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RainstormZA's 23L Planted Tank

RainstormZA

New Member
Joined
10 Jul 2019
Messages
24
Location
Selby, North Yorkshire, UK
So last weekend after 1 month and half in the UK, I decided to take the plunge, with the limited amount of electricity I have in the place (it's a static caravan). I had originally decided to go pumpless and lightless, having a good spot in the front of the caravan with sunlight and all that.

I also had planned to do a full makeover of my godfather's fish tank as it was looking rather miff and sad.

So I ordered from Aquatic Gardens the following:
  • Bacopa Caroliniana
  • Bacopa Australis
  • Ludwigia Arctuata
  • Hydrocotyle Tripartita Japan
  • Bucephalandra Biblis
  • Hugo Kamishi Natural Fine Gravel 15kg (to share between me and my godfather)
  • Mini Landscape Seiryu Rocks (ordered 5kg)
Then I requested that they deliver it on Friday as it was the only day available that I could go over and rescape the old man's fish tank after work.

This is the old man's fish tank, my godmother said we should have taken a photo of it before and one after and naturally I agreed so sadly no before photos to compare to the new scape.

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Then I got home just after 9pm last night after we had dinner and a drink to toast the newly scaped tank.

Then I quickly put together my tank, which wasn't the best idea doing it so late at night and being quite tired from working in the kitchen all morning then scaping all afternoon.

So here what the tank looks like after a few adjustments, I'm happy with it. I have quite a lot of baby ferns from the rescape and a few anubias as well to glue to the wood, when I do actually go and buy the superglue for it.

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Bucephalandra Biblis, omg I'm in love with it!

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Tripartita at the back of the tank behind the rocks.


There was more than enough stems to share between the two tanks (mine being much smaller so I didn't need that much anyway).
 
Day 1 of the tank

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I am planning at a later stage to add GU10 6500K led lamps with a light box on top of it and add a black background to the back of the tank to bring out the colours of the scape. I have a filter that already came with the tank so it works great for now.
 
And update, 24 hours later, with a white background. will be working on a DIY lighting set which I need to order through Amazon with a bunch of other things.

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After much hesitation, I thought screw it. I converted this tank into a wabi-kusa. Not only it will save me on electricity after taking the filter offline, I also can leave my curtains open without the fear of algae taking over too. I added clingwrap to help the plants stay moist and convert to emersed. Already, I'm seeing new growth on the bucephalandra and anubias. The ferns seem to be doing well out of the water and no complaints apart from a few leaves melting but that's like 5% of the whole tank melting, everything else is super happy. I'm also misting with a spray bottle and airing it out for a few minutes in the evenings to get the "bog" smell out.

I am actually not sure if the tripartita will make it but lets see how it goes. If it fails, I'll probably get some hydrocotyle leucocephala into its place as I really want a jungle like tropical rain forest in the tank. Overall, I'm really happy with it - much more low maintenance and no electricity to use.

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Update:

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Very happy with how it's converting so quickly, already planning on new emersed plants for this tank. I am really glad I took the plunge and went ahead.
 
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