# Tonys 200l "Horatio's Cave" - #175 IAPLC 2013



## Tony Swinney (29 Sep 2012)

Hi, Ive been meaning to start a journal of this tank for some time, but life has been awfully busy for the past few months - hence my general absence from the forum 

Anyhows, this tank is the 200L optiwhite that was previously Peacocks Crypt Tonys 'Peacocks Crypt' - The End | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Initially I hardscpaed it as an open rock scape, to be planted with only an HC carpet, but that didtn work out too well, with a massive diatoms outbreak fettling all the HC over the course of its first few week ( probably due to me nuking it with too much light  !)

It has evolved over the past few months and now features Hydrocotyle Tripiarta around the rocks, riciia and moss mix in the foreground, and E Tennellus and Juncus Repens in the background.

Livestock is primarily a shoal of Black Neons, with Pygmy Corys, Otos, Amanos, and Cherries in there too.

Here are some pics of its early stages ...

The hardscape ...










The initial HC planting ...









and how it is now looking ...















Thanks for looking.

Tony


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (29 Sep 2012)

Just wow, Great use of a small collection of Flora. Stunning.
Fantastic display of Hydrocoytle sp. Japan too, proving to some, it's not merely 'a weed'.

Thankyou for sharing Tony


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## Ian Holdich (29 Sep 2012)

Brilliant Tony, and great to see you back mate!


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## Antipofish (29 Sep 2012)

Fantastic Tony.  Nice stuff indeed.  What are the dimensions of the tank please?   Being the technogeek I am you know I am gonna ask for full specs of the kit too please   Do you have further plans with this at the moment?  I love the way you have separation in the middle... gives a real impression of height too that way.


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## tim (29 Sep 2012)

stunning tony do you miss the hc or is this planting scheme less high maintainence on the trimming side of things looks damn good


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## D1gg3r (1 Oct 2012)

Lovely tank, the snse of depth of scale is great.


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## Ben22 (6 Oct 2012)

*Re: Tonys 200l "Horatio's Cave"*

Simple and looks lush. Love the layout design draws your eye through the tank


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## Kristoph91 (7 Oct 2012)

Absolutely stunning. 

Great use of the Hydrocotyle. I love it. 

Keep photos coming !


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## George Farmer (7 Oct 2012)

Awesome mate!  

I remember seeing it in the diatom/HC stage but now it's turned into a real beauty and the extra planting works much better, especially given the height of the stone (which is superb in both it's selection and composition).


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## hotweldfire (7 Oct 2012)

Good to see you back fella. Funnily enough I was just doing a google search for your tanks looking for inspiration for plant layout in my main tank and then browsed down the journal forum to find this.


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## Ady34 (7 Oct 2012)

Great looking scape, love the rockwork and its great how youve adapted it so differently from your initial vision...suppose thats the beauty of such a good hardscape!
Whats the red coloured plant to the left of the largest rock? is it a stow away or intentional?
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Tony Swinney (7 Oct 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Just wow, Great use of a small collection of Flora. Stunning.
> Fantastic display of Hydrocoytle sp. Japan too, proving to some, it's not merely 'a weed'.
> 
> Thankyou for sharing Tony



Thanks Whitey, I was trying to keep it even more minimal but am happy with how its worked out.  Re the sp Japan,  I wouldnt say its "merely a weed", but once established it is a weed - this stuff needs trimming at least once a week 



			
				ianho said:
			
		

> Brilliant Tony, and great to see you back mate!


Thanks Ian, good to be back - I hope to be around alot more too 



			
				Antipofish said:
			
		

> Fantastic Tony. Nice stuff indeed. What are the dimensions of the tank please? Being the technogeek I am you know I am gonna ask for full specs of the kit too please  Do you have further plans with this at the moment? I love the way you have separation in the middle... gives a real impression of height too that way.



Thanks Anitp'   Tank is 100w x 55h x 45d, running 2 x eheim pro3 filters, pressurised CO2 through a pair of UP atomisers, lighting is a 150w MH for 8 hours a day.   Re the plans, I'm thinking about finishing it pretty soon and reshaping 



			
				tim said:
			
		

> stunning tony do you miss the hc or is this planting scheme less high maintainence on the trimming side of things looks damn good


  I cant say I miss the HC - I tried pretty hard to make that work, with little success, so am happy to be beaten by it and think the result is OK for now.  The Hydracotyle is equally demanding in terms of trimming, but at least if you miss a trim it wont pull away from the substrate like HC might !



			
				D1gg3r said:
			
		

> Lovely tank, the snse of depth of scale is great.





			
				motionless said:
			
		

> Simple and looks lush. Love the layout design draws your eye through the tank



Thanks D1gg3r & motionless - I always try to focus on the composition of the hardscape pieces, then work out the planting afterward - thats just my way 



			
				KrisHumphreys1991 said:
			
		

> Absolutely stunning.  Great use of the Hydrocotyle. I love it.  Keep photos coming !



Will do Kris - though this one might be nearing its end 



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Awesome mate!  I remember seeing it in the diatom/HC stage but now it's turned into a real beauty and the extra planting works much better, especially given the height of the stone (which is superb in both it's selection and composition).



Thanks George - this one was a bit of a battle as you know, but I always had confidence in the hardscape so I'm pleased I got somewhere with it in the end.  Hope all is going well over there, and look forward to a catch up when you get back to these shores.  Be safe.



			
				hotweldfire said:
			
		

> Good to see you back fella. Funnily enough I was just doing a google search for your tanks looking for inspiration for plant layout in my main tank and then browsed down the journal forum to find this.


Haha, hope there was some inspiration in this one for you HWF   I've another journal waiting in the wings so will publish that one this coming week 

Cheers all

Tony


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## Tony Swinney (7 Oct 2012)

Ady34 said:
			
		

> Great looking scape, love the rockwork and its great how youve adapted it so differently from your initial vision...suppose thats the beauty of such a good hardscape!
> Whats the red coloured plant to the left of the largest rock? is it a stow away or intentional?
> Cheerio,
> Ady.



Hiya Ady, thanks a lot.  I think your right - if the hardscape is OK then theres an infinite number of planting possibilities to be had.  I'm quite happy to try different planting of the same hardscape.

I was wondering when someone would pick up on the little red plant   Its an Alternanthera Reinecki 'Mini" and there are 3 of them in the scape, just the others are too small to be seen yet.  I've added them to add a bit of a floral focal point to the scape, but will hold back on judgement for now - they may be in the wrong place !

Tony


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## Ady34 (7 Oct 2012)

Yeah I think they're subtle but nice in the amongst the greens, especially with the understated fish choices. 
If you don't like them but like a splash of colour just add a few Sakura shrimp, they give a little ray of colour that's constantly moving position, it's amazing how they can disappear and yet sometimes totally draw your attention


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## Ady34 (20 Feb 2013)

Hi Tony,
i see this one every day sitting pretty at the top of the ukaps forum page and just wondered how its doing? Still going strong or had another overhaul? 
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## O'Neil (27 Feb 2013)

Stunning tank mate.


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## mlgt (27 Feb 2013)

Looking lovely and always nice to see your scapes.

R


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## greenink (28 Feb 2013)

Amazing as usual. This is really original too - never seen one like it. 

More 'in development' shots next time please!


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## Tony Swinney (11 Aug 2013)

I'm pleased to say that this tank got world ranking #175 in the 2013 IAPLC competition - very surprising as you had to enter a full front shot of the tank which is not its best angle !  Heres the entry pic.
Tony


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## Gill (11 Aug 2013)

How do you guys get Hydrocotyle to grow so bushy


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## Richard Dowling (2 Oct 2013)

Is the moss at the front attached to a mat that has been cut to a rounded shape or something?


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## plantbrain (4 Oct 2013)

Excellent job and use of the plants. 

the only things and they are small, the red plant likely should have been removed and then the left front could have had the Ech Tennellus hacked back to match the Riccia area like on the other side. 
Basically keeping the groups a bit more separated. Still, this would be in the top 50 to 20 about 5-7 years ago.


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## Samuran (7 Oct 2013)

Stunning scape  

Ben


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (6 Nov 2013)

Beatifull scape. I like to do my hardscape too and think about plants later.
Unfortunately for me it has led to some stunning rockscapes that are not matched by plant choice and growth.
But yours is awesome.


Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk


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## richard powell (23 Nov 2013)

This beautiful well done. Looks so natural every inch looks great I love it


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## Nick16 (25 Nov 2013)

cracking tony!

are the ottos/corries/cherries settled in nicely?


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## James O (2 Dec 2013)

great hardscape, elegantly softened AND synchronised swimming  

oh if only I can achieve this level 

Pics saved in my inspiration album


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## aliclarke86 (29 Jan 2014)

I have been looking for this thread since I joined ukaps and thanks to the Facebook love I found it!! Great scape 

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


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