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George's TMC Signature

Mr. Teapot said:
Absolutely the most stunning tank! For a completely clueless newbie like me, its incredibly exciting to see a competition tank being prepped for a final photoshoot... I had no idea they were put on a turbo mode in their last few weeks. It must be the ultimate aquatic balancing act!

This is probably one of those stupid newbie questions, but can a compition tank be sustained in its final photo state by taking down the lighting, ferts and CO2 for the long-term or will it always slowly return to a more 'fallow' state... and ultimately, what happens to a tank that's redlined for too long?
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Hello and thank you. 🙂

There are no stupid newbie questions here. I welcome the opportunity to help out where I can. 🙂

The 'turbo mode' is not appropriate for all layouts. I've not done it before but figured it would work well for this as I need the stems to grow quicker than usual. The limited spread of the Fluval LED and its position means that it's targeting just the rear of the tank, allowing the TMC LEDs to grow the remainder at the usual pace.

It is possible to slow everything down like you mention, just by reducing the lighting etc. It is important to limit light before anything else though, otherwise algae may proliferate.

If a tank is 'redlined' for too long then you will just be rewarded with super high levels of necessary maintenance (pruning and water changes) in order to keep things in check and prevent algae. I would say something like Tom Barr's latest is a good example of long term success with 'redlining'. Much higher energy than my system, and actually a good source of income due to the quantity of plants that can be sold on. I would only recommend this kind of high energy system for the more experienced though. The more energy (mainly light) one uses, the narrower the boundary between healthy plant growth and algae.

Ady34 said:
Epic. The density of the plants is awesome.
I cant believe the plants will have filled in again by the weekend for the final shoot :wideyed: Thats power growing!
Interesting to see your technique for ensuring it will be spot on for deadline date. Do you need to adjust any ferts or c02 for the extra lighting intensity and duration?
Sorry to bring it up, but what do you attribute the bba on the hardscape too, especially given the overall exceptional health of the tank and plants? 😕
Cheerio,
Ady.
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Thanks mate. 🙂

CO2 is the same at around 1BPS. Any higher and the livestock become sluggish and lose their appetite. I am adding an extra dose of ferts half way through the photoperiod though, including liquid carbon.

I can only assume the BBA is due to the slowly decaying Manzanita wood. There is no BBA anywhere else, including on the rockwork.

Steve Smith said:
Stunning stuff George! Can't wait to see final shots. Are you planning to keep it running after taking the final competition shots (albeit slower I'd expect) or do you plan to tear it down and start something new?
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Thanks buddy. 🙂

I'll be stripping this down fairly soon because I'm away from home for 4 weeks in early June and I don't like to burden my family with tank maintenance.

I will do a comprehensive summary post before the strip down including lots of photos and lessons I've learnt. Looking forward to it actually. It's been a great ride so far, this little aquascape, but it ain't over just yet... 😀
 
It's taken me ages to read through this journal in one go but was well worth it, stunning tank with brilliant photos to match, I only hope that one day I can do a tank half as natural and beautiful as this one, really impressive.
 
Thanks, Aron. The Fluval LED is working a treat. Every day the new growth is obvious.

I've also moved the TMC LEDs nearer the water to get a final spurt of growth from the plants nearer the front.

75% water changes are daily and I'm dosing 5ml TPN+, 5ml Spezial-N, 5ml Flowgrow Mikro and 3ml liquid carbon twice per day! The pearling is insane.
 
Hi George with the led turn off we can really see that L arcuata is deep red ! Nice work !!!
I just wanted to know since when you have started to do the daily 75% water change please ?
And how do you proceed with ferts for that ? Do you dose macro at the beginning if the photo period and the micro at the middle of the photo period ?

Again nice work congrats !

Cheers
 
Hi George,
I thought this tank was a monster until i saw the pic of you pruning, its truly amazing the sense of scale and depth you've created here, the density of plant is just wow!
I sure hope you get the just reward with a nice high IAPLC ranking!

Cheers,
Nutty
 
zanguli-ya-zamba said:
Hi George with the led turn off we can really see that L arcuata is deep red ! Nice work !!!
I just wanted to know since when you have started to do the daily 75% water change please ?
And how do you proceed with ferts for that ? Do you dose macro at the beginning if the photo period and the micro at the middle of the photo period ?

Again nice work congrats !

Cheers
Click to expand...
Thanks. 🙂

I started the daily water changes a couple of days ago after adding the Fluval LED.

I add the first lot of ferts before the photoperiod, then the second in the middle. I add micros and macros together.

Nutty said:
Hi George,
I thought this tank was a monster until i saw the pic of you pruning, its truly amazing the sense of scale and depth you've created here, the density of plant is just wow!
I sure hope you get the just reward with a nice high IAPLC ranking!

Cheers,
Nutty
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Thanks. 🙂

I was keen to get a good sense of scale by using fine textures throughout.

If you read through the journal you'll notice I wasn't happy with the Ludwigia because the leaves were a bit too big, but over the last few weeks the regular pruning has increased their density, so it's not too bad. I'm really happy with its intense red colouration now with the higher lighting. It's just a shame it's not something I'd be prepared to do long-term - it's just too much hard work keeping on top of the necessary pruning and maintenance!

It's my eldest daughter's 17th Birthday today and she has a load of friends over. They're all amazed by the tank and I'm only too happy to discuss the concept of the aquascaped planted aquarium. They even seem genuinely interested. Winning hearts and minds, one 'scape at a time... 😀
 
Hey George, there is the red my friend! 🙂
You're still on time, but i guess you never run this hard for the last minutes before 😀

This will be there, let's hope the sp green will not blow out the tank in the following days. Great scape, good to see you're using the last few minutes to get that last few fine touches. Looking forward to the final image. 🙂

Also good luck on the contest. Good to see the fire is burning again 😉 just like in the old days mate. :snaphappy:
 
Wow absolutely stunning tank!
But what a maintenance, I don't think I could do something like that, let alone create such a scape.
 
SalvadorNL said:
Wow absolutely stunning tank!
But what a maintenance, I don't think I could do something like that, let alone create such a scape.
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Thanks. The high maintenance is only in preparation for the fast approaching closing date for the IAPLC (31st May).

Up until now maintenance has been 1-2hrs per week, which isn't that much IMO. 🙂
 
This looks great, obviously, but in the last pic I can't help feeling that the the plant line going from left to right follows the roots too uniformly, creating two almost even sized 90 degree triangles. I would have preferred to see the driftwood more "free" and less blended in with the plants. I think this would create some more depth. I am aware this is post-prune of course. I hope this is useful.

Thomas
 
George Farmer said:
Thanks. The high maintenance is only in preparation for the fast approaching closing date for the IAPLC (31st May).

Up until now maintenance has been 1-2hrs per week, which isn't that much IMO. 🙂
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Nope, 1-2hr is not much. Guess I have a lot to learn...
I spend a lot more time on my tank but doesn't look half as good.
 
Wow, that pictures are stunning George! I like the ripple and the detail! Seems like the after burner works great! I'm sure the final shot is stunner! Good luck on IAPLC!
 
Looking lovely George, water clarity, ripple and plant health second to none.....cant help feeling that the stems could do with just a little more growth, do you not fancy taking it right to the wire and doing a truly last minute shoot and entry? 3 or 4 more days may take this scape from the 'exceptional' to the 'sublime'......stunning photography too!
 
Antoni said:
Wow, that pictures are stunning George! I like the ripple and the detail! Seems like the after burner works great! I'm sure the final shot is stunner! Good luck on IAPLC!
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+1 on this ^^. Looks amazing George. Cant wait to see how it places. Stunning mate

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2
 
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