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New Decade, New Decadence...

ChrisD80 said:
Hi [mention]Geoffrey Rea [/mention] could I ask a question about your beautiful sand and how you keep it so pristine?
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Don’t be fooled @ChrisD80 that sand was freshly in the day before that photo.

You will notice the sand is only a cosmetic layer 2mm deep though so is easy/economical to replace using a small amount. Maybe something to think about for the future.

However, between monthly changes just keep it simple. If you have some tubing, just siphon into a bucket slowly and wiggle the tubing above the sand to kick up dirt without siphoning the sand. This keeps the tank looking clean throughout the month.

When keeping Corydoras with a deeper sand bed they’ve done a good job of turning the sand over and keeping it cleaner too.
 
Hey @Andrew Butler

It’s such small amounts that it makes sense to simply put it to use elsewhere e.g. mix it in with our compost or chuck it in the summer tub.

An 8kg bag of La Plata will do over a year on this tank. The layer is just thick enough to hide the glass and there isn’t any fish species that require a bed of sand either.

Some people will soak in bleach and water to reuse, but if you have pets or small kids you would need to be a little careful where you leave it laying around. Find it false economy using bleach, prime and time to reuse personally.

Treating sand as a consumable and finding a second use for it to answer the question.
 
Thank you [mention]Geoffrey Rea [/mention] for the advice.

Due to my layout having a sand path which rises towards the rear I cannot get away with a very thin layer but I do intend to stock with some Corydoras so hopefully they will help.

As I siphon to remove the fish waste and debris some sand does inevitably get sucked up, which I have kept. It has some aquasoil mixed in with it but I heard you can use a magnet to attract the soil so I will give that a go.

I do have some of the original 8kg bag left for replacements so I can make use of that.

Cheers Chris
 
Week 12 and significant cut back of all the stems (over half):

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Switched over to RO/tap mix so starting the new growth in the new water parameters from as close to the substrate as possible, hence the scissor happy session. They’ll be back soon enough.

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On that note, the MC and Fissidens are next on the hit list. Will shape out the MC and spread the moss out along the manzi with moss cotton where it’s most likely to stay apparent. Should be enough Fissidens to spread it out adequately now.

Finally getting a better feel for the colour and shape of this setup. Figuring out what will count and what will just get swamped by its neighbours. Makes it easier to trim more confidently.

New toy as well:

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Hope everyone is enjoying their scapes :wave:
 
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Geoffrey Rea said:
Week 12 and significant cut back of all the stems (over half):

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Switched over to RO/tap mix so starting the new growth in the new water parameters from as close to the substrate as possible, hence the scissor happy session. They’ll be back soon enough.

View attachment 152538

On that note, the MC and Fissidens are next on the hit list. Will shape out the MC and spread the moss out along the manzi with moss cotton where it’s most likely to stay apparent. Should be enough Fissidens to spread it out adequately now.

Finally getting a better feel for the colour and shape of this setup. Figuring out what will count and what will just get swamped by its neighbours. Makes it easier to trim more confidently.

New toy as well:

View attachment 152536

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Hope everyone is enjoying their scapes :wave:
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Looking fantastic Geoff.

I must have missed this point, but do you have the MC growing just attached to the rocks, how did you attached it and have the roots attach naturally as its grown?
 
Wookii said:
I must have missed this point, but do you have the MC growing just attached to the rocks, how did you attached it and have the roots attach naturally as its grown?
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Hey @Wookii

This tank and the AS600 are made up of scraps from other tanks. Consequently the MC had moss mixed in with it and took a bet it would attach.

Simply wrapped the MC around a pebble and tucked some of it under before placing it in a few spots with lots of rocky surface to grab onto:

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As you can see the moss has worked it’s way out and is anchoring the MC down. Just taken advantage of the situation basically... gone with the flow.


Putney said:
The plants looks awesome
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Cheers @Putney and hopefully the new stem growth will be lush too, fingers crossed.

Will be sorting the Fissidens moss out next. After that then maybe attaching Pinnatifida to select areas of wood directly under the lights for some dashes of orange, take advantage of the controlled water parameters to bring out some colour.
 
Andrew Butler said:
If you turn the power off, then on again (simulate power cut) do you have to connect to it through the app before it will work again? :bookworm:
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First thing I tried @Andrew Butler

Left it plugged in overnight then cut the power in the morning for an hour. Plugged the unit back in without doing anything and it dosed the tanks.

So no, you don’t have to connect it through the app after a power cut for it to work. The units battery backup and memory remember the settings.

More generally...

Got the unit dosing both tanks now but it wasn’t without a struggle:

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Have been pretty scathing of D-D’s take on the Kamoer app. The connectivity through the router on the 2.4GHz band hasn’t worked either. To the point that I’m having to run the unit on its own network using the phone as the interface, minus the internet based functionality.

The dosing unit itself works and is accurate once calibrated though, but it’s far from a polished product from the experience so far.
 
Geoffrey Rea said:
Have been pretty scathing of D-D’s take on the Kamoer app. The connectivity through the router on the 2.4GHz band hasn’t worked either. To the point that I’m having to run the unit on its own network using the phone as the interface, minus the internet based functionality.

The dosing unit itself works and is accurate once calibrated though, but it’s far from a polished product from the experience so far.
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Maybe it's just the single channel doser that needs connecting to after a power cut; I'll have to find the thread.
I've read about people having problems with the 2.4/5GHz connectivity, better reading on the marine forums but as I said elsewhere, I expected far more of a product where D-D and Kamoer are involved.
 
Missed the 3 month update so 3 1/2 ish:

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As with the AS600 have been away for two weeks and the auto doser has worked out well. Usual water change, glass clean and sand replacement upon return. However, had a fair bit of hair algae to contend with as well, predominantly on the MC hence the shaggy look from spinning toothbrushes. Will need shaping out again once it settles.

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Started trimming today but ways to go, the garden took priority so had to stop for the time being.

The trident fern and bolbitis are taking a while to fill out, longer than thought actually. At full growth the hope is they swallow up the manzi up to where the Fissidens moss stops but we’ll see.
 
Love this scape and natural look of it defently one of my favourites

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Big trim to the base finally comes around:

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Replanted top third:

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Emersed Pinnatifida. Very low relative humidity in here so we’ll see if it lasts:

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Trusty clean up crew:

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And the rest:

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Tank scalped:

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Really bare without the stems up the back. However, improved distribution for the epiphytes to take advantage of over the next month so looking forward to a healthy growth spurt.
 
Luketendo said:
Really nice. Did the pinnatafida grow out of the tank naturally?
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Hi @Luketendo

Never managed to get Pinnatifida to transition from submersed to emersed. These plants were moved from the summer tub and were bought emersed, planted half in the water and half out in the tub then have ended up in the 1200.

Even previous attempts of emersed bought Pinnatifida, then planted emersed directly, have died very quickly in this house. Relative humidity is 40% at 20C regularly so far too dry. I think because these plants were hardened up outside this summer they’re doing alright this time, but we’ll see.

SRP3006 said:
No point beating about the bush, this scape is absolutely gorgeous.
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Thanks for the positive feedback @SRP3006

According to the other half the last tank was “too green” and this one is “too fussy” 😂 She gets the obligatory Big Lebowski quote in return...

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Don’t misunderstand, would love to deliver a scape she fancies but yet to discover how you operate “less green” and “less fussy”... 😂
 
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