TDI-line
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
Brilliant Tony. 😀
Brilliant Tony. 😀
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Tonys 'Peacocks Crypt' - The End
- Thread starter Tony Swinney
- Start date
johnny70
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
Stunning!! really really stunning!!
Stunning!! really really stunning!!
altaaffe
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
Just read this from start to finish as well - absolutely fantastic.
Next you'll be saying it only took you a few hours and you were happy straight away.
Really though, first pic I saw, I thought - WOW
Just read this from start to finish as well - absolutely fantastic.
Next you'll be saying it only took you a few hours and you were happy straight away.
Really though, first pic I saw, I thought - WOW
George Farmer
Founder
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2007
- Messages
- 6,741
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
I wouldn't be surprised. I saw Tony playing with these before he bought them...altaaffe said:
Steve Smith
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
Yes, we had fun playing about in the clay trough at TGM when Tony was picking out the wood! Good job he took a photo of what he'd decided... (Tony will know what I'm taking about here
)
Yes, we had fun playing about in the clay trough at TGM when Tony was picking out the wood! Good job he took a photo of what he'd decided... (Tony will know what I'm taking about here
)
Tony Swinney
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
You sure did ! Not sure what you were thinking back there though .....
There'll be an update from me later 😉
Tony
George Farmer said:
You sure did ! Not sure what you were thinking back there though .....
There'll be an update from me later 😉
Tony
flygja
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
I really like graded gravels these days and yours is one of the best I've seen. I'm in process of re-planning my foreground and yours will definitely be my inspiration. Like you said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
It's lucky that you guys get such nice driftwoods over there. It's less interesting over here, not as twisty.
I really like graded gravels these days and yours is one of the best I've seen. I'm in process of re-planning my foreground and yours will definitely be my inspiration. Like you said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
It's lucky that you guys get such nice driftwoods over there. It's less interesting over here, not as twisty.
Dave Spencer
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now featuring hardscape !)
When it comes to the hardscape, I have always found that it has been going around in my head a month or two before anything goes in the tank. Come the day when it goes in, it doesn`t take me long at all (less than 30 mins). This only because I have been mulling it over for a good while previously. Once it is in, barring a few tweaks, it doesn`t get altered and the plants go in.
For me, it is a bit like when you have completed an exam paper, but then go back and change an answer, always from the right answer to the wrong one. :?
Having said that, it only works for me when I am using hardscape that I am familiar with. It takes a bit longer if it is some new stuff I have bought.
Dave.
When it comes to the hardscape, I have always found that it has been going around in my head a month or two before anything goes in the tank. Come the day when it goes in, it doesn`t take me long at all (less than 30 mins). This only because I have been mulling it over for a good while previously. Once it is in, barring a few tweaks, it doesn`t get altered and the plants go in.
For me, it is a bit like when you have completed an exam paper, but then go back and change an answer, always from the right answer to the wrong one. :?
Having said that, it only works for me when I am using hardscape that I am familiar with. It takes a bit longer if it is some new stuff I have bought.
Dave.
Tony Swinney
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
Hi Paul, you might be surprised 😀 Other than my little nano, this is my first 'scape, and is the first time I've used different substrates and gravels. I think if you study alot of other scapes and form a good plan in your mind of how you want it to look, thats half the battle. Most of the other half is finding the best materials you can to make your plan a reality. Once your actually putting it together its a case of patience, and walking away from the tank and coming back to it with 'fresh eyes' alot of times (for me anyway) 😀
At this stage I'm quite happy to take from other peoples tank ideas (especially if those folks are of the scaping calibre of Messrs Farmer, Edwards and Moniz ) to make the scape I want in my home, but moving forward it would be great to come up with something new and push standards even higher - thats the really hard bit 😀
Tony
paul.in.kendal said:
Hi Paul, you might be surprised 😀 Other than my little nano, this is my first 'scape, and is the first time I've used different substrates and gravels. I think if you study alot of other scapes and form a good plan in your mind of how you want it to look, thats half the battle. Most of the other half is finding the best materials you can to make your plan a reality. Once your actually putting it together its a case of patience, and walking away from the tank and coming back to it with 'fresh eyes' alot of times (for me anyway) 😀
At this stage I'm quite happy to take from other peoples tank ideas (especially if those folks are of the scaping calibre of Messrs Farmer, Edwards and Moniz
) to make the scape I want in my home, but moving forward it would be great to come up with something new and push standards even higher - thats the really hard bit 😀 oldwhitewood said:
aaronnorth said:
TDI-line said:
Thanks for your compliments oldwhitewood, aaron, Dan and Johnny 😀johnny70 said:
To be honest the redmoor fell into place fairly quickly. I had a strong idea of what I was after, inspired by Luis Moniz' tank, and it happened that George was also doing something similar at the TGM day. Jim had pre-soaked some nice redmoor pieces which turned out to be too big for the demo tank, so Steve and I played for a while in the trough at TGM and came up with the layout. The rocks on the other hand took a while - about 3 days on and off of playing around. It doesnt seem to matter how much you buy, you seem to need either a different bit, or another bitaltaaffe said:
Tony
LondonDragon
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
I see a PFK feature coming along for this tank 😉
I see a PFK feature coming along for this tank 😉
Tony Swinney
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
You might want to retract that after reading the next post Paulo
LondonDragon said:
You might want to retract that after reading the next post Paulo
Tony Swinney
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
Day 4 (since planting)
Well, I wasnt going to post this until a certain issue had been resolved, but what the heck - 'warts and all' and all that 😀
The plants arrived last Thursday...
So I added enough water to cover the foreground substrate, and the planting began 😀 😀 😀
I split 4 pots of Crypt Parva into 29 plantlets, and started with them in the foreground...
Then split 4 pots of Eleocharis Parvula into 99 plantlets, and positioned them around and behind the Parva...
Next was the Hygrophila Difformis, which makes up the midground behind the roots, and then the Cyperus Helferi at the back on the left ( 2 pots = 8 plants). I also stuffed the monosolenium tenerum (pelia) in the crevices and alcoves within the roots....
That was the substrate planted up, so I filled it up some more...
This is the point where it nearly went wrong
The right hand piece of wood started to shift a little, and was just about to float up when I got my left hand on it to hold it down. I managed to grab a plant bag and fill it with gravel with my other hand and got that to weight the wood down without to much damage done.
So I now had an issue ! I didnt want to fill it any more incase the other woods started floating, but I had the substrate planted so I needed to get the filter running, temperature up, and CO2 in there. The lily pipes would not reach the water level, so i made up some inlet and outlets from some push-fit plumbing fittings that I had around so at least I could get the filter running. I also chose to add the mosses to the roots, and clingfilm the top of the tank so they wouldnt dry out. Looking good ...
Over the weekend, I kept spraying the moss, and gradually increasing the water level, whilst watching for floaters, and by this morning I got it filled completely 😀 The plumbing pipework has now gone, and the glassware is all installed, both filters are running along with the heater and the CO2 😀 😀 😀
Whilst doing this post, the bolbitis has arrived, so later on I'll be draining it down a bit and adding that 😀 I'll take some 'behind the scenes' shots for you cupboard-lovers
Cheers
Tony
Day 4 (since planting)
Well, I wasnt going to post this until a certain issue had been resolved, but what the heck - 'warts and all' and all that 😀
The plants arrived last Thursday...
So I added enough water to cover the foreground substrate, and the planting began 😀 😀 😀
I split 4 pots of Crypt Parva into 29 plantlets, and started with them in the foreground...
Then split 4 pots of Eleocharis Parvula into 99 plantlets, and positioned them around and behind the Parva...
Next was the Hygrophila Difformis, which makes up the midground behind the roots, and then the Cyperus Helferi at the back on the left ( 2 pots = 8 plants). I also stuffed the monosolenium tenerum (pelia) in the crevices and alcoves within the roots....
That was the substrate planted up, so I filled it up some more...
This is the point where it nearly went wrong
The right hand piece of wood started to shift a little, and was just about to float up when I got my left hand on it to hold it down. I managed to grab a plant bag and fill it with gravel with my other hand and got that to weight the wood down without to much damage done.So I now had an issue ! I didnt want to fill it any more incase the other woods started floating, but I had the substrate planted so I needed to get the filter running, temperature up, and CO2 in there. The lily pipes would not reach the water level, so i made up some inlet and outlets from some push-fit plumbing fittings that I had around so at least I could get the filter running. I also chose to add the mosses to the roots, and clingfilm the top of the tank so they wouldnt dry out. Looking good
...Over the weekend, I kept spraying the moss, and gradually increasing the water level, whilst watching for floaters, and by this morning I got it filled completely 😀 The plumbing pipework has now gone, and the glassware is all installed, both filters are running along with the heater and the CO2 😀 😀 😀
Whilst doing this post, the bolbitis has arrived, so later on I'll be draining it down a bit and adding that 😀 I'll take some 'behind the scenes' shots for you cupboard-lovers
Cheers
Tony
aaronnorth
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
stunning, Tony. I would be very proud of that 😀
stunning, Tony. I would be very proud of that 😀
Tony Swinney
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
Thanks Thomas and Aaron 😀
I'd meant to add this pic too...
Thanks Thomas and Aaron 😀
I'd meant to add this pic too...
Superman
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
Super work Tony.
I know what it's like when you start to see an important piece of wood float up. I didn't manage to catch it and so had to mess about for a few more hours getting it back to place.
Super work Tony.
I know what it's like when you start to see an important piece of wood float up. I didn't manage to catch it and so had to mess about for a few more hours getting it back to place.
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
really nice setup youve done there now Tony, both hardscape and planting, and so clear once youve filled up! Its going to be a stunner for sure and even better once grown in 😀 The xmas moss shouol dbe in the post tonight, didnt have time to send it over the weekend sorry.
really nice setup youve done there now Tony, both hardscape and planting, and so clear once youve filled up! Its going to be a stunner for sure and even better once grown in 😀 The xmas moss shouol dbe in the post tonight, didnt have time to send it over the weekend sorry.
Dave Spencer
Member
Re: Tonsers 200L Optiwhite (now ft. plants & a bag of gravel !)
You`ll be amazed at how mobile a wood scape can move around through slight movement of the water (and being knocked 😳 ). Take a photo of this in a month or two and the angles of all the wood will have changed as they find their equilibrium.
Dave.
You`ll be amazed at how mobile a wood scape can move around through slight movement of the water (and being knocked 😳 ). Take a photo of this in a month or two and the angles of all the wood will have changed as they find their equilibrium.
Dave.
