Hi,
with the end of the Re-education journal (Re-education.....) I thought it right to share the replacement set up.
I opted to downsize the 1500 in favour of a smaller unit to go with the existing ea600, ‘Always room for just one more’ journal tank (Always room for just one more....)
I wanted to streamline the tanks in the front room on to one wall and also wanted options for more creativity and also less maintenance demands. The smaller tanks are easier to maintain when the family have gone to bed, or maintenence can easily be split into manageable durations to fit with family life.
Thanks to forum sponsors @horizonaquatics for saving a remaining Aquascaper 900 with anthracite cabinet for me for quite some time. This cabinet matches that of the ea600 so works well and also works within the living room setting with existing decor.
Some time ago I purchased a good amount of the beautiful frodo stone from a fellow hobbyist who was closing their tank down. I have added to this collection whenever I found a nice piece, again from Horizon aquatics, who source the rock from Polish Aquascaper Adam Paszczela.
There are some quite large pieces of rock within the collection and I had initially purchased with a view to the future and scaping the 1500 again, however I decided to see if I could make them work in the 900.
With the success of the ea600, I decided upon Tropica soil again, and I had aTwinstar e line light given to me as a Christmas gift from my wife which matches that over the 600 also. The colour rendition is great, I really like the light and the continuity is good.
After adding a lightscreen to the 600 I found I really liked the effect so have added a lightground to this tank also.
The filter and co2 is brought over from the 1500, the co2 art pro se regulator and inline diffuser via one of the fluval g6 filters I have had for some years. The tank is heated via inline hydor heater to keep in tank equipment minimised.
I was keen to revisit the iwagumi style, a form of scaping I haven’t really experimented with too much.
So with a plan made and substrate purchased I got the rocks out and started to play.......
I relitively quickly came up with a scape I liked but saw some floors with symmetry and a lack of a definite main stone. That said I really quite liked the shape and could envisage several planting schemes.
After looking at the rocks for a few days and trying to envisage the stones I had in different positions, I decided that I wouldn’t get the height I wanted by switching them and therefore as I liked it and could see it planted I would go with it.
Once my mind was set, I began trying to dial in exactly what I wanted from the planting scheme. I wanted something fairly traditionally iwagumi with lower growing species, and although I did strongly consider a single or three species carpet, I opted for something slightly unusual.
The plant list is:
Micranthemum Monte carlo
Helanthium tenellum green
Helanthium Bolivianum Vesuvius
Rotala indica bonsai
Hygrophila araguaia
I felt that some of the slightly taller species in the rotala and hygrophila would help balance the stones more and also offer perhaps more interest and longevity than a traditional iwagumi carpet.
I added more substrate to get the levels at the rear where I wanted them to be, topped with Tropica powder to allow the smaller plants to root easier, and was ready to plant.
I planted over two nights, the mid and rear ground the first night and the Monte Carlo foreground carpet the second. I regularly misted the plants during planting and overnight I covered with cling film to retain humidity.
The tank was then filled and equipment set up to fully operational. That is where I am with the tank to date.
There were a couple of floaters, I wedged them by the lily pipe and will plant them with the first water change to prevent uprooting more around them.
Oh, and when thinking about creating the journal I realised I would need a name. The rocks look like an image of an explosion to me with the rocks radiating from a meteor strike or some similar disaster. With that in mind and then the resultant re-growth around such an event I have called it Aftermath.
Cheerio,
Ady.
with the end of the Re-education journal (Re-education.....) I thought it right to share the replacement set up.
I opted to downsize the 1500 in favour of a smaller unit to go with the existing ea600, ‘Always room for just one more’ journal tank (Always room for just one more....)
I wanted to streamline the tanks in the front room on to one wall and also wanted options for more creativity and also less maintenance demands. The smaller tanks are easier to maintain when the family have gone to bed, or maintenence can easily be split into manageable durations to fit with family life.
Thanks to forum sponsors @horizonaquatics for saving a remaining Aquascaper 900 with anthracite cabinet for me for quite some time. This cabinet matches that of the ea600 so works well and also works within the living room setting with existing decor.
Some time ago I purchased a good amount of the beautiful frodo stone from a fellow hobbyist who was closing their tank down. I have added to this collection whenever I found a nice piece, again from Horizon aquatics, who source the rock from Polish Aquascaper Adam Paszczela.
There are some quite large pieces of rock within the collection and I had initially purchased with a view to the future and scaping the 1500 again, however I decided to see if I could make them work in the 900.
With the success of the ea600, I decided upon Tropica soil again, and I had aTwinstar e line light given to me as a Christmas gift from my wife which matches that over the 600 also. The colour rendition is great, I really like the light and the continuity is good.
After adding a lightscreen to the 600 I found I really liked the effect so have added a lightground to this tank also.
The filter and co2 is brought over from the 1500, the co2 art pro se regulator and inline diffuser via one of the fluval g6 filters I have had for some years. The tank is heated via inline hydor heater to keep in tank equipment minimised.
I was keen to revisit the iwagumi style, a form of scaping I haven’t really experimented with too much.
So with a plan made and substrate purchased I got the rocks out and started to play.......
I relitively quickly came up with a scape I liked but saw some floors with symmetry and a lack of a definite main stone. That said I really quite liked the shape and could envisage several planting schemes.
After looking at the rocks for a few days and trying to envisage the stones I had in different positions, I decided that I wouldn’t get the height I wanted by switching them and therefore as I liked it and could see it planted I would go with it.
Once my mind was set, I began trying to dial in exactly what I wanted from the planting scheme. I wanted something fairly traditionally iwagumi with lower growing species, and although I did strongly consider a single or three species carpet, I opted for something slightly unusual.
The plant list is:
Micranthemum Monte carlo
Helanthium tenellum green
Helanthium Bolivianum Vesuvius
Rotala indica bonsai
Hygrophila araguaia
I felt that some of the slightly taller species in the rotala and hygrophila would help balance the stones more and also offer perhaps more interest and longevity than a traditional iwagumi carpet.
I added more substrate to get the levels at the rear where I wanted them to be, topped with Tropica powder to allow the smaller plants to root easier, and was ready to plant.
I planted over two nights, the mid and rear ground the first night and the Monte Carlo foreground carpet the second. I regularly misted the plants during planting and overnight I covered with cling film to retain humidity.
The tank was then filled and equipment set up to fully operational. That is where I am with the tank to date.
There were a couple of floaters, I wedged them by the lily pipe and will plant them with the first water change to prevent uprooting more around them.
Oh, and when thinking about creating the journal I realised I would need a name. The rocks look like an image of an explosion to me with the rocks radiating from a meteor strike or some similar disaster. With that in mind and then the resultant re-growth around such an event I have called it Aftermath.
Cheerio,
Ady.
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