# Hanging Rock - 45p Iwagumi



## doylecolmdoyle (27 May 2017)

Starting to plan another scape for my little apartment, this will be the 5th aquarium in a 70sqm apartment.

Tank - 45p Fire-Aqua 45x27x30cm
Filter - Ista External Mini Canister Filter 360lph
Heater - ?
Co2 - via UP Aqua In-Line Atomizer 12/16mm
Light - 45cm Chihiros A-Series Plus
Substrate - Cal Aqua Green Base and Cal Aqua Black Earth
Ferts - Cal Aqua Green, Red and Chrome

Plants - Carpet only I am thinking... Glosso, MC, HC, hairgrass mix? Various moss attached to the rocks. Probably Mini Pellia and Fissidens Fontanus, tho I have some flame, spiky and weeping moss, but dont think they will suit.

Picked up a big 9kg seiyru stone, which will be the main feature. I have started to play around with the layout and I think I am fairly decided on the last picture below, probably will have a lot of height and some of the stone emersed.


















Decided on something like this... hard to balance the big rock without any substrate so the angle may be improved a bit.





I will have sand on the left under the hanging rock and bank Cal Aqua Black Earth up on the right, the rocks will be lifted and tilted a bit to create more overhand, below is a ruff idea of planting


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## Dominik_K (28 May 2017)

Wow, i like that hardscape. I would add some slightly bigger stones to make a cleaner transition  but just a bit bigger, maybe about 20% of the main one.


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## Mikeba (28 May 2017)

Very nice main rock! 

I agree with Dominik_K, you need some supporting stones to make a nice transition. Maybe 2 more stones 50% and 20% of the main one. 

I also like the rubble you have in the last picture. Good job so far!


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## doylecolmdoyle (29 May 2017)

Cheers for the feedback, will hopefully start scaping this in the tank this weekend, will add a few more transitional rocks.


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## doylecolmdoyle (17 Jun 2017)

Got the big rock into the small tank, I like the look, the contrast in angle of the soil to the rock, I also like the idea of just using the one rock, no decorative rocks. But now I am undecided on if I should use sand on the left side, considering the soil is a land slide waiting to happen I think keeping the white sand clean will be a pain in the ass! So now I am thinking carpet all over. Here is the hardscape as it sits now. There is room at the back to plant stems if I dont want to keep this carpet plants only, not to sure about that tho.


IMG_9621 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Juraj C. (17 Jun 2017)

I think adding few small rocks would more natural. Something like pic 4 or 5 in your first post.
Also the substrate and the rock end are alligned which looks odd to me.
But hey, if you like it like this go for it.


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## doylecolmdoyle (17 Jun 2017)

Juraj C. said:


> I think adding few small rocks would more natural. Something like pic 4 or 5 in your first post.
> Also the substrate and the rock end are alligned which looks odd to me.
> But hey, if you like it like this go for it.



Perhaps I will add more small rocks, that is easy enough... I am mindful that little rocks just get swamped by carpet plants once they start growing nicely and become a pain when cutting the carpet, also I like the overhand effect without having small rocks close to the base of the big rock.

Decided to add more soil, sand would just be a pain, may as well carpet the whole thing.


IMG_9622 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

For plants I am thinking

Foreground:
- Glosso front right
- MC under the rock (due to being shaded, I think MC will grow well there)
- HC front left all the way to back left
Hoping its all could mix together over time and look natural

Background:

- Limnophila sp Mini "Vietnam" behind the rock and back right
Other considerations for the background are HM and or HU (they look pretty much the same to me but different shaped leaves?)

On the rock I will add mini pellia


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## Cor (17 Jun 2017)

looks promising


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## Juraj C. (17 Jun 2017)

That looks much better already.


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## Tim Harrison (17 Jun 2017)

That's a bold statement if ever there was one...that is visually.
The addition of smaller rocks maybe an idea worth trying; now's the time to do it.
If you don't like them they can be removed easily enough. Better that than changing your mind once it's planted and flooded.
I think they may help to add a bit of harmony and perhaps juxtaposition tension to the scape.


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## doylecolmdoyle (17 Jun 2017)

Tim Harrison said:


> That's a bold statement if ever there was one...that is visually.
> The addition of smaller rocks maybe an idea worth trying; now's the time to do it.
> If you don't like them they can be removed easily enough. Better that than changing your mind once it's planted and flooded.
> I think they may help to add a bit of harmony and perhaps juxtaposition tension to the scape.



Cheers I did try a few small rocks but didnt really like it, I will try again and photograph, initially when doing the out of tank mockups I really liked the small scattered stones but when I finally got the big rock counter balanced I liked the look of it jutting out on a bold angle


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## Gonçalo Silva (17 Jun 2017)

I agree with Doyle that the smaller rocks is just for the hardscape pic. Then after a month it's just a hole in the carpet. I would put some medium stones instead.


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## alto (17 Jun 2017)

I vote for it as the Lone Rock 
- looks best as it is ... drama ... tension ... why lessen that with rubble


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## Mikeba (17 Jun 2017)

I would only use small rocks in sand areas and medium rocks in carpet areas. 

But it's looking great!


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## karel.brits (17 Jun 2017)

alto said:


> I vote for it as the Lone Rock
> - looks best as it is ... drama ... tension ... why lessen that with rubble


The simplicity is the strength of this scape, in my opinion. I wouldn't add any smaller ones either. This is pleasing to the eye already.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn ONEPLUS A3003 met Tapatalk


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## Silviu Man (18 Jun 2017)

Hi!
Nice ideea. In my opinion, having in mind the shape of the rock, any other small rock will "bite" from the originality of it.
It remind me of a Lion King scene.


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## doylecolmdoyle (18 Jun 2017)

alto said:


> I vote for it as the Lone Rock
> - looks best as it is ... drama ... tension ... why lessen that with rubble





karel.brits said:


> The simplicity is the strength of this scape, in my opinion. I wouldn't add any smaller ones either. This is pleasing to the eye already.
> 
> Verstuurd vanaf mijn ONEPLUS A3003 met Tapatalk





Silviu Man said:


> Hi!
> Nice ideea. In my opinion, having in mind the shape of the rock, any other small rock will "bite" from the originality of it.
> It remind me of a Lion King scene.



Thanks guys, yes I think I will just run with the one rock, you all have convinced me  I am hoping to grow a wild and interesting mixed carpet which think will add to the contrast against the lone rock


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## Silviu Man (18 Jun 2017)

Regarding the plants : I would keep the shaded place free of any plant, leaving HC to cover, as much as it can, that place.


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## doylecolmdoyle (18 Jun 2017)

Thinking about plants (which I have already ordered but could use in my other tanks if needed) here is my plan, obviously the plants will all mix together somewhat, which is what I would like to achieve... perviously I had not thought about using UG but managed to buy a small portion, perhaps there isnt enough room long the front right for both glosso and UG. Thoughts?


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## Silviu Man (18 Jun 2017)

Looks OK, having in mind the requirements of the plants. I still think you should be careful with 02. Maybe, in first 2-3 weeks, you can "help" it with a lamp that will give extra-light from the left side. Is very important to generate, very fast, the roots. Be aware that 03 is very difficult to be planted in that kind of substrate; it comes "in vitro" and it "leaves" the substrate very easy. Plant it in small pieces and push it well in the substrate. I have it in a Wabi Kusa and in a nano but ... it gave me some extra white hair!


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## doylecolmdoyle (18 Jun 2017)

Thanks I think the MC will grow fine in the shade, I do have a tank next to this that will spill some light to fill the shadow, also I will dry start this for some time. Just not sure how the UG and glosso will look next to each other or if they will mix, here is the plan without UG


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## Daveslaney (18 Jun 2017)

I would give it a go with the UG I think the contrast between the UG and glosso would look great. If the UG isnt successful you could always plant it out with glosso after.


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## doylecolmdoyle (23 Jun 2017)

All planted, now to wait... probably need some more HM for up the back and behind the rock (not that you will see it behind the rock) Mixed the UG with the glosso, tho the UG was on a SS mesh and was impossible to remove without tearing the roots off, so will be interesting to see how it goes


IMG_9640 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## alto (23 Jun 2017)

HM grows like a weed so likely you've enough
- dry start?


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## doylecolmdoyle (24 Jun 2017)

alto said:


> HM grows like a weed so likely you've enough
> - dry start?



Yes a dry start, tho I have decided to remove the HM, I keep all the plants low / ground cover, the bushy HM may distract from angle of the rock


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## alto (24 Jun 2017)

Good as a fast growing stem plant for tank startups though


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## Silviu Man (24 Jun 2017)

Sorry for my ignorance but ... what is "a dry start"?


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## doylecolmdoyle (24 Jun 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> Sorry for my ignorance but ... what is "a dry start"?



It is a method of starting the plants without water and spraying / misting with water when needed, this allows the plants to have unlimited access to co2, generally only used for carpet plants so they can get their roots down before flooding.


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## Silviu Man (24 Jun 2017)

OK, thanks!
I took the word "dry" literally and I was confused. This is a good technique for planting on the hills, avoiding the risk of substrate going down the hill and uprooting the plants.

I am planing the same method for my next project, in the shape of wabi kusa. This mean that the plant will stay without water but on a substrate flooded. The aqvarium will be covered with plastic or a glass cover. In the cover I will have a small hole for a small pipe from which I will add CO2 and water, as much as is needed. I have already made such experiment and it works perfect (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/my-first-wabi-kusa.50033/).

Maybe you should try too, it will rush it for sure.

The other solution that I will try is to grow HC on a plastic mesh that is positioned under a thin layer of universal substrate like Tropica Soil. HC is genereting penetrationg roots and will be attached on the mesh, fixing also the substrate. Then I expect to have something like grass strips that can be added aslope, uphill.  Of course, in the same way described above, including light, CO2, fertilizers.


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## doylecolmdoyle (25 Jun 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> OK, thanks!
> I took the word "dry" literally and I was confused. This is a good technique for planting on the hills, avoiding the risk of substrate going down the hill and uprooting the plants.
> 
> I am planing the same method for my next project, in the shape of wabi kusa. This mean that the plant will stay without water but on a substrate flooded. The aqvarium will be covered with plastic or a glass cover. In the cover I will have a small hole for a small pipe from which I will add CO2 and water, as much as is needed. I have already made such experiment and it works perfect (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/my-first-wabi-kusa.50033/).
> ...



Thanks I have seen people pump co2 into a dry start tank, I dont see the point, have done two dry starts before, just covering the tank with plastic film (cling wrap) and leaving a corner open is enough, mist every days or every second, make sure not to much water pools over the soil, tho this could be tricky with the big hill of soil, I will syphon out excess water.


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## Silviu Man (25 Jun 2017)

I have not documented very well this isue but, as long as we have to reproduce the greenhouse effect, I though we should have the same condition : moisture in the air, more CO2 than in normal air, temperature and light. So I just compared it with other similar projects and looks like it speed up the process. Anyway, should take care with CO2 : it may cause intoxication.


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## doylecolmdoyle (1 Jul 2017)

1 week DSM updated photo -


IMG_9646 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

Getting a little white spiderweb like mold on a patch of glosso, tempted to flood but I dont have a heater yet... will try hold off flooding until next weekend when the heater should arrive


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## Silviu Man (1 Jul 2017)

Looking well. Good luck!


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## doylecolmdoyle (5 Jul 2017)

Flooded, decided not to muck around with RO water, just tap... lets see how it goes, the HC lifted a lot when I flooded the tank, guess it needs more than 2 weeks dry start, the glosso is well rooted, here is a photo, the tank looks like sprite due to a new atomizor working really well, it will calm down over a few days I think.


IMG_9690 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

Full setup sharing the co2, seems to work well. 


IMG_9688 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Tim Harrison (5 Jul 2017)

Looks interesting in situ...a monolith iwagumi in stark contrast to the nature aquarium.


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## doylecolmdoyle (5 Jul 2017)

Tim Harrison said:


> Looks interesting in situ...a monolith iwagumi in stark contrast to the nature aquarium.



Thanks, that is kind of the effect I wanted with contrasting scapes, tho ive gone back to dry, all the HC floated up moments after posting those photos, so this will be dry again for a month I think.


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## Silviu Man (5 Jul 2017)

In my wabi kusa, HC has developed strong roots atfer 3 weeks. In the week 5, already the roots were 3-4 times longer than the plant itself. 
With your permission, I can put here a picture.


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## doylecolmdoyle (9 Jul 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> In my wabi kusa, HC has developed strong roots atfer 3 weeks. In the week 5, already the roots were 3-4 times longer than the plant itself.
> With your permission, I can put here a picture.



Sure no worries, I ended up flooding the tank again, was getting white thin spiderweb like fungus / mold, all the HC floated again, ended up pulling it all up breaking it down into smaller chunks and sticking them back into the soil, made a big mess and the soil is all uneven and not looking the best but over time im sure it will grow over and not be so noticeable. Cranking the co2 and everything is pearling nicely


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## CooKieS (9 Jul 2017)

DSM is not the best way to start a tank, IMHO. 

Best of luck, with water and CO2, everything will be fine again


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## doylecolmdoyle (10 Jul 2017)

CooKieS said:


> DSM is not the best way to start a tank, IMHO.
> 
> Best of luck, with water and CO2, everything will be fine again



Cheers, yes Im sure it will come around now its all wet! tho this morning I woke up to green water, never experienced green water before, I did squeeze the sponge from a cycled tank into this tank, perhaps that caused some issue, I will have to do a few big water changes and see if it clears up.


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## Silviu Man (10 Jul 2017)

This is how roots of HC looks after 4 weeks in wabi kusa.





Sorry for bad quality but I you can have an ideea about it.
Regarding green water, changing water will not help you too much. You can use UV treatment or blackout. But, making blackout now, when plants just start to grow, will be not very good for them.


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## doylecolmdoyle (10 Jul 2017)

Cheers, I only left my HC for a week or less, doesnt seem like any of it put down roots, must not have liked the conditions or was already emersed grown and needed more time to adapt to the dry start conditions, I have done a big 90% water change will see if the water stays clear, any ideas why the green water would occur? As I said I squeezed the sponge from a cycled tank into this tank, set the co2 up at a very high level and left it over night, this morning the water was green, not a solid green but a definite green tinge. Hopefully its gone when I get home from work


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## Silviu Man (10 Jul 2017)

Maybe is not so called "green water" that is made by unicellular algae. But, if it is green water from algae then water changes are not enough.
I had this in my 100 litters aqvarium just after I put inside algae eaters (shrimps, Oto, SAE and Spiral) probable because the high population of 
algae that was removed by algae eaters and become invasive in water. I used blackout for 3 days and after that a massive change in water with
addition of Filter Medium. Very next day the water was clear and stays clear until today.


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## doylecolmdoyle (10 Jul 2017)

Interesting, hopefully it wasnt "green water" perhaps a bacterial bloom! My water is still clear after the big water change, I guess it may take longer then 10 so hrs to turn, fingers crossed its still clear in the morning


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## Silviu Man (10 Jul 2017)

OK, maybe you are lucky and will not face green water. Bacterial bloom is looking white and foggy, not green. Next time do not squeez the sponge from other filter, just keep them working together in same tank for one week or two and add some bacteria in new filter. This way you avoid problems with water quality. When you squeez the sponge, together with beneficial bacteria, you add also a lot of organic matter in water, that is the best feed for algae. More than that, squeezing the sponge, there is only a few bacteria leaving the sponge because beneficial bacteria are fixed in the sponge. To have an effect, you should wash the sponge very well in aqvarium water ... and this lead to same problem : too much organic matter in the tank.


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## doylecolmdoyle (10 Jul 2017)

Cheers, I should just just cycled the tank as I have done previously... letting the aquasoil leech ammonia and doing regular water changes... I will have to keep an eye on ammonia levels... yet to test them, will get onto that shortly. I just tested my GH (8) and KH (5) and my PH (6)... looking at a co2 chart I have 150ppm of co2... yesterday I had the co2 set even higher so probably pushed the PH even lower (below 6) Perhaps this had some ill effect. I will tone down the co2 over the next few weeks in preparation for adding some live stock.


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## Silviu Man (10 Jul 2017)

Cleansing bacteria that help to transform ammonia in nitites and nitrites in nitrates are autotrophic bacteria (bacteria that use as nitrogen source these substances, respectively bacteria from nitrosomonas sp. and nitrobacter sp.). Autotrophic bacteria like a pH around 7. Lowering the pH too much will not kill the bacterial population at once but will reduce dramaticaly the bacterial division. With a few exceptions (like Lactobacili sp. or Bifidobacterium sp.) most of bacteria prefer a pH around 6.5-7.5. So, lowering pH too much and fast will lead to a inhibition of cleansing bacteria growth/multiplication and, consecutively, an extension of the cycling of the aqvarium.


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## doylecolmdoyle (10 Jul 2017)

Thanks I am not in a huge rush to cycle the tank so will keep the co2 high for now to try avoid any melt, I will easy back to about a ph of 6.7 / 6.8 over the next few weeks. Ammonia levels are fairly high at about 4ppm with no sign of any nitrites yet


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## Silviu Man (10 Jul 2017)

High level of ammonia, as well as nitrites show weak bacteria population. So, if you can wait, in three weeks results will come for sure. Good luck!


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## doylecolmdoyle (10 Jul 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> High level of ammonia, as well as nitrites show weak bacteria population. So, if you can wait, in three weeks results will come for sure. Good luck!



Yes I am assuming if any beneficial bacteria was introduced to the tank by squeeing out that cycled sponge yesterday, I probably killed it off by dropping the Ph below 6 when I injected a huge amount of co2 all night. Its all a learning experience! I will sit tight and wait for the cycle to happen without introducing bacteria from my other tanks.


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## Daveslaney (10 Jul 2017)

At lower ph the ammonia will become less toxic ammonium. How this effects the filter cycling im not sure.


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## Silviu Man (10 Jul 2017)

Most of the advices are to stop introduc


Daveslaney said:


> At lower ph the ammonia will become less toxic ammonium. How this effects the filter cycling im not sure.



Yes, but his problem is not the toxicity of ammonia, because his tank contain no fish. Anyway, when the living beings will be there, ammonia and nitrites should be 0! Then, the biological filtration should work 100%. The problem is the presence of ammonia (that is normal, during cycling time) and request for the best conditions for cleansing bacteria to develop in a long-term balanced colony.


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## Daveslaney (10 Jul 2017)

Yes I was just comenting on this point. Because will the bacterias still develop the same converting ammonium not ammonia? And cycle the filter?
This I dont know.


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## Silviu Man (10 Jul 2017)

Ammonium is a converted NH3 to NH4+ in form of salts of ammonia or in complex solutions of ammonia. Most of ammonium present in our aqvarium comes from fish and invertebrates that excrate it due to its specific digestion or may comes also from degradation of organic matter. Ammonium is stable in low pH solutions, simply adding a strong base it become ammonia. If in solution are other elements like chloride, that can react and form complex of ammonium. If the pH stay low, ammonium is generated because of abundence of H ions. If pH is high, lack of H ions will determine conversion of ammonium in ammonia. In all situations, a chemical balance of the water in aqvarium should be obtained without ammonia. The cleansing bacteria are active in a certain environment (this because why I mentioned before the pH range where bacteria are "comfortable"). So, pH level is important for bacterial activity in the filter as well as for chemistry of the water. Nevertheless, ammonium can be a nitrogen source for plants, especialy when the environment is hypoxic.


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## doylecolmdoyle (11 Jul 2017)

Well the good news is the green water did not return over night, water is still clear!


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## Silviu Man (11 Jul 2017)

OK, looks like was from the sponge. This is a realy good news.


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## doylecolmdoyle (15 Jul 2017)

Green tinge to the water doesn't seem to be going away even with regular 90% water changes, will probably order a small uv tomorrow, the glosso is going wild and growing really fast, I increased the light to second max setting to see if it will grow more compact, have never grown glosso before so perhaps this is just normal growth, the HC is growing but looks a bit crap at the moment, some thread like diatoms covering it, hopefully the extra light helps get it going. Quick iphone photo of the glosso below


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## doylecolmdoyle (16 Jul 2017)

Photo from today, still not sure if I should buy a UV or just wait out the green water.


IMG_9807 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## CooKieS (16 Jul 2017)

That's glosso normal growth...a friend of mine got some too and until you trim it very often it will grow vertically.

My favorite carpeting plants are elatine hydropiper and marsilea crenata; slow grower and nice texture.


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## doylecolmdoyle (16 Jul 2017)

CooKieS said:


> That's glosso normal growth...a friend of mine got some too and until you trim it very often it will grow vertically.
> 
> My favorite carpeting plants are elatine hydropiper and marsilea crenata; slow grower and nice texture.



Cheers, its probably pretty much due for a trim, I do see the glosso growing over all the HC, tho that could look interesting giving the stemmy / high growing nature of glosso. 

I Dont think either of those carpeting plants are common in Australia unfortunately, there is a native species of Marsilea but not "crenata"


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## doylecolmdoyle (28 Jul 2017)

Update - 90% of my glosso decided to melt away, no idea why, the glosso was going great, if it was the old dry start growth dying off I dont really understand why it waited a few weeks to melt, so the glosso area is looking terrible and the green water wont go away, not winning! Tho the HC has started to spread nicely and should cover the lower area in a few weeks. I can see new growth in the glosso but all the dead / melted growth has made a mess, tried to syphon some of the dead stuff but its tricky without pulling up the stuff that survived, hoping to get some shrimp in here this weekend, just waiting on nitrates to drop!

Added a small 3w inline UV and moved my inline atomizer to the filter inlet side, pipes look a bit crazy tall at the moment... hopefully the green water clears... 


IMG_0055 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (6 Aug 2017)

Updated photo, finally clear water, that Purigen stuff is magic, @rebel suggested I try it and less than 24hrs after adding about 50g to purgin to my filter the water is looking nice and clear! The UV filter had no effect so perhaps it wasn't really green water but something else staining the water. Glosso is starting to establish itself again after a big melt off, I have notice the new growth has a much smaller leaf size than the initial growth, making me think the melt was the older submersed growth. Mini Pellia moss is also starting to colour up, could probably trim the HC next weekend.

I should take the equipment out for the photo... but cant be stuffed.


IMG_0064 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (23 Aug 2017)

Tank is going well, here are some photos from tonight, I did plan on taking the filter out but again couldn't be bothered, the water looks like sprite due to the mist from the up-aqua atomizer, the moss on the rock is going well, I also started adding floating bits of HC on top of the rock and they are going pretty good, need to keep the water level a bit higher than what it is in these photos.


IMG_0097 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0096 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0089 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (23 Aug 2017)

Here are some close up shots of the pearling, tricky to get in focus, there is a bit of Riccia fluitans that started growing in the Glosso and also scatter about the HC, I have just let it go, it pearls so much, I kind of want to do a full Riccia fluitans carpet now, perhaps my next iguwami I will utilise this plant, even tho previously I have thought of it as a pest/weed, when its pearling its beautiful.

Co2 and light is pretty high in this tank, even the rock / green algae is pearling... probably not a good thing 


IMG_0123 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0119 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0118 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0117 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0114 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0110 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0109 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0108 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Silviu Man (23 Aug 2017)

Marvellous!


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## doylecolmdoyle (2 Sep 2017)

Had to leave all my tanks for a week while I went on holidays, they did well, I used some slow release feeding ring / food things and dosed heavy on the ferts before I left. Took this photo before my water change today.

The top of the rock is starting to get a nice green algae covering, probably going to be hard to keep clean, I hit it with the toothbrush and excel after this photo.

Starting to get a fair few seed shrimp so I think I will add some fish next weekend, just need to decide on what kind of fish.


IMG_0322 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Daveslaney (2 Sep 2017)

Looking good.
Fantastic photos.


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## Konsa (2 Sep 2017)

Hi 
Looking good.
I pesonaly like the green algae on the rock.
It looks nicely aged and natural.
Regards Konsa


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## doylecolmdoyle (2 Sep 2017)

Cheers guys, yes the green algae doesn't bother me to much, I never really bother to try keep rocks clear of it, as long as it doesn't grow on the glass I am happy


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## Deansie (3 Sep 2017)

Looks really good, can I ask what setting you have the light at and for how long? Thanks


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## doylecolmdoyle (4 Sep 2017)

Deansie said:


> Looks really good, can I ask what setting you have the light at and for how long? Thanks



Thanks, I have the light connected to a TC420 (programable LED controller) the light ramps up from 0 - 80% over 1 hour then 5 hrs at 80% and ramps down from 80 - 0% over 30 minutes. So basically 5 hrs at 80%

80% of the A-series plus light would probably be to much for a tank this size with only carpet plants, but the big rock blocks a lot of the light


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## mohsen12251 (4 Sep 2017)

Hello
Congratulations on the beauty tank you have!
I also have a TC420 machine, but unfortunately because of lack of sufficient knowledge of my own country and my beloved country! Iran ..... I could not take advantage of the device.
My tanks have 4 rows of light-emitting diode power. Each row is 12 watts. I have a total of 48 watts of light.
What do I need to use 4 channels, each of which can be set up as sunrise and sunset, respectively? Driver and .....
What is the operating system map for my lighting system?
It works even better if the video is uploaded.
Thankful
With luck


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## doylecolmdoyle (4 Sep 2017)

mohsen12251 said:


> Hello
> Congratulations on the beauty tank you have!
> I also have a TC420 machine, but unfortunately because of lack of sufficient knowledge of my own country and my beloved country! Iran ..... I could not take advantage of the device.
> My tanks have 4 rows of light-emitting diode power. Each row is 12 watts. I have a total of 48 watts of light.
> ...



Hi thanks for the comments, I am not that versed in the setup of the tc420, my light is connected to just one channel. You can read more about it here - https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/chihiros-aquasky-sunset-sunrise.50135/ some of the people who commented in that thread may be able to help


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## doylecolmdoyle (14 Sep 2017)

Photo of the tank with all the equipment in and light at the level I usually run (not increased and moved to the front of the tank for the photo), looking scruffy and over grown, needs a good trim this weekend and I will try remove the riccia from the HC area, also there is a bunch of HM popping up from when I added some (then removed) during the dry start, I am thinking I will just add more to the back, also thinking about adding some hair-grass just to fully turn this into a carpet plant jungle 



IMG_0353 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Samjpikey (14 Sep 2017)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Photo of the tank with all the equipment in and light at the level I usually run (not increased and moved to the front of the tank for the photo), looking scruffy and over grown, needs a good trim this weekend and I will try remove the riccia from the HC area, also there is a bunch of HM popping up from when I added some (then removed) during the dry start, I am thinking I will just add more to the back, also thinking about adding some hair-grass just to fully turn this into a carpet plant jungle
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_0353 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


Cool looking scape you have there 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## doylecolmdoyle (20 Sep 2017)

Added 10 Neon Green Rasbora's yesterday, they seem happy with there new home, can really see the glosso suffering towards the back right, I have been told glosso does better in harder water, will see if it bounces back again



IMG_0597 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (25 Sep 2017)

Added 4 Pigmy Cory's today, had 3 of the Rasbora's jump, which hurts when they are $10 a pop, down to 7 of the Neon Green Rasbora's, no idea why they jump, hopefully the rest stay in the tank!


IMG_0626 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## CooKieS (27 Sep 2017)

Lovely cuba on that rock and lovely fishes too


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## doylecolmdoyle (6 Oct 2017)

Updated photo, the glosso continues to die, regrown and die again, would love to remove it all but that would be a pain, added a bit of HM back right, I like the look should have stuck with my original plan and planted HM from the start. Frogbit is going crazy and does detract from the over all look, but I would rather have messy looking frogbit than algae.

Fish are going ok, lost 5 out of the 10 Neon Green Rasboras, two didnt look well few days after adding them, very white and not swimming and 3 jumped, perhaps this tank was to small for them, thinking about putting the 5 left in with my other rasboras (40 odd) in my bookshelf tank and then just stock pigmy corys in this tank, I lost one of the pigmy corys (so only 3 left atm) I think it swam into the outlet of the skimmer when I turned it off during the lighting period one day, I found little chunks of dwarf cory all over the tank.


IMG_0697 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Doubu (8 Oct 2017)

I really, really like where this is going! I think you could take it to the next level with 2 more stones to accentuate the vastness of the one you have now.


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## doylecolmdoyle (28 Oct 2017)

So the "hanging rock" tipped / fell when i was doing some maintance (trying to remove all the stray riccia), couldnt get the big stone stable again so it had to come out, have simplified the look of the scape and hopefully removed all the riccia and glosso.

I dont mind the look, clean and simple, will make maintenance and trimming a bit easier.

Not sure what to do with the big seiryu stone, has a bunch of mini pellia attached, dont think I will use the rock again, to big for any of my tanks. Anyone in Perth interested in it? 


IMG_0719 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Zeus. (28 Oct 2017)

OMG !!! I feel your pain from here.


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## Silviu Man (28 Oct 2017)

Why this is not looking better? Just because is not like you wanted from the very begining.
It looks, maybe not better, but very nice. Instead a "Hanging Rock" you've got a "Running up the hill".


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## doylecolmdoyle (29 Oct 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> Why this is not looking better? Just because is not like you wanted from the very begining.
> It looks, maybe not better, but very nice. Instead a "Hanging Rock" you've got a "Running up the hill".



Thanks, dont get me wrong i still think it looks nice, plants are healthy enough (apart from the stuff I had to pull up and replant) just I liked the dramatic effect of the big hanging rock, but your correct, its now up hill


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## thdesilva2000 (1 Nov 2017)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> So the "hanging rock" tipped / fell when i was doing some maintance (trying to remove all the stray riccia), couldnt get the big stone stable again so it had to come out, have simplified the look of the scape and hopefully removed all the riccia and glosso.
> 
> I dont mind the look, clean and simple, will make maintenance and trimming a bit easier.
> 
> ...


Hi, this is a great looking tank.  I have the Chihiros A Series Plus just like yours (but bigger as my tank is 80cm) long.  I installed it two weeks ago.  I am struggling to get the light setting right. I currently have it on 5.  Someone here said that 3 is the right setting.  I tried both 3 and 4 and my carpets seem to suffer.  On 5, carpets are fine, but leaf burn on others.  Should I just reduce to 3 or 4 and wait it out?  I run pressurised CO2 for 10 hours a day and light is on for 7 hours.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (1 Nov 2017)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> So the "hanging rock" tipped / fell



Bo!!ocks, It did look a bit precarious mate from the off. If you were to try that again I was going to suggest having a large flat stone underneath as a counter weight hidden by the substrate and drill some hole through the pair so they could be fastened together with zip ties. On the plus side though you've still managed to come up with a nice new scape without the hassle of a total strip down and more importantly you never damaged anything. All the way through this project I've been thinking if that rock goes over, if tension was what you were looking for you certainly created that, just maybe in the wrong way, more like stomach churning apprehension 

Well done for just cracking on mate. Now that the hanging rock isn't the main focal point maybe you can see what else you could adapt the scape to, maybe more varied species of plant.


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## doylecolmdoyle (1 Nov 2017)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Bo!!ocks, It did look a bit precarious mate from the off. If you were to try that again I was going to suggest having a large flat stone underneath as a counter weight hidden by the substrate and drill some hole through the pair so they could be fastened together with zip ties. On the plus side though you've still managed to come up with a nice new scape without the hassle of a total strip down and more importantly you never damaged anything. All the way through this project I've been thinking if that rock goes over, if tension was what you were looking for you certainly created that, just maybe in the wrong way, more like stomach churning apprehension
> 
> Well done for just cracking on mate. Now that the hanging rock isn't the main focal point maybe you can see what else you could adapt the scape to, maybe more varied species of plant.



Cheers, yes I would secure the rock more securely next time, my original plan involved aquarium safe silicon but when scaping the hardscape I was able to get it balanced well using rocks under the substrate to counter balance the big rock, also almost half of the rock was under the substrate, it really was a huge rock, weighs 10kg, when I pulled out the glosso carpet I think it unsettled the substrate causing the stone to shift. I was actually starting to get bored of the big rock and it was hard to get my hand in the tank to trim the carpet, so perhaps its for the best that it did tip, just glad it happened while I had my hands in the tank.


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## doylecolmdoyle (19 Nov 2017)

Had time to give this tank a good trim today, should rename this thread to "running up hill" I think I will just stick to shrimp only in this tank now.

Turned the light down 10% to peak at 70% across a 6 hr light cycle, will see if that will help with the green algae growing on the rocks, saying that I dont really mind green algae on rocks, no other annoying algae to deal with yet. 


IMG_0740 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Silviu Man (19 Nov 2017)

Beautiful colors! Very nice!


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## doylecolmdoyle (3 Dec 2017)

Dantrasy was nice enough to offer me his CRS and RCS, have put them in my 45p with my existing RCS and NQ / NT Algae shrimp, I hope I can keep them alive and breeding so I can gift them back to Dantrasy when he is ready for them! 
Fingers crossed! 

Here are a few photos, forgot how tricky macro photos are to take after not touching my camera for a few months, lovely looking shrimp! Thanks again Brad! 


IMG_0801 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0794 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0809 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0814 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0805 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0759 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (13 Dec 2017)

Gave the tank a trim today, the CRS seem to be doing ok, not sure if they are breeding yet but some are berried, hopefully start to notice some baby crs soon, I am guessing it takes time for the colours to develop? Thinking it would be hard to distinguish them between baby red cherries?


IMG_0988 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## rebel (14 Dec 2017)

Baby CRS are very distinctive due to the pattern on them. You cant miss em. Whats the tank temperature and kH like?


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## doylecolmdoyle (15 Dec 2017)

rebel said:


> Baby CRS are very distinctive due to the pattern on them. You cant miss em. Whats the tank temperature and kH like?



Gets a bit warm, sits about 25c but can rise to 27-28 when it gets really warm here in Perth, obviously no need for a heater at the moment, could look into a fan to mount on the rim.

Last time I measured kH it was at 5, that was when I had the huge rock in so perhaps its dropped since removing it, will need to re-test. Dantrasy was not really doing anything special to keep them breeding before he gifted them to me (i.e. tap water) I had a really good look in the tank last night and there are many babies but they look like standard Cherries to me.


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## rebel (16 Dec 2017)

If you manage them to breed at kh 5 and temperature around 25, that would be really cool!!


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## doylecolmdoyle (30 Dec 2017)

This little guy was almost impossible to photograph, not sure if there are more baby CRS or just the same few i keep seeing, either way seems to be going well.


IMG_1099 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1076 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Merovingio (30 Dec 2017)

This is impressive, where can I buy this talent? xD


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## McCarthy (2 Jan 2018)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Gave the tank a trim today, the CRS seem to be doing ok, not sure if they are breeding yet but some are berried, hopefully start to notice some baby crs soon, I am guessing it takes time for the colours to develop? Thinking it would be hard to distinguish them between baby red cherries?
> 
> 
> IMG_0988 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr




I was about to suggest starting over when the big one tipped, but this looks actually great now. If you ever feel the need to change anything, I'd remove the plants and soil on the right side of the stone a bit. Just to break up the up-running line.

Great tanks!


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## doylecolmdoyle (18 Jan 2018)

Unfortunately the CRS didn't survive in this tank, still have a couple kicking around but with the warm weather here in Perth, Australia, they have pretty much all died.

Here is a post trim photo, starting to thinking about a new scape or pulling this tank down, trimming carpet plants is something i no longer enjoy 


IMG_1201 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## kadoxu (19 Jan 2018)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> trimming carpet plants is something i no longer enjoy


That's one of the reasons why I'm moving towards low tech & slow growing plants... much less work & same or even more enjoyment!


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## doylecolmdoyle (28 Jan 2018)

Added some purigen today, water was turning green again, pretty disappointed that the cal aqua soil has this effect on the colour of the water, purigen seems to do the trick tho, water is almost crystal clear after a few hours.


IMG_1214 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (6 Mar 2018)

Found time to trim this tank today, it really needed it, here is a before and after photo 


IMG_1376-Before by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1376-After by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (20 Mar 2018)

This tank as been moved outdoors on to my balcony in a rack with 2 other fish tanks. So far so good with the shrimp tank outdoors for a bit over a week, I installed shade cloth cover on the front and side of the rack so the tanks dont really get full sun, ive kept the light on from 5pm - 10pm at the lowest setting, looking at the tanks as the sunlight fades and LEDs start up is pretty nice, like very vibrant colours etc.

Here is a photo from late at night, its hard to maintain the tanks in the rack, so its going to look messy from here on, the riccia has really going crazy since going out doors, it pearls 24/7. I am wondering because there are no fish in this one will mozzies or other bugs make it home, maybe I will add a few small danios.


IMG_1386 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Eduard18 (20 Mar 2018)

Sooner or later, something will take up residence in there


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## doylecolmdoyle (20 Mar 2018)

Eduard18 said:


> Sooner or later, something will take up residence in there



haha yes I am surprised nothing has made the tank home yet... I have seen a few mosquitos buzzing around the light at night... I think I will add some small fish that will be ok with the outdoor water temperature, the other two tanks in this outdoor rack have fish and one tank has been outdoors for about a year and I havent noticed any weird bugs.


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## alto (20 Mar 2018)

Not sure on temps expected but maybe try a pair of
micro Dario 

I don't recall tank dimensions but as you've other tanks to move fish about it might be a fun experiment, some of the small Bettas or Licorice gourami ... especially if you get some nice green water going


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## doylecolmdoyle (21 Mar 2018)

alto said:


> Not sure on temps expected but maybe try a pair of
> micro Dario
> 
> I don't recall tank dimensions but as you've other tanks to move fish about it might be a fun experiment, some of the small Bettas or Licorice gourami ... especially if you get some nice green water going



Interesting I have never considered that kind of breed, something a bit more fancy  had a quick look at _Dario_ sp. 'Myanmar' and they are in the ball park of expected temps, winter lows will be around 18c, summer is tricky can, water get up to 30c during the peak of the day time heat) We are coming into winter so temps will be cool for a good 6 months or more.


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## doylecolmdoyle (7 Apr 2018)

Still no fish, but the tank is going well outdoors, no real increase in algae and growth is much more dense and lush with the extra light, trimmed last weekend and just took this photo now.


IMG_1417 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## alto (7 Apr 2018)

Need a photoshoot of your outdoor set up


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## doylecolmdoyle (8 Apr 2018)

alto said:


> Need a photoshoot of your outdoor set up



Took this photo just after I moved the 45p (top rack) and 60p (middle) outside onto the rack (about one month ago), all is going well, they get full morning sun but I cover the rack with 70% shade cloth. Planing to rescape the middle tank soon (remove rogue stems and anubias (using elsewhere), add moss to rocks and replace sand / soil mix with gravel) and  hopefully a full rescape of the bottom tank if I can offload the Java Fern... something a bit more minimal


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## pepedopolous (18 Apr 2018)

Nice. Just thinking about a rack system myself. Can you tell me what is the brand of the filters that you use just next to the aquariums?


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## doylecolmdoyle (19 Apr 2018)

pepedopolous said:


> Nice. Just thinking about a rack system myself. Can you tell me what is the brand of the filters that you use just next to the aquariums?



They are called ISTA Mini External Canister Filters, I think in Europe the company Dennerle  sell the same filter tho its a different colour etc, same design / size etc -  https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aquaristic/Dennerle-Scapers-Flow-Hang-On-Filter/908039/


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## lucaz koh (21 Apr 2018)

Really liking this tank, always wanted a shrimp only tank but usually I end up adding fish upon request from my partner/family

Great job!


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## doylecolmdoyle (22 Apr 2018)

lucaz koh said:


> Really liking this tank, always wanted a shrimp only tank but usually I end up adding fish upon request from my partner/family
> 
> Great job!



haha well this tank now has fish... my girlfriend always said she never gets to choose / buy fish and I left her buy some fish for this tank, ended up with fancy guppys, they dont suit the tank at all but are rather fun to watch and very active fish and keeps my girlfriend happy.

Planing to pull down the current layout over the next month or so and rescape to a low maintance tank, with minimal plants.

Here is a pair of the guppys 


IMG_1789 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1750 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## lucaz koh (22 Apr 2018)

Wow, really nice colours and patterns on those, which species are they? They’re my partner’s favourite color too so she might take a liking to them


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## doylecolmdoyle (22 Apr 2018)

lucaz koh said:


> Wow, really nice colours and patterns on those, which species are they? They’re my partner’s favourite color too so she might take a liking to them



I think they are called Blue Grass Guppys, thats all I really know. My Partner too loves blue, I guess that is why she chose them


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## doylecolmdoyle (25 Apr 2018)

Probably the last shot of this tank, all over grown, still looks kind of cool but I am over needing to trim every few weeks, as this tank is in a rack its hard to access. Plan is to pull this down soon and create something new and low maintenance! I moved the Guppy's to the 60p tank, a few have jumped I managed to save one jumper today, I am thinking Guppy's are not ideal for an open top tank.

I always forget to turn off the lights on the camera, you can see the reflections top left.


IMG_1860 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Tim Harrison (25 Apr 2018)

More hiding rock than Hanging Rock, but you're right it does look kinda' cool


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## Gabriel19 (25 Apr 2018)

What did you use to edit your picture?


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## doylecolmdoyle (26 Apr 2018)

Gabriel19 said:


> What did you use to edit your picture?



Photoshop, generally reduce the highlights then play with the levels to brighten the photo and sharpen then save as JPG.


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## TheAquascaper (9 May 2018)

Shame about the bigger stone, looked awesome


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