work out, but something unusual and good can come out of that 

Cheers,

Nuno Matos


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## darren636 (9 Feb 2014)

That's a wonderful looking shallow tank.


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## tmiravent (11 Feb 2014)

Second version...


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## James O (11 Feb 2014)

Hard to tell without substrate but I like the first layout.  The lighting is great btw

You should be building traditional stone walls for a living


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## darren636 (11 Feb 2014)

Is that the iaplc winner ?


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## faizal (11 Feb 2014)

Hi .  Is that styrofoam under the rocks?


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## tmiravent (11 Feb 2014)

James O said:


> Hard to tell without substrate but I like the first layout. The lighting is great btw
> 
> You should be building traditional stone walls for a living


 
Hello,
yes a love tradicional portuguese stone building.
It's an source of inspiration!


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## tmiravent (11 Feb 2014)

faizal said:


> Hi . Is that styrofoam under the rocks?


 
Yes is styfoam.
I need to lift up the stones a litle bit.


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## LondonDragon (11 Feb 2014)

Prefer the first layout, the second is a little flat!  mãos á obra!!


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## Lindy (11 Feb 2014)

I like 1st.

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## tmiravent (12 Feb 2014)

Third version...


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## James O (12 Feb 2014)

Still no.1


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## LondonDragon (12 Feb 2014)

James O said:


> Still no.1


Agreed, too many rocks now!


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## aliclarke86 (12 Feb 2014)

Number one 

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## tmiravent (14 Feb 2014)

Nº1 will be!
Some small adjustments.
The lower stones, on right and left will not be visible (imagine the substrate in that line).




Cheers!


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## James O (14 Feb 2014)

I think the tiny fill in stones really made the first one


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## tmiravent (16 Feb 2014)

Phase II - plants and water to come.


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## James O (16 Feb 2014)

Nice


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## darren636 (16 Feb 2014)

Ooh , I can see this being very nice.


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## tmiravent (20 Feb 2014)

One small step with tubing...
Inlet and outlet day...


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## James O (21 Feb 2014)

Nicely minimalist.  How busy is the planting going to be I wonder.

Are the inlet & outlet store bought or diy?  What are the two white objects in the last top corners of the last image, behind the pipe work?


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## tmiravent (21 Feb 2014)

James O said:


> Nicely minimalist. How busy is the planting going to be I wonder.
> 
> Are the inlet & outlet store bought or diy? What are the two white objects in the last top corners of the last image, behind the pipe work?


 
Hi,
i'm waiting for more 2 plants, no worry!
This part is also fun for me.
The inlet&outlet are DIY, no other solution. Very difficult to find stuff for this 'glass' measures.
The 2 ugly (and annoying) things are the sensors for level control.
One of the things that i will change.
cheers,
tiago


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## tmiravent (22 Feb 2014)

Finally some water in the tank for testing.


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## tmiravent (2 Mar 2014)

Some tests, problems and solutions.
Finally some plants and fish!
Still missing: P. Helferi and Anúbia nana/petit, some litle fish (maybe some boraras)


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## James O (2 Mar 2014)

Now that's rather nice

What are the emersed fern and mosses?


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## Deano3 (2 Mar 2014)

looks great watching this one, wats the lily pipes made from brass piping or something ?


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## tmiravent (2 Mar 2014)

James O said:


> Now that's rather nice
> 
> What are the emersed fern and mosses?



Hello,
the name i don't know (but i'll get it), but these are regular fern and  mosses here in Portugal.
I'll have to take out the fern, it will grow bigger, a lot bigger!
I have 2 or 3 solutions for the fern's.
They were the first to go to the tank (a week ago), they seem to do fine.
cheers


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## tmiravent (2 Mar 2014)

Deano3 said:


> looks great watching this one, wats the lily pipes made from brass piping or something ?



Hi,
the previous pipes were in aluminium (not good for fish and inverts in long term). 
I made them for testing the design, place, water flow.
It was very useful, because i had to change the filtering setup to adjust this scenario.
Perfect solution is to make in glass (i'm watching someone to make a replica from my design) but stainless steel can work also. I love the steel color for this tank.
cheers


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## Robert H. Tavera (3 Mar 2014)

nice.... different, terrestrial mosses and ferns look grate !

I can see some James Findley's linear style in here.


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## tmiravent (3 Mar 2014)

Robert H. Tavera said:


> nice.... different, terrestrial mosses and ferns look grate !
> 
> I can see some James Findley's linear style in here.



James is for shure and big source of inspiration.
Maybe someday i'll get there!
cheers


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## tmiravent (8 Mar 2014)

Hi,
here is the update of the tank.
The plants seem to be responding fine to the light regime.
Filter is just too strong Eheim Eco300 (even with low adjust), the snails are sucked out of the shell!
Still waiting for anúbia petit and the P. Helferi (this will be the last plants that i will add). Maybe some mosses...
My corydora pygmeu are loving the new setup. Some boraras will make them some company!
Some changes in the 'flying stones' (took some of them out).
Still looking for the right place, right stone and right plant!



 

Four details:
1- Dionaea muscipula (in seed)
2- Drosera binata var. binata (in seed)
3- Bucephalandra Sp. "Midnight Blue II" (very weak but i believe this one will survive)
4- Bucephalandra Sp. "Fake Catherineae" (almost death!) 


 

Cheers,
tiago


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## aliclarke86 (9 Mar 2014)

My friend this is looking great! You lighting really brings a feeling of fantasy!! I'm she the bucephalandra will be fine, they seem to be pretty hardy 

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## darren636 (9 Mar 2014)

This is very nice. Its different. But so is small pox


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

Update for today. 
Plant growth rate is low. 
The plants are doing fine.
Valisneria Spiralis mini going stronger (always dies half when i touch her),
Amania sp. bonsai is melting (and in the other tank also the same...)
B. Fake Catherineae was almost death, but there is a new leave (in 2 weeks or so).
B. Midnight Blue doing good (growing very slowly).
Cryptocoryne (melted a little bit also) is waking up also.
Cheers


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

Baby shrimp on top of stone. 
B. sp Fake Catherineae with 1 cm and the new leave (the left one!)


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' is doing pretty good!
Maybe too large to the tank.


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

HC between the rocks. (baby shrimp is out of focus)


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

The top mosses are adapting good to temperature and water tank!
Don't know wich moss is exactly!


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

Fern detail 'Polypodium vulgare' (also adapting good).


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

Staurogyne repens 'guarding' the rock.


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

B. Midnight Blue is slowly adapting.
My bucephalandras are very small making very difficult to tied them (without killing them)!


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## James O (14 Mar 2014)

Is that electrical cable?

Love the rock textures btw. What are they?


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## tmiravent (14 Mar 2014)

Hi James,
is network cable (one wire of 8 that exist inside a regular network cable). (if i took out the plastic the damage will be more).
Is the smaller one i could get that could fix the plant without destroying it's structure.
The rocks are igneous rock 'gabro' i belive.
Very hard to drill almost impossible to break (i manage to break some with a pro driller with very strong hammer).
The bucephalandra above (it's supposed to be Midnight blue) measures 1,5 cm.
cheers


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## tmiravent (20 Mar 2014)

Starting the small changes...


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## tmiravent (4 Apr 2014)

'The eye of the tiger'.


 
_I know that i should clean the glass..._

Fighting for food!


[DOUBLEPOST=1396638231][/DOUBLEPOST]Very funny and strange Eyes...


 

Complex arms, legs...


 
Cheers!


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## tmiravent (9 Apr 2014)

[DOUBLEPOST=1397046228][/DOUBLEPOST]Some changes:
- moved Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini' behind the rocks, just 1cm to plant, very difficult!
- took out Hemianthus Micranthemoides, was just fot the start
- Pogostemon helferi e Anúbia Nana get in
- Ammania sp. "Bonsai" melted almost to the 'bone' but now is finally recovering, difficult to adapt to my tank.
- Bucephalandra Sp. Fake Catherineae e Bucephalandra Sp. Midnight Blue inserted in stones (drilled the stones), but i'm not liking the extra stones in composition...
- Dionaea muscipula | Drosera binata var. binata didn't pop up, i must be doing something wrong  
- 2 flying stones out (too much stones)
-still missing the boraras (no hurry)
- still some pipe work to do...
cheers


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## Mr. Teapot (9 Apr 2014)

I really like this. Emersed growth and moss covered rocks are my favourite bit.


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## RichardJW (9 Apr 2014)

Notice you used electric cabling to fix to rocks - is there not a danger that copper may leach out of wire and cause problems for shrimps !


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## tmiravent (9 Apr 2014)

Hi Richard, 
James O already point that important detail, and you're right it can be an issue.
I believe you've seen the macro pictures above, it's network cable witch is much smaller, the Bucep's must have 1,5 cm.
I've been lucky and my shrimps bread crazy. (fortunately my neons and boraras love to eat baby shrimp) 
I believe Red's are less sensitive to that kind of water contamination, at least in short/middle time.
I have the idea to cover the ends of cable with glue (super or araldite), because i fell it's the perfect material to grab the plants without hurting them.
Nylon for mosses (which is more elastic) can cut the plant in 2, they a re really small.
Do you have other idea for grabbing the micro plants?
Thanks for the help,
cheers 
tiago


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## Lindy (10 Apr 2014)

tmiravent said:


> Do you have other idea for grabbing the micro plants?


Rubber band or hair band?


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## tmiravent (12 Apr 2014)

Update: change the electric wire for something better (thanks for remembering me).



 


 

Two new entry's for testing: Ophiopogon japonicus (first time with this plant)


 
And Cyperus helferi, (thinking about taking the valisneria out)


 



 
cheers,


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## tmiravent (9 May 2014)

Hi,
very small step for me, finally my 'dream' pipes are in my hand!


 
The first and third are the aluminium model's (they were tested before in the tank and them removed - thank's for remembering the safety issue).
The darker ones are the stainless steel pipes! 
Not very easy to buy the right steel here in PT.
cheers,
tiago


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## mirv (16 May 2014)

epic tank! i like it!

i'm courious about the suspeded rocks! how you hold them? can you show a zoom of that rocks? 

thanks in advance

cya


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## tmiravent (16 May 2014)

Here is the image of the pipes in the tank! 


[DOUBLEPOST=1400275976][/DOUBLEPOST]





mirv said:


> epic tank! i like it!
> 
> i'm courious about the suspeded rocks! how you hold them? can you show a zoom of that rocks?
> 
> ...



Hi there are no secrets, just our imagination!
I drilled the rock and putted one metal clip.
The metal is outside the water 1/2 cm so there's no problem.
If you need to put inside the water use a good stainless steel.
Drill the stone carefully, the smallest driller possible. 
Too strong driller (with hammer) will simply break the stone.
I putted the plastic stuff (don't' know the UK name, sorry).
You can use the same system to hang the stones totally inside the water but without touching the glass, but you need a good structure above the tank and strong fishing line! 



 

 

cheers,
tiago


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## tmiravent (16 May 2014)

Changing some things in the tank:
Plants that went out:
- vallisneria spiralis mini, growing great but still to big for the tank!
- Bucephalandras out for cleaning (some BBA)
- Ophiopogon japonicus out, not a real water plant (but growing fast)
- Cyperus helferi just too long for this tank.

Need some plant for the place of vallisneiras...
Need to rethink all the lightning, the GU10 system is perfect for the big tank but too big for this nano. Difficult to point the light for the right place... (some bba in the stones)

P. Helferi is doing fine! 
Ammania sp. "Bonsai" melted almost to the 'bone' but now is finally growing!




Above the water line this plants flowered and now are drying! (sorry for not knowing the name).
At the same time are pooping new smaller ones! 


 



Mosses continue to do great above the water line! Some other plant appeared outside water line (i believe is HM) on the right of the image!




S. Repens is growing fine! Like this plant!




This is also doing fine!




This small cryptocorny is doing very fine also.




Cheers,
tiago


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## tmiravent (18 Jul 2014)

Trimming and trying to make a decent shoot.
Not very easy with this tank!


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## Alastair (18 Jul 2014)

Looking brilliant 

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## tmiravent (7 Oct 2014)

CovaMoura last image, preparing other! 
Lot's of twist's and turns, but very useful to learn!
Let's see what this tank will be in the future...
Thanks for reading this journal.
tiago


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## tmiravent (16 Oct 2014)

Hi,
not very usual to post the end of a scape...
It's a way to show end of CovaMoura.
A rich learning journey for remembering in the future.
Again, thanks to everyone who read and participate,
cheers,
tiago


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## parotet (17 Oct 2014)

Excellent video Tiago, I love videos in which you can see how people do things in their tanks. In a few minutes you learn much more than seeing hours of beautiful layouts 

Jordi


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## tmiravent (27 Oct 2014)

Thanks Jordi!
I learned a lot with this tank, it was very challenging to make something out of standard measures!

Here is the result of my first participation with this tank. 
My first contest .
Cheers!


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## Alexander Belchenko (27 Oct 2014)

Oh, interesting mail. Waiting for my results...


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