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Tom's Bucket O' Mud - The End

Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - RO advice needed please

sarahtermite said:
Really looking forward to seeing how it's doing!

How often do you need to disperse the surface biofilm? Or is it not a problem any more?
Click to expand...

Not too much surface film these days really, having a few floating plants (damn duckweed!) seems ot help stop it forming.
 
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Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - RO advice needed please

Wow! I'm lost for words. I'll come back in a minute once I've relocated my jawbone.
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - RO advice needed please

OK, I've had a chance to collect my thoughts in a logical manner.

This is the best aquarium set-up on UKAPS IMO. It ticks so many boxes.

1) You're obviously a dedicated fishkeeper and this is to be commended in an age where aquascapers tend to think of the requirements of the layout and aesthetics over the welfare of the fish. I have been guilty of it myself until I had a huge telling-off by a very good friend of mine.

2) The sustainability of the set-up is amazing. Proof that you don't need all the expensive gear and gadgets to create a wonderful work of living art.

3) The combination of below and above water life is fantastic. I would dearly love to see this in the flesh. Shame you live so far away!

4) You've almost achieved this through a kind of neglect. Most aquascapers are a bit OCD about clealiness, water changes etc. However, I would suggest this kind of set-up is more conducive for healthy fish. I expect the water parameters are very stable, and the lack of water changes etc. give a chance for many microorganisms to thrive - more live food for the fish, encouraging more natural behaviour.

Very well done. This tank has made my day.
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

Thanks George, that's some pretty amazing feedback.

I should qualify a few things. For starters the transition between underwater and immersed growth is a bit weak, they do still look like plants in pots stuck to the side... I'm planning a major rescape sometime in the next month in order to build a proper island for the plants to grow on, and to remove a rock that I think is adding to the water hardness.

I am also taking the risk of gradually lowering the water hardness through water changes. This might upset the plants a bit and reduce the stability of the water parameters, but I do feel the need to bring the conditions closer in line to what the fish in the tank prefer. I think as long as I do things gradually (as with everything in this tank!) then it should be OK.

The alternative would be to move the Paros and Boraras across to the new nano cubes, but there's no way I could keep them in a self-sustaining fashion by doing that. I really hope to be able to get the Paros breeding one way or another, as otherwise all I'm doing is contributing to the consumption of an endangered species.

I think the other important thing to highlight is how slow the development of this tank has been... it's taken a year to get to the point that a high tech solution would reach in a matter of weeks (plant growth wise) - I think Mark has produced about 4 stunning scapes in the same time frame :lol: . However, the upside of this is that things in the tank really are starting to look properly wild... I've got mosses that I never even knew were in the tank creeping across wood and stone, and the mulm has just reached the point where my hydrocotyles are throwing out roots for the first time, instead of just spreading with runners. The whole ecosystem is still not in balance after a year - the last 2 weeks have seen an explosion in the Hyella azteca population that I thought had died out completely when I added them way back in the summer.

It's not a style of tank for the impatient, and even I sometimes struggle to resist the urge to mess around with it or (hardest of all), not chuck an extra hundred fish in!
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

One of the best for me too. Just love it. It is like a indoor pond with all it's beauty.
So great that it is low tech. Emersed growth is immaculate. :thumbup:
I shall read it from the beginning very carefully again to seek advices for a similar setup.
Thanks for the possibility to view it at least on pictures. :clap:
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

Woohoo, it's going from strength to strength, and still looks gorgeous one year on. It's just so luxuriant! What's the emergent plant that you can only see the stems of?

I can understand the temptation to add more fish, but I think the fact that the fish population is minimal is what makes it so special - you only get to see the fish on their terms. I like that. :lol:

Anyhow, hope the re-vamp goes well.
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

sarahtermite said:
Woohoo, it's going from strength to strength, and still looks gorgeous one year on. It's just so luxuriant! What's the emergent plant that you can only see the stems of?
Click to expand...

That's the massive Echinodorus - you can see it in it's infant state in the page 1 photos, now over 4 feet tall 🙂
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

This is one of the scapes photo don't do much justice. I really loved your last videos and hope for another soon, maybe ask one of your tank mates to make an underwater video. 🙂
 
Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

I'd have my arm chair stuck right next to that tank mate. Tv would be obsolete. I said it months ago and will say the same again and reiterate George's words. This has to be THE best tank on here and my most favourite ever. Very inspiring to many I'm sure.
Well done mate


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

Truly remarkable, a great ambassador for soil substrates, and a refreshing antidote to formulaic and contrived aquascapes. The structural characteristics of the planting appear totally natural, which I should imagine is something of a holy grail to all nature aquarium aquascapers; yet you have achieved it through minimal intervention…genius! Just give nature a chance…
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

I need a bigger Bucket.

Went for a walk in the hills today, and towards the end spotted an awesome old stump that had been torn out of the ground by a bigger tree going over in the Christmas gales.

stumps.jpg

After about ten minutes of poking, yanking and pocket knifing I finally got the bugger loose and sent the girlfriend into the swamp to retrieve it. All we had to do then was carry it two and half miles back to the van.

It looks much better in the flesh than it does in the photos, but the damn thing covers a 5' x 5' footprint, and my tank is only 3' x 3'. I anticipate spending much of next week figuring out how to overcome this :lol:

Big wood hunter (ahem):

bigwoodhunter.jpg
 
Re: Tom's Bucket O' Mud - One year old!

Awesome! You can't beat DIY hardscape collecting.

This is my effort from a couple of years ago. I gave it to TGM, as I won't have a tank big enough until I retire!

 
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