# Fusion



## Justal (14 Feb 2015)

It has begun, my first ever attempt at aquascaping and today was spent building the cabinet, positioning the tank and getting things in place.

*Tank Specs.*

Tank: Aquatlantis Fusion 102cm x 40cm x 60xm, 188 litres
Cabinet: Aquatlantis Cabinet
Light: Aquatlantis H2O LEDs 43w, 6800k, 3824 lumens
Backlights: RGB LEDs with remote control
Filter: Biobox 2 Internal Filter (650l/h - manufacturer quoted)
Heater: Tecatlantis 200w
Secondary Pump: EasyFlux 900 (810l/h - manufacturer quoted)
CO2: None yet, but may add later
Substrate: Florabase

I'm new to this so these specs may well change over time but I'll try to keep them up to date. The secondary pump pumps water up over the LED's in the hood which cools them, heats the water as it passes over them and increases flow in the tank.

Here's how things went today.



Not a huge amount of progress today, but it's a start, and I'm loving those LED's for backlighting effect, although they are somewhat drowned out by the main lights.


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## Justal (14 Feb 2015)

We also headed first to the beach in front of our house and then into the hills behind our house to collect some rocks for the hardscape.


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## Justal (14 Feb 2015)

Some more photos and details of today's antics on my weblog here: http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2015/fusion-aquascape-attempt/

Al.


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## Greenfinger2 (15 Feb 2015)

Hi Justal,

Great start love the back lighting 

One thing that internal filter is on the large size and takes up a lot of room  Why have you not gone for external ??


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## Justal (15 Feb 2015)

I agree, but it all comes down to funds at the moment I'm afraid.... Or lack of to be precise.

Too many other things that I need to pay for at the mo and I've already spent a fair bit on this. The new tank wasn't a planned expense either, so it's all been a little bit of an unexpected strain on the budget.

Al.


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## Greenfinger2 (15 Feb 2015)

Hi Justal,

Ho i know what you mean  I suffer the same problem mate 

You can always change it at a later date though


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## Justal (15 Feb 2015)

Yep, and maybe add a CO2 injection system too.

Going to spend the afternoon cleaning and scrubbing the rocks we collected yesterday now.

Again, would like to buy some more interesting rocks really, but when funds are tight and I'm surrounded by rock, buying some just seemed a little unessecary.

Al


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## Alexander Belchenko (15 Feb 2015)

You're lucky to live in such beautiful scenery, one only needs to just walk around to see such stream and all.

That's interesting about cooling your LEDs with water pump. Do you have any photos of the system? Is it manufactured ro DIY?


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## Justal (15 Feb 2015)

Hi Alexander,
It's manufactured by Aqautlantis: http://www.aquatlantis.com/index.php?id=400&tbl=registos

It's just a pump then transports water from one end of the tank, up over the top of the LED unit and back out into the other end of the tank. According to the manufacturers it increases the lifespan of the LED's as it cools them. The heat transfer into the water obviously heats the water as well, so requiring less in the way of aquarium heating too. It seemed like quite an elegant idea to me so I thought I'd try it out.



 

Al.


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## Alexander Belchenko (15 Feb 2015)

Yes, the idea is not new but elegant indeed. Usually LED light produces a lot of heat, but that could be a problem at the summer, in case if you have hot summer, like me.


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## Justal (15 Feb 2015)

Hmmm, I live in North Wales which isn't exactly renowned for its hot summers, in fact it;s farily well known for not having a summer at all!

But as you said above, it is a lovely place to live with the beach on our doorstep and the mountains right behind us. I wouldn't say we were 'lucky' to live here though, it's more a case of lots of hard work and sacrifice to be able to do so. Well worht it all though. 

Just spent an hour washing the rocks I collected yesterday and another hour playing with them in the tank. I'll post some photos of the result of my efforts in a mo.

Al.


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## Justal (15 Feb 2015)

Well, this hardscaping malarky is certainly quite an art form - one that I've yet to master. These materials aren't easy to work with.

But, for what its worth, here are my efforts from today.



I'm sure it leaves a lot to be desired and it isn't quite what I was aiming for, but the materials that I had dictated what I could do in the end. The filter box doesn't help matters either, but I can only make do with the things I have. Feel free to criticise, offer ideas and generally laugh at my efforts. I'm not sure how easy it will be to move anything around now, but it'll be good to hear peoples thoughts anyway.
I'd hoped to get more of a sweeping curve on the path as well, but somehow despite using a template of cardboard that I was happy with, it just didn't quite come out right.



 

From Above...



 

Thanks,
Al.


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## Justal (15 Feb 2015)

A little worried that the rocks will be completely obscured once I start planting, but thats where you guys come in... I shall be asking for some planting suggestions soon.

Al.


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## Alexander Belchenko (15 Feb 2015)

Justal said:


> A little worried that the rocks will be completely obscured once I start planting, but thats where you guys come in... I shall be asking for some planting suggestions soon.



Al, that's definitely is a problem. You'd better use low carpet plants. Or pull out some stones from the sand so they would be higher. You may try to use micrantemum monte carlo as carpet plant, probably it will grow even without CO2. Or you can try some dwarf hair grass. Another option is to use moss as carpet.


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## Justal (15 Feb 2015)

Yep, I'm hoping to go with a low carpet plant all over the left hand slope. I will use the same carpet plant between the gravel 'stream' and the sloping slabs on the right hand side and in the foreground on the right hand side. Monte carlo, dwarf hairgrass or maybe Echinodorus tenellus? Although as you say, using a moss as a carpet in these areas may work well, I'll have to research that.

Then something  a little taller in the triangular area between the sloping slabs and the filter box. Maybe something like Echinodorus parviflorus?

Finally some taller stem plants on the right hand side to hide the filter box a little and probably something 'nice' emerging from behind the bottom right of the largest rock at the right hand side of the tank. I don't know what for this spot yet.

I'll be taking advice from people here on what will grow well based on my set up though, so any comments on my ideas, or suggestions are welcomed.

Al.


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## limz_777 (16 Feb 2015)

Justal said:


> Hi Alexander,
> It's manufactured by Aqautlantis: http://www.aquatlantis.com/index.php?id=400&tbl=registos
> 
> It's just a pump then transports water from one end of the tank, up over the top of the LED unit and back out into the other end of the tank. According to the manufacturers it increases the lifespan of the LED's as it cools them. The heat transfer into the water obviously heats the water as well, so requiring less in the way of aquarium heating too. It seemed like quite an elegant idea to me so I thought I'd try it out.
> ...




nice find there , do update a video on this light


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## Justal (16 Feb 2015)

A few more tweak to the hardscape today. Added a few rocks at the back at the top of the 'stream' to hopefully create the effect of mountain stream emerging from a gorge.
Also add a few more stone to form boulders in the stream and help define the curve a little.



 

And here's what it looks like at Sunrise!



 

Need to work on my photography though to eliminate reflections and such like.

Al.


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## Justal (16 Feb 2015)

And some more fiddling has resulted in this. Opinions and ideas please?



 

I think its an improvement and I'm fairly happy with it. I quite like the effect of the stream emerging from a mountain gorge and I'm happy that the stream sort of disappears behind the rock on its left hand side at the back of the tank. I've added a few more pebbles to the edge of the stream to help define the curve a little better, and I've added a few new rocks to the right hand side of the tank. I've also graded some of the gravel in the stream bed to aid with perspective.

Quite whether any of this will make a difference once it is planted I don't know, but I think I'm getting somewhere with it now.
Al.


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## Alexander Belchenko (16 Feb 2015)

Very nice hardscape. That's definitely the improvement.

I'd use eleocharis sp. mini for banks of the stream, or maybe something like java moss, crescend moss or peacock moss. 
IIUC you want some stems at the corners (maybe Hemianthus micranthemoides, but that would grow better with CO2), maybe hottonia palustris would be better choice for non-CO2. in the midground you may want to use helantium tenellum or some shorter crypts.
You can check the page of Tropica for Easy plants section http://tropica.com/en/plants/?tabIndex=1&alias=Easy just for reference what could be used for non-CO2 tank.


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## Justal (16 Feb 2015)

Thanks Alexander... Taking a look at those plant recommendations and I think you've hit it spot on.

I might try Eleocharis sp. mini on the lower slopes, along maybe with a few 'tufts' of something else in amongst some of the pebbles to look like reeds along the stream edge.

Helanthium tenellus seems like the perfect choice for the mid ground too. Thanks, I hadn't looked at that before.

I'm not sure about the taller stem plants to help hide the filter box yet. I'm visiting family in Gloucestershire at the weekend so will take a trip to Aquajardin in Gloucester to see what they have.

I'd better start writing a shopping list!  What else am I going to need?

Al.


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## stu_ (16 Feb 2015)

Hi, good start.
If you're in AquaJardin ,check out of the display tanks down towards the fish.They've got one using slate.
Not sure of the look you are after,to obscure the filter,but _Limnophila Sessiflora _has always grown well for me with no co2.


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## Justal (17 Feb 2015)

Hmm, slight hiccup today. My RGB LEDs for the backlighting have fallen off. The 3M adhesive backing obviously wasn't up to much. They've fallen down the back of the tank which makes it a little tricky to get to them but I think I can get them out.

My plan is to then cut a piece of wood to length, put a large staple in either end of the wood and then tie some fishing line to these staples. This should allow me to lower the wood down behind the tank. Once in position I can attach the LED strips to the top of this piece of wood. They won't fall off then as I'll use better adhesive and gravity will be on their side too. Also, the fishing line should allow me to raise them up a bit higher too and hopefully therefore make them a little brighter behind the tank.

It would be easier to do if I could get behind the tank and get to the LEDs junction box but I can;t do that without moving the tank and cabinet and I'm now unsure if I can do that with all the hardscaping in there and a little reluctant to try to do so in case it all moves.

I'm sue I'll work something out though.

Al.


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## ian_m (17 Feb 2015)

Al,

After reading your experience with LED strips and my mates...

Please read this about using LED strips in an aquarium, before putting them in the bin, it attempting to use as main light source. I got extensively involved in trying to sort him, as he knew I was a "light expert", what ever that was. OK he was trying to replace main lighting, but sounds like you are having the same experience.
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/led-strip-experiments.32010/#post-338984


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## Justal (17 Feb 2015)

Thanks Ian,
I don't think I'll face most of those issues as I'll be using the LEDS as secondary lighting just for effect. They'll be mounted outside the tank and should therefore stay completely dry. I have already faced the problem of the adhesive not being strong enough though. I've now managed to retrieve the light strips from behind the tank, but can't quite get to the little control box which I stupidly glued to the side of the tank just out of reach!!. You can just see the IR remote control sensor sticking out from the RHS of the tank in the photo below. The control box that I need to get to is in behind that.







It looks as though I'll have to move the tall cupboards to the left of the aquarium and then see if I can manage to shift the entire tank and cabinet to the left a few inches so that I can get to it. I just hope I don't mess any of my hardscape up in the process.

Once that is done I plan on putting the LED strips on a thin piece of wood in behind the tank. This will be attached to the top of the tank so that I can raise them up to get at them in the future should I need to do so. Kind of a mobile shelf behind the tank which will allow me to adjust where the LEDs are positioned relative to substrate levels and desired lighting effects... Got to get at that control box first though.






Al


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## ian_m (17 Feb 2015)

If the strips have fallen off, it's not 3M adhesive then, like I think you stated.

When my mates LED's failed to stick he eventually complained to 3M that their adhesive was rubbish. The Ebay vendor shrugged his shoulders, saying might state water proof LED strip, but not for use near too much water, therefore not our problem. 3M  said your adhesive has failed as the adhesive is not UV resistant (from the LED's) and that all 3M adhesives are UV resistant, thus you have been ripped off as this is not 3M adhesive. They sent a list of US suppliers selling LED strips with 3M adhesive, which worked our about £10 per metre for waterproof LED strip. One of the web sites showed the LED strip stuck to the glass inside the tank working fine !!!! Oh also available at over 1000lumens per meter, so twice as bright as Ebay ones.


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## Justal (17 Feb 2015)

Phew, managed to get my DIY LED backlight contraption installed this evening. It's all in place and hopefully the LED strip will stay in place now. It's actually a better effect than before as I now have a full four strips of LEDs all facing upwards which provides a brighter light and better gradient.

They do throw some light up onto the ceiling now, but that can easily be remedied by a reflector attached to the top of the tank.

I've been living with the hardscape all day and I'm feeling fairly happy with it so I may well leave it as it is.

Now to decide whether to try the dry start method to get a nice carpet of Eleocharis sp. mini and Heliathium tenellus established. I've never grown any carpeting species before or tried the DSM but it sounds as though it could be the way forward?

Al.


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## Sk3lly (17 Feb 2015)

Do we think any planting on the left slope, even low growing carpeting plants, will be enough to obscure the entire hard scape on that side?
I've always known to go big with the hard scape and let the plants soften it and remove its impact slightly. I think by starting small it will get hidden

I really like the look of this project though


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Justal (18 Feb 2015)

Yeah, I was a bit worried about that as well. I guess I can always add some more rocks at a later date - I'm not under the impression that this aquascaping process is EVER 'finished'

Al.


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## Sk3lly (18 Feb 2015)

Justal said:


> Yeah, I was a bit worried about that as well. I guess I can always add some more rocks at a later date - I'm not under the impression that this aquascaping process is EVER 'finished'
> 
> Al.


Very true lol


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## alto (24 Feb 2015)

Justal said:


> Now to decide whether to try the dry start method to get a nice carpet of Eleocharis sp. mini and Heliathium tenellus established. I've never grown any carpeting species before or tried the DSM but it sounds as though it could be the way forward?
> 
> Al.



You might read George Farmer's thoughts in this thread as he makes some valid points; reading forums, some people have great success with DSM, others rather less ...


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## Justal (24 Feb 2015)

Thats some plants in the tank and things are taking shape. Fingers crossed they settle in and grow now.



 


 


 


 

Al.


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## banthaman.jm (15 Mar 2015)

Nice tank will be watching how it evolves.
Jim


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## Justal (15 Mar 2015)

Thank Jim.... Was planning on posting an update soon, not that much has happened really.

_Staurogyne repens _is settling in well and appears to be well rooted now, I think it has grown quite a bit already too. _Pogostemon helferi_ seems to be quite happy too at the moment, as does the _Echonidorus tenellus_. It's difficult to tell with the _Eleocharis sp. mini t_hough, it's still looking healthy but I'm not sure if it is doing much, hopefully it's sending out lots of little roots beneath the substrate.

Just trying to remain patient now as I can't wait to flood the tank and see what happens then. There is a bit of algal growth on the pathway in the middle where the water just covers the gravel, so I might take some of that out and give it a god wash before flooding the tank. I might try to take some photos later to compare and contrast now that the DSM method has been in progress for 3 weeks. How long do people usually leave things before flooding the tank?

Al.


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## banthaman.jm (15 Mar 2015)

Eleocharis is very slow growing in my tank, flow and Co2 is the most likely cause.  I'm a newbie to planted tanks and DSM, have had tanks in the past but very low tech.

Looking forward to seeing some photos to compare the progress.

Jim


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## Justal (16 Mar 2015)

Here you go... some photos of the progress over the past 3 weeks since first planting. I'm sure there has been some growth!



 


 


 


 


 

I'm  a little worried about the buildup of algae in the shallow pool of water at the front of the tank though. Has anyone got some advice on what to do about it. First up a good way to clean the algae out and secondly how to prevent it coming back. I knew there would be a 'fight' with algae at some point, but I had hoped that would at least wait until I'd flooded the tank. Creating a little algal pool before I even fill the tank was not the plan!



 


Thanks,
Al.


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## Alexander Belchenko (16 Mar 2015)

Your staurogyne looks so fresh!


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## Greenfinger2 (16 Mar 2015)

Hi Al, Looking good


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## Greenfinger2 (16 Mar 2015)

Hi Al,

Lots of info on DSM  Great info on when you flood,, Light timing,, C02 , Water changes--- on the last page


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## Justal (16 Mar 2015)

Where??? 

Al.


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## Vinkenoog1977 (16 Mar 2015)

Looking good! As far as the algae in DSM, you need to remove as much water from the tank as you can; I usually make a little dent in my substrate at gthe lowest point, and keep removing water (with a syringe at that point), until the water level is at least 5 mm. below the top of the substrate. As Tom Barr says: they don't call it a *dry* start for nothing. 
Cleaning out the current algae, you could try some diluted liquid CO2 (1-to-8 ratio at least), but avoid spraying any of it on the plants; using a little brush would probably work better. If you have real steady hand, you could try undiluted, but as said, be sure not to get any on your plants, cause they will be sterilised and die off. The safest way would be a toothbrush, elbow grease, and lots of patience, scrubbing it of.


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## Greenfinger2 (16 Mar 2015)

Justal said:


> Where???
> 
> Al.


Sorry Forgot the Link Stupid me  http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/lots-of-dry-start-method-questions.25295/


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## Justal (16 Mar 2015)

Vinkenoog1977 said:


> Looking good! As far as the algae in DSM, you need to remove as much water from the tank as you can; I usually make a little dent in my substrate at gthe lowest point, and keep removing water (with a syringe at that point), until the water level is at least 5 mm. below the top of the substrate. As Tom Barr says: they don't call it a *dry* start for nothing.
> Cleaning out the current algae, you could try some diluted liquid CO2 (1-to-8 ratio at least), but avoid spraying any of it on the plants; using a little brush would probably work better. If you have real steady hand, you could try undiluted, but as said, be sure not to get any on your plants, cause they will be sterilised and die off. The safest way would be a toothbrush, elbow grease, and lots of patience, scrubbing it of.



Just managed to get most of the water out, it had been building up as I sprayed the plants each day. I'll try again tomorrow with a syringe. I think I'll remove the stonee / gravel that has some green algae on it soon as well and give it a good scrub before I start thinking about flooding the tank. I'm sure it'll be easier to get on top of it now than it will once it's full of water.

Al.


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## Justal (16 Mar 2015)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Al,
> 
> Lots of info on DSM  Great info on when you flood,, Light timing,, C02 , Water changes--- on the last page


Thanks Roy... I had seen that before I think. Getting to the stage now where I need to start thinking about when to flood the tank. I might be away for a week or so around Easter so might leave it until I get back... But then again I might do it before as well! 

Al.


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## Justal (31 Mar 2015)

Just another quick update I could be imagining it, but I'm sure there are some new shoots of _Eleocharis_ popping up here and there.




 

 

 

 

Al.


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## Greenfinger2 (31 Mar 2015)

Hi Justal, Looking good


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## banthaman.jm (1 Apr 2015)

Watching really closely as i think i will use the DSM next time, can't wait to see it flooded.
Jim


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## Justal (1 Apr 2015)

banthaman.jm said:


> Watching really closely as i think i will use the DSM next time, can't wait to see it flooded.
> Jim


I can't wait either. I'm going away for a week next week though so thought it would be best to wait until after that. I might buy a few more plants on the way back home and then hopefully (fingers crossed) flood it sometime around April 14th. I'll be interested to see how the plants fare once it's been flooded as they seem to be doing quite well at the moment.

Al.


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## Justal (14 Apr 2015)

The day has come.... I have a few more plants to add and then the flooding will start. Wish me luck!!!

Al.


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## Greenfinger2 (14 Apr 2015)

Hi Al. My Fingers are crossed for you hope all go;s well


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## stefanprisacariu (14 Apr 2015)

It grows nicely...


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## Justal (14 Apr 2015)

Well, it's full.... I'll post some photos later in the week. Best start reading up on what to do next!!! 

Al.


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## banthaman.jm (15 Apr 2015)

Hey Justal, really looking forward to seeing it flooded.
Jim


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## Justal (15 Apr 2015)

Will try to post some photos of the tank now that it's flooded later. But, before I flooded the tank I noticed some new bits of moss / liverwort growing on some of the rocks in the tank. Does anyone know what they are? I'm hoping they'll grow nicely and look good in there, but we'll see as they will no doubt be Welsh species and therefore not used to the tropical temperatures they'll experience in the tank.



 

Thanks,
Al.


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## Justal (15 Apr 2015)

No photos yet - I've been rushed off my feet all day, but there's a slideshow of the tank being filled here: http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2015/fusion-aquascape-flooding/

Al.


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## Justal (18 Apr 2015)

Things seem OK and the Aquascaping experiment continues. The pump that pumps water up over the top of the LED's is a little bit noisier than I would like but other than that the hardware seems OK and less than a week after flooding things seems to have settled down a little. I did a fairly large water change today so here are some shots straight after that.

First the Full Tank Shot



 

There's some algae growing on the rocks though, so I'm going to adjust the photo-period fairly significantly. (http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2015/aquascape-update-the-first-week/)



 

And here are some other shots of the tank and its plants as well.


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## Justal (19 Apr 2015)

So, what should I do next? A few water changes first so that any ammonia from the substrate is removed over the next week or so, but how soon before I can introduce some shrimps / otos to clean up any algae?

Al.


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## banthaman.jm (19 Apr 2015)

Hi Justal, I left my tank for about 5-6 weeks to allow it to cycle and then added shrimp and otos.  The guy at my LFS said he cycle his tanks with fish and they have always been fine, but i decided to do a fishless cycle.  In regards to your lighting how long is the photo period at the moment and are you able to dim your lights?
Jim


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## Justal (25 Apr 2015)

banthaman.jm said:


> Hi Justal, I left my tank for about 5-6 weeks to allow it to cycle and then added shrimp and otos.  The guy at my LFS said he cycle his tanks with fish and they have always been fine, but i decided to do a fishless cycle.  In regards to your lighting how long is the photo period at the moment and are you able to dim your lights?
> Jim



Photo period during the dry start phase was 10 hours per day I think, but I've cut that down to a short 1.5 hour phase in the morning so that I can take a look in the tank while I'm getting ready for work (5:00-6:30am) and then an evening phase of 3.5 hours 6:30-10:00, so only 5 hours in total, but still the algae seem to be winning.

I added a couple of Amano shrimp to the tank yesterday to see how they get on, if they don't seem to be struggling I'll add some more so that they can battle with the algae to some degree, but what are people recommendations to stop it in its tracks? I can dim the lights - would that be an option? The algae seems to be coating the rock and pebbles, but there is also now some longer filamentous strands coming off some of the rocks, and worse still some coating the Eleocharis. I'll try to take some photos to show you, but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Al.


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## Justal (25 Apr 2015)

Some photos....

Algae smothering the Eleocharis


 

Algal Sludge on the pebbles


 

Filamentous Algae on the Rocks


 

Strange 'Brown Fuzz' on the Pebbles - This seems to be coating everything, is it coming from the substrate or is it yet another type of algae?


 

Half of the Clean up Crew and first resident 


 

Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Al.


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## banthaman.jm (26 Apr 2015)

Hi Justal, Thanks for the info and light setting.  The levels of algae are quite high on the rocks and gravel, some of the thread algae can be removed mechanically (tweezers or toothbrush) but the algae on the Eleocharis is much more difficult.  From all of the reading i have done on here as well as my experiences and advise from others i would recommend doing a black out of the tank, the plants will be fine but the algae cannot handle it. Here is a link that i read from ceg:


ceg4048 said:


> Hi,
> The blackout should knock back the algae quite a bit. Go ahead and do the immediate water change and turn on lights+ CO2 again. The plants need to start production again. Don't forget to dose. I would severely restrict the photoperiod though seeing as that was what got you in trouble in the first place. Even though you are dosing more it takes time for the plants to reconfigure their chemistry to take full advantage of the new dosing scheme. Meanwhile they continue to "bleed" and algae again have an advantage. It's Catch-22 but it has to be done. The frequent water changes help to limit the impact of the "bleeding".
> 
> An analogy: If I found you starving in the desert and gave you food and water that would save you that day but it would take a few weeks of feeding before you'd regain your original weight, right? This is the case here. As you continue to physically remove the algae, then also continue to remove ammonia and spores via water changes. Continue to limit the light and to dose. Over the next few weeks you should notice that less and less algae re-grows. This is a signal that the plants are regaining their health. As the plants regain their health they will then start to absorb ammonia instead of ejecting it into the water column.
> ...



I have been dosing Easycarbo to great effect.
Best of luck with the algae and keep us informed on your progress.
Jim


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## Justal (26 May 2015)

Don't want to talk too soon, but I think with plenty of manual cleaning of algae and a slight reduction in light intensity I might just be getting on top of things on the algae front.

I've managed to remove most of the algae from the _Eleocharis_ and _Echinodorus.



 
_
The 'mountainous slopes' are beginning to look quite good.



 

And here's today's full tank shot.



 

What else is needed? Any suggestions on what I should do to improve it as it begins to take shape?

Thanks for looking,
Al.


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## Greenfinger2 (26 May 2015)

Hi Justal,Glad you are getting on top of the algae  The Scape is looking good


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## banthaman.jm (27 May 2015)

Great news about the algae 
Jim


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## Justal (31 May 2015)

Time for an update.... Still keeping the algae at bay and plants are looking healthy. Fish and shrimps doing well too.



 

I’m now in two minds as to whether to keep the left hand side fairly free and open to create a sense of space or add more plants and height on this side simply because I can’t resist more plants! Although, keeping it open does allow this view from a different angle.


 

More photos here: http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2015/aquascape-additions/

What do you reckon? More plants or more patience to let the Eleocharis and Echinodorus fill out and cover the substrate better?

Al.


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## banthaman.jm (1 Jun 2015)

Hey justal,
Tank is looking great.  I have had a look at what you said about the LHS of the tank, i think it looks nice open as it is.  Have you thought about moving the Alternanthera further over to the left back corner for better perspective.
Jim


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## Justal (23 Nov 2015)

TIme for another update. I added a CO2 system back in August (http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2015/aquarium-update-wheres-the-carpet-and-adding-co2/) and things seems to be settling in now.
Here's a couple of quick shots of how it's looking today.



 


 

Any comments?
Al.


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## Greenfinger2 (23 Nov 2015)

HI Justal, Looking fab


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## Alexander Belchenko (23 Nov 2015)

Very nice autumn colors.


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## Justal (25 Nov 2015)

Time for some more fish now as well to join the Oto's and shrimps. I'm thinking that a nice shoal of Rummy Nosed Tetras would look good in there.

Al.


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## banthaman.jm (26 Nov 2015)

The rummy nose tetras will look lovely with the colours of your tank, look forward to seeing the new additions
Jim


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## Justal (7 Dec 2015)

Decided to go with a shoal of 12 Golden (Beckford's) Pencilfish in the end - just to be a little different. They shoal just as well as Rummy Nosed Tetras and I love the way they just hang seemingly motionless in the water.

I'll try to get some photos later in the week once they've settled in properly... I couldn't resist buying a few little plants whilst at Aquajardin as well!

Al.


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## Greenfinger2 (7 Dec 2015)

Hi Justal, Looking forward to the photos


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## Justal (15 Dec 2015)

Some photos now that the Pencilfish have settled in.


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## Justal (6 Jan 2016)

Time for a 2016 update.
The Sodastream CO2 cylinder ran out of juice over the Christmas - that's about 4 months of use from it which I think is pretty good going I think and at £10 a refill from Argos that should work out at £30 a year which is doable. Otherwise, things are looking good. Here's the latest shot. Sorry about the poor quality but it should give you the gist of it.

http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2016/aquascape-update/

What do you think - it's beginning to come together now. I could do with a better 'lawn' in the foreground but that is so far proving difficult. Otherwise things are doing well and it requires minimum maintenance. Just feeding and the occasional small water change and a little bit of trimming here and there. Suggestion and constructive criticisms always welcome.

Al.


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## Alexander Belchenko (6 Jan 2016)

I like the overall look. Your pogostemon helferi looks very good and healthy, and that's not very easy plant for me - so you must be doing something right.
Some ideas for foreground lawn: using marsilea or any flat moss (java moss, christmas moss) - maybe? Unfortunately those options mean - dark green color, and that could be mismatch of your current gamma in the tank.
I'd probaly try monte-carlo for carpet - if I had CO2 injection. Or just good old hydrocotyle tripartita (sp. japan) - it's very easy to grow.


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## aaron.c (6 Jan 2016)

Good work with the pogostemon helferi, mine melts almost instantly it seems


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## Justal (6 Jan 2016)

Don't want to jinx it but the _Pogostemon helferi_ does seem to be doing well. Although, saying that it doesn't seem to grow much it just stays the same all the time. If it continues in that way then that's fine for me as it means very little maintenance required, no trimming etc. and it has to be better than it just melting away. The moss at the RHS grows like mad and does need a bit of trimming now and then which then just means that there are lots of bits of moss all over the tank and these seems to take hold anywhere, so most of my time is spent weeding these out wherever I can... Is there an easy way to trim moss without it going everywhere?

The _Anubius _seems to grow well too - slowly of course but that's to be expected from _Anubius_. I'm quite pleased with the _Nymphoides _in the LH back corner now as well as I think it balances out the overall look well but still leaves plenty of free swimming space in the tank too. As for the foreground then maybe a moss would do the trick, but as you say it might be a little too dark. The _Eleocharis_ and _Echinodorus_ are still hanging in there but don't seem to be doing much. I'm beginning to think that maybe overall energy levels (light and CO2) are actually quite low as it's the _Anubius_, Moss and _Nymphoides _that seem to be doing well. Maybe an increase in light and CO2 levels would help, but I'm a little reluctant to start fiddling with that as:

1. I seem to have a good balance at the moment with not too much algal growth.
2. Most plants seem to be surviving even if some are not 'thriving'.
3. Growth is relatively slow which is fine by me as I don't want to be trimming plants everyday.
4. The plants with lower energy requirements seem to be growing well.
5. The fish seem more than happy with the way things are at the moment.

Although reluctant to increase energy levels if the consensus is that doing so would improve the health of the plants, especially the foreground _Eleocharis_ and _Echinodorus _without upsetting the plants that are currently doing well, I would be tempted. The question is, is it worth the risk of causing an imbalance now that things seem quite settled? Also, I don't currently add any fertiliser, plant food or supplements of any sort - if I increased the energy levels I might need to start supplementing with nutrients as well which would be just one more thing to get wrong!

Maybe I would be better off looking for foreground plants with lower energy level requirements - after all I can't provide suitable conditions for all plants if some have different requirements to other... or can I?

Al.


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## Alexander Belchenko (6 Jan 2016)

I like your slow & low energy approach, at least it looks quite good for me now, judging by photo.

...Maybe I would be better off looking for foreground plants with lower energy level requirements...​
I think marsilea or tripartita will work good in this category.


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## alto (6 Jan 2016)

Justal said:


> Also, I don't currently add any fertiliser, plant food or supplements of any sort


I'd begin adding low amounts of a commercial fertilizer such as Tropica  - I'd begin with 1 pump/day of the Tropica Premium, adding 1 pump of the Specialized on alternate days; for the first couple of weeks, you can not add the Premium on days when you add Specialized .. I suspect you'll start to see more growth ... it may be photo/monitor effect but some of the plants seem more yellow/less robust leaf structure which is usually an indication of something missing.

If you observe significant increase in growth, then you may need to also increase CO2  (as you mention).

I second Alexander on the 'Monte Carlo' - it can do very well in slow growth systems

Tank is looking great 

George Farmer has a video
Trimming moss with the mess


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