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Light substrate, bright light and zero cover all go to make for scared fish. They may come round after a while when the scape grows in but you may struggle to see any relaxed behaviour from them in that sort of set up.

Hi, also from Northants! Welcome to the forum.

Tom this thread has been without an update for too long!

Lovely setup!

Just how I remember it. Dived there last Summer and got some similar videos. I was gutted about not seeing any turtles!

Interesting observation tonight - I regularly feed the fish in this tank with live daphia from the garden and tonight I fed as the surface skimmer was on which pulled a few daphnia in. A few hours later I see all the fish hovering around the surface skimmer and wonder what they are doing. Turns...

Here is a semi-decent picture I managed to get of one of the dominant male Emperors.

Thanks guys.

I tend to change anywhere between 25-50l a week with pure RO. I don't measure PH very often but the TDS varies from about 100-120ppm after a water change to 150-170ppm when I actually come to change it. Must be something in the tank buffering slightly, possibly the substrate? I have started to...

:clap::thumbup:

Reasonably well, I get regular new growth. I recently had to cut back and rearrange all of the riparium plants. The peace lily got huge to the point that the pot it was in which was sitting on a small rock pile fell over under the weight! What is in there now is about a 3rd of it.

What do you feed them?

So a while ago I started a journal detailing the first incarnation of this tank. This is the second installment. Basic specs and info: Tank is 3ft x 3ft x1ft. Filtration: Single HOB filter and a surface skimmer. Substrate: Silica sand and plain black gravel Hardscape: Ivy branches, bog wood...

That is some going! How many do you have? What are your water parameters? My lfs has some in but i've heard they are quite difficult?

Thanks for the reply.

How do you keep it so free of mulm?

Hi all, Can anyone recommend me a good, safe brand of the above to add to my filter? Thanks!

Celestial Pearl Danio's actually prefer a temp of 20-22 degrees and do well in unheated tanks. Mine are out in the garden at the moment and thriving!!

What are your water parameters and water change routine Tom?

Any news on this BigTom?

If anything they have been shoaling less as they get more comfortable with the surroundings.

Hi Sarpijk, Mine tend to vary from a loose shoal to a very tight group. In a tight group they are very impressive. I must say I struggle to identify individual fish as they are so damn fast! I have seen some nipping and so suspect that a pecking order of sorts would develop over time. I have...

I thought tonight that it is probably about time that I updated this thread with some photos and info. Apologies for the photos which are not incredibly clear. I have added three caddies and put parlour palm in two and some sort of pond plant in the third. The pond plant is turning a bit...

Incredible photographs.

I am considering entering, worth testing your scape against the best for a tenner! The only issue I have is that I am a useless photographer!

I believe their are reports of them spawning and fry being raised in pH 6.5 or thereabouts. They may do ok at that PH, generally do not seem overly fussy. Optimum seems to be a TDS of about 250 - 350 and PH 7-8.

Take a look at Big Toms thread in the 'featured journals' section. Not ashamed to admit that his tank was the inspiration behind my effort!

From this: To this:

If you look in the old photos above you can see the tiny sprig that it grew from in the first place! Thanks Andy.

It has been a while since I updated this thread. It has grown in quite a lot and there have been a few minor alterations. I have had zero problems with algae - only a bit of dust and green spot on the glass which needs to be cleaned once a week.

That is fantastic!

Few update photo's:

Brilliant, would love to do one of these! *watched*

My dogs... . The second picture is the pup at the bottom grown up, the right side image at the bottom is him at about 4 months or so.

Mats, have the shrimp been reproducing in there?

2 females and one male in here at the moment: The male is constantly displaying so I will pull them out tomorrow - give them 48 hours and then wait and see what happens. If anybody is interested there is moss in the back right corner and the other plants are stems of watercress. Feeding...

24 or thereabouts.

Don't they like it pretty warm? Around 80 degrees or so? I've got this a tad cooler for the CPD's.

I reckon there are around 4-5 fry in the main tank. To try and get a few more I have moved 2 females and a male (nightmare to catch) to a tank by themselves with lots of moss and watercress to try and get a better fry return. Lets see what happens!

Not much then! ;)

I look forward to it Tom. Just had to google Dicrossus Filamentous, nice fish! What else are you after?

Any update Tom?

Hi, I know nothing about photography but would like to get into taking a few decent nature pictures. Can anyone point me in the direction of a reasonably priced beginners camera? Budget £200 or so max. Thanks!

I have my CPD's in water that is hovering around neutral. They are breeding so this is fine for them. I have 15 and they are always out and about. I guess the more you have the more confident they are, although they definitely are not a tight shoaling species by any stretch!

Here is a picture as the lights dim down at night, a view from my bed.....

I have added 12 threadfin rainbows to this tank over the weekend and it has really come to life now. Great little fish. Everything is really growing in well, hopefully will add a few more crypts soon. I also saw my first fry this evening, I am assuming it is a CPD. Considering the tank is a...

Those Licorice Gourami's are amazing!

Very clean!!

Your underwater section has grown in really well!

Okay, time for a brief update..... Firstly I have been suffering with some very bad surface scum, I guess the tank is going to take a month or two to settle down completely. I have purchased a small eheim skimmer to deal with that for the moment and tried it for the first time tonight - very...

I will remember this. I am tempted to add D. erythromicron but have heard they can hybridise with the CPD's. Given that they are from the same body of water I guess this is a possibility in the wild, although it is a big lake and depends on the localities of the species i guess. Hybrids would no...

Really interesting video. I have given this a go this week. I made mine with squid, prawns, sardine and mussels. Added a small amount of paprika. I have noticed a slight improvement in colour and my CPD's were spawning this morning so could have something to do with it. It was very...

You will want to get your plants in there as soon as possible to try and prevent any algae growth getting started. Make sure you plant quite heavily from the start.

Spotted the CPD's being a bit frisky this morning. Hopefully will result in some fry but if not I will have to get a breeding setup started I think!

A real life trailblazer is BigTom!

This is a great read. Loving all the different plants. Given a few months to mature this will be awesome.

Bromeliad is the one! It was a fiver from Homebase. As for the fish I am not sure about gourami's. I can't say I have seen anything that really draws me in. One day I will find the time to sit down and hit the books and find a few idea's. There are cherry shrimp in there - the dregs of a group...

I am hoping to have a large group of CPD's in there in the end. If anyone has any ideas throw them at me! I only got that plant the other day - It is a bit of an experiment but seems to be doing ok. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it at the moment. It is one where the bases of...

Hi all, I have posted every now and again for a little while but have never really shown off any of my own tanks. I did promise when asking questions a while back that I would attempt a journal so here goes.... Specs: 3ft x 3ft shallow cube. 30cm high. Custom build from ND Aquatics...

Hi, Having looked through old threads I cannot seem to find answers to what I think are probably two stupid question but need to confirm anyway before taking the plunge.... I have two 1000hd tiles (old style without usb ports) 1. Am I right in thinking that these will work with any TMC 8 way...

Vinegar goes better with fish.....

I had hydra in a shrimp only tank and they multiplied like crazy - I had ramshorns in there. As soon as I put the powder in they died and did not come back - I believe it also kills planaria.

Hydra - Not good for baby shrimp or fry. You can buy a pet worming powder that gets rid of them in very small doses and is harmless to shrimp. I cannot for the life of me remember what it is called though! EDIT: Panacur!

What do you do with your fish when you have finished with a certain scape or have a desire to try a new species? Do you sell them? Give them to a LFS? Interested to see the usual trend given that some people have a quick turnover in terms of tanks and scapes!

You could try willow tree branches/roots. Interesting shapes and twists.

Thanks for the replies. Over the last few days I had been looking at options and the TMC LED gear seems decent. It helps that they had the suspension kit etc that all goes together and I am going to be suspending the lighting from the ceiling. In relation to the actual LED unit itself would...

Some of them are desktop wallpaper worthy!

Could anyone point me towards a suitable LED unit that could be suspended? Whilst I roughly know what i'm looking at in T5's I really am struggling when it comes to LED's!

Do you think two tubes would be enough if they are going to be suspended a fair height over the tank? Given that the water is only 12 inches deep how much do I need in terms of watts per gallon?

Would something like this be suitable if hung up over the tank which is a 12 inch deep 3 ft cube...

Hi all, Following on from my thread in hardware and having ordered the 36 x 36 x 12 (inches) tank I now need to sort out my lighting but this is an area I am struggling. Would a suspended T5 unit be suitable? Can anyone point me in the right direction as I have looked but just aren't sure if...

I will try and remember to start a journal at the planning stage!

Quoted £268 for braceless, double based and 12mm glass all round. I think I will go with that on Friday (Payday!), although I query my wisdom of ordering on Friday the 13th!!

Ok given the responses I am erring towards the extra cost for braceless but have emailed them with a few questions just to make sure. I guess a few extra days overtime should cover it!

If this tank is to be braced - would it be a single strip across the top or two crossing over each other? I have never strayed away from Fluval or Juwel tanks so this is all a bit new to me. I have a few ideas even if the tank is braced and they may not be a bad thing in all honesty. I guess...

Does it make that big a difference? Going to get me running scared!

No I didn't, are they braced as standard? I will send them an email tonight and get another quote for a braceless tank with 10mm base and 8mm side panels. Cue £250 quote!!:nailbiting:

Especially as it will more than likely be situated next to my bed!

I will ask but certainly if it is braceless I will ask for 8mm I think. Better to be safe than sorry on that front!

Thanks for all the replies. I contacted ND aquatics who quoted me £123 +29.95 delivery on a 36 x 36 x 15 which I think is a good price! 10mm glass base and 6mm on the other panels. 4-6 week waiting time but that will give me a chance to sort out the stand and all the other bits and bobs...

Your tank is pretty much the inspiration for this effort so thanks for replying. Inches is correct - I was hoping not to pay much more than 200 quid if I am honest but I already have filtration sorted as well as lights so can stretch to a bit more if necessary. Thanks for your help!

Hi, Been a long long time since I posted on here but I am looking to get back into the hobby. I have been inspired by some of the shallow cubes posted around here and other sites. I am struggling to find any of them second hand, I guess they are rare! Which leaves me with custom build as the...

Looking good George!

Nice to see they are doing well George. Bizarrely since giving you a few of the bigger berried Cherries from the Nano it seems to be crawling with juveniles to a far greater extent than before. God knows why. Full tank shot?

Are those plants growing in your filters? I have the same filters and want to do the same, what plants are they?

Shall keep an eye on this one.

I once ordered a bunch of plants from them and was not overly impressed with the quality of what arrived. Never went back.

Why not name and shame so others know who to avoid?

Pulled it off of a tree in my garden. It was only thin pieces mind, if you were to use a thicker branch I would probably bake it in the oven and then remove the bark and soak for a bit. Like I said I have had no trouble. Hardwoods are generally ok. A few have poisonous sap which can be dangerous.

I have used apple tree wood. Soaked it for a while and scrubbed the outer bark off to reveal the hardwood inside. Had no issues and it has been in the same tank for a year now.

Re: Schruz's Works Very nice Schruz and well done on your top half finishes!

Agreed.

Wow, these are incredible!

This warrants a reply from somebody! Nice tank i actually preferred it slightly before the rescape. Good effort low tech as well!

Using one of your earlier pictures as my desktop background at work George, calms me down in the mayhem!

following

Big shame losing Garuf, great member. Hopefully this thread will carry on regardless because its great.

Surprised nobody has commented on this. Nice growth of the moss on the wood, I think it looks much better than before.

Re: Drifting - Rescape done for now Gill, last time i went to Harlestone i was very disappointed with how its been maintained. Tanks seemed dirty, few dying fish etc. It used to be my favourite of the two M.A in Northampton but now im not so sure. Just seemed like they had let themselves go a...

Only just stumbled across this thread. One of the best threads i have read in terms of providing pure inspiration and ideas. Brilliant efforts by all those who have posted different stuff :clap: