# ‘Lazarus’...80x40x40, back on track!



## CooKieS (1 Jul 2020)

Hi guys,

Finally, going to sale my beloved Ada 60p for something bigger; an optiwhite 80x40x40.

Plans? Making it in the top 50 at Iaplc 2021. lol

Received the black cabinet today, now I’m starting to look for new filtration, what would you guys recommend (it’s 128liters tank)? Looking for oase, jbl or aquael ultramax for now.

‘to be continued


----------



## Onoma1 (1 Jul 2020)

I would go for the quael ultramax 2000.  I have them running on  a 70× 60 x 45 tank and a70x 70x 45 tank  and they are  superb. Silent with great flow and the price is reasonable. I would, however, suggest not buying one from outside the UK ( as I did for my first one).


----------



## CooKieS (1 Jul 2020)

Thanks @Onoma1 for your feedback, won’t the 1500 be more than enough for my tank? 

Back in black; vivid 2 aka ‘the beast’ is on place;


----------



## LondonDragon (1 Jul 2020)

oh la la, c'est magnifique 👌


----------



## Onoma1 (1 Jul 2020)

CooKieS said:


> Thanks @Onoma1 for your feedback, won’t the 1500 be more than enough for my tank?
> 
> Back in black; vivid 2 aka ‘the beast’ is on place;




Thr tank looks amazing. You can reduce the flow on the pump (although I haven't tried this)  so for the price difference I would go for the 2000.  At full bore with a lilly pipe it a bit much but its fine with the aquael return or the spray bar.

I have been involved in planted tanks for just under two years. There are others on the forjm with far more knowledge!


----------



## Tim Harrison (1 Jul 2020)

CooKieS said:


> Making it in the top 50 at Iaplc 2021. lol


Awesome, go for it 



CooKieS said:


> going to sale my beloved Ada 60p


No don't do that, you may regret it 
I bet there'll be a time when you'll want to scape something that size again


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (1 Jul 2020)

The 80x40 footprint is perfect for that single light unit. Find that 90 is awkward to accommodate as edges just don’t get enough light.

@CooKieS for the win in the IAPLC 2021!! 🥳


----------



## LondonDragon (1 Jul 2020)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> The 80x40 footprint is perfect for that single light unit. Find that 90 is awkward to accommodate as edges just don’t get enough light.


Can't you just lift it up slightly? it has 135watts which is a lot of light for even a 90cm!


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (1 Jul 2020)

LondonDragon said:


> Can't you just lift it up slightly? it has 135watts which is a lot of light for even a 90cm!



Yes, you could. However, light spill may become an issue depending on the height you’re viewing from.


----------



## Deano3 (1 Jul 2020)

Looking forward to this mate and would the oase 600t do the job ? George has only one on his aquascaper 1200. And i have no doubt you could do it if wanted  

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## LondonDragon (1 Jul 2020)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Yes, you could. However, light spill may become an issue depending on the height you’re viewing from.


Good points


----------



## CooKieS (1 Jul 2020)

LondonDragon said:


> oh la la, c'est magnifique 👌



Haha merci! 


Tim Harrison said:


> Awesome, go for it
> 
> 
> No don't do that, you may regret it
> I bet there'll be a time when you'll want to scape something that size again



Will try my best , thanks Tim. Nah, unfortunately that 60p definitively lacks depth...but I still got some cool nanos to come. 



Geoffrey Rea said:


> The 80x40 footprint is perfect for that single light unit. Find that 90 is awkward to accommodate as edges just don’t get enough light.
> 
> @CooKieS for the win in the IAPLC 2021!! 🥳



Agreed Geoffrey.  Haha thanks for your support, I'll be happy to be in the top 200 honestly but it's good to have goals.



Deano3 said:


> Looking forward to this mate and would the oase 600t do the job ? George has only one on his aquascaper 1200. And i have no doubt you could do it if wanted
> 
> Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk



Are the Oase filters silent? I Don't need the heater but the 600 would be a nice option for sure.  Bit pricey in comparaison to the Aquael...we'll see, still looking for the best bang for the bucks option.



LondonDragon said:


> Good points



Still have the wrgb 2 90cm option too...actually the vivid 2 would be enough for an 90cm tank but it's all about the kind of scape as Geoffrey said.

Got the shades on it but still would't put this tank near my sofa 

Cheers guys


----------



## Deano3 (1 Jul 2020)

CooKieS said:


> Haha merci!
> 
> 
> Will try my best , thanks Tim. Nah, unfortunately that 60p definitively lacks depth...but I still got some cool nanos to come.
> ...


Yeah my 250 silent and the oase filters have great reviews its the prefilter what do it for most people as so handy and means only have to access main filter ince in a blue moon if clean prefilter sponges on maintenance day or keep some spares and just swap them out takes seconds  so easy and convenient. I will be sticking with oase, george farmer said he had never cleaned main compartment yet .

I think geordie scaper did a full review on 600 and shouwed you noise it makes etc said was very silent. I have one waiting for my 900.

Dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## Peter B (3 Jul 2020)

@CooKieS ,
What are you going to do with te background of the tank?


----------



## Wookii (7 Jul 2020)

@CooKieS  - subbed! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with - I'm a big fan of your scapes. It would be interesting if you journalled your creative and design process on the path to coming up with the final design, if you are willing and able.


----------



## CooKieS (7 Jul 2020)

Deano3 said:


> Yeah my 250 silent and the oase filters have great reviews its the prefilter what do it for most people as so handy and means only have to access main filter ince in a blue moon if clean prefilter sponges on maintenance day or keep some spares and just swap them out takes seconds  so easy and convenient. I will be sticking with oase, george farmer said he had never cleaned main compartment yet .
> 
> I think geordie scaper did a full review on 600 and shouwed you noise it makes etc said was very silent. I have one waiting for my 900.
> 
> ...



Thanks for your feedback!

actually thinking of getting the aquael ultramax instead of the oase 600; more silent, same prefilter system (the aquael won’t even need to be turned off for cleaning ), and bigger flow (1500l/h) for only 160€ here in France.




Peter B said:


> @CooKieS ,
> What are you going to do with te background of the tank?


I’ve put one Ada foggy foil on the Back 




Wookii said:


> @CooKieS  - subbed! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with - I'm a big fan of your scapes. It would be interesting if you journalled your creative and design process on the path to coming up with the final design, if you are willing and able.



Thanks for the kind words, I’ll try to do my best, this time I’m getting inspired by iaplc top works, I’m actually an huge fan of Steven Chong works.


----------



## CooKieS (8 Jul 2020)

So, got an aquael ultramax 2000 for 160€ shipped on sale.


----------



## Hanuman (15 Jul 2020)

I am also considering the Aquael, only problem is where I am I can't source it now and when I will, the sellers here will add an overhead profit which will make it as expensive as the Oase.

Have fun with it and the new Vivid II. Also got one 2 weeks ago. I have yet to put it into operation. Was waiting for the shades.

And here is a comparison of the Ultramax with other brands/models I found on one of Aquael's distributor's Facebook page. I did some research and figured the brand/models being compared:

*1000 Series, compared with:*

Fluval 206 (Brand A)
Oase BioMaster 250 (Brand B)
Eheim Professional 4+ 250 (Brand C)

*1500 Series, compared with*:

Fluval 306 (Brand A)
Oase BioMaster 350 (Brand B)
Eheim Professionel 4+ 350 (Brand C)

*2000 Series, compared with*:

Fluval 406 (Brand A)
Oase BioMaster 600 (Brand B)
Eheim Professionel 4+ 600 (Brand C)





In any case, I think the Oase Biomaster just got beat up by Aquael Ultramax from all directions.


----------



## Hanuman (25 Jul 2020)

@CooKieS Currious, what is the size of the box? I am trying to find someone from France to bring it to me to Thailand but I need the box dimensions first.


----------



## CooKieS (25 Jul 2020)

Hanuman said:


> @CooKieS Currious, what is the size of the box? I am trying to find someone from France to bring it to me to Thailand but I need the box dimensions first.



I’ll take the measurements tonight.  It’s quite an beast as you can imagine.


----------



## CooKieS (25 Jul 2020)

Hanuman said:


> @CooKieS Currious, what is the size of the box? I am trying to find someone from France to bring it to me to Thailand but I need the box dimensions first.



I can help you as I live in France, PM me for more infos.


----------



## Hanuman (28 Jul 2020)

Aquael finally answered to me request. The box is 38 x 29 x 48cm and weighs 8,35 kg.


----------



## LondonDragon (28 Jul 2020)

CooKieS said:


> Plans? Making it in the top 50 at Iaplc 2021


Judging by your previous tanks should not be an issue  top 25


----------



## CooKieS (30 Jul 2020)

LondonDragon said:


> Judging by your previous tanks should not be an issue  top 25



Haha if only, that will be very hard to reach with an 80cm tank but not impossible, as @Nigel95 made it last year. 

Starting to collect the hardscape in the nature this time (woods from local forest) and pebbles from local river.


----------



## CooKieS (8 Oct 2020)

Hardscape selection has finally begun;


----------



## CooKieS (13 Oct 2020)

Wood has finally sunk...


----------



## alto (13 Oct 2020)

Dramatic scape but I want to see more emphasis on that gorgeous stone


----------



## CooKieS (14 Oct 2020)

alto said:


> Dramatic scape but I want to see more emphasis on that gorgeous stone



actually thinking of getting rid of those stones...


----------



## CooKieS (14 Oct 2020)

Pic removed


----------



## Jayefc1 (14 Oct 2020)

Looks really good mate a lil spooky in a good way will this have your vivid on it


----------



## CooKieS (14 Oct 2020)

Jayefc1 said:


> Looks really good mate a lil spooky in a good way will this have your vivid on it



once planted it won’t look so spooky but for now I just wanna call it ‘sleepy hollow’ haha

No I sold my vivid 2 because I’ve been sponsored by skylight, so this will have the skylight aqi 80s intense on it very soon , already using the 40S on my 45cm tank and it’s an fantastic light with nice shimmer effect that is quite unique on a wrgb.

loved the vivid2 but I’ve to say I finally got bored by the saturated Green and red tones of it...time for something more ‘natural’ looking I guess!


----------



## alto (15 Oct 2020)

I like Version 2 better though am still somewhat bothered by the very upright stone at left (photo) - this can obviously be hidden by plant design (it seems to be a support stone)



CooKieS said:


> I finally got bored by the saturated Green and red tones


must admit this element of some LED lighting also disturbs me ... though I suppose it makes for some intense photography


----------



## CooKieS (15 Oct 2020)

alto said:


> I like Version 2 better though am still somewhat bothered by the very upright stone at left (photo) - this can obviously be hidden by plant design (it seems to be a support stone)
> 
> 
> must admit this element of some LED lighting also disturbs me ... though I suppose it makes for some intense photography



Thanks @alto for your feedback, if you're talking about that stone, I forgot to take  it out before the shoot (it was here for trial while scaping...totally forgot it)
And yes, those vivid colors can be aggressive to the eye while sitting in your living room and starring at your tank, but it does wonders in photography


----------



## CooKieS (4 Nov 2020)

Hi there, had to remove pics because of iaplc rules sorry...


----------



## CooKieS (30 Nov 2020)

hi guys, sorry for taking the pics out, planning to submit to iaplc again so had to remove the full frontal shot.

I’ll continue this journal anyway with sneak peaks! As I love to share with you the progress guys, here some shots from day 1 to nowadays (week 4), actually in a algae bloom (related to fungus on the woods?)...had to add some snails (clithon and neritina) to help. Some anubia melting too. On the other hand the stems are going crazy.

population is 12 paracheirodon simulans, 8 nematobrycon palmeri, 4 tucanoichthys tucano, 4 amano shrimps and 10 snails for now.



































Cheers
Thierry


----------



## Wookii (30 Nov 2020)

Great macro shots! Can I ask what you are using to take those?


----------



## CooKieS (2 Dec 2020)

Wookii said:


> Great macro shots! Can I ask what you are using to take those?


thanks man! 

photos of the fish and snails were taken with an iPhone 12 mini coupled with an 100mm macro lens for smartfone found on Amazon.

plants were shot with an Panasonic lumix gx80 with an Olympus 30mm macro lens.


----------



## Andrew T (3 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> loved the vivid2 but I’ve to say I finally got bored by the saturated Green and red tones of it...time for something more ‘natural’ looking I guess!


The nice thing about the vivid is that you can make it look however you desire... You don’t “have” to jack up the reds or greens, take them way down or play with the Kelvin bar and get yourself the more natural look you’re after like the Twinstars or whatever
It’s a different story with you being sponsored by another company but it doesn’t make the vivid a bad light or even sub-par.
 In my opinion , all these LED’s lack the true natural shimmer a metal halide puts out and it’s so pleasing to the eye with gentle surface agitation...their NA bulb is as natural as it gets , I just saw it the other day at my LFS.


----------



## Wookii (3 Dec 2020)

Andrew T said:


> ...their NA bulb is as natural as it gets , I just saw it the other day at my LFS.



What bulb are you referring to here Andrew?


----------



## CooKieS (3 Dec 2020)

Andrew T said:


> The nice thing about the vivid is that you can make it look however you desire... You don’t “have” to jack up the reds or greens, take them way down or play with the Kelvin bar and get yourself the more natural look you’re after like the Twinstars or whatever
> It’s a different story with you being sponsored by another company but it doesn’t make the vivid a bad light or even sub-par.
> In my opinion , all these LED’s lack the true natural shimmer a metal halide puts out and it’s so pleasing to the eye with gentle surface agitation...their NA bulb is as natural as it gets , I just saw it the other day at my LFS.


Hi,
I never said the vivid 2 was an bad light.  

As for the shimmer effect, the skylight is as good as any bulbs I’ve seen yet.

should try the new skylight hyperspot soon which seems very promising too.


----------



## Andrew T (3 Dec 2020)

Wookii said:


> What bulb are you referring to here Andrew?


Sorry I should have been more specific, I was referring to the ADA NA MH bulb. They also have the green one which is really nice for all green tanks.  Mark Evans used the green bulb in quite a few of his scapes.
I’m interested in the Skylight LED. Is it similar to Kessil? Cuz the Kessil shimmer is just too much, I’ve had 2 of their lights


----------



## Wookii (4 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> Hi,
> I never said the vivid 2 was an bad light.
> 
> As for the shimmer effect, the skylight is as good as any bulbs I’ve seen yet.
> ...



Are these lights RGB LED's, or do they use white LED's too?


----------



## CooKieS (4 Dec 2020)

Andrew T said:


> Sorry I should have been more specific, I was referring to the ADA NA MH bulb. They also have the green one which is really nice for all green tanks.  Mark Evans used the green bulb in quite a few of his scapes.
> I’m interested in the Skylight LED. Is it similar to Kessil? Cuz the Kessil shimmer is just too much, I’ve had 2 of their lights



it has shimmer but not as dramatic as the kessil, it depends of your surface agitation. I quite like the effect on my ceiling, in the tank it’s more subtle but definitely feels more ‘alive’ than others rgb led I’ve tried yet. 




Wookii said:


> Are these lights RGB LED's, or do they use white LED's too?



hi man, you can find all the specs here:
http://skylight.blue/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SKYLIGHT_AQI_INTENSE-United-Kingdom.pdf

The new hyperspot will be one step further and should be released before end of the year


----------



## Wookii (4 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> hi man, you can find all the specs here:
> http://skylight.blue/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SKYLIGHT_AQI_INTENSE-United-Kingdom.pdf




Thanks mate - it mentions RGB in the document, but not whether any white LED’s are included also? What controls do they offer for ramping up/down?




CooKieS said:


> The new hyperspot will be one step further and should be released before end of the year



I take it these are the Hyperspot:






I’ll be very interested if these are true RGB chips - I’ve been waiting for AI to come up with an RGB version of the Prime, so I can get some shimmer back.


----------



## CooKieS (6 Dec 2020)

Wookii said:


> Thanks mate - it mentions RGB in the document, but not whether any white LED’s are included also? What controls do they offer for ramping up/down?



they’re white led too, for control their is an small inline controller to use it as an dimmer and you can tweak the kelvin from 5000k to 15000k too. In addition I use the ‘led controller s2 pro’ (same one that works with twinstar and chihiros) to control light duration/sunset/sunrise. That is with the skylight intense/normal aqi...don’t know what will be with the hyperspot for now. 

in the meantime, worst start of an tank since I started this hobby, 10 first days were pristine and then everything started to go wrong, I wonder if it’s related to all the wood that is releasing dirt+ my lazy water change routine +bad tweaking of co2...here is the result ;








the Clithon and neritina helps but not fast enough, got 5 japonica (1 jumped first night) and the other 4 are small and hiding, just working at night.

i wonder what fish could help with that stuff? Been thinking of getting 10 otocinclus but they are fragile and not so useful against algae in my experience. SAE would be nice but they grow too big for this tank and will have to get rid of them after some times. I’ve seen some stiphodon semoni at my lfs, they do Work nice against algae but again, specific fishes with specific needs and they love to dig in the soil which is annoying in aquascaping...

I’m stucked for the moment,  have tweaked my co2 (jet pipe instead of lily that was degassing to much co2) since


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (6 Dec 2020)

Sorry to hear this @CooKieS but pretty sure you’ll bring it back round.

What do you think was different this time?


----------



## CooKieS (6 Dec 2020)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Sorry to hear this @CooKieS but pretty sure you’ll bring it back round.
> 
> What do you think was different this time?



well everything...new tank, new filter, new media, new soil , new light, new co2 system plus me being actually quite bored. That surely doesn’t help very much to start properly a new tank


----------



## CooKieS (8 Dec 2020)

Some healthy buces...

...will start to dismantle this tank soon I guess.


----------



## Andrew T (8 Dec 2020)

Such a shame...maybe it’s a combination of too much light with not enough co2 and poor circulation...
Since it’s a new light fixture its easy to misjudge how much light you’re actually putting out ; 
Try to save it....unfortunately the fish you need to clean up all that mess is called elbow grease .
You can make it happen! Good luck and keep us updated!


----------



## Kezzab (8 Dec 2020)

I feel your pain. Although, bad as it sounds its reassuring to see it can go wrong for everyone 😉

Good luck!


----------



## Wookii (8 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> Some healthy buces...
> 
> ...will start to dismantle this tank soon I guess.



Sorry to hear you're having problems mate, and sorry to hear you've lost a bit of 'mojo' - it happens to us all at some point.

Whilst it might not make you feel any better right now, it is reassuring to the rest of us amateurs who try to make sure we do everything by the book, and still suffer algae appearing, that the pro's and more experienced members on here suffer with the issue occasionally as well. I'm glad you are willing to show the problems along with the successes, they are equally as important to read - @Tim Harrison went through the same issue on a number of scapes recently too.

The outbreak looks like a combination of diatoms and fungus. Manual removal and water changes would clear it up I should think (I know you already know that) - Oto's that you mention will clear up the brown diatoms in very short order, and more shrimp are probably the answer for the rest of it.

I know you've mentioned the water changes being a logistical issue in @Geoffrey Rea's thread, and I feel that - I hate water changes. That, combined with algae issues is what push me out of the hobby 20 years ago. I swore this time around I wouldn't set up a tank unless I could also incorporate automated water changes. If your tank is placed near mains water and waste pipes, it's well worth investigating,

I hope you manage to turn it around, as I'm sure it'll be a great scape once it's got through these set-up issues.


----------



## CooKieS (8 Dec 2020)

Kezzab said:


> I feel your pain. Although, bad as it sounds its reassuring to see it can go wrong for everyone 😉
> 
> Good luck!


Hahaha of course it can mate, I’m just an eternal noob trying to scape, let’s face it, I’m just OK for putting rocks and roots together but can’t follow any proper maintenance and I sucks at ferts understanding or even fishkeeping. Against nature we should stay humble, and in this case, my lazyness has kicked me in the butt.

Of course situation could be reversed with big water changes and proper maintenance, tweaking flow etc...let’s see!


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (8 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> I’m just an eternal noob trying to scape



Nope, you’ve placed mate, you’re already up there. Vastly underselling yourself and your previous works have inspired a lot of people in the hobby to try that much harder from seeing your skills, so be a little kinder to yourself 😉 



CooKieS said:


> Against nature we should stay humble, and in this case, my lazyness has kicked me in the butt.



Art imitates life, life imitates art. If you aren’t feeling it, the scape usually gives you good feedback on how you’re doing even if we don’t want to admit that to ourselves, it’s a mirror. If you look at your tank and it’s bombed because the desire to care for it isn’t there, that’s just truth speaking to you in stereo about how you feel about that single setup right now, not an assessment of your overall toolbox of skills. It’s only one scape out of many.



CooKieS said:


> I Don’t care for the hobby as much as I used too, plus the fact that all the iaplc photoshopped story has defo got me away from this contest for 2021



Reckon that guy has left a lot of people feeling raw about it all, dare say it’s undermined your mojo for 2021 and done a lot of damage elsewhere. Don’t let it ruin your overall enjoyment of the hobby though Thierry, it’s just comps (you said that to me once), there’s the sharing of our hobby on here that’s equally valuable, both for you and to the UKAPS community.

Take a pause and refresh mate, pretty sure aquascaping will inspire you to come back swinging soon enough 🙂


----------



## CooKieS (8 Dec 2020)

@Wookii @Kezzab and  @Geoffrey Rea , thanks for your kinds words guys. It really helps getting over this mess, and I especially like this part ‘the scape act as a mirror’, brillant words. Thanks


----------



## Kezzab (8 Dec 2020)

Do a Lazarus, bring it back from the brink. Dammit man, you can't quit now.


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (8 Dec 2020)

Qui vivra verra Thierry.

Donnez une nouvelle vie à votre art.


----------



## Deano3 (8 Dec 2020)

Have to agree with the others you defently inspire and are great help for everyone on the forum so make sure you stick around  

Everyone gets disheartened sometimes like i did then i sold everything then spent a fortune coming back, you will get your aquascaping mojo back.

Dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## Wolf6 (8 Dec 2020)

Its going to sound crazy,  but I opted not to get a hyperspot recently, because many of the showtanks I saw using that light had a lot of algae issues. Many were scapes from 'pro' scapers that received the light as a preview. Not claiming causality, just correlation  But the correlation was such, that I didnt get it in the end, at least not this version of the product. I love the looks, the shimmer, and everything else, and light alone cant cause algae, but I'm paranoid.


----------



## Wookii (8 Dec 2020)

Wolf6 said:


> Its going to sound crazy,  but I opted not to get a hyperspot recently, because many of the showtanks I saw using that light had a lot of algae issues. Many were scapes from 'pro' scapers that received the light as a preview. Not claiming causality, just correlation  But the correlation was such, that I didnt get it in the end, at least not this version of the product. I love the looks, the shimmer, and everything else, and light alone cant cause algae, but I'm paranoid.



Not sure you can ever blame the light fitting for that, just the user not realising how much light and PAR they are putting out. It's deceptive with spot type lights like that, its easy to subconsciously assume they couldn't possibly put out as much light as a full tank width LED luminaire, but as I found out with the AI Prime I have, it puts out far more light with much greater intensity directly under the spot that any of the other lights I have, and though I haven't measured it with my Lux meter, at full output probably rivals the Vivid II.

I've also found that the combination chip RGB LED's don't look visually as bright as the older style lights using white LED's, but when you measure them they are putting out more Lux, and probably even more PAR. Net result - you can never trust your eyes for setting light intensity on a new light. In the absence of a proper PAR meter, which most of us don't have access to - I think it's still better to measure the output at the tank surface with a Lux meter as a proxy, for the old light, and adjust the new light to a similar output level in the first instance.

I imagine that's more likely the issue for those scapes using the Hotspot lights and their resulting algae.


----------



## Wolf6 (8 Dec 2020)

That does sound like the most plausible explanation, which is why I'll wait till more folks have used them and some recommendations about settings/schemes go round. I do want to get it someday, just not yet


----------



## CooKieS (8 Dec 2020)

Kezzab said:


> Do a Lazarus, bring it back from the brink. Dammit man, you can't quit now.


I will do my best!




Geoffrey Rea said:


> Qui vivra verra Thierry.
> 
> Donnez une nouvelle vie à votre art.


Haha well said man!




Wolf6 said:


> Its going to sound crazy,  but I opted not to get a hyperspot recently, because many of the showtanks I saw using that light had a lot of algae issues. Many were scapes from 'pro' scapers that received the light as a preview. Not claiming causality, just correlation  But the correlation was such, that I didnt get it in the end, at least not this version of the product. I love the looks, the shimmer, and everything else, and light alone cant cause algae, but I'm paranoid.


I don’t use an hyperspot on this scape but an aqi 80s model, same model I use on my 45p which is pristine so can’t blame the lights, it’s actually 5400lumens and I managed to get that kind of power on a 60p with my vivid2 so shouldn’t be an issue on this 80cm tank  

so today I kicked myself in the butt and done an big cleaning/manual removing of the ‘algae’ , 70% waterchange, and added 8 otocinclus. Removed all the dead epiphytes (unfortunately 80% of them melted)

actually this stuff isn’t algae, it’s an sort of fungus, problem is that it goes everywhere in the tank with flow or when cleaning it and everything it touches melt...anubia, buce..even stems! Already had this issue with the infamous ‘dragon wood’...this time I had prepared the wood by letting it soak 3 weeks in a tub but it seems that wasn’t enough!

anyway, will continue to manually removing it for the next days and I plan to add 20 amano shrimps this Friday, they will love this stuff!

let’s get this on the track again.


----------



## CooKieS (8 Dec 2020)

Wookii said:


> Not sure you can ever blame the light fitting for that, just the user not realising how much light and PAR they are putting out. It's deceptive with spot type lights like that, its easy to subconsciously assume they couldn't possibly put out as much light as a full tank width LED luminaire, but as I found out with the AI Prime I have, it puts out far more light with much greater intensity directly under the spot that any of the other lights I have, and though I haven't measured it with my Lux meter, at full output probably rivals the Vivid II.
> 
> I've also found that the combination chip RGB LED's don't look visually as bright as the older style lights using white LED's, but when you measure them they are putting out more Lux, and probably even more PAR. Net result - you can never trust your eyes for setting light intensity on a new light. In the absence of a proper PAR meter, which most of us don't have access to - I think it's still better to measure the output at the tank surface with a Lux meter as a proxy, for the old light, and adjust the new light to a similar output level in the first instance.
> 
> I imagine that's more likely the issue for those scapes using the Hotspot lights and their resulting algae.


That is very true, skylight guys told me that the hyperspot would need at least 40cm depth tank for the  small 60cm model  , ideally 50-60cm depth for the bigger ones, so this light unit seems very high PAR...which I guess isn’t easy to start with while launching a new tank.


----------



## Wolf6 (8 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> let’s get this on the track again.


Thats the spirit  Good luck man!


----------



## Wookii (8 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> That is very true, skylight guys told me that the hyperspot would need at least 40cm depth tank for the  small 60cm model  , ideally 50-60cm depth for the bigger ones, so this light unit seems very high PAR...which I guess isn’t easy to start with while launching a new tank.


Presumably it can be dimmed though?


----------



## CooKieS (9 Dec 2020)

Wolf6 said:


> Thats the spirit  Good luck man!


Thanks mate!


Wookii said:


> Presumably it can be dimmed though?


I guess so, should be released soon so we’ll see!

on the other hand, livestock seems to enjoy this tank, especially the simulans which aren’t shy at all, something I didn’t expect because they are in small number (12) for now and can be very timid in some setups.


----------



## CooKieS (10 Dec 2020)

8 Otocinclus Affinis joined the party!


----------



## CooKieS (18 Dec 2020)

Hi there,

so still struggling with what seems brown filamentous diatoms algae, removing with hands every 2 days and water change every 5 days is helping but not getting rid of it for now.

‘otocinclus helped a lot cleaning the wood with the snails but now this stuff is getting on the older leaves of my stem plants...couldn’t find big amano shrimps to help so will continue this handy routine for now. Pretty sure all this stuff is related to detritus coming from wood!

anyway, got an beautiful couple of apisto agassizi , still acclimating to their new home but definitely nice behavior and colors already. 

here’s some shots:










Cheers 
Thierry


----------



## CooKieS (23 Dec 2020)

Hi there,

Rhizoclonium attack:






since I’m finally in holiday tonight, I decided to take radical decisions to get rid of this messy stuff (first time I have this in of my tanks);

From what I read it’s mostly due to: high light and low level of co2, fluctuating level of co2, low o2, high organics...so here’s the plan:

1) 3 days blackout, without any co2 or ferts of course.
2) Big trim and cleaning.
3) adjust co2 properly and aeration at night with the help of a skimmer. (Actually injecting 24/24,
Doesn’t seem to help with this algae)
4) Open an crafted beer and observe.

On the other hand, Santa Claus was generous this year...will be testing these 2 bad boys very soon (skylight hyperspot)


----------



## CooKieS (27 Dec 2020)

Merry Christmas my friends!


----------



## GHNelson (27 Dec 2020)

Last resort......had good results in the past with the above!


----------



## CooKieS (28 Dec 2020)

hogan53 said:


> View attachment 159451
> Last resort......had good results in the past with the above!


I’ve used this stuff before against green thread algae and it worked so I still have an bottle left in case of emergency,  you had success with it against rhizoclonium? Thanks!


----------



## Andrew T (28 Dec 2020)

Looking forward to a video of that hyper spot in action over the aquarium!


----------



## papa_c (28 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> I’ve used this stuff before against green thread algae



Hey Cookies, does it have any impact or negative effect on the plants? I have been battling green thread algae in my mini Christmas moss and can not eradicate it.

Don't want to anything to the tank that might kill plants as well!


----------



## GHNelson (28 Dec 2020)

Green Algae👍
Did not affect my plants when I used it!👍

AlgExit is easy and economical to use and harmless to fish, shrimps, molluscs, and plants.👍


----------



## papa_c (28 Dec 2020)

Cheers, just hit the order button....


----------



## CooKieS (28 Dec 2020)

papa_c said:


> Hey Cookies, does it have any impact or negative effect on the plants? I have been battling green thread algae in my mini Christmas moss and can not eradicate it.
> 
> Don't want to anything to the tank that might kill plants as well!


hey, it works great but you have to be aware that it might affects the plant growth too so you want to use this for not too long (I used it for 2 weeks) and after that do some big waterchanges in a row and then give some proper ferts to your plants again.


----------



## CooKieS (28 Dec 2020)

Andrew T said:


> Looking forward to a video of that hyper spot in action over the aquarium!


Waiting for the stand


----------



## papa_c (28 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> use this for not too long (I used it for 2 weeks) and after that do some big waterchanges in a row



Thanks.....When you dose for 2 weeks did you still do the normal weekly waterchanges? I currently chang about 75% per week and wonder if changing this amount will impact the effectiveness


----------



## Tim Harrison (28 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> Rhizoclonium attack


I've had this and pretty much every kind of algae known to man invade my latest scape, it's never really happened to me before either. I dealt with it by manually removing as much as possible, twisting it around a tooth brush, and then spot treating with LC whilst the filter was off. It seems to have worked and now my shrimp are getting to work clearing up the dead bits. I nearly went for the Alg Exit though. Needless to say keeping the filter clean and keeping up with maintenance is important too.


----------



## CooKieS (28 Dec 2020)

papa_c said:


> Thanks.....When you dose for 2 weeks did you still do the normal weekly waterchanges? I currently chang about 75% per week and wonder if changing this amount will impact the effectiveness



i think it’s mentionned to not change water during treatment.


Tim Harrison said:


> I've had this and pretty much every kind of algae known to man invade my latest scape, it's never really happened to me before either. I dealt with it by manually removing as much as possible, twisting it around a tooth brush, and then spot treating with LC whilst the filter was off. It seems to have worked and now my shrimp are getting to work clearing up the dead bits. I nearly went for the Alg Exit though. Needless to say keeping the filter clean and keeping up with maintenance is important too.


It’s an bad one isn’t it? Never had an algae which attacks stems and healthy plants like this one before...:-/


----------



## Tim Harrison (29 Dec 2020)

CooKieS said:


> It’s an bad one isn’t it? Never had an algae which attacks stems and healthy plants like this one before...:-/


It's not great, but once you get on top of it, it should start to disappear.


----------



## CooKieS (5 Jan 2021)

Hi guys, little update on this one, removed all the stems that were affected by rhizoclonium, added more co2 (on 3 hours before lights, cut off 1h before), improved Flow with jet pipes. Waiting for fresh new stems to come.
Buces finally started to adapt, unfortunately still lost 2 anubias petite (they seem to always melt for now).
Skylight hyperspot M is On it since one week, it’s an stunning light unit, very powerful so I’m running actually 3hours sunrise, with only 2hours at 100% and then 2 hours sunset to avoid more algae while plant adapts. The spectrum is awesome too, waiting for my red plants to mature to show more pics.

had some fish issues, introduced an young apistogramma agazissi couple, they got beaten by my two adult males nematobrycon palmeri! And because I was doing an blackout during 3 days just after introducing them, I realized too late that the male apisto was severely injured at the back tail and couldn’t save him....those palmeri are crazy! I host now the female in the 45p, she’s recovering nicely, going to get her back to my lfs. I recently introduced 10 amano shrimps to help grazing the rhizoclonium, 3 hours after the introduction the palmeri started hunting one of them like wolves...poor amano. Be aware that these tetra can really have agressive behavior and their jaws...just look at the pic. I do love their coloration so I will keep them for now, hoping they’ll my amano alone if I feed them more...


----------



## Wookii (6 Jan 2021)

Another great macro shot @CooKieS - those are some serious teeth! I've always wanted some Emperors in a future larger tank, I might have to rethink now!

I'm interested to hear more about the new luminaire - can you shed any more light on it (pun intended!)? You've hinted that you can set a schedule, is that via an app or a manual controller? Are the diodes RGB or RGBW, and can you adjust the colour temperature? Also, how much shimmer do they produce?


----------



## CooKieS (6 Jan 2021)

Wookii said:


> Another great macro shot @CooKieS - those are some serious teeth! I've always wanted some Emperors in a future larger tank, I might have to rethink now!
> 
> I'm interested to hear more about the new luminaire - can you shed any more light on it (pun intended!)? You've hinted that you can set a schedule, is that via an app or a manual controller? Are the diodes RGB or RGBW, and can you adjust the colour temperature? Also, how much shimmer do they produce?



thanks man, as long as you don’t get any others territorial fishes with them, emperor are stunning. 

about the skylight hyperspot, you can find more specifications here:




it comes with an manual controller which let you set daytime periods with sunset/sunrise, color temperature (2 channels, cold and warm), and HZ (4hz or 500hz to avoid flickering while Filming), it’s very handy and works great.

the shimmer is smoother than the one I got from the skylight aqi 80 intense, I love it. The mirror surface under the unit gives an whole new dimension too.

About the spectrum, it’s more saturated in the red tones in comparaison to the Aqi, but definitely less saturated than the Ada solar or chihiros vivid for example, very natural feeling. These are RGB spots.

Hope this helps, otherwise don’t hesitate to PM me.


----------



## paul.in.kendal (7 Jan 2021)

Thierry, have you got any pictures of the blackout underway? How did the aquarium look once the covers came off?


----------



## CooKieS (7 Jan 2021)

paul.in.kendal said:


> Thierry, have you got any pictures of the blackout underway? How did the aquarium look once the covers came off?



i don’t have pics but don’t be afraid to do one, it will stop the progression of the rhizoclonium and won’t do any hurt to plants.

just make sure to:

-cut the co2 during blackout
-don’t dose anything (some will advise to dose liquid carbon during it but haven’t tried)
-cover the whole tank to avoid any natural light to come in.
-better do an big waterchange before and after the 3 days blackout.
-after that siphon all the dead algae and eventually clean the filter too.
-then dose again, run good co2, dose liquid carbon to help growth of plants, and another water change 3 days after.

if this still doesn’t work, go for anti algae like algexit from easy life, actually using prodibio stuff , and it seems to really help against this messy algae.

have seen some reports saying Malaysian shrimps (army of them) and/or amano would help too but usually that ain’t enough in case of severe attack like in our tanks.


----------



## paul.in.kendal (7 Jan 2021)

Thanks for those tips. I'm going to wait and see how the plants respond to the increased co2 before (possibly) doing a blackout. And I'm not going to put any livestock in while the aquarium is a mess - not even algae eaters.


----------



## CooKieS (11 Jan 2021)

Hi,

while my tank was slowly getting in balance, my Aquael ultramax 2000 stopped working after maintenance this morning 🤦🏻‍♂️, it seems to be an well known problem and I’ll need to get the filter back to Aquael for new impeller shaft (v2.0) and some other tweakings...but for now it has left my tank with no filter and worse, probably killed all the beneficial bacteria in it at this time.

my plan is to buy an oase biomaster 600 tomorrow morning and fill it with my aquael media in order to save some at least...very disappointed from this Ultramax, wasn’t silent since the beginning and lost flow weeks after weeks until stopped today after running for only 2 and a half months. :-/


----------



## CooKieS (12 Jan 2021)

Update: bought an eheim pro 4+ 600 today, it was 30€ cheaper than the oase biomaster 600, as I didn’t need an heater...I think it was the best move.
Quickly installed it this morning, running smoothly for now, will see how it turns out in a few days...one thing is sure; the flow is nearly as good as the aquael even if it’s only rated at 1250l/h.


----------



## CooKieS (13 Jan 2021)

Livestock didn’t care about the 24hours without filter...that’s an good point.

Got a new photo setup with an lumix gx9 combined with an 60mm macro Lens that I’m actually trying, hope this will help to improve the pics quality of my journals.

here’s the tetra Gang:


----------



## CooKieS (16 Jan 2021)

Hi there,

Getting ‘Lazarus’ back on track, no more rhizoclonium, stems are starting to get dense again, eheim filter is doing an proper job and co2 is stable.

Enjoying it again. 

Some macro shots with my new 7artisans 60mm lens:


----------



## paul.in.kendal (17 Jan 2021)

This is looking great - well done!


----------



## PM_ME_YOUR_NEONS (17 Jan 2021)

Following this with interest, very inspiring. I'm glad you didn't give up on this! Looking forward to the eventual fts


----------



## CooKieS (26 Jan 2021)

paul.in.kendal said:


> This is looking great - well done!


merci Paul!




PM_ME_YOUR_NEONS said:


> Following this with interest, very inspiring. I'm glad you didn't give up on this! Looking forward to the eventual fts


Glad I didn’t too, thanks to the kind words and the support from ppl on ukaps 

I was watching theNematobrycon Palmeri sparring last day, what an beautiful show:





About the tank, all the plants are thriving again and the bucephalandra and crypto are back from their meilting, finally. That eheim filter is killing it for now, very good flow, and easy to care for, will see how it goes in the long term.


----------



## CooKieS (1 Feb 2021)

Take a walk with me...’Lazarus’ is back on track;


----------



## Paulthewitt (1 Feb 2021)

That looks awesome - any chance of a FTS?


----------



## cbaum86 (2 Feb 2021)

Stunning as usual, can definitely tell this is one of your scapes. I was pretty glad when you decided this wasn't going to be competition tank and no longer needed to be kept secret with cryptic photos - always an inspiration.


----------



## CooKieS (8 Feb 2021)

Paulthewitt said:


> That looks awesome - any chance of a FTS?


not yet 




cbaum86 said:


> Stunning as usual, can definitely tell this is one of your scapes. I was pretty glad when you decided this wasn't going to be competition tank and no longer needed to be kept secret with cryptic photos - always an inspiration.






cbaum86 said:


> Stunning as usual, can definitely tell this is one of your scapes. I was pretty glad when you decided this wasn't going to be competition tank and no longer needed to be kept secret with cryptic photos - always an inspiration.


thank you very much, I may have changed my mind about competition...and will probably submit this one. 

Some plants pics from this weekend maintenance;


----------



## CooKieS (16 Feb 2021)

Added 15 simulans to the 10 already in there, lovely schoolers;


----------



## CooKieS (9 Mar 2021)

Time to get some colors...minor staghorn issues because lack of K, dosing more and upped the co2 because my plant mass exploded, will see how it goes.

Glad I saved this one, really enjoying it at the moment and livestock seems to enjoy it too


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (10 Mar 2021)

CooKieS said:


> Glad I saved this one,



Qui vivra verra.

Simply beautiful Thierry 😉


----------



## Sammy Islam (10 Mar 2021)

Wow that looks amazing! Great job, i'm glad you didn't scrap this one. Very enchanting i could watch that all day!


----------



## dw1305 (10 Mar 2021)

Hi all, 
Tank looks great. I'm interested in this bit.


CooKieS said:


> Time to get some colors...minor staghorn issues because lack of K, dosing more



cheers Darrel


----------



## Tim Harrison (10 Mar 2021)

Looking good Thierry, glad you've managed to overcome the algae issues and get this back on track


----------



## PM_ME_YOUR_NEONS (11 Mar 2021)

Thanks for the updates, it's starting to look even better. I'm impressed at how you are able to let it grow in and yet let so much hardscape peek through so the details are still there, which gives much depth, something i'm never able to achieve


----------



## Wolf6 (12 Mar 2021)

Looking nice! Makes me doubt getting those neons again, I used to have a large group of which 8 years later I still have 4, as you say lovely schoolers. Good thing you held on


----------



## CooKieS (26 Apr 2021)

Hi there!

small updates! First final shot is done , now it’s time to experiment a bit on ferts and trimming. I finally got rid of staghorn by cutting the micros (I think my tap water is having too much micros, especially Mg). I‘ll try to make another shot just before the iaplc deadline 

Livestock is happy and so am I, the nemathobrycon palmeri are little beast (see pic), I have spotted some courtship behavior but no fry yet.

Finally got some news from Aquael, they told me that my rotor was broken and they are sending me a new one this week...we’ll see how it goes, I’m very happy with the eheim pro 4 for now.

have a nice day, cheers


----------



## Nigel95 (26 Apr 2021)

Nice tank bro


----------



## Ady34 (30 Apr 2021)

Tank is looking on point as are your photos, you are right to be happy


----------



## CooKieS (21 May 2021)

Hi there,
The tank is algae infested again, dunno exactly why, probably lack of flow and co2 because of soil getting older and dirt ...trying to fix it with leaner N and P, more K and more co2.

livestock is doing very well and that’s my main concern so I’m ok with the algae for now , I’ve taken the iaplc shot before it went too bad.





Cheers 
Thierry


----------



## CooKieS (21 Jun 2021)

Hey there,

Still running! Actually trying a new light unit which is basically an copy from the Ada solar rgb but with an bt app just like the Chihiros vivid 2, very impressed atm considering it cost 250€…and it’s 7000lumens at full blast.  

I’m having some thread algae issues since 5 weeks because the soil is getting old and very dirty and this kind of scape is hard to keep clean during time, I don’t really care, I remove the most of them during waterchange with toothbrush and concentrate on plant health.  

Some sneak peak, one during waterchange with aqi skylight led and the other one from buces under the new WeekAqua A series;


----------



## CooKieS (14 Jul 2021)

Still running…quick shot after an big trimming session


----------



## CooKieS (20 Jul 2021)

Hi there,

got myself an mirrorless camera again after regretting selling mine…this will give you an better idea of the colors…here’s some quick shot of the livestock, which is still doing great. 











Have a nice day!
Cheers
Thierry


----------



## CooKieS (20 Jul 2021)

Double post sorry


----------



## Wookii (20 Jul 2021)

CooKieS said:


> Hi there,
> 
> got myself an mirrorless camera again after regretting selling mine…



Great images @CooKieS - what camera and lens combo did you go for?


----------



## Wolf6 (20 Jul 2021)

CooKieS said:


> Hey there,
> 
> Still running! Actually trying a new light unit which is basically an copy from the Ada solar rgb but with an bt app just like the Chihiros vivid 2, very impressed atm considering it cost 250€…and it’s 7000lumens at full blast.
> 
> ...


What is your main reason for switching lights?


----------



## CooKieS (22 Jul 2021)

Wookii said:


> Great images @CooKieS - what camera and lens combo did you go for?



Thanks mate, I went with an classic choice, an second hand lumix gx80 with an 25mm f1.7 panasonic lens...I'll probably add some wide angle lens later. 
Already had 2 of these and they are great allrounders, compact, and good for video too.



Wolf6 said:


> What is your main reason for switching lights?



Hey there; I wasn't especially happy with the spectrum of the Skylight Hyperspot, too warm for my taste...absolutely loving the design of the unit but I prefer the spectrum of the Skylight Aqi Intense for exemple.

I switched from Aqi Intense to week aqua in order to get more intense red coloration on plants now that the tank is mature.


----------



## Deano3 (22 Jul 2021)

Stunning pictures do you know how well it did in the iaplc yet ? Love the pictures especially the otto one.

Dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## CooKieS (29 Jul 2021)

Deano3 said:


> Stunning pictures do you know how well it did in the iaplc yet ? Love the pictures especially the otto one.
> 
> Dean
> 
> Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


Hey Dean, not yet, iaplc results will be announced live on YouTube end of august. Thanks 

3 weeks under the Weekaqua led:


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (29 Jul 2021)

Good luck @CooKieS can’t wait to see the full front shot 😎


----------



## Wookii (29 Jul 2021)

CooKieS said:


> Hey Dean, not yet, iaplc results will be announced live on YouTube end of august. Thanks
> 
> 3 weeks under the Weekaqua led:



That's kicking out some serious light then - I can only get red root floaters to turn red on my 20L Moina culture tank which has an AI Prime scorching it from above!


----------



## CooKieS (30 Jul 2021)

Wookii said:


> That's kicking out some serious light then - I can only get red root floaters to turn red on my 20L Moina culture tank which has an AI Prime scorching it from above!



Yes, it's 7000lumens at full power , and I'm using about 80% of it.


----------



## CooKieS (1 Aug 2021)

Glad to say that this tank is finally balanced and probably at it’s peak ATM…guess what, I’m only dosing some K daily since 6 weeks…I guess that with old soil and a lot of fishes it’s enough for the plants to thrive and not enough to induce algae?

Anyway I’m really enjoying it and won’t rescape it as soon as expected. Have a nice evening all


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (1 Aug 2021)

Absolutely stunning Thierry


----------



## PARAGUAY (2 Aug 2021)

Yeh lovely aquascaped aquarium🙂


----------



## Deano3 (2 Aug 2021)

Best of luch for iaplc, stunning the depth looks amazing and as said the colour of them floaters 

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


----------



## CooKieS (3 Aug 2021)

Thanks guys! I made some detail shots of some of my plants yesterday, just in case I forgot which species I’ve hold in there in the future 




















Cheers
Thierry


----------



## CooKieS (11 Aug 2021)

Hi there, small update on red plants, dosing very lean Nitrates really start to show great results, especially on rotala h’ra;











Actual dosage is daily 4ml of masterline potassium, and once a week 4ml masterline all in one after waterchange. In combination with Ada green gain only after trimming.
Cheers
Thierry


----------



## Ady34 (13 Aug 2021)

Beautiful pictures and stunning plant health.


----------



## CooKieS (13 Aug 2021)

Ady34 said:


> Beautiful pictures and stunning plant health.



Thank you Ady, I heard your recent issues with your tank and just would like to remember to you and anyone here, that in aquascaping everything is possible and you should not let algae or other issues let you hopeless.

 went to this from this, with good care, love and patience:





Have a nice day all!


----------



## Ady34 (13 Aug 2021)

CooKieS said:


> Thank you Ady, I heard your recent issues with your tank and just would like to remember to you and anyone here, that in aquascaping everything is possible and you should not let algae or other issues let you hopeless.
> 
> went to this from this, with good care, love and patience:
> 
> ...


Thanks Thierry, and yes everything can be saved with good care


----------



## Alexv95 (13 Aug 2021)

Salut Thierry 
Another Amazing tank, well done, I love the way you manage to get deep red on your plants.  Especially if the soil is old it is even more impressive.  What soil do you have and how old is it? And where did you buy your light?
Thx


----------



## CooKieS (29 Aug 2021)

Alexv95 said:


> Salut Thierry
> Another Amazing tank, well done, I love the way you manage to get deep red on your plants.  Especially if the soil is old it is even more impressive.  What soil do you have and how old is it? And where did you buy your light?
> Thx


Thank you very much, it’s tropica soil, 10months old, added some nutrition caps  3 months ago. Actual light is weekaqua a430 pro, used skylight aqi 80 intense before.


----------



## CooKieS (29 Aug 2021)

Iaplc 2021 results are out, glad to announce that I could save this tank and even get an proper ranking, I wanna thank you all for the support I had when my mind when as sad as my tank. 

this one is definitely a story of perseverance and i’m hoping it inspire others!


----------



## Courtneybst (29 Aug 2021)

Definitely one of my favourites from this year buddy!


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (29 Aug 2021)

Beautiful craftwork Thierry 😎


----------



## CooKieS (29 Aug 2021)

Courtneybst said:


> Definitely one of my favourites from this year buddy!


Thanks Courtney ! Glad you liked it 😊




Geoffrey Rea said:


> Beautiful craftwork Thierry 😎


 Thanks for you support mate, it was very well needed at the time! 🙏

i forgot to add, tomorrow Lazarus will be 11 months old, I like to keep this one even more because having it balanced now gives me so much satisfaction.


----------



## Deano3 (29 Aug 2021)

Stunning and great rank as said certainly one of my favourites 

Sent from my SM-T595 using Tapatalk


----------



## Wookii (29 Aug 2021)

Superb result, we’ll done Thierry 👍🏻


----------



## PARAGUAY (29 Aug 2021)

Congrats on your result. Really high standard of entries


----------



## Ady34 (29 Aug 2021)

Lovely scape Thierry. Well deserving of the placement and testament to your persistence.


----------



## CooKieS (2 Sep 2021)

Thank you all for your kind words…really appreciate the support!


----------



## CooKieS (26 Sep 2021)

Hi there!
This tank is still running, and I think it reached it’s pike…I’m only dosing 3ml all in one soil 3 from masterline 5 times a week and some masterline potassium ,3ml 2 times a week. No more algae since 2/3 months.
Waterchange about 30% every 7-10days depending on my schedule.
Actually running an Aquael ultra 1200, not been cleaned since 2 months now.

I’m not sure why the tank is so clean with such an lazy maintenance? But definitely won’t complain.
The week aqua light has been an awesome performer on this one and I’m getting fire red rotala h’ra and great pearling.

I will probably enjoy it a little more before having the idea of rescaping this, especially because I don’t wanna bother the livestock and the actual balance!

Some pics;

During waterchange




Plants :



















Please don’t mind the 2 SAE, they will be rehomed in the 200liters tank from my father at the end of the year, before they get too big


----------



## Alexv95 (30 Sep 2021)

Really amazing, it's good to see that this tank is still there, even after the contest.
Could you tell me how do you monitor your CO2 in this tank? PH drop, drop checker (which color), bubble counter? (I would like to know how CO2 level is critical with your fert).
Thank you


----------



## CooKieS (1 Oct 2021)

Alexv95 said:


> Really amazing, it's good to see that this tank is still there, even after the contest.
> Could you tell me how do you monitor your CO2 in this tank? PH drop, drop checker (which color), bubble counter? (I would like to know how CO2 level is critical with your fert).
> Thank you



Hey there and thank you very much!
I use an drop checker, it’s usually light green when the lights come ON.
I’m actually injecting 2bps, starting 4hours before lights and stopping 1hour before the lights come off.
Injecting co2 inline with the co2 art inline diffuser, and then running thru the neo lily pipes with the integrated skimmer on the outlet.
Hope this helps


----------



## WiggyH (12 Oct 2021)

Hi there. New to this thread. What is the tank unit. Its exactly the dimensions and style that I'm looking for, to upgrade to. 
Thanks.


----------



## CooKieS (13 Oct 2021)

WiggyH said:


> Hi there. New to this thread. What is the tank unit. Its exactly the dimensions and style that I'm looking for, to upgrade to.
> Thanks.


Hi there,

Tank unit ?


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (13 Oct 2021)

CooKieS said:


> Hi there,
> 
> Tank unit ?



Think @WiggyH wants to know what tank and cabinet you have @CooKieS . It’s a custom job though right?


----------



## CooKieS (13 Oct 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Think @WiggyH wants to know what tank and cabinet you have @CooKieS . It’s a custom job though right?



Oh I see! Sorry!
Yes tank is optiwhite 8mm glass from an local craftsman, size 80x40x40cm
The cabinet is from an brand called aquatlantis, model is called fusion, cost me about 120€ delivered 😊


----------



## WiggyH (14 Oct 2021)

Thanks.
Looks great.


----------



## Wolf6 (14 Oct 2021)

Always love seeing this tank  Do you have a full list of all the stock you have in it? Just for reference, because I know you mentioned somewhere that its a lot, but it never seems very crowded, just a nice bustle of activity.


----------



## CooKieS (14 Oct 2021)

Lazarus is celebrating his 1 year birthday this month, here’s an quick shot after maintenance today in order to celebrate this! 







Wolf6 said:


> Always love seeing this tank  Do you have a full list of all the stock you have in it? Just for reference, because I know you mentioned somewhere that its a lot, but it never seems very crowded, just a nice bustle of activity.



Thanks a lot mate, here’s the full list of the livestock, it’s an bit crowded now because lots of fishes have been added from my nano setups that has been rescape since, I’ll rehome half of all these fishes in my father’s  200liters tank once I rescape this tank. 

25 paracheirodon simulans
6 nemathobrycon palmeri
4 tucanoichthys tucano (from my nano)
2 Dario tiger sp myanmar (from my nano)
6 otocinclus affinis
2 Siamese algae eater (getting out soon into my father’s tank)
4 endler guppys (from my nano)
1 stiphodon semoni (from my nano)

And 5-6 clithon / neritina snails

So quite an mixed group of fish species but they are all doing very well and living in peace together, since I lost one of the 2 males emperor tetra (he jumped out this summer), it’s now more peaceful because the dominant male is alone  with 5 females. 👍

I’ll probably keep only the simulans and the otocinclus for my next scape in this tank. Some of the others small fishes will go into my new 45p setup. The others to my father’s tank and some for giveaway.


----------



## CooKieS (27 Oct 2021)

Hi there,

It was time to trim this tank, the flow was very restricted by the overgrown stems and livestock was starting to get cramped! 😬


----------



## Ady34 (28 Oct 2021)

Makes such a difference to the depth Thierry. 
Looks amazing.


----------



## CooKieS (5 Dec 2021)

Hello ukaps people!

Still running… 

Recently had an issue with some bucephalandras that got holes in older leaves and not so healthy new leaves (small and colorless ), all other plants were perfectly fine but all in all the growth was very slow. 
I was dosing 4ml Masterline all in one soil and as my soil is now 14 months old I guess it wasn’t enough.
I switched to Masterline all one one golden , 4ml a day , since one month and the growth doubled, bucephalandra seems better too  

As you know my method is based on plant observation, I am really not interested in the chemistry aspect of this hobby, so I try different things and take notes when it works …or not. There is definitely a lot to learn when you run an ´contest tank’ for more than a year!

Interesting fact, even with dirty filter (I usually clean it once a month or so) and dirty pipes (usually cleaning these once every 6 weeks or so) ,inline diffuser with 14 months old ceramic that as never been cleaned…no algae issues.

The only one I can see are on a wood branch located directly near the outflow, it’s our best friend aka BBA. This one seems to love flow, I found out with this scape that too much flow induce more trouble that benefit, I wonder if that’s why Ada use low flow filters on their tanks (low flow but big media capacity), would love to hear @Geoffrey Rea opinion on this. 

In the last 4 weeks I collected some rare rotala (rotala sahyadrica, rotala pearl, rotala macrandra mini type 4 and rotala Florida) in order to propagate them for my next scape, they seem to be doing well for now even if the soil is old and I’m basically feeding them only in water column. Another interesting point!

Last but least, livestock still doing fine, I lost half of my otocinclus in the last weeks but it seems they are just getting old (approx 3 years , is this old for these?), didn’t lost any other fishes, even the tucano tetra are doing awesome in this non black water setup, so that’s great. The only real livestock fail in this tank were the amano shrimps, that got hunted by the emperor tetra…so found them on the floor regularly…lesson learned.

Some pics now;









						A9-B710-C2-B890-41-EE-911-F-ABDA965-B2-E6-B
					

Image A9-B710-C2-B890-41-EE-911-F-ABDA965-B2-E6-B hosted in ImgBB




					ibb.co
				











						E8-DE115-B-674-F-4-CA1-B708-14-E73-B53-C0-E1
					

Image E8-DE115-B-674-F-4-CA1-B708-14-E73-B53-C0-E1 hosted in ImgBB




					ibb.co
				











						7-B4-AC508-129-A-464-B-847-F-DAEAEE98-C4-BA
					

Image 7-B4-AC508-129-A-464-B-847-F-DAEAEE98-C4-BA hosted in ImgBB




					ibb.co
				











						030-BFE61-3-F70-4-DC8-ACF1-05-FEE4-F0-DA85
					

Image 030-BFE61-3-F70-4-DC8-ACF1-05-FEE4-F0-DA85 hosted in ImgBB




					ibb.co
				











						F3-A5-CBAD-B7-DE-4-C4-F-B7-FE-E8-D5339-E66-EC
					

Image F3-A5-CBAD-B7-DE-4-C4-F-B7-FE-E8-D5339-E66-EC hosted in ImgBB




					ibb.co


----------



## GHNelson (5 Dec 2021)

Hi 
A recent article/thread with high flow!
Guess what algae is on the rocks?

hoggie


----------



## dw1305 (5 Dec 2021)

Hi all,


CooKieS said:


> The only one I can see are on a wood branch located directly near the outflow, it’s our best friend aka BBA. This one seems to love flow,


I think are few of us <"have found that">.  I only tend to get it in places where the snails can't graze.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Keetchy (8 Dec 2021)

Hey Cookie

Great tank bud. I must admit I have missed seeing tanks like yours on here, very inspirational. Keep it up man. Looking forward to more updates


----------



## SeanOB (9 Dec 2021)

Aye Cookies, great to see you are still at it. This turned out to be absolutely perfect, well done. 
You have inspired me to get my old scape back in shape!


----------



## Geoffrey Rea (9 Dec 2021)

CooKieS said:


> This one seems to love flow, I found out with this scape that too much flow induce more trouble that benefit, I wonder if that’s why Ada use low flow filters on their tanks (low flow but big media capacity), would love to hear @Geoffrey Rea opinion on this.



It’s a part of a specific system design if understood correctly.

Why have high flow when it serves little to no purpose with the ADA system? What are you distributing that isn’t accommodated for with gentle but thorough flow?

Once an ADA system is on its feet, it’s pretty stable for a year. Doesn’t require huge amounts of flow or turnover.


----------



## CooKieS (1 Jan 2022)

Happy new year 2022! 😊🥂


----------



## John q (1 Jan 2022)

Always amazes me how you guys have the gonads to tear down beautiful scapes. 

Can't wait to see what you've got planned for the next one. 👍


----------



## PARAGUAY (1 Jan 2022)

Ha! was expecting a lovely end of year picture. Forward to 2022 and the next as John says


----------



## pat1cp (1 Jan 2022)

I just showed my wife what you had, and what you've done, she shouted "WHY"?

Closely followed by......"don't you be getting any daft ideas about doing that".


----------



## Kezzab (1 Jan 2022)

I like what you've done with it. Bit of a departure from your normal style.


----------



## CooKieS (1 Jan 2022)

PARAGUAY said:


> Ha! was expecting a lovely end of year picture. Forward to 2022 and the next as John says


 Haha, here’s the fancy one, small recap of my main works this year


----------



## Tim Harrison (1 Jan 2022)

Very well done Thierry 👍


----------



## Chrispowell (1 Jan 2022)

Amazing work, incredible skill and thankyou for the great documentation of what you do!

Chris


----------



## CooKieS (1 Jan 2022)

John q said:


> Always amazes me how you guys have the gonads to tear down beautiful scapes.
> 
> Can't wait to see what you've got planned for the next one. 👍



Well, when your livestock has no more room to swim, it’s often time for rescape.  



PARAGUAY said:


> Ha! was expecting a lovely end of year picture. Forward to 2022 and the next as



Cheers to the next one! 



pat1cp said:


> I just showed my wife what you had, and what you've done, she shouted "WHY"?
> 
> Closely followed by......"don't you be getting any daft ideas about doing that".



Haha, sometimes change is good, lots of detritus accumulated in this one and livestock had no more room to swim actually. 



Tim Harrison said:


> Very well done Thierry 👍



Thank you Tim! Missing your scapes! 



Chrispowell said:


> Amazing work, incredible skill and thankyou for the great documentation of what you do!
> 
> Chris



Thank you very much, journals are very much necessary as I don’t take notes, I use them very often when I have issues in order to remember how I did to resolve them, glad it can inspire and help others


----------



## heliophyte (2 Jan 2022)

Just read through the whole journal. Inspiring story. Happy new year and good luck with your next project!


----------

