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Garden standing around…

Hello,
thought I would update this journal as the 75p journey continues….

The initial heavily NA styled scape and planting had great longevity, but the time came to scratch an itch that I’d had for some time. I wanted to try and replant the original scape in a heavily contrasting way to that of the original.

Midway through August I began breaking down the tank whilst retaining the original hardscape construction in place. This involved removing all plants, siphoning out the old soil at the rear and the sand in the foreground. Fish and shrimp caught and then the empty tank cleaned and dried ready to start again. I also opted to swap the ‘Garden Stand’ out for a wood cabinet to match that of the new Mossy Forest Stream tank which sits beside it…The ‘Garden Standing Around’ journal has now moved on and normally this would usually lead to a new journal if not for the fact I wanted to try keeping the same hardscape layout and adapting planting to maintain interest. If you have something you like then you don’t need to fully rescape every time you want something new, but can adapt the concept. Due to this I will continue the journal within this one 😁

The next iteration was to be starkly contrasting in style so I also decided to use the lightground backlight with blue/white graded foil as I find this really helps the plant colours to pop. The old solar 1 metal halide light unit was swapped for the newer Solar rgb light unit, again to enhance colour and brighten the overall scape aesthetic.

18870B1B-B07A-42FE-AF7A-DBB62AC75D2A.jpeg

I knew to strongly contrast the previous, I also wanted full soil substrate and a carpet, the scape was to be more vibrant so stem plants were also going to be added. With this in mind this drove the decision to replace all substrate for new fully loaded nutrient rich soil.

A1813E4E-C3C0-483B-BEA5-B280F769E1D6.jpeg

046C7720-D5BD-4138-A973-F11A6CA3CD7A.jpeg

B9B82CB4-4292-4B02-BA60-890CF7569DFF.jpeg

The scape was then ready for planting with its new Amazonia 2 substrate, and already had a very different vibe….
 
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Everything does (and will do) look beautiful. Designer setup, for sure!
 
Everything does (and will do) look beautiful. Designer setup, for sure!
Thanks, it’s one aspect I’ve appreciated more in recent times 😁
Stunning as always Ady
Thank you Gill 🙌🏻
Can't wait to see 2.0 mate, great concept for the journal continuation.
Here goes….

Knowing I wanted a more colourful scape, and the challenge of stem management again i chose a variety of plants including many I have grown before, but also a number that were new to me just to keep trying new species.
The plant list was not set, I went to my local Horizon Aquatics and chose from their selection, researching species as I went for suitability.
I came home with a plant list of:

Hemianthus callitrichoides cuba
Micranthemum Monte Carlo
Staurogyne repens
Cryptocoryne pygmaea
Cryptocoryne parva
Cryptocoryne spiralis tiger
Cryptocoryne undulates Broad leaf
Microsorum trident
Anubias Glabra
Anubias mini coin
Anubias bonzai
Anubias nana
Tiger lotus
Bucephelandra red
Bucephelandra lamandau
Bucephelandra kedegang
Bucephelandra batang kawa
Bucephelandra lamandau mini red
Bucephelandra theia
Hygrophila araguaia
Hygrophila serphyllum
Rotala blood red
Rotala green
Rotala rotundifolia
Didiplis diandra
Nesea gold
Limnophila hippuroides
Ludwigia white
Ludwigia mini super red
Legenandra meeboldii red

I had done a small dark start of a week, but couldn’t wait to plant up so away I went….
There are several stem plants which I squeeezed along the rear of the tank, knowing that some would likely outcompete others over time.
Initial planting was dense 😬:

AC78BE05-B341-47B3-AB1E-DD435605E073.jpeg

99D9187A-E6F8-485E-921C-2B23473E8306.jpeg

After a few days the expected crypt melt 😝…
0AFA546C-9A11-4578-90FB-B77812FADD8F.jpeg

…and some anubias and bucephelandra melt 😟….
A03ECD31-B0F9-4050-98EC-AEE44187F364.jpeg

A few days more and the stems began to grow in earnest…
217F7871-2C72-480B-90DE-1B3145DDF712.jpeg

…and shortly after the inevitable diatoms, along with staghorn algae too 😫…
IMG_4923.jpeg

IMG_4927.jpeg

Regular water changes and maintenance are essential during these times, I’ve learned to stick with it and eventually things begin to turn a corner as tank biology stabilises and plants grow more vigorously.
E224AB40-E300-4358-BD89-325DF48A4FC0.jpeg

At 1 month old it had its first trim of some stems and a light carpet trim…
EE0E0158-BF64-4432-ACE6-EE6DA1050D5E.jpeg

Things then developed in a much more stable way and the tank began to flourish with most algae under control….a few stubborn staghorn remain and a very small amount of bba. I also am suffering a little substrate Cyanobacteria which could be flow related as I’m just using the one filter, but also could be nutrient related so I have began dosing nitrogen along with the micro nutrients and potassium and I’ll see how this develops

234CDA60-EAED-4A89-A4D5-6336E929698E.jpeg

Week 7 was the second major trim and this is where we are to date. The tank looks relitively bare in the upper third from a frontal aspect, however from above it offers a whole different vibe, and this is one of the joys of the open top aesthetic…
89CED015-0096-4943-8EF3-BE4DFBE2FE93.jpeg

F00C3133-DE20-46ED-BDDD-F40465EE00EF.jpeg

43D7D285-E5C2-4688-B3B5-B0ABF36A7D5D.jpeg

Cheerio for now,
 
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Thanks, it’s one aspect I’ve appreciated more in recent times 😁

Thank you Gill 🙌🏻

Here goes….

Knowing I wanted a more colourful scape, and the challenge of stem management again i chose a variety of plants including many I have grown before, but also a number that were new to me just to keep trying new species.
The plant list was not set, I went to my local Horizon Aquatics and chose from their selection, researching species as I went for suitability.
I came home with a plant list of:

Hemianthus callitrichoides cuba
Micranthemum Monte Carlo
Staurogyne repens
Cryptocoryne pygmaea
Cryptocoryne parva
Cryptocoryne spiralis tiger
Cryptocoryne undulates Broad leaf
Microsorum trident
Anubias Glabra
Anubias mini coin
Anubias bonzai
Anubias nana
Tiger lotus
Bucephelandra red
Bucephelandra lamandau
Bucephelandra kedegang
Bucephelandra batang kawa
Bucephelandra lamandau mini red
Bucephelandra theia
Hygrophila araguaia
Hygrophila serphyllum
Rotala blood red
Rotala green
Rotala rotundifolia
Didiplis diandra
Nesea gold
Limnophila hippuroides
Ludwigia white
Ludwigia mini super red
Legenandra meeboldii red

I had done a small dark start of a week, but couldn’t wait to plant up so away I went….
There are several stem plants which I squeeezed along the rear of the tank, knowing that some would likely outcompete others over time.
Initial planting was dense 😬:

View attachment 223382

View attachment 223383

After a few days the expected crypt melt 😝…
View attachment 223384

…and some anubias and bucephelandra melt 😟….
View attachment 223386

A few days more and the stems began to grow in earnest…
View attachment 223385

…and shortly after the inevitable diatoms, along with staghorn algae too 😫…
View attachment 223387

View attachment 223388

Regular water changes and maintenance are essential during these times, I’ve learned to stick with it and eventually things begin to turn a corner as tank biology stabilises and plants grow more vigorously.
View attachment 223390

At 1 month old it had its first trim of some stems and a light carpet trim…
View attachment 223389

Things then developed in a much more stable way and the tank began to flourish with most algae under control….a few stubborn staghorn remain and a very small amount of bba. I also am suffering a little substrate Cyanobacteria which could be flow related as I’m just using the one filter, but also could be nutrient related so I have began dosing nitrogen along with the micro nutrients and potassium and I’ll see how this develops

View attachment 223391

Week 7 was the second major trim and this is where we are to date. The tank looks relitively bare in the upper third from a frontal aspect, however from above it offers a whole different vibe, and this is one of the joys of the open top aesthetic…
View attachment 223395

View attachment 223393

View attachment 223394

Cheerio for now,
That's pretty tasty mate, I missed it on insta.
As nice as this one is the original was so pleasing as a real Amano esc nature aquarium, I'd be happy to have either in the lounge though. 👍
 
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