# Fluval Studio 900. Sticks and Stones.



## Ady34

Hello,
following straight on from the brief 'Coastal Erosion' journal, i thought id better begin a new journal for the rescape. 

After considering a hardscape only set up   .... i came to my senses, and used the plants from coastal erosion to start the tank off. These needed adding to and after the extra incentive gained from Aquatics Live i purchased a few more and have the tank on its way. 
The idea of a hardscape only scape has inspired the title, as it would simply have been sticks and stones in the tank.....these are still here and form the base for the planting....also maybe with a little reference to the bashing i may have taken for not planting up on an aquatic plant forum  

For the hardscape only i wanted to keep as much visible equipment out of the tank so added some glassware and capped the drilled base completely....not a bad thing! In stripping down the last set up the inline Boyu c02 diffusor disintegrated so i reinstated the in tank ceramic diffuser for c02 injection, i may upgrade this later to another inline.

The 2x 39w ho t5 light unit is sitting 13" above the water surface, but the tank also has the glass covers back on as evaporation was an issue without them. The added benefit is they help stop jumpers and will slightly reduce lighting intensity. 
Photoperiod currently 6 hrs (5pm - 11pm) with c02 also 6 hrs (on 2hrs pre photoperiod start and 2hrs pre finish).

G6 filter running with activated carbon as chemical filtration this time, and the Hydor inline heater set at 77 fahrenheit ish. 

Substrate is a minimal amount of aquasoil powder at the right rear, and unipac limpopo black sand.....time will tell how the sand performs, it was bought for the hardscape only set up and i didnt fancy taking it all out once id decided to go planted, especially as the hardscape had already been positioned. I may need to supplement those plants positioned in it with root tabs.

Heres how its looking now after planting the new plants last night. I still need a few mosses for a couple of the manzy branches and the right most rock. I also had a background made to hide the wallpaper for the first time. The first 3 photos were taken with the light unit lowered to reduce reflections in the photos:





















Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Stu Worrall

tank's looking nice and natural Ady and grown in already too!  Is that Manzi wood in there?  Looks real knarly

Was great to meet up again at aq live the other day and thanks for the encouragement on the tank


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## Gary Nelson

I like it mate, the wood looks fab! very natural looking to, I think when the plants fill in more its going to be a winner!    

PS, great to meet you at Aquatics Live too


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## jack-rythm

I have to say ady I did love the hardscape aspect. I think its important for us aquascapists to create new and different scapes to challenge each others thoughts and debates. I remember seeing a hardscape only with beautiful discus swimming around this island like scape from just wood and rock. had such a strong impact it was amazing. It really made me think about what a scape actually was. what makes a scape, how does the scape relate to the surroundings and contrasts in the tank. I think its on youtube so check it out... its probably on here.. or could even be yours I really really cant remember and thats bad, but I was more focused on the scape than the artist 

That said you have made it look very cool indeed, the rock and wood formation is striking and the choice of flora etc works really well mate  really do like the fine  substrate you have used. definitely adds proportion and realism. 



Jack


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## Ian Holdich

love it mate, nice arrangement of wood and rock...I see nothing but a winner, that Echinodorus will also set it off, when it gets its new leaves.

Good to meet you as well, even though you were an old fart.


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## Stu Worrall

Ian Holdich said:
			
		

> Good to meet you as well, even though you were an old fart.


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## Iain Sutherland

nice one ady, like this a lot, can see it will look great once it grows in with height from all the stems and the red stem through the middle.
Got a good feeling about this, looking forward to watching it develop mate.


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## martinmjr62

Nice looking setup. I do like the wood. One to watch


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Deano3

amazing setup mate looks great


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## Ady34

stuworrall said:
			
		

> tank's looking nice and natural Ady and grown in already too!  Is that Manzi wood in there?  Looks real knarly
> 
> Was great to meet up again at aq live the other day and thanks for the encouragement on the tank



No worries Stu, good to chat again, and a well deserved win at AL, but all the tanks were great and it must have been difficult to pick one winner.
Yeah Manzy wood, bought it off George Farmer a while ago for a great price...its about time it was put to good use   



			
				Gary Nelson said:
			
		

> I like it mate, the wood looks fab! very natural looking to, I think when the plants fill in more its going to be a winner!
> 
> PS, great to meet you at Aquatics Live too



Thanks, and really good to meet you too Gary, and the wife, its great she takes an interest in the hobby. Hopefully well meet again to discuss the finer points of Schnauzer health   



			
				jack-rythm said:
			
		

> I have to say ady I did love the hardscape aspect. I think its important for us aquascapists to create new and different scapes to challenge each others thoughts and debates. I remember seeing a hardscape only with beautiful discus swimming around this island like scape from just wood and rock. had such a strong impact it was amazing. It really made me think about what a scape actually was. what makes a scape, how does the scape relate to the surroundings and contrasts in the tank. I think its on youtube so check it out... its probably on here.. or could even be yours I really really cant remember and thats bad, but I was more focused on the scape than the artist
> 
> That said you have made it look very cool indeed, the rock and wood formation is striking and the choice of flora etc works really well mate  really do like the fine substrate you have used. definitely adds proportion and realism.
> 
> 
> 
> Jack



Hi Jack and cheers   Its great when people think about the scapes they are creating, im no expert and i tend to just put something together that i like the look of, but the scape youre thinking of i think was an awesome one by Jeff Senske, i posted a pic in the off topic section in my hardscape only thread, probably this one below. It was the one i took my inspiration from when considering a hardscape only set up, although i didnt have such large pieces of wood i tried to get a similar effect from what i had.






and a you tube video of him putting it together and the final result with those majestic discus fish:



There is a great article i found on the scape which goes through the fundementals of how it follows golden ratios etc and explains why it looks so great through its overall balance....even down to the photography and positionoing of the fish!
Heres a link:
http://www.scapefu.com/2012/03/08/analy ... hardscape/

But it may have been another scape altogether you were thinking of, perhaps from the aquarium design group, check out this link for some awesome scapes:
http://www.aquariumdesigngroup.com/inde ... 0&a=0&at=0



			
				Ian Holdich said:
			
		

> love it mate, nice arrangement of wood and rock...I see nothing but a winner, that Echinodorus will also set it off, when it gets its new leaves.
> 
> Good to meet you as well, even though you were an old fart.



Cheers Ian, and likewise good to meet you. 
Echinodorus is a 'Red Diamond' variety, which theoretically doesnt get too big so should be manageable....hopefully it will flourish, although im not too sure with my lower lighting it will get the red tinge to the leaves.



			
				stuworrall said:
			
		

> Ian Holdich said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Good to meet you as well, even though you were an old fart.
Click to expand...


Im thinking next year i may wear my schoolboy fancy dress outfit to please Mark   



			
				easerthegeezer said:
			
		

> nice one ady, like this a lot, can see it will look great once it grows in with height from all the stems and the red stem through the middle.
> Got a good feeling about this, looking forward to watching it develop mate.



Hi Iain, good to meet you also at AL, your scape was really well thought out and looked awesome.... ive added some vallis nana to the rear of my scape as i liked it so much in your set up   



			
				martinmjr62 said:
			
		

> Nice looking setup. I do like the wood. One to watch
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk





			
				Deano3 said:
			
		

> amazing setup mate looks great



Thanks very much Martin and Deano, just hoping i can grow the plants now as i do seem to struggle a little with that part   

Cheers,
Ady


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## jack-rythm

No ady it was that exact photo and video of the discus created by Geoff that I'm on about  

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2


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## danmullan

Looking good Ady   

It's funny how you've gone from hardscape only to full of plants   looks really nice though. The planting adds a lot to the scape I think.

That ADG discus tank is amazing, that's probably the best plant-less tank I've seen, but when you've got discus like that who would want plants? They'd only distract from the fish.

Good luck with this set-up.

Dan


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## Ady34

danmullan said:
			
		

> Looking good Ady
> 
> It's funny how you've gone from hardscape only to full of plants   looks really nice though. The planting adds a lot to the scape I think.
> 
> That ADG discus tank is amazing, that's probably the best plant-less tank I've seen, but when you've got discus like that who would want plants? They'd only distract from the fish.
> 
> Good luck with this set-up.
> 
> Dan



Thanks Dan   
Yeah i know, hardscape only seemed a good idea at the time, but when it came round to it i think you need an amazing hardscape with a really strong fish presence to pull it off.....like you say the Senske Discus tank does this brilliantly but i needed the comfort blanket of the plants.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## OllieNZ

Looks great Ady, I still think you could have pulled off a hardscape only tank. Nice to meet you at AL.


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## Ady34

OllieNZ said:
			
		

> Looks great Ady, I still think you could have pulled off a hardscape only tank. Nice to meet you at AL.


cheers mate, good to meet you too, and good luck with the new project, look forward to seeing it in a journal?
Cheerio,
Ady


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## OllieNZ

Ady34 said:
			
		

> OllieNZ said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Looks great Ady, I still think you could have pulled off a hardscape only tank. Nice to meet you at AL.
> 
> 
> 
> cheers mate, good to meet you too, and good luck with the new project, look forward to seeing it in a journal?
> Cheerio,
> Ady
Click to expand...


I'll get one going when I get the tank(s) at the start of next year. Thanks for posting the links, great reads will definitley help me going forwards.


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## Ady34

Plants settling in. Few issues with the alternathera rosaefolia mini still, co2 deficiency and or a knock on effect from the transfer period when they had been uprooted and had no access to co2 at all. Will most likely trim them and see if they come back. If not ill opt for something easier. Trying to keep the fish happy regards co2 so running quite lean.
Need to add some mosses to some branches and as a carpet in some areas along the foreground when funds allow. 
Carrying out 2x weekly water changes and siphoning a lot of fish waste/detritus from the sand substrate areas. 
Adding 3 ml liquid carbon daily also, but don't want to increase this as I have some vallis nana that I don't want to kill!
Echinodorus red diamond is sprouting a few new rusty coloured leaves so that's nice to see. Also the tenellus is throwing runners out all over. Have trimmed a few microsorum leaves which had melted, hoping this is due to transition/ damage caused by transport.

Couple of phone photos, firstly the Echinodorus new leaves:





FTS:





Not really sure the riccia suits this set up, but hopefully it will blend better if I get a bit of a moss carpet going too.

And one if my favourite fish, sturisoma panamense juvenile. I have 2 of these little fellas and they are constantly on the go, they blend with the wood really well and my little boy finds it great fun to try and find them both!:





Still seeking the ideal balance for my tanks, I think I may be forever using crypts and ferns as I seem to struggle with everything else. 

Cheerio
Ady


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## Ady34

Update:
been a while so here we go,
for some reason this tank has taken a while to balance. Ive suffered some repeat white spot outbreaks and have lost one of my whiptails so nothing has been added to the fauna, but it seems now that there has been an improvement and all is looking well and disease free.
The plants have settled and although growth hasnt been startling, they look healthy now and so the photoperiod has been slowly increased over the last month from 6 to 8 hours. There have been a few additions, namely a little more eleocharis sp mini in the foreground, some moss to a few branches and an echinodorus Aquartica which is a small variety reaching around 15cm. The vallis nana has not grown in as id have liked to add much needed height to the scape, but now ive stopped dosing liquid carbon it is showing signs of life. If it doesnt hurry up im going to add some aponogeton sp at the rear. Still need some mosses for a couple more branches but will await the right ones. The tenellus has been a success and im looking to fill out the left corner of the tank with this also. The alternathera mini which was showing signs of c02 deficiency had, after tweaking the c02 periods in conjunction with the alterations to the photoperiod, began improving and was sprouting new growth from the stems. Due to the slow growth i decided last week to lower the lighting an inch or so.......bad move as the left most crypt has immediately began melting, although the lobelia cardinalis mini has noticeably increased growth rates. The lighting has been raised again, but i may try tweaking the c02 further to lower it again for improved growth as it needs to fill in!
I really like the lobelia cardinalis mini as it seems to be an undemanding plant with a fresh green colour much like staurogyne repens which i cant grow for toffee! It makes a good alternative for those who struggle with stauro and it is marching on in my tank just in sand substrate.





I have probably doubled the amount i have of it now just by taking cuttings and replanting.

Anyway, heres a couple of fts,










hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2013!


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## LancsRick

I absolutely love this tank Ady, seriously envious of both your setup and your skills. When you next have a clearout you could sell me this setup to go with the Rio 180 .

Great work though, that will be gorgeous to look at over Christmas!


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## Arana

Nice Work


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## Mark Evans

Nice mate, really nice.

The wood composition is outstanding!

The plant choice and positioning is spot on. The foreground part especially, is very 'soft' which I really like.


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## stu_

I really admire the way this is growing in.
Envious of your _Lobelia, _been trying it out in my own humble effort, it seems to be underused in general (?)


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## danmullan

I've been waiting for an update on this. Looks really good, the hardscape and planting make the tank 'feel' much bigger than it is.

The Lobelia is really nice, not seen it before. Bet you can't wait for the hairgrass to fill in the front a bit more.


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## Ady34

LancsRick said:


> I absolutely love this tank Ady, seriously envious of both your setup and your skills. When you next have a clearout you could sell me this setup to go with the Rio 180 .
> 
> Great work though, that will be gorgeous to look at over Christmas!


 
Thanks Rick, ill let you know.....i am fancying an NA set up, but that lottery win seems illusive so may take a while 



Arana said:


> Nice Work


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## Ady34

Mark Evans said:


> Nice mate, really nice.
> 
> The wood composition is outstanding!
> 
> The plant choice and positioning is spot on. The foreground part especially, is very 'soft' which I really like.


 
Much appreciated Mark,
although i feel if i had one more piece of wood to add pointing to the right rear corner the hardscape would have slightly more balance.
The crypt at the left rear may need replacing long term, maybe for a stem which can be shaped or another echinodorus for a bit more height. The echinodorus aquartica at the left may need moving slightly to the right in behind the cardinalis, but it depends how its softened when the tenellus grows in over there....theres a few things that bug me which i cant change now so ill make the best.
Overall its looking ok and ive learned a few more things.....



stu_ said:


> I really admire the way this is growing in.
> Envious of your _Lobelia, _been trying it out in my own humble effort, it seems to be underused in general (?)


Thanks Stu, its slowly growing in and i can see the change from my last post before the update so ive just got to be patient.
Ive not seen the lobelia much, i suppose staurogyne repens is a 'prettier' more delicate plant for foregrounds, just i cant grow it so this is a good alternative.



danmullan said:


> I've been waiting for an update on this. Looks really good, the hardscape and planting make the tank 'feel' much bigger than it is.
> 
> The Lobelia is really nice, not seen it before. Bet you can't wait for the hairgrass to fill in the front a bit more.


Cheers Dan, and im hoping the hairgrass will spread, would really like to see a nice full grass carpet again, the last time i had it was when i was using tropica ferts in the earlier days of Dragons Crypt , may give them a whirl again to see if there is any difference from EI dosing.....could only be percentages of salts (and cost), but ive never had the same results since swapping over??? Maybe ive just been getting other things wrong since...
Others have noted that the mini version does seem to take longer to establish so well see.

Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Gary Nelson

It looking really nice Ady, even better now it is filling in more... I really like the wood too

hope you are having a good Christmas too mate


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## killi69

Looking good Ady! Filling out nicely. You got a bit of a Dutch thing going on as well with those 'streets' of lobelias. Really like it.


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## Antipofish

Ady this is looking great. Remind me what tank model this is please ?  I am looking at something like this....EHEIM Incpiria 300 Incpiria 300 schwarz-silbermetalic, 999,00 €, and i would be interested to see how yours compares, cos bringing a tank from Germany might be pricey, LOL.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside

Its a Fluval Studio 900


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## Ady34

Antipofish said:


> Ady this is looking great. Remind me what tank model this is please ? I am looking at something like this....EHEIM Incpiria 300 Incpiria 300 schwarz-silbermetalic, 999,00 €, and i would be interested to see how yours compares, cos bringing a tank from Germany might be pricey, LOL.





Whitey89 said:


> Its a Fluval Studio 900


Thanks Chris.
Yeah Whitey has hit the nail on the head, the clue was in the journal title......although it looks a little different now as I've capped the drilled base and have glassware hung over the side instead so well forgive you Chris. Incidentally they are discontinued now. The eheims look really nice systems.


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## Ady34

Gary Nelson said:


> It looking really nice Ady, even better now it is filling in more... I really like the wood too
> 
> hope you are having a good Christmas too mate


Cheers Gary, and Christmas has been great thanks, the kids are at the age where they get really excited....scalextric next year .....for the kids of course!


killi69 said:


> Looking good Ady! Filling out nicely. You got a bit of a Dutch thing going on as well with those 'streets' of lobelias. Really like it.


Yeah it's got the odd touch of organisation, probably subliminaly learned planting techniques from drooling over Tom Barrs journal! I could go crazy with those lobelia streets as the rock and wood foreground could all be filled with them drawing the eye to the centre of the tank but that may be too regimented for me as i still prefer the 'jungle'/nature style more.... which is probably why I like your tank so much 
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## mvasingh

Hi Ady
How tall does the lobelia grow and how do you keep it foreground hight?
Beautiful tank.


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## Ady34

mvasingh said:


> Hi Ady
> How tall does the lobelia grow and how do you keep it foreground hight?
> Beautiful tank.


"



Plant Finder Home --> / --> _Lobelia cardinalis_ 'Small Form'
Image

Click For Larger
 
 *LOBELIA CARDINALIS 'SMALL FORM'*


*Hardiness:* Easy
*Light Needs:* Medium
*Plant Structure:* Stem
*Family:* Lobeliaceae
*Genus:* Lobelia
*Region:* Cultivar
*Location:* Cultivar
*Size:* Stem width: 3-7cm (1-3
*Growth Rate:* Medium
*Can Be Grown Emersed:* Yes

Description:
_Lobelia cardinalis_ 'Small Form' is an interesting and highly desirable cultivar derived from the much larger, original _L. cardinalis_. There is much confusion in the United States as to which plant is _L. cardinalis_ 'Small Form' and which are just small or stunted _L. cardinalis_. They can be differentiated by the much rounder, coin shaped leaves and the much smaller stature of the former compared to the latter. So far, only Oriental Aquariums in Singapore commercially offers the true variety. This plant is now relatively common in the United States and is becoming in Europe.

_L. cardinalis_ 'Small Form' makes few demands on the hobbyist other than ample amounts of direct lighting (2 watts per gallon or more). However, to obtain optimal growth both in size, coloration, and growth rate, CO2 supplementation should be used along with a water column rich in both macro- and micronutrients (NO3 10-20ppm, PO4 1-2ppm).

Under rich water column conditions, CO2 supplementation, and strong lighting, this plant will become bushy and lush, concentrating most of its growth on producing daughter plants which can be snipped off with a pair of scissors and replanted to form a new plant. The internodal roots, under these conditions, will be concealed by numerous side shoots and dense foliage. Under less than optimal conditions and dim lighting, the plant will become leggy and less attractive, producing fewer side shoots and, thus, not as easy to propagate. 

The unique appearance and growth habit of this small plant make it an excellent choice for the midground of aquaria ranging from small to large. In large aquariums, this plant can even be used as a low maintenance foreground. It is often used in the Dutch Aquarium style to form diagonal, sweeping streets which add movement to otherwise static plant groupings. Because it is slow to gain vertical height, it is highly suitable for those hobbyists trying to cut down maintenance on their aquascapes. 

Photo #1*Submersed*: US and International Copyright 2004 by Daniel Larrsen All Rights Reserved. 

Photo #2*Submersed*: US and International Copyright 2004 by Eric Lui All Rights Reserved.

Photo #3*Emersed*: US and International Copyright 2004 by Carlos Sanchez All Rights Reserved."


Seems not to tell you the answer to your question but tells you how to trim.​Its stayed about 2.5" -3" in my tank, and as suggested above just snip out the daughter plants and replant, they then root and grow their own plantlets. To keep it shorter just trim tallest plantlets sooner.​Hope that helps  ​Cheerio,​Ady​


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## Ian Holdich

Love it mate (apart from the dirty lily pipe). Well done on a great scape again!


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## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> Love it mate (apart from the dirty lily pipe). Well done on a great scape again!


thanks Ian,
I like dirty lily pipes.....I wish they did brown ones then I wouldn't have to wait for those ugly clear ones to change colour!.........I need to get on it and give them a clean, but it's one of those jobs I'd rather make excuses to put off, don't want to break them!


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## tim

Looking very healthy ady the lobelia does look a great alternative to staurogyne I like the lily pipes that colour mate they blend nicely with the manzy


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## Ady34

tim said:


> Looking very healthy ady the lobelia does look a great alternative to staurogyne I like the lily pipes that colour mate they blend nicely with the manzy


Thanks Tim, in the last photo below, my royal whiptail has been fooled into thinking the dirty pipe is a manzy branch 

Few more shots to add a bit of colour to the page 






















Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Antipofish

Ady this looks REALLY lovely mate   Even better than the first one of yours I saw.  And that limpopo works great.  Whats the plant front left in the first image and also the red one top left in same image please?


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## Iain Sutherland

Cracking Ady,  looks great now and it'll be jaw dropping in 3 or 4 months. 
just in time for IAPLC!


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## killi69

Yes Ady! Looking fabulous and even better each time. Lovely how the plants and wood have merged together. Great photos also


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## Gary Nelson

Yes totally agree with the above, it's really taking shape now it's filling in, looking nice a healthy

What height are your lights sitting at now?


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## Ady34

Antipofish said:


> Ady this looks REALLY lovely mate  Even better than the first one of yours I saw. And that limpopo works great. Whats the plant front left in the first image and also the red one top left in same image please?


Thanks Chris, I think this scape has the potential to be an improvement on dragons crypt, but there's a few things that bug me. I'd set it up as a hard scape only so the left rear is lacking any real space for planting and its lacking a bit of visual depth at this side. Due to the idea of hard scape only the sand seemed like a good idea, but in reality now it's planted I'd have preferred aquasoil throughout, but decent water column dosing should keep things healthy.
the plant front left in the first of the above images is Anubias nana, and the red plant is alternathera rosefolia mini....think it's the same as a. Reineckii mini although it was labelled 'rosefolia'....either way I'm struggling a little with this one as I suspect it likes a little more light, but when I try upping the light intensity I can't manage the co2, I may need to look at an alternative plant for here if it doesn't improve.



easerthegeezer said:


> Cracking Ady, looks great now and it'll be jaw dropping in 3 or 4 months.
> just in time for IAPLC!




Yeah hope so, needs height to the scape though.....Vallis nana is just now chucking out some long leaves since knocking liquid carbon on the head so fingers crossed.



killi69 said:


> Yes Ady! Looking fabulous and even better each time. Lovely how the plants and wood have merged together. Great photos also


thanks Andre,
yeah seems to be filling in now, just have a few gaps to fill with a few more plants but its definitely on the way.

cheerio,
Ady.


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## Ady34

Gary Nelson said:


> Yes totally agree with the above, it's really taking shape now it's filling in, looking nice a healthy
> 
> What height are your lights sitting at now?


much appreciated Gary, lights are sitting 13" above the water surface.....I don't know how people manage co2 with closed top systems, if my co2 goes any higher the fish suffer, but if I lower the lights I get plant issues! Ideally I think they could be raised another inch, but I'd have to get the drill out again and use much longer brackets, I wish I'd suspended from the ceiling now for both aesthetic and functional reasons.
looking forward to the pfk feature on your tank, you must feel pretty proud.
Cheerio for now,
Ady.


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## Ady34

Water change night tonight.
Managed to clean the glassware with no issues. Id recently been discussing the best methods for glassware/tubing seperation elsewhere on the forum and was armed with vaseline ready to lube up the pipes to facilitate easier seperation in future....however after first trying the pushing piping further onto the glassware technique ive decided not to bother with vaseline as they came apart without a fuss  so glassware now clean again and pipework too.....only a tiny bit of dirt left at the base of the out pipe as the JBL cleany couldnt quite get to the flat base. I dont have a spare so leaving to soak in a mild bleach solution wasnt an option.






Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Antipofish

Glad it went well and without incident Ady   Is there any chance of you taking a pic of the top of your tank with and without the lids slid open ?  Im going to consider trying to find somewhere that may still have one of these laying around in their shop.  Also, what made you choose this one over the "profile" model ?  Cheers mate.


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## Ady34

Antipofish said:


> Glad it went well and without incident Ady  Is there any chance of you taking a pic of the top of your tank with and without the lids slid open ? Im going to consider trying to find somewhere that may still have one of these laying around in their shop. Also, what made you choose this one over the "profile" model ? Cheers mate.


Hi Chris, yeah ill try tomorrow night, lights went off at 11 and my fish need their beauty sleep!
The glass sliders arnt in runners, they literally do slide on split level seats so are easily just lifted off. I cant close them fully currently with the glassware hung over the side, but the gap is minimal and they prevent the rapid evaporation suffered in full open top. I like having them as security for jumpers too, when i get some plants growing near the surface im going to get some hatchetfish so lids are a must.
Heres an image from pfk which shows the top:




Chose this one purely on aesthetics to match the living room decor.....edit.... the wife chose this one to match the living room decor!  I liked the gloss finish to the cabinet....plus im vertically challenged so i couldnt reach the bottom of the profiles  .....and they are limited as to where you can site them with their stupid end of cabinet doors!
In all seriousness i really liked the design, the glass sliders and sliding lighting unit meant it was kind of a step towards the open topped rimless, braceless optiwhites of the die hard aquascaper. I still wanted the comfort of the closed top as the cats were fond of sitting on the hood of the old Juwel rio180, and after seeing one of them fall into the pond one day and the mess she made getting out, i didnt fancy taking the risk indoors! There was always the fear of the kids launching missiles too...only the other day my youngest had his pirate sword sloshing around my crs nano . At the time i also liked the fixed surround around the top as i wasnt fond of seeing the water line...too used to closed tops i suppose. After reading the pfk review and seeking out one to see in person i was convinced by the claims of excellent build quality so got one. I still really like it to be honest, but i do have the desire for an NA set up in the distant future.
Cheerio.


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## Antipofish

Thanks for that mate  much appreciated.
Rather than fill up your thread with chit chat I will PM you with the other questions I have


----------



## Iain Sutherland

Hi ady, if you put a little rice and water in the inlet with your hand round the slits and shake it'll clean the bottom out where the brush misses.
Works a treat mate.


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside

easerthegeezer said:


> Hi ady, if you put a little rice and water in the inlet with your hand round the slits and shake it'll clean the bottom out where the brush misses.
> Works a treat mate.



I love this post.


----------



## Ady34

easerthegeezer said:


> Hi ady, if you put a little rice and water in the inlet with your hand round the slits and shake it'll clean the bottom out where the brush misses.
> Works a treat mate.


 Nice tip Iain, I'll give it a go next time!
cheers,
Ady.


----------



## Ady34

After getting over the earlier whitespot outbreak issues, and in need of a couple of plants to fill in some gaps, i decided yesterday to take a trip out to Maidenhead Stokesley for a gander. Idealy i wanted a small shoal of Marbled Hatchetfish, but they had none in stock, instead some little Ruby Tetras id seen on my last couple of visits took my fancy as i thought they would be ideal with the ember tetras i have already. Great choice, lovely little fish and happily exploring with the embers..... unfortunately one succumbed to the filter intake which is sad, the glassware i have has limited slots so the suction is quite strong with the G6 and i think he just got too close, im going to look at an alternative outflow glass pipe with more holes/slots to reduce suction. Unfortunately i cant seem to capture a good fish shot of the more active fish with my camera so no photos of them. They are a nice small fish about the same size as the embers so really look great and keep a good sense of scale in the tank.
I also found a couple of plants on my list, some more anubias nana and a bolbitis heudolotti to fill some gaps. Still looking for a nice echinodorus to fill a space at the left rear. Think i need some more red/brown tones to the left side so looking to get an E. Ozelot Red for the space.....will check out my LFS for one this week. Anyway, these are the new plants, Bolbitis under the wood, and anubias to the right of the picture filling in some more gaps between the rocks to soften that area below the Microsorum sp. You can actually see one of the Rosy Tetras at the very left of the picture.





This is how the gaps have been filled, still needs that echinodorus for a bit of height between the two upright branches behind the microsorum at the left side:





There are still a few c02 related issues in this tank, again manifesting itself with my crypts melting, you can see in the two photos above the left rear crypts melting leaves. The hairgrass in the foreground is also showing signs of co2 deficiency so even though my light is this high.......





......looks like ill have to get the drill out after all and add some longer brackets so i can raise it further as i dont seem to be able to strike a good balance for flora and fauna! I may even reduce my photoperiod so i can run a shorter co2 period. Im finding even with starting c02 injection 3 hours pre lights on at a slower rate, that c02 concentration is on the high side towards the end of injection.

The tank is running algae free which is good, and i only have 4 cherry shrimp in there along with 3 ottos and a Siamensis flying fox as a cuc. I really want more shrimp as they are interesting and a nice splash of colour. Im considering trying a batch of my CRS from the nano tank to see how they fare. TDS was around 190ppm when i checked yesterday which would be ok, but this was after a recent water change, so will check it later in the week after dosing to see how high it rises.
Its not often i see the shrimp out and about so it was pretty good to get 3 of the 4 on one branch in one shot, if only they would breed  :





The photo above and the one below also show how the moss has started to take on the branches and is looking pretty healthy now which im pleased about. The shot below also shows my sturisoma who is now in need of additional food supplements. Ive tried both lettuce and cucumber and algae wafers, but he seems uninterested in those so if anyone knows of a tried and tested food for him itll be good to hear as the tank is no longer providing for him now hes growing.





Interestingly one of the manzy branches i purchased from George, has sprouted some Fissidens moss from a dry brown patch id not scrubbed off just in case  The wood was bone dry for months while it was sat in my cold garage, and how long before that i dont know, just shows how resilient it can be!





Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Ady34

It was the night for camera videos the other day, so took one of my Sturisoma searching for some peckings when the c02 went off!


----------



## LondonDragon

Ady34 said:


> so took one of my Sturisoma searching for some peckings when the c02 went off!


No need to bleach it no more!


----------



## Iain Sutherland

Have you tried blanched spinach mate? He looks good and active.


----------



## Ady34

LondonDragon said:


> No need to bleach it no more!


Lol



easerthegeezer said:


> Have you tried blanched spinach mate? He looks good and active.


Not yet, I don't eat spinach, may have to get some in and see......will have to call him Popeye if he likes it!


----------



## Ian Holdich

Nice vid, it's really growing in well now. Bet you're glad you didn't ditch the plants now!


----------



## AndrewH

spiffing tank old boy! 

Absolutely stunning now Ady, love the way the plants have come on so much and everything is looking very balanced in visual terms.
Maybe, at a push, is there abit too much leafy greens on the right hand side? I dunno, looks stunning either way!!

...what is that yellow/clear pipe thing in front right of shots?
Is that the spray bar?


----------



## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> Nice vid, it's really growing in well now. Bet you're glad you didn't ditch the plants now!


Sure am mate. Just wish I'd made my mind up sooner so I could have had aquasoil throughout!



AndrewH said:


> spiffing tank old boy!
> 
> Absolutely stunning now Ady, love the way the plants have come on so much and everything is looking very balanced in visual terms.
> Maybe, at a push, is there abit too much leafy greens on the right hand side? I dunno, looks stunning either way!!
> 
> ...what is that yellow/clear pipe thing in front right of shots?
> Is that the spray bar?


Thanks Andrew, I'd thought maybe too much light green at the left with the mass of lobelia....but it actually grows so I'm reluctant to thin it out. The tenellus to the right is darker so think looks ok. I prefer the right side of the tank myself, transitions better. Hopefully the left side will improve with the addition of a red/brown Echinodorus at the rear and when the tenellus fills in there. Also going to add some more lobelia to the right side to balance the colour better.
I think your referring to the glass pipe at the right which is part if a lily pipe glassware set. The one you mean is the out pipe with the slots in the bottom which draws water to the filter and the one higher up is the filter return 'lily' pipe ( so called due to its shape). It's made of glass to be less visually intrusive.
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Iain Sutherland

would love to see a pic of this backlit ady, think it would really pop!!
Will be a great IAPLC entry mate.


----------



## Ady34

easerthegeezer said:


> would love to see a pic of this backlit ady, think it would really pop!!
> Will be a great IAPLC entry mate.


May give it a go soon, think I have a spare light unit in the garage!


----------



## AndrewH

Ady34 said:


> I think your referring to the glass pipe at the right which is part if a lily pipe glassware set. The one you mean is the out pipe with the slots in the bottom which draws water to the filter and the one higher up is the filter return 'lily' pipe ( so called due to its shape). It's made of glass to be less visually intrusive.



Ahhh ok, I see it now in the new pics, looks all clean and difficult to spot.
It was this pic that threw me, wasnt sure if it was a filter pipe or hose pipe for filling or something different!...


----------



## Ady34

Lol, Is it the end of tank shot that shows up the wrong orientation on iPad/iPhones for some reason! It's the correct way on desktop. does look a bit confusing!


----------



## Ady34

a few end of tank shots:


----------



## flygja

That Lobelia cardinialis mini is looking really good. I want those for my next planned Dutch scape!


----------



## Ady34

Water change night tonight so did a little trimming and tidying. 
Trimmed and replanted some lobelia, tidied up the ferns and removed some plantlets from the leaves which I've superglued to the left foremost branch top to try and balance the planting slightly.
Also added some moss (weeping) I think.....(probably due to its sorry state  lol)....to one of the rear upright branches as there are still some that need covering. Hopefully the moss will take in this tank, its never really flourished in the nano. The only moss I seem to have any level of success with is good old taxiphylum barbieri (java moss)....that has taken really well now and is looking just as I'd hoped  There is a smidging of Christmas moss on the left foremost branch top, but it too isn't doing much.
Going shopping on Saturday to try and find the elusive echinodorus I keep banging on about for the left rear.....it seems nowhere has any decent stock in my lfs so relying on maidenhead stokesley for a nice one......also have a look at some more fish too. Saw some nice rams in p@h but they were recent arrivals and had a little white spot so left them alone!
Quite fancy some marginatus pencil fish to keep the small ish theme going, however I'm getting tempted by things like head and tail lights and black phantom tetras too lately.

Things are real slow in this tank with nothing really thriving, I'm desperate to try and speed things along with a drop of the lighting unit, but don't want sulking crypts again. Maybe the clean new co2 diffuser I've just popped in tonight will help with better co2 injection which may have been slowly deteriorating as the old diffuser got dirty. I may try upping it slightly over the weekend to see if I'm at the limit regards fish happiness, then judge whether I dare up lighting intensity.....wish I could afford a new unit with split timers and dim functions!
Some plants that were doing really well (lobelia cardinalis) have slowed growth, with smaller leaves and seemingly paler colour too, so I may try dosing more heavily along with a tweaking of the co2.....most likely plant mass has increased even though it seems slow to me, so maybe I just need to adjust everything up a touch.

Only been feeding the fish in this tank once a day to try and keep waste to a minimum, it's noticeable how much more slowly they grow, but otherwise they seem happy enough.

Unfortunately another 2 shrimp succumbed to the filter inlet so only 1 left now   but in all honesty I'm not going to replace them as the tank is algae free.....touch wood, and i can still get my shrimp fix from the crshrimp tank. Going to order a new easy aqua out pipe as they have 14 slots rather than the 8 in the current one, hopefully this will reduce the draw effect surrounding the outlet and save anymore casualties.....snails often find themselves stuck fast too!

Anyway no photos as was a little bit fizzy after the water change and was a late one with all the trimming and replanting, moss tying, superglueing etc so ill try pop a couple up tomorrow night.

Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## jack-rythm

Wow its looking great. Love there detail of the wood grain that's clearly visible . Can we see a nice full frontal shot  

Cheers! Jack


----------



## Ady34

Photo barrage now 
added fern plantlets to right foremost wood, tiny amounts of gel superglue needed to avoid obvious white areas. Christmas moss not thriving:





added some weeping moss to the centre of shot branch. Just to the right of this is where i want another echinodorus, possibly some more vallis nana?:





Clean new diffuser which will hopefully improve c02 injection. Bubbles are noticeably smaller and there is some 'misting'. Ill monitor over the weekend and see if i can adjust up slightly:





couple of others,
the Ludwigia repens 'Rubin' i added a few weeks ago has started to grow:





......and the echinodorus and crypts are complimenting each other nicely, just a couple more emersed leaves to chop off the echinodorus:









Also while i was faffing around taking photos tonight i did some different light position shots just for fun,


easerthegeezer said:


> would love to see a pic of this backlit ady, think it would really pop!!


well, i got the 30w T8 flouro bulb i had from the garage out, but its not startling! Think id need a white background, and more power to make it work well...





.....but while i was on i lowered the light unit and did some comparisons of lighting positions.
The first photo is with the light unit at the front of the tank, the second photo with the unit central and the third photo with the light unit at the rear:

front:




Centre:




rear:





seems quite amazing how much sharper the rear light shot is compared to the front and middle shots, which i now imagine is the main effect of backlighting? Im sure the c02 being on didnt help the focus of the camera, but hey, i guess thats another plus from lighting at the rear of a photo....
Heres just a 'normal' fts with the light unit raised again and no co2 running:





'Flamin' snow means i might not get out over the weekend plant and fish shopping 

Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## LondonDragon

Looking great Ady  rear shot looks good indeed. I won't post my photos its a mess! lol


----------



## tim

Looking really nice and healthy ady will be a stunner when the back fills in, quite a contrast in photos with the different light positions, nice one.


----------



## Iain Sutherland

lovely mate and plant health looks tops.
Back lighting really makes a difference to the crisp edge to the photo... i like 
I have all this to look forward to tonight, Gunna try and take my first proper photo....


----------



## Ady34

LondonDragon said:


> Looking great Ady  rear shot looks good indeed. I won't post my photos its a mess! lol


Cheers Paulo, get some pics up!



tim said:


> Looking really nice and healthy ady will be a stunner when the back fills in, quite a contrast in photos with the different light positions, nice one.


Yeah the rear needs more, I havnt found an echinodorus this weekend but I'm considering trying some more stems now also to add more to the rear, maybe try some rotala green and some more ludwigia arcuata.



easerthegeezer said:


> lovely mate and plant health looks tops.
> Back lighting really makes a difference to the crisp edge to the photo... i like
> I have all this to look forward to tonight, Gunna try and take my first proper photo....


Cheers Ian, my photography skills are very limited but its not something I want to persue, ill just make the best of what I have. I'd quite like to take some decent fish shots though....my dad has a camera I'm going to try out to see if its any better in this respect than mine. My old one was much more of an all rounder.

May not have found any decent plants over the weekend, but have some new fish additions. Finally found the marbled hatchetfish I've been hankering for and was quite taken with a small group of threadfin rainbow fish so have some of them too....

Cheerio
Ady


----------



## Iain Sutherland

Living waters have some interesting stems in at the moment Ady if you fancy something a little different.
Hachets are lovely fish and also look great in FTS when backlit.


----------



## Ady34

Do they deliver Iain? 

Here's some of the new fish, the iPhone captures them better than my camera!

Hatchetfish: 





Threadfin rainbows:





Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Iain Sutherland

Well i hope so, i was talking to them yesterday about a sack of moss for another scape and he gave me the impression it can be sorted...
I think if you ring they will organise it but dont actually offer an online shop.  They are very accommodating and have access to plants away from the norm.
The hatchets and rainbows are lovely mate,  rainbows will be stunning once they have settled and colour up more.


----------



## Ady34

Hi,
I received a nice packet through the post today, thanks John.
To reduce the localised suction effects from my current filter inlet I've been looking at a new out pipe with more slots to spread the draw. I had considered the easy aqua range, but decided to splash a little more cash and went for the Gush brand instead. It has 15 slots in the pipe which is almost double the existing one, and it also has the added design benefit of a rounded bottom which should facilitate easier cleaning. Simple things like the design of the exterior aquarium glass suction cup seem more refined so I'm very pleased with my choice 









.....now I just need to install it without braking it!!
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Ady34

Well a little surprise tonight!
A couple of weeks ago during a water change on the CRShrimp tank, a stray tiny shrimplet was left in the drips at the bottom of the bucket so I thought I'd just stick him into this tank. I dropped him straight in and he made it past the fish and to the underside of a moss branch. Never saw him again, needle in a haystack, but guessed he'd been scoffed up or sucked into the filter..........
But no, spotted the little fella tonight, he's grown heaps so this instills me with confidence to add more safely from the nano.....maybe only when I've got my new out pipe fitted though.
Makes me think these CRS are tougher than we think as this tank is co2 enriched, laced with ferts and is also a much higher temperature than the nano ( probably explains his rapid growth)....this little Crustacea's Rock Solid! 









Cheerio
Ady


----------



## Ady34

Well, managed to fit the new filter inlet glassware over the weekend without breakages  
The new pipe is doing as expected and the draw is much more spread so fingers crossed no more fatalities   The added benefit is that it also draws water from a greater width of the water column, and in doing so is sucking in more micro bubbles from the diffuser which should help in diffusion. I dont place the diffuser directly under the filter inlet as i have found in the past that the G6 tends to 'burp' frequently with high injection, and this may have contributed to the filters flow rate issues i suffered towards the end of the 'Coastal Erosion' journal.

New Gush inlet pipe:





I also got some christmas moss from Westy, cheers, it is top quality....hope i can keep it that way, i dont have a great amount of success with moss. Ive added it to some more of the branches, if it doesnt work out ill replace it with some java moss. I also added some Hydrocotle sp. Japan from Vinh (logi-cat). Its in the cente and amongst the lobelia to the left of the tank but its almost invisible at the minute. Ive failed in the past with this too, and it may well fail again as that in the middle is in an area of poor flow....we shall see.
I have moved a small piece of wood at the left hand side and added moss to this. The area at the left where the branches met with the ferns looked a little unnatural and needed something to tie it in more with the right hand side....its not perfect, i could do with a longer manzy branch, but i think it is a small improvement.









Whilst doing the water change over the weekend, which was prolonged due to swapping glassware etc, i made an error. I switched my lighting on early so i could see what i was doing. Because c02 wasnt up to levels, and i was blasting them with light, the very next day i noticed some crypt melt  ....just goes to show how sensitive they are and how important good levels of co2 are to them once theyve become accustomed to it. They are a good tester plant for fluctuating co2, although i dont like it happening, at least their response is a rapid warning of something amiss.
Anyway, ive been doing some trimming and replanting of tenellus plantlets....its starting to get a bit wild popping up in amongst the ferns and all sorts  Trimmed the longest ludwigia stem too and will attempt to get a decent bush of this growing in the centre....could take a while though, its a slow burner this tank. Still need something for height at the left rear. I added a small vallis runner there, but need something thicker too. At least the vallis nana is starting to grow now though 

Few more pics to finish





and slowly the foreground plants are starting to merge...





Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Jason Greenslade

Ady34 said:


> and slowly the foreground plants are starting to merge... Cheerio, Ady.


 
This merged look of plants, esp in the foreground is so much more natural than the traditional block of plants here and block of plants there.  I really like it Ady.  Super scape.


----------



## jack-rythm

coming together very nicely indeed Ady, your positioning of the photos of the equipment was great, right in front of the tank  those hatch fish are awesome!!


----------



## Alastair

looks great mate and that lobelia looks lush. I agree with jack too the hatchets are fantastic. wish I could keep those but it will never happen.
great work as always Mate.


----------



## Deano3

This tank is amazing  this is what i hope to achive one day in future and i also love the fluval studio tanks , love the look of the tank full of plants and wood and stones just looks great keep the pics coming

Dean


----------



## whatok

nice!


----------



## martinmjr62

Ady, awesome looking tank,lovely mixture of plants. marbled hatchets are superb fish, got 8 in mine and getting another 8


----------



## Ady34

jack-rythm said:


> coming together very nicely indeed Ady, your positioning of the photos of the equipment was great, right in front of the tank  those hatch fish are awesome!!


Ha, yeah you gotta do it like that 


Alastair said:


> looks great mate and that lobelia looks lush. I agree with jack too the hatchets are fantastic. wish I could keep those but it will never happen.
> great work as always Mate.


Cheers guys, love the hatchetfish, they're a great way of adding some surface interest in this tank that is lacking much else going on up there! Lol I know what you mean Alastair, open top is a no no.....I have a 2" gap at the front of my tank that the glass covers miss due to the glassware hung over the side, I'm terrified they find it and jump.....good so far, touch wood.
Cheerio
Ady.


----------



## Ady34

Deano3 said:


> This tank is amazing  this is what i hope to achive one day in future and i also love the fluval studio tanks , love the look of the tank full of plants and wood and stones just looks great keep the pics coming
> 
> Dean


Thanks very much Dean, I'm sure in the future you'll be able to try this sort of hardscape. It's good to try different ones, and I really like your iwagumi and am looking forward to the flood. I love my studio tank, but I must say I'm now itching for a rimless optiwhite like yours....


whatok said:


> nice!





martinmjr62 said:


> Ady, awesome looking tank,lovely mixture of plants. marbled hatchets are superb fish, got 8 in mine and getting another 8


I'd love a bigger group of them, I'm sure they would too, but I can't seem to resist multiple species so the tank is getting a bit full of livestock now.....next time I'm going to try and resist and go for a nice shoal of one or two species maximum!

I much appreciate everybodys comments, its great to hear all the positive feedback and any critiques too, it makes doing the journal all the more worthwhile 
Thanks,
Ady.


----------



## Ady34

Hi,
little update.
Tried to dial in c02 further last weekend as id previously been beginning injection 4hrs pre photoperiod to get a nice lime green dc for lights on and maintain a good but safe level throughout the photoperiod. I upped the bubble rate and reduced the injection period by 1 hour, but it just didnt work out, fish were starting to show signs of stress mid way through the photoperiod and i had to shut down c02 and switch off the lights early. Ive since been trying to tweak it, but have had to return to the previous set up of 4hrs pre lights on to get a good balance. Between this, and being a little slack with water changes i noticed the beginnings of some filamentous algae on the foreground moss and lobelia, as well as a little on the tips of the vallis nana.....some maybe the start of staghorn algae too which ive suffered before in Dragons Crypt. Upping feeding to twice daily again, combined with letting the tank go for 8 or 9 days without water change for a couple of weeks and messing with my c02 is not a good combo, so ill do 2x 50% water changes this week, and maybe next week also to get things back on track again.
Ive also noticed some deficiencies in some of the plants, namely small and pale new leaf formation on both anubias and lobelia so ive upped fert dosing of both macro and micro by 5ml/day, ill see how it goes and increase further if needed.
I have added some Proserpinaca palustris 'cuba' from Mattyc mainly to the left rear....its not in the most ideal position as flow here is slightly obstructed by the wood and rock formation so i dont have a lot of belief that it will flourish, and certainly wont show the nice deep red colouration but thought id give it a go.....it is showing some nice new growth which is green....i dont mind really about the colour if it grows healthy but an orangy hue would have suited best to balance the heavy green tones of the lobelia and tenellus in the foreground....
Maybe not the best time to do it, but ive also lowered my lighting unit a couple of inches. Additional stems in the background, and the addition of more moss onto branches a few weeks back resulted in a noticable decrease in lighting intensity in the lower parts of the tank. Will monitor that, but the crypts havnt responded badly yet so fingers crossed it was the right thing to do this time.

Anyway, a few photos  .
I carried out a water change tonight and did a little tidying up of mainly lobelia and foreground moss as well as thinning slightly the tenellus at the right foreground and some of the moss branches....subtle trimmings but needed to be done.
Before:





After:




Id like to fill the gap at the very left rear with PP 'cuba' also, theres some in there, but will have to see if it takes off....then i could maybe practice some trimming techniques....albeit very slowly as nothing happens fast in here 
I think i need to try a stem tank really, just to see if i can grow them....trouble is a want a go at a proper iwagumi too!.... enough of that talk..... i need to finish this one first 

Anyway, my two boys take an interest in both tanks and its nice to see them peeking...and getting along....






And a few more just because i never know when to stop with the photos:











Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Ian Holdich

This looks excellent for a non plant scape! 

Great layout again, are you entering this into the iaplac?


----------



## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> This looks excellent for a non plant scape!
> 
> Great layout again, are you entering this into the iaplac?


Ha, yeah i know....what was i thinking??!! 
All being well this will be this years entry into IAPLC.....i couldnt grow another one fast enough even if i wanted too  ......Id need some of the Holdich, 'finished scape in a day', magic 
Cheerio.


----------



## Deano3

great pictures again mate looking very healthy and love that tank maybe in future 

Dean


----------



## George Farmer

Hi Ady,

Lovely aquascape and smashing plants, and I really like the in-situ shot with your lads. Top notch commentary too, as we all know and love from you. 

If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion with regards the layout...

The background planting looks a bit chaotic currently. Nothing wrong with that, but your foreground and midground have a more purposeful design. This causes a slight imbalance in the overall aquascape.

You may already have plans for evolving the background, but if it were me I'd consider a nice curtain of Vallisneria nana or 'Tiger' running the length.

I think this would suit the current layout very well and provide more balance, with just the right amount of harmony and contrast with your current foreground and midground planting.

I hope this provides some food for thought mate. Regardless, it's a great planted tank and lovely aquascape - testament to its creator's skills.

Cheers,
George


----------



## jon32

Lovely tank Ady. Plants look super healthy.


----------



## Ady34

Deano3 said:


> great pictures again mate looking very healthy and love that tank maybe in future
> 
> Dean


Thanks again Dean. Sales must have been poor for the studio tanks as they were discontinued quite quickly.....probably due to relitively high prices....maybe if I hang on to it it will become a collectors item! Lol



jon32 said:


> Lovely tank Ady. Plants look super healthy.


Thank you, I want them healthier 




George Farmer said:


> Hi Ady,
> 
> Lovely aquascape and smashing plants, and I really like the in-situ shot with your lads. Top notch commentary too, as we all know and love from you.
> 
> If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion with regards the layout...
> 
> The background planting looks a bit chaotic currently. Nothing wrong with that, but your foreground and midground have a more purposeful design. This causes a slight imbalance in the overall aquascape.
> 
> You may already have plans for evolving the background, but if it were me I'd consider a nice curtain of Vallisneria nana or 'Tiger' running the length.
> 
> I think this would suit the current layout very well and provide more balance, with just the right amount of harmony and contrast with your current foreground and midground planting.
> 
> I hope this provides some food for thought mate. Regardless, it's a great planted tank and lovely aquascape - testament to its creator's skills.
> 
> Cheers,
> George


Hi George, your comments are always very much appreciated 
The background has been somewhat of a bug bear for me, I never really knew what I wanted from it to be honest. Because the tank was set up as a hard scape only tank, I never had a vision of what I wanted plant wise so it's kind of evolved much like you say, with a plan for the foreground, but I was always aware something was needed for the background. I fancied trying some stems so stuck some in that I thought would work with the colour schemes, and although they do look a little at odds now, I was hoping to sculpt them more, especially the pp Cuba at the left to more follow the lines created from the lobelia cardinalis at the left foreground. Because the alternathera rosefolia mini has never really thrived in the centre (too little flow and light) my plan has been to increase the plant mass of ludwigia to fill the central space in a height graded effect again to match more closely the slightly regimented lines of the foreground......however this could well take an eternity to achieve with my current growth rates, hence my keenness to increase the lighting intensity to get things moving a little.
I do have some vallis nana at the right rear which you can probably see, and your right this works well with the overall balance of the hardscape, the tennellus and mini hair grass, and gives height.....again though its slow. I have taken a cutting and added it to the left rear to balance the sides, but at the moment it's no more than a couple of blades and needs a while to fill in. I remember your 'harlequins haven' scape with the Vallis wall and your right, something like that would work well in this tank so watch this space 
My problem really is that I want to try more plants, whilst also having a balanced aquascape and not rescaping every 5minutes....which I'd love to do, but can't afford! lol I never really had a tank just to try and grow plants and see what worked and what didnt so im kind of practicing within my tank all the time....just not with a huge variety of plants....and I still want to do other types of scape too.....if only the mrs would allow me another tank!
Sorry to go on, definitely appreciate your experienced input, I think the Vallis would be an excellent idea, simple and effective and fitting.....but I'm gonna try these stems out for a while and see how they look. Because its quite a slow tank it gives me the option to run it for longer if I want, which means I can change things around at a later date if it doesn't work out .....all whilst waiting for my vallis nana colony to increase sufficiently 
Cheerio,
Ady


----------



## Ady34

....oh, and i think that crypt wendttii brown or tropica may be a better alternative to the bright green echinodorus aquartica currently in the very left midground too....im loathed to pull anything that grows out though


----------



## Deano3

I noticed they didn't have them at sealers anymore must be discontinued like u say , shame as lovely tanks I think and very modern looking , I do agree they were pricey , the Roma 200 is only 300-400 pounds I should have got a bigger tank for my first but always get one in future

Dean


----------



## danmullan

Ady34 said:


> All being well this will be this years entry into IAPLC.....i couldnt grow another one fast enough even if i wanted too  ......Id need some of the Holdich, 'finished scape in a day', magic
> Cheerio.


 
 Don't we all.

Looking seriously good. I think cyperus helferi would look nice as a background. Something a bit different to Vallis.


----------



## O'Neil

Nice one Ady you've done it again.

How do you and George always find such interesting pieces of wood, is it just a gamble or do you seek it out?

I plan to give a wood scape a go in my 200 once I upgrade the lighting, but thats gonna wait till my current project matures.


----------



## Ady34

danmullan said:


> Don't we all.
> 
> Looking seriously good. I think cyperus helferi would look nice as a background. Something a bit different to Vallis.


Cheers Dan, its funny you should mention Cyperus Halferi, one of my old favourite tanks, which ive mentioned before, was one by an aquascaper called Hunor Orban, titled "forgotten Grove" which used cyperus halferi in much the same way as George suggested, and has used vallis. In fact looking at it, this scape may well have subliminally inspired mine:





Incidentally for those of you who havnt seen Georges "Harlequins Haven" scape, with the vallis 'tiger' curtain, this is what i was talking about:





and a link to that journal, although the photos are no longer available:
120cm - Harlequins' Haven | UK Aquatic Plant Society

two truly inspiring aquascapes 



Porksword said:


> Nice one Ady you've done it again.
> 
> How do you and George always find such interesting pieces of wood, is it just a gamble or do you seek it out?
> 
> I plan to give a wood scape a go in my 200 once I upgrade the lighting, but thats gonna wait till my current project matures.


Ha, well funnily enough the wood im using in this scape used to be Georges......i was lucky enough to buy it as a job lot from him some time ago, i think he may have hand picked the pieces himself so i cant take credit for choosing any of it, its all Mr. Farmers good work  Sounds good about the Roma, wood is always interesting but I do like the simplicity of your current black lava rock scape, it will look lovely when grown in  ...i suppose that's the beauty of having multiple tanks, you can now do different scapes simultaneously 
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## danmullan

Ady34 said:


> Cheers Dan, its funny you should mention Cyperus Halferi, one of my old favourite tanks, which ive mentioned before, was one by an aquascaper called Hunor Orban, titled "forgotten Grove" which used cyperus halferi in much the same way as George suggested, and has used vallis. In fact looking at it, this scape may well have subliminally inspired mine: [/quote]
> 
> :eek: Must have that tank... This reminds me of Victor Lantos' 'Private Island'
> 
> I remember seeing 'Harlequins Haven' maybe in PFK? Also very inspirational. All these amazing tanks are making me itch to rescape. :confused:


----------



## O'Neil

Ady34 said:


> Ha, well funnily enough the wood im using in this scape used to be Georges......i was lucky enough to buy it as a job lot from him some time ago, i think he may have hand picked the pieces himself so i cant take credit for choosing any of it, its all Mr. Farmers good work  Sounds good about the Roma, wood is always interesting but I do like the simplicity of your current black lava rock scape, it will look lovely when grown in  ...i suppose that's the beauty of having multiple tanks, you can now do different scapes simultaneously
> Cheerio,
> Ady.


 
That's probably where I made the connection between you and George. Seen loads of his 'scapes, must have recognised it subconsciously or something, lol.

Yeah I'm looking forward to getting the Roma going, but still got alot of working out to do, I won't be doing EI on a 200Ltr tank tho because it's in an awkward position and then theres the lighting to sort etc, but it will happen.

Simplicity is exactly what I was aiming for in the beginning with a view to improving it over time, the Dutch aspect is going to come into play when the tank is more mature, doing it this way as less can go wrong while i'm finding "the balance" and learning about the plants etc.

Still want your Nano tank tho, haha

Will be keeping a close eye on this one as I want something similar for my 200.


----------



## Ady34

Porksword said:


> I won't be doing EI on a 200Ltr tank tho because it's in an awkward position and then theres the lighting to sort etc, but it will happen


it may be glaringly obvious, but i just cant quite make out what this means exactly? the EI bit is confusing me......you dont mean Estimative Index here do you?.....is it a typo or abbreviation for something else....or am i being dumb


----------



## O'Neil

Ady34 said:


> it may be glaringly obvious, but i just cant quite make out what this means exactly? the EI bit is confusing me......you dont mean Estimative Index here do you?.....is it a typo or abbreviation for something else....or am i being dumb


 
It's not you mate that is a very poor explanation, lol
What I should have said is this *"I'm seeking an alternative to Estimative Index when I scape the 200ltr tank as the position of the tank would make lots of water changes a nightmare"*
EI is what I'm doing for the Black Lava Rock scape.
I apologise for making you question your intellect, when indeed it was my fault for writing anything on a public site before having my morning coffee.
I should know better, lol.


----------



## Ady34

Porksword said:


> It's not you mate that is a very poor explanation, lol
> What I should have said is this *"I'm seeking an alternative to Estimative Index when I scape the 200ltr tank as the position of the tank would make lots of water changes a nightmare"*
> EI is what I'm doing for the Black Lava Rock scape.
> I apologise for making you question your intellect, when indeed it was my fault for writing anything on a public site before having my morning coffee.
> I should know better, lol.


Ha, I need morning coffee too.....and midday, and afternoon, and evening......oh, and Im always questioning my intellect 

Seems if your looking at reduced water changes, a low tech approach may suit best, perhaps with lots of ferns moss and Anubias covering a root/branch network. EI can be dosed lean though, along with reduced lighting and or co2 to suit, which would help reduce the frequency of water changes needed. If you keep the light low, everything else can be reduced, its all a balancing act 
Cheerio,


----------



## plantnoob

awesome hardscape !


----------



## Ady34

plantnoob said:


> awesome hardscape !


Thank you 

Second water change of this week to try and get on top of a few things as stated in the previous update post.
Took a few shots while i was on 

Vallis curtain needs some work  ....






A different perspective....excuse the packet bloodworm in the foreground 






Christmas moss starting to take...





Red Ramshorn snail with airbag.....





drop checker colour....





Giving serious thought to a second filter for this tank. It will give more versatility regards external equipment, i could also use it as a c02 reactor type system and use with glassware which will be less intrusive than the koralia nano circulation pump. I think with extra inlets and outlets the c02 will be dissolved and distributed better.... 
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Iain Sutherland

this has really developed in the last three weeks ady since i last looked, plants look vibrant and love the different shades of green.  Still dying to see it back lit with a diffused background


----------



## tim

Really looking good ady, the second filter is a better way to achieve that clean looking tank, even though power heads are small I didn't realise they can spoil the view so much until I added one  will you go back to an inline diffuser if you decide to go that way ?


----------



## Ady34

tim said:


> Really looking good ady, the second filter is a better way to achieve that clean looking tank, even though power heads are small I didn't realise they can spoil the view so much until I added one  will you go back to an inline diffuser if you decide to go that way ?


Hi Tim,
yeah, ive got an inline diffuser which i was considering adding anyway. If i add another filter i will definitely add it to that and try to make a rector type system, utilising the extra filters volume and some well chosen media  Ill think on it for now and try and save some pennies.....mmm, what filter, decisions, decisions.....


----------



## Ian Holdich

Have you thought about a jbl e700? Would that be powerful enough? 

I see you have a g6 on there at the moment. What lph are they? I have seen 700lph and also 1350 lph?


----------



## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> Have you thought about a jbl e700? Would that be powerful enough?
> 
> I see you have a g6 on there at the moment. What lph are they? I have seen 700lph and also 1350 lph?


Hi Ian,
g6 has a rating of 2460lph, claimed over 1000lph with all medias in, head consideration etc.....
I dont know about the second filter really. It will be moving water along the rear of the tank where traditionally most of the time there are tall plants, so probably dont want a tank buster that will tear them all up or lay them flat  , but needs to be powerful enough to distribute well. The koralia nano is rated at 900lph so probably somewhere around that mark would be more than enough. If i run a standard shape lily return then water will be directed downwards aswell which should help with better overall distribution.....however the koralia currently agitates the surface so i was considering an 'obubble' type, but then i dont get the benefit of downward flow  Maybe i dont need the surface agitiation....ive just had to go get my spare 2kg c02 cylinder refilled as the 3kg one i got before christmas is running out fast .....surface agitiation is expensive!! If i get the plants fed well and growing in earnest then they should do the job of oxygen enrichment anyway. 
An external with a large canister volume but not a huge lph may be best for a reactor type system?....im not very experienced with filters unfortunately. Im guessing the jbl e700 is 700lph rated which may be a touch low? I also need to consider that ill be adding inline c02 which could further restrict flow......


----------



## Ady34

Well.....truly awful few days for the tank 
No hatchetfish casualties through jumping until the weekend when 3 found the gap in 2 nights 
Also Co2 ran out when I was out over the weekend, lights on as usual. I'd already had my spare co2 canister filled in preparation, but when I added it the regulator didn't seem to fit as it did and the seal wasn't tight = leaky regulator seal.....I noticed that immediately so another day of lights off and a trip to my co2 supplier to see if anything had been removed/changed with the coupling....it hadn't but we measured the two and the spare canister has a slightly larger diameter coupling than the one in use so I'm guessing the o ring seal had maybe been compressed when in use and hadn't had time regain its form when I added it immediately to the larger canister? When we tested it again at the co2 supplier it sealed so I felt like a right plonker! Anyway, reinstated co2, a while later switched lights on and yuk, melted stems, shed leaves.....bummer! It must have been the light that got them when co2 ran out, maybe it had been fluctuating for a few days also whilst running out.....need to keep a better eye on it in future! Well, thought it couldn't get any worse, but it seems my solenoid took the hump at being inactive for a few days, and has stopped functioning correctly. The last two days I've come home to no co2 flowing even though the timer has switched the solenoid on.....opening the needle valve creates enough pressure to free it and allow flow so its clearly being activated, but getting stuck. I've switched it on and off several times and it works, but must just get stuck when dormant for a longer period of time like overnight. If the same happens tomorrow it looks like a new solenoid will be needed 
Frustrating to say the least, it never rains, it pours! Hopefully the damage won't be too great, although I can see melt on some of the ferns too so it could get worse before it gets better....
Not the most positive update, but warts and all!
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## LondonDragon

That sucks Ady hard luck, I am sure you will get it back on track in no time  keep us posted and hope for a more positive update soon


----------



## Ady34

LondonDragon said:


> That sucks Ady hard luck, I am sure you will get it back on track in no time  keep us posted and hope for a more positive update soon


Me too, ill get the co2 sorted then maybe buy some new plants to make me feel better


----------



## LondonDragon

Ady34 said:


> Me too, ill get the co2 sorted then maybe buy some new plants to make me feel better


Agreed  my CO2 bottle pressure started moving yesterday to just below 50, so ordered a couple more 5Kg bottles, steal at £25 each!! Gotta keep an eye on it now, hope it doesn't run out before Tuesday when they get delivered!


----------



## anttthony

What a shame I was surprised at how little warning they give you when mine run out. 

ant


----------



## Deano3

That's crap Ady hopefully everything comes together, my co2 is just above 50 been there since got it does it all of a sudden just drop ? I am going to order a spare bottle but only on for 5 hours a day at the min at 1bps but will get a spare

Thing will only get better mate


----------



## Ady34

anttthony said:


> What a shame I was surprised at how little warning they give you when mine run out.
> 
> ant





Deano3 said:


> That's crap Ady hopefully everything comes together, my co2 is just above 50 been there since got it does it all of a sudden just drop ? I am going to order a spare bottle but only on for 5 hours a day at the min at 1bps but will get a spare
> 
> Thing will only get better mate


Yeah, as soon as the needle indicated a drop in pressure I got my spare refilled as it only takes a few days to week max to go.....unfortunately I was a bit slack when it counted as normally I swap them over before it actually runs out to try to eliminate problems. 
Cheerio
Ady


----------



## tim

Bummer about the hatchets mate  hate it when fish jump


----------



## MARKCOUSINS

Bloody sorry mate to read this as your tank was looking pretty good.It is a nightmare when things go pear shaped like this.I hope your family were not around when you realised the damaged so you could let a few words go.You will have it back up to standard soon!Cheers mark


----------



## Ady34

Cheers Mark....
Onwards and upwards, cleaned the tank up a bit, removed pp (melted), removed struggling alternathera mini from the centre, trimmed effected ludwigia and had a small move around. I've added another very small echinodorus Reni sp. to the centre....can't see it yet its so small  placed the ludwigia at the left rear, see how it does and looks here.....if it doesn't work ill add a larger echinodorus and go with George's recommendation of a vallis curtain. Currently the centre needs to fill in more and so too the left rear ludwigia. Ive also tweaked the direction of the lily inlet to give better distribution to the centre of the tank where the new echinodorus is situated.
Luckily the solenoid seems to have corrected itself for the time being so no need for a new one.
Water change last night, took the opportunity to clean glassware and add in pre cleaned diffuser..... for the feel better factor 
caught a glimpse of the CRS again....odd, but this ones colour pattern has changed dramatically to mostly red with hardly any white banding, none in the nano have gone like this so maybe due to environmental conditions?

And just for a laugh I thought I'd share my hc carpet progress....I got a tiny plantlet in amongst some plants I'd bought a while ago so planted it. As you can all clearly see, I nearly have a complete foreground carpet now 

Few weeks ago:




Today:




Context shot:





Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Ian Holdich

That's looking super healthy! 

You'll have a full HC carpet in 6 months.


----------



## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> That's looking super healthy!
> 
> You'll have a full HC carpet in 6 months.


....years....
on the plus side it seems my hairgrass and pretend glosso are on the move, along with the stringy algae too


----------



## Ady34

just noticed i must have cracked the Gush out pipe when cleaning ....it never rains.....


----------



## Deano3

Sorry to hear ady that's only problem with the Lilly pipes and there not cheap, how do u clean the Lilly pipes mate ? 

Will be with crack until u get new one anyway or use the ones with filter , keep ur head up mate

Dean


----------



## Ady34

Deano3 said:


> Sorry to hear ady that's only problem with the Lilly pipes and there not cheap, how do u clean the Lilly pipes mate ?
> 
> Will be with crack until u get new one anyway or use the ones with filter , keep ur head up mate
> 
> Dean


Hi Dean,
i use a jbl cleany (pipe cleaner)....in all honesty im not that impressed after the second use. The metal tie on the end catches the glassware in the bends which is a little disconcerting  it could really do with a rubber finisher or something. Think ideally you'd have a couple of sets of glassware so you could remove and soak in a water/bleach solution overnight then rinse in dechlorinated water to clean.....but to do that we'd need to be millionaires  
Ordered up another from APFUK so will be added soon, until then the old one is still intact so works ok, just wouldnt trust it to take a knock or another clean. I have a spare, but its a cheaper one and is a shrimp/fish killer so wont use it unless i really have to....then id have to add an unsightly shrimp guard too to protect my livestock.
At least i havnt had to buy a new solenoid aswell.......yet!! 

Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## LondonDragon

FWS sell metal ones  you should give those a try


----------



## Ady34

LondonDragon said:


> FWS sell metal ones  you should give those a try


but you can see them


----------



## Deano3

millionares lol ur right its very expensive hobby and i am only starting and only have a nano, i havnt cleaned mine yet but think i read about soaking in bleach solution, thing is do you have to remove piping every time aswel because that means could damage doing that lol and like you say you need it running to dose the co2 and in my case keep temp up so couldnt leave off for long and sorry mate i know how much regulators are 

cheers Dean


----------



## Ady34

Deano3 said:


> millionares lol ur right its very expensive hobby and i am only starting and only have a nano, i havnt cleaned mine yet but think i read about soaking in bleach solution, thing is do you have to remove piping every time aswel because that means could damage doing that lol and like you say you need it running to dose the co2 and in my case keep temp up so couldnt leave off for long and sorry mate i know how much regulators are
> 
> cheers Dean


yeah, remove completely to clean. In all honesty it could have been either removing it, cleaning it or replacing it that caused the crack, just a tap in the wrong place against the tank could easily do it....i only noticed later on when i was looking closely at the tank, i didnt notice when i refitted it so maybe it was putting it back that my hammer hands did the damage  could be worse it could have gone in my hand. 
never mind, new one on the way....must be more careful!
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Ady34

Small update.

Ticking along but still unhappy with the left rear and centre of the tank. I have bought some additional plants, an aponogeton crispus red from Ben (member B7fec), which is a beauty, but is too dominant in this scape so needs replacing. Ive also purchased some nymphoides taiwan for the centre area which is shaded by wood and moss and has always been a trouble area. Ive since repositioned my lily return which has improved flow here, and the nymphoides, with its adaptability, should suit it well here and add a more vibrant green to the rear to tie in more with that of the lobelia cardinalis which dominates the foreground. I also have another larger echinodorus to add to the left rear as i really like the one at the right of the tank. One thing ive always struggled with is the planting space available at the left rear (crazy hardscape only idea haunting me ) . To try to allow me to add the plants i want im going to remove a large piece of dragon stone, which is now invisable anyway, and add in some more used ADA aquasoil to the centre and left rear to raise the substrate level and give me some more options. Ive ordered some more vallis nana and am on the hunt for some anubias and another brown crypt to finish things off. Im going to try and mimic slightly the look achieved on the right of the tank to the left as i really like that side. It will have a strong order of planting, but with the chosen species should still look relitively random/natural, especially when the tenellus fills in the gaps again after the groundworks! The foreground as has been said before has a definite purpose to it which is slightly ordered so i suppose doing the same in the rear will help tie the two together. More vallis nana will add the necessary height but still remain open towards the surface which helps balance the scape and remain inkeeping with the grassy theme from the e. tenellus which is slowly taking over  I dont want a full rear curtain as the tank looks a little too tall compared to its length, so im trying to deceive the eye a bit by drawing the eye upwards from the ends to the centre....i know what i mean 

Not ideal to be still carrying out major reworks this far in, but im determined to finish this scape off to be one which im happy with......unsure with the slow pace of this tank whether it will be ready for a final shot for IAPLC, but will see.
Ive also decided that the current distribution method isnt up to scratch, so for the next one im going to have to give some more thought to this, perhaps try a full length spraybar to see what impact this has. Maybe i may invest in better quality lily returns and add a second external filter as ive suggested before. I think my current lily isnt the best at creating a good flow pattern, my only issue is that most glassware returns are designed for open top rimless tanks so the reach into the tank isnt great. My tank has a rim which means the water level is the best part of 1 1/2" below the top so i need something to reach down quite far.....im sure there will be some good ones somewhere that fit the bill.

Anyway, one photo to share of my favoured side of the tank...its the end the fish favour too so that must be telling me something  I recently trimmed the tenellus quite high up the stems to see what happened...there had been some discussion elsewhere on the forum about the best way to trim it so i  just hacked off the tips where they were getting too long....not the most natural look, but easier to do 






Ill update again after the changes.
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Deano3

looking good ady


----------



## Ady34

Post soil addition update:

Right, i removed this stone, pretty big really:




from this part of the tank:




Then i added some old aquasoil to raise the level slightly. It had been rinsed but seems to deteriorate continually with washing resulting in a never ending silt so decided to just add it into the tank thinking i would get a slight cloud which would be filtered out quickly.......mmm.....








  .....needless to say this halted proceedings somewhat, i couldnt see to replant so carried out the water change and left it overnight and half the next day. The dusting of silt was horrific, everything was covered and i needed to waft the plants repeatedly to help get it into suspension for the filter to take the majority out. There was a lot left on the substrate level which i needed to syphon out also. Anyway, later the next day i was left with a much clearer tank and a better planting area on the problem left hand rear:




Just to put into context the lack of planting area, when reading the Takashi Amano article "A sense of responsibility" in the April issue of PFK, i looked at what he had left behind hardscape for planting in one of his scapes:



probably 2/3 of the width of the tank compared to mine which only has about 1/3 at the rear!
I know a lot of it has to do with my initial plans for the tank, and it varies on what look you are trying to achieve, but shows the room he leaves for planting and probably helps him get great perception of depth and very bushy plants. Having this much room at the rear most likely helps with circulation too without masses of hardscape obstructing the flow back there.
I was quite surprised anyway at the line of hardscape and the space allowed, so thought i would share 

Anyway....I had prepped more water for another water change to counteract any water quality issues and help with clearing. So planted up and carried out the water change, ill do another one this week to ensure no issues and hopefully get crystal clear water back 

I couldnt bare to get rid of the aponogeton red as ive wanted one for a long while now, so have replanted it....it may need to go when the vallis nana fills in but for now i quite like the way it falls across the tank, mirroring the highest piece of wood at the right hand side of the tank....it is also shading my ferns slightly so will help them out a bit too. I can already see that the echinodorus ozelot will have the desired effect when it grows in with its submersed leaves, and the vallis nana will help with the continuity throughout the tank....thanks George 
I am still at odds with the centre, but will add another anubias on the rocks and wait for the nymphoides taiwan to fill in before i make any more changes. A few existing crypts were repositioned to more shaded areas here and there and will hopefully help balance things up when they fill in.

I also tidied up the eleocharis sp. mini in the foreground and removed some moss from in amongst it as it was a dirt trap and looking scruffy. The lobelia cardinalis needs another trim to shape it up again...but ill save that for another day 

Anyway, this is what i ended up with, still a little cloudy, but overall im pleased with the changes:




Hopefully the new plants will adapt quickly and grow in to look more natural, ready for an IAPLC entry shot.
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## flygja

Ady34 said:


> probably 2/3 of the width of the tank compared to mine which only has about 1/3 at the rear!
> I know a lot of it has to do with my initial plans for the tank, and it varies on what look you are trying to achieve, but shows the room he leaves for planting and probably helps him get great perception of depth and very bushy plants. Having this much room at the rear most likely helps with circulation too without masses of hardscape obstructing the flow back there.
> I was quite surprised anyway at the line of hardscape and the space allowed, so thought i would share


 
I find myself arguing with myself over this every time I re-scape. Like you said, it depends on the objectives. Right now my 300L has the hardscape about 2/3 of the way in front, leaving more space behind for plants. But I find that the fish end up hiding a lot because there isn't enough space in front to swim with the discus prowling about. 

I really love the look of the Lobelia standing out against everything else.


----------



## Ian Holdich

You're a brave man Ady! But it appears to have paid off. This reminds me of very early amano. Well done mate!


----------



## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> You're a brave man Ady! But it appears to have paid off. This reminds me of very early amano. Well done mate!


high praise Ian, and very flattering thank you, im gonna change my surname now so i can be Ady. A........my bad!
Believe me there was choice words when i dropped the soil bomb, id done some soil moving in the shrimp tank, but it was nothing like this! Seems to have been worth it though, ill hopefully have sorted the left rear so ill be happier with it now 
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## Deano3

looking superb mate really good I ordered some more mini hair grass for centre of my tank and don't think going to cut the stuff at the back any as sick of waiting and just want growth now once the grass is in going to get some shrimp in there but just letting you know mate and the next tank I ever do will defiantly have lovely feature wood like this one and the colours are beautiful mate

Dean


----------



## Ady34

Deano3 said:


> looking superb mate really good I ordered some more mini hair grass for centre of my tank and don't think going to cut the stuff at the back any as sick of waiting and just want growth now once the grass is in going to get some shrimp in there but just letting you know mate and the next tank I ever do will defiantly have lovely feature wood like this one and the colours are beautiful mate
> 
> Dean


Very much appreciated Dean. I love wood scapes, good pieces make it easy to use as they can take the hard work out of scaping, but i do crave a clean cut iwagumi!
The eleocharis mini sp. may take a while to start strong growth, just ensure you give it good c02 and keep it clean....the shrimp will help, but if adding new plants id maybe pummel them with c02 and add plenty of ferts for a week first to give them a good start then knock it down a touch and add the shrimp, they will keep it pristine for you 
and you all know me, love the photos.....was sitting watching tonight....im invisible  (...wish my light brackets were , shouldve suspended it from the ceiling )





and thinking tonight, i need a couple more brown crypts, another wendtii tropica and wendtii brown should do it 

Also is this a sign for me to get the lottery on?....





and a final one showing the new planted area:





Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Ady34

Recent big substrate changes and replanting etc, alongside (probably more importantly) a reduced efficiency in c02 injection via a dirty diffuser have contributed to a slight filamentous algae reoccurrence:





During this weeks maintenance ive swapped the dirty diffuser for a pre cleaned one, and increased the bubble rate slightly to get things back on track again. Ive also renewed the carbon in the filter. Ill manually remove the algae with a toothbrush...there isnt a lot, but should be able to get on top of it with the changes made 

Also feel ive made a mistake in the choice of echinodorus species for the left rear, the ozelot seems to keep its more oval leaf shape even in submerse form, should have researched that more beforehand  , a longer narrow leaf form like the e. red diamond to the right side would have been more appropriate 





One other thing about this tank, apart from struggling with the centre planting, is the lack of a strong focal point. Im considering trying alternathera reineckii mini again just off left centre, behind the lobelia, trimmed to slope down towards the centre in the foreground, but it may look slightly at odds with the rest of the plant choices, and only add to the already existing bias towards foreground focus.
Going to trim some christmas moss and add it to the flat top of the rearmost left upright piece of wood too, plus maybe when i trim the lobelia, add a little to the centre behind the anubias to attempt a bit more depth to that area.....its a bit dark and stagnant in there though 
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## faizal

Wow Ady!! I don't i would change a thing with a tank like that. It's looking awesome mate. Congratulations.


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## Ian Holdich

Looks great mate, really healthy...looking at that last photo, there is one thing I would do as the back looks a tad messy in the upward regions. I would move that aponogeton and place it in the back left. Something tells me it'll look better there.


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## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> Looks great mate, really healthy...looking at that last photo, there is one thing I would do as the back looks a tad messy in the upward regions. I would move that aponogeton and place it in the back left. Something tells me it'll look better there.


you may well be right there Ian, i may give it a go next water change. It may not stay at all once the vallis nana grows in.


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## Ady34

Ian Holdich said:


> I would move that aponogeton and place it in the back left. Something tells me it'll look better there.


Moved the aponogeton slightly, works better with the flow pattern, doesnt get so battered and overall i think it looks better too, cheers Ian 
The foreground needs a severe trim and reshape, in particular the lobelia cardinalis. The mosses need a trim too. Thinned a little e. tenellus last night which had managed to invade the central hairgrass carpet, im trying to keep that clear, needs a little more thinning at the right hand foreground too, but ill do the main trimming next week. 
Vallis nana is slow to take and although the e. ozelot has started producing some new leaves now which have a really nice pattern, this isnt going to be fully grown in for IAPLC this year....but after a little thought, ill enter this in preference to the CRShrimp tank as i think it will do better, nano tanks dont seem to do to well.  






Cheerio,
Ady.


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## faizal

Oh,..my oh my,....  Getting lovelier each time i see it !!! Is there any way you could possibly get some PAR readings in your tank?


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## Ady34

faizal said:


> Oh,..my oh my,....  Getting lovelier each time i see it !!! Is there any way you could possibly get some PAR readings in your tank?


Thanks faizal.
Its missing something though, maybe its too much green? Not so bad when your watching it though as the fish add some nice contrasting colour 
Unfortunately no access to a PAR meter.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Gary Nelson

I like it mate and prefer the over grown look, it looks very natural this way.... I'd have no hesitation in entering it in IAPLC.


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## tim

Very nice ady considering you had no plans for plants when setup the layout has really come together nicely, I like the way the apotogen curves round to meet the piece of wood on the right.


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## Ady34

Gary Nelson said:


> I like it mate and prefer the over grown look, it looks very natural this way.... I'd have no hesitation in entering it in IAPLC.


yeah, shabby chic aquascaping! Just needs some controlling is all....im liking the way the mini hair grass, tenellus and marsilea have integrated, and its interesting to see the different leaf formations from the marsilea, some are huge single leaves, some tall four leaves and others short single leaves like glosso 



tim said:


> Very nice ady considering you had no plans for plants when setup the layout has really come together nicely, I like the way the apotogen curves round to meet the piece of wood on the right.


yeah that aponogeton kind of mirrors that piece of wood on the right....thats why im allowing it to stay  Its a much nicer effect trailing along the surface now its out of the flow, reminds me of the crypt balansae i used to have and liked so much.
I think the only tanks that look good hardscape only are those with very striking fish to address the balance.....discus and rift valley cichlids...or marine......it would have been very dull, plants double the life in your tank 

Cheerio


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## faizal

Ady34 said:


> Its missing something though, maybe its too much green?


Absolutely not. As Gary mentioned the overgrown look really suits your tank. Ady,...just so that i could better understand your co2 dispersion technique in this particular tank,...i can't help but to notice that you've placed the co2 diffuser just below the intake pipe. Did you choose this placement so that most of the bubbles will be picked up by the filter in order to attain better dissolution? And those missed by the inlet pipe would meet with the outflow of the lilypipe & hence reduce any wastages? Also how have you directed the outflow of the lilypipe? Is it facing the opposing glass or did you direct it in some other way? I am just curious because you seem to have got the co2 management down pretty neatly.


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## Ady34

faizal said:


> i can't help but to notice that you've placed the co2 diffuser just below the intake pipe. Did you choose this placement so that most of the bubbles will be picked up by the filter in order to attain better dissolution? And those missed by the inlet pipe would meet with the outflow of the lilypipe & hence reduce any wastages? Also how have you directed the outflow of the lilypipe? Is it facing the opposing glass or did you direct it in some other way? I am just curious because you seem to have got the co2 management down pretty neatly


Hi Faizal,
yeah i placed it just under the intake to do as you said, there is some by pass but its ok. I do have an inline diffuser, but when i tested it it was only producing massive bubbles, so its still soaking in a mild bleach solution to see if i can improve it before using....its pretty noisy as it is though, a crackling sound as the c02 bubbles are sucked through the very narrow slots in the glassware which is slightly annoying, so i hope the inline was just dirty. I dont get full dissolution, my filter burps frequently, i think smaller tanks have a better success at this due to the reduced amounts of c02 needed to get the levels up. Its more for distribution that i have it below the inlet pipe. This way the tank isnt full of micro bubbles all the time though which is nice, but maybe not the best way.
As for the lily direction, its designed to direct the main water flow downwards and to the left side, so i have it pointing towards the very centre of the tank and the circulation pump at the opposite end then pushes the rising water flow and c02 back along the surface and down the right hand glass (down onto the c02 diffuser)....if that makes sense  Its taken a bit of tinkering to get it somewhere near, and ill be looking at a different method when i rescape i think as i dont like the very downward flow direction of the lily, and its still not perfect.
Also, im always having to adjust the c02 as the diffuser gets clogged, i think ill need to clean weekly to get the best from it but thats just another thing im slowly coming to realise about optimising c02 injection  lots of small things can have big impacts 
Cheerio


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## faizal

Cheers Ady,... It is truly interesting to know how you got it down. There's a lot of helpful information there.



Ady34 said:


> Also, im always having to adjust the c02 as the diffuser gets clogged, i think ill need to clean weekly to get the best from it ,.....  lots of small things can have big impacts


Yeah you're absolutely right.
Will you be rescaping soon then? Looking forward to follow that one too.


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## Alastair

love that shot ady, and the lobelia cardinalis looks lush. i could never get mine to grow that well.


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## Ady34

faizal said:


> Will you be rescaping soon then? Looking forward to follow that one too.


probably not. Ill let this run a while, I'm considering a new set up later in the year.

Interestingly tonight I spotted the second CRS I added from the nano months ago....thought only one had made it but saw them both tonight.....Crazy how you can view a tank every day and yet still be surprised by a master illusionist shrimp reappearing! It's also strange as they both have broken markings unlike those in the nano yet they're not supposed to alter their pattern???

Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Ady34

With IAPLC deadline fast approaching, thought id better get a banker shot in. The tank wont be where id ideally like it to be as theres still a lot of growing in to do at the rear with the new echinodorus and the vallis, but still going to enter 
Id planned on taking the banker shot last thursday before water change, and then doing a major trim in hope of it regrowing in time for another last minute shot at the end of the month which may have been better with more foreground shape again and perhaps more growth at the rear....but it takes ages to take photos when trying lighting variations!!!
I only had one extra single t8 light unit to use with a few different bulbs and its amazing the changes you get visually just with these, let alone swapping front to rear bias  Choosing a shot is tricky too when you take loads 
Borrowed a tripod again and removed equipment....took the opportunity to clean the glassware while it was out and managed not to break it this time 
Anyway to cut a long story short ive got a few shots i could use, not entirely happy as even though im no photographer theres a few schoolboy errors which could have been avoided like the water level being too high leaving a visible silver line at the surface where my top rim is around the tank....also id added some moss to the top of a branch and used wood tight instead of cotton so you can see that too  It took a long time faffing around so i didnt have time to do the major trim so that will have to wait for next weeks water change, which definitely wont give time to regrow, but its not a big deal, ill let the tank run and ill see it grown in eventually 
I wont share the actual shots im considering, as most likely it will have to be one of those, but ill overload on pictures now as i took a few whilst photographing then carrying out the water change.

This is pretty much all my 'photoshoot' was.....i cleaned the glass, removed equipment and lowered the main lighting unit directly on top of the tank to brighten it as much as possible with another t8 + reflectors added to the front ...which you cant really see in this picture :





as a side, its a bit of a change from this:





After that it was just a quick water change, but with time to take photos  . I made life a little easier for myself a while ago by drilling a hole in the conservatory wall and plumbing in a capped pipe to an outside drain so i can syphon direct from the tank without having to empty buckets a lot, or open doors and stretch hose everywhere! Thats why i have a net stuck over the syphon tubes, to prevent critters going down the drain, also two pipes is faster than one. I can just stick a gravel cleaner on one of the hoses when i want to clean the substrate. The water cans are prepped the night before and left in the garage with heaters added to warm the water, i then sit them on the stepladders and use a liquid transfer pump to get the water back into the tank. I tried a hose direct from the tap a few times but didnt like the lack of control. Takes a little longer this way, but i can always see whats going on:





Drop the water about this far, not quite 50% , but 3x 25l drums is enough to lug about. Also the aponogeton is sending up a flower shoot?, next day this was out the water  rapid growth:






Next day, boy that koralia circulation pump is attractive  . The aponogeton flower shoot made the surface and the cardinals came to say hello, you can see some of the tenellus is flattened slightly after a substrate vacuum, and the keen eyed may spot one of the two crs hiding out in this tank :







few more shots while im on:






spot the hatchetfish
















Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Steve Smith

Great photos Ady, thanks for sharing   Interested to know what pump you use.  Does it self prime etc?


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## Steve Smith

Also, I've put this on the UKAPS facebook page


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## Ady34

Steve Smith said:


> Great photos Ady, thanks for sharing  Interested to know what pump you use. Does it self prime etc?


Hi Steve, pump?
if you mean the filter, its a G6, primer pump button to start the syphon into filter....then a whole load of bubbles for 5-10 mins 


Steve Smith said:


> Also, I've put this on the UKAPS facebook page


cheers, it was already on from a long while back, but with all your and Ians extra work with the facebook page it may get more views now


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## Steve Smith

Ady34 said:


> Hi Steve, pump?
> if you mean the filter, its a G6, primer pump button to start the syphon into filter....then a whole load of bubbles for 5-10 mins
> 
> cheers, it was already on from a long while back, but with all your and Ians extra work with the facebook page it may get more views now


 
Hi Ady. I meant your water change pump you mentioned. Can't think of anything small enough to fit inside your water containers so assumed you used some sort of external pump? -



Ady34 said:


> The water cans are prepped the night before and left in the garage with heaters added to warm the water, i then sit them on the stepladders and use a liquid transfer pump to get the water back into the tank.


 
Is it just an Eheim or something?


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## Ady34

Steve Smith said:


> Hi Ady. I meant your water change pump you mentioned.


doh!  brain not in gear.....its just a battery powered (i use rechargeable ones now) liquid transfer pump from camping stores and the likes like this:


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## Steve Smith

Excellent, I may well have to "borrow" that idea   I'm already using a 15L folding camping water container for my RO 

Cheers!


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## Ady34

Not bad for a phone shot, its better than my actual camera for fish photos 






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## Deano3

looking great ady just looked through all ur recent pics and looks beautiful I must say

Dean


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## Ady34

Deano3 said:


> looking great ady just looked through all ur recent pics and looks beautiful I must say
> 
> Dean


Thank you Dean, how's your hair grass doing?


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## Alastair

Im still really jealous of your lobelia mate. The whole tank is so lush. 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2


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## Ady34

Alastair said:


> Im still really jealous of your lobelia mate. The whole tank is so lush.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2


cheers Alastair, if i ever have any lobelia cuttings spare ill send them to you to have a go.....well ill try to anyway


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## Alastair

Ady34 said:


> cheers Alastair, if i ever have any lobelia cuttings spare ill send them to you to have a go.....well ill try to anyway



 send them over on the rc truck and attach a live cam to the top. Ill give directions. Forget royal fail 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2


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## hydrophyte

This tank and the photos are fantastic! I imagine you explained it somewhere, but what is the tall brown-leaved plant with the wavy margins?



Ady34 said:


> Cheerio,
> Ady.


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## Ady34

hydrophyte said:


> This tank and the photos are fantastic! I imagine you explained it somewhere, but what is the tall brown-leaved plant with the wavy margins?


Many thanks hydrophyte  ,
the plant is an Aponogeton crispus 'red'.
Cheers,
Ady.


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## Mr. Teapot

I really love your tank, the way you get drawn into shaded areas is brilliant. Makes me think I'm looking into an ancient forest pool. Just wish someone would discover a Aponogeton crispus 'Nano'.


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## Ady34

Mr. Teapot said:


> I really love your tank, the way you get drawn into shaded areas is brilliant. Makes me think I'm looking into an ancient forest pool. Just wish someone would discover a Aponogeton crispus 'Nano'.


Thanks Mr. Teapot. An aponogeton sp. 'nano' would be cool....but i do like stuff trailing across the surface for some reason, maybe that will change when i master lush stem plant growth and can fill upper regions like that instead 

Added 15 CRS from the nano tonight to go with the two existing ones. The tank has ran pretty algae free without shrimp as part of a cuc, likely down to low lighting levels used, but i do like the splash of colour they add and need to thin the numbers in the nano a bit....will add more next week if all is well.

Cheerio,


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## Ady34

Well, finally got round to doing a trim of the foreground to tidy it up a little 
Chose to remove most of the lobelia and replant the best cuttings. It was getting quite tall and after numerous trims had ended up having many side shoots with smaller leaves. Trimmed the hairgrass and tenellus a little to shape and removed a couple of echinodorus ozelot emersed leaves which remained from planting (plus a couple of new leaves which i shouldnt of ) Thinned the mosses on the branches also:





Also today noticed that the c02 wasnt working, a quick investigation found that one of my non return valves had failed with a split/crack and was leaking....unusual as they are metal:









not too much of a worry as i run two, one between the solenoid and bubble counter and this one between bc and tank, so just hooked the c02 line direct from bc to tank diffuser and still have the other to prevent issue. Will order another to replace.

CRS doing fine.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Alastair

Beautiful mate.  I love the greenness of the tank. That's a first in the non return valve though.  I used those and would never have thought they'd split

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2


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## Ady34

Alastair said:


> Beautiful mate.  I love the greenness of the tank. That's a first in the non return valve though.  I used those and would never have thought they'd split
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2


Yeah, didn't expect it to be the non return valve at all, it wasn't obvious until I'd narrowed it down to the valve and removed it for closer inspection....odd one alright, I've had them since the start of dragons crypt!


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## danmullan

Tank looks excellent mate


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## Ady34

danmullan said:


> Tank looks excellent mate


How's yours doing Dan, any updates?


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## zico_aqua

I absolutely love this tank! guess I too will have to move from my rock based scapes to something like this for a change.. plus I was looking out for a tank to see how lobelia might look in the next scape that I have in mind..so thank you for that..now I know it will be a good addition after all..


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## danmullan

Ady34 said:


> How's yours doing Dan, any updates?


 
Nothing worth spamming your thread for  had to empty the other day as moving this weekend. Looking forward to a new project with the tank. Planted or not, still unsure. Shell dwelling Cichlid biotopes have been tempting me for a while.

I keep coming back to the latest shot of your tank... I really love the mixture of textures and leaf shapes in the middle right. This has matured really nicely.


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## Ady34

zico_aqua said:


> I absolutely love this tank! guess I too will have to move from my rock based scapes to something like this for a change.. plus I was looking out for a tank to see how lobelia might look in the next scape that I have in mind..so thank you for that..now I know it will be a good addition after all..


Much appreciated zico, its good to try different hardscape materials and good pieces of wood are in my mind easier to position effectively than rocks. The lobelia is a nice plant, it has worked well for me as an alternative to staurogyne repens which I can't seem to grow! It's maybe not as delicate looking as some other foreground plants, but its bright light green is a nice contrast and it certainly stands out 



danmullan said:


> Nothing worth spamming your thread for  had to empty the other day as moving this weekend. Looking forward to a new project with the tank. Planted or not, still unsure. Shell dwelling Cichlid biotopes have been tempting me for a while.
> 
> I keep coming back to the latest shot of your tank... I really love the mixture of textures and leaf shapes in the middle right. This has matured really nicely.


Ah, dont envy you moving house. Did you get on top of the small issues you were having with the tank in the end?
I like shell dwellers, I used to breed ocellatus gold back in the day when I had a fish house, they were very interesting to watch especially when they had fry scooting in and out of the shell 

I too like the way the plants have merged, just need to try and keep some sort of order now as this will likely be running a while longer. It's pretty easy to maintain really, growth rates are slow and most of the plants don't need much trimming so ideal for the long haul, it'll be nice to see it filled in properly at the left rear.

Cheerio,
Ady.


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## danmullan

Ady34 said:


> Ah, dont envy you moving house. Did you get on top of the small issues you were having with the tank in the end? I like shell dwellers, I used to breed ocellatus gold back in the day when I had a fish house, they were very interesting to watch especially when they had fry scooting in and out of the shell


 
I've always wanted to try african cichlids, and shelldwellers since I saw George's PFK feature a couple of years back
I ended up taking all the plants out, except the Microsorum. Due to co2 issues and not being able to get more, the plants looked awful. I replaced with hydrocotyle japan and cyperus helferi. Looked okay but it was just a temp fix until I emptied the tank for moving. I'd like to do another planted tank but I'll have to decide when in the new place.



Ady34 said:


> I too like the way the plants have merged, just need to try and keep some sort of order now as this will likely be running a while longer. It's pretty easy to maintain really, growth rates are slow and most of the plants don't need much trimming so ideal for the long haul, it'll be nice to see it filled in properly at the left rear.


 
Sounds like it's good for maintenance as it is to look at. I saw a recent post from Mark saying he'd not done a WC for 4 months... the dream.


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## zico_aqua

man! had you been nearby India..I could have given you kg's of repens.. I had it growing both in my tanks at home and my immersed setup's at roof top in full sunlight upto two weeks back..


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## Ady34

zico_aqua said:


> man! had you been nearby India..I could have given you kg's of repens.. I had it growing both in my tanks at home and my immersed setup's at roof top in full sunlight upto two weeks back..


I'd have killed it 
Actually I may try a bit again just to see if I can tempt it into growing in my tank  unfortunately I'm a bit far away to just pop to India to get some lol ill maybe just order a pot from one of our sponsors


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## Ady34

Quick update.
Status quo, really easy to maintain this tank as growth is minimal, just water changing, filter cleaning, dosing and tweaking co2......slightly frustrating however as I want the background planting to fill in more. The aponogeton is shading the rear heavily so I took advantage of a recent drop in injection rate from the dirty diffuser to add a clean diffuser, up the co2 slightly which enabled me to 'safely' increase the lighting intensity by lowering the light unit a couple of inches  The plants had slowly acclimated to a lower co2 level as the diffuser clogged, so the now higher co2 should balance the higher light .....famous last words!
CRS are doing fine and not being predated, and the aponogeton is flowering again.
I've reduced fert dosing slightly as conductivity rises quite significantly over the course of a week, no ill effects as yet so may try reducing more.









Cheerio.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## Alastair

Beutiful mate.  Love how the aponogeten flower pops out of the hole.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


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## Ady34

Hi all,
Sticks & Stones iaplc 2013 placed 1006.
Thanks again for all the comments and support along the way, journal now closed 






Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Gary Nelson

Ady34 said:


> Hi all,
> Sticks & Stones iaplc 2013 placed 2006.
> Thanks again for all the comments and support along the way, journal now closed
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheerio,
> Ady.




Do you mean 1006.... Don't down mark it mate lol


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## Ady34

Gary Nelson said:


> Do you mean 1006.... Don't down mark it mate lol


Ha, doh! I've edited it now. Thanks mate


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## Deano3

well deserved mate should have been higher but brilliant mate

congrats


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## flygja

Congratulations on your placing!


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## Ady34

Cheers chaps 
Congrats on your 423 placement flygja, really nice scape.


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## flygja

Thanks Ady. I'll try to top your Jurassic scape this year!


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## hydrophyte

That planting is lovely!

And congratulations for placing.


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## LondonDragon

Deano3 said:


> well deserved mate should have been higher but brilliant mate


 
Agreed! Well done mate


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