325 l. ??? ?? ~ "A Moment's Pleasure..."

[Park]

After gathering a lot of inspiration i Hannover I finally had the time to do a complete make over! My tank has been on quite a journey: From cichlids from Lake Victoria to planted aquarium. I've been trying almost all kinds of gadgets and DIY solutions.

The evolution of the aquarium:

 

[Park]

Now to the info on the new tank setup:

At first I used thes photo for inspiration on the depth:

But in real life it wasn't an option. The hills were too steep and the substrate wouldn't hold their form unfortunately! :?

Plantlist:
Eriocaulon cinereum
Singapurmoos - Vesicularia dubyana
Persicaria (Polygonum) spec. Sao Paolo
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Ludwigia arcuata
Rotala wallichii
Pogostemon erectus
Echinodorus Vesuvius
Eleocharis Acicularis
Eleocharis Parvula
Glossostigma Elationides
Microsorum Pteropus
Microsorum Pteropus "trident/fingers"
Microsorum Pteropus "Windeløv"
Pogostemon Helferi
Proserpinaca Palustris
Limnophila Aromatica
Stringy moos - Leptodictyum riparium

Fauna:
0.0.6 Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi
0.0.52 Cheirodon axelrodi
1.2.0 Apistogramma cacatuoides
0.0.10 Otocinclus affinis/cocama
0.0.7 Corydoras venezuelanus
0.0.2 Crossocheilus siamensis
0.0.3 Mikrogeophagus altispinosus
1.1.0 Laetacara curviceps
0.0.? Caridina multidentata

A step by step photo session:

Technical info:
Size:
325 l. - 130x50x50 cm

Light:
ATI Powermodule dimm. 6x54W T5 - bulbs: 2xGiesemann Midday, 2xNarva Nature Superb 076, 1x827, 1x865 ~ 70.000 lux total - 10 hours a day

Filter:
Fluval G6 and AM Top 3335 with CAL Aqua Labs glass in and outlet.

Substrate:
9 bags of Eco- Complete™ Planted

Hardscape:
Landscape rocks and Red moor

CO2:
CAL Aqua Labs inline 16/22 glassdiffuser and a 2000 g. CO2 bottle - 30 ppm CO2

Fertelizer 6 times a week:
2,07 g. KNO3 - target: 20 ppm
0,94 g. K2SO4 - target: 30 ppm
0,45 g. KH2PO4 - target: 2 ppm
8 ml. Rexolin
and 50% water change.

Tap water:
nitrate 2,63 mg/l
potassium 4,7 mg/l
Phosphate 0,01 mg/l
Magnesium 22 mg/l
Calcium 109 mg/l
pH 7,37
Hardness kH 16,3 dH / gH 4,1 dH

 

[Park]

Inputs and comments are welcome...

If I'm missing any data, please write, then I'll try to post it!

 

[bigmatt]

Those step-by-step pics are great - what are the sandbag things you've used under the rocks? I've never seen them before? The layout is gorgeous - very much my kinda thing! And you can clearly grow some lovely plants!
I'll be watching with interst!
Matt

 

[Park]

Thats right to save a bit substrate I took 2 pair of nylon stockings and filled with half a bag of Leca - I don't know what they are called outside Denmark...

They look like this and are usually used in gardens or indoor planting:

 

[Park]

And you can clearly grow some lovely plants!

Haha thanks, I also have pictures with alot of algea, but it has taken alot of experience and tweaking to get them nice... I have finally reached the point where I'm having a ok know-how, but it has been a looooong journey!!! And there's still more tweaks and tricks I don't know, but that's the beauty with these fora - they're filled with hidden gold!

 

[Gill]

Looks Amazing, And a VV Cool idea for using stockings to support the hardscape. Will have to try that

 

[bigmatt]

That's a really good idea - do they shift at all? They seem like a great way of saving on substrate and rocky hardscape! Very cunning! 8)
Matt

 

[Park]

There's some buoyancy in them, but nothing the substrate won't fix. I also hope that it'll give me some extra filtercapacity in some form...

Some also use big lavarocks, but the you won't be able to form the hills as you can with the stockings!

 

[George Farmer]

Great journal, Daniel!

Love the inspirational photo and hardscape. The sandbags are a great idea. I look forward to seeing this one mature.

All the best.

 

[Gary Nelson]

What a great way of getting height in the substrate! Very nice setup.

 

[G H Nelson]

Love the stockings idea........pure genius
hoggie

 

[Park]

Thanks, I thought the stockings idea was old, it hasn't reached the shores of England

Update: my corys are tearing up the glosso and there's alot of flow in the tank which causes some of the rotala wallichii to float around in the tank, but hopefully it'll soon get some roots!

But it's the wait that's the hardest! I keep looking into the tank and wait for it to mature, but nothing happens Am I impatience???

 

[spyder]

I find myself looking for new growth everytime I look at my tank, kinda waiting for something to trim.

The scape looks great, nice wood n rocks, I can't seem to find rocks like those I see in some journals around here. Looking forward to future updates.

 

[Park]

Actually it was a coincidence I found them... I saw a private sales add on a danish plant site (http://www.akvariumplanter.dk) and bid on them. It only said landscape rocks - nothing about size. I went home to the seller and almost passed out because of their size!!! I've never seen them in that size before any where on the net. Last time I bought landscape rocks from Germany I ordred the XXL version and got

and

But I buy mine here:
http://www.aquamoos.de/index.php?cat=c2 ... 2bb84e3f47
http://www.aquasabi.de/Stones:::49.html ... ghfnbh0os4
http://www.garnelenhaus.de/34/aquarium- ... 2eaa335b0e

NOT XXL in my world! So I was so happy to finally get some XXL

 

[Park]

This scape "died" because I simply didn't have the time to the maintenance... School and work got in the way!

But now I've decided to rescape and this is the result:

Plantlist will come later

 

[Park]

The water have cleared a bit and I've planted some Hydrocotyle sp. Japan i the middle... Now I only need to plant some Hygrophila. sp. Araguaia & Ludwigia Arcuata and perhaps some fissidens on the roots. Spiky or Xmas moss are also in consideration...

 

[Alastair]

Very nice mate

 

[Park]

Thx

 

[Park]

Latest photo (3/12 2011):

The next step is Fissidens on the root in the left side and some mini Xmas (from Matt) on the slightly hidden root in the right side. And then I just need the plants to grow so I can begin to trim and shape them!!!

Critique and ideas are more than welcome

Some of my favorites:
Fissidens:

Proserpinaca palustris "Cuba"

Nesaea sp.