# 100cm optiwhite - the learning curve



## grathod (24 Mar 2013)

Hi Guys

Having admired and ogled all the scapes here, thought I'd be brave enough to post my own...

The scape has been running for the past 3 years and specs as follows:

Equipment
Tank - optiwhite 100x40x40cm
Light - Arcadia series 4, 150w MH + 2x24w T5 (timed at 8hrs with peak noon setup)
Filter - tetratec ex1200
Heater - inline Hydor 300w set at 23'C
Co2 - 3kg with JBL solenoid, inline up aqua diffusor @ 3 bubbles/sec

Flora
Marsilea hirsuta
Fissidens fontanus
Eleocharis parvula

Hardscape
Redmoor root
Seiryu stone

Fauna
Danish White Cloud Mountain minnows
Sakura red shrimps
Malaysian trumpet snails

This has been my pride & joy and will be winding it up now ready for a house move... Gutted. 

The fish have reverted to their wild ways and hunt the shrimp each evening. Some may say cruel but when you have an explosion of these shrimp, this seems to me the most natural means of controls. The fish form up into an arrow formation and then the lead spotter will flush a prey and they all close in. Serengeti in my tank, lo!

Comments welcome.

Cheers


----------



## greenink (24 Mar 2013)

Looks great! More photos and a video of your helicopter attack squad please...


----------



## markj (24 Mar 2013)

looks great


----------



## grathod (24 Mar 2013)

mikeappleby said:


> Looks great! More photos and a video of your helicopter attack squad please...





markj said:


> looks great



Thanks guys, unfortunately I never took a video of the regular hunts but they were a joy to watch... Would often see the shrimp jump out of the tank followed by the fish. I'd then pick them off the floor and put them back & they would all carry on like nothing ever happened till the next evening - absolutely hilarious. Will post more pics of the tank soon as in the process of emptying it. Thanks for your kind comments


----------



## mede (24 Mar 2013)

Beautiful tank! I don't see any Seiryu stones?


----------



## NanoJames (24 Mar 2013)

Loving all of the moss in this tank. Shrimp heaven!


----------



## grathod (24 Mar 2013)

mede said:


> Beautiful tank! I don't see any Seiryu stones?


i used very small ones to prop up the wood and a perimeter around, all covered by the carpeting plant - how the scape evolved.


----------



## grathod (24 Mar 2013)

NanoJames said:


> Loving all of the moss in this tank. Shrimp heaven!


 
absolutely, must've had at least a few hundred shrimp in there, were a nightmare to fish out leading to the winding up. all flora and fauna were quickly adopted by other keen aquarist as you can imagine... lucky buggers. Can't wait to get started again once the renovation and the house move is done and monies permitting.


----------



## WetElbow (26 Mar 2013)

Yeah.  More pics please.  Very nice.


----------



## Balik1 (26 Mar 2013)

great tank  such a shame to close a mature tank good luck with the move


----------



## Balik1 (26 Mar 2013)

just one question are you using a combination of ro water or just  conditioned tap water ?

just out of curiosity


----------



## grathod (27 Mar 2013)

Balik1 said:


> just one question are you using a combination of ro water or just  conditioned tap water ?
> 
> just out of curiosity



Absolutely agree - its with much sadness that I've had to wind this one down. I was using just normal tap water up in Lancashire, relatively soft water no additives except using EI powder fertilisers dissolved before dosing and CO2, with weekly water changes. One thing I found with algae control was quite simply when the shrimp numbers ran into 100's, there was virtually no algae hence the whole nature thing going on with the fish hunting etc as a measure of control. Every now and again when I'd take a few bags full of shrimp to my LFS, I would get a little algae creeping back but it had to be done to keep the Sakura red's bloodline as versatile as possible. Also only ever fed the shrimp twice a week on crab cuisine. I know some people swear by RO water but Ive kept discus before in a similar but larger planted setup, same parameters being practised and lo behold, they couldn't stop breeding! got a bit much.

one valuable lesson i learnt and so would a lot of enthusiasts here was that using different water temperatures, i emulated nature's season. what i mean by this is that for 3mths of the year i would match the same temp of the tank with the new water, then increase the temp of new water by 3' C during the water changes and adjust the heater accordingly for the next 3mths to depict the warmer season and reduce the feeding to emulate drought. this followed by anything from 3-5'C cooler for the following 3mths to depict spring, increase feeding to depict a time of plenty and then back to a stable 23-24'C for 3mths to complete the cycle. Now I'm prepared to be shot down on this by die harders who will disagree with this, but it bl,?!y works. This principle can be adopted successfully for whatever species you keep but using common sense of the temperature variance of their natural environment is invaluable so you know what tolerances to work to. 

Hope this helps...


----------



## BigTom (27 Mar 2013)

Emulating seasonal temperature fluctuations sounds like a good idea to me; I know a discus breeder who does similar. He's also wishing for a set of programmable LEDs in order to replicate lunar cycles.

I also have a gut feeling that a lot of aquarium fish are generally kept at too high a temperature.


----------



## grathod (27 Mar 2013)

As promised here are more pics from early days of set up with dimmed lighting to just before I wound down the tank.

Also ended up adding glosso, hydrocoytle  and riccia to the org plant list 


 



 



 



 
Side view


----------



## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Mar 2013)

Hi 
Nice tank mate !! You must be a bit sad to put down this scape ! But I am sure that you will be very happy to set up a new scape, and even happier to sit and watch a new landscape !!! 

Can we have more picture with different angle please. 

Cheers 
Zanguli


----------



## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Mar 2013)

Hahaha at the
Moment I asked you for the pic it arrive !! 
Thanks


----------



## grathod (27 Mar 2013)

BigTom said:


> Emulating seasonal temperature fluctuations sounds like a good idea to me; I know a discus breeder who does similar. He's also wishing for a set of programmable LEDs in order to replicate lunar cycles.
> 
> I also have a gut feeling that a lot of aquarium fish are generally kept at too high a temperature.



I'm glad you agree. It's how it happens in the wild and all creatures should be allowed to return to their natural behaviours as it was intended - funny this as it reminds me of the movie Salmon fishing in the Yemen with Ewan McGregor. Not much of a movie but nature's message was quite clear when fish were moved from a different country altogether... What can I say aside I have a strong affectation for the natural world all be it in my glass tank... Free your mind fish, from the captive breeding, Lol!


----------



## grathod (27 Mar 2013)

A few more and that's them all, enjoy


----------



## grathod (27 Mar 2013)

I thought I'd share this with you guys in Lancashire... I've been using Aqualife on southport road pr26 8lq, for the last 10years for fish etc. Steve, the owner is a rather humble chap and very ethical when it comes to livestock. Can get seiryu stone, dragon stone etc for a fraction of the big players cost, for those like me who are budget conscious and buying in bulk, it's worth having a chat...


----------



## martinmjr62 (27 Mar 2013)

Hi, the last 4 photo's are fantastic.It's always a sad day when something that's taken so long to get to this stage has to be stripped down 
Hopefully wont be too long before you're up and running again
Good luck with the move
Cheers
Martin


----------



## Shrimp Toast (5 Apr 2013)

So pretty! Can you give me any tips on how you got your moss so well established and completely covering the wood?


----------



## grathod (6 Apr 2013)

Shrimp Toast said:


> So pretty! Can you give me any tips on how you got your moss so well established and completely covering the wood?



Thanks mate. I just used some basic rules - got as much moss as I could form the outset and chopped it roughly to spread & tie it. I didn't finely chop it although when I restart it again I might adopt what a lot of guys are doing now, making a moss paste - check out George's new TMC setup on the journals.

I prepped my tank to have a decent flow by using the spray bar on the side so that the water column was turned over lengthwise but started with reduced flow so as not send the moss flying. High light + plenty of co2 to start with for first 2 months, no fish. Ramp up the flow to max after this and wood was completely covered in 4 mths. Main thing to remember is prune with filter turned off as it can get everywhere. Prune to how you want it. I used my hands to tear off clumps to achieve a natural look. Main thing to remember when you want it looking like this is you have to beat the moss gently every so often to remove all the dirt. Your tank with turn brown when you do this. Let the filter clean it all off then maintain the filter accordingly to remove the dirt residue, so best done when you are about to clean the filter. Shrimp have to be in abundance as they constantly keep it clean as well and ensure food does not get stuck in it too much but don't worry if it does as the shrimp will soon clean it off. Decent water changes and you are all set. Hope it helps. Good luck


----------



## Parthapratim (6 Apr 2013)

lovely look of the tank


----------



## Kogre (24 Apr 2013)

Is that one piece of Redmoor or a few tied/bunched together? It looks magnificent!


----------



## grathod (30 Apr 2013)

Kogre said:


> Is that one piece of Redmoor or a few tied/bunched together? It looks magnificent!


 
Thanks, glad you like it. It is 2 pieces of redmoor that I bought from TGM, years ago. The beauty of it is that the Mrs picked it. She was well chuffed when she handed me the 2 pieces, intention was to choose one but hey, I saw them, put them together and the rest is history. Lucky for me, she is into natural scapes as well - happy days.

below are the pics of what the redmoor looks like together and separate, sorry about the poor quality as used the camera on the phone for these.


----------



## Kogre (30 Apr 2013)

Great, thanks for the headsup and good job on tying it together.  It worked out looking like a very natural individual piece in your tank.

Gives me a few things to think about on my first 'scape.


----------



## leonroy (16 May 2013)

Beautiful scape, sorry to hear you're tearing it down but looking forward to the next one. Just curious but what do you do with your livestock and plants? Take them back to the LFS?


----------



## grathod (16 May 2013)

Plants have gone to other fish keepers and my local LFS normally takes in my fish & offers a credit against his goods so am lucky really as other LFS don't offer anything but take your fish in to sell on. Some are right buggers, so if you find a decent LFS, stick with them and give them your business, only way we can keep the industry going...


----------



## Fran (16 May 2013)

Beautiful tank Grathod. Could you please tell me what that nice colored substrate is?


----------



## grathod (16 May 2013)

Fran said:


> Beautiful tank Grathod. Could you please tell me what that nice colored substrate is?



Thanks, I used the ADA substrate system on that scape. Having got some advice from Clive recently I reckon that the same results can be archived on a lower budget - I'm going to try some osmocote on the bottom topped with tropica substrate and finally very fine gravel on top on my next foray...


----------



## Fran (17 May 2013)

Cheers. Best of luck with your next project.


----------



## Rich Jackson (10 Jun 2013)

very nice tank there! good luck with the next project.


----------



## Samjpikey (13 Jun 2013)

Hi , 
That's peice of wood in the last picture looks exactly the same as a peice I sold a couple months ago , 

Scary !!! Nice tank by the way !!


----------



## oldbloke (14 Jun 2013)

amazing


----------



## grathod (18 Jun 2013)

Thanks guys


----------



## TDI-line (18 Jun 2013)

Lovely tank, good luck with your next setup.


----------



## nanocube (5 Sep 2013)

Any update???Plz

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2


----------



## grathod (17 Sep 2013)

nanocube said:


> Any update???Plz
> 
> Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2



Hi, not yet... It'll be a while till I'll be back in the mix as currently in rented whilst the home is being gutted and renovated, lol, sometimes I wonder what possessed me to do this.


----------

