Dragonwood

[Daveslaney]

Took delivery of my aquascaper 600 on wensday. So put this scape together today with some dragonstine and wood i had.
Used tropica growth substrate and tropica soil. I have alot more wood roots to add for the detailing this waa aa far as i got with it today. Lighting is a twinstar 600S.
Filtration is tetratec 1200 around 1200ltrs a hour. Co2 will be through a inline diffuser or neo intank diffuser not decided upon this yet. The glass lilly pipes and inline are only on temporarily i will be ordering stainless steel pipes once they are back in stock.
Planting will be along a nature style with a hc plus hairgrass carpet. S repens then various stems at the back.
Moss and buces on the wood. Will use alot of plants i have in my existing tank.
Heres a couple of pics of the progress so far any comments welcomed.
Sorry for the picture quality i only have my phone.

 

[Daveslaney]

Planted the tank out with some plants and moss i have from the existing tank.
Still the stems to go in at the back. Will have to order some HC and Hairgrass for the front carpet area.
The rocks on the back left are only there to stop the wood from floating up once it becomes waterlogged i will remove these and plant the back out with stems.
First day of life.

 

[alto]

Well done

(can I say I preferred the first hardscape version sans that upright driftwood )

 

[Daveslaney]

Thanks Alto.
Little update removed the excess rocks from the back left. Even though the s repens was from my other tank it is looking a little pale after the replant. Will give it and the fissendens a couple of weeks to grow in before i trim and tidy it up.
Planted some Bylxa on the left side.

Doseing with tropica ferts plus special N. Doing a 40% water change every other day at the min. Photoperiod is 6 hrs.

 

[Daveslaney]

Added some verious Rotala and Lidwigia stems to the back.
Added some more Buce sp red ti the middle. Then added a little HC and H Araguaia the the front section. Will add more of this to carpet the front when available.
https://flic.kr/p/Eb3zyx

 

[Daveslaney]

Dont think the flickr pic worked?

 

[Daveslaney]

Tank seems to be filling in quite nicely. Still some more planting to do. Added a few fire red shrimp and a few green neons from the other tank. Heres a quick video i did on my phone earlier.

 

[Daveslaney]

A couple of top views of the rotalas and lugwigia in the back ground. Should fill in well once they have had a few trims.

 

[Daveslaney]

Planted out the front with HC and Glosso today. Will hopefully carpet out the front. Time to let it grow.

 

[Daveslaney]

Not going to bad getting ready for the first trim soon. The S Repens is looking better to say this is classed as a easy plant i dont think so. Seems very susceptible to change.

Added some green neons and fire red shrimps.
Pic from today.

 

[Daveslaney]

3 weeks in now. Changed the large lilly pipe for a smaller one i had.
Added a Chihiros Doctor 3 in the week.
The glosso seems to be doing better than the hc in the front although growing a bit upright at the min. Hopefully it will lay flatter to the substrate once it takes hold more?
Think i will give it another week then give it a trim.
Sorry for the pic quality only have my phone at the min.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Looks great Dave, you've certainly planted for instant impact

 

[Daveslaney]

Thanks Tim alot of the plants where from the other tank. So had alot to go at.
Ran out of tropica ferts so back on EI now.
Gave the glosso H Japan and rotalas a trim. Managed to tread on and break the skimmer intake when i took it off to clean and left on floor at side of tank while doing a water change. So have put the Ehiem skimmer in untill i can get a new intake part.
Getting a little BBA mainly on the wood removed some with toothbrush on water change will get some liquid carbon in the week and spot dose with that too.
Overall though quite happy with how its growing in. Pic from today.

 

[Angus]

Nice colour on those buces they have really changed since the 18th... lovely tank.

 

[Daveslaney]

Thanks Fozzie .
Not alot has changed really still battling with BBA while the tank balances out.
Did a large water change and trim today.
Heres a pic and short video from today.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Looks fantastic. It's like a Dutch Nature Scape.

 

[Daveslaney]

Thanks Tim.
Finally seems like im getting top side of the BBA. Removed the large rock from the back right and planted space with some more rotala and lugwigia. Trimmed the glosso right back.
Pic from today.

 

[Daveslaney]

Photos are not my strong point as you can tell.
But heres a couple of pics of the rotalas from the top and a bit better pic of the tank with a bit less light glare.

 

[Dominik_K]

Wow, I have to say, that I was pretty sceptic opening this thread and seeing the first images. But the development is huge. That tank looks amazing, nice work there. As a little hint: I would try to grow the hygro a bit more compact i think

 

[Daveslaney]

Thanks Dominik.
Take onboard what you say about the Hygro it was getting lost in the glosso before i trimmed it right back thats why its abit tall.The H Japan too it grows like a weed and can become a little invasive.Once the tank grows in and settles a bit more i may swap the H japan out for some bolbitis and more Buce sp where it is now.