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259L bookcase rebirth
- Thread starter greenink
- Start date
Finally understand what people mean by a low-effort, good looking tank. This is just motoring along. Every now and then I trim the rotala, every now and then I give it a 70% water change (about once a month), and it just keeps going and going. I bung in ferts when I remember, otherwise it just potters onwards forever.
Nice!
Nice!
Nathaniel Whiteside
Member
Photos mate? It's been a while!
A
Antipofish
Guest
Whitey89 said:
:text-+1:
Will do in next couple of days - quick video of my other tank is up though...!
Dan-CR4
Member
is that moler clay you are using, what size did u use. I got the larger Coarse Grade 6-10mm particle size, but my plants just dont wanna stay put. re-planting them is becoming annoying. do you think the finer stuff would hold the plants better.
I got both sizes, but if I were doing it again I'd get the finer grain. The large stuff holds everything fine for me except HC.
So here's some updated photos, just after the trim of rotala to go into the 'transparent tank'. Stauro suffering a bit, but otherwise pottering along with basically no attention at all.
And my favourite, the tiny dwarf puffer still going strong...
And my favourite, the tiny dwarf puffer still going strong...
Have realised I've been pruning stems all wrong: way too high, way too late, which is why I'm not getting the bushy look I want. So am trying the technique in this thread (apologies for cross posting some images, but think ok as that thread is quite specific).
Here's the tank yesterday.
Issues I wanted to sort:
1. The rotala stems aren't bushy. Am going to focus on those, and put them right across the back, in a few rounded bushes. That means serious trimming.
2. The limnophila on the far left, particularly, is suffering, and not going red. So am going to move that into the centre. The light spread on this tank isn't great towards the sides / corners and it needs high light.
3. The pointing forwards rock in the middle has never really worked. So am going to move that, and fill the gap with plants in the same shape, allowing the rotala to come forward a bit in a bush to give a sense of depth.
4. Want to try some Eleocharis acicularis, which I got two lovely pots for £3.50 each. Thinking will use this as a foreground on the left and a transition plant on the right, behind the high rock.
5. And some Ammania sp. bonsai, which Westy sent me, and have seen making a great accent in among carpets. Really like it. Will be interspersed in small clumps at important focal points.
6. The Ranunculus inundatus and Hydrocotyle verticillata have both gone a bit OTT, and spread on runners throughout everything. They're both great plants and unbelievable rapid spreaders/growers, but I think better as accents as they're so messy. So am going to seriously cut them back, keep just a bit, get the stauro and Eleocharis properly going, and then let them out again. This will make the tank seem a lot less green for a little bit. But because they have quite long stems above the substrate, they've kept it from getting a proper substrate covering from other plants.
7. That crypt back right just doesn't fit. So out it goes.
8. Blyxa japonica isn't thriving, but is doing ok. So will give it a bit more space, put it more in the CO2 flow (it's demanding), and see if I can give it a bit of love.
9. Stauro carpet really suffering (was going well before). Took a proper hammering when I ran low on CO2. It's coming back, but am focusing it a bit more in a smaller area. Substrate slipping also exposed the roots a bit high, which made it ugly too. (This also happened to the blyxa).
10. Things were just growing a bit fast... And there's still algae on bits of rock, etc. So am going to cut back to just 2 T5s from 4 (with same 8hr photoperiod, CO2 on 2 hours before and off 2 hours before lights off), and see how that goes. Hoping will give me more of a 'sweet spot' to get CO2 levels right, and result in less trimming overall. Only plant that will be unhappy I think is the Limnophila.
That's about it. So here's the tank post-trim. That 'relocated' rock on the right has got some serious BBA going on. Next water change will nuke it with easycarbo. Have found with the other rocks that tying moss around the top cleans it right up too, so might do that as well at some point.
And just so you can see how radical this was, close up of right side before.
Right side after
Centre before.
Centre after.
Gulp.
And a few more detail shots. The Eleocharis planted up with a cory already investigating.
And two flowers on my Anubias barteri var. nana. I know I should prise off those BBA infected leaves, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to.
That's about it! Shrimp multiplying like nobodies business and generally making themselves useful.
Feels like quite a big step, but think am getting the hang of it, and really good to realise I've been getting pruning so wrong. Confident tank will bounce back in a few weeks and start to look pretty good after this... It doesn't look like it from this, but there's a lot of potential plant mass in there ready to go.
As usual, thoughts, comments, suggestions really helpful! It's why I keep a journal.
Here's the tank yesterday.
Issues I wanted to sort:
1. The rotala stems aren't bushy. Am going to focus on those, and put them right across the back, in a few rounded bushes. That means serious trimming.
2. The limnophila on the far left, particularly, is suffering, and not going red. So am going to move that into the centre. The light spread on this tank isn't great towards the sides / corners and it needs high light.
3. The pointing forwards rock in the middle has never really worked. So am going to move that, and fill the gap with plants in the same shape, allowing the rotala to come forward a bit in a bush to give a sense of depth.
4. Want to try some Eleocharis acicularis, which I got two lovely pots for £3.50 each. Thinking will use this as a foreground on the left and a transition plant on the right, behind the high rock.
5. And some Ammania sp. bonsai, which Westy sent me, and have seen making a great accent in among carpets. Really like it. Will be interspersed in small clumps at important focal points.
6. The Ranunculus inundatus and Hydrocotyle verticillata have both gone a bit OTT, and spread on runners throughout everything. They're both great plants and unbelievable rapid spreaders/growers, but I think better as accents as they're so messy. So am going to seriously cut them back, keep just a bit, get the stauro and Eleocharis properly going, and then let them out again. This will make the tank seem a lot less green for a little bit. But because they have quite long stems above the substrate, they've kept it from getting a proper substrate covering from other plants.
7. That crypt back right just doesn't fit. So out it goes.
8. Blyxa japonica isn't thriving, but is doing ok. So will give it a bit more space, put it more in the CO2 flow (it's demanding), and see if I can give it a bit of love.
9. Stauro carpet really suffering (was going well before). Took a proper hammering when I ran low on CO2. It's coming back, but am focusing it a bit more in a smaller area. Substrate slipping also exposed the roots a bit high, which made it ugly too. (This also happened to the blyxa).
10. Things were just growing a bit fast... And there's still algae on bits of rock, etc. So am going to cut back to just 2 T5s from 4 (with same 8hr photoperiod, CO2 on 2 hours before and off 2 hours before lights off), and see how that goes. Hoping will give me more of a 'sweet spot' to get CO2 levels right, and result in less trimming overall. Only plant that will be unhappy I think is the Limnophila.
That's about it. So here's the tank post-trim. That 'relocated' rock on the right has got some serious BBA going on. Next water change will nuke it with easycarbo. Have found with the other rocks that tying moss around the top cleans it right up too, so might do that as well at some point.
And just so you can see how radical this was, close up of right side before.
Right side after
Centre before.
Centre after.
Gulp.
And a few more detail shots. The Eleocharis planted up with a cory already investigating.
And two flowers on my Anubias barteri var. nana. I know I should prise off those BBA infected leaves, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to.
That's about it! Shrimp multiplying like nobodies business and generally making themselves useful.
Feels like quite a big step, but think am getting the hang of it, and really good to realise I've been getting pruning so wrong. Confident tank will bounce back in a few weeks and start to look pretty good after this... It doesn't look like it from this, but there's a lot of potential plant mass in there ready to go.
As usual, thoughts, comments, suggestions really helpful! It's why I keep a journal.
LondonDragon
Member
All good here!! 🙂
looking good mike, great to see the journey continue to unfold. Just nuke the anubias at WC, no need to remove the leaves or you'll wait 6 months to get them back lol
Just checked, images are on dl.dropbox.com and this has been blocked on the corporate network i am currently on🙁
If I get that low, it'll be a 95% water change. Will see what I can do but that's pretty ambitious.
no need just turn the filters off for 5 mins and squirt away.
Do you put easy carbo in a syringe or something for that? Amazed if this works. Can you describe more precisely? How much, etc.
hey mike, if (lol, when!) i get a bit of BBA or the like then i use my normal daily dose in a syringe, just turn off the filters, squirt at the effected area, leave for 5 minutes then turn the filters back on. Simples!
It is particularly effective on anubia leaves as they do get a little grubby over time and will also deal with GDA on them. Couple of days later pristine leaves
It is particularly effective on anubia leaves as they do get a little grubby over time and will also deal with GDA on them. Couple of days later pristine leaves
