# DIY 75 x 42 x 40 cm



## alexandre (19 Feb 2008)

After the leak of my 40G, I decided to build my own tank, doesn't make sense really   


The glass cleaned, degreased  and masked.










Assembly.









Drying with a bit of water to keep the humidity high, to speed up the curing process.





Testing the seals.





And almost finish.





This picture is few weeks old, I will take some to night and post them.


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## Arana (19 Feb 2008)

Great Job and a very nice scape  

More Pics Please


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## George Farmer (19 Feb 2008)

Great job mate!

'Scape looks really good with the dragon stone.  I can see it filled in - mmmmm!


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## Themuleous (19 Feb 2008)

Don't think I'd have the confidence to make my own tank!!

Scapes gonna look quality once it fill out a bit.

Sam


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## Dan Crawford (19 Feb 2008)

Nice one, looks great. Looking forward to some more mature shots, this already looks ace and it's gonna get better!


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## alexandre (19 Feb 2008)

Thanks very much for the comments.

Few pictures from tonight. I done the first trimming last week so the plants don't look at there best and other been planted last tuesday.





















I will post the details of the tank later, I need to cook the diner now


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## gixer (19 Feb 2008)

Looking fantastic alexandre.

I've just started this hobby and i'm in Athens, what do you do in the summer mate to keep your tank cool?


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## TDI-line (19 Feb 2008)

Awesome tank, wish mine looked like that.


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## johnny70 (19 Feb 2008)

Very nice, beautiful layout, do you have any problems with the substrate being very deep at the back.

JOHNNY


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## alexandre (19 Feb 2008)

> ILooking fantastic alexandre.
> 
> I've just started this hobby and i'm in Athens, what do you do in the summer mate to keep your tank cool?



Thanks. I use a 12V PC fan, it cool down the tank of about 2 to 3C. During the day I am at home so when it is very hot I have got the air condition on. The tank is about 28C during the summer.
You can see the fan on this picture.







> Very nice, beautiful layout, do you have any problems with the substrate being very deep at the back.



Thanks. It does level a bit, but there is not a lot I can do. The stones and plants help and if I pull a plant I do it very slowly.



> Awesome tank, wish mine looked like that. Wink



Thanks, I wish I had more time when I build it, it could have been a bit better, but the plants was in the bath, fish and shrimps in a been. So I had to be quit.


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## alexandre (20 Feb 2008)

Lighting: 5x 24W T5 10H/day (3x Osram Luminux Deluxe 965 - 2x Giesemann Powerchrome Aquaflora).
Substrate: 5L Tropica Plant Substrat + Black gravel.
Filter: Eheim pro II 2028 (2 Liter Ehfimech + 4 Liter SUBSTRATpro + 1 bag Purigen).
CO2: 5kg extinguisher - Aqua Medic 1000 - 24H/24.
Fert: 3x per week - 1.25g KNO3 - 0.3g KH2PO4 - 0.3g K2SO4 - 5ml TPN.
Water change: 50% weekly - 2/3 RO+ 1/3 tape water + Prime.
PH, GH, KH, N, P etc: ?
Fauna: Black Neons - Flammeus - RCS.
Flora: Eleocharis (Parvula, Accicularis, Vivipara) - Ludwigia Arcuata - Rotala sp. Green - Hemianthus Micranthemoides - Ludwigia Repens Rubin Narrow - Juncus Repens - Hydrocotyle Verticillata - Echinodorus Tenellus? - Didiplis Diandra - Glossostigma Elatinoides -  Rotala Wallichii - Rotala Macranda Green.

I think I cover every thing


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## zig (20 Feb 2008)

The new layout looks very nice Alexandre it should be really good in a few weeks. Just one question though why did the old tank leak? I just built a new tank and you are making me nervous :?


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## alexandre (21 Feb 2008)

zig said:
			
		

> The new layout looks very nice Alexandre it should be really good in a few weeks. Just one question though why did the old tank leak? I just built a new tank and you are making me nervous :?



I am nervous to   . 
No seriously, the old one I broke it....Trying to remove the trim  
This one is 8mm so it is okay. Silicone is a very strong glue, the main thing is to clean and degrease properly before assembly.


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## alexandre (28 Feb 2008)

I added some Peacock moss, it give a darker shade of green and it is a good thing. The bad thing is I don't really like it, I think Weeping moss would have been better for that purpose.
Any suggestions? I am tempted to remove it.









I will start to shape the bushes next week, I just need some of the stem to grow a bit more before trimming   .


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## Arana (28 Feb 2008)

Lovely Scapes, can't wait for the next update


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## alexandre (29 Feb 2008)

Arana said:
			
		

> Lovely Scapes, can't wait for the next update



Thanks Arana, I will do some photos monday after the trimming so I can keep track of things and will post them.


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## TDI-line (1 Mar 2008)

Awesome tank.


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## alexandre (2 Mar 2008)

Here it is after a good trimming. You can see as well my GDA probleme  :? .





Any suggestions and critiques are well come. I remove the moss, did not like it.


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## Themuleous (2 Mar 2008)

Aren't you supposed to let GSA complete its life cycle, i.e. left it complete alone for 2 or 3 weeks and it should clear up of its own accord?

Scape should look excellent once its recovered after the prune 

Sam


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## Garuf (18 Apr 2008)

Is this still holding out, Diying a tank this huge would terrify me!


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## alexandre (20 Apr 2008)

Garuf said:
			
		

> Is this still holding out, Diying a tank this huge would terrify me!



Are you douting of my DIY skills  lol:

Yes, the tank is still holding. The glaces are 8mm stick, so it is strong and give quiet a bit of surface for apply the silicone.
I had a probleme with the glosso once again, it grew tall, never understood why, maybe CO2 to high... If any one had this probleme and resolve it, I will be curious to know.
Any way, I let it go for a while, because of this and buzy at work. I redone it a couple of weeks ago, will post pictures soon. It just had his first trim, so not to much to show.


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## ceg4048 (20 Apr 2008)

alexandre said:
			
		

> Garuf said:
> 
> 
> 
> > ...I had a probleme with the glosso once again, it grew tall, never understood why, maybe CO2 to high...



Nope, just the opposite in fact. Leggy growth on carpet plants is a consequence of low CO2/flow at the front substrate level. You may want to consider increasing the injection rate. Also the 30G EI dosing calls for 1.5 grams of KH2PO4 and 5.3 grams KNO3 per week so you may want to think about upping these as well.

Cheers,


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## alexandre (21 Apr 2008)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> alexandre said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Hi ceg4048,

Thanks for the info, I was saying that because I read some where that high CO2 level can make stem plants leggy (don't know really if it is the case with glosso). The water flow is quiet important. I use a drop checker with KH4 solution from AE and it goes more yellow than green. That said, lately I get some BBA.... My bubble rate is not regular, I don't know if it come from the room temperature change or my regulator is buggered. It was a very long time (years) I didn't get this algae. 
I agree with you, my macro dosing is on the lean side, will increases it. In fact last month, I tried to run it just with TPN+  and it did not go well, but I did not keep on top of my water change so...


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## ceg4048 (21 Apr 2008)

Hi alexandre,
                     Yes, it sounds like you may have a regulator problem, however it's also possible that the cylinder is getting low on gas. If the regulator is faulty you might be able to see the second stage gauge needle moving. A fluctuating injection rate can do as much damage as low injection rates. Have you tried placing the dropchecker near the glosso? Somehow you need to force flow down towards the glosso. Can you try moving the lily pipe to the back wall, or mounting a spraybar on the back wall? I know this ruins the aesthetics of your design but stringy glosso looks worse in my opinion.

The appearance of BBA confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that the problem is CO2 related. So there you have a few suspects to investigate. If your fish can stand it I would open up the needle valve some more as a first step.

Cheers,


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## alexandre (21 Apr 2008)

I am pretty sure my CO2 is high enough, the fishes often gasp at the surface if I don't have enought surface agitation. How ever, I suspect my CO2 not to be stable, even so it don't drop beyond 2b/s.
For the glosso, I removed it, I had enough of it, I always had this probleme. Never had problem with eleocharis, with I thought was gourmand on CO2 to.


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## LondonDragon (22 Apr 2008)

Great scape plants look very healthy, love it 
I also get some GDA not as much as you though, letting it complete its cycle means the tank looks awfull for 2/3 weeks which I don't like, just have to keep cleaning that glass


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## alexandre (22 Apr 2008)

Thanks LodonDragon. I tried this method, I let the GDA alone for three weeks, scrape it, done a big water change but it keep coming back.


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## alexandre (6 May 2008)

Hi all,

So here is the new version, no thing new and a bit boring in fact, but here we go. Will tried to do better next time   
Your critics and suggestions are wellcome.


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## Dan Crawford (6 May 2008)

Love it, especially the varied textures and colours. Real nice.


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## alexandre (7 May 2008)

Thanks Dan,

The aquascape need a lot of improvement, I had to cut the light for a few days last week because I ran out of CO2 and was to lazy to get a refill my bottles so few plants are not at there best.


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## Garuf (8 May 2008)

It looks like you've done a nicer job of my current scape to me, damn you!


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## LondonDragon (8 May 2008)

Looks pretty good to me too  just needs the plants to grow a little more and thats it


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## Steve Smith (9 May 2008)

It's an odd thing.  I really love these path scapes, but I've never wanted to really try one.  You've got me thinking though 

Looks great Alexandre


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## beeky (9 May 2008)

I've just noticed that in your first pics you've got the tank on a balcony overlooking a swimming pool. Are you on holiday or does everyone in Cyprus live like that?!


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## alexandre (12 May 2008)

Garuf said:
			
		

> It looks like you've done a nicer job of my current scape to me, damn you!





			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Looks pretty good to me too  just needs the plants to grow a little more and thats it



Thanks, but I wasn't very happy with it, so I pulled all the bushes out yesterday and rearanged them... and still not 100% sure, will post pictures.  



			
				SteveUK said:
			
		

> It's an odd thing.  I really love these path scapes, but I've never wanted to really try one.  You've got me thinking though
> 
> Looks great Alexandre



If you tried it avoid the shrimps   



			
				beeky said:
			
		

> I've just noticed that in your first pics you've got the tank on a balcony overlooking a swimming pool. Are you on holiday or does everyone in Cyprus live like that?!



They are a lots of swimming pool here in Cyprus there is the sun shin, but don't get lure... I will not encourage any one to go there for hollyday, live there or buy houses, in one way or another you will get rip off. There are some good things like not traffic jam and no winter, but it's about it


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## LondonDragon (12 May 2008)

alexandre said:
			
		

> I will not encourage any one to go there for hollyday, live there or buy houses, in one way or another you will get rip off. There are some good things like not traffic jam and no winter, but it's about it


Looks like he wants all the sun and sea to himself and trying to keep the rest of us from moving there hahahaha


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## alexandre (12 May 2008)

Believe me, the summer is to hot to work... it is hell.
Next year I will be back in the UK, so you will be able to comme here and enjoy  the "see, sex and sun" (Gainsbourg)


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## LondonDragon (12 May 2008)

alexandre said:
			
		

> Believe me, the summer is to hot to work... it is hell.
> Next year I will be back in the UK, so you will be able to comme here and enjoy  the "see, sex and sun" (Gainsbourg)


You offering to lend us your place and swiming pool?  might take you up on that then


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## alexandre (12 May 2008)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> alexandre said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes, yes, you can have my job aswell.


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## LondonDragon (13 May 2008)

alexandre said:
			
		

> Yes, yes, you can have my job aswell.


Looking after the fish tank? sure


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## alexandre (7 Jun 2008)

Some quick update, the pictures been taken with no triopod, that was just for my record, so they are not very good. But I thought I might post them aswell.


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## LondonDragon (7 Jun 2008)

Looks great as ever, just love that rock work  congrats


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## REDSTEVEO (11 Jun 2008)

Wow....That looks the business!!  How are you getting on with the glass lily pipes? Are they from ADA?

Steve


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## alexandre (11 Jun 2008)

Thanks LondonDragon and Redsteveo.

The outflow is an Aquili and is great. The inflow is from Ebay and is not very good quality, the glass is very thin, and it broke once, aswell as the outflow who came with it. I've got the inflow from Aquili, but I would not recommend it, the fish get suck in and believe me it was quiet gory. I lost neons and striata loach, wish is the bummer because they are hard to come by here and they are good for snail control. So I only used it 24h, a nice way to throw money thru the window.
Sadly, I have to change house at the end of the month so this aquascape will never be finish...


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## TDI-line (12 Jun 2008)

Looks great.


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## plantbrain (12 Jun 2008)

One comment on the hair grass: mow the lawn
Like to 2 cm tall. It grows back and is easier to maintain over time this way.

Glass you took out that other weed, Gloss.
Folks seem to enjoy that weed till they keep it for awhile.

It will just grow way too fast. Your scape shows you gone from high trim maintenance down to lower work loads
Make sure to inform others about such issues.

I tend to keep a mix of both high work and low work tanks.
Also, the R wallichi does much better if you uporoot and replant the tops, vs topping and letting the new growth come back.
Glad to see the rocks back

Great job on the tank build.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## planter (12 Jun 2008)

nice rock work!


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## REDSTEVEO (15 Jun 2008)

I love the clean looks!!

Where is your heater? Aplogies if you have posted this earlier,

Cheers,

Steve


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (16 Jun 2008)

great to see someone else building tanks.. its alot easier than everyone thinks it is.

nice job!


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## alexandre (16 Jun 2008)

> One comment on the hair grass: mow the lawn
> Like to 2 cm tall. It grows back and is easier to maintain over time this way.



Yes you are right, in my precedent tank, I managed to keep it over 6 month, maybe 8, by just doing that. A good hair cut every other week.



> Glass you took out that other weed, Gloss.
> Folks seem to enjoy that weed till they keep it for awhile.
> 
> It will just grow way too fast. Your scape shows you gone from high trim maintenance down to lower work loads
> Make sure to inform others about such issues.



The problem I had with the glosso, it use to form big leaves and after few weeks grow like a stem plant (very tall). Never understood why. It used to do that with my 180L with 250W HQL and with the T5 and in this tank under T5.  :?: 
And yes it grow far far to fast.



> Also, the R wallichi does much better if you uporoot and replant the tops, vs topping and letting the new growth come back.



Thanks for the advice, will do.   



> Glad to see the rocks back
> 
> Great job on the tank build.



Thanks very much Tom.



> nice rock work!



Tanks Planter, but I can not take the credit. If you look at the ADA catalogue 2006, you will know why.  



> I love the clean looks!!
> 
> Where is your heater? Aplogies if you have posted this earlier,
> 
> Cheers,



Thanks Redstevo. Don't apologies, you did not see any, because I don't use any. I used to put an Hydore external during the winter. But this year I been to lazy to put it back. The tank did not go below 23C. 
My main problem is the heat, the tank now is around 28/29C and the HC don't really like it  



> great to see someone else building tanks.. its alot easier than everyone thinks it is.



It is true, it is not a big deal, specialy that size. 
When I was 19 I bought a 450L with the base broken so I had to unglue change the base and reglue it. It was a bit more hard, at the time there wasn't the internet and had to do it by felling. But it did okay. Now being older a bit less crazy and more wise I will think twice to do a tank that big. But why not   
I take you are building your own tank, what size?


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## alexandre (24 Sep 2008)

Hi all,

After being away from the hobby for a while, few news of the tank.

That was the tank how it was just before moving house, not finish but no choice.





After, I done that, did not really have the time to do a hardscape or anything else. 6 to 8 weeks after planting.





The temperatures did get very hot over here and the tank was 30C. The HC did not like it, did not have the time to do any thing about it etc...
So last week, I started all over again. Received an order of plants from Green Machine today. I have to say very good. Few times I tried to import HC, it never did well, I used to get 80 and 90% lost. But the HC I got lunch time, I did not loss 1 stem...
A photo of the hardscape, will have to fiddle a bit with the stones and I will post a picture once the plants will stand up a bit more.


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## Vito (25 Sep 2008)

Hey Alex, Just checked out your journal, nice designs, never seen so many changes done before and each one seems to be even better, the latest one looks great so far. 

good luck!

Vito


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## joyous214 (25 Sep 2008)

wow nice love the new design.


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## aaronnorth (25 Sep 2008)

joyous214 said:
			
		

> wow nice love the new design.


same here


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## alexandre (25 Sep 2008)

Vito said:
			
		

> Hey Alex, Just checked out your journal, nice designs, never seen so many changes done before and each one seems to be even better, the latest one looks great so far.
> 
> good luck!
> 
> Vito



Thanks, will try to finish this one  :? Pratice make it perfect, like they say   . I am far to be perfect, but every time, I learn some thing. So it is a good thing. But don't expecte to much. I ordered some plants more for me than what they should be for an aquarium of this size. Just wanted to tried plants I never tried before.

@ aaronnorth & joyous214:
Thanks. I am sort of happy with the wood, but the stones will need to be sorted a bit.


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## The Green Machine (26 Sep 2008)

Alexandre, its nice for us to put a tank to a name and a very nice tank too! So glad that you were happy with the plants. Take care and best wishes,
Jim and Mark.


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## alexandre (27 Sep 2008)

The-Green-Machine said:
			
		

> Alexandre, its nice for us to put a tank to a name and a very nice tank too! So glad that you were happy with the plants. Take care and best wishes,
> Jim and Mark.



Thanks, I think if I don't mess it up, it should turn up into a nice aquarium and thanks to you.


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## joyous214 (27 Sep 2008)

oohhhh nice


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## Garuf (27 Sep 2008)

Get some hairgrass in there!
I absolutely love it! It'll be the bee knees once its grown out.
How do you find water changes living in cyprus I went years ago and seem to remember it being in a state of massive draught?


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## alexandre (27 Sep 2008)

joyous214 said:
			
		

> oohhhh nice



Thanks joyous214.



			
				Garuf said:
			
		

> Get some hairgrass in there!
> I absolutely love it! It'll be the bee knees once its grown out.
> How do you find water changes living in cyprus I went years ago and seem to remember it being in a state of massive draught?



Thanks Garuf. There is a little bit of hairgrass in it.   
For the water change it is a nightmare. Where I used to leave before, it was all right, to close to the twon center to cut the water. Now I only get maybe 24h per week of drinking water, and the normal tap water don't have enought pressure to run the RO unit even with the pressure pompe swicht on. Last time I tried, it took me 24h to make 50l   

PS: I do use the bad water from the RO for the garden.


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## alexandre (11 Oct 2008)

Some photos taken last tuesday.


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## Thomas McMillan (11 Oct 2008)

Wow, I can't believe I haven't seen this tank before!  Love it.


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## LondonDragon (11 Oct 2008)

Excelent as always Alexandre  looking better than ever


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## Thomas McMillan (11 Oct 2008)

I think maybe there's too many little rocks just dotted about on the sand? Also, I find the right most peice of wood distracting because it kind of sticks out from the clump of plants.


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## zig (11 Oct 2008)

Looks great Alexandre, nice tank.

Just a question/s if I may. What are you using to light the tank? is it a 150w metal halide? how long is the photoperiod and what bulb do you use?? Can you tell us what plants you are using in this layout?


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## alexandre (12 Oct 2008)

Thanks Thomas McMillan & LondonDragon . 



			
				Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> I think maybe there's too many little rocks just dotted about on the sand? Also, I find the right most peice of wood distracting because it kind of sticks out from the clump of plants.



I don't know if there is too many rocks around. I think it is more there positions, a bit to symmetric. At some point the HC will have grow and cover a good part of them. But you are correct, there is some thing not right. Will have a look today and see what I can do.
About the wood, the extreme right or the fat one who stick out the water?



			
				zig said:
			
		

> Looks great Alexandre, nice tank.
> 
> Just a question/s if I may. What are you using to light the tank? is it a 150w metal halide? how long is the photoperiod and what bulb do you use?? Can you tell us what plants you are using in this layout?



Thanks Zig,
The photoperiod is 8h for the moment.
2x Giesemann Midday T5 - 24W
2x Arcadia T5 Plant Pro - 24W

Some of the plants I used will become a bit to big, so I will have re dove some of it at some point.
Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala Sp. Green
Anubias Barteri var. nana
Heteranthera Zosterifolia
Limnophilia Aromatica
Dipilis Diandra
E. Tennelus
Microsorum Narrow
Xmass moss
HC
Cryptocoryne parva


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## aaronnorth (12 Oct 2008)

looks great


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## Thomas McMillan (12 Oct 2008)

Not the thick one - the one on the extreme right.


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## alexandre (14 Oct 2008)

Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> Not the thick one - the one on the extreme right.


I will see about that one once the tennelus will have grow in front of it. But it is a good point,it is only one branch so I can remove it easily or replace it by a shorter one.

Here are some photos after the first trim. On the first one I removed the big stone in the wood. I think it is better less heavy. The other one have a couple of stones removed from the beach, still not that.  
Your critics are more than welcome.


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## Mark Evans (14 Oct 2008)

looks fantastic, is that bga on the sand?


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## Steve Smith (14 Oct 2008)

That looks amazing.  Really inspiring me for my own 80cm tank which I'm hoping to re-scape in the next month or so


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## Thomas McMillan (14 Oct 2008)

Looks much better without the stones. I'm sure that branch will look fine once it's grown in a little more.


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## alexandre (16 Oct 2008)

Thanks Steve.



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> looks fantastic, is that bga on the sand?



Thanks, It look like it. It did show up in 24h, that's the gap between the first and second photo. Since yesterday I got back to my old dosing regime. 



			
				Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> Looks much better without the stones. I'm sure that branch will look fine once it's grown in a little more.



Yes it does, thanks to you. I am thinking to remove the small one on the left to.


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## Thomas McMillan (16 Oct 2008)

^ Yeah, I think that would be good. It's a bit too out of place at the moment.


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