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Cloudy sky

I'm just wondering whether a bit of a trim might be a good thing or bad thing as it stands.
A big water change is in order today so will hopefully get a load of the fungus sucked up, I might end up putting some shrimp from my other aquarium in too but just worried these might disrupt the soil a bit too much.
 
A few shrimp will be fine and the fungus is nothing a toothbrush and time can't sort out I would trim and push down the carpet.to encourage it to spread rather than grow up this will still look amazing I get my shrimp from a breeder in Nottingham and he don't have any stone in his tanks
 
I've had a bit of a scrub and water change this morning, I've also added the stock from my 600 I've had to shut down so there are now some Amano and crs in there along with some dwarf ottos and diamond tetra - something I didn't really want to do before sorting this aquarium out but needs must.
some of the HC doesn't seem to have rooted all that well so the trim was only very light as pieces were uprooting; see how the next week or so goes.
I'm going to keep CO2 as high as the livestock will stand and probably add an extra few water changes in this next week or so.
Filters to sort along with a host of other things but the livestock have everything they need apart from a bit of cover maybe

Any advice welcome along with any stocking ideas for the future.

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I find HC always takes a little more time to establish and get a good root hold going. Should be good given a little more time.
Looks good:clap::).
 
Sounds like you've been through the wars but hope you're on the up now

Maybe a few floaters to give the fish some cover and in the mean time and remove once the tree is planted?
 
I find HC always takes a little more time to establish and get a good root hold going. Should be good given a little more time.
I hope so, it seems very loose in the substrate compared to my experience with MC.
Looks good
The colour isn't what it was; hopefully a good dose of ferts along with some CO2 and light will help things along the way.
Maybe a few floaters to give the fish some cover and in the mean time and remove once the tree is planted?
I'm fitting a skimmer sometime soon so this won't work. They were in an iwagumi before so they are used to being in the open, they just don't look as happy.
I will have to consider getting the tree planted up sooner than I had planned.
 
Things are levelling out a little now but want to get a few things sorted this weekend if I can.
Ditching the Oase filter; I just don't rate them so switching back to 2no Fluval G6 which will get flow increased and hopefully help things along too.
If only Fluval made a few adjustments to the G series they would be the near perfect filter.

Ok - moving forward,
@hogan53 suggested planting the tree out with Ludwigia sp mini red which after some though I think could look nice if I could make it work and if it doesn't work out I can just bin it at not such a great expense as Buces!
I'm now looking for some experienced advice into how I would go about this so any and every piece of advice welcomed here, treat me as a novice!
Planting, pruning - you name it, I'll welcome it

Filipe Oliveira has an example on his youtube




There are more vids on his channel if you search 'RedBonsai' or click here which I might have made work :woot:

*EDIT*
After some hunting on video 2/3 in comments Filipe says each one was tied on with fishing line; the big thing I'm unable to find is whether I would need to keep replanting them or whether they would just take to pruning and thicken up, maybe a little like Staurogyne Repens would only there isn't the substrate and there also doesn't really seem to be many visible roots.
 
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That tree looks fantastic, but mega high maintenance. As good as the Twinstar S is, I’d be surprised if you could do it under that light (note I haven’t watched the video!)

A different suggestion as per our conversation -

Super red as background in middle.
Green stem plant either side, something greedy to eat nutrients.

Ricccardia on the tree.

A few rocks dotted around in front of tree to give sense of depth, pointed to draw your eyeline in?

Buce around rocks.

Maybe a transititional plant. S repens? Something like verticalata dotted around, maybe just a couple of clumps?

HC or Monte Carlo, neither here nor there under high light and co2. Very hard to tell the difference.

Just a few thoughts to keep a low maintence relatively easy grow plant / scape for you?
 
Hi
I will start with potted version and float it for a while.This way U will get fery fast branching on every node.It is wort a thought about some Rottalas too as many of them show creeping habit and get really bushy.I have used Rotala and other stems as floating rafts to battle algae.They do grow fast and very dence.
Regards Konsa
 
That tree looks fantastic, but mega high maintenance. As good as the Twinstar S is, I’d be surprised if you could do it under that light (note I haven’t watched the video!)
Filipe is using 4x80w T5 it says.
I did suspect it wouldn't be as simple as tying them on and just keeping them trimmed; which I assume it isn't?
Maybe someone could tell me; If I were to plant a stem like this to wood then would I have to continually replant the tips and discard the bases or just keep it trimmed?

Thanks @Siege - you clearly have a vision here which I will have to try and get in my head to understand (using pictures probably).
I'm by far ignoring your suggestions but I had liked the idea of the simplicity / boredom - call it what you like.
I will have to find where I had listed the other plants on the consideration list to dot around.

I had been against mosses but I see why you would think the Riccardia would work.

I realise planting the whole tree out in Buces would cost a small fortune and something if I could find an alternative could be postponed or completely abandoned if the alternative works out.

At the minute I think I will first let the HC grow out and make sure my flow etc is keeping that happy then I can just just the portions out I decide to as time goes on.
 
I think it looks so cool going the way it is, the scape is getting lots of compliments from folk.
I would not rush into changing or adding anything for the moment.
Of course everybody has there own ideas of what looks good, but for me, I love the simplicity and the design.
If you start filling it in with other plants it might just become another good scape, at the moment it looks really interesting and comment worthy.
Plenty of time to adjust it in the future if (or when) you get bored with this model.
Perhaps the external background could be improved with painting, light or 3D effects.
 
Hi Andrew,
I know your looking at red plants but it would look incredible as a ‘bonsai tree’ with various sized anubias. Mini, and smaller for scale and realism......
Is the red to imitate a particular tree like a blossom or just for colour aesthetic?

I think stems would get time consuming and a faff tbh with high maintenance, consequently having the best effect for a minimal amount of time. I’d be inclined to go with the slow grower route you are thinking but you’ll have to invest heavily in plant mass to have the immediate effect.

Carpet has filled in great and I agree with foxfish that it is already a high impact aquascape. I also like the fish in there, they are very subtle but will offer you the interest when your sat watching the tank. I’m sure they will be even better when the tree offers them some extra cover.

Cheerio,
 
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I love the simplicity and the design
As do I which is why I wanted to just let the HC grow out before adding anything else.
I did put a little Eleocharis sp Mini in but I'm picking that out as the HC is a bit too slow in comparison, can add some back in when the HC is fully grown in - I did get warned this could happen but had some Eleocharis sp Mini to put in and see how it went.

Perhaps the external background could be improved with painting, light or 3D effects
It is covered with black vinyl which I could try and remove but I have parts for my doser and ATU attached to the back so they would be seen.

I know your looking at red plants but it would look incredible as a ‘bonsai tree’ with various sized anubias. Mini, and smaller for scale and realism......
Is the red to imitate a particular tree like a blossom or just for colour aesthetic?
I'm no expert with Anubias varieties let alone the smaller leafed ones but when having a skim around didn't find much more than green leaves whereas I've had some Buces with interesting purplish leaf colours before.
Suggestions or knowledge welcome. ;)
I think Hoggies suggestion of the Ludwigia sp mini red got me thinking and could see it looking nice if I managed it, so yes it was colour aesthetics that made me look into it a bit more. Oh and of course the financial benefits over Buces then if it didn't work I could just remove it and go down the Buce/Anubias route. :thumbup:

Still no clue as to whether I would just have to keep it trimmed or keep replanting it! No one seems to want to answer this. :rolleyes:

Today I started to remove the Oase filter that was in place and fit 2x Fluval G6 filters along with repositioning my aquarium which wasn't as simple as it sounds.
I got to the point where I had both filters running and my worst fears were realised; the extra filter I added started to disrupt the substrate in the back right corner so I have shut that one down for now - I was relying on the HC to hold the soil in place which I still do once it's grown in when I will turn the filter back on. The photo doesn't really show it but the substrate was being pushed around and flattened the top of the slope off. :banghead:

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I also decided to try a glass intake and skimmer which have failed to put it simply. The intake will not allow enough flow through so I need to change that for a bigger one and the skimmer I just can't seem to get working.
Made sure it's level but nothing I seemed to do worked. :mad: Any pointers from people who have them working?
I did have this problem when I had some stainless steel ones but I managed to play with the holes to get them working perfectly; unfortunately I don't have them anymore and unsure if any of the Borneo wild ones I know will work exist in the world anymore.
Mixing glass lily pipe and stainless steel intakes is maybe questionable I know

Here's how things are looking now................

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As always comments and suggestions welcome; this post is just a quick unedited stack of words!
Andrew
 
I'm no expert Andrew but I think with the lugwigia etc to make it look like the tree in the video I suspect you would have to keep trimming and retieing the tops on the tree.
But I could be wrong. Give it a try and see. If it don't work out as you say you can always go the buce and anubias route after.
I had the same problem with the skimmer intakes on day working fine the next sucking in air. Just could get the balance right to make them work properly.
I went back to the ehiem skimmer.
Nice looking scape. Well done:clap::).
 
Many years ago I kept a cold water marine tank, I had two interchangeable backgrounds.
One I kept in the sea, hanging on my boat mooring, the other I kept in my tank.
Every few months I would swap them around.
I wonder if you could do the same with your tree, if you had another tree you could keep that in a emersed state and swap them around.
 
Many years ago I kept a cold water marine tank, I had two interchangeable backgrounds.
One I kept in the sea, hanging on my boat mooring, the other I kept in my tank.
Every few months I would swap them around.
I wonder if you could do the same with your tree, if you had another tree you could keep that in a emersed state and swap them around.
When you use the word background; you don't mean what is stuck to the back of the tank do you?
The tree is well and truly buried in the substrate as it show in an earlier post when I removed it to clean the fungus.

I'm no expert Andrew but I think with the lugwigia etc to make it look like the tree in the video I suspect you would have to keep trimming and retieing the tops on the tree.
But I could be wrong. Give it a try and see. If it don't work out as you say you can always go the buce and anubias route after.
I had the same problem with the skimmer intakes on day working fine the next sucking in air. Just could get the balance right to make them work properly.
I went back to the ehiem skimmer.
Nice looking scape. Well done:clap::).
I'm not seeming to get any answers from people who do know about how this would work; maybe as no one has tried it before?
I'd love someone who has tried this to give me the answers but might have to put a separate thread up.
Did you use the EA skimmer or the Chinese ones?

I'm currently wondering if the second filter will ever work with the slope in the place it is; I will only find out when the HC has grown in I guess.
 
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