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

Hi all,
BigTom said:
And will it grow with its feet in water?!
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I think it is a Strangler Fig, so possibly yes. I used to have a large Ficus benjamina (also a "Strangler"), that produced aerial roots into an open-topped galvanised water tank. It had originally been in a very small pot, but as it grew the basal roots were mainly embedded in the concrete floor of the glasshouse, and it it did really well even though it wasn't actually in any potting compost at all.

cheers Darrel
 
I was out walking last weekend and found a massive old bit of Scots pine in the river which I'm tempted to go back and collect. Definitely sturdy enough to take a big climber of some sort. Bit tempting, but I should really be thesis writing and not messing about in fishtanks.
 
Bufo Bill said:
This is awesome. Love the set up and the planting and bogwood are making me wide-eyed and green with envy.

Your tank looks bigger than my living room.

You are an utter, glorious Cad, and I am insane with jealousy.

All the best from Bill. :D


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
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Thanks bill, happy you like it. I know it's not much at present but I have an image in my head of what I want it to look like when it all starts to grow in and fill out.
I really wasn't sure about the wood at first but looks great now and think it will look better with more java trident on it. Thank you for your kind comments.





Ady34 said:
Hi Alastair,
looking great, love the way the wood emerges in the centre.
What we need now is photos from each viewable side :).... tomorrow will do though, looks like its been a busy day :) lol
Cheerio,
Ady.
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Cheers Ady, I will take some shots of all viewable sides but unfortunately can't for about 2 weeks. You'll see why in a minute..


dw1305 said:
Hi all,
Like the Fig (Ficus lyrata) in the planted/flooded photo, very snazzy. Have you had it long?

cheers Darrel
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thanks Darrell.
It's my favourite house plant, I've had it about 6 months now. It loves the sun it gets as the door next to it is south facing and gets refreshed with tank water once a week. Not the fastest grower though but Im hoping as it gets taller it will blend in really nicely with the tank.

BigTom said:
And will it grow with its feet in water?!
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:lol: I did think that when I first saw it but its a wee bit too tall now ha ha. I had a feeling you would ask that lol

LondonDragon said:
Awesome indoor pond :) ducks?
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Paulo i promise that i will go out and buy some plastic ducks and take a photo of them for you. That can be my little girls task however.......

BIG PROBLEM :(



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And
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I'm gutted. Its got to be stripped down and picked up on Saturday to be taken apart and put back together. I nearly cried but am jot going to take a chance to wait and See if the silicone holds out or not.

Deflated to say the least
 
Crushing news Alastair.....gutted for you mate. Better safe than sorry though.
 
Really sorry to see that mate, I think it is either the silicone bond is too thin or it was not cured enough. Possibly a combination of the two, I would defo strip it now just in case it does give as that would be even more gutting than just stripping it.
 
BigTom said:
Oh man, that's a bugger. Not long enough curing d'ya think?
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Not sure mate, the tank had been made over a week before I got it delivered..... :/

Ady34 said:
Crushing news Alastair.....gutted for you mate. Better safe than sorry though.
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Yeah that would describe how i feel exactly mate. I'm devastated... I only noticed it looking as bad when the sun was shining on it which is when I took the pictures. You can hardly notice it under normal light.
I've now got to try and recover 20 litres of brand new tmc nutra soil which was sprinkled on the very top of 70 litres of 12 month old Colombo flora base which has cat litter mixed in with it, and then under all that is 20 litres of pond aqua soil. Havent the foggiest how I'll do that successfully :(



Danny said:
Really sorry to see that mate, I think it is either the silicone bond is too thin or it was not cured enough. Possibly a combination of the two, I would defo strip it now just in case it does give as that would be even more gutting than just stripping it.
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Sounds like you know a bit about it. Do you definitely think it would give if left??? Not that I'm taking thatbchance as I'm tearing it all down on Thursday.....
 
Not from aquarium experience but silicone overall mate, I must of done thousands of meters of the stuff lol Although never on an aquarium other than baffles in a sump, that is just what it seems to be.

Cracks like that can only be caused by one of the two ( or both together ) things I said as it is pressure/strain related so just a general statement rather than experience ( aquarium any way ). The guy that made it ( Jev/Jed? ) or what ever his name is will know the cause anyway and be able to stop it happening again next time :)
 
Danny said:
One thing, I presume the tank was 100% level when full and not happening to have any reason for exces pressure on the side that got the problem?
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The water level is only ever so slightly uneven and you would really have to look to notice it plus its not actually on the side where the water level is highest.
It's on two sides, front left side and rear right side that these splits/ tears appeared.
He wasn't sure if it was caused possibly by the twisting of the tank getting it in but I really can't see it being that at all plus 4 of us brought it in. That wouldn't cause this.
But looks like it will be gone two weeks :'(
 
tim said:
I feel your disappointment mate, try to syphon off the nutrasoil even if you have to keep refilling till you get most of it out, real shame buddy :(
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Ahh didn't think of that. I'll do that for each separate layer then :)
Thanks Tim
 
Even if it was caused by twist it could only happen if the silicone was not cured 100% or was too thin. Better it happened now than when it had all settled in anyway so something to be be kind of happy about ( if that is possible ).
 
Danny said:
Even if it was caused by twist it could only happen if the silicone was not cured 100% or was too thin. Better it happened now than when it had all settled in anyway so something to be be kind of happy about ( if that is possible ).
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Yeah kind of makes sense that. I'm glad it's happened now though like you say and not two months in when it's all growing in and all fish/shrimp etc are in. I'd have crumbled.
So in a sense yes mate I'm happy. Sort of lol ( see I'm loling so must be)
 
Thats sucks mate, but better safe than sorry, you don't want to wake up to a flooded living room! Big job also to sort out all that soil, maybe fill it up next time and leave it for a couple weeks before adding the soil!! ;)
 
foxfish said:
That looks quite unusual!
It is difficult to see exactly what is happening, is that water ingressing into voids in the silicone or is the pressure pushing the panes of glass apart & deforming the silicone?
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Hi mate.
When i first saw it i thought it was water in the first shot but when you look closer it appears to look like thebsilicone has come away at those particular spots like it isnt adhering to the edge of the front panel and the same on the second picture but much narrower and they appear almost crack like.
I could leave it but with the amount of pressure that is being put one the glass how long would before the inevitable happen
 
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