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Always room for just one more....

Ady34

Moderator
UKAPS Team
Joined
27 Jul 2011
Messages
5,115
Location
Co. Durham
Hi,
I’ve noticed a lot of ‘lockdown’ set up journals being added to the forum which is great, I have to admit to being guilty of this too 🙂

I do have my ada 30c set up which unfortunately has been severely delayed as I have been unable to get equipment due to the global pandemic.

I still had the desire to set up another tank though so ‘found’ a perfect spot in the house for just one more.....

I popped to my local and purchased a display Evolution Aqua Aquascaper 600 on super Matt anthracite cabinet which worked well within the space.

Equipment:
Tank: EA 600
Light: Twinstar 600e with S2 pro controller
Filter: Fluval G3
Co2: 2kg via Co2 art pro regulator and inline diffuser
Heater: hydor inline

I had and initially set about planning an iwagumi layout but quickly realised that my rocks were not ideal for this so popped back to my local and was immediately drawn to a piece of hornwood so changed the plan to a ryoboku style.
I decided upon trying to create a less traditional planting plan without the fullness of a stem background and more an all round carpet with a focal plant to add height and colour.

The tank in the perfect little spot....

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I decided upon Tropica soil, normal and topped with powder:

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I then created a simple ryoboku scape with the main piece of hornwood and a few small pieces of bogwood I had in stock. The hardscape was planned to be viewed mainly from two sides:

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I was then ready for planting.....

cheerio for now,

TBC.....
 
Fits in perfectly , glad your doing another scape mate looking forward to seeing it planted , i am planning on a huge peice of wood maybe next time but plenty of time.

Looking forward to update mate.
Dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Fits in perfectly , glad your doing another scape mate looking forward to seeing it planted , i am planning on a huge peice of wood maybe next time but plenty of time.

Looking forward to update mate.
Dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
Thanks Dean, I should mention this scape has been running for a few months now, I planted it on August 3rd 🙂
 
So, I decided upon a plant list almost immediately, I wanted a low foreground carpet and mainly grass like plant style for the rest with a feature plant in the centre.
Off I went and returned with most of what I wanted with a couple of wild cards left over from the dooa terrarium I had previously set up. I have added a few extras over the weeks, some of which very recently trimmed from the terrarium.

Current plant list:
Micranthemum ‘Monte Carlo’
Eleocharis mini
Hygrophila araguaia
helianthemum tenellum green
helianthemum tenellum red
Saggitaria subulata
Ranunculus inundatus
eriocaulon cinereum
Anubias nana - added later
Bucephelandra kedegang - added later
Bucephelandra mini needle leaf - added later
Bucephelandra unknown green - added later
Christmas moss - added later
Hygrophila pinnatifida
nymphaea zenkeri
Rotala indica bonsai - added later
Pogostemon halferi - very tiny leftover introduced accidentally with the ranunculus.
Pogostemon erectus - added later
lilaeopsis brasiliensis

Ready to plant:

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planting process. Initially I didn’t want to add any epiphyte species to the wood which was left bare. This changed later as a more NA style was followed:

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Complete, minus the feature lotus lily which was on order. I tried to blend some of the carpet plants from the wood into the Monte Carlo to offer a more natural transition. Eleocharis mini, lilaeopsis brasiliensis and erioculon were used in the foreground to mix the textures slightly. I also added some ranunculus in the centre foreground as a bit of a wildcard as it’s leaf shape and colour was quite different to most of the other plants:

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It was late so covered it up for the evening ready to add equipment and fill the next day:

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filled:

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This scape was a test for me with a full carpet, something that over the years I’ve had little success with. There were also some new plants for me so it was a try it and see plant list. I have to say I was nervous 😬
 
Looks great mate that was some plant list for a 600 really like the simplicity of the hard scape but I have not dout it take a while to get it to feel as natural as it looks
 
Looks great mate that was some plant list for a 600 really like the simplicity of the hard scape but I have not dout it take a while to get it to feel as natural as it looks
Ha, yeah it’s a busy list, but not busy at the same time, a lot of the plants blend so they look almost the same.
To be honest the wood did most of the work, was just a case of putting it in the right position so there was enough planting space and it looked balanced from the two sides 🙂
 
Once planted things went well for about three weeks, the plants seemed in good health and were filling in nicely.
I was happy that the Monte Carlo carpet in particular seemed to be doing well as I’ve had little luck with a true carpet before.

After a few days I also decided to add some mini bucephelandra and anubias nana to the wood:

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Everything was looking great, but then it took a turn for the worse. The anubias melted and shortly afterwards diatoms and then the mc began melting also from a single spot in the centre.....
This shot was taken just after the anubias melt, I had purchased some buces to replace the anubias:

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Then 2 days later...
Diatoms and strangely staghorn algae rose their ugly heads:

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and a melt hole in the mc, my fears were realising....

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It wasn’t looking it’s best for a few weeks:

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So back to every day water changes,

96CFCF73-5CFC-45E0-956E-EFA01B315407.jpeg

I cut out the effected mc patch and replanted a few cuttings, along with a reduction in lighting intensity and an adjustment to co2 and ferts.
The lighting had been set at 70% for a 7hr photoperiod with half hour sunrise and sunset. I reduced the maximum intensity of 70% for a three hour period and the rest was 40, 50 and 60%. Ferts were doubled from 2 pumps of Tropica specialised to 4 daily. I also heavily trimmed the mc.
At this point I also chose to add a cuc of 7 ottocinclus and 10 amano shrimp.....the latter enjoyed being in the fluval pre-filter more than the tank, and still do :crazy:
A couple of weeks later by mid September I was seeing a reduction in algae and and increase in plant health and growth again 🙂

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the lily i’d added a couple of weeks ago was starting to grow...

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...and generally the tank was back on the right track....

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cheerio for now.
 
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Everything was looking great, but then it took a turn for the worse. The anubias melted and shortly afterwards diatoms and then the mc began melting also from a single spot in the centre.....
This shot was taken just after the anubias melt,

The tank has grown in really quickly Ady and looks great. What do you think was the cause of the sudden MC melt, a nutrient deficiency?
 
The tank has grown in really quickly Ady and looks great. What do you think was the cause of the sudden MC melt, a nutrient deficiency?
Hi,
yeah I think the plants initially grew quite quickly, used up their reserves and I was lean on both co2 and other fertiliser. As soon as I doubled my fertiliser dosage most of the plants, tenellum, lotus, saggitaria began growing really fast immediately. The mc took a while longer, it was particularly effected and I trimmed it heavily and was likely more dependant upon co2 also. I guess it had only been 6 weeks but I was pleased things were back on the right path and I was overcoming my carpet nemesis 😛
 
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Once back on track it was great to see the plants developing and I decided to add some more inhabitants. I added some ss grade crs and crb along with some Pseudomugil gertrudae; spotted blue eyed rainbowfish, which suited my water and the scape.
The new additions added another level of interest and it’s great to watch the tank as the rainbows are always on the move in all water levels, in and out of the plant mass.....they are also near impossible to get a decent image of so I’ve attached a very recent image of a bluefin Notho killifish addition instead :lol:

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That’s pretty much up to date.
The plants went crazy and a couple of days ago I noticed a little melt on some of the plants again. This was likely due to the increased plant mass and the resultant demands on co2 and nutrients. So yesterday, 2 months after filling, I carried out a major trim and thin of the plants. The tenellum in particular had taken over, it was everywhere and in everything 😛 I simply pulled and snipped it and it’s runners from everywhere it wasn’t supposed to be. There was a cluster of tenellum red at the right foreground which had grown tall and covered the hygrophila araguaia, most of this was removed and the hygrophila is now visible again which is nice. The scape looks tidier again and has a nice shape.
The largest lotus leaves were removed to encourage more compact growth, the Monte Carlo was mown and generally a little tidy up of the hygrophila pinnatifida, ranunculus and Christmas moss.
All in all I’m pleased with how this tank has developed and chuffed to have a carpet 😎
I’ll leave this post now up to date with an image taken last night right after trimming. I do have a lightscreen on order which should hopefully be here this week and will finish the background off nicely.
The scape wasn’t designed to be best viewed from full frontal, but with the plant trim and shape it looks quite nice this way also 🙂

A4770D8E-E05B-4FE0-A73F-CC473B24754A.jpeg

Cheerio,
 
Crikey, I thought surely not another one, there really can't be any space left in your house 😛
But I think I've seen this one develop already, and it's looking great Ady 🙂
 
Crikey, I thought surely not another one, there really can't be any space left in your house 😛
But I think I've seen this one develop already, and it's looking great Ady 🙂
Ha, I know it’s getting a bit like that 😛
Yeah shared it on Instagram and just got round to posting here too.
cheerio,
 
Tank looks great mate very healthy and natural, glad you got issues sorted, crazy what a lack of nutrients will do.

I also have never been able to grown monte carlo and mine was growing well and now starting to melt etc i may up my EI ferts. I am also going to make a AIO fertiliser with dry powders once the rest arrive.

Fish look amazing in there.
Dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Ooh I really like this, it reminds me of a wildflower meadow where the edges have been mown. Looks really great, love the mix of grasses with the lotus and the two interestingly-shaped leaf/ball & stem plants in the foreground.
 
Hi @Ady34 tanks looks very vibrant and clean lovely carpet looks simple but we both know mixing those plants to get the right hight and look is very difficult to achieve but you have smashed it mate qell done really nice
 
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