A 'little' box of chocolates, licorice n allsorts - baby chocco fry

[Alastair]

Congratulations with this, you are doing a Superb job. If this was mine, I would move the sofa into this room and get rid of the TV- I would no longer need it. You could coin the phrase "aquarium potato", it is so cool.
All the best from Bill.

tv??? whats one of those ha ha.
thanks bill, my dining room has kind of become 'MY' room now, i sit in here most evenings just staring into the tank. definitely an aquarium potato. even my exercise has stopped because i get side tracked with it. i think il need to invest in a comfy cushion though so i dont get pressure sores

Your tank is looking amazing Alastair, you've inspired me to go low tech now. When I move house in a week or so, I'm converting my juwel rio to low tech. When I do, would it be a good idea to remove the reflectors from the lights?

Hiya matty, cheers mate. its good to know ive inspired someone just like i was inspired myself last year from toms tank to do the puddle. well worth it even just to have a go. definitely remove the reflectors mate and add floaters

 

[faizal]

I just can't stop saying this but i love this tank. Alastair did any of your in vitro tenellus under go melting prior to throwing off runners? If so did you cut them out or just leave them there to disintegrate because i used to uproot the tenellus , remove the browned leaf & replant it. Just wondering if i was doing the right thing.

It's looking lovely in there. Are you planning on adding stems at the back ?

 

[Alastair]

I just can't stop saying this but i love this tank. Alastair did any of your in vitro tenellus under go melting prior to throwing off runners? If so did you cut them out or just leave them there to disintegrate because i used to uproot the tenellus , remove the browned leaf & replant it. Just wondering if i was doing the right thing.

It's looking lovely in there. Are you planning on adding stems at the back ?

Thanks Faizal I really appreciate that. I just cant wait to see how it grows in.
The invitro tenellus never melted at all and ive not seen any die off or go brown. Its just gone rampant.

Even if you got a brown leaf theres no need to uproot to trim just cut it like a lawn.

The only stems that are in it are hygrophila pinnifitada dotted around the wood which will grow in amongst the crypts but even yhe hygro is growing rapidly.
My reason for not planting stems at the back is that the tank is viewable from 3 sides and ive tried to get it to look the same all the way around like an island so to speak. Well my original idea was just of a large piece of wood that has sunk to the bottom of a river and vegetation grown around and on it if that makes sense???

Ill lose the depth if I stick stems in and its nice to see the choccos swimming around the wood too

Just a quickie if the emmersed plants on the wood. Seems to be doing well

Had to place some of the emmersed moss below water on the wood as it wasn't staying saturated enough. The shrimp forage all over it at night time

 

[DrRob]

As I said on Tom's thread, and yours is going the same way, the green is just amazing.

I'm not sure whether you're both good at adjusting cameras (Tom certainly is), or if it's to do with the light in the low techs, or the way the plants colour up in these conditions, but I'm in love with the green...

 

[Alastair]

As I said on Tom's thread, and yours is going the same way, the green is just amazing.

I'm not sure whether you're both good at adjusting cameras (Tom certainly is), or if it's to do with the light in the low techs, or the way the plants colour up in these conditions, but I'm in love with the green...

Thanks drRob

Its much greener in person. I dont think its anything to do with camera adjustment especially on my recent photos anyway as I just take them on my phone and upload straight to the forum. No enhancements etc.

I think some plants in low techs look nicer. Crypts especially do im my opinion.

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[Aron_Dip]

i need some of that moss in my life ... mines all dieing off haha (Exel double dosing maybe?) ... any more pics for us?

 

[Alastair]

i need some of that moss in my life ... mines all dieing off haha (Exel double dosing maybe?) ... any more pics for us?

could be mate, i know some moss doesnt appreciate liquid carbon.


just a couple of pics taken on my phone today, not impressed with my camera on my s4 currently its not very sharp when you look closely which is unusual. cant understand it.

ive moved the wood slightly so its pretty much bang on in the centre of the tank as it was too close to the front of the tank.

im beginning to have a little problem with very tiny particles in the water that the filter doesnt seem to want to pick up so the tank has a slight haze to it which is annoying me, and have rewad that there can be bypass problems with the eheim 2080s. i cant stick in purigen either as i lose all the beneficial properties of my almond leaves and alder cones then. fresh filter wool in and its done nothing.

to add to this ive had 3 jumpers, two of which i found and one that did his carpet dive whilst luckily i was walking by and heard it hit the carpet so rescued him/her. unfortunately too i had to put one to sleep as it was getting thinner and thinner desoite eating then lost its ability to swim. couldnt watch it suffer anymore. on top of that ive got an itch outbreak which im beginning treatment on tomorrow so hopefully all will be in harmony soon.

i just need to try and resolve the teeny particle matter.

the tennelus has and still is on one. at this rate it will have covered the whole substrate in a couple of weeks. its definitely a different variety than normal as i have some tennelus off Ady and they look way different. mines so much broader.

 

[BigTom]

Shame about the jumpers, but that tennelus really is mental.

Might be worth lower the water level a couple of inches to discourage them, just until the plants have grown in a bit more and they're a bit more settled.

Water clarity is an issue with these shape tanks, they're so deep that even the slightest haze is really obvious.

 

[Alastair]

Shame about the jumpers, but that tennelus really is mental.

Might be worth lower the water level a couple of inches to discourage them, just until the plants have grown in a bit more and they're a bit more settled.

Water clarity is an issue with these shape tanks, they're so deep that even the slightest haze is really obvious.

ithink the jumpers is partly down to the corys shooting up for air as they only seem to get spooked at night and jump. my new tank later this year will be euro braced so will help with this. i agree though i may lower the water level a little more, its only high in these pics as id done a water change this morning

and yeah the haze is obvious, a friend stopped by and said why is your tank cloudy and that's when it started to bug me. it could again be added to by the corys constantly sifting the substrate all the time too. . they may have to go at some point. i see the shrimp more when the corys are resting too.

 

[Brian Murphy]

Wow ! I never even realised that you had started again .... looking great and loving the growth

 

[Monk d'Wally de Honk]

Try some filter wool around your filter intake if you think it's bypassing somewhere in the canister.. I've used a small secondary internal before just with wool in purely for this problem and it worked. Removed it after problem was solved.

Tank is looking fantastic though. I'd love one like that at home.

 

[aliclarke86]

I know what you mean about camera on s4 I was slightly let down with it. I think the iPhone 5 seems to have best camera in a phone but I can't buy apple I have too many bad feelings for that company.

Tank is looking fantastic!!!

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[faizal]

A very stupid doubt here but I suddenly had a thought,...what if they aren't tenellus. I swear they kinda look like saggitaria subulata now. Just a thought,...that's all. I mean,...there are a lot of submersed leaves there now,..new ones and like you say Alastair,...they do look much broader for submersed e. tenellus.

 

[Bufo Bill]

A very stupid doubt here but I suddenly had a thought,...what if they aren't tenellus.

!!!!!!Dun Dun Deeeerrrrr!!!!!!

 

[sciencefiction]

and yeah the haze is obvious, a friend stopped by and said why is your tank cloudy and that's when it started to bug me. it could again be added to by the corys constantly sifting the substrate all the time too. . they may have to go at some point. i see the shrimp more when the corys are resting too.

I've got around 25 corys in my soil tank and the only time they stir up stuff is when I feed them. It settles within an hour afterwards, but my soil is capped with 2.5cm of unipac sand. I also have a cory/shrimp tank and the shrimp don't hide one bit from the corys. The shrimp have taken over the tank lol.
It's possible there's other issues with the tank, maybe not properly mature yet, maybe some bacterial bloom going on. Or maybe the filter flow is not right. If the filter is in the corner, maybe the flow bounces of the the side glass and falls in the middle.

 

[Alastair]

Try some filter wool around your filter intake if you think it's bypassing somewhere in the canister.. I've used a small secondary internal before just with wool in purely for this problem and it worked. Removed it after problem was solved.

Tank is looking fantastic though. I'd love one like that at home.

Thanks mate. I wouldn't put filter wool over the intakes as well as it would seriously reduce flow. Ive got sponges on the two intakes anyway but having read this thread

Improving Eheim Pro 3 mech filtration - Page 7

I gave it ago but didnt fill the top tray full of floss. I just put my filter wool/floss around the outer edge of the top tray and pushed it down like in this pic from that link

then placed my normal filter floss on top as normal.

Its made a massive difference. Water is back to particle free which im really happy with now and crystal clear.

I know what you mean about camera on s4 I was slightly let down with it. I think the iPhone 5 seems to have best camera in a phone but I can't buy apple I have too many bad feelings for that company.

Tank is looking fantastic!!!

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Agreed ali, the pics look great until you zoom into a shot you've taken. I know theyre set to 9.4mp but even changed to 13mp and you still get grainy pics when you zoom in. Its still an amazing camera. Outdoor shots are awesome. I compared my s3 and s4 yesterday by taking the same shot and you can zoom in much more before you get the blur.

Id only have another iPhone if the 6 is anything special. Didnt like my 5.

A very stupid doubt here but I suddenly had a thought,...what if they aren't tenellus. I swear they kinda look like saggitaria subulata now. Just a thought,...that's all. I mean,...there are a lot of submersed leaves there now,..new ones and like you say Alastair,...they do look much broader for submersed e. tenellus.

I was thinking this too faizal, but saggitaria doesn't have the sword like tips on them. Its more rounded on saggitaria. Ive looked at lots of google images and cant see saggitaria that resembles this. WEIRD...

Might have to ask ed what he thinks. Iy could be a new variety huh???

I've got around 25 corys in my soil tank and the only time they stir up stuff is when I feed them. It settles within an hour afterwards, but my soil is capped with 2.5cm of unipac sand. I also have a cory/shrimp tank and the shrimp don't hide one bit from the corys. The shrimp have taken over the tank lol.
It's possible there's other issues with the tank, maybe not properly mature yet, maybe some bacterial bloom going on. Or maybe the filter flow is not right. If the filter is in the corner, maybe the flow bounces of the the side glass and falls in the middle.

Filter flow is circular but after having read the link above ive put floss around the outside of the top tray and jobs a gooden no haze anymore.

Ps my corys never stop digging lol. I feed live micro worms so they dig all day for any that have settled in the substrate.

I think im going to by some thin plexiglass pieces to put around the edges of the tank at night as found another jumper again this morning. Its only ever the new ones grrrrr

Ive placed both intakes on the rear right too as one at either end of the rear with the heater inbetween was tricking the heater into thinking the tank was at the right temp as the water outlet blows across the heater and the inlet was right after the heater which would have been taking in the heated water and it was just being blown back out at the heater.

Could explain why ive had jumpers too if the water was too cold maybe
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[Alastair]

Its definitely an echonodorus as one of the plants is sending up a flower stem which ia odd as I only thought it was the big species that did this


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

And just a quick full tank snap


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

 

[aliclarke86]

Wow its practicly covered the ground! Its amazed me really I thought such growth couldnt happen without high co2 injection levels but this seems to be growing nearly as quick as a high tech

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[faizal]

The plants' health are next to none . Look at the speed at which they are covering the substrate area !!! Nice .

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Hey al, interesting about the filter, i may have to give that a go as i still have cloudy water too. Fine looking from the front but end to end its very hazy even with 500ml purigen and 500g carbon. Did you zip lock the floss around the basket?
Weird about the tennelus, does look more like dwarf sag, still it looks great so maybe a happy mistake

Sorry to hear about the jumpers mate, while you wait to sort some acrylic to go round the top might be worth trying putting a book on each corner. I found it stopped all my jumpers in barb island when i added acrylic triangles to the corners, seems thats where they jump most of the time... worth a shot .