# James' new ADA 60-P ... New photos



## James D (6 Sep 2013)

I thought I’d start a journal for my new tank, it’s my first dedicated ‘aquascape’ although I have chucked a few rocks and plants in my other tank recently, just for a bit of practice.

For this tank I’ve had to start from scratch and do it on as much as a budget as possible (the joys of married life!). To keep the costs down I built my own tank (60 x 29 x 29) and sourced most of my hardware as cheap as I could find (mostly ebay). Unfortunately I bought my substrate early on in the process before doing too much research (i.e. finding this site), I wish I’d bought some Amazonia but never mind, maybe for my next scape.

I’ve broken down roughly what I’ve spent so far, it might make interesting reading for some one else starting from scratch like me :

6mm Float Glass: £35
Silicone: £8
Z Series LED: £55
Fluval 106 Filter: £78
Clear Tubing: £3
Lily Pipes: £17
Hydor In line Heater: £30
CO2 Set up (this one): £55
Solenoid: £18
CO2 Glass ware (diff, BC, DC, Stop Valve): £15
Timer Plugs x 2: £11

Substrate: Aquabasis plus x 2 : £34
Gravel: £20
Rocks: Free (Horseshoe Pass, Llangollen)

Total: £379


Right, the next step, hardscape and planting.

A bit of background - I’ve always had a fascination with all things oriental, particularly their philosophy and sense of aesthetics, I even ended up marrying a chinese lady, so we’ve got a house in China as well as the UK, the countryside there has really influenced my ideas. I mention this because it will hopefully highlight the delight I felt when I first came across Iwagumi Tanks.... I’ve always loved watching fish, Japanese and Chinese Landscapes and paintings and these tanks brought it all together - bingo, I’ve got to have one!

After weeks of searching I found what looked like the right stones for my scape (I didn’t want to buy any as the ones in the shops tend to be slightly generic imo) and set up my hardscape which I’m fairly pleased with. It should look a bit better when the other half of the substrate goes in to build up the slopes and fill in the gaps a bit. One thing I don’t really like are Iwagumis that look like some rocks have been plopped onto a lawn, they seem a bit false somehow, I’d prefer something that looks more natural, hopefully I’m on the right track.







That brings me on to the planting, at first I wanted a nice HC carpet like those lovely Japanese tanks but I’m coming round to the idea that they look kind of unnatural.

Actually I’m still undecided about what and how to plant which is why I’m holding off - Two scapes that I really love are George Farmer’s ‘Scree’ and James’ ‘Crimson Sky’ in the Green Machine - they both look like works of art without looking ‘artificial’ if I can achieve anything approaching (unlikely) these I’ll be a very happy man!

Sorry about the long post but there it is. I’d really appreciate any comments regarding my equipment or hardscape but especially and planting ideas.

Cheers

James


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## NexusIcon (6 Sep 2013)

Love those rocks and how you've laid them!
The thing with all these scapes is they look so damn cool without the plants and then the plants hide the awesome rock layout  I'd maybe try blade like plants or maybe in the background some larger ones? 
Look forward to seeing what you do


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## Lindy (6 Sep 2013)

It would look nice with tufts/patches of one of the lilaeopsis around the tank and the rest dwarf hairgrass. Maybe some standard hairgrass to the rear. You could use some dwarf sagittaria but plant it in pots to keep dense tufts and stop it from spreading. I find the unbroken lawn look pretty boring but have seen a tank I really liked where different grassy looking plants had been used together to give a much more natural appearance.


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## matt (6 Sep 2013)

Hi,looking good Having never done a proper hardscape myself feel free to ignore me but i prefer the first layout,can't really put my finger on why maybe because
the rocks lay a little lower??
I'll be following this.
All the best,.
Matt.


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## James D (6 Sep 2013)

Thanks for the comments, hopefully I'm on the right track, I'm going to think long and hard about my plants or I'll just be fiddling with them every few days if I rush into anything. I had a similar idea to using the different grasses, hopefully they won't hide the rocks too much, I might have to research a few tanks.

Matt: I think I agree about the first one, it doesn't look quite as contrived.

Cheers.


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## Martin in Holland (7 Sep 2013)

Hi James, the tank look great already...I agree also about the first one..

I am also married to a Chinese lady (we live in China at the moment) and always try to find a balance in things between my home (south of the Netherlands where we have hills and those beautiful yellow lime stone) and China (or Asia)


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## James D (10 Sep 2013)

Hi Martin, thanks for the comment, where in China do you live? (although I've probably never heard of it as it's a big place!) Our house is in Qin Huang Dao on the coast fairly near Beijing where the Great Wall starts at the sea, it's quite a touristy area and there's some great country parks there with some lovely rocky scenery.

I've tried to make a few mock ups of how I'm going to plant my tank up, it's highlighted that the slope along the front might look a bit weird though which is a bit of a concern, I can't see how I can get round it though without a complete rescape.

The first couple of images show a HC carpet and those below show a more mixed carpet of grasses and stauro repens, both have got a bit of Hydrocotyle tripartita.






Any comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks


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## James D (10 Sep 2013)

The images came out a bit small!


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## James D (10 Sep 2013)

Sorry about that, here they are in a decent size.


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## Lindy (10 Sep 2013)

I like the third one


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## sa80mark (10 Sep 2013)

Very nice they all look good but I agree with above number 3 looks fantastic 

I wish I could do stuff like that, what did you use to do them ?


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## James D (10 Sep 2013)

Hopefully it will look that good when I plant it next week. 

I used photoshop sa80mark, I must admit it took me a few hours but never mind, the boss is out today..


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## Martin in Holland (11 Sep 2013)

Hey James....maybe you have heard of the place I live...it's called Shenzhen ...just across the border from Hong Kong


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## James D (24 Sep 2013)

Well, things have changed a bit since my last post. I went up to the Green Machine at the weekend to pick up my mini hairgrass and came back with a bit more than I bargained for.... a nice new tank and a sackful of amazonia!






I tried a lot of different layouts but came back to the original (more or less), just waiting for my new lily pipes and clear tubing to arrive and I'll be able to tidy everything up and sit back and enjoy my tank!

Martin: I've only been to Southern China once when I visited the Suzhou and Shanghai area, I'd recommend a visit to Suzhou and Tong Li to anyone, there's so many traditional Chinese gardens with awesome ponds, rock work and fishes!


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## James D (16 Oct 2013)

Apart from CO2 leaks everything seems to be ok at the moment. I think my light is quite weak in comparison to some so although I've got slowish growth at least I haven't got any algae (yet).

Planted a tub of 1,2 Ammania sp. 'Bonsai' and a pot of Micranthemum Umbrosum at the weekend.









Thanks


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## steveno (16 Oct 2013)

Hello James, 

Your scape is looking really good, it be great once the plants fill. Love your hardscape layout. I have also just started my scape... Also trying for iwagumi look. trying to keep it simple using just hc but looking at your perhaps some mini hair grass would add a bit more interest.


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## Samuran (16 Oct 2013)

Are you going to update your running total now you've got an ADA tank?? 

Ben


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## Samuran (16 Oct 2013)

P.S where did you get the light from?


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## James D (16 Oct 2013)

That total went out of the window a long time ago mate, that list is now exclusively for showing my lovely wife! 

Steveno: TBH I've gone off my hardscape a bit already, I had it in the tank for weeks before I planted and spent hours thinking about it. Now it's too late I wish I'd gone for more of a 'mountain' style scape, it does look a bit nicer in 'real life' though.


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## James D (16 Oct 2013)

Got it from here. 
I took a bit of a gamble on it but so far I'm pleased. I'm not sure how powerful it is exactly but my plants seem healthy and the tank looks nice.


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## Samuran (16 Oct 2013)

Ideal thanks mate 

Ben


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## Martin in Holland (17 Oct 2013)

I bought the same from Taobao.......a whole lot cheaper mate (for my 40cm tank)


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## Martin in Holland (17 Oct 2013)

I mean the lights   .....sorry...forgot to mention that


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## George Farmer (17 Oct 2013)

I really like it. The rocks are different and interesting - even better, free!

I'm sure this will turn into a real beauty. Looking forward to following your progress.


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## aliclarke86 (17 Oct 2013)

I really like the hard scape and can't wait to see this grow in I think it will be a beauty. I know what you mean about staring at hard scape for weeks though.

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## James D (17 Oct 2013)

Thanks chaps, it's reassuring to hear positive words, you can over think these things sometimes.

I'm just waiting for my Purigen to arrive and then I'll try some proper photography.


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## James D (17 Oct 2013)

I forgot to mention, that Tropica 1,2 Grow Ammania sp. 'Bonsai' is incredible, I'm sure it's grown over 10mm since Saturday!


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## James D (18 Oct 2013)

> least I haven't got any algae (yet).


 
Did a bit of trimming and cleaning last night and found some small brown spots of algae on the glass - me and my big mouth  

I plan to start EI dosing at the weekend when I've got time to measure it all out.


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## James D (24 Oct 2013)

Took a few shots last night, I need to work on my photography (and turn of the CO2!)


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## aliclarke86 (24 Oct 2013)

Looking great mate!!

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## Deano3 (24 Oct 2013)

like ali says looking great mate


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## James D (28 Oct 2013)

Well, the honeymoon period is officially over  . I couldn't find my camera this morning but I'll take a few pictures tonight.

My Ammania sp Bonsai has started to melt to the extent that it's breaking off and floating to the surface, although some of them in a different area of the tank still seem healthy. Also my
Hemianthus micranthemoidesis looking a bit brown (in a similar area to the melting Bonsai) So I'm assuming it's poor flow / circulation and distribution of CO2. I only started EI dosing last week so I was genuinely expecting my plants to become healthier not worse. 

I added an extra filter on the opposite corner of the tank which seems to have helped the flow and repositioned the diffuser as well as increasing the amount of CO2.... time will tell but hopefully this will help.

I've also got algae growing on my glass, mainly down near the substrate, if only my plants would grow as quick.... if I clean it off it's back the next day.

Overall I'm quite depressed about the whole thing but hopefully I can turn it around, Clive's mantra of flow, CO2 and nutrients will see me through!


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## aliclarke86 (28 Oct 2013)

Hey mate. Don't get disheartened. Your tank is still maturing. You have a good 3/4 months of keeping a very close eye on it. Its a learning curve that we all need to go through! 

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## James D (28 Oct 2013)

Cheers Ali, disheartened is the word, I'm not ready to give up yet though.....


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## James D (29 Oct 2013)

I'm trying to eliminate any inadequacies so I've got a question about my ferts. I bought the starter kit from aquarium plant food uk and am following these instructions:

*Standard Ei Dosing [This is a guideline only]*

*Macro Solution* 
_Mix, Shake & Leave to Dissolve Overnight:_
4tsp Potassium Nitrate
1tsp Potassium Phosphate
6tsp Magnesium Sulphate
500ml Water

*Micro Solution* 
_Mix, Shake & Leave to Dissolve Overnight:_
1tsp Chelated Trace Elements
500ml Water

*Dosing* 
Macro 3x a week. (10ml per 50ltr of Aquarium water)
Micro 3x a week. (10ml per 50ltr of Aquarium water)
20-50% weekly water change.
Does that sound about right? (I'm actually adding about 15ml per day as my tanks about 65 litres).

Thanks.


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## James D (1 Nov 2013)

My plants seem to be deteriorating a a slow rate, Ammania sp. Bonsai is melting, Hairgrass mini is turning brown, Micranthemum umbrosum is turning very brown on the lower parts of the plants. I’m also getting algae on the glass of my tank on a daily basis.

If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated, the second filter has only been on for a week and I only significantly increased CO2 last weekend as well. Previously I didn’t trust the solenoid so I was manually putting it on in the morning before I went to work, as the lights don’t go on until 3 oclock I didn’t leave it to high (about 2 BPS) but since I started using the solenoid on a timer I’ve ramped it right up. The flow seems to be pretty good since I added the extra filter - I can see the CO2 bubbles moving all around the tank with no apparent dead spots.


Here are the specs of my tank


*Water Changes:*

40 - 50% twice a week

*Substrate:*

ADA Amazonia

*CO2:*

600g Disposable bottle via glass nano diffuser, more bubbles than I can count per second. Comes on 1 hour before lights on but always trickles in when the solenoid is off.

*Ei Dosing:*

15ml each day (alternating macro and micro as the previous post).

*Filtration:*

Eheim 2213
Fluval 106 (with an Eheim Skimmer next to the outflow for extra flow).

Lily pipes on opposite corners of the tank.

*Light:*

Z series LED, 7 hours per day.

Specs:

MODEL PRO-LED-Z-20
INPUT POWER AC 100V~240V
POWER 21.3W // 56mW / 1pcs
COLOR TEMPERATURE 8000K
LUMINOUS INTENSITY 1400mcd / 1pcs
OUTPUT POWER DC 12V
LED LAMP 180pcs


Any suggestions about where I’m going wrong would be great. I only started the remedial measures last weekend so things might be slowly improving, certainly the rate of deterioration doesn’t seem as fast.

Thanks.


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## aliclarke86 (1 Nov 2013)

Emersed growth dying off?

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## James D (1 Nov 2013)

Is that likely? the A.sp.B. and MU have been in for about three weeks and the hairgsass five or six weeks. The hairgrass and A sp B were tropica 1,2 grow but the MU was in a pot underwater when I bought it.

If you're right Ali what can I do? leave them to sort themselves out?

Cheers

James


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## steveno (1 Nov 2013)

Hello James,

Sorry hear about you recent issues... I'm pretty new to this hobby, but i had similar issue in my tank, even thou my drop checker was always lime green, i decided to add a  in inline Co2 diffuser, my plants seem to have recovered, so perhaps it a c20 deficiency.


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## aliclarke86 (1 Nov 2013)

I couldn't say 100% but I have always had this problem with hair grass at least

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## Iain Sutherland (2 Nov 2013)

hey james, dont get disheartened fella, if it was easy it would be boring 

this is co2 issues, the diffuser you have...if its an ebay one from china will be pretty rubbish and bubbles bigger than you might like, mine is the same you just need to inject more and start it earlier so that the co2 can really saturate the water pre lights on.
Ammania is a funny bugger, seems that it doesnt like new nutrient rich soils... seen a few threads of it melting a few weeks down the line and did with me also, even the legend that is mr farmer has failed a couple of times with it.

You need to deal with the diatoms, people will often say that it will go by itself and it will, however, if you dont harass it then it takes longer and will damage the plant health causing a bit of a vicious circle.  If you can go back to daily WC, clean the glass, use a toothbrush on the rocks and ruffle the plants around as best you can without uprooting them. Get some shrimp in the tank and a couple of ottos.
Stick at it, invest a bit of time everyday to the tank now and it will pay back dividends in a week or two mate, it a lovely scape and deserves to do well.


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## James D (4 Nov 2013)

Thanks for all the advice, I remember reading that my disposable CO2 system might not be compatible with an in line diffuser (not enough pressure?).

Iain: You are correct about my diffuser, it started off fine, but I gave it a good bleaching last week and since then the bubbles look much bigger. I've since put it next my filter intake and these large bubbles are sucked into my filter while the finer ones are blown around the tank, whether this'll make any difference remains to be seen.

Do you think investing in a better diffuser will help? If so can any recommend a decent mid price one?

Funnily enough, since Thursday I've been doing what I can to improve things and it seems to tally with what you suggested - thorough toothbrush scrubbing, substrate cleaning, water changes, cleaning leaves manually and localized Easycarbo injections.

Surprisingly my Ammania shot up about 20 or 30mm in the first couple of weeks before it started melting from the bottom. I plucked out all the worst offenders and nipped off and replanted the healthy tops - the leaves were covered in what I assume was diatoms (I need to read up about these) so they had a good cleaning before they went back in.

I've also got a few S. Repens in there which were looking a bit rough so they had the same treatment, the tops that I replanted actually look quite healthy.

My Hairgrass seems to be doing ok, where it's pressed against the glass I can see new runners it's sending out which look healthy. I was reluctant to touch it before because it only had a tenuous hold on the substrate, it's rooted down better now so I was able to give it all a good rubbing between my fingers, that and a good hoovering has got rid of most of the brown bits. It looks much healthier now.

My MU seems to have nice green growth at the top, the dodgy leaves are all further down, obviously these leaves are to small to clean individually but rubbed them as much as I dared and injected a load of Easycarbo on them. It's hard to tell if they look better but time will tell.

Anyway as a whole the tank looks slightly better today and I'm feeling more optimistic. I'll be putting it on my new cabinet next weekend and upgrading one of my filters.

Cheers

James


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## tim (4 Nov 2013)

Hi James,http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/fluval-ceramic-co2-diffuser-p-6010.html?cPath=194_197 I've found these really good though I've read a few people have issues with them, you can also buy spare ceramic disks so you can swap whilst cleaning. Hope it picks up for you. You could also try starting the injection period earlier, I used to have co2 come on 4hours before lights whilst using in tank diffusers.


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## James D (7 Nov 2013)

Cheers Tim, I've bought an in-line diffuser I saw recommended on another thread, I'm going to fit it when I install my new filter.

I can't say if there's been much improvement yet but the deterioration seems to have stopped.

I'm posting because I've started to worry that my lighting might be too weak. I say this because my Ammania doesn't look like I hoped it would, the leaves are large and pale and it doesn't seem as compact as I was expecting. I've been searching on the web and I can't find much info on my LED. 

Is it maybe worth investing in new lighting? I suppose the advantage of mine is I won't get the problems associated with too much light.


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## sa80mark (7 Nov 2013)

I wouldnt buy a new light just yet, I think the growth problem might be co2 distribution, give your new inline diffuser 3 weeks and see if theres any change first  it might be worth trying a spray bar to just to rule out the lilly pipe


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## James D (12 Nov 2013)

Not to much to report really.... my hairgrass is growing nice and green, the browness I could see before is more or less gone, the MU and Ammania haven't improved too much but the seem to be doing ok and the brown algae isn't coming back as fast. All in all fairly positive.

I'll be setting up my new filter and diffuser this week so we'll see if they'll improve my plant health further.

I'm really only posting to show off my new cabinet







Cheers

James


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## aliclarke86 (13 Nov 2013)

Glad things are looking up mate. I always find that hair grass seems to die off when first submerged but the others I don't have experience with. I think I will get some ammania sp bonsai to give it a go and see his I fair with this somewhat tricky plant 

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## aliclarke86 (13 Nov 2013)

Oh and nice cabinet 

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## James D (13 Nov 2013)

Cheers mate.

I'm thinking of replacing the Ammania with Staurogyne Repens if it keeps melting at the base, I'm not that keen on how it looks in my tank anyway. I'm sure it needs a lot more light to keep it as compact as I thought it would be, mine looks like a completely different species to what I saw growing in the Green Machine.


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## steveno (13 Nov 2013)

Glad things are turning around, stand look great as well...


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## James D (4 Dec 2013)

Here are a few new photos, everything's going well, very little algae, bit of growth and some new plants - a bit of Hydrocotyle tripartita and more Stauro Repens which went in last week. I think some pruning is in order at the weekend though.
















I'm not too happy with it overall as a scape though, in the new year I'm going to take it all out and plan it out a bit better. Hopefully with the knowledge I've got from UKAPS and the bit of experience I've gained so far I can come up with something to be proud of.


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## James D (4 Dec 2013)

Sorry about the crappy photos, I left the memory card for the DSLR at work so I just took some quick snaps with my automatic.


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## Rob P (4 Dec 2013)

Wot u on about James lol, looks great in your latest pics, just needs a hair cut !!  Well done mate 

Sounds like you had similar problems to me at the start, although i put hairgrass etc in without any co2, mega watts of light and then added poorly configured co2 by which time the HG (that looked like it was going to bonkers) was on it's way out, the Marsilea i had went brown and even the Stauro added after co2 I lost. Diatoms everywhere as well lol. I find it amusing that of all the plants i've tried since setting up, it's the vitro plants that everyone raves about (note - i realise it's down to my incompetance not the plants!) that I have none left of  and all the potted stuff has hung in there.

I've had some great growth since Saturday after adding the bigger filter, spraybar and inline atomiser and tank is pretty much algae free now  All good practice for the optiwhite tank rock scape that will be having a go with in early 2014...

You've done really well


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## James D (4 Dec 2013)

Cheers Rob

I just think I could do a bit better next time, as you say though it's all good practice. I always get good comments from visitors and it does look nicer in real life.


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## darren636 (4 Dec 2013)

It looks great.


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## greenink (4 Dec 2013)

This is a seriously impressive first scape. Shows what attention to detail and daily routine does. 

I've gone to direct into filter injection (see journal and Best and simplest way to inject CO2? | UK Aquatic Plant Society) which works great for me. Ammania is a horrendous little b*stard that I can never get to do well.


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## James D (5 Dec 2013)

Thanks for the comments.

Mike: I had a rocky start with the Ammania and ended up chucking half of it away because it was melting in one area of the tank. I had a bit of a change around - added one of those cheapo in line boyu diffusers, moved my filter outlets upped my maintenance routine and they seem ok now. In fact I had to move the remaining ones back to the position they were melting in and they're growing fine now.


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## Mark Green (5 Dec 2013)

Looks great, time too get out the scissors me thinks. Also noticed that your inlet and outlet pipes(tubes) look really dirty, give them a good clean and this will help with flow also.


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## James D (5 Dec 2013)

> Also noticed that your inlet and outlet pipes(tubes) look really dirty,


 
How dare you?!?!! 







 Only joking.... I had a thread about my dirty pipes a few weeks ago, the solution I found was to buy the dark grey JBL ones that supposedly inhibit algae growth... which are the ones you can see in the picture.

I agree about the scissors though.


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## sa80mark (5 Dec 2013)

Its was you  I knew id been in a thread about filtet piping but couldnt find it  was it 12mm black pipe you were after ?


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## James D (5 Dec 2013)

Yeah, I was looking for opaque pipe, but the best I could find was the grey JBL. Try typing 'Dirty pipes' into google, you mind find it.


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## sa80mark (5 Dec 2013)

Ive found a seller on ebay (uk) that does black if thats any use to you


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## James D (5 Dec 2013)

Thanks Mark, appreciate it. It's too late now though.


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## Gary Nelson (5 Dec 2013)

That plant health looks tip top! very nice indeed! .... will be looking forward to seeing it after a trim too


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## Rob P (5 Dec 2013)

James D said:


> Try typing 'Dirty pipes' into google


 
ROFL, wouldn't do that at work!!


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## James D (6 Jan 2014)

Well, this one's finished now, I've stripped it all out at the weekend. I've enjoyed doing it though, it's been a good learning experience.


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## tim (6 Jan 2014)

Look forward to your next journal James.


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## aliclarke86 (6 Jan 2014)

I thought this was a lovely tank congrats mate. Look forward to seeing what's next

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## James D (6 Jan 2014)

Cheers fellas. Actually the new one is already done, I just need to adjust a couple of things and I'll post it up.


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## James D (7 Jan 2014)

Here's a really crappy photo of my new hardscape, basically it's an upgraded version of the older one. Although I wanted more rocks in there I didn't want it to look like a miniature copy of an actual landscape / mountainscape (or diorama). I'm struggling to express what I mean but it's supposed to look like a small slice of nature (albeit a stylized slice) at the same scale.








My time was rather limited over the weekend so I had to get the water, plants and livestock back in the tank as soon as possible - hence the plants are not exactly how I want them, I'm going to let everything settle down for a week or two and have a long hard think about how I want it to end up before I replant though. I'm keeping the hairgrass where it is so I'll let that get it roots down a bit before I start poking around. I have added some mosses (tied to movable stones) but they aren't in their final positions yet either.

I also took advantage of the Green Machine sale and got hold of 10 half-price Green Neon Tetras which really glitter against the rocks. When I went to check them in their holding tank on sunday morning I was shocked to find there were only 5 left! After giving the cat a stern blahblahblahblahblahblahblahing I decided to investigate a bit more and found them all alive and well inside my Eheim filter - the cap had fallen of the intake pipe, they all seem to be none the worse for it though luckily.


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## steveno (7 Jan 2014)

Looking good, like tension between the two large stone creat... Will look even better once plants have established 


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## James D (8 Jan 2014)

Here's a slightly better pic...






I've still got a lot of work to do with my planting.

I'm thinking of getting a few larger fish in there as the tetras look pretty dwarfed by the rocks, I've been brainwashed into having a single shoal 'Amano' style but I'm not convinced it's really the best idea for me (it depends what your trying to achieve I suppose).

Has any one got any ideas what fish might look good in there?


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## Deano3 (20 Jan 2014)

sorry for late reply but just read right through again as already ready beginning but great tank mate looks great, like the new layout a lot a great improvement hope everything going well mate any updates ?


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## James D (20 Jan 2014)

Cheers Dean, I've made a few changes since those photos and it's looking a bit better, haven't taken any photos as yet though, I'm waiting for it to grow in a bit!


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## Deano3 (20 Jan 2014)

well hurry up wanna see some update pics 

give me some inspiration lol what lighting and filter you using and what's you cleaning dosing regime ?

Thanks dean


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## Rob P (20 Jan 2014)

James D said:


> Has any one got any ideas what fish might look good in there?


 
James, i've seen quite a lot of people with, and have some myself, Black Phantom Tetras. I've had most of mine a year now and they're no bigger than 3.5cm but nicely deep bodied. Very interesting displays they put on and do shoal nicely with 5/6 fish. Not expensive, very hardy and entertaining when they flutter against each other. I'd say get one male to 3 females. The females have a smaller dorsal and red on their fins. Girls only will display (i had 5 females to start with), but the males swim circles around the females when in together. Really like mine and change from the neons etc...


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## James D (20 Jan 2014)

> well hurry up wanna see some update pics
> 
> give me some inspiration lol what lighting and filter you using and what's you cleaning dosing regime ?


 
I'm sure there's better places for inspiration than my tank mate  .

I was using a fluval 105 and an Eheim Ecco200 together but last week I took the fluval out to see how the Eheim coped on it's own, it seem to be doing ok as I've got an Eheim skimmer for a bit of extra flow.

My lighting is a cheapy chinese LED (see the first page) that seems to do the job, I get fairly slow growth but it seems I don't get all the problems associated with some of these high powered LEDS, the balance seems to be about right (touch wood!).

EDIT: Forgot to mention I'm EI dosing!



> James, i've seen quite a lot of people with, and have some myself, Black Phantom Tetras. I've had most of mine a year now and they're no bigger than 3.5cm but nicely deep bodied. Very interesting displays they put on and do shoal nicely with 5/6 fish. Not expensive, very hardy and entertaining when they flutter against each other. I'd say get one male to 3 females. The females have a smaller dorsal and red on their fins. Girls only will display (i had 5 females to start with), but the males swim circles around the females when in together. Really like mine and change from the neons etc.


 
Cheers Rob, I ended up getting 5 'Black' Rasboras, I'm not sure of their proper name but they're the ones with a dark blue body and orange heads. I wish I'd bought some bigger tetras really but I made a hasty decision in the Green Machine as they were half price. They contrast nicely with my Green Neons though so I'll keep em for a bit.


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## James D (25 Feb 2014)

BBA! 


Everything was coming along nicely, I was just about to switch to my new lighting when I found a small amount of BBA on my Ammania sp bonsai in the back left corner. There probably isn't too much flow down there but the plants were doing alright.

My plan of action is:
Remove any affected plants (done)
Daily water changes
Reduced lighting period (from 7hours to five hours)
Spot treating with Easycarbo

I'm just wondering about my EI dosing, I've got this kit and I dose about 1.5 x the amount they recommend, should I change the amount?

Thanks

James


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## James D (27 Feb 2014)

Sorry about the crappy photos, just took a couple of quick snaps.


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## Deano3 (27 Feb 2014)

looks excellent mate hows the bba ? u sorting that before new lights going up, also whats your bps and is it inline or in-tank diffuser ? cannot remember mate

Dean


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## James D (27 Feb 2014)

Thanks Dean.

bba isn't too bad, I only found it on monday on a few ammania leaves at the back so I ripped the out. I can only do the treatments in the middle of my lighting period which probably isn't the best .

I was using an in line diffuser but it was clogging up to quickly, so I went back to my in-tank diffuser under the filter inlet. I think it was messing round with these that caused my BBA (although it is in quite a dead spot for flow). It seems to be working ok now though. I don't know what my bps is - it's too fast to count.


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