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I would move that aponogeton and place it in the back left. Something tells me it'll look better there.
Moved the aponogeton slightly, works better with the flow pattern, doesnt get so battered and overall i think it looks better too, cheers Ian :thumbup:
The foreground needs a severe trim and reshape, in particular the lobelia cardinalis. The mosses need a trim too. Thinned a little e. tenellus last night which had managed to invade the central hairgrass carpet, im trying to keep that clear, needs a little more thinning at the right hand foreground too, but ill do the main trimming next week.
Vallis nana is slow to take and although the e. ozelot has started producing some new leaves now which have a really nice pattern, this isnt going to be fully grown in for IAPLC this year....but after a little thought, ill enter this in preference to the CRShrimp tank as i think it will do better, nano tanks dont seem to do to well.

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Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Oh,..my oh my,.... :) Getting lovelier each time i see it !!! Is there any way you could possibly get some PAR readings in your tank?
Thanks faizal.
Its missing something though, maybe its too much green? Not so bad when your watching it though as the fish add some nice contrasting colour :)
Unfortunately no access to a PAR meter.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
I like it mate and prefer the over grown look, it looks very natural this way.... I'd have no hesitation in entering it in IAPLC.
yeah, shabby chic aquascaping! Just needs some controlling is all....im liking the way the mini hair grass, tenellus and marsilea have integrated, and its interesting to see the different leaf formations from the marsilea, some are huge single leaves, some tall four leaves and others short single leaves like glosso :crazy:

Very nice ady considering you had no plans for plants when setup the layout has really come together nicely, I like the way the apotogen curves round to meet the piece of wood on the right.
yeah that aponogeton kind of mirrors that piece of wood on the right....thats why im allowing it to stay ;) Its a much nicer effect trailing along the surface now its out of the flow, reminds me of the crypt balansae i used to have and liked so much.
I think the only tanks that look good hardscape only are those with very striking fish to address the balance.....discus and rift valley cichlids...or marine......it would have been very dull, plants double the life in your tank :D

Cheerio
 
Its missing something though, maybe its too much green?
Absolutely not.:) As Gary mentioned the overgrown look really suits your tank. Ady,...just so that i could better understand your co2 dispersion technique in this particular tank,...i can't help but to notice that you've placed the co2 diffuser just below the intake pipe. Did you choose this placement so that most of the bubbles will be picked up by the filter in order to attain better dissolution? And those missed by the inlet pipe would meet with the outflow of the lilypipe & hence reduce any wastages? Also how have you directed the outflow of the lilypipe? Is it facing the opposing glass or did you direct it in some other way? I am just curious because you seem to have got the co2 management down pretty neatly.
 
i can't help but to notice that you've placed the co2 diffuser just below the intake pipe. Did you choose this placement so that most of the bubbles will be picked up by the filter in order to attain better dissolution? And those missed by the inlet pipe would meet with the outflow of the lilypipe & hence reduce any wastages? Also how have you directed the outflow of the lilypipe? Is it facing the opposing glass or did you direct it in some other way? I am just curious because you seem to have got the co2 management down pretty neatly
Hi Faizal,
yeah i placed it just under the intake to do as you said, there is some by pass but its ok. I do have an inline diffuser, but when i tested it it was only producing massive bubbles, so its still soaking in a mild bleach solution to see if i can improve it before using....its pretty noisy as it is though, a crackling sound as the c02 bubbles are sucked through the very narrow slots in the glassware which is slightly annoying, so i hope the inline was just dirty. I dont get full dissolution, my filter burps frequently, i think smaller tanks have a better success at this due to the reduced amounts of c02 needed to get the levels up. Its more for distribution that i have it below the inlet pipe. This way the tank isnt full of micro bubbles all the time though which is nice, but maybe not the best way.
As for the lily direction, its designed to direct the main water flow downwards and to the left side, so i have it pointing towards the very centre of the tank and the circulation pump at the opposite end then pushes the rising water flow and c02 back along the surface and down the right hand glass (down onto the c02 diffuser)....if that makes sense :confused: Its taken a bit of tinkering to get it somewhere near, and ill be looking at a different method when i rescape i think as i dont like the very downward flow direction of the lily, and its still not perfect.
Also, im always having to adjust the c02 as the diffuser gets clogged, i think ill need to clean weekly to get the best from it but thats just another thing im slowly coming to realise about optimising c02 injection :wideyed: lots of small things can have big impacts ;)
Cheerio
 
Cheers Ady,...:) It is truly interesting to know how you got it down. There's a lot of helpful information there.

Also, im always having to adjust the c02 as the diffuser gets clogged, i think ill need to clean weekly to get the best from it ,..... :wideyed: lots of small things can have big impacts ;)
Yeah you're absolutely right.
Will you be rescaping soon then? Looking forward to follow that one too.
 
Will you be rescaping soon then? Looking forward to follow that one too.
probably not. Ill let this run a while, I'm considering a new set up later in the year.

Interestingly tonight I spotted the second CRS I added from the nano months ago....thought only one had made it but saw them both tonight.....Crazy how you can view a tank every day and yet still be surprised by a master illusionist shrimp reappearing! It's also strange as they both have broken markings unlike those in the nano yet they're not supposed to alter their pattern???

Cheerio,
Ady.
 
With IAPLC deadline fast approaching, thought id better get a banker shot in. The tank wont be where id ideally like it to be as theres still a lot of growing in to do at the rear with the new echinodorus and the vallis, but still going to enter :p
Id planned on taking the banker shot last thursday before water change, and then doing a major trim in hope of it regrowing in time for another last minute shot at the end of the month which may have been better with more foreground shape again and perhaps more growth at the rear....but it takes ages to take photos when trying lighting variations!!!
I only had one extra single t8 light unit to use with a few different bulbs and its amazing the changes you get visually just with these, let alone swapping front to rear bias :crazy: Choosing a shot is tricky too when you take loads :banghead:
Borrowed a tripod again and removed equipment....took the opportunity to clean the glassware while it was out and managed not to break it this time :D
Anyway to cut a long story short ive got a few shots i could use, not entirely happy as even though im no photographer theres a few schoolboy errors which could have been avoided like the water level being too high leaving a visible silver line at the surface where my top rim is around the tank....also id added some moss to the top of a branch and used wood tight instead of cotton so you can see that too :rolleyes: It took a long time faffing around so i didnt have time to do the major trim so that will have to wait for next weeks water change, which definitely wont give time to regrow, but its not a big deal, ill let the tank run and ill see it grown in eventually :)
I wont share the actual shots im considering, as most likely it will have to be one of those, but ill overload on pictures now as i took a few whilst photographing then carrying out the water change.

This is pretty much all my 'photoshoot' was.....i cleaned the glass, removed equipment and lowered the main lighting unit directly on top of the tank to brighten it as much as possible with another t8 + reflectors added to the front ...which you cant really see in this picture :p:

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as a side, its a bit of a change from this:

ypyre6y5.jpg


After that it was just a quick water change, but with time to take photos :snaphappy: . I made life a little easier for myself a while ago by drilling a hole in the conservatory wall and plumbing in a capped pipe to an outside drain so i can syphon direct from the tank without having to empty buckets a lot, or open doors and stretch hose everywhere! Thats why i have a net stuck over the syphon tubes, to prevent critters going down the drain, also two pipes is faster than one. I can just stick a gravel cleaner on one of the hoses when i want to clean the substrate. The water cans are prepped the night before and left in the garage with heaters added to warm the water, i then sit them on the stepladders and use a liquid transfer pump to get the water back into the tank. I tried a hose direct from the tap a few times but didnt like the lack of control. Takes a little longer this way, but i can always see whats going on:

p1090304b.jpg


Drop the water about this far, not quite 50% :shh:, but 3x 25l drums is enough to lug about. Also the aponogeton is sending up a flower shoot?, next day this was out the water :wideyed: rapid growth:

p1090329n.jpg


Next day, boy that koralia circulation pump is attractive ;) . The aponogeton flower shoot made the surface and the cardinals came to say hello, you can see some of the tenellus is flattened slightly after a substrate vacuum, and the keen eyed may spot one of the two crs hiding out in this tank :pompus::


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few more shots while im on:

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spot the hatchetfish

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p1090303w.jpg


Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Great photos Ady, thanks for sharing :) Interested to know what pump you use. Does it self prime etc?
Hi Steve, pump?
if you mean the filter, its a G6, primer pump button to start the syphon into filter....then a whole load of bubbles for 5-10 mins :eek:
Also, I've put this on the UKAPS facebook page :)
cheers, it was already on from a long while back, but with all your and Ians extra work with the facebook page it may get more views now ;) :D
 
Hi Steve, pump?
if you mean the filter, its a G6, primer pump button to start the syphon into filter....then a whole load of bubbles for 5-10 mins :eek:

cheers, it was already on from a long while back, but with all your and Ians extra work with the facebook page it may get more views now ;) :D

Hi Ady. I meant your water change pump you mentioned. Can't think of anything small enough to fit inside your water containers so assumed you used some sort of external pump? -

The water cans are prepped the night before and left in the garage with heaters added to warm the water, i then sit them on the stepladders and use a liquid transfer pump to get the water back into the tank.

Is it just an Eheim or something?
 
Hi Ady. I meant your water change pump you mentioned.
doh! :banghead: brain not in gear.....its just a battery powered (i use rechargeable ones now) liquid transfer pump from camping stores and the likes like this:
Liquid-Transfer-Pump-DP18S-.jpg

 
Not bad for a phone shot, its better than my actual camera for fish photos :)

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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
looking great ady just looked through all ur recent pics and looks beautiful I must say

Dean
 
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