Big Red Rootscape 160 litre

[Simon Day]

Finally got round to recording this one (only been planted 40 days!) … so here goes (assuming I can remember how to post photos off flicr etc!)


This is my second attempt at an aquascape after a 30litre / 45cm tank started around this time last year (see planted tank gallery section for 'Aquascape Number 1 - retro journal'). Hopefully I have learned from a few mistakes along the way and picked up on some of the fantastic knowledge of those who post on this site.

After buying a 90cm optiwhite tank in September I set about slowly putting together all the bits and pieces for a root based scape….. working on the basis that that if I buy the bits one by one I won't realise just how much it has cost! Eventually came across a really great redmoor root piece at TGM that is the basis of the scape and after a month of soaking it I was ready to commence the build on the weekend before xmas.

Location for the tank is on top of wife's favourite bit of oak lounge furniture….. suitably modified with the addition of an internal sub-frame and extra legs to support the weight of the tank….. plus multiple holes in the back for wires and pipework. She was just about still speaking to me until I put a hole through the lounge wall to allow for easy water changes from the adjacent utility room!

Kit-list as follows:

Tank - 90 x 45 x 40 Optiwhite (160 litre approx)
Lighting : Arcadia OTL LED Classica Pendant (80cm long, 87w LEDs)
CO2 : 2kg FE with CO2Art 2 stage regulator & solenoid, 80mm bazooka type diffuser @ 2BPS
Filter : Tetratec EX1300 external filter with regular media
Ehiem mini surface oil filter

Substrate : ADA Amazonia (powder & regular)
Hardscape : Redmoor root + sandstone pebbles

Water parameters : very soft (KH/GH unknown) at ph7.0 to 6.8 from the tap …. <6.0 in the tank currently as my test kit does not go any lower! tank kept at 22C as currently mostly shrimp.

Day 1 to 40 to follow tomorrow when I remember how to access my flicr files!

 

[Simon Day]

28 days before planting:

After trawling the forums for pros & cons of dry vs wet start I decided on hardscape first + water only to give my new filter a chance to deal with the ammonia spike from the new ADA substrate. This would also give me chance to change my mind on hardscape positioning etc before planting.

Decision No1 was how to place the large red moor root. After much playing about I decided on a 'traditional' position for the root i.e.. a natural look with the root the right way around! While I like the look of most of the scapes on here that have upward facing woodwork in the real world things actually grow the other way around I think. I did think about cutting it up into smaller pieces but resisted the urge and stayed with the single piece (approx 90cm long x 30cm high x 30 cm wide )

used sandbags to set in the desired position … due to the size of the root I wasn't able to get the textbook 'rule of thirds' position in the tank but reasonably happy anyway

Needed to use tie-wraps to hold it down as despite 6 weeks soaking the root was still very buoyant

Finally, added soil, sand and sandstone pebbles to go for that riverbank look

Just add water ……. and despite addition on more pebbles just watch various bits float away…

Finally after installation of LED pendant

And from the side ….

 

[Christian Walker]

This is going to look great ! I love that bit of wood ! Why do i never seem to find bits like that , lol

 

[Simon Day]

Day 1 : (January 16th)

Ammonia spike been and nearly gone so hopeful that my new filter has a healthy bacteria colony on the way (I helped it along by seeding it with some filter media from the other tank)

Plants arrived via post & collection - (mostly gel tissue culture pots but some regular pots) all look generally OK but a few look a little overgrown and 'pot bound' ….next time i won't start a tank just after christmas as I think slow moving stock might be an issue this time of year.

Plant list as follows: (apologies to any latin / plant scholars out there for the inevitable spelling errors)

Anubias barteri nana
Rotala Rotundifolia
Staurogyne repens
Aponogeton bulb (can't remember variety)
Hydrocotyle tripartita
Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo'
Myriophyllum tuberculatum
Pogostemon erectus
Pogostemon helferi
Rotala Bonsai
Christmas moss
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Rotala wallichii

Most added on day 1 but have added a few as the weeks have progressed

Planted and water added …..was not sure where to put the Pogostemon Helferi so left in the pots for now (they didn't make a good transition to submerged growth anyway so only a few offcuts finally made it into the scape)

More Day 1 shots

Day 10:

Have now discovered an annoying issue with the Arcadia OTL LED unit - while it seems to give more than enough light for the plants to thrive it would appear that the controller only lets you set the light intensity OR the timer …not both! The timer is great as it ramps up intensity and controls 4x groups of LEDs independently but it ramps up to full power every time. Shame but the unit seems otherwise very good value and looks OK also. I think i may overcome this in the future by replacing the controller with another unit off the web (various seem to be available at circa #30). Have controlled intensity by reducing light time to 7 hours and raising pendant to around 30cm from surface.

Diatom growth now quite high ….fortunately due to my earlier 'plant-less cycling' the ammonia levels are now zero so added 12x Amano shrimp who soon set about the diatoms and issue did not get any worse for the next couple of weeks.

Water changing 50% every 3 or 4 days or so …. my local water company are digging up the mains near me for the next few months and my tap water seems to have loads of 'extra' chloroamine added for my safety. PH of tap water now circa 6.4 as a result but adding 1.5x doses of dechlorinator at water changes just to be sure I am taking it all out. Net impact on tank PH is now 6.0 or lower as my test kit only measures to 6.0.

Day 21:

Growth seems pretty good so far and although Diatoms and some dusty green algae are present I am holding my nerve and not making many changes to the lighting / fertilisation regime. Currently dosing 6ml Tropica Premium every other day with 6ml ADA Green Brighty Lights on the other days.

Amanos all seem to be thriving but still plenty of diatoms so added 4x ottos to the tank. Never had these before but they seem to have settled in very quickly and have set about stripping all the algae growth of the bare wood and anubias leaves.

Happy ottos …don't seem to mind CO2 concentrations either

 

[Simon Day]

Day 40 (today):

Have dropped back to 50% weekly water changes for last couple of weeks as algae not an issue at present …just start to a see a little on the front glass by time of water change. Leaving back and side walls alone as ottos seem to be looking after this for me. Background plants are finally coming up from behind the root (Rotala Wallichii doing well) but realised I have made a poor choice with Pogostemon erectus as it looks great but only grows to 10cm high according to the Tropica catalogue. As my root is about 20cm high it is unlikely to ever be visible! Some plants getting a little leggy so I have dropped height of LED unit to about 20cm above water surface.

Have added around 25 shrimp from my other tank over the past few weeks ….(as and when I can catch the elusive creatures) but no further fish as yet. At lead another 25 to be added + hopefully they breed on as well as my other tank.

Overall reasonably happy with left side of scape (approx 60cm) but still not happy with right hand side (30cm). Had to take out the apongenton bulb last week as it wasn't really thriving and had started to rot so I am in need of inspiration for something big to go in right hand corner? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Also, any suggestions for fish variety? I am planning to add fish in a month or so when background foliage has really taken as I want them to have a bit more cover than they would have now. I am looking for a shoal of circa 25 but must be small and not bother my various shrimp colonies. White mountain minnows are a possible but they are a little plain colour wise and I would prefer some contrast to the green foliage.

 

[luckyjim]

Really like this. How did you attach the moss to the wood? It seems to have taken very well.

 

[Brian Murphy]

That has really grown well for you, especially the moss I think harlequin rasboras would look well in there, shoal well and would just enhance the natural look of it. You say that the shrimp have bred for you and they are amano shrimp? Also how have you attached the light unit to the ceiling ?(what does it entail screwing into ceiling), as I am getting one next week

 

[Lindy]

Is that Mini Pelia at the top of the stumps and along the wood? Absolutely stunning!

 

[Dantrasy]

Love it!

Maybe you could repeat the anubias in another location?

 

[havok]

Looking good. Shame no local fish store any drift wood like that nearer to me!

 

[Simon Day]

Really like this. How did you attach the moss to the wood? It seems to have taken very well.

Moss is Christmas moss that was spread out quite thinly and held in place with some moss thread i bought off the internet from an HK store. looking at the stuff it seems to just be really fine fishing line. It has really taken well and seems to stay fairly compact. The guys at TGM advised me to plant it with plenty of wood visible and that seems pretty sound advice to me. I will likely trim it back a bit this weekend as it is starting to overshadow some of the planting as it seems to spread out horizontally and support itself in the water rather than hang down.

 

[Simon Day]

That has really grown well for you, especially the moss I think harlequin rasboras would look well in there, shoal well and would just enhance the natural look of it. You say that the shrimp have bred for you and they are amano shrimp? Also how have you attached the light unit to the ceiling ?(what does it entail screwing into ceiling), as I am getting one next week

I quite like the idea of harlequins but like most fish i am not sure if 80w+ of LED death ray will upset them! Hence I am waiting for the background foliage to thicken up a bit. Plan was for the Aponogenton to grow to about 80cm long and provide some cover …. looking for plan B now that plan has failed and bulb rotted.

Amanos haven't bred …don't think they will in fresh water but hoping that my crystal red shrimp breed in this tank as well as they have done in my small (shrimp only) scape. I suspect that the addition of a load of fish may inhibit them somewhat though!

As for the light, it came complete with a set of wires and neat chrome ceiling fittings ….the unit overall seems good value apart from the annoying issue with setting the light intensity.

 

[ADA]

Looks great, the moss growth is nice and compact too.

 

[Simon Day]

Love it!

Maybe you could repeat the anubias in another location?

Thanks for the positive comment ….I nearly cut the anubias rhizome into a few shorter sections when I first planted them out. May still do this with the largest one as it does look a bit odd all bunched up.

 

[Simon Day]

The Monte Carlo carpet has grown in really well and is now a dense layer about 1cm thick I guess. I have not used this plant before so would welcome any advice as to what point I should do a first trim on it? If so then how hard to cut it back?

 

[Robert H. Tavera]

Nice work, I'll follow your tank ! Any idea of fish selection?

 

[Simon Day]

Nice work, I'll follow your tank ! Any idea of fish selection?

Thanks for the feedback Robert.

Not sure on fish as yet. Want something (or things) that : a) give a nice contrast to green plants, b) shoal well c) stay in top half of tank, d) don't mind 80W+ of LEDs with not much cover, and e) Won't bother/eat my crystal red shrimp! ……… answers on a postcard please!

Forgot to add e) don't mind relatively high surface flow rate either!

I don't want to back off the flow rate as it is fairly strong and full width of the tank from right to left via a spray bar. I am convinced that this is one of the reasons for good growth and low algae as CO2 seems to be well spread with no real dead spots at the moment (this may change as tank fills out).

I am thinking about getting a red crispus bulb or similar for back right hand corner. Hopefully this will grow fast and provide some surface cover as the current will pull it along the back of the tank. It should give some good colour contrast also I think.

 

[BBogdan]

Hi Simon ,
very nice tank! , is not crowded and I like your healthy plants free from algae.

If it was my tank I wold consider to add a group of Hyphessobrycon amandae (Ember Tetra) , and maybe Iriatherina werneri ...both species are very peaceful and safe for shimps

Good luck!

 

[Simon Day]

Hi Simon ,
very nice tank! , is not crowded and I like your healthy plants free from algae.

If it was my tank I wold consider to add a group of Hyphessobrycon amandae (Ember Tetra) , and maybe Iriatherina werneri ...both species are very peaceful and safe for shimps

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion BB

I had not heard of the Threadfin rainbow fish (Iriatherina werneri) before you suggested it ….certainly something a little bit different from the usual. I will have a look for these as i don't recall seeing them in any of the LFS that I visit. I guess they will order some in I wanted them. Ember tetras look good also but have seen mixed postings on how well they stick to the top half of the tank. (the bottom is pretty busy with Ottos and shrimp at the moment and I have a few Corys waiting to be re-homed into the tank …. when I feel the plants have rooted in enough to cope with them digging about).

 

[Simon Day]

I have been thinking of how I can provide a little bit more cover for fish exposed to the strong LED lights (other than floating plants which will all get blown to the left hand end of the tank). The area of the tank with the sand path does not need much in the way of direct light so i was thinking about placing some translucent (green?) plastic onto the top of the glass covers in this area. I may cut it out into leaf like shapes to give a sort of dappled green shade effect? Has anyone tried anything similar to this with any success?

Perhaps I am over concerned with stressed fish than I need to be and should just put them in and see how well they cope with the bright light!!!