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Does anyone use epoxy for rock work? It seems popular in reef aquariums but not so much for freshwater. It was quite expensive orginally which I guess was off putting, but closer to a bottle of superglue, depending on brand/quantity, now.

I think Aquaone usually label with type e.g. azalea, mopani etc. some of them are also sold for reptile enclosures but are fine for fish. This is the aquaone catelogue: Aqua Pacific UK Ltd - Aqua One 2021 Collection - Page 72-73 - Created with Publitas.com scroll across to get to the wood...

Depends on plants and what else is in there. If you are planting heavily, you'll probably hide a lot of the rock work, so more bigger rocks will give you a rockier look - 2 would give you better scope for stems at the back. If you are having inhabitants that will sift/wonder around on sand then...

That's nice looking wood shape wise, but not really any different colour wise to how most aquarium wood ends up. If you don't want the ugly stage where they don't match you could soak it seperately for awhile until it darkens :)

What does the oak look like in the tank? If you'd like it to match have a look at wood thats been in a tank a while when picking as the colours change a lot a few weeks in, so if you are worrying it will look vastly different it may not given a bit of time.

Don't be afraid to snip if a limb is going the wrong way, you can still use the bits you detach just put them in better positions.

They might just be reacting to subtle changes you can't see e.g. trimming the plants changed the flow around the tank and therefore their favourite chilling spot or changed light or cover for them. Are they stressed or just happen to like the conditions better in the part of the tank they choose...

Gel superglue will spread less than regular. If the wood is already in the tank, then you can also glue to a chip of the same type of wood outside the tank where it's much easier to work carefully, then glue that bit of wood to the main piece. As you are then glueing two bigger surface areas it...

I think anything with an edge rather than pad is less likely to catch something that will scratch. I depends what type of algae your particular tank gets on the glass though - soft and a sponge is fine, tougher stuff and a something blade like is easier. I like a credit card - free and works well.

Have you not got space to slide something in? I know paint/film is the 'professional' option but it's amazing the transformation you get with just a bit of cardboard wedged behind.

I like it! Only bit I'd change is removing that red stem plant dead centre. Also I'd be tempted to put something behind to remove the horizontal stripes from the brick - just a bit of white board lent behind would do as you don't see much of it. Very unnatural straight lines just take away from...

I've the aquael in a 30L shrimp tank - works fine it's not like you need a lot of capacity for shrimp in a well planted tank. However, if you want more sponge area, you can attach the aquael powerhead to one of these...

Try looking for slate in local garden centre/builders :)

Cobbles from your local garden centre... you can get other rock too but you have to watch types and some will effect water.

I'd be tempted to just lose the top squarish/oval rock that is dead centre. Too me that's a focal point and you don't really want those right in the middle.

'Natural' is a bit non specific. All stone is natural coloured... unless its been painted or man made. You can go to a garden centre and look at the stone they have available - some types will effect your water though so you need to be picky. I have a bag of scottish cobbles in mine (they don't...

Your plants look healthy :) Its tough to tell it could be diatoms or just detritus settling on the flat surfaces - if cleaning took care of it probably the later. A little more flow to kick it about so it gets picked up by the filter might help.

If you plan on switching out the substrate I would concentrate on growing lots of nice healthy plants and you'll have lots of to work with when it comes to planting them back in and can rearrange them then. I used tropica recently and it is nice to plant in, and more natural than current - it is...

I think your scape is fine (although I do want to smooth out that hump in the gravel at the front), mainly what you are lacking is plant density. Those stems on the back right side need splitting up and planting individually spacing about 1"-1.5" apart. That way they will cover a bigger area...

You probably want silicone for glueing uneven rocks, there may not be enough contact points for superglue. The silicone has a little bulk to it so will ooze to fill gaps. I like it though :) Get a tray and some sand/gravel and you can add in the slop - makes things look completely different...

I like the wood but the 'trunk' feels just a smidge too central, maybe another inch to the right? Be interesting to see how much depth you could create using finer leaved carpeters on the back slopes - just to add to the difficultly in balancing multiple carpet plants.

It has got very nice texture to it. I would guess it will need soaking to sink, so I'd soak it in a bucket with daphnia as a test - if they do ok I should imagine it's fine for shrimp etc. too.

The circles are a little neat looking at the moment, but I think if you scatter some additional small pebbles between that will solve that. Otherwise nice pebbles :)

I'm want try this with a piece of wood I'm planning, I think I'm going to fit it with a hook and hang it over the side. Using acrylic or maybe even oak to make the hook and then a cable tie to attach the wood to the hook. It's difficult getting wood to go exactly where you want it!

You could go the opposite. Flip the wood 180 degrees so the flat piece is on top at the water surface. Lots of rocks and little planting below and loads of emersed plants on the top of the wood, so it looks like the bank with roots hanging down.

If you have a look on facebook there are a couple of UK aquatic plant sale/swap or there will probably be a local fish group for your area too.

To uproot, lift it slightly, wiggling gently as you go, and then cut through the roots. So the cut piece will only come out with 1/2" or so roots and you don't disturb the rest. You can also hold a syphon hose next to it as you do it - easier with an assistant. It's quite a broad leaves crypt...

You can use a piece of egg crate on the bottom and then glue or cable tie to that, the weight of the rocks around it will keep it weighed down.

There are a few sellers on ebay that sell individual pieces photographed with a tape measure.

You have very even spacing between your rocks, great if you are laying paving, but you'll find it looks more natural if some rocks touch and others have a big gap. It's quite hard to be deliberately random and not arrange things neatly. You almost want to drop them roughly with your eyes closed...

Very clear video - thanks for sharing :D

Depends on the fish - some would love a cave, maybe check for any small gaps that could be fish traps, but as long as they can go freely in and out then I don't see a problem. Stick a turkey baster in and give it a puff now and then to clean out detritus. That's what I'd do anyway.

Put a bowl of water (mixed like you would for the tank) in the tank in a spot you aren't growing your carpet. Pop the plants that need to be under the water in that. If you have your lights on longer/brighter than you would normally to maximise the carpet growth keep an eye out for algae in the...

It's a beautiful fit... I'm guessing there is a little more room at the top than there looks otherwise I'm curious how you will get the fish in :D

Woohooo! Glad you are getting some noticeable growth at last. I imagine it will increase at a faster rate now. That's some very nice moss growth :)

How long are your lights on, I guess if it has food and CO2 that's all it could be short on so you could try a longer light period and see if that speeds things up.

It's probably working on roots rather than top growth, if you have any near the glass you might be able to see it forming runners under the surface. If not take a little bit from one of the clumps and plant it against the glass then you can see it grow and feel like it's doing something :) I...

Have you thought about putting a tray around and adding the gravel or some sand in? Might be easier to picture how the rocks will look as the height and what will show is a bit more complex for them.

My definition of a bolt would be flat ended to go with a nut? Vets use screws (have a pointy end) to go into bone. I admit I have no idea the different between a self tapping wood screw and a self tapping bone screw, but here is what I mean: https://www.orthomed.co.uk/category/internal-fixation/

Veterinary supplies? They would have medical grade stainless/titanium screws - don't know how much they'd set you back though. You can get plastic screws, might be able to use them with glue as more of a dowel.

Is it pointy wood you want to go straight up? For those bits we cut a X out of the egg crate and stacked several deep to slot the wood in - only works if substrate is deep enough. Could you slice up some chunky bog wood and use that as a root proof/aquarium safe wood base that was easy to drill?

I did this recently, and used egg crate and cable ties. You can see the result here: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/planted-tank-for-catfish.51350/#post-505005

Some people use Milliput in reef tanks for construction, that's sort of clay like. Do read up on the precautions though if you are using it with livestock in place.

You've jigsawed that trunk together well. Maybe some smaller thinner pieces coming off the roots, like they are splitting up as they would naturally - e.g. where the long right hand root has that little offshoot - continue that and add some more.

I love that 12 months is considered old. My parents are about to replace their 20+ year old one (under gravel heating cables etc. and all). What do you do fert wise - I presume not a lot with the type of plants and going a month between water changes?

Here you go, just trimmed. It's a little 30l I use for quarantine with standard vallis, so you can imagine the tangle it gets into. The vallis goes across the top, down the side and back round in circles in left untrimmed. My advice would be try it and see if it gives you the look you want...

I haven't tried it with that tiger vallis, but with the normal vallis I trim the tops (it grows 3' long otherwise!). Just stretch it out of the water and trim a bit above the water line. The aim is you trim it at a height where the curve first hits the water. That way the cut edge sits at the...

Just watch with some of the plant bundles, sometimes they include non aquatic plants or plants that are hard low tech and they'll generally all be the cheaper plants so they aren't always as much of a deal as they look.

I think layers are an important thing, on the left you've done that really well - you've got low plants, medium plants and tall plants (once they grow in) and that's what will give you the dense look. Crypts would be a good choice for the other side - they are easy to grow and would like your...

The jungle look is generally quite dense growth, so it's never going to look jungly straight off - you need to wait for it to fill out. It looks like you've done a good job on the left side, imagine that twice as tall and twice as dense (which it will be if you leave it to grow) and it will...

I like the two big rocks, you could maybe take the one out from the front completely. On the other hand you might find once the plants grow in it will look completely different so sitting back for now and waiting might be the best option :)

I'd agree, I like the 3rd one best.

Whitish and goopy? It will go away naturally but you can syphon it off too to speed things up.

I thought it looked really good 'overgrown' but the little changes made a big difference, even the little spot on the left - looks stunning now! Is there is little hobit doorway in the 'hill' about 1/3 in from the right?