# #2



## parotet (24 Dec 2013)

Hi all, as a said in one of the last threads of this forum, I discovered UKAPS last summer and I began to read about planted tanks like a fool. One month later I had in my hands a 24 liters nano cube (#1... no journal yet), a bargain sale I found in a local pet shop. With this tank I learnt how to grow plants and also how to ruin them with algae. Luckily, some advices from all you and a lot of reading helped me to overcome these difficulties... and as a result, just 5 months later of my first contact with planted tanks, I am engaged in a new setup.

This is how it looks for the moment.









The equipment has been bought during the last month trying to keep it in a budget, that means a lot of patience to find second hand items and sales on the internet. Here you have some details:

Tank: optiwhite 60x30x35 made locally
DIY cabinet, lamp stand and suspension kit
Light: Odyssea T5 2x24w, one tube 6,500 and the other one 10,000 K (much too white?)
Filter: Eheim 2215, second hand
Heater: Hydor 300w, second hand
Lily pipes: AquaGro, second hand
CO2 cylinder: 2 kg, second hand
Regulator, solenoid, bubble counter: CO2 Art
Ferts: dry salts from TNC, liquid EI dosing 
Substrate: Amazonia and plain river sand 

I won't be able to plant until next week (you know, very busy days, days out visiting the family... not the best moment to begin) so I have played a little bit inside the cabinet. It looks like this now.





The idea is to create 2 islands with lots of plants attached to the wood, mainly Bolbitis, Java fern narrow, Java fern and Riccia. Under and around the wood some Cryptocoryne, Staurogyne, Hydrocotyle tripartita and probably some Blyxa. I think I will also add some Riccia stones to delete the strict line between the soil and the sand. The background will be a mixture of Rotala and Limnophila aromatica. The sand will remain without vegetation.

Half of the plants will be bought to local aquarists or will come from my nano cube. No easy to exchange plants here in Spain mates... I feel jealous when I see the enormous quantity and variety of plants sold and exchanged between members in this forum! The other half will be purchased in a pair of good local aquascaping shops.

And that is all for the moment... Last pic of Rotala bunches waiting to be planted in one week.





Cheers,
Jordi


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## parotet (29 Dec 2013)

Some more exchanged plants waiting to be planted.





And some Riccia stones





In 3-4 days a short trip to the local shop to complete the set... and planting day!


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## parotet (5 Jan 2014)

Et voilà! The tank was planted 2 days ago... nothing more to add except that I changed in the last moment Java fern "narrow" for Java fern "Trident"... and please delete mentally the 2 big rocks on the redmoor. They decided to float in the last minute  (even they were soaked for some days). I hope that in 3 weeks I will be able to get rid of them.


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## Ian Holdich (5 Jan 2014)

This is gonna be a real winner when it grows in. Well done!


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## MARKCOUSINS (5 Jan 2014)

Agree with Ian!Really like your set up,great job  .How did you attach the plants to the hardscape?What were you planning to use as livestock?Cheers Mark


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## parotet (5 Jan 2014)

MARKCOUSINS said:


> Agree with Ian!Really like your set up,great job  .How did you attach the plants to the hardscape?What were you planning to use as livestock?Cheers Mark


Thanks Mark and Ian, plants were attached to the wood with superglue, all what you can see on wood: Anubias, Java fern, Java fern trident, moss, Bolbitis heleudotii. The rest is planted on soil (Staurogyne, Cryptocoryne, Sagittaria, Rotala, Hygrophila aromatica and Hydrocotyle tripartita) and finally Riccia was attached to stones using a net.


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## parotet (6 Jan 2014)

Hydrocotyle vulgare emerged attached this morning... I collected it near home and tried it submerged in another tank, but becomes too leggy, it looks much better emerged as it can be found usually in nature.


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## Richard Dowling (6 Jan 2014)

I'm impressed, to get a setup looking a good as that having done a lot of DIY and second hand buying, its inspirational! I guess its so easy to just go and spend a fortune on all new stuff these days.

Well done, will keep an eye on your progress

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## parotet (8 Jan 2014)

Hydrocotyle vulgare seems the best adapted plant for the moment, no real changes as it was, and is, growing emersed. New leaves in 4 days. At the beginning I wanted to attach 2 or 3 stems of Ophiopogon, but Hydrocotyle is so beautiful that I will keep this plant. This species occurs in some wetlands in my region, with very hard water and very eutrophic, although it can be found mostly emerged. Anyway it will be happy with the nutrients released by aquasoil and the ferts!


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## aliclarke86 (15 Jan 2014)

Brilliant. Hope this is still going well 

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## parotet (15 Jan 2014)

aliclarke86 said:


> Brilliant. Hope this is still going well


 
Yes, for the moment it is going well. I've had very busy and interesting days adjusting the CO2 and learning about my new tank. As a result, the tank has now a spraybar instead of an outflow lily pipe. Just two pictures to show the progress






This one looks a bit strange, isn't it?  If you want to follow all the adjustments, here you have the whole version:
ph readings, dropchecker always green and aquasoil... any relationship? | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Plants are growing healthy and no algae for the moment... I will keep the fingers crossed!


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## darren636 (15 Jan 2014)

That's looking great. And will only get better


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## parotet (25 Jan 2014)

Day 23... everything seems fine. No algae, healthy growth and finally without stones!!!  This will improve the water flow and thus the CO2 distribution. Now I can see for the very first time all the plants gently moving, actually it looks a bit empty where the stones were... and I notice now how big they were. I purchased yesterday an atomizer at CO2 Art. I think that will help a bit more.
Some Bolbitis and Java Trident points are slightly damaged but nearly from the very beginning. At least it has not gone worse. Some old leaves of Anubias also damaged (coming like this in a friend's tank). New leaves all these species with no signs of CO2 deficiency.

(quick update, sorry for the pictures' quality...)


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## parotet (25 Jan 2014)

Forgot to ask for your opinion...  I'm not sure what to do with the Java fern on the left under the redmoor. This place looks more suitable to me for Blyxa or something similar in shape. Java fern will grow to much... not the place for broad leaves 
Any suggestions to improve the scape?


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## parotet (9 Feb 2014)

Update: a bit more than a month... and the cleaning crew has arrived









Very helpful with the brown diatoms on redmoor and a few patches of BBA on the old leaves that are still emerged forms. I trimmed the background (Rotala and L. aromatica) and also some leaves of Anubias, Java fern trident and Bolbitis...

I love Bolbitis, it has such fresh green leaves...





I think that during the next weeks I will get rid of some of the Riccia stones, trimming that plant is a PITA (plenty of leaves everywhere! I spent one hour to clean the tank). I will probably let the Staurogyne invade the sand, or maybe plant some Eleocharis parvula to create a transition ... what do you think?


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## Aquaticz (9 Feb 2014)

I think you tare doing great - keep it up


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## pariahrob (9 Feb 2014)

That's looking lovely. So impressed with the DIY work, as well as the scape.


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## jose_j (9 Feb 2014)

Amazing set up Jordi! Very beautiful, will follow its evolution!


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## parotet (28 Feb 2014)

Two months and quick update (... and bad quality picture. I will use the camera next time, promised)









Few things to report, some thread algae on the old leaves of Anubias and java fern trident that are being trimmed and controlled without too much pain (light fixture is now a bit higher, 40 cm above the tank and pH profile has been improved with more time with CO2 at the end of the light period). But in general good and healthy growth. The background (Limnophila aromatica, Rotala and now some Ludwigia repens added some days ago) was trimmed 10 days ago and growing well.

This afternoon I will re-scape the foreground. Riccia is beautiful but a pain regarding maintenance. Moreover it is hiding the Staurogyne repens planted and doesn't stop the aquasoil from falling on the sand (which was one of the aims). So... Riccia will be kept only in some places and I will plant some Eleocharis acicularis in its place. If Staurogyne and Eleocharis decide to spread and cover the foreground... Well, it's up to them! 
I will also add a bunch of Proserpinaca palustris in the mid ground.

Cheers,
Jordi


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## jose_j (28 Feb 2014)

Hi Jordi, congratulations for your beautiful tank. 

After Limnophila, Rotala, Ludwigia and Proserpinaca are grown it will be even more stunning, I like your plant choice. 

Regarding Riccia I agree with you, its colour is very nice but its maintenance is highly demanding. I also would try to replace it with Eleocharis, but perhaps I would try a combination of E. acicularis and E sp. mini, planting the former at the rear of the later. To prevent Eleocharis and Staurogyne from spreading I would add a physical barrier hidden in the sand between the aquasoil and the white sand, something like a plastic or net stripe. Doing so in combination with your scissors will prevent it. 

Congratulations again and keep us updated!

Cheers,

Jose


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## faizal (1 Mar 2014)

Hey Jordi,.... Absolutely dreamy tank you have there. It's so crisp & clean. Even the cabinet looks awesome. Your time & effort truly paid off. The whole set up just blends in with your room too. It sort of gives a Zen like ambience to the whole thing,....if you know what i mean


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## parotet (23 Mar 2014)

Hi all

New update. In one week the tank will have 3 months. I was tired of fighting against the Aquasoil falling into the foreground and to trim Riccia (what a mess!), so I decided to get rid of Riccia and to plant Eleocharis acicularis. The carpet was planted one week ago and seems to be alright. Nevertheless I have increased the bubble rate and improved the water flow in order to make sure it gets established.
Not very happy with the background, I guess I will need some more pruning to create a more compact group of plants. Maybe it is a bit early because the background has been trimmed only once, and very low. Next week I'll trim again. There was Limnophila aromatica and Rotala rotundifolia, and I have added some patches in the back and mid ground of Ludwigia, Proserpinaca palustris and Hygrophyla polysperma (don't know which variety, it has very narrow brownish leaves with black little strips. It can be barely seen in the center. Seen somewhere it was 'tyger', 'tiger '?). Hope this will improve the colour.

Cheers,
Jordi


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## parotet (6 Apr 2014)

Hi all, the tank was trimmed a week ago and the aquasoil removed from the Eleocharis carpet. I also managed to control a small spot of BGA on the left foreground corner just adding a pinch or two of KNO3 on it and improving the flow. I had ordered a Koralia 900 and it arrived just when I was dealing with the BGA... so perfect,and yes, it disappeared in some days.
I also got some of these:



I have to admit that white cloud minnows were not on my list (it was a familiar decision taken all together at the LFS ) but after some days fed with frozen live food (and this weekend with some Daphnia collected locally) thay are gorgeous. There is even a female with a big belly!

Jordi


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## parotet (17 Apr 2014)

Hi all, I want to ask you a doubt: I am noticing a significant improvement with the Koralia pump resulting in more healthy growth. I guess it also helps having a stable co2 injection for 2 months... but on the background Limnophila aromatica and Rotala have some BBA on the leaves near the substrate. These are very old leaves (well, actually leaves from the very beginning when plants were introduced for the first time in the tank) and the BBA have attached to the leaves during the time I was adjusting the flow, ferts, pH profile, etc. 

New leaves are healthy and algae free, but will BBA/staghorn disappear from the old leaves with this new healthier situation? I guess they won't probably because algae are also growing happily now with plenty of co2, good flow and plenty of ferts. I know it is probably a step back in my setup from the aesthetic point of view, but should I trim the plants next time very close to the substrate so I get rid of these leaves? It will be the third or fourth trimming, so I was going to trim at the redmoor level. Trimming so low would mean leaving the plants without a single leaf! Is it a good move?

Jordi


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## James D (17 Apr 2014)

Beautiful tank Jordi. 

I had a similar problem on some Ammania leaves near the substrate, I plucked off any affected leaves as soon as it appeared and squirted a bit of Easycarbo around there with the filter off for 10 mins. After a week of this with a couple of decent water changes it never came back.


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## parotet (17 Apr 2014)

Thanks James, did you trim the plants completely or just the affected leaves? If I trim only the affected leaves, will I have some new leaves growth on the base or will the plants become leggy?

Jordi


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## parotet (17 Apr 2014)

I have also removed the plants on the front sides to let the flow get these lower leaves in the background, and it worked. Now I am seriously thinking about removing the big redmoor branch going up on the right side, beautiful and interesting for emersed plants but really a pain for achieving an homogeneous flow... I have realized that it is actually a quite difficult setup for a newbie regarding flow, you know, all plenty of branches...

Back again to my question, I think algae in the already affected low leaves won't disappear by themselves even if the new growth is healthy and a hard trimming won't be worse, not worse than letting the algae grow.


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## parotet (14 May 2014)

As mentioned in the previous posts I was not very happy with some algae growing on some of the background plants lower leaves, and as usual, when you think there is no more room for improvement... YES, there was. I got rid of the big redmoor branch going up on the right side of the tank and it was like magic, everything seemed to work. The flow was improved and the background plants were trimmed to the ground to make sure no algae were remaining in the tank (so it has been like begining the background from scratch) and for the moment, some weeks later I can say that plants do very well. Healthy growth although not very fast. I still keep my 2x24w T5HO 40 cm above the tank... so low but safe  
I will probably try to lower the light some centimeters.







Cheers,
Jordi


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## James D (15 May 2014)

Looks fantastic Jordi, love the view from above... You'll be asking for trouble lowering those lights when everything's going so well though!


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## parotet (15 May 2014)

James D said:


> Looks fantastic Jordi, love the view from above... You'll be asking for trouble lowering those lights when everything's going so well though!


Thanks James... well, to be honest I am not that brave . I just lowered the light 5 cm (from 40 to 35 cm). Actually I cannot tell the difference, I hope algae don't notice it.

Jordi


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## parotet (15 May 2014)

Short clip (don't expect too much, it is my first video and I have no idea about editing or specialized software)... just to see it moving 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/119257234@N07/14187476511/

(there's no way to upload videos from Flickr?)

Jordi


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## aliclarke86 (15 May 2014)

Jordi that looks great, beautiful plant health and the fish look to be looking life!!

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## Lee Sweeting (15 May 2014)

It's looking great jordi. Very nice 


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## jose_j (15 May 2014)

Very nice video Jordi, your tank is a great piece of work!!

Congratulations


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## parotet (30 Jul 2014)

Quick update...


My first underwater picture, we (fish and me) had a fun time... until fish discovered that cameras cannot be eaten, then they just ignored me


My favourite ones in the tank:


Jordi


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## The_Iceman (30 Jul 2014)

I really like the "wild look" on your tank!
Looks absolutely natural 

Well done Jordi!


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## parotet (26 Aug 2014)

Quick (and dirt) update


... before a rescape in about 2 weeks. No wood, just a nice collection of plants

Jordi


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## Rini (26 Aug 2014)

Looks healthy! Looking forward to your next scape.


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## parotet (9 Sep 2014)

This tank has been transformed in... just plants: http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/new-setup-from-2-to-just-plants.34374/

Jordi


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## Greenfinger2 (16 Sep 2014)

Hi Parotet Exquisite Scape


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