259L bookcase rebirth

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Re: New journal - 240L bookcase tank

Yes

WOW ! 🙂 And how does that compare to Akadama (they do different grades too), or Shohin pre molar clay ? Are they all pretty much the same thing / density / CEC etc ?

also grain softness.... crushability 🙂

Yup this stuff should be uncrushable, whereas Akadama apparently slowly pulverises. (Will see if that's true). No idea about the chemistry. Although apparently Akadama is mined near the Japanese nuclear reactors that went wrong, and can't be mined any more, so that's the end of that.

 

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Gravel

Bag of Dorset Gravel arrived today. Not that impressed - is very dark. Some standard old gravel I had lying about on the left, Dorset on the right.



Has anyone used this for a gravel foreground / river bed fading into the back - sort of this kind of thing:







Which would you go for? Or should I just switch to sand? The Dorset gravel is spikier too - that might be good for keeping it a bit aerated maybe?

 

[Antipofish]

Re: New journal - 240L bookcase tank

I will be honest, but please don't take offence. I don't like either ! I think they look too old school in a weird way. I reckon some nice Unipac samoa or senegal sand would look a lot better. But thats the trouble, its only opinion.

 

[darren636]

Re: New journal - 240L bookcase tank

yeah. They just look very 1980's...

 

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New journal - 240L bookcase tank

Yup I agree - think sand it is. My LFS is very 80s.

 

[JohnC]

Re: New journal - 240L bookcase tank

Yup I agree - think sand it is. My LFS is very 80s.

95% of all LFS's are very 80's which is unfortunately why they are going out of business now the world has moved into the internet age. 🙁

 

[greenink]

Re: New journal - 240L bookcase tank

Think you're right about the Samoa sand:



Is there a cheaper alternative that looks similar? Feels wrong paying £16 for a bag of gravel!

Four weeks to go 'till the optiwhite arrives. Turns out I did my maths wrong - it's actually 120 * 40 *54 in 12mm - being made by AC Aquatics. So that's 259 litres if full to the brim... 😵

 

[Antipofish]

Re: New journal - 240L bookcase tank

Think you're right about the Samoa sand:



Is there a cheaper alternative that looks similar? Feels wrong paying £16 for a bag of gravel!

Four weeks to go 'till the optiwhite arrives. Turns out I did my maths wrong - it's actually 120 * 40 *54 in 12mm - being made by AC Aquatics. So that's 259 litres if full to the brim... 😵

TGM have it a little cheaper 😉 And i think its the fine grade they have.

 

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Substrate

So the moler clay has arrived from the bonsai shop in two massive bags, in two different grain sizes. (This is the same stuff as Tesco cat litter, but sorted into sizes, and not perfumed.) Have more than I will ever need!

Here's the difference in grain sizes, wet and dry. The black specks are ADA Amazonia for reference. The large grain is a lot bigger, the small grain is on average a bit smaller. Have tried to get as accurate a colour as possible but not totally easy. Looks about right on my mac screen.



Here's a close up of the larger..



And the smaller...



My hope is that this will hold HC better than my current substrate (gravel with ADA Amazonia bunged on top). So I've decided to do an in-tank test. I've loaded up a fish breeding tank with the coarse moler clay underneath and the fine stuff on top, and planted this up with individual plantlets of hairgrass, glosso and HC. Here's a picture:



And here's a similar area of the tank I've planted up with the same thickness of plants.



Here's what it looks like overall in the 'greenhouse' tank I'm growing up plants in (with no 'scaping):



Sorry for the quality of the tank pictures - doing it quickly.

Have to say, almost no clouding of the water after a very quick rinse under the tap. But when I was planting up, lots of air bubbles came up when I disturbed the top, which must be making it a lot lighter, so think it may be worth properly soaking it before planting up in the actual tank.

Really noticed how much the ADA stuff is crumbling when I took it out of the tank. Can't remember how old it is, but not very!

 

[JohnC]

Re: New journal - 259L bookcase tank

Thanks for putting the effort into this. I'm considering getting a bag of the molar clay for "tight sock" bulking out of more expensive substrate.

 

[darren636]

Re: New journal - 259L bookcase tank

tight sock! That is a great idea. Count me in.

 

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Inspiration

Everything but the tank is here. Have had a bit of time to think about the layout, and look at some similar ‘scapes from across the web, so have revised my plans a bit. ?Here’s where I’ve drawn (stolen) ideas from...

I love the ‘inlet’ look in this.



Victor shows how hydrocotyle can look amazing in front of rocks, and how high you can go with steep banking. Also the look of ranunculus that I’m going for too.



Love the red plant backdrop to this:



And the ‘bay / river’ in this, the way it turns away from you into the distance.



The rockwork in this, how it follows lines away from the centre hills



This Amano tank, with lots of stauro climbing up the hills (video):

http://youtu.be/GVG8DFF9-xg

Here's a close up of the stauro...



And a walk in Dorset recently... the rolling hills overlapping.



So here’s my improved scheme, which will have bits shamelessly nicked from all of those:



Doesn’t quite do what I’m thinking justice - but will just have to wait for the real hardscaping to begin. Think improvements are:

• Generally a bit more ‘golden rules’ friendly... 1/3’s everywhere
  ‘Inlet’ on the left is more interesting
  Less is more! Have cut out quite a few plant types to focus on ones where (a) I’ve had success in the past and (b) there’s more of a flow and natural grouping
  Included some Myriophyllum - saw this in the LFS and is just incredible
  Less symmetrical and balanced, but will be banked higher
  Crypts placed more strategically (though will clearly have to see on the actual layout!)

 

[JohnC]

Re: New journal - 259L bookcase tank

RE: Molar Clay. Got my massive sack last week (so so so cheap).

I got the finer stuff. it was quick dusty so needed a lot of rinsing to stop the red water. I did love the effect of putting this baked substrate in water for the first time. fizzes with dust coming off like dry ice. 🙂

I'll back up what you said earlier. very hard grains, no crushing. Just what the doctor ordered for my scaping last night..

Best Regards,
John

 

[Antipofish]

Re: New journal - 259L bookcase tank

RE: Molar Clay. Got my massive sack last week (so so so cheap).

I got the finer stuff. it was quick dusty so needed a lot of rinsing to stop the red water. I did love the effect of putting this baked substrate in water for the first time. fizzes with dust coming off like dry ice. 🙂

I'll back up what you said earlier. very hard grains, no crushing. Just what the doctor ordered for my scaping last night..

Best Regards,
John

Hi John, where did you get i from and how fine are the grains of the one you got ? Thanks,

 

[JohnC]

Re: New journal - 259L bookcase tank

RE: Molar Clay. Got my massive sack last week (so so so cheap).

I got the finer stuff. it was quick dusty so needed a lot of rinsing to stop the red water. I did love the effect of putting this baked substrate in water for the first time. fizzes with dust coming off like dry ice. 🙂

I'll back up what you said earlier. very hard grains, no crushing. Just what the doctor ordered for my scaping last night..

Best Regards,
John

Hi John, where did you get i from and how fine are the grains of the one you got ? Thanks,

Check back to page 2 on this journal for all the details 🙂

 

[Antipofish]

Re: New journal - 259L bookcase tank

Hi John, where did you get i from and how fine are the grains of the one you got ? Thanks,

Check back to page 2 on this journal for all the details 🙂

DOH ! Thanks

 

[Calzone]

Re: New journal - 259L bookcase tank

Plans looking good Mike. Excellent idea to use the Tropica images and paste them into your mock up. Gives a much better sense if, like me, your imagination struggles to hold onto a concept (I blame lack of sleep due to three kids!!)

Re your steep banking and transition into sand. I have got two fairly steep mounds in my yet-to-be-planted aquascape, albeit using ADA AS New. They're probably 15-20cm high at the peak. Keeping them that way is a real challenge. Its true that ADA AS is spherical and so won't hold as steep an angle without drooping, whereas your clay might have somewhat better friction. However, I had to use a fair amount of TGM substrate supports, which works but might inhibit roots somewhat. To be honest any non-perishable material that will hold a curve would do. And because my slopes stop just before the 5cms of sand at the front, I have a lot of AS falling down and covering the sand up. I expect this to improve when I plant, but I think also you would be well advised to make the transition to a slope a bit more gradual (mine kind of kicks straight into the slope), or use broken up stones/graded gravels.

Also, consider putting some kind of larger lava rock or inert gravel under the pile at the back - I didn't and obviously this means I've built a big pile out of very expensive AS, and I do have slight concerns about anaerobic zones etc (probably ok with some deep-rooted plants). Having said that, if you watch the video on the TGM website for their massive island scape, that's a bog hill of AS too and it turned out alright!

 

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beach sand

Promise I will actually start this 'scape at some point. Just waiting for the actual tank to be delivered! Shouldn't be too long now. In the meantime, have picked up some sand from a beach in Dorset - so just rinsing the salt out in a trug.





got lots of graded pebbles from the same place. who needs to pay for stuff i say?

 

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purple schist stone (and cheap CO2)

Ordered a couple of 3.15kg CO2 bottles from London Beer Gas today. At £24 delivered, that's the cheapest I can find in London - and is 11 times cheaper than buying 'aquatic' CO2 like this which would cost £270 for the same amount .

But more importantly, have finally got round to making a trip to the local quarry and picked up some purple schist stone. (Thanks to Mark Evans for the tip off on the quarry and the stone. Think is in his secret tank at the moment... which will show how to use it properly, rather than my half baked attempt.) Here it is in the back of the car:



That's 110kg worth. And here are a few tiny pieces in the small tank I've just stuck in at random to see how they look under aquarium lights.









Best of all, less than £30 for 110kg. Buying that amount of seriyu would cost a whopping £757 😳 - so this is a good 25 times cheaper . And doesn't look half bad. The bigger bits are actually nicer - they have more green and colour variation.

Can't wait to get started. Is pretty much all ready...

 

[Antipofish]

Re: beach sand

Promise I will actually start this 'scape at some point. Just waiting for the actual tank to be delivered! Shouldn't be too long now. In the meantime, have picked up some sand from a beach in Dorset - so just rinsing the salt out in a trug.





got lots of graded pebbles from the same place. who needs to pay for stuff i say?

LOL cheapskate ! Its nice gravel though. FYI you may want to edit the fact you removed this from a beach ! It is actually an offence to do so. Dumb as that sounds, I have actually heard of people being prosecuted for it. Just a heads up as I have no qualms about you nicking a bucket of sand from a beach that probably loses tens of tons due to normal coastal erosion every year. Loving the fact you are so like me and get so excited to get a bargain 🙂