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James' 60P - 6 month Update

MrHidley

MrHidley

Member
Joined
13 Jan 2014
Messages
352
Location
Ipswich, United Kingdom
Wasn't happy with how the last scape was going, there were some fundamental errors in the set-up stage, so here we go again.

Tank- ADA 60P
Stand - DIY ADA-ish style
CO2- DIY set-up with 2kg fire extinguisher. Inline UP Aqua diffuser.
Heater- Hydor Inline 200w
Filter- Hydor Professional 350
Lights- 24" Current USA Satellite Plus Pro 30W LED
Substrate- Tropica plant growth substrate below ADA Amazonia topped with tropica powder substrate, Unipac Fiji sand.
Hardscape- Dragon Stone
Flora - Monte Carlo, Didiplis diandra, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Hc Cuba (just as an experiment, might be replaced my more Monte Carlo) Alternanthera reineckii mini, Blyxa japonica.

Dry starting for a little while just to establish root growth and prevent floaters.

23580459279_81c9af6726_z.jpg20151224_173100_HDR by James Hadley, on Flickr
 
Derek113 said:
This setup looks good. I think the gravel path should go.
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tim said:
Nice scape mrhidley, have to agree about the gravel though it doesn't lend much to the scape as it is, you could run it beyond one of the rocks at the back giving the illusion it drops off the horizon or as Derek stated remove it and have a complete carpet at the front, watching with interest 🙂
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Thanks. Yes, it may go in the future, for now, i'm going to see how it looks once everything is grown out, picture doesn't really do it justice IMO and the depth isn't as apparent.
 
Pathway is too centred imo and it's not narrow enough. The wideness of path lends nothing to the scale of tank or mystery of it. It's just straight and wide. You should perhaps add a layer of intrigue to it by diverting the path from front left a little to back right to the eye so you have to wonder on which direction you follow in. That added with a few broken placed pebbles/stones and plants across pathway You will see that this would add alot more character to the tank for sure. You should always try and be atleast a little flexible when concerning your tanks layout. You will be surprised at the difference I'm sure! Other than that it looks great. At the the of day though it's how you imagine the final picture. Your the one sat looking at it every night and day.
 
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In all honesty it was supposed to look more like a bay than a path. As I said before, i'm going to leave it in there for now, although I do appreciated the advice from all. If it looks like crap once stuff starts to grow out, i'll take it out and allow the carpet to fill in. I do think it appears to lack depth from the picture and it doesn't seem to reflect the fact that it narrows towards the back.
 
Flooded the tank last Friday and all is well, other than the HC, which is melting as I expected, I didn't think the flow would be good enough in the area I planted it, but that was why I called it an experiment. I'll leave it for a while in case it's just losing it's emersed leaves. Monte Carlo is growing like a weed, as is the Didiplis Diandra (already trimmed and replanted the stems once) Got some diatoms in on the gravel, which is what I expected, and in my experience it just goes away once the tank has balanced and settled. Also bought a decent light hanging kit from ebay, which I really like.

23588501673_2dc3fbba81_c.jpg_DSC5291 by James Hadley, on Flickr

Only thing that is annoying me is the bubbles behind the backing, which only showed up once I flooded the tank, however once the Didiplis grows taller it will cover those up.
 
Like the bay idea, looking forwards to following this one along. Thanks for sharing.
 
Having a bit of a rough time with it at the moment, Monte Carlo pretty much melted away and the didiplis diandra has struggled as well, However, I think it's on the road to recovery at this point. Had a big diatoms issue which has been pretty normal in my experience. There are 5 Amano Shrimp and some Ramshorn snails in there currently. Not a lot else to say, other than it's not a very pretty tank currently, but i'll get there. Patience and persistence.
 
MrHidley said:
Having a bit of a rough time with it at the moment, Monte Carlo pretty much melted away and the didiplis diandra has struggled as well, However, I think it's on the road to recovery at this point. Had a big diatoms issue which has been pretty normal in my experience. There are 5 Amano Shrimp and some Ramshorn snails in there currently. Not a lot else to say, other than it's not a very pretty tank currently, but i'll get there. Patience and persistence.
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Hi MrHidley, Sorry to hear of the problems. I am sure it will recover soon 😉
 
Slight update, finally seemed to have found a balance between the LEDs and the CO2 after purchasing a par meter (seneye) Diatoms is gone and the only algae now left is some black spots on the rocks (think it's BBA due to faffing around with the CO2 levels a lot recently). Monte Carlo is growing back comfortably now and even the didiplis diandra is showing signs of new growth (i think it's roots finally reached the soil). Lilaeopsis brasiliensis has been very easy to take care of, growing pretty quickly, from one pot of 1-2grow I've probably got 3 at this point.

During my last two tanks i've used LEDs and i'm starting to wonder how I feel about them, while I love the customization component and being able to tune the spectrum, I don't like the unpredictability of them. It's very easy to get an idea of what is and isn't too much light with the good old T5 bulbs, where as if I have a 30w LED it could be 6 5w bulbs or 60 0.5w bulbs, which would be drastically different in terms of light output.
 
Another update, tank seems really balanced now, all plants growing well.

Here is a shot of the monte carlo close up

RyzJeYh.jpg

Here is some blyxa japonica with lilaeopsis brasiliensis in the background. The blyxa was almost entirely dead when it went into the tank and in the last couple of weeks has really started to thrive, the lilaeopsis I have found to be an extremely easy to grow plant and has grown well regardless of the state the rest of the tank has been in.
hRlpwc1.jpg

Still waiting on the didiplis diandra to really begin to thrive although i'm seeing new, fresh, green growth, so i don't imagine it will be long before i can begin to get the hedge going properly.
 
27/03/2016 update.

Real progress finally, have I now have a thick carpet of Monte Carlo that i'm having to trim weekly. I decided to remove the path, it was just too much hassle to maintain, so it's now filling in with more Monte Carlo. Blyxa has exploded and seems about to drop a couple of new stems for the first time. The Didiplis is coming together through gradually trimming and replanting, I think it'll be another month before it looks how I'd like it to, have also added in some Hemianthus Micranthemoides at the back left this week, so not yet visible. For the first time since setting this tank up I'm really happy with how it's starting to look. Fish and Inverts are all doing well, excuse the pipework, it needs a clean. The mix of Ludwigia Palustris and Rotala Rotundafolia will most likely be removed once the background grows in, I put them in as a filler/indicator plant. Having a little bit of trouble with some filamentous black algae on the lilaeopsis and the bunch of stems at the back, so I've just put in an order with Hoggie for some Glut to try spot treating it. I also plan to remove the backing from the tank once the background has grown in, the bubbles under it are really ugly, plus I just have cream wallpaper behind it anyway.

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Tank is almost four months old. Everything is thriving with the exception of the Hemianthus Micranthemoides which is still in the process of getting it's roots down. The Blyxa has turned a much more bronze-ish colour and has started the throw out flowers to my surprise, they're absolutely tiny mind you. Pulled out Ludwigia Palustris, it didn't suit the scape in any way. The Lilaeopsis is thriving a little too much and started to invade other areas of the tank, I don't think there's a lot I can do about this without uprooting the carpet and that would obviously be counter productive. So I'll probably allow it to do it's thing at this point. I've also removed the backing from the tank.

26597950891_cbb04131f4_z.jpg
60p 3 1/2 months by James Hadley,
 
Very neat growth. you could remove those small rocks and convert this to a dutch!
 
MrHidley said:
Tank is almost four months old. Everything is thriving with the exception of the Hemianthus Micranthemoides which is still in the process of getting it's roots down. The Blyxa has turned a much more bronze-ish colour and has started the throw out flowers to my surprise, they're absolutely tiny mind you. Pulled out Ludwigia Palustris, it didn't suit the scape in any way. The Lilaeopsis is thriving a little too much and started to invade other areas of the tank, I don't think there's a lot I can do about this without uprooting the carpet and that would obviously be counter productive. So I'll probably allow it to do it's thing at this point. I've also removed the backing from the tank.

26597950891_cbb04131f4_z.jpg
60p 3 1/2 months by James Hadley,
Click to expand...
rebel said:
Very neat growth. you could remove those small rocks and convert this to a dutch!
Click to expand...
 
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