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Aquascaping for dummies

Fine, thank you, Tyrophagus. That name's a mite interesting... ;)

A missive received today from distant Taiwan tells me that another regulator is winging its way westwards as I write. Good news!

I aim to publish some photos from the weekend tomorrow, and in the mean time wish you well with your own preparations.

Speaking of photos, I am really impressed with the lovely landscapes on your website. Some very attractive scenes...
 
Well, I could blame the Icelanders who, not content with unleashing on us that well-known weapon of mass destruction, Bjork, then chose to chuck all their second-best volcanic ash over the garden fence, to the mild annoyance of one or two holiday makers. But not me, instead I opted for a spot of golf on the links in north Norfolk - it's too b****y windy there for a volcano to have any influence! And neither of these account for the strange lull in this journal, because actually I had a really busy weekend since when I myself have had a strange lull.

First of all, out came the big box I brought back from TGM many moons ago. In it was one of Herr Eheim's finest gadgets, and I proceeded to assemble the 2128 thingy together. Carefully following the instructions, helpfully provided in English, I managed to get all the flexible green bits stuck into the rigid green bits and connected up to the socking great grey jobby. Cunningly, I had realised that you should do quite a lot of this before trying to put it through the holes in the cabinet (I didn't get an I-Spy feather for nothing , you know :wideyed: ), and so I was then able to stick the cleverly camouflaged green tubes on to the pristine OptiWhite glass with equally unobtrusive black stickers. To cap it off there is a dear little temperature sensor gizmo, again provided in a colour of which only Henry Ford would have approved.

Eheim1.jpg


There, you hardly notice it's there... :rolleyes:

Still, it constituted progress, and I had learnt a bit on the way. Like how to discard the bits of macaroni Eheim include in the big box, and to replace it with TGM Graeme's own brand of hula-hoops, which he likes to call Siporax. He says that the bacteria chappies colonise the hula-hoops a lot more thoroughly, and who am I to disagree. Personally, I find the whole subject not a little distasteful and don't understand why you just can't chuck in a couple of tubs of Activia or Yakup or whatever... After all, apparently their bacteria are quite friendly if you can believe what you hear on the TV o_O

So, how best to cover up all the Eheim promotional blurb on the green stuff? I know, we'll fill the tank up with water and perhaps it'll float off.

Firstfill.jpg


Well, of course it didn't, but it sure covered up the plumbing. Couldn't see a thing! No wonder Graeme said not to plant anything for a few weeks - they'd have been lost in a world of their own. But look on the bright side, I thought to myself, at least the tank didn't leak. :D

Backlight1.jpg


This is my 'Close encounters of the flakey kind' shot. You might recall a couple of pages ago there was a slight ripple in the time/space continuum when I was sold a duff LED. Well, as you can see the replacement, so dearly won, is now (stuck) in place and I think it does produce a groovy ethereal effect, at least without any water in the tank!

Backlight2.jpg


Here you can see it grimly hanging on to a length of glazing beading which is stuck to the back of the cabinet. Didn't want to penetrate the timber - might invalidate the warranty! Anyway, not wishing to appear to bear a grudge, I dropped in to the lighting emporium to wish the proprietor well. Nowhere to be seen, but apparently, he should be able to take solids quite soon... ;)
 
LD,

Thanks. The order has been placed. As we speak, minions in places far off are scouring the waters for suitable flora to send winging their way to good ole Blighty. Either that, or someone's just nipped out the back to see if anything's still alive... :shifty:

I keep telling myself that aquatic artists are a patient breed, but I'm pretty convinced that I'm just pretending! Hoping that the consignment will arrive next week ready for a weekend planting extravaganza. :thumbup:
 
Saturday dawned overcast and cold but, nothing daunted, I girded up my loins and set off to collect my plants, ready to finally set up my tank. The thirty miles to beautiful downtown Croydon passed in moments as I took in a couple of podcasts from BBC's History of the World in a Hundred Objects - dead cultural, me...

I arrived outside Living Waters and wondered whether to park there. For the uninitiated, the outside of the emporium could easily be mistaken for a sex shop or, ahem, what I am given to understand that a sex shop looks like. :shifty: Once inside, however, the true wonderful nature is revealed. Or at least it is after about five minutes, which is the time it takes the condensation on my glasses to disappear. :geek: A number of carefully maintained and presented tanks greet the visitor and I usually spend the acclimatization time gazing through crystal clear waters at their contents. Care has to be exercised however. At the far end of this part of the shop is a very large floor-based tank set out for cichlids, but they shield a dark secret... In its depths lurk two monsters, two prehistoric forbears of the humble catfish, who gaze hungrily through their glazed prison walls, and I swear one of them licks his lips as I slide nervously past their domain. :woot:

By this time, I am ready to take delivery, but the festering volcanic ash has delayed more than half of my order. :mad: But no matter, I am given excellent advice as to how to plant what is available, and given suggestions about substitutes while awaiting the orignal selections.

After a very pleasant hour or so, I am speeding homewards, having slipped past Stadtler and Waldorf sitting at the bottom of their lair, their expressions showing eternal patience and limitless hunger... :wideyed:

Home again, and I've drained the tank down to an inch or so above the substrate. In the meantime, I've mastered my fears about the dreaded CO2 cylinder, bolted on the (second) AZOO regulator, walked outside, removed the safety pin and squeezed (my eyes closed) and then, heart beating quickly, the handle. Not even a pfftt, if you know what I mean! I even wondered if I had done it properly but the gauges were registering.

AZOO-dials.jpg


Now, dear reader, you will have realised by now that the word that frequently comes to mind when describing my technical abilities is - numpty. :? So when confronted with readings which did not seem to match those that others on the forum have shared, I was a tad concerned. Like how do you vary the pressure? Other regulators seem to have a knob to turn the outlet pressure down - apart from the fine tap regulating the flow, I can see nothing that I can use.

I had cut the Eheim tubing and fixed my snappy little inline diffuser in place, dithered about which way round a non-return valve should be installed, and linked the piping to my FE. I have retained all the green tubing, deciding not to replace it with some clear stuff I ordered from AE. I may yet use that, but not until I lash out on some glassware or I find some other clear alternatives to the current spray bar and inlet. The clear tubing is less thick that Eheim's and I fear it may kink more easily.

At last I could get on with the planting! Those wonderful people at PlantedBox had kindly lent me some tools while they awaited new stocks of their nice aquascaping kit, and I set to with a will. Placing some cyperus helferi was pretty easy, I coped reasonably well with some rotalas, blyxas, downoi, and some eleocharis parvula, but fiddling about with some HC was a trial. It hasn't got any roots :wideyed: and I was at a loss as to how to get it to stay in the substrate. Burying it seemed to be the somewhat drastic solution, leaving just a few leaflets above the surface to mark the resting place.

Here's a 'how goes it':

First-Plant3.jpg


and here's the situation so far:

First-plant1.jpg


Only a couple of floaters... :oops: I took the rotalas mainly to try to bulk up the biomass, while I await the remainder of my order. Consequently, it is rather lop-sided but I hope to rectify that soon.

Here's another piccie showing off my main investment at AE:

First-Plant2.jpg


No, I don't meant the wallpaper, its the silvery thingy on top. Very smart, to my mind, but I'm not averse to experimenting in the future with the lamps inside. Two of them are pink, and I will reserve judgement until I can see their effect on fully grown plants and fish.

So, eventually refilling and throwing the switch left me somewhat taken aback - it all seemed to work! That doesn't usually happen to me :( but the Co2 is coming through the spraybar in a lovely fine mist and flow seems good to my untrained eyes. I hate the appearance of the spraybar, but it does seem to do what it says on the tin.

I'm only using one half of the lighting for about 6 hours in the evening, and I'm dosing Brighty K and Easy Carbo daily as recommended by TGM Graeme, the fountain of all knowledge. :geek:

Thanks for looking at this. I really enjoyed my first experience of planting, and although it's nothing special to look at now, i have hopes for it. I haven't updated for some time, I'm afraid, but would appreciate any comments/tips about further fleshing out the 'scape.
 
Thanks, LD, appreciate your comments.

You're not the first to say that the rocks a rather low, certainly in the foreground, and I'm conscious that I may lose them if the nearby plants take off. Careful pruning will be needed, as you say.

Another visit to Living Waters yesterday yielded some nice bits of blyxa, some lovely potamogeton gayi, and some riccardia moss, all of which I am really pleased with, and which has balanced the scape somewhat. I'll post some photos soon...

Thanks again.
 
Rather later than expected, some evidence of further planting activity, as mentioned above.

Second-plant.jpg


This remains very much work in progress, as I'm still waiting for the rest of my foreground plants, which are likely to be mainly HC. I'm pleased with the ability to fill in the left side somewhat, and to tuck some small pieces of moss into the cracks of the seiryu stones. That's Salvinia floating around at the (rather filmy) surface, purchased for its alledged nutrient guzzling quality.

Now I would like to introduce some wildlife in the form of ottos and amano shrimp, but while the latter seem plentiful, it's not easy to find the fish in this neck of the woods. :?
 
Can't imagine how I missed this journal. You've got a real gift for story-telling :thumbup: And of course, that's a really nice scape.
 
Mawgan said:
That's Salvinia...purchased for its alledged nutrient guzzling quality.
Which is yet another illusion of The Matrix. :crazy:

Mawgan said:
...(rather filmy) surface..
The filmy surface is a cosmic messenger.
The message goes something like this: "Either add more nutrients/CO2 or turn down the lights - or both." :(

Cheers,
 
Mawgan regarding your concerns about a yellow drop checker and the fish you want to introduce. I thought my fish were fine but this morning I found one dead. The rest were fine and swimming about without a care in the world. Just before I went to bed tonight I checked on them and found the school of danios was sticking to he surface layer of water. It's 9 hrs after the co2 went off but my drop checker is still yellow.

I think they are suffering from hypoxia because the plants have stopped supplying O2.

I think I might turn down my co2 slightly and switch it off earlier so the plants can use up the CO2 I have injected.
 
Forgive me, fellow Forummers, for I have sinned. It is 26 days since my last post. I have been immersed in matters totally divorced from this serious interest - ephemera :thumbdown: .

But time does not stand still, and things have moved on. Firstly, some acknowledgements and thanks:

Can't imagine how I missed this journal. You've got a real gift for story-telling And of course, that's a really nice scape.

How kind, flygja, and how I wish I could pronounce your name... :lol:

The filmy surface is a cosmic messenger.
The message goes something like this: "Either add more nutrients/CO2 or turn down the lights - or both."

ceg - Funny, but the Oracle told me something similar... Your comments, of course, are always valued, and now the film is no more. But still I wander in search of that white rabbit...

Granb3rry - a start it is, but little more. :bored:

It's 9 hrs after the co2 went off but my drop checker is still yellow.

Tyrophagus - This is the nub of the matter, is it not, and represents my worries as expressed on your journal. Not trying to be smart at all, but just genuinely concerned that trying to find that balance between optimum conditions for plants and those for fish is pretty elusive, and we're both at a similar stage in the hobby. I'm really sorry that one of your residents checked out - hope the rest have decided to stay.

This is what I was observing in my own tank a week or so ago:

Dropchecker-23-4.jpg


Now, in my innocence, that indicates too much CO2 and a difficult environment for your average fish, perhaps more so for Otocinclus, which according to my research is averse to easy acclimatization. Hence, my delay in adding any fauna to the tank. I even went so far as to switch off the 6 hour injection routine, and stopped my recommended three times dosage of EasyCarbo. Now after three or four days, I could even tell myself that my drop checker shows a bluish tinge, so I've started the cycle again but at a slower rate, and tomorrow I will bring home six little Otos. I've even bought a 100 Most Popular Names for Otos book :D . Obssessive, moi...?

I've fretted somewhat because the AZOO regulator lacks a main pressure tap, and the 'needle' valve has all the sublety of your average carving knife. Therefore the main control mechanism would appear to be the duration of operation during the day, and currently I have reset it to a mere three hours a day. I've started again a single dose of EasyCarbo and I will closely monitor firstly, the drop checker but more importantly, the fish!

My plants seem to be marking time in the main. I'm pleased with the hairgrass, and the pogostemon helferi. The blyxa and cyperus have not thrived - I think I placed the latter in exactly the wrong place. Back right, out of the main flow of CO2 and perhaps out of the main light coverage. The ludwigia is fine, but the rotala refuses to behave and keeps trying to run up the stairs. I've had a word but scissors seem to be the only answer - harsh but fair.

Pre-fish.jpg


Pearling...? Shurely shome mishtake... :wideyed:

Pearling1.jpg


Hairgrass, rising like some phoenix from the ashes of my pruning

Hairgrass1.jpg


Overall, though, there seems to be some foreground and some back ground, and little in between. I'd appreciate some inspired advice as to what to use to bridge the gap, given that the rotala is there primarily to ward off an algae fiesta, and is probably only a temporary resident. I haven't told it yet, though... :shh:

Thanks for staying with me this far. I'm afraid that the muse is not with me this evening, but your comments as always would be much appreciated.
 
Watching this Journal with interest. I love the way you write and your tank is coming together nicely :)

Can't wait to upgrade mine and really get scaping!
 
Added any fish lately Mawgan?

Indeed, yes, Tyro, but as ever not on the same scale as you!

Thursday before last I introduced six otocinclus (affinis, I think :? ) hereinafter known as the Clean-up Crew (originality never was my strong point) and six Amano shrimp, these Japanese now known as the Brothers Kamikaze. I was worried that the timing of my importing the otos may be wrong because of the yellow drop checker (please see above), but with some support from other directions they seem to be thriving. I hope this optimism isn't misplaced, some posts on the web recording instances of deaths after a month or so for no apparent reason.

The Brothers seem to have taken to their new surroundings with a will, in fact they seem to get a little closer to them a little quicker than perhaps is advisable, hence their new title. It's not because of their nationality, and not because they've taken up wearing white scarves around their carapaces (which of course they haven't), but because of their propensity for ploughing into the substrate at a fair lick and from a fair altitude. :wideyed:

Now in the dim and distant past, I used to do a spot of aviation. One of the basic tenets that is first taught about the joystick is that as you pull it back, houses get smaller, and as you push it forward, houses get bigger. Now that latter point is supposed to register in your average pilot's brain the notion that all that is very well, but you don't want the houses to get too big, and most will take the appropriate avoiding action. :idea:

Not so with the Brothers Kamikaze... While I can appreciate the smooth application of power, the steady climb to pre-determined altitude, the timely levelling off and trimming of all surfaces, the next bit worries me because the boys seem to push the nose down, aim for the nearest chunk of ADA Amazonia II and ignore the advice about not letting the houses get too big! There appear to be no major ill-effects so far, apart from a couple of depressions in the aquascape where before all was flat, but all I can see in the future are mis-aligned shrimp antennae and a string of 'no win - no fee' compensation cases. 'I was given the freedom of the environment, but I was not informed that collision with the surface could be detrimental to the exoskeleton. My solicitor got me three tubs of pleco wafers and I didn't even have to go to court'. Well, we don't condone that sort of victim culture...

Now that in spite of all the above, and as I still have the same numbers of inhabitants as I started with, it is time to invest in the main attraction fauna-wise. Asian Rummy-nose, Celestial Pearl Danio, or Threadfin Rainbow - those are the horns of my current dilemma. Any of your experiences with all or any of those would be helpful in the decision-making process.

Thanks for reading...
 
would be careful with those ottos' shouldnt really go into a tank less than 3 months old, ideally a bit more!

i certainly wouldnt add them into a new set up. Hopefully you will get away with it. fingers crossed.
 
Oto's can be added to a cycled tank straight away, typically being added 2-3 weeks after adding water. The mature tank thing is a load of tosh by and large it stems from insufficient bacteria and high levels of ammonia from a tank that hasn't been cycled properly. They're a lot tougher than people give them credit for as long as they're acclimatised slowly and the tank is cycled then they're fine from my experience.

The tank shows promise, once you've got denser growth it'll be really nice, it's a very good hardscape.
 
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