# 60P - The Shimmering of Light



## The_Iceman

Ahoi UKAPS,

right now I'm in the preparation stage for my new project called "The Shimmering of Light".

The Hardware is almost complete!

Got the tank:





Got the CO2 Adapter so I can finally get rid of these small cardridges:





Aaaand I applied a background:





Sand - check!:





Now I need to wait a little bit longer for the cabinet and my rocks for the hardscape (Cheeeers Viktor  ) and then I'm going to provide you another update about the Progress 

Will be another





Best regards,
Chris


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## allan angus

nice chris cant wait to see your next scape


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## Crossocheilus

Looks good, "The Shimmering of Light" I'm guessing leds? 

Good luck Chris


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## The_Iceman

Thanks guys 

Yeah... it will feature LED lights... , but the title is more or less like it is, because of the "open space" in the middle and the background illumination 

The sketch of the layout is already ready... rocks are ordered... plant-list is almost finished... 
now I need to find some good driftwood 

I'll keep you posted 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, The Equipment Looks Cool  Good luck with finding the DW. I always find the best bits when i am not looking for them 
Looking forward to seeing the scape evolve now


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## James D

Exciting times Iceman...... Welcome to the 60-P club, I'm looking forward to see what you do with it.


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## Ryan Thang To

Hello ice man. Just a quick question. Where did you get the CO2 Adapter and how much?

Cheers
Ryan


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## The_Iceman

Hi Ryan,

I got it from here:
http://www.garnelenhaus.de/Aqua-Design-Amano/CO2-System/CO2-Equipment/ADA-CO2-Adapter::1701.html

39,90 Euro... not so expensive if you think about that a single "small" CO2 cartridge costs 12,95 Euro...


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## Ryan Thang To

thank for that.

cheers
ryan


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## The_Iceman

Phew... next part arrived:





Perhaps I should rename the Scape to "Design-P*rn* 





Never thought that just an empty tank could be so sexy... 

I tested some "green color filters" which will be placed under the led unit to achieve a similar greenish cast to the scape like the HQI unit with the NAG green lamp is producing... Looks quite good in the first test... reduces the light Output slightly... but for this scape... it's ok!

Cheers,
Chris


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## Deano3

Nice chris looking forward to this scape, were did you get your background ebay ? Is it just frosted

Thanks Dean


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## The_Iceman

Hi Dean,

yes, it's a frosted background from Orafol.
I cutted it on a plotter at work and I don't know if you can buy this material in a webshop... but any frosted background material should be fine.

Small update:
Prepared the first bunch of Wabi-Kusa for this new project (need additional 2):



It's a mix of Amazonia Soil + Sphagnum Moss with a small Piece of Ohko rock in the middle for the extra weight...

Plants (only for the Wabi-Kusa) arrived today...so I will prepare everything later on and update the Journal:

Rotala rotundifolia red
Ludwigia arcuata
Rotala indica 
Rotala "Nanjenchan"
Green Rotala (Rotala sp. „Green")
Rotala Ceylon

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Deano3 said:


> Nice chris looking forward to this scape, were did you get your background ebay ? Is it just frosted
> 
> Thanks Dean


Hi Sorry to butt in. You can use the film that you put on clear bathroom windows. So you cannot see in  Its frosted just wet the glass and apply with a damp cloth  B&Q or most hardware stores stock it


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## Deano3

Thanx for that cannot decide between frosted or black had black so might try frosted, love wabi-kusa so look forwsrd to updates


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## The_Iceman

I would say... not too bad for the first try, or? 



 

Now 2 more, with the red stem plants and then it just needs to grow 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Gary Nelson

Great pictures and I like the frosted tank background - what are you using for your light filters?


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## The_Iceman

Thank you Gary! 

I got a LEE COLOUR FILTER 116 M BLUE-GREEN here... 
But I'll definitely not cover the complete LED. I have the assumption that it could have a bad influence on the spectrum, if too much is covered by the filter.

Will make some photos in 2 weeks with the filter attached, when I'm back from my business trip.

Cheers,
Chris


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## Gary Nelson

Thanks for the info Chris, I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures and following with big interest


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## X3NiTH

The_Iceman said:


> I got a LEE COLOUR FILTER 116 M BLUE-GREEN here...
> But I'll definitely not cover the complete LED. I have the assumption that it could have a bad influence on the spectrum, if too much is covered by the filter.



Excellent! On a similar theme I've thought of using a Soft ND Grad fixed to my mini400 Tile so I can shade my Anubia Wall without blocking the light entirely and be able to have the light at max and not worry about killing the plants.


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice. Very nice W-K balls   They will look fab in a few weeks  Cannot wait for the updates now


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## The_Iceman

Thanks Greenfinger2,

will update everything in 2 weeks .

All W-K balls are finished now and I instructed my girlfriend on how to do the maintenance *fingerscrossed* 




 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Looking forward to the updates


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## Jaap

I would like to see the Updates! Nice Project!


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## flygja

I've never seen DIY wabikusa balls like that before. This will be interesting.


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## Deano3

Following this also, hats off to you for  convincing your lass to do maintenance hopefully works out great looking forward to seeing this on grow in


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## The_Iceman

So far, it seems to work 

My girlfriend send me over a pic of the Wabi-Ks... Looks like there's some progress:



 

Some plants are changing from submersed state to emeres grow... but I can see new runners everywhere 
This is going to be fun 

Cheers Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Nice growth  They will look superb in a few weeks 
Congratulation to your Girlfriend. For a job well done in looking after them


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## The_Iceman

Hi UKAPS,

Back from my trip, so I had some time to check the Wabi-Kusa...
Really nice growth going on there. Root system has established and small runners are finally appearing.
In order to avoid mold, I mixed a little bit of ADA Phyton Git in the RO Water.

Plus I'm now firing the ADA Aquasky 601 at the WK to improve the growth!

Status of today:





 


 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, With the new lighting the plants will grow faster and stronger. And will give the plants a better colour too


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## The_Iceman

I hope so Roy 

Made the final adjustment to the light today:

NAG Green Style (looks little bit too extreme on the photo, but it isn't  )


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## The_Iceman

Hello UKAPS,

my cabinet will arrive soon  Can't wait to start this project at full speed 

In the meantime, my Wabi Kusa are enjoying the extra light:


 

At least the 4 stem-plant mix ones... the 2 red stem pant Wabi Kusa are not so well.. I'm quite sure the have been too wet the last couple of days.
But I'm patient... perhaps they will recover!

I received a ADA Aquasky knock-off from China this week, called Chihiro Aquasky!
I have to say, I'm impressed:



 

The build quality isn't as good as the ADA one, but hey... the light output is almost the same.
The Chihiro Aquasky is even a little bit more colder and intense, because of 10 additional LEDs.



 

Can't wait to get started... ok I'm not so patient 

Enjoy the nice sunday (at least it is here in germany)!

Cheers, 
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Hope the red W-K recover they should do.The W-K looks great  Love the set up fab lights.You will be growing hundreds of W-K soon  
The weather is great in England too.For this time of year 
Fingers crossed we will both have a mild winter as well


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## The_Iceman

Finally! Received a package from Hungary yesterday... What a nice build quality:



 

Now it's time to get the tech sorted,the hardscape arranged and the Wabi Kusa placed!

Grow rate is fantastic:


 

Wohoooo 

Cheers,
Chris


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## navneethtk

Wow that's lovely! I gotta try this. Great job chris!

Sent from my Panasonic P11


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## The_Iceman

Thanks navneethtk


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## Crossocheilus

Ooh nice hardware, should be great once finished!


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, The Tank,Cupboard and lights look fab. Congratulations on the Wabi-Kusa They look stunning 
Looking forward to seeing this all come together now


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## The_Iceman

Thanks Roy 

Had the chance to buy the first part of the hardscape today.
I'm still arranging the wood...still not happy, but I'm getting there.



 

The root on the lower right side will be cut out, otherwise it will be too massive in the 60P.
I will also re-arrange some branches... as this is not 1 root, but multiple.

When I'm happy everything will be attached to the main root and placed in the tank


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## The_Iceman

Everything's coming together now!

My ADA Manten-Stones will arrive this week! Here is a quick shot, made from the dealer:




Final Arrangement of my driftwood:





Looks like the Weekend will be "booked" for scaping  I'm so excited!

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Your Excited So am i  Nice rock and DW


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## Crossocheilus

ADA Manten stone, that's seriously expensive stuff...
Great composition with the wood, should be a really great scape once completed.


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## The_Iceman

Finally!

Feeling like a Little child on Christmas eve!
Picked the first 2 Stones out of the box:




 



 

They look absolutely amazing! Have 10kg to Play around with this evening! YAY \o/

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Nice Rock


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## sonicninja

Who thought we could get so excited by rock. Lovely set-up. Very jealous of the ADA LED


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## The_Iceman

Thanks guys 

Sweating like hell... but finally... came up with something today:





Will add the mix of La Plata and Colorata sand tomorrow in the front +  Power Sand and Soil.
Then it's time to get the Wabi Kusa placed


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## Alexander Belchenko

Great. Not sure why but I have a feeling you forgot to add one more stone at right side.
Also, if you want your soil to do not mix with sand, you'd better make sure there are no holes of significant size in your rock wall. You may put some plastic delimiter behind the wall, maybe.

Sent via Tapatalk


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## The_Iceman

Thanks Alexander.

I will follow your advice and put some plastic behind 1 or 2 stones... 
The right side is so "low" on purpose, you will see it when the Soil is in the tank and plants are placed.

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice,Looking fab  Looking forward to seeing the plants in


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## The_Iceman

Thank you Roy 

I think I'm quite happy now with the sand-mix in the front area.
The stone on the left is quite dominant, but it will be covered with hydrocolyte soon... so let's hope the best 



 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Alexander Belchenko

Wow, I like that sand. Very warm color.

Do you mean mix of La Plata and Colorado? Can you say which amount did you use? Just small bag of 2kg each?


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## The_Iceman

Thank you Alexander...

It's a 50:50 mix of LaPlata with Colorado.

Yepp, I bought the small 2KG bags... I have so much left... used only 40% of each bag and there's still a small amount of the mix which I didn't use.

Will make a close up tomorrow, I like the "shimmering" of the sand now in combination with the different colors of the stones...


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Very nice i love the sand and the contrasting colour of the rocks


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## The_Iceman

Getting closer...

Took me 2 1/2 hours today to arrange the PowerSand + Amazonia Soil ( and pick the little soil particles out of the sand  ).
Will make some fine adjustments tomorrow and then it's time for "planting" 



 

Cheers,
Chris


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## razvaa

Hi, I like the scape, is ... perfect in my opinion. It will be my inspiration 
The wood is somehow ADA Branch Wood or Red Moor ?


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## The_Iceman

Thank you razvaa 

It's just "regular" driftwood, but multiple pieces combined together.
Manzanita would have been nice... but unfortunately it's hard to get here in germany.

Attached the LED background 10 minutes ago:



 



 



 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Love the back back lighting


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## Janf

Nice project! Can't wait to see what comes next 

Regards,
André


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## The_Iceman

Good evening UKAPS,

what can I say... it's all coming together now! 

Right after work, I started with arranging my Wabi Kusa!
Yepp... looks good!



A few minutes *cough* hours later the background and the middle area were finished!
Unfortunately I miscalculated the amount of parvula needed, so I have to get some more for the back and middle right area!





Everything else looks good so far:



Tomorrow it's time to plant the rest of the parvula and attach the moss to the driftwood.

For now... I say: Have a good night! 




Cheers 
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Wow this Aquascape is coming together fast the W-K have done very wellDid you keep one aside to grow on?
Looking forward to seeing how the W-K grow in to the scape


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## The_Iceman

Thank you guys...

Yepp Roy, a Little bit faster than expected... but hey... 
Unfortunately not, but I already made another small WK ball and have some spare-stem-plants left... so I'm going to recreate another one, just for the window sill hehe...

Cheers,
Chris


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## parotet

Hi Chris

I want to try in the coming setups working with wabi kusa. I first saw this technique in ADA videos and it looks like it works very well as you achieve very high biomass very quickly. Nevertheless I wonder if the sphagnum is the best option for wrapping the balls as it is not an true aquatic moss... Have you tried it before? As fas as I know, ADA wabi kusa balls are just a stone and aquasoil wrapped with a net, so materials that afterwards will perfectly merge with the setup.
Looks promising your tank, congrats. And of course subscribed!

Jordi


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## The_Iceman

Thank you Jordi

that's not correct as far as I know... ADA is using no soil at all in their WK.
I found a Webpage where a "karen" (the small Wabi Kusa Version) was torn apart:

http://pxyg.blog50.fc2.com/blog-entry-1959.html

It's some sort of gras/hay in combination with moss and Stones...
I mixed this combination with soil, only because of the fertilizers... by doing this I only had to use RO water.
Plant growth was superb! 

But take care with the amount of soil used... for 2 Wabi Kusa I used  A LOT more of the Amazonia and those were the ones who started to get a Little bit of mold.
I solved it by attaching a Little bit of sphaghnum on the outside and watering them only from the bottom. This worked quite well. 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Alexander Belchenko

Hmm, interesting. Would you call your composition U-shape or island?
Looking at your wood I was under impression you're after an island. Now I see you put your stem wabikusa into U-position. Interesting to see how it will grow over time.


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## The_Iceman

Hmmm... I would say a mix of both.
I don't wanted to have the classical island or U-shape...  but I liked both, so I looked at some nature aquariums Amano did and this was somehow my inspiration.
The wabi kusa in the background will be trimmed a little bit rounded (2 to 3) with an empty area a little bit away from the centre... that's the plan.

BTW: finished planting today!
While I'm writing these lines water is running into the tank 




 



 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Sk3lly

Love the look of this tank!!

What is the little white box at the front right??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Crossocheilus

Looks like a twinstar controller to me... then again I may be completely wrong!


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## The_Iceman

Thank you Sk3lly,

indeed, it's the Twinstar Controller Box...


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## Crossocheilus

How's the filling going Iceman? Can we get pics soon?

Btw great tank, I've been watching from the start and I'm sure it'll be a real winner once mature


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## Sk3lly

The_Iceman said:


> Thank you Sk3lly,
> 
> indeed, it's the Twinstar Controller Box...


What does the twinstar box do? I've not seen them before


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Wisey

Sk3lly, there is a whole thead on Twinstar in General at the moment.

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/twinstar-what-is-it.28335/


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## The_Iceman

Crossocheilus said:


> How's the filling going Iceman? Can we get pics soon?
> 
> Btw great tank, I've been watching from the start and I'm sure it'll be a real winner once mature




Thank you sir 

Filling went well... was a long night.
Thank god the wabi ks didn't float up 

The water is still a little bit cloudy this morning because I didn't wash the sand before putting it into the tank


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## Luís Cardoso

Wonderfull....


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## The_Iceman

Growth kicked in quite well... So far everything is looking good.
Will provide some better photos later on...

Sunrise in paradise:





Sorry for the bad photo quality... next thing I need to buy... DSLR!

Edit: As promised, here the better Quality pics.



















 

Cheers,
Chris


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## EdwinK

Really well done. One small thing that bothers me is a bit different textures of the stones.


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Stunning mate  Love the back lighting


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## The_Iceman

Again, thanks guys 

Thanks Edwin... Manten "shimmers" quite extreme... I think it will fit perfectly after the background has grown bigger.
The different colors of the Rotala mix will be colourful, too... at least that's the plan.

Lets see how good it will work out in the end. Sometimes real live doesn't match the theory 
Now it's too late to change the stones 

Cheers
Chris


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## EdwinK

Of course when plants grow thicker you will be able to hide some certain details  Nothing to worry about.


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## The_Iceman

Quick one for you guys 

Still busy with the daily water changes, but the growth... holy cow... next week I can start trimming already 
And everything is so dense...

Left:


 

Right:


 

Top:


 

Cheers,
Chris


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## EdwinK

I'll say ir american way - awesome.


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice,
Superb lush growth from the W-K


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## tmiravent

realy cool, well donez!


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## The_Iceman

Thank you guys!
Had some worries about the WKs under water at the beginning... but wow...these 6 buddies are in overdrive!

Will wait 2 more weeks to see which plants are more dominant in the back (at the moment it seems like a good mix of red and green ones) and then I'll add some nice fish.
At the moment I'm thinking about:

Hyphessobrycon flammeus and
Paracheirodon innesi var. Diamond

What do you think, good match?


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## The_Iceman

Nothing new so far... everything is still growing...
The Amano shrimps are making a mess in the sand, so it is tough to keep it clean 

No algae in sight, thanks to a good amount of CO2 + a mature filter.

Excuse the heater on the left, but it's a little bit cold in the kitchen and I don't want a temp drop below 21°.
Here's a shot, right after cleaning up:



 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Alexander Belchenko

Nice photo! I think now I can see your idea with this tank better.

I spot some neon tetra. Your livestock question is answered? I've never seen flame tetra in normal condition (I mean not in sail tank where the fish lost its colors) but judging from photos from internet I guess the shape of its body and coloration make this fish suitable to that layout.

Sent via Tapatalk


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## The_Iceman

Thanks Alex,

that's good  Most of the Stones will be covered later on with moss or hydrocotyle, apart from small elements for Focus.
When the Wabi Kusa are fully grown they will cover some parts of the driftwood, too! 
Only the middle area where the parvula has been planted will be left out...

Yepp the first 5 are in... will put another 5 in this week, so I'll end up with 10 neon tetras and perhaps 6 Hyphessobrycon flammeus (Roter von Rio).
It will be a colorfull tank at the end, so I wanted the fish to be colorfull, too 

In 3 more weeks I'll give it a good trim... so everything's coming into shape.

Cheers,
Chris


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## Alexander Belchenko

I hope your middle area won't be shadowed too much by stems. I heard parvula likes strong light, I had problem to grow it successfully in the shade of other plants in my first layout of pet shop tank (with white sand). For me it was growing very slooow, but it was planted in white sand, not in ada substrate. Probably that's also makes huge difference.


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## The_Iceman

Made my choice, finally... and it was a good one 





Still no algae in sight... fantastic grow rate...
Will I place WABI KUSA in a tank again? Definitely 

I've ordered a Hydor external heater, so I can get rid of this ugly thing on the left side...

Cheers,
Chris


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## Sk3lly

Love this tank but the only thing that niggles me is the smooth black stones. They look out of place. 

Still think it looks great though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The_Iceman

Thank you Sk3lly!

The black ones are only there to keep the driftwood down 
Will remove them in some weeks..


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## Sk3lly

The_Iceman said:


> Thank you Sk3lly!
> 
> The black ones are only there to keep the driftwood down
> Will remove them in some weeks..


That will be why they look out of place then lol. 

Great work 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Looking fab


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## The_Iceman

Day 17... my bloody inline atomiser bursted with a big bang 

Thanks to god, I had a spare diffusor here...

No sign of algae, still...

But the Hydrocotyle is finally crawling over the stones to hide some shabby areas  and plants are getting more and more reddish... started with a small amount "Fe" to bump the red!

Here we go:



 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Alexander Belchenko

It looks like you'll get finished picture in one month. Cool.

Sent via Tapatalk


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## The_Iceman

Haha... no Alexander, I don't think so...

Grow rate is stunning, but the moss takes aaaages  
I'm thinking about re-arranging 1-2 Stones when the black ones are out... let's wait and see 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, 
Looking Cool  Fab plant growth  Mosses do take there time to settle in A light trim will get them to bush out more.


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## Vivian Andrew

Nice looking tank love your scape, is there any life span for wabi kusa and when it grows will the roots come out or it will be intact


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## The_Iceman

Thank you Andrew,

the roots are growing out of the Wabi Kusa when placed in the tank. In emersed state they grow more or less inside the Wabi Kusa.
At the Moment they look quite intact as far as I can tell... the plants are covering it completely.


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## sonicninja

Amazing. Wish I'd managed this on my 60P. Can I ask exactly what hydrocotyle that is? The growth is really compact!


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## Vivian Andrew

The_Iceman said:


> Thank you Andrew,
> 
> the roots are growing out of the Wabi Kusa when placed in the tank. In emersed state they grow more or less inside the Wabi Kusa.
> At the Moment they look quite intact as far as I can tell... the plants are covering it completely.



Will try your method in my next scape


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## Alexander Belchenko

sonicninja said:


> Can I ask exactly what hydrocotyle that is? The growth is really compact!



That's hydrocotyle tripartita and it's quite a weed.


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## sonicninja

I was wondering if it was sp. Japan or not.


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## The_Iceman

That's correct Alex... it's growing like hell... had to trim it already two times


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## The_Iceman

Small update guys 









Cheers,
Chris


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## Vivian Andrew

So finally removed all the supporting stones huh, looking good now


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## The_Iceman

Not all of them, still 2 more to go... The Manten on the driftwood will be placed in the middle area on the sand later on.
+ I'm not yet really happy with the placement of this small stone on the left side... changed it this morning again... Looks a Little bit better.

Removed the Twinstar, too... I don't need it + it's ugly as hell


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## The_Iceman

First real trimming is done.

The corners are a little bit screwed up and I cut them too low...
But it will grow back 

Re-arranged the stones again... much happier now about the placement. Only the last 2 stones for keeping the DW down are bothering me 



 

Enjoy the last day of the weekend!

Cheers,
Chris


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## Alexander Belchenko

Very nice.
But, honestly, I'm still waiting what you're going to do with that triangle rock at left side. It looks too straight comparing to others.


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## Vivian Andrew

Looking nice and crystal clear.



Alexander Belchenko said:


> I'm still waiting what you're going to do with that triangle rock at left side



Agree with Alexander


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## The_Iceman

Alexander Belchenko said:


> Very nice.
> But, honestly, I'm still waiting what you're going to do with that triangle rock at left side. It looks too straight comparing to others.


 
You will not see much of this one later on... the hydrocotyle already starts to cover it hehe...

BTW:
Added a few more plants in the "mix", now the backround includes:

Rotala rotundifolia Rot
Ludwigia arcuata
Rotala ceylon
rotala indica
Rotala nanjenchan
Green Rotala (Rotala sp. „Green")
Rotala sp. Vietnam
Rotala sp. Colorata
Rotala sp. Blood red
Rotala Mexicana Bangladesh
Rotala macandra

Pics will follow when everything is grown in nicely hehe...

Cheers,
Chris


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## tim

This is going really well, good job so far.


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## Alexander Belchenko

You have a lot of sp. in there. Hope it gives you desired effect.


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## Crossocheilus

That's a lot of rotala, as Alex said it could look amazing, could look too complicated, we shall see...


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## The_Iceman

quick n dirty (really, it's dirty) ... you can't see much of the new plants yet... as they hide under the rotala forest!
Added a second 601 unit... 



 

Hydrocotyle starts covering places 
I'm just hating the look of the weeping moss... thinking about replacing it with something else...

Classic Java? Or Willow moss?!

Ideas?

Cheers,
Chris


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## parotet

A second AquaSky unit? Mate this is playing really hard! Hope you got a perfect co2 performance...
Looking forward to seeing this promising rotala forest

Jordi


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## The_Iceman

Should work... time will tell 
It's not turned on 100% of the time... only 3-4 hours.

Chris


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## Robert H. Tavera

Ii's nice, but I think I've seen it before... 



I also like that tank a lot. 

It's a good start but maybe in the future you could create a unique aquascape, something more personal.


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## The_Iceman

Hi Robert,

yes, that was my inspiration indeed. 
It will have my personal touch as you can't re-create a scape 1:1 that's not possible.

This tank here is more about trying the Wabi-Kusa, which will be used for my next project, too 

Cheers
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Looking great Time for a light trim


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## Wallis97

I like this one!


From Alex - Internet names may vary. Comment not fit for human consumption. Contains small parts.


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## DivZero

The_Iceman said:


> Added a second 601 unit...



Just out of curiosity. Why a second ADA light? I previously read you were happy with Chihiro Aquasky and I've seen that you built an awesome LED light yourself!


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## parotet

DivZero said:


> Just out of curiosity. Why a second ADA light? I previously read you were happy with Chihiro Aquasky and I've seen that you built an awesome LED light yourself!


Yep, don't mean you don't know what you're doing but have a look to the PAR measurements of ADA AquaSky 601... (http://www.prirodni-akvarium.cz/index.php?id=mereni) (use google translator, it is worth it).... And then multiply x2! You have probably 250 micromol PAR at the substrate and more than 350 at the water level. This is not high light, it is super high light mega photon bombing 

Look also at the clip, this tank is not working even with one AquaSky 601 unit but with the Solar unit and it seems that quite above the tank (lower PAR for sure).

Not saying that it is impossible. Just have a look at Viktor Lantos Flickr and see what a master can do with a 60p and an AquaSky 602 but I guess it is not easy at all.

Anyway, awesome setup and looking forward to seeing its progress.

Jordi


----------



## The_Iceman

I sold the Chihiro quite early as I thought that I don't really need the extra light... 
Last week I had the chance to get a used 601 unit ... So it was an easy choice! 

After 2 days with the extra light, I see massive pearling after 30 minutes light on and the plants finally turn red!


Gesendet von meinem iPhone mit Tapatalk


----------



## The_Iceman

Thanks Jordi,

I just like to try new things 
Everyone told me to be careful and that it's almost impossible to run a 602 or 2x 601 units... But this is what's driving me...Trying things which people are afraid of.

Made some small layout changes today + small trimming here and there, Roy 

Bad quality mobile picture incoming:






Not 100% happy with the Anubias on left side, could be a little bit too much!

As I don't have a YouTube Account, I uploaded a small video here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2yjb2dgqaimx1eq/Shimmering of Light - Day 31.mp4?dl=0

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## DivZero

The_Iceman said:


> I sold the Chihiro quite early as I thought that I don't really need the extra light...
> Last week I had the chance to get a used 601 unit ... So it was an easy choice!
> 
> After 2 days with the extra light, I see massive pearling after 30 minutes light on and the plants finally turn red!
> 
> 
> Gesendet von meinem iPhone mit Tapatalk


That makes sense. I thought it was weird you would spend full retail price on a brand new light with a chihiro just lying around  

I'm definitely following this to see what happens in this giga PAR raygun setup


----------



## Vivian Andrew

it's looking stunning day by day, how about fissidens in driftwood?


----------



## The_Iceman

Hi guys,

small update from the "giga PAR raygun" 
Both lights are running now 8 hours a day and I changed the amount of fertilizers (upped Nitrates and Phosphates slightly) with a stunning effect after 2 days:



 



 

Ipad pics... so sorry for the quality.

A little bit of green algae on the sand, but can easily be removed during the water change, apart from that, everything's running smooth..

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## tim

Looks great Chris.


----------



## Vivian Andrew

looking great now, you mentioned using RO water are you adding any minerals with it.


----------



## The_Iceman

Hi Andrew,

I mix the RO water with the same amount of tap water (50:50).
I'm not adding additional minerals.

The only thing I do, is to check Nitrates, Phosphates and Potassium and add the proper amount of fertilizers after the water change.
I'm trying to keep them stable over the week. (5mg/L /0,5 mg/L / 5 mg/L), which seems to do the trick.


----------



## Alexander Belchenko

Chris, what test kit do you use to check Potassium?


----------



## The_Iceman

Hi Alexander,

it's the K (Potassium) test from the JBL proScape kit:
http://microsites.jbl.de/ProScape/en/testlab/


----------



## Alexander Belchenko

Oh, thanks. From latest InterZoo I know that's quite new test. We don't have it here yet for sale. I'd like to check it when it will be available here in my country.


----------



## The_Iceman

My pleasure, Alexander!

Just out of interest, I took my seneye out today to measure the PAR readings under both lights...
Holy crap... if the measurement is accurate it states:

6200-6500 Kelvin - Color temperature (depends a Little bit on how I hold the seneye).
Between 350 and 450 PAR direktly under the lights on the water surface.
Between 250 and 300 PAR in the middle of the tank under both lights.





Sorry for the german...

Just FYI 
I can agree... The 602 or two 601 units are a Photon-Bomb!

The only areas where I can see some build up of algae is on the stones in the front... nothing serious.



 



 



 

Bright... even during daylight:



 

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## Vivian Andrew

Hi Chris,

Me too using RO water but following James guide to re-mineralise it, Love the pearling in your tank and nice shots there , in my tank it pearls like yours when i use 6500k light whenever i change to 12000k it pearls less, one more thing planning to do a wabi kusa setup got inspired from your work actually waiting for my sphagnum moss to come, but the pictures which you posted i see you just put the plant on top of the wabi kusa ball and tied up so no need to plant into the wabi kusa?


----------



## Sacha

This tank is so beautiful and healthy.


----------



## The_Iceman

Thank you Sacha 

@Andrew: The only thing I add, is some MgSO4·7 H2O to add more Mg to the water... but thanks for the link, I'll look into it 

It heavily depends on the plants you are going to use! I only used stem plants, which can just tied up on top without the need of actually "planting" it.
Same can be done with HCC.

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## The_Iceman

Good evening UKAPS,

I'm really thinking about limiting the light output a little bit...
I don't have any algae issue, that's not the problem.
But the amount of CO2 and ferts I have to put into this tank is tremendous!

Plus... growth is insane!


----------



## Wallis97

Holy Cow! That is one hell of a lot of growth!


From Alex - Internet names may vary. Comment not fit for human consumption. Contains small parts.


----------



## Alexander Belchenko

It seems that should be a good light if you want to grow plants for sale 
But what's going on with middle part behind the wood? As I remember there is some hair grass? Is it ok?


----------



## parotet

Looks very healthy Chris!

Jordi


----------



## tmiravent

This is a real high speed tank!
Superb! 
Cheers.


----------



## The_Iceman

Thanks everyone 

The hair grass in the back is absolutely fine, Alexander... it just needs a good trim. Can make some close ups at the weekend!

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## The_Iceman

Hi guys,

not much happened the last week.
Don't have much time at the moment, but thanks to god, the tank is still running on it's own 

Colours are intensely red on some rotala spec. + ludwigia.

Could need another good trim though...




 

And the in-situ shot from the middle of my smaaaaall kitchen:



 

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## Sk3lly

Growth on this tank is insane. Those reds are cracking! Love it keep it up


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

That ADA fish feeder is in my wish list, Is something I don't need but it looks so nice !! Maybe Santa will come with it this year. lol


----------



## The_Iceman

Hehe Robert,

yes the feeder is quite nice but extremely expensive in my opinion. I'm glad that I got it from a colleague incl. the stand 

New toys have arrived, delivered to Germany from TheGreenMachine:



 

Now how I have to figure out how this will fit into a Mini S or M hehe..

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## The_Iceman

Played around yesterday already and it will be a Mini S hehe..

Here's a small teaser guys:



 

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## Vivian Andrew

Nice growth, love the colors of your plant, so twinstar came back


----------



## The_Iceman

Hi Andrew,

thanks 

Yes the TS is back... no one wanted to buy it so... and somehow... could be my imagination, but I think with the TS the fish are more active.

Got some new Gadgets this week:



 



 

The tank is running flawlessly... but it needs a good, big trim tomorrow and a clean-up of the sand.

I'm now waiting for the ADA Aquasky Moon incl. the mirror to be available here in Germany... The mirror could add some nice finish to the tank 

Here is day 59:



 

Enjoy the weekend!

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## parotet

Chris, you must have been a good boy this year... Santa has visited you even before Christmas! Congrats for you tank, looks very good.

Jordi


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Ok, I can understand the glass feeder, but... air sweeper  ?  
CO2 with fragance....mmm ok it's a bonus of something I have to use..... but air sweeper?

Why not only using a regular room deodorizing device? 

If I have to mention the top 3 useless things from ADA.... Maybe clean bottle ranks no.1, aquasky mirror no.2 and air sweeper no. 3.


----------



## Joost

Tank looks good in my opinion, but there are just too many unnecessary gadgets hanging on the sides of the tank which really makes it feel unnatural. An example is the twinstar; why would you put it on the front side of the tank and not in the back? It's not something I want to notice straight away in an aquascape.


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Joost said:


> Tank looks good in my opinion, but there are just too many unnecessary gadgets hanging on the sides of the tank which really makes it feel unnatural. An example is the twinstar; why would you put it on the front side of the tank and not in the back? It's not something I want to notice straight away in an aquascape.


That's something I don't understand from ADA, first they sell you a cube garden, and lily pipes under the slogan of "anything blocking the aquascape is unnecessary" and then.. polen glass... and a million objects to hang from your rimless tank..... .

Why not using inline co2 diffusers, Super jetfilters can deal with them.... the hanging co2 systems... . The tools hanging from the rim... are you going to trim your tank daily, or why you need them there?  Do fish need to be fed every 5 minutes or why having the food hanging from the tank?

I share ADA's idea of "Anything blocking the aquascape is unnecesary" but I'll ad, even when the stuff blocking the tank is another ADA device....


----------



## Sk3lly

Well Chris I like the tank. Unlike others I can see past your gadgets and see the beauty of this scape. Great work


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## parotet

Hi all

I don't own a single ADA gadget. I recognize that I love some of them and would buy them, there are other ones I love but I simply cannot/don't want to afford and there are other ones I find completely useless... but well, this is the same old story when discussing in this forum about ADA. And let me recall you what is always concluded: you like them? You can afford them? Then buy them.
We all probably own phones/cars/bikes/tv/computers, etc. that are extremely expensive for the basic function they were supposed to have

Jordi


----------



## The_Iceman

Thank you guys 

I don't want to start any debate on principles about ADA products here...
Is it a little bit cluttered on the left side? YES!
Do I have an inline diffusor here... YES! Is it already in place... YES!



 

It's all about the Scape/Tank and not the gadgets, right?
The only three things that really bother me, are the heater ,the Twinstar and the fact that the Amano shrimps are always playing football with the Soil... not the ADA stuff. 

Now, back to trimming a tropical rainforest and cleaning up a "football" field!

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Sk3lly said:


> Well Chris I like the tank. Unlike others I can see past your gadgets and see the beauty of this scape. Great work
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Ohhh yes,  the aquarium work irself it's superb!!


----------



## REDSTEVEO

Hi Iceman,

Just read this journal from start to finish in one go, great job mate. Really keen to know more about the Twinstar as I notice you put it back in. I saw one a week or two ago at TGM and forgot to ask about it. I am thinking of getting one for my 400 liter Full Monty tank. Still can't quite work out what is coming out of it and where it is coming from? I can see the box, the cable and the tubes connecting it, but where are the bubbles coming from, is it O2?

Keep up the faith!

Steve


----------



## Edvet

Electrolysis from water giving tiny O2(oxygen) bubbles


----------



## REDSTEVEO

Right, still none the wiser really

Just seen this on the net

http://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/t...troller.html?gclid=COTKhbqUy8ICFY3JtAoduS0AaA

Steve


----------



## Vivian Andrew

your tank looks like a dense forest, In our place there is only one dealer for TS and i heard we need to replace disk every 12months which he doesn't have so i never bought, and lucky i won ADA coupons when we went for aquascaping contest with that i can buy 5 9l ADA soil


----------



## The_Iceman

Thanks Andrew 

I think it depends on the water (and Stones used) in the tank. My water is quite soft and the Twinstar is still running like a charm without any signs of usage on the metal parts.
If the water is harder then you can get some residue on the metal parts and the disk needs to be replaced more frequently.

The TS doesn't help in case of red-algae of GSA... but it helps (a little bit) against green algae.
But like with all tools or anti algae Tools it doesn't avoid the reason WHY the algae is popping up...
So if the tank or the nutrient Levels are unstable... I would first start there


----------



## The_Iceman

Ahoi Ukaps,

here we go!

Day 68:



This time as a vid... don't expect too much.

Enjoy the upcoming holidays!

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## parotet

Excellent Chris!


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

So nice congrats Ice !


----------



## viktorlantos

Very nice colorful little garden! Congrat!


----------



## The_Iceman

Thanks Viktor 

During the last days I made some small changes to the tank:




 

Glosso carpet is now growing nicely instead of the sand.

Things to do:
- Moss trimming on the right side
- Hydrocotyle trimming on the right side

BTW: I'm really eager to try out the new Aquasky Moon with the additional light output... could look much nicer than my 2x 601 units.
Have you seen the new light unit already, Viktor?

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## viktorlantos

The_Iceman said:


> BTW: I'm really eager to try out the new Aquasky Moon with the additional light output... could look much nicer than my 2x 601 units.
> Have you seen the new light unit already, Viktor?



I look forward to it as we use many 602 and 601 units in our showroom. 
This start to shipping in january worldwide so hopefully we will have some in hand to test.

By the way test. We were the first in the EU who started to use the Aquasky LED 2.5 years ago and in this timeframe we haven't seen a single aquasky unit which had LED failure. Nada.
I've seen some faulty adapters, but no light failure. Also not seen any decrease on light power in this timeframe. This is cool. Hopefully the new unit will follow this trend.


----------



## The_Iceman

Sounds perfect 

Please let me know when you receive the first units  
It would be interesting to know if one Aquasky Moon is really in between the light output of a 601 standard and the 602.
From the first images I've seen, the Moon looks much broader than the classic...

And as it is impossible to get just the "stand" of a 602 here in germany (wanted to replace my 2x 601 stands with the one from the 602), could be a good alternative for me.

Need some pics Viktor  hehe...

But I can agree with you... never heard or read of any failed LEDs so far!

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## parotet

Hi Chris 

I guess you might have good filtration in that tank. What filter are you using? 

Jordi


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Ok lets see how it carpets...  It has potential!


----------



## The_Iceman

Hi Jordi,

I'm using a Tetra Ex600 Plus without any special filter media. Just the filter + filter mat to improve the flow.
If the plant mass is quite high I have the Eheim Skim here which adds some nice flow "on demand"


----------



## The_Iceman

Ahoi Ukaps,

another small update, shot from the left side:

- removed the twinstar and the heater with photoshop
- trimming and replanting the glosso on a daily basis
- tomorrow it's time to cut the stem plants... again 



 

Enjoy the weekend!

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## DivZero

The_Iceman said:


> - tomorrow it's time to cut the stem plants... again



That's what you get for putting a ray-gun on your tank haha 

The speed that your plants grow and your tank's scape evolves is amazing. Beautiful!


----------



## The_Iceman

Thank you guys... 

He he... DivZero: The ray-gun isn't so extreme as many people think. PLUS: I don't need any extra light anymore in my kitchen 

Next item on the list: Better cam ... pocket cam and iPad is just simply ... well... nothing


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Tour tank grows realy fast!  Yo may sit down in front of it and watch it grow!


----------



## Jaap

The_Iceman said:


> Ahoi Ukaps,
> 
> another small update, shot from the left side:
> 
> - removed the twinstar and the heater with photoshop
> - trimming and replanting the glosso on a daily basis
> - tomorrow it's time to cut the stem plants... again
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Enjoy the weekend!
> 
> Cheers,
> Chris


What moss is that on the wood?


----------



## The_Iceman

Hi Jaap,

that's Vesicularia ferriei "Weeping Moss".


----------



## rodoselada

very nice jungle


----------



## Jaap

The_Iceman said:


> Hi Jaap,
> 
> that's Vesicularia ferriei "Weeping Moss".


Does it cover the wood by growing across it? Or does it just grow without spreading?


----------



## The_Iceman

Thanks Rodoselada 

Jaap, it spreads like hell if you trim it often.
From time to time, I have to "tie it back onto the wood" with a small piece of thread.


----------



## The_Iceman

Ahoi UKAPS 

Tank is still running... thought it would be a good idea to provide some new "different" shots of the tank this time:

Om nom nom:





Food, food? Where's the food?!:




Snaaaails!:




A dream in moss:




Bubble Bath:




Mirror mirror on the wall:




Into the wild:




Hope you like it 

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## nayr88

Thats flippin lovely!


----------



## sonicninja

Still looks amazing. Forgive me if you've already covered this in the thread. Can I ask what your CO2 injection rate and estimated filter turnover is? Your tank is a real inspiration.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Vivian Andrew

Amazing, love your moss growth


----------



## KarthikC

Nice pics of a neat tank. 

Cheers,

Karthik


----------



## The_Iceman

Thanks 

@sonicninja: I'm using a Tetratec Ex600 Plus with a turnover rate of round about 7-8l/h with the inline atomizer attached.
The filter is almost empty, as I'm using only a filter floss pad and the rough filter pad.

CO2 injection rate is round about 3-4bubbles per second, but I'm not quite sure as I tried to focus on the pH drop.
CO2 injection starts 2 hours before the lights turn on and turn off one hour before lights out.

Macro-Fertilizers are added once a week to achieve the following merits:

NO3: 25mg/l
PO4: 1.5mg/l
K: 20 mg/l

PO4 will fall down to almost "0" during 2 days. Then I start adding a small amout of micros every day until the next water change (contains the same amount of Fe like ADA Step 2, but with additional supplements and without the "K").

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## sonicninja

Cheers for that. I also have a 60P and attempted a similar scape using the same reference tank someone posted here. Suffice to say my tank was less successful although its looking a little better since i re-scaped. Anyway, its useful for me to be able to compare filter turnover/injection rate between tanks.
Many Thanks!


----------



## The_Iceman

Ahoi Ukaps,

time for a new update as I reached the next milestone... NEW CAM *yay* 





A shame that Photobucket is reducing the quality so extreme!

I'm really thinking about removing the Hydrocotyle and replacing it with something else... but so far I have no clue which plant to choose.
Will also add some Eleocharis Mini around the stones to make it more "natural" looking.

And the Moss needs a good trim soon 

BTW: removed one ADA Aquasky -> sold
Tuesday the other remaining one will be removed -> changed to an Aquasky Moon + Mirror unit *yay* 

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## Mark-jan

That looks awesome! Maybe replace the Hydrocotyle with some small pieces of driftwood with Anubias 'petite'  
just an idea


----------



## viktorlantos

The_Iceman said:


> Tuesday the other remaining one will be removed -> changed to an Aquasky Moon + Mirror unit *yay*



Wow congrat! For this layout it will work nicely!



The_Iceman said:


> I'm really thinking about removing the Hydrocotyle and replacing it with something else... but so far I have no clue which plant to choose.



The leaf size is too large i think compare to the other plants and your aquarium size.
The mosses the foreground is really nice and the stem background also fits in nicely without distorting the ratios.

Maybe Micranthemum Monte Carlo?
Same vivid light and as it is spreading will move the same way as hydro before.

As an alternative option you may can consider a darker plant. Maybe a different moss then you're using on your trees.

Lovely tank i love the touch of the red in the background!


----------



## The_Iceman

Hey guys, thanks 

An well... WOW thank you Viktor 

Hm... never considered the Monte Carlo. How big is the leaf size compared to HCC? They look similar, right?
As the moss is spreading like hell everywhere, I would rather not bring one more spec. into the tank 

Hmm... but a darker plant could be an idea. Time for research and Photoshop 

Cheers!
Chris


----------



## viktorlantos

Monte Carlo is a bit larger than HC, less demanding so will work nice also in shady areas too.

Piga team - Eweni IAPLC 2014 rank 218 by viktorlantos, on Flickr

or in a later phase

Green Aqua Showroom by viktorlantos, on Flickr


----------



## The_Iceman

I'm speechless 

Looks like I need some Monte Carlo


----------



## Vivian Andrew

you had some driftwood in your tank right

@Viktor 

your tank is stunning, seen your videos and photos all your tanks are beautiful.


----------



## The_Iceman

Wow guys... this thing is a Photon-Bomb!

Right the perfect amount of light (between a 601 and a 602)!

The best thing: Because of the mirror, the light isn't so bright in the back! A nice "shimmering of light" is spread in the room.
I don't need any extra light in the kitchen anymore hehe...

So let's go...

Curious like me:





MORE LEDs:





Damn... I like that:





ULTRABRIGHT:





Front shot:





One more:






 





Phew... 


Now I'm going to relax in front of the tank the last 30 minutes!

SO guys... CHEERS!

- Chris


----------



## Alexander Belchenko

That mirror unit is really interesting thing.


----------



## NC10

Beautiful cat 

.......obviously the tank and new light aren't bad too 

How many LEDS does that fixture have? I've just done a quick google but can't find the answer.


----------



## The_Iceman

NC10 said:


> Beautiful cat
> 
> .......obviously the tank and new light aren't bad too
> 
> How many LEDS does that fixture have? I've just done a quick google but can't find the answer.



Will count the LEDs tomorrow...


----------



## NC10

The_Iceman said:


> Will count the LEDs tomorrow...



Cheers


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Hey!!  You have a grumpy cat there!!!  Like it!!


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Can I make your cat pic a meme?


----------



## The_Iceman

If you like... feel free


----------



## The_Iceman

NC10 said:


> How many LEDS does that fixture have? I've just done a quick google but can't find the answer.



@NC10 : Exactly 100 LEDs! This is the reason, why the moon is much bigger compared to the regular 601


----------



## NC10

Cheers Iceman


----------



## The_Iceman

Ahoi Ukaps...

Finally received a Canon EOS M! I'm quite impressed with the Kit lens!

Made some rough cut backs at the scape last weekend! I think I'll give the Hydrocotyle another try... BUT I'll let the moss cover most parts on the right side.
Should give a good "natural" look.

Please forgive me the dirty Lily Pipes...




 



 

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## viktorlantos

Looks sexy!


----------



## parotet

Congrats once again Chris, it is really impressive what you have achieved in 5 months! 

Jordi


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

Nice !! so luxurious


----------



## The_Iceman

Thank you guys!

@Jordi: Well... it's actually quite hard work, even with a small 60P. 
Frequent water changes, looking at the plants, adjusting the fertilizers, trimming etc. etc....


----------



## Chris Jackson

Well I have to say I'm liking the look of the Aquasky Moon on your tank far more that I did in the ADA promo video and the mirror seems to be keeping light even on the back wall which is a real bonus. How's it for finger marks and the like compared to the clear one?


----------



## The_Iceman

Chris Jackson said:


> How's it for finger marks and the like compared to the clear one?


 
From my point of view, the clear one needed much more care! You could see water splatters and finger marks quite easily.
I only cleaned the moon once so far.

The mirror... well that's a different story


----------



## Robert H. Tavera

The_Iceman said:


> The mirror... well that's a different story



LOL you stop cleaning the clear acrylic stand, you start cleaning the mirror 



Chris Jackson said:


> Well I have to say I'm liking the look of the Aquasky Moon on your tank far more that I did in the ADA promo video and the mirror seems to be keeping light even on the back wall which is a real bonus. How's it for finger marks and the like compared to the clear one?



I agree with you, It looks better in this tank that in campaign's. Maybe the one in the video, was ruined by the fish, overstocked, unatural, and... a pretty bad selection IMHO.


----------



## ADA

Stunning scape, really do like the natural feel.


----------



## The_Iceman

Ahoi UKAPS,

finally returned home today and had time for the first water change + cut back since 2 weeks.

Looks kind of nice, even without water:


 

Rotala potpourri:


 

And the front shot... unfortunately not my best one, but I like the reds:


 

Trimmed the Glosso and moss a little bit today. Moss started to cover most parts of the right side and the Glosso is climbing all over it... 
First I started to remove it, but hey! Somehow I'm loving it!

Looks kind of natural this way. 

The Hydrocotyle is producing smaller leaves since the big trim. Looks better now and I'll give it another chance.

Cheers,
Chris


----------



## ADA

How did you attach your moss? Looking awesome btw.


----------



## The_Iceman

Hey Steve, thanks!

Well I used a cyanoacrylateadhesive (gel) to fixate the moss on the driftwood. When it's growing more dense I wrap it with fine cotton.
This combination helps to keep the moss in place!

When I see that some areas get loose, I wrap it again... this helps


----------



## ADA

Cheers Chris, I'm about to flood mine after DSM with moss, dunno if it's worked, if not will try your method .


----------



## The_Iceman

3 weeks should be OK, I guess! 
Never had luck with the DSM in combination with (Yoghurt-Water) Moss...
But I'm quite impatient hehe...


----------



## ADA

lol me too, didn't bother with yoghurt, it's only for stopping mould and it stinks .


----------



## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Wonderful Scape Congratulation


----------



## The_Iceman

Thank you guys,

but it's been a while since the last shot.

I'm thinking about starting a new scape soon. Perhaps I'll wait one additional month, make some shots and then re-scape this thing.




 



 



 



 



 


Cheers,
Chris


----------



## parotet

As far as I can see it's been around 4 months since you began, isn't it? That's really a fast turnover... I will keep tuned to see the next one 

Jordi


----------



## viktorlantos

Looks Awesome Chris! 
How about the mirror? With your scape this looks pretty cool. How you feel with the daily use? Is it a nice add on or something which you would not pick up next time?


----------



## The_Iceman

Well, to be honest Viktor... it only looks nice, that's all.
During maintenance and cleaning it is more or less a drawback as you can't move the light to the back of the tank (like you could do with the "old" 601).
And you have to clean it at least once a week.

If the scape has a nice colourful stem-plant background then it looks really nice.
But I'm really wondering how it will look with an Iwagumi type scape.

Overall, I would not pick it up next time. It's more ore less a nice gimmick.

Apart from that, I'm really happy with the new light unit!


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## Chris Jackson

Is the mirrow detatchable at all?


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## The_Iceman

Yes, you can detach it, but you have to be very careful.
It sits quite tight and it could scratch the matte surface of the stand.


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## Robert H. Tavera

The_Iceman said:


> I'm thinking about starting a new scape soon. Perhaps I'll wait one additional month, make some shots and then re-scape this thing.



sometimes is nice to start a new tank, the bad thing of doing that is that a mature aquascape is lost, and there are things that just time can do, that's what makes your tank so beatiful. Look at Amano's 180c at sumida aquarium, when it was at the ADA gallery it was about 10 years old, it was so beautiful. But then they rescape it and it lost it's magic. 

Think it twice before you destroy that, you have a priceless garden in there.


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## Tonytony

+1......doesn t hapiness reach its beauty when one is able to appreciate what he has achieved?


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## ADA

What moss did you use?


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## The_Iceman

It's weeping 


Gesendet von meinem iPad mit Tapatalk


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## The_Iceman

Ahoi UKAPS,

ok, I think I'll keep the layout for the 60P for a while 

BUT no one said that I can't start a new project in parallel right? 

Time to start some rock work hehe:









































I sorted them today and will start arranging the layout the next weeks.
With a little bit of fine-tuning the right part should look quite nice in a 120P 

Cheers,
Chris


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## ADA

I think your on to a winner there with that rock already .


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## Alexander Belchenko

Very nice rocks there.


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## Robert H. Tavera

Realy nada ce,  are those manten?


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## The_Iceman

Thank you guys!

Robert, yes, that's Manten.


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## Vivian Andrew

Wow great so we can expect a 120P journal soon, have you decided about the tank, filter and light, so you gonna use LED or T5 and while arranging the layout don't damage the floor


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Nice Rock


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## The_Iceman

Hi Andrew,

tank will be a custom made optiwhite 120P-one from "Emmel" the former ADA manufacturer in germany (before they changed production to China/Japan).
Filter, I have no clue at the Moment, but I will NOT use the ADA ones. Too loud and expensive. I guess I will stick with Eheim here (perhaps 2 for a better flow).

Light will most likely be T5 OR a custom-selfmade LED. As all the LED Solutions for this tank size are way to expensive in my opinion.

Cheers!


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## rodoselada

very nice stone, will be a nice setup with these stones


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## Joost

Your scape looks great, nicely done! I especially enjoy the moss on the wood, it´s truly beautiful.


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## The_Iceman

Thanks again 

Btw: Found some "new kids on the block" today in the morning:









Mini Flame Tetras


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## Alexander Belchenko

wow!


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## rodoselada




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## faizal

viktorlantos said:


> Monte Carlo is a bit larger than HC, less demanding so will work nice also in shady areas too.
> 
> Piga team - Eweni IAPLC 2014 rank 218 by viktorlantos, on Flickr
> 
> Green Aqua Showroom by viktorlantos, on Flickr


Loving the tank's progress iceman,...a dreamy scape indeed  Victor,...how did you get the Monte Carlo to cascade down the dragon stone like that? Did you tie it to the stone?


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## Vivian Andrew

The_Iceman said:


> Hi Andrew,
> 
> tank will be a custom made optiwhite 120P-one from "Emmel" the former ADA manufacturer in germany (before they changed production to China/Japan).
> Filter, I have no clue at the Moment, but I will NOT use the ADA ones. Too loud and expensive. I guess I will stick with Eheim here (perhaps 2 for a better flow).
> 
> Light will most likely be T5 OR a custom-selfmade LED. As all the LED Solutions for this tank size are way to expensive in my opinion.
> 
> Cheers!



Yep custom made are very cheap where you can cut down around 80% cost with same output, i planning to do one already ordered the led .


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## Tim Harrison

The_Iceman said:


> Thanks again
> 
> Btw: Found some "new kids on the block" today in the morning:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mini Flame Tetras


That's amazing...a sure sign you've a very happy tank...


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## ADA

The_Iceman said:


> Hi Andrew,
> 
> tank will be a custom made optiwhite 120P-one from "Emmel" the former ADA manufacturer in germany (before they changed production to China/Japan).
> Filter, I have no clue at the Moment, but I will NOT use the ADA ones. Too loud and expensive. I guess I will stick with Eheim here (perhaps 2 for a better flow).
> 
> Light will most likely be T5 OR a custom-selfmade LED. As all the LED Solutions for this tank size are way to expensive in my opinion.
> 
> Cheers!



I'm running two 1500 ultimas on mine mate, not that expensive.


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## The_Iceman

Hi guys,

still playing around with some new lenses for the EOS M.

So far, my fav is the "nifty fifty" :





Could be a little bit sharper when "open" but hey... I like it 

Cheers,
Chris


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## Sacha

My favourite lens of all time  

Tank looks great, as ever.


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, That scape looks stunning Congratulations


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## The_Iceman

Thanks Roy,

thinking about leaving it like it is at the moment (just get the background in shape) and then take a final shot for the IAPLC...
The moss is way toooo much, but well... I like it.

BTW: This is the moment my girlfriend looked kind of weird at me... I guess she thinks that I'm nuts 





Cheers
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice, Love your way of working things through I do the same thing stuff all over the place And I get the same looks from my Wife


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## Rahms

The_Iceman said:


> BTW: This is the moment my girlfriend looked kind of weird at me... I guess she thinks that I'm nuts
> 
> Cheers
> Chris



For me, the factor determining whether I get a "funny look" or a "telling off" is whether I tidy up afterwards!

Although maybe if my tank was as nice as yours, she wouldn't mind either way....


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## The_Iceman

Hehehe cheers guys!

Room is cleaned up already and girlfriend calmed down again 

What do you guys think? This could be a possible 90P (fine tuning, substrate arrangement and some smaller stones still missing, but you get the idea):

Will extend the right side a little bit more for a "possible" 120P and then decide which one I choose...

Enjoy the Sunday!
Chris


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice,


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## tmiravent

nice! very nice!
love those rocks and composition.
cheers


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## Robert H. Tavera

I like tjhe rock work,  i'll choose a 90p over a 120, why?  I don't know..  I prefer the shape.  A 120H has also a nice shape,  but bigger,  the 45cm of depht is the same in all of them.


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## ADA

Looking good, 120P all the way dude, much more space for future scapes.


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## Mark Green

Some really great pictures in this journal. Love the wabi-kusa idea, it really helped make them stems bushy. Looking forward to the next installment...


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## The_Iceman

Hi guys,

long time no update!
After the final shot (which turned out no so well, unfortunately - previous, older ones were much better imho), 
I rescaped a little bit,changed some fast growing plants with slow growers.

In addition, I removed most of the moss from the driftwood, some of the Manten stones and added some Bolbitis and Narrow leaf.

It's still in the early stages, but you get the idea:






Cheers,
Christian


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## Tonytony

Cool...wood now adds color ans slow growings plants release you from maintenance
.happy to see you keep the jewel


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Ice,Simply Wonderful


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## Tim Harrison

Very nice...that's my kind of planted tank.


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## moroland

looks great


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## KarthikC

Looks very nice. I really like they way it's setup. 

Cheers,

Karthik 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Sk3lly

Amazing again! Some buces's would look nice in there


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## The_Iceman

A nice end, to my first, real aquascape...

The End... IAPLC #451 by Christian Witt

Cheers,
Christian


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## Greenfinger2

Hi Chris, Congratulations On you ranking  Scape is a stunner Love it


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