George's 120cm - Nature's Reflection v2

[George Farmer]

Just read this journal from start to finish, its great keep up the good work! Your tank looks very nice indeed (Great photos, what about a video?) , i really like the layout, cant wait to see the java fern fill out a little more!

Thanks, Andy.

I was giving the aquascape some 'deep analysis' last night. I'm not happy about a couple of aspects - nothing too serious but expect some changes soon perhaps...

I'll try to get a video next weekend. No HD from me though, I'm afraid.

Well I love the fish, they're very pretty!
Everyone needs something pretty to look at. Like it! Nice one 😀

Becca

PS: Hope ur not overwhelmed by my overly technical post, I will try be more light-hearted in future!

Thanks, Becs!

Great to see you on here! 😀

 

[George Farmer]

Just over 1 month on now. At last I am having some success with moss! 😀

Not much else to report. I've made a few minor adjustments, probably only noticeable by me!

To keep the plants well-fed, I've started adding more NPK via a DIY mix, using dry salts from our sponsor - Fluid Sensor Online. Great service, by the way.

I'm seriously tempted to replace the plastic filter inlets and outlets with two sets of 17mm glassware, and I'm also thinking about an 'Up' inline diffuser to hide equipment further still.

Overall I'm happy with the progress so far. It's relatively trouble-free which is a good thing as I only get to work on the tank at weekends!

I thought I'd take some shots during a water change to show off my new found moss-growing skill!











And finally, me playing with some moss!



I took some video footage with my compact camera so will get around to uploading that soon. Don't expect the 'saintly standard' though!

 

[George Farmer]

20 second video clip -

 

[Krishs Bettas]

The thanks looks so good 😀 How do you keep your moss clean?
Nice glosso carpet I wish I could get my HC like that
Good vid btw

 

[George Farmer]

The thanks looks so good 😀 How do you keep your moss clean?
Nice glosso carpet I wish I could get my HC like that
Good vid btw

Thanks! 🙂

I trim the moss regularly which I think helps.

 

[LondonDragon]

Looking good George 🙂 Congrats on the moss 😉 keeping it in check does help or plenty of shrimp, but those Angels would make a meal of them heheh

 

[George Farmer]

... or plenty of shrimp, but those Angels would make a meal of them heheh

Thanks mate.

Learnt the hard way on that one. Bought a load of Amano shrimp - don't see any now! I figured there was plenty of hiding places, but I guess not. Very expensive live food.

 

[LondonDragon]

Learnt the hard way on that one. Bought a load of Amano shrimp - don't see any now! I figured there was plenty of hiding places, but I guess not. Very expensive live food.

Yeah I lost 20 amanos in about 5 minutes to two Bosemani Rainbows :? :?

 

[George Farmer]

Learnt the hard way on that one. Bought a load of Amano shrimp - don't see any now! I figured there was plenty of hiding places, but I guess not. Very expensive live food.

Yeah I lost 20 amanos in about 5 minutes to two Bosemani Rainbows :? :?

I feel your pain mate. Ah well, we learn from our mistakes, and hopefully others will too! 🙂

 

[tel]

The tanks looks great and the vid was cool George.
Some good information too on your cleaning regime, it is interesting to hear what others do. It would be nice to one day achieve similar results in such a time frame.

I have a question about water and clarity, how much of the "gin clear" aspect is related to the type of glass the the tank is?

Also I am going to be very bold and offer a suggestion as you made mention of the left side.
Wonder what you think of maybe combining Echinodorus Tenellus and Staurogyne sp for the left hand side. My thinking is that it would add a different element of shape/volume and a little height without overwhelming the rock layout and it may help with the depth perception as it leads you back in under "wood arch".... maybe... :silent:


cheers, tel

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks, Tel! 🙂

To be honest I'm not even sure if the tank is opti-white or not! When you look through the glass end-on it's certainly bluer and more transparent than regular float glass (which is green), but it's not as clear as some opti-whites I have seen. It's safe to say in low-res photos like these the type of glass won't have much impact. The clarity is more down to keeping the glass clean and having decent filtration, I think.

Thanks very much for the planting suggestions! I am considering adding more plants at some point, but am waiting to see how things fill out for now, to see if the layout fulfills my vision.

 

[Dan Crawford]

The tank is looking great George It's not optiwhite but i thought it was for ages! It seems better than "normal" glass somehow?

 

[George Farmer]

It seems better than "normal" glass somehow?

Thanks mate. 🙂

I think that too. I wonder if there's different grades of float glass?

 

[John Starkey]

George WOW you got moss ,hope it goes well for you mate,
regards
john.

 

[George Farmer]

George WOW you got moss ,hope it goes well for you mate,
regards
john.

I know mate! Moss is a big deal for me - my nemesis up 'til now. I think I was too impatient before and didn't give it time to adjust. I've always found it get covered in algae too, but pruning it regularly helps a great deal.

 

[George Farmer]

Around 6 weeks since set up now.

I'm considering some E. tenellus between the glosso and crypts to soften the transition.

 

[tel]

Tank looks amazing George, and that is a crackin' image
cheers tel

 

[Mark Evans]

looking nice mate. The more I see these angels, the more I like them.

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks, guys.

Bad news on this tank...

One of the two CO2 cylinders I'm running ran out while I was away from home for a few days and consequently the fluctuation in CO2 levels has induced a surprisingly large amount of BBA and staghorn algae.

I'll try to get some photos this weekend when I'll have my camera to hand.

The staghorn is mainly limited to the older Java fern leaves, and the BBA is forming on the wood.

Also a lot of the crypts have gone into meltdown, which was rather upsetting to see... 🙁

The glosso is also looking a bit ropey and I'm considering re-planting it from scratch, or even creating a different style of foreground entirely. Either using different plants, or sand and graded gravels, thus transforming the tank into something far lower maintenance.

I'll be hard-pushed to get this looking good in time for the IAPLC 2010, especially as I only see the tank at weekends, but never one to give up, I will do my best.

So one big lesson learnt here. Keep a close eye on your CO2! If you're not about to do it, train-up someone to do it for you!

 

[paul.in.kendal]

Aah George - what a shame! Do you not have any pictures of it you can use for IAPLC? I guess not, knowing the amount of prep you'd probably do before taking competition pics. What a brilliant set-up though - for me, seeing 'big' fish looking so lovely in a planted set-up was/is a real eye-opener.