A joyous Easter to one and all. Idle hands lead to mischief and I wanted to utilize the unaccustomed free time, so out with the TGM 'frosty' film. I had initially ordered a tank with frosted glass in the back pane, but Graeme had suggested that the more cack-handed among us might scratch the front glass at some time and with frosted glass installed, there is no option to turn the tank around. Better to use a stick-on film. :idea:
Hmmm, I thought, this bloke's not daft, and so I changed the order to OptiWhite all round, and now I can scratch it to my heart's content. And i bought a roll of about 50 metres of film for my 80 cms tank... I told you he isn't daft.
Anyway, here's what it looks like after application:
(Cue singing Siamese cats) 'There will be a head for you, maybe a tail for me...'
Actually it went on easily, and after judicious smoothing out with an M & S credit card (my wife said it would come in handy one day) it all looked very smart - and sort of frosty, in a diffuse kind of way.
So while the tank was parted from the cabinet, I thought I would implement part two of my master plan. I had bought a 60cm LED strip light from a local wholesaler, plus a plug.
Now even my rudimentary skills can just about hack wiring a plug, but when I connected it up... Zip. Nada. Niente. How can something like this, fresh out of the box not work? P****d off doesn't even start to get there. This is meant to be my arty-crafty ethereal backlighting thingy, fixed at the back and to the top of the cabinet, shining up at 45°on to the wall behind. Fair idea - crap execution! First thing Tuesday morning I will be rapping upon said merchant's counter, and he'd better have one that works. Even then, I'm going to have to fiddle around behind the cabinet. Why?
Well, here's why...
Just couldn't wait to unload 30-odd litres of ADA's finest cat litter into my new precious, and top it off with a few off-cuts from Mount Fuji. Mix gently and season to taste. Now that cabinet isn't going anywhere fast, and so fiddling around behind it will be the order of the day.
OK, but I really enjoyed setting it all out, so I'll fiddle where necessary. But now we come to the 'Does my bum look big in this?' moment. This is where I implore you to say you like it, to find something positive, even if it's only that the Aquasoil is a pleasant dung shade. Seriously, I need some feedback on the disposition of forces, bearing in mind the order of battle as described overleaf. Acres of pearling HC, interspersed with delicate stands of hair grass, leading to outbursts of Blyxa and Downoi, punctuated by outcrops of Fissidens and riccia, and vistas of Ambulia and Cyperus helferi stretching to the horizon, 15 centimetres beyond...
Back down to earth, are the lumps of rock in vaguely sensible places? Is the balance between heights OK? The theory is that there are two main areas of stone (main and supporting), with terracing (which may be largely hidden by the planting) of the Aquasoil to retain its depth, with a small stone (front left) complementing the larger ones.
What do you think?
Hmmm, I thought, this bloke's not daft, and so I changed the order to OptiWhite all round, and now I can scratch it to my heart's content. And i bought a roll of about 50 metres of film for my 80 cms tank... I told you he isn't daft.
Anyway, here's what it looks like after application:
(Cue singing Siamese cats) 'There will be a head for you, maybe a tail for me...'
Actually it went on easily, and after judicious smoothing out with an M & S credit card (my wife said it would come in handy one day) it all looked very smart - and sort of frosty, in a diffuse kind of way.
So while the tank was parted from the cabinet, I thought I would implement part two of my master plan. I had bought a 60cm LED strip light from a local wholesaler, plus a plug.
Now even my rudimentary skills can just about hack wiring a plug, but when I connected it up... Zip. Nada. Niente. How can something like this, fresh out of the box not work? P****d off doesn't even start to get there. This is meant to be my arty-crafty ethereal backlighting thingy, fixed at the back and to the top of the cabinet, shining up at 45°on to the wall behind. Fair idea - crap execution! First thing Tuesday morning I will be rapping upon said merchant's counter, and he'd better have one that works. Even then, I'm going to have to fiddle around behind the cabinet. Why?
Well, here's why...
Just couldn't wait to unload 30-odd litres of ADA's finest cat litter into my new precious, and top it off with a few off-cuts from Mount Fuji. Mix gently and season to taste. Now that cabinet isn't going anywhere fast, and so fiddling around behind it will be the order of the day.
OK, but I really enjoyed setting it all out, so I'll fiddle where necessary. But now we come to the 'Does my bum look big in this?' moment. This is where I implore you to say you like it, to find something positive, even if it's only that the Aquasoil is a pleasant dung shade. Seriously, I need some feedback on the disposition of forces, bearing in mind the order of battle as described overleaf. Acres of pearling HC, interspersed with delicate stands of hair grass, leading to outbursts of Blyxa and Downoi, punctuated by outcrops of Fissidens and riccia, and vistas of Ambulia and Cyperus helferi stretching to the horizon, 15 centimetres beyond...
Back down to earth, are the lumps of rock in vaguely sensible places? Is the balance between heights OK? The theory is that there are two main areas of stone (main and supporting), with terracing (which may be largely hidden by the planting) of the Aquasoil to retain its depth, with a small stone (front left) complementing the larger ones.
What do you think?