# Ians Aqua oak 350



## Ian_lawton (28 May 2013)

After spending a few weeks checking out other peoples tanks on the forums i though i might aswell start  speaking up  first of all i must say my tank is nowhere near anybody on here but i have found great inspiration from peoples work and creativity on this site! Before i start sorry about any of the photos if they are poor quality, i hope to have my DSLR back soon!

First up the tank..

Its is a 350Ltr Aqua Oak from Maidenhead, Bought it second hand so the glass is slightly more scratched than i would have liked 






I have recently put two spray bars running the length of the back glass in (half way each)i did this in a bit of a rush i was going to order some acrylic tube and make them myself and also see if i could continue them out of the tank via a shepherds hook all in one but i shall maybe have a go at this later in the summer 


powering one of the spray bars is this HUGE filter, again bought of the internet and i did not actually realise how big it would be until it arrived! 



The other is powered by a less impressive APS filter, this also runs through my UV Steriliser but I am not sure if this is even worth been on? I've not noticed a massive difference.Also at the same side my Co2 is hiding in that cupboard its a JBL unit with a solenoid coming on 2 hours before light and going off two hours before the lights. 



The lights i have above the tank are 4x t5 tubes 2x Jewel High Colour 45W  and 2x Plant Pro arcadia tubes I dont know if this is a bit of overkill??
i also have very faint blue LED's for moonlighting 








and two tiny power heads either end of the tank, these where put in for somewhere for my mountain shrimp to feed from they are often found sat in the flow 
I shall try to get a picture of these with a better camera 

the substrate i used in this tank is JBL malnado? it is not a product i will be using again as i don't think it has any benefits over say gravel IMO, maybe ive used it wrong but it does have the JBL soil underneath also, just not had any good results from it, i tried to cover it with tiny black pebbles but that in turn turned into a disaster and now they have mixed so i am open to ideas on a dark substrate ? 


What i am hoping to get my tank to look like is a comb of the following 3 scapes as they are my favourite ones that dont look too hard to achieve.





Any help or constructive criticism is appreciated  in this thread but please don't be overly harsh just for the sake of it 

Thanks For taking time to look  and i hope that this becomes an interesting read later down the line


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## Alastair (28 May 2013)

Lovely looking tank ian. Great start 

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## NanoJames (28 May 2013)

I only have one criticism; STOP DOUBTING YOURSELF!!! Your tank looks great with some healthy plants and beautiful fish. Those pieces of wood are really nice too.


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## Ian_lawton (28 May 2013)

It's one massive piece of wood


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## Ian_lawton (3 Jun 2013)

Massive piece of wood got cut in half over the weekend, fancied a bit of a change around, more swimming space now but it still has the same amount of wood in


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## Ian_lawton (4 Jun 2013)

New picture of the fish under the moon leads


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## Ian_lawton (17 Jun 2013)

Added 3 more discuss at the weekend so bow have a small group of 5 they sseem much happier now and are alot more active


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## Ian_lawton (17 Jun 2013)




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## Ian_lawton (18 Jun 2013)

Forgot to say they are curipera discus from punchard discus! Really nice stock just hope they grow as beautiful as there parents


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## Ian_lawton (23 Jun 2013)

After seeing a few tanks w

ith light/white backgrounds I decides it was time!

I think it looks loads better


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## Ian_lawton (23 Jun 2013)

A couple more pictures!! The water is still cloudy also as had to-do large water change to be able to move the tank


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## Ian_lawton (2 Jul 2013)

sneaky shot just before lights out!


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## Matt Warner (2 Jul 2013)

Lovely looking tank well done. Loving the discus!


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## Ian_lawton (12 Jul 2013)

Discus looking a bit dark this week might have to have a look at what's going in as they are all feeding and pooping fine!


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## Ian_lawton (18 Sep 2013)

Jude bought some more pipe and substrate for a rescape in a few weeks


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## Christian Walker (18 Sep 2013)

Ian this is looking good.  Scope for it to really go places.  And I agree with what someone said, don't do yourself down.    Those Oak tanks are lovely.  I notice you mentioned the glass was more scratched than you would like.  You could always consider having a new tank part made.  OR just having the front pane replaced either with normal glass or optiwhite.  It would not need to cost an arm and a leg.  Just a thought for the future   Keep up the good work.


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## Ian_lawton (19 Sep 2013)

I didn't know you could just get the front glass replaced?! I might look into this


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## Edvet (19 Sep 2013)

Not sure wether this is possible, often the glass on the backside of the tank has fewer scratches, just turning it around might do the trick also.


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## Ian_lawton (19 Sep 2013)

Back is just as bad and it's painted now


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## Edvet (19 Sep 2013)

Ah, crackers!


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## Ian_lawton (19 Sep 2013)

Was thinking about a taller about 6inches New tank anyway so we shall see what happens but won't be for a while


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## Ian_lawton (20 Oct 2013)

After a crazy day and a horrible mess of Jbl substrate! And removing it from my tank! The tank now looks like this! Any thoughts?! The discus love it and have coloured up again already! Sorry the picture is a bit cloudy! But it's taken me and the misses all day! Custom made intakes and back spray bar and two ehiem 2080filters later! Although we did snap one of the intake taps so running just the one filter until the New part comes!!


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## NanoJames (20 Oct 2013)

Really nice hardscape there Ian! It should look really nice when the plants grow up between the rocks. My only suggestion would be to pile in plants at the back to make a nice background of foliage! Other than that, it looks brilliant! Well done mate.


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## Ian_lawton (20 Oct 2013)

Ye I kinds need more plants  ill have to wait until next weekend though now as I'm at work all the time the Lfs is open


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## Ian_lawton (21 Oct 2013)

A few more pictures less than 24 hours after finishing setting it up!


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## Ian_lawton (21 Oct 2013)




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## Ian_lawton (21 Oct 2013)

Forgot the full tank shot, sorry about photo quality they are taken from my phone


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## Ian_lawton (8 Feb 2014)

Well after nearly all the plants dying I have taken out the rather rubbish tetra complete substrate and will be just using sand and root balls/tabs thought while I was at it that I might aswell have a go at another scape also.... What do u think??


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## Ian_lawton (8 Feb 2014)

New plant list..
Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini'
Microsorium pteropus windelov
Eusteralis stellata
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Hygrophila polysperma
Alternanthera lilacina
Bacopa compacta
Echinodorus tenellus
Staurogyne repens
java moss
moss balls... after seeing what i think was moss balls- in pets at home stockports massive tank attached to some wood.


what do you think i do have co2 and will be using EI ferts on pumps when i can afford the pumps for now ill be dosing manually


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (9 Feb 2014)

Love how your trying to replicate some sort of biotope. How did you fix the branches on? Suction cup? 
Would you consider doing the other side & ramping the substrate somewhat from the center out over to give a Stream-like feel? 

Cheers,
N


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## Ian_lawton (23 Feb 2014)

A little cloudy but u get the idea  





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