# #4 - River shore



## parotet (22 Aug 2015)

Hi all

Time for a new layout and for a new journal! My 60 liters tank has been empty during the last 5 months and I have enjoyed very much the layout design for the first time. That means plenty of time to think about what I wanted, for collecting wood, rocks, etc. In other words, enjoying a part of the process that now I realize I have always done much too fast. I will be flooded and planted in a few days. I have some plants in my mind but I also want to take some time to make sure they match with the hardscape. I don't want the wood and rocks to disappear in a few months... I will probably go for carpet plants and mosses.

Hardscape and equipment specifications
60 liters optiwhite tank
T5HO 2x24w with cheap tubes (6500 K)
Filter JBL e901
Co2 Art Lily pipes
8 kg CO2 cylinder with CO2 Art singe stage regulator and bubble counter
Do!Aqua ceramic Co2 diffuser
Collected wood (Juniperus sabina branches... never sink! attached with hot glue to bottom and rocks)
Collected rocks (Bluish-greenish slate from Asturias coast, north Spain)
Enriched soil (mixture of ADA AquaSoil and HELP Advanced shrimps... what I had at home)
Cosmetic soil (JBL Sansibar River)

And the first picture...



Jordi


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## Sarpijk (22 Aug 2015)

Νice one Jordi! What are your plans for planting? Have you used this type of driftwood  in any other setup? By the texture of the big piece on the right it looks brittle but I could be wrong.


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## Greenfinger2 (22 Aug 2015)

Hi Jordi, Cool looking Hardscape  Looking forward to this one.


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## The_Iceman (22 Aug 2015)

Hi Jordi,

looking good and very natural so far!
Looking forward to see it planted


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## parotet (22 Aug 2015)

Sarpijk said:


> Νice one Jordi! What are your plans for planting? Have you used this type of driftwood in any other setup? By the texture of the big piece on the right it looks brittle but I could be wrong.


I have not used this wood before but Cupressaceae (Cypress and Juniper) are known for being very solid and water proof. I soaked the pieces you can see for three months and not a single bit has broken or soften... but it is very difficult to make this wood sink! This is why I had to use hot glue

Regarding the plants, as mentioned, I want to preserve the hardscape texture. Additionally it is very flat, so stem plants would bury the hardscape in a few weeks. What I have in mind for the moment is: on the back left corner I will use Montecarlo, on the back right corner a mixture of H. pinnatifida and Monte Carlo. I was tempted to use Pogostemon erectus on the back right corner, but it will swallow everything, don't you think so? I would like to have some spots of Ranunculus inundatus in different places also in the back and mid ground. The star leaves look very nice among low heigh plants. Mosses (peacock and Fissidens) will also be used among the wood and rocks, but won't be probably attached to wood (to hopefully keep on seeing the wood until the last day of this layout lifetime). Finally, to have a gentle transition between sand and rocks/wood, I will use Eleocharis mini and again mosses.

Jordi


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## Mot (22 Aug 2015)

Excellent rock work.  The wood complements the rocks and the whole feel of the hardscape is very harmonious .  I wouldn't change a thing.


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## Martin in Holland (22 Aug 2015)

quickly, plant this tank...I want to see


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## tim (22 Aug 2015)

Love that layout jordi, as said above get it planted up soon


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## zozo (23 Aug 2015)

Wonderfull setup and very nice wood. Cypress and Juniper? Have to put that on the list of wana haves to keep an eye out for, realy beautifull. What fissidens would you like to use? In my imagination i see a waving patch of the larger native Crassipes doing very nice or the Nobilis. Anyway whatever you put in there this is going to be a very nice river shore. I love to see how the stone colors in the light sand when wet.


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## Pedro Rosa (23 Aug 2015)

Jordi,

I like what you're doing  but I have only one question: What is the height of the aquarium? Don't you think you could use it more?

Pedro.


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## parotet (23 Aug 2015)

zozo said:


> What fissidens would you like to use? In my imagination i see a waving patch of the larger native Crassipes doing very nice or the Nobilis


It's going to be Fissidens from @MirandaB who kindly donated all the mosses (at least 4 different species!) 



zozo said:


> I love to see how the stone colors in the light sand when wet.


That's what I like the most, now they look a bit grey but when they are wet they look greenish, even a bit blue. Love it.



Pedro Rosa said:


> I like what you're doing  but I have only one question: What is the height of the aquarium? Don't you think you could use it more?


Thanks Pedro. It's a standard 60x30x36 cm aquarium. You're right, the layout hardly occupies half the tank heigh (and the picture have been cropped, removing about 10 cm of the tank)... but using the collected wood (2 big boxes) and rocks (40 kg), that's what I managed to do 
In the future I would like to do something like you did in your last layout or what Viktor Lantos does with its mossy/low plants layouts and now I realize that I will need much more rocks. Probably my 40 kg were not enough as I thought. Anyway I'm going to add some more rocks behind the wood on the right side. Let's see what I can do.

Thank you all for your advice!

Jordi


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## zozo (23 Aug 2015)

parotet said:


> That's what I like the most, now they look a bit grey but when they are wet they look greenish, even a bit blue. Love it



I thought that already, wasn't sure but it kinda looks like the green slate i have in my tank. Looks grey/green when dry and colors a bit like a very light and shiny turquoise when submersed. It gets darker and a bit more dull over time when a biofilm covers it, looks more natural. Only the color of green algea pops out and contrasts like hell make sure you don't get to much of that.


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## parotet (23 Aug 2015)

parotet said:


> It's going to be Fissidens from @MirandaB who kindly donated all the mosses (at least 4 different species!)


Sorry I meant Fontinalis... Fissidens would fit perfectly also in this layout

Jordi


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## zozo (23 Aug 2015)

parotet said:


> Fontinalis


Oh!? That's a nice large one for this scape, it grows in our rivers like weed they say. It loves colder climate, but if it is from another scaper i guess it also will do allright in tropical temps... I'm realy curious how thats going to work out..


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## alto (23 Aug 2015)

Outstanding river shore - not sure it needs any "height" - local river shores are very flat, so to me eye this one looks grand!




(I vote for plant it just as it is, then add the height for River Shore Ver 1.2)


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## MirandaB (23 Aug 2015)

Jordi that is a fantastic hardscape,so natural,I'm in love with this tank already


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## Martin in Holland (11 Sep 2015)

How is the tank coming along?


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## parotet (11 Sep 2015)

Martin in China said:


> How is the tank coming along?


Hi Martin

Thank you for the interest. I'm very happy with the results so far. About 2 weeks with healthy growth and no signs of algae. I was waiting a little bit to update the journal as the plants used are very short (mosses, Eleocharis mini, MonteCarlo... except 3 Bucephalandra and Rotala Bonsai which are my tallest plants)  and are becoming to be visible now. Another issue is that I have a large stone on a piece of driftwood that decided to float in the last minute 
I will probably fix this problem tonight and hopefully upload the first pictures.

Jordi


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## parotet (11 Sep 2015)

Hi all

I could finally get rid of the ugly stone that was anchoring the buoyant driftwood. I have removed the wood carefully and I have attached a stone behind the wood... not totally invisible but better than having a big stone in the middle of your tank  Let's see if it works.

This is how it looks after 10 days...

10 days by Jordi Domingo, en Flickr

Of course most of the plants cannot be seen on the picture, it will take a few weeks more to show its potential. Anyway, I'm quite happy, as I have not seen any sign of algae and plants are doing well for the moment (having a relatively low biomass which makes things more difficult IMO)

Here's de plant list:

Rotala bonsai
Ranunculus inundatus
Micranthemum Monte Carlo
Eleocharis mini
Bucephalandra motleyana "melawi"
Fontinalis antipyretica from UKAPS member MirandaB
Peacock moss from UKAPS member MirandaB
Unknown stringy moss type 1 from UKAPS member MirandaB
Unknown stringy moss type 2 from UKAPS member zozo
Unknown Christmas moss type from UKAPS member zozo
Fissidens fontanus from UKAPS member zozo
Riccardia chamaedryfolia from UKAPS member zozo
Monosolenium tenerum from UKAPS member zozo
Unkown Vesicularia moss from my previous tanks

Jordi


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## Alexander Belchenko (12 Sep 2015)

I like the feeling of shore, somewhere at sea or maybe ocean. Your bright sand seems to still keep warmth of summer, although there is some cold breeze blowing. Beautiful picture.


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## zozo (12 Sep 2015)

Woow! Jordi thats a very nice job you did there.. Couldn't describe it in better words than Alexander did.. It indeed radiates a kind of coolness with the white sand and green (slate i think it is) stones. I'm very honered being so well represented in this beautifull scape. Thank you! Now i only want to say to my babies, you can't be in a better home, lets grow now and make Jordi happy!!


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## Martin in Holland (12 Sep 2015)

According to my wife it looks like a dried riverbed somewhere in Africa and you could almost feel the sun burning on your flesh.


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## parotet (12 Sep 2015)

Thank you guys for the kind comments. Honestly my aim was producing something like a submerged piece of a shallow sandy stream. I don't like the layouts that try to copy terrestrial landscapes but I guess my plants will have to grow a bit more before the layout looks "more aquatic". Anyway, it is my first aquascape (or at least the first time I have devoted some time to design my tank) and I really appreciate your comments!

I did not mention it in my last post but during these 10 days I have made 50% WC every three days. I think I will keep like this until the third-fourth week and then I will do a weekly 50% WC. I added K (DIY potassium sulfate) and micros (FlowGrow Mikro Basic) from day 7. Now I'm adding some squirts every other day of a DIY NPK solution (very similar to Tropica Specialized nutrient content) to see if plants benefit from it. The plants used are not especially demanding in terms of nutrients, but this time the amount of enriched substrate I have used is quite low, so my guess is that I won't be able to rely on the nutrients leached to the water column.

Jordi


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## banthaman.jm (12 Sep 2015)

Great tank Jordi 
Jim


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## parotet (9 Oct 2015)

Hi all

Some phone pictures after a trimming session this morning...



The plants are doing very well. Montecarlo growth was a bit stunted at the beginning but now it's growing new and fresh leaves. I have trimmed the Rotala "bonzai" in the background and I have spread it to the right side and I have also planted some stems in the left corner (which was definitely shouting for plants...). TBH I am not very happy with the position of this plant in the layout. I think it doesn't add anything special to the background and the beautiful shape of this plant is lost in the distance. I will probably bring Rotala "bonzai" to the middle ground and I will use a reddish stem plant trimmed very low in the right background corner, just to be able to see it above the wood. I will probably use Rotala rotundifolia indica (=red, colorata... or whatever its name is. I mean the R. rotundifolia variety that has deep red leaves) but I'm sure you guys will have more interesting suggestions.... another plants in my head is Micranthemum micranthemoides, but I am not sure if it will look too much green.






The white stuff in the wood is hot glue, now visible due to a hardscape rearrangement. I will have to cover it with moss


Very happy with the different species of mosses, all of them growing very well, even Fontinalis antipyrectica which took a long time to get adapted.

Jordi

P.S. I will borrow for next time a DSLR camera for better pictures... do you think I need more light in my pictures? These ones have been just cropped, no modifications.

P.S. now pictures modified with the Flickr automatic picture enhancer


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## Nelson (9 Oct 2015)

Loving this Jordi .


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## Alexander Belchenko (9 Oct 2015)

Great wood and green plants complement it. I'd be very careful with introducing red plants there, ammania "bonzai" will develop bright color on tips over time, esp. after trimming.

The only thing that bother me - your hardscape is kinda flat, and probably better suited to shallow tank. I wonder if you grow plants tall enough it will overtake the hardscape.


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## parotet (9 Oct 2015)

Alexander Belchenko said:


> The only thing that bother me - your hardscape is kinda flat, and probably better suited to shallow tank. I wonder if you grow plants tall enough it will overtake the hardscape.


Absolutely true... this is what I need stem plants that can resist very heavy trimming to keep them low enough.
Additionally the wood structure on the right is empty (another mistake) and there's only soil for planting where the Rotala bonzai is. No room for massive stem growth 

Jordi


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## zozo (9 Oct 2015)

Lovely tank and woow! That moss realy did grow fast.. Looks great. Good job Jordi.. 

I kinda agree with Alexander.. The tank looks rather high and makes the scape a bit flatish looking. I guess this will equal out a bit when the background plants get a higher over time. In my opinion when i see all the wood it screams for more (smaller) epiphytes.. like more Bucephalandra's. B. Motleyana Mini Catherine for example would look stunning on the stones under the curved piece of wood stretching to the midlle on the wood. Or different types of anubias. And than a rather larger one on top of that wood in the right in that V shape.. A. Gracilis would be my choice i think. It would create more hight at the same time and it's grow form and leave shape would not directly hide the background. But thats just me, when i see wood i only think of covering it with epiphytes.

blahblahblahblah i havent worked on my own journal yet, realy got to sort that out soon..  What i find interesting and funny coincidence is, i used the same materials,  i think i have the same stone as you have and also made the wood dominant. And tried to batlle out the flatness. 

Anyway you made a very beautifull scape..  Im not experienced enough to judge so soon.. So never mind me bablling.. 
It will take a few months to grow to its full proportion. and probably look rather different than it does now.


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## parotet (9 Oct 2015)

Thanks Marcel 

Do you mean Ammania gracilis, isn't it? Not available here 
Do you think it is better than Rotala indica?

Jordi


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## Alexander Belchenko (9 Oct 2015)

Strange, I read his comment as anubias http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Anubiasgracilis(101D)/17819


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## zozo (9 Oct 2015)

No i meant the Anubias Gracilis.. Whit the arrow shaped leaf and long stems. But that is easy to say from looking at a flat picture and say it would fit your scape.
But from where i'm sitting looking at a pic i would say it would bring in a high focal point in the midground.. Dunno. But a plant like that wouldn't take to much of the background view away because it spreads more out to the surface maybe even stick a few leaves out. And the rotala indica would do nice behind it when its tips start to color.. Rather than a lower plant with more dense broad round leaves hiding everything behind it.

Thats just me  i would pack this tank with anubias ore more buce and maybe add some crypts and ferns.

But its your scape and not mine.. It definitely looks 10 times better than mine, no doubt about that..

You'll figger something nice out, i'm sure.. 

P.s yup that one from Alexanders link..


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## parotet (10 Oct 2015)

Hi again

Tonight I have found a way to improve the volume of the layout: attaching H. pinnatifida to the wood in the middle and upper parts. The stems will increase the height 10 cm more but keeping the wood form. The background will not swallow the hardscape if I finally decide to plant stems
The problem is now attaching pinnatifida to wood without making a mess. Any experience? Cotton line, glue?

Jordi


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## Mick.Dk (10 Oct 2015)

You could use some temporary way of holding Hyg. pinn. to the wood ( rubber band or whatever).
The new growth (="runners"=side-shoots)will be horizontal and  will grow very soon if you trim off dominant (=up-right growing) stems. These horizontal shoots will very readily attach to the wood, holding the whole plant in place.........and you can remove temporary holding.
Removing dominant shoots, is the way to force Hyg. pinn. to keep growing the horizontal side-shoots. It will allways try to create new, dominant, up-right shoots, though, so the removing of those is continuously......


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## zozo (10 Oct 2015)

Perfect choice the HP. One of my favotites and didn't use it in my scape, just wasn't sure.. And didn't know what Mick knows, else i would have definitely used it. Thanks mick!..  But i got here waiting for the next one, thanks to you Jordi, they grow nice btw... Can't wait to see how this turns out in your scape..


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## banthaman.jm (13 Oct 2015)

Nice Jordi, looks good after the trim
Jim


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## zozo (13 Oct 2015)

Jordi  What's the name again of that moss in the last picture?. That's realy a nice atractive one..
Looking foreward to see pictures of the H. pinnatifida to the wood..


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## parotet (13 Oct 2015)

zozo said:


> Jordi  What's the name again of that moss in the last picture?. That's realy a nice atractive one..
> Looking foreward to see pictures of the H. pinnatifida to the wood..


If I'm not wrong it is the Peacock moss kindly sent to me by @MirandaB
Awesome moss: beautiful 'leaf' shape and easy growing under different circumstances 

Jordi


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## zozo (13 Oct 2015)

Jordi, yes its in my tank as well thanks to you..  it's realy growing fast, lovely moss. Forgot it's name somehow  i had phoenix in my mind, but thats fissidens so that couldn't be it. Alzheimer light i guess!?  

Thanks!!


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## parotet (25 Oct 2015)

Hi again!

Another update, this layout is now 55 days old...



I won't change the background for the moment, although I have added some little bunches of M. micranthemoides here and there, hoping that for the next shot they will create a bit more of volume in the background. I think the fresh green of micranthemoides will fit well in the layout, but I will have to trim it very hard.

Cheers,
Jordi


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## zozo (25 Oct 2015)

Anyway this is and stays an awsome beatifull layout.. And indeed it needs time to mature.. Those rotalas can easily grow twice as big as they are now, even 3 times bigger if you want them to. To get that dens and lush it will take several months from now.. By then the rest will have increased a lot as well. It's waiting time..


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## tim (25 Oct 2015)

really like this scape jordi, i dont think you need the height of the rotala on the left personally i find it at odds with the otherwise exceptional layout.


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## parotet (25 Oct 2015)

tim said:


> really like this scape jordi, i dont think you need the height of the rotala on the left personally i find it at odds with the otherwise exceptional layout.


Do you mean you would get rid of the Rotala bonzai in the left part?

Jordi


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## tim (25 Oct 2015)

parotet said:


> Do you mean you would get rid of the Rotala bonzai in the left part?
> 
> Jordi


I would yes, I think as it grows and thickens up on the right removing it on the left will add the height to the scape others have commented on, it disrupts the triangular nature of the scape for me, just my thoughts mate, as I said I really do think it's an exceptional layout I would be most happy to sit and relax in front of in the evenings.


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## Smells Fishy (25 Oct 2015)

Brilliantly thought out. You should be proud of yourself and it can only get better in time.


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## parotet (22 Dec 2015)

Hi all

First day of holiday after very busy months at work. I played a bit with my tanks this afternoon... little update!



Jordi


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## alto (23 Dec 2015)

Very interesting scape  - the rotala "trees" look somehow primitive

Is this Tropica's Rotala 'Bonsai' - or another source?


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## joakimli (23 Dec 2015)

Very nice and minimal look! I like the grayish background


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## parotet (23 Dec 2015)

alto said:


> Very interesting scape  - the rotala "trees" look somehow primitive
> 
> Is this Tropica's Rotala 'Bonsai' - or another source?


Tropica ones, but trimmed and replanted many times. They become red this way

Jordi


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## zozo (23 Dec 2015)

I kinda like that Rotala bonsai in that succulent like appearance, it gives it indeed a bit primitive jurasic look. I noticed this is my own scape whit my first (to low) light setup i began with. It grew even more stretchy than this. In this scape it suites actualy very well with all those mosses around..  
It can't be only the trimming making them red, what else do you do Jordi? Some extra with ferts? I do trim mine a lot as well, but yet not see the stems as red as yours. This i only see in emersed form. 

Also the mosses realy grew in very well  looks great, only the fontanilis stays behind a bit..


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## parotet (23 Dec 2015)

zozo said:


> I kinda like that Rotala bonsai in that succulent like appearance, it gives it indeed a bit primitive jurasic look. I noticed this is my own scape whit my first (to low) light setup i began with. It grew even more stretchy than this. In this scape it suites actualy very well with all those mosses around..
> It can't be only the trimming making them red, what else do you do Jordi? Some extra with ferts? I do trim mine a lot as well, but yet not see the stems as red as yours. This i only see in emersed form.
> 
> Also the mosses realy grew in very well  looks great, only the fontanilis stays behind a bit..


Hi Marcel

The fert regime is fairly simple... I just add 1 squirt (1 ml aprox) of AquaRebel Mikro Basic, which is more or less as Tropica Premium. The only thing I do is to make sure that, whatever the brand I use, the Fe added is DTPA or HEEDTA, because I have moderate hard water (somewhere in the 500 microsiemens range). Both Tropica Premium and AquaRebel Mikro Basic do have it in these forms. But when I am traveling I don't even fertilize the tank for two days and I have no problem at all. The plants are not very demanding, most of them in the low-medium category. The Rotala bonsai you see is exactly the same planted in August and I trim (and of course discard a lot of stems) and replant every 15 days or so... that means, that some of them are really old. The light is a plain 2 x 24w T5HO... so no super light, just in the medium-slightly high range.
Photoshop was only use to apply focus filter and trim... so red is natural. In my other tank (Lava Rocks) reds come and go in Rotalas, not sure why. I guess red colors in tanks will always be a mystery 

Fontinalis is growing like crazy but I don't use any heater on my tanks... the water is 18-19ºC (I only have Amano shrimps). The summer was a very hard time for this plant with the water near to 29ºC. The same for the rest of the mosses, especially for Fissidens. The only plants that is getting worse is Riccardia... I have continuous green and healthy growth, but it gets covered with algae at the end.

Jordi


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## zozo (23 Dec 2015)

Hi Jordi, indeed those reds are rather a mystery sometimes..  Mine stay green and have a few in the tank to prevent the potamogeton gayi from sucked intor the filter inlet. These i just let grow and rarely cut, they go emersed and turn red stem as soon as they pop emersed, but submersed they stay green. Despite the roottabs, iron, micro's from easylife and tropica PGS. The others i cut about is frequent as you do.. Must be something, but what?? Guess got to learn to live with that.  Also still got a few living in the garden emersed, those also are amazingly dark red stems.. 

I was wondering why i didn't find more fontanilis in your tank.. I have the same experience as you have with what you sended me a while back. It grows very well, even in a low tech low light unheated tank.. And indeed that coral moss is also a difficult one for me, always strugling with algea.. I don't pay much attention to it anymore, i even don't no if it's still in the tank.. Have to look and search, probably overgrowen by others..


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## alto (23 Dec 2015)

I suspect this is a "variation" inherent in the Tropica 1-2-Grow plant material (or maybe it's latent in all the plant material but only triggered under certain conditions ...) - mine is green even after several months but local shop set up a tank recently & that R 'Bonsai' went straight into this red form of growth

This is just such a great tank


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## Mick.Dk (25 Dec 2015)

I seem to be confirmed in my observations, that there are different "strains" of Rotala 'bonzai' going around in trade/hobby. Some have absolutely no 'bonzai' appearance at all !!

When I tested this plant, from different sources, they performed rather different, though growing side by side.
Differences were most obvious in colouration (orange tips/no orange tips) and distance of nodes (long- /compact growth).

Orange colour in "the Tropica strain" is - at least partially - related to intensity/quality of light and added CO2.


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## Nelson (18 Jan 2016)

Any updates Jordi ?.


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## parotet (18 Jan 2016)

Hi!

Thank you for the interest. Actually the tank will be changing a little bit. Im a bit tired of this mossy look (I love mosses but they look always the same...) and after some repeated trimmings I wanted the tank to change its aspect. I've added some touches of red: Rotala red in the background and H. pinnatifida in the middleground. It is something I decided this weekend so nothing that can be seen now.
I'm traveling right now but I'll try to post some pics in a few days.

Cheers,
Jordi


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## parotet (24 Jan 2016)

Hi all

Quick update. I planted Rotala indica red, H. pinnatifida, Trident Java ferns and Sagittaria subulata in the background. I'm expecting noticeable changes in the layout in 3 weeks time approximately. For the moment it looks a bit undefined (not as clean as the previous shots and still not jungly), also due to Eleocharis mini and Ranunculus runners invading the white sand, thus reducing the contrast created so far between the white sand, the driftwood and the green areas.






Jordi


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## Tim Harrison (24 Jan 2016)

Very nice Jordi...


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## parotet (17 Feb 2016)

Hi all

No significant changes except these new inhabitants...













I fell in love with them and they had to come home with me 
The tank is becoming more jungly and I think that my little cockatoos will appreciate it. Not sure if the spaces between wood will be enough as spawning caves, if not I will add a mossy coconut cave or something similar with stones. For the moment I am conditioning them with live food and being careful with co2.

Jordi


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## parotet (17 Feb 2016)

Just one more thing... the tank is a bit more grown than in the last FTS in post #57. H. pinnatifida and some Rotala are filling a bit more the background and the tank looks more dense. However maintenance for such a manicured layout (at least compared to the ones I've had before) is hard. Every week I have to trim mosses to keep on seeing the wood, to keep these two lines that go to the focal point, etc. I miss a less demanding tank in terms of maintenance and also a jungly look (that will probably entail less light and co2 too). This will fit very well with my new cockatoo cichlids.

The problem is that what you can see in the right background behind the driftwood is not a deep pile of fertile substrate for planting a huge range of stems plants, but a pile of stones covered with moss with some (enriched) substrate in between. Therefore, in order to create a second layer of plants, I will have to rely on epiphytes. My options for the moment are: Anubias barteri coffeefolia, Anubias barteri angustifolia, Bolbitis heudelotii or Ceratopteris thalictroides. To be honest my preferred one is C. thalictroides but I am not sure if it can be considered an epiphyte (I've read some of you got them floating... what about anchoring it?). Anubias are a bit low growers for my taste and a magnet for BBA being so close to the lights, and Bolbitis is also one of my preferred aquatic plants, but I use it in all my layouts, so I guess it is time for a change.
I'm sure you guys will have something interesting to suggest.

Jordi


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## Alexander Belchenko (18 Feb 2016)

Jordi, about your last question. May I point you to 2 things: this is my current layout http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/aqua-at-pet-shop-season-2-layout-5.38273/page-2#post-433780 - as you can see there is a lot of stems plants growing well without any substrate at all at the top of the tree: they are literally inserted into fronds of bolbitis and that's all. Should I also say there is slow injection rate and lean ferts dosing?
Also, recent video from Dennis Wong:  - this guy said we could grow stem plants without root system.

OK, I guess you get the point: stem plants could be grown more or less successfully without planting them into rich substrate. I guess many species, like hygrophila, can be grown without anchoring them into substrate.
Take for example h.pinatifida: it grows like an epiphyte plant - on rocks or wood. Also, pinatifida can grow very tall, I guess you know this and probably have seen that video from ADA view channel with tall pinnatifida in the backgroud. The only problem with tall pinatifida - it looks quite ugly with big internodes.

So, I'd try to anchor to rocks or somehow else some simple stem species, including ceratopteris (which is terrible weed) and see what happens.


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## parotet (18 Feb 2016)

Hi Alex

Thank you very much for your advice. I use H. pinnatifida with success as an epiphyte, but I was not sure if this would work for all the stem species. My guess is that it would work for most of them but some would need a deep substrate (even some stem plants). But yes, I agree with you that attaching some (for example) H. siamensis or corymbosa to the rocks/moss would easily work (probably adding more nutrients in the water column, I dose lean now). 
I am a bit afraid of using Ceratopteris because it becomes a monster and my tank is just 60 liters. But on the other hand "I have mentally switched to the jungly layout mode"  and I don't mind something growing outside the tank. 

Jordi


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## dw1305 (18 Feb 2016)

Hi all,





parotet said:


> To be honest my preferred one is C. thalictroides but I am not sure if it can be considered an epiphyte (I've read some of you got them floating... what about anchoring it?).


You can plant it, or leave it floating. It gets bigger planted, but it isn't a long-lived plant, and it continually produces new plants from the fronds. 

I got fed up with re-planting it, and I just left them float now. If you have reasonable flow it will remain subsurface, but in low flow it will grow up through the surface. 

This is when I still had them planted. The fish in the centre is a really old female.




 

cheers Darrel


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## Greenfinger2 (18 Feb 2016)

Hi Parotet, Love the scape


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## parotet (18 Feb 2016)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,You can plant it, or leave it floating. It gets bigger planted, but it isn't a long-lived plant, and it continually produces new plants from the fronds.
> 
> I got fed up with re-planting it, and I just left them float now. If you have reasonable flow it will remain subsurface, but in low flow it will grow up through the surface.
> 
> ...


Thanks Darrel, I've just stripped down my small tank and I have found loads of Bolbitis completely buried under the stem plants. It is incredible how this plant grows and the amount collected from such a small tank! I think I will just recycle it and I will probably add some bits of other plants. They will look nice covering the coconut cave for the cockatoos

Jordi


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## dw1305 (18 Feb 2016)

Hi all,





parotet said:


> I have found loads of Bolbitis completely buried under the stem plants


Amazing isn't it, you forget you ever had it, you never see it and then when you break the tank down there it is, quite a large plant. I think it is the "fancy plec" of the plant world, you think it has died but then eventually you see it is three times as big as the last time you saw it.

From <"http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/tropica-anubia-melt-rot.20636/#post-210060">





dw1305 said:


> I've found that for me, for both _Anubias_ and _Bolbitis_, they do best when they are hidden in the "jungle" and totally ignored.


Cheers Darrel


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## parotet (24 Feb 2016)

Hi all

I have been conditioning my fish during the last days with frozen food. They are improving their color significantly, especially their fins. Here's the female:



They were regularly visiting some natural caves between driftwood and rocks, but just in case I have built a new one recycling plant pots and wrapping them with plants. Here's the new cave and the male:



And another pic with both really interested in the new cave:



They are continuously courting each other, but I begin to fear if the male is becoming too much aggressive. The female displays laterally (swims slightly heeled in front of the male) but since yesterday the male is chasing her and beating her side more frequently, and she remains more time isolated in one corner to avoid this pressure. Hope this is normal...

I never had such interesting fish, they are continuously interacting, hunting small critters in the tank, exploring the plants and caves...

Jordi


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## BexHaystack (25 Feb 2016)

Hi Jordi,
Your scape is really skillful and the cichlids are colouring up lovely! Perhaps you should consider playing them Barry White/Marvin Gaye for an hour every day? This might help them along...


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## parotet (3 Mar 2016)

Hi all

Good news. The female spawned last Monday and she is in her cave (finally the natural one) guarding the eggs night and day: no eating, no movement, nothing but being beside them. I can spot pinkish eggs attached to the ceiling. However there is something quite confusing to me that happened this morning. The male was not allowed to go into the cave until now, but this morning they were both inside... as fas as I understand the eggs were fertilized the same day the female spawned, ins't it? I don't understand how the male is allowed to be in the cave now that the eggs will probably hatch in the coming hours.

Jordi


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## dw1305 (3 Mar 2016)

Hi all,





parotet said:


> I can spot pinkish eggs attached to the ceiling.


They are viable. 





parotet said:


> The male was not allowed to go into the cave until now, but this morning they were both inside... as fas as I understand the eggs were fertilized the same day the female spawn, ins't it? I don't understand how the male is allowed to be in the cave now that the eggs will probably hatch in the coming hours.


I don't know all of mine have spawned in caves with really small entrances, so the male can't physically fit in the cave. 

Usually the female doesn't let the male do any brood care in_ A. cacatuoides_.

cheers Darrel


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## BexHaystack (3 Mar 2016)

Very exciting, looking forward to the photos!


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## parotet (11 Mar 2016)

Hi all

Unfortunately this first attempt of breeding failed. I suspect the male in the cave was the first indicator of things going wrong. The fact is that the female also left the cave and the eggs disappeared. I keep on conditioning them with Grindal worms, blood worms and they consumed a whole batch of BBS that was ready in case of having to feed the fry... the male is now a kind of supersize male and nearly doubles the size of the female (they were not that different in size when they came home). As far as I have read with these Apisto it is just a matter of time and they will hopefully try it again in a few weeks. However I am a bit worried for the female, sometimes she is completely fed up with the male who seems to like the idea of trying it as soon as possible. She hides for some hours among the plants.

Just one doubt... the size of the caves' entrances was quite large, enough for allowing the male to go in. Is it a constraint for successful breeding?  Now I have added stones to have very small entrances but it seems that the female is not visiting them.

I'll update the tank pictures this afternoon, now a little jungle that the Cockatoos enjoy very much.

Jordi


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## parotet (27 Mar 2016)

Hi all

It seems that the female spawned again, she is hidden in her cave for 3-4 days. Let's see if this time the fry survive. As mentioned in previous posts, I have changed the layout from a minimalist look to something more complex and suitable for the cockatoos.
Here's a short summary of the layout since last August...


Just hardscape


Planted but minimalistic, I liked it very much like this, but my feeling was that my Apistos weren't very happy in there


On the way to a little jungle

I expect a lot of growing during the coming months, as all the background is planted with Bolbitis, Java fern (standard and trident) and Rotala rotundifolia red/indica. I've also planted some bits of Hydrocotyle tripartita and I want this plant to spread all over the tank in the mid ground.

Jordi


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## BexHaystack (27 Mar 2016)

Jordi, this tank is just awesome! There is so much going on, so many little details and lovely textures but it doesn't look too busy or messy, just looks great. Well done


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## parotet (31 Mar 2016)

Hi all

I just got back from a work trip and I found the cockatoo female dead 
It is very sad, as before leaving she was in her cave (I think she spawned again a few days ago, although I never saw the eggs).
I am wondering if she had a problem while spawning or if she was exhausted due to the male chasing her continuously. No room in my tank for more than one female though, so the female gets the male attention all day long.
I think the tank conditions are ok. The male keeps on growing and developing nice colors and both fish were daily fed with pellets, grindal worms and/or frozen blood worms. I was even changing water every 5 days...

Jordi


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## Nelson (31 Mar 2016)

.


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## parotet (10 Apr 2016)

Hi all

I got a new cockatoo female last week. It seems that this time the couple is doing well, the male seems less aggressive than with the previous female. She is also much more yellow than the previous one and I would say that her belly is getting big. I spared some time with the guy at my LFS discussing what the problem could be, and after mentioning all the details of the tank and fish maintenance, he just told me that in a few cases Apisto pairs are just not compatible. This can lead to continuous aggression until the female get exhausted and dies.
I hope this time things will work better... In the picture below, both were hidden in one of the caves.

April10th by Jordi Domingo, en Flickr

Jordi


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## rebel (11 Apr 2016)

Is that red Colorata? Great growth.


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## parotet (11 Apr 2016)

rebel said:


> Is that red Colorata? Great growth.


It is R. rotundifolia "red" or also called "indica"

Jordi


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## Greenfinger2 (11 Apr 2016)

Hi Jordi, The planting has come on looking great


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## Berlioz (12 Apr 2016)

That looks fantastic, Jordi!


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## EdwinK (12 Apr 2016)

parotet said:


> It is R. rotundifolia "red" or also called "indica"



Great scape. R. Indica is a different plant commercially known as Ammania Bonsai.


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## parotet (12 Apr 2016)

EdwinK said:


> Great scape. R. Indica is a different plant commercially known as Ammania Bonsai.


Yes, but I meant R. rotundifolia var. red, also labeled as R. rotundifolia var. indica, which is not the same as Ammania indica Rotala bonsai). However, proper scientific plant identification in this hobby is unfortunately far from being accurate.

Jordi


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## aliclarke86 (12 Apr 2016)

just caught up with this and as always im loving it. been away a year or so from the hobby and this especially has me wanting wet elbows again  jungle looks just as amazing as the minimal look to me, Jordi.


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## parotet (23 Apr 2016)

Very sad news... The new female was doing very well with the male for the last weeks. She was bright yellow and in good shape. After 4 days in her coconut cave, she decided to go out this afternoon. She was pale and very fat, with an exaggerated round belly. She was very weak and she could not swim properly. Now she is just fighting for her life , but I think she won't be able to survive.

I am a bit frustrated and I feel really bad, this is the second female dead. I am not sure what's the problem, the male is in real good shape and I've done my best with food (Grindal, blood worms, pellets) and tank husbandry.

Jordi


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## Berlioz (24 Apr 2016)

I'm really sorry to hear that, Jordi.


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## zozo (24 Apr 2016)

That's awfull news Jordi, can imagine the frustration if you can't figure out what's going wrong and why only the female.. Rather strange indeed..


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## parotet (24 Apr 2016)

The female finally died yesterday night. It looked like she was plenty of eggs and she could not spawn. Maybe her belly was plenty of food, but I doubt it, as she was hidden in the cave for 4 days and she did not eat anything. 

Jordi


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## zozo (24 Apr 2016)

Long time ago i bought 2 Apisto's and they both died very soon after introduction. At that time there was no internet and not much information to find. I went back to the lfs to ask and ofcourse what can they say? They blamed it on water quality and asked me to bring a sample.. I didn't i knew it was ok, i didn't expect them to say we sell bad quality fish. More was aiming for an explenatory guide how to keep them, but they probably couldn't also back then. I never tried those sp. again..

But since internet and much more info it seems they can be rather a difficult sp. to keep and i read a lot of people strugling with it. And they are susceptible to stress and weaken and some need special care before introduced to mates, like using deviders in the tank or quarantine tanks to get them into shape before introducing couples. I guess you are just one of those who have bad luck with finding a couple that does do good together from the start.


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## Greenfinger2 (24 Apr 2016)

Hi Jordi, Sorry to hear that


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## BexHaystack (24 Apr 2016)

Hey Jordi, really sorry to hear about the female, perhaps she was egg-bound for some reason  I hope you will give it another try? Perhaps when you add another female, it might be worth adding some 'dither fish' some small peaceful fish (some people use tetras, danios or pencilfish) that can make the Apisto pair feel more secure. It's a bit counter-intuitive but apparently the presence of other fish can make the pair feel more assured and less aggressive to each other - I read back on your journal and you said your male was really hassling the first female a lot? Having something to distract him may help kerb his over-enthusiasm in the future. Anyways, sorry again, but I hope you won't give up. Bex


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## parotet (10 Jul 2016)

Hi all

wow, no posts since late April. These have been hectic months at work but I have managed to keep my tanks under control. I realized that I needed a low maintenance setup, that is, fast 50% water changes weekly, a bit of trimming every month or so, but nothing I had to care about too much. So from initial idea of a manicured aquascape, I have gone to more jungly look. The complete evolution again 


Just hardscape


Planted but minimalistic


On the way to a little jungle, Aristo period


Minimum maintenance setup

The red rotalas are still there but cannot be seen due to hard trimming today, but they do very well in the middle ground. Regarding the Apistos, I decided to find a better home for them. I was not really optimistic due to the last losses and looking at my agenda I knew I was going to have even less time for taking care of them. So no fish, just the Amano and cherry shrimps as well as some snails that established by themselves.

Jordi


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## zozo (10 Jul 2016)

You added some rocks in the path way, i see..  Looks nice..  I love those clumps of hairgrass, looks better then a complete carpet.. I'm trying the same, but it doesn't realy grow fast in low tech.


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## Greenfinger2 (28 Sep 2016)

Hi Jordi,  Hows things going on this one.


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## alto (29 Sep 2016)

Yes update update update

please


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## parotet (29 Sep 2016)

Thank you guys. This one is going crazy, it needs a serious trimming. I will take some pictures once back home. I want to add some long stems in the background, reddish or brownish to add contrast, not sure which species for the moment.

Jordi


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## parotet (3 Nov 2016)

Hi all

A new mutation for the Rivershore... from "just hardscape" to "minimalistic" to "little jungle" to "minimum maintenance" and now... "autumn mutation"!
Temperatures are now much better here for growing plants and I have more time to play with my tanks. So I decided to introduce some new plants and this is the result: 



Jordi


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## Greenfinger2 (3 Nov 2016)

Hi Jordi Stunning mate


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## Alexander Belchenko (3 Nov 2016)

Well, finally we can see the planted tank


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## parotet (3 Nov 2016)

Alexander Belchenko said:


> Well, finally we can see the planted tank


The funny thing is that there is no added substrate in the background. If you see the first pictures (the "minimalistic" one for example) you will see that the layout is very flat. All the moss grown in the background and middle ground  is now supporting the stems plants , like in a giant wabikusa. It is quite strange actually, when I replant the trimmed stems I cannot really plant them like you do in a normal tank, I just push them down until they get stuck, but they can actually be removed very easily. The good thing is that the roots are produced very quickly and this is enough for anchoring them

Jordi

A front view, phone pic...


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## CooKieS (3 Nov 2016)

Really love the Colors of this composition, congrats!

What is your lightning?


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## parotet (3 Nov 2016)

CooKieS said:


> What is your lightning?


2x24w T5, actually the cheapest tubes in the market from Philips, nothing fancy for planted tanks. The fixture is also among the cheapest ones from Odyssea. I just mounted it with a Blau kit for another fixture.

I ordered a Chihiros A-series 3 weeks ago (and I am still waiting...) so I will be upgrading the light system and probably adding some PAR

Jordi


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## BexHaystack (3 Nov 2016)

Looking awesome Jordi!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk


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## Alexander Belchenko (3 Nov 2016)

Awesome autumn colors, Jordi! Really like the changes in layout.

Re planting in moss: as one might said: pourqoi pas? Why not? The stem plants are very easy to grow even without substrate, if you dose to water some ferts. I had similar experience with plants on top of the tree in my pet shop layout last winter.

Glad you get such stunning results.


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## Tim Harrison (3 Nov 2016)

Looking awesome...very lush.


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## parotet (22 Feb 2017)

Hi all

A quick update after so many months! The tank is now in "easy maintenance mode", which means WCs every 10-12 days, no ferts or a few squirts every other week... but it needs now a good trimming!






Jordi


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