New Decade, New Decadence...

[Geoffrey Rea]

love it, Did you pick out the 1 male and 3 female Odessa's or was that a fluke. He will get even darker as he starts to court the females.

Hi @Gill

There’s ten Odessa’s in there in total. It’s ended up five to five. Nine are fine (four males and five females), however the one remaining male was challenging initially but has calmed down with the introduction of the trident fern. The CPD’s swimming passed him seemed to trigger him, like he’s mistaking their colouration initially then realised his mistake. Have various ideas to try with this one.

Options are:

- Wait and see
- Remove the lone male
- Remove the CPD’s (there’s only five)
- Add a few more females

The CPD’s are getting removed very soon anyway and going in the tub as a breeding project this summer:



Afterwards they (and hopefully their young if breeding goes well) will end up in the AS600 anyway. So CPD’s out is the easiest thing to try first. After that wait and see. If this doesn’t work and it came down to it I would rather remove the lone male than add more females. There’s no injury or fin nipping etc. just posturing.

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Thanks @CooKieS

What kind of stones are those? Did you just place them on the glass or used something under them to distribute the weight and avoid pressure points on the glass?

Frodo @Vijay_06

Stones direct onto the glass. The entire hardscape is held together by itself, no glues or filter floss etc. used this time. Wood and rock interlocked, broken up stone to fill the gaps, worked out very stable. Not worried about pressure points by any particular placements, personally would be more concerned if anything could move or topple over suddenly.

OMG This should be renamed - Spending my earnings for one decade on decadence... 😉

NICE!!

Picked the title for good reason @rebel 😂

It does bring a smile every single day though, so in that way, it really is a bargain.

 

[Jayefc1]

It does bring a smile every single day though, so in that way, it really is a bargain.

If it makes you smile bro it is well worth every penny and I dare say the family are getting a lot of joy from such a peaceful work of art

 

[Deano3]

Looks amazing mate i love this 1200 and as jay says if makes you smile thats all the matters

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[Geoffrey Rea]

I dare say the family are getting a lot of joy from such a peaceful work of art

Hmmm.... The scaping is the only peaceful thing about this household @Jayefc1 😂 Wouldn’t change it for the world though.

Greenery is good for the soul however. Nice little system going on for the kids to watch. Tank waters the garden and plant trimmings feed the compost bin . The compost feeds the plants. The plants feed us and the veg scraps go back in the compost bin.

The next mini project to set up is an aquaponics system for growing lettuces which will filter the summer tub. Got some aqualifter pumps, just need to install an outdoor plug socket from the kitchen to the outside and a weather proof box to put the gear in.

Don’t know what is permeating into the kids heads here but hopefully something. If nothing else, maybe a little joy from the tanks but who knows...?

 

[Jayefc1]

Don’t know what is permeating into the kids heads here but hopefully something. If nothing else, maybe a little joy from the tanks but who knows...?

I'm pretty sure there taking it all in
Shame you need the electric would be leading the good life lol

 

[Luciën]

Love your garden, mine is a mess need to clean up and do veggies farming also. My kids have an interest for it. they try with failure of course.. I grew up helping my mother getting rid of weeds in her farm and taking care of her plants, and I didn't liked it that much but the harvesting was something nice. I like indoor and aqua plant keeping more.
But you have got me inspired!

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G920F met Tapatalk

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Love your garden, mine is a mess need to clean up and do veggies farming also. My kids have an interest for it. they try with failure of course.. I grew up helping my mother getting rid of weeds in her farm and taking care of her plants, and I didn't liked it that much but the harvesting was something nice. I like indoor and aqua plant keeping more.
But you have got me inspired!

Very much the same here @DeepMetropolis

Hated gardening for the longest time because all it represented was weeding as a kid, a nuisance, something to be done, never a pleasure always a chore. As years have rolled by it all begins to fit together and having your hands in the Earth a bit becomes meaningful and dare say fun with your own kids. It’s no show garden but it fits into this family’s life and provides lots of treasures. Little lightbulb moments on the kids faces. There’s a permanent hedgehog living under the shed who controls the snails at night. Frogs living in the rocket which I don’t dare disturb because they’re happy. The benefits extend outwards into the whole web...

Glad to add some inspiration to anyone quite frankly, it’s all to a budget and personally hope that these posts are plain as well as simple and if anyone has any questions just ask. Hardly a voice of expertise but do love empiricism as a path to some success.

The raised beds are just pallet collars. The tub is a plasterers tub. The sump system is a box from a DIY store and cheap PVC pipe... etc...

I know this thread is the antithesis of that but there’s some irony here. Life don’t care about your wallet. Enjoy your hobby and all the education and surprises it can offer.

Will always be grateful for UKAPS as it allows a dialogue with people smarter and more experienced. What a gift.

But you have got me inspired!

Definitely feel honoured, go for it!

 

[Deano3]

Very much the same here @DeepMetropolis

Hated gardening for the longest time because all it represented was weeding as a kid, a nuisance, something to be done, never a pleasure always a chore. As years have rolled by it all begins to fit together and having your hands in the Earth a bit becomes meaningful and dare say fun with your own kids. It’s no show garden but it fits into this family’s life and provides lots of treasures. Little lightbulb moments on the kids faces. There’s a permanent hedgehog living under the shed who controls the snails at night. Frogs living in the rocket which I don’t dare disturb because they’re happy. The benefits extend outwards into the whole web...

Glad to add some inspiration to anyone quite frankly, it’s all to a budget and personally hope that these posts are plain as well as simple and if anyone has any questions just ask. Hardly a voice of expertise but do love empiricism as a path to some success.

The raised beds are just pallet collars. The tub is a plasterers tub. The sump system is a box from a DIY store and cheap PVC pipe... etc...

I know this thread is the antithesis of that but there’s some irony here. Life don’t care about your wallet. Enjoy your hobby and all the education and surprises it can offer.

Will always be grateful for UKAPS as it allows a dialogue with people smarter and more experienced. What a gift.




Definitely feel honoured, go for it!

Thats really nice mate and totally agree i am very grateful for all the members and help received and great threads i have read and a great little community we have here. Great jurnal mate.

Dean

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[Ady34]

Great journal and great dialogue.
Love the tanks mate and inspirational content in many ways.
Cheerio,

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Just to dissuade any illusions folks may have that these setups are problem free, the tank is suffering a very slight period of BBA and thread algae. Underlying it all is the Co2 wasn’t turned up to match plant mass increase. Basically the tanks operator took his eye off the ball.

Other factors include removing the floaters before the java fern had a chance to attach itself well and not replacing the riccardia given its poor performance with glutaraldehyde being dosed.

All in the recovery though....

- Co2 tuned in (factors to consider here include: level of surface agitation, bps increase and/or additional ramp up time on Co2 before lights on). Ultimately it’s up to the aquarist to make a judgement call on what will work on any particular setup to get optimum Co2 throughout the photoperiod . Some options may be more viable than others.

- Removed the majority of the riccardia on stones and replaced it with Fissidens Fontanus which is thriving. Not sure how others glue moss to rocks but here’s an outline for anyone reading who wants to know what I’ve found effective:



Spray rocks and moss so wet. Dab superglue (small dots) across the rock.

Rest wet moss on the rock and spray again. Avoid pressing down, you want attachment, not a smothering of cyanoacrylate.

Optional, but a very small dab of Green Gain speeds up adherence of fissidens to rocks.



Using a 1ml syringe to put a very small amount on each rock. Leave for ten minutes, spray again and plop in the tank. A month later you get these:



Just to tilt things in the tanks favour against BBA... filter pre-filter sponges cleaned, filter floss replaced and a quick hoover around the tank:



Filter with filter floss in. Allows the removal of detritus/fish poop/stray leaves between water changes.

Last tactic is double dosing glutaraldehyde for a week and restricting fish feeding to three times per week temporarily.

 

[SRP3006]

Optional, but a very small dab of Green Gain speeds up adherence of fissidens to rocks.

Green gain sounds and looks like it works but do you think it out performs standard root hormone/seaweed extract that is available from garden centres?
Just curious due to the rather high price tag (ada name of course), I've not used any products like it and interested in your experiences.

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Green gain sounds and looks like it works but do you think it out performs standard root hormone/seaweed extract that is available from garden centres?
Just curious due to the rather high price tag (ada name of course), I've not used any products like it and interested in your experiences. //emoji.tapatalk-cdn.com/emoji106.png

I’ve used maxicrop (just seaweed extract, not their fertiliser) before when there were no livestock in the tank. Not keen on pouring it in the water column, more for soaking plants in or brushing on surfaces to help with adhesion to hardscape.

Truth be told I’ve no way of knowing if green gain plus is the exact same extract but with boron added. Just happen to have a bottle in that was bought to try and it’s lasting an age in the quantities it’s being used in. Will say that ADA state their product is aquarium safe, maxicrop don’t state one way or the other.

Much like in the garden I find phytohormones to be most useful with seedlings/at startup.

 

[SRP3006]

Thank you, I always use the seaweed extract on my tomatoes, cucumbers, Strawberries and other veg but agreed its probably best avoided in the water column.

 

[LondonDragon]

This one is coming along nicely 🙂 Featured on the UKAPS Facebook Page 🙂

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Shiny shiny....






Question is do we put it on the 1200 or the tub in the garden? 🤔

 

[Siege]

You won’t need the small sponge that comes with it, Jammy dodgers will be far more efficient.......!

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

You won’t need the small sponge that comes with it, Jammy dodgers will be far more efficient.......!

Maybe mini rolls this time, bit of variety.

 

[hypnogogia]

Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewell, for such a lovely tank.

 

[Jayefc1]

Wow that is shiny my ummm ADA shiny my precious