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Ady this looks REALLY lovely mate :) Even better than the first one of yours I saw. And that limpopo works great. Whats the plant front left in the first image and also the red one top left in same image please?
Thanks Chris, I think this scape has the potential to be an improvement on dragons crypt, but there's a few things that bug me. I'd set it up as a hard scape only so the left rear is lacking any real space for planting and its lacking a bit of visual depth at this side. Due to the idea of hard scape only the sand seemed like a good idea, but in reality now it's planted I'd have preferred aquasoil throughout, but decent water column dosing should keep things healthy.
the plant front left in the first of the above images is Anubias nana, and the red plant is alternathera rosefolia mini....think it's the same as a. Reineckii mini although it was labelled 'rosefolia'....either way I'm struggling a little with this one as I suspect it likes a little more light, but when I try upping the light intensity I can't manage the co2, I may need to look at an alternative plant for here if it doesn't improve.

Cracking Ady, looks great now and it'll be jaw dropping in 3 or 4 months.:woot:
just in time for IAPLC!
:lol:

Yeah hope so, needs height to the scape though.....Vallis nana is just now chucking out some long leaves since knocking liquid carbon on the head so fingers crossed.

Yes Ady! Looking fabulous and even better each time. Lovely how the plants and wood have merged together. Great photos also:clap:
thanks Andre,
yeah seems to be filling in now, just have a few gaps to fill with a few more plants but its definitely on the way.

cheerio,
Ady.
 
Yes totally agree with the above, it's really taking shape now it's filling in, looking nice a healthy:thumbup:

What height are your lights sitting at now?
much appreciated Gary, lights are sitting 13" above the water surface.....I don't know how people manage co2 with closed top systems, if my co2 goes any higher the fish suffer, but if I lower the lights I get plant issues! Ideally I think they could be raised another inch, but I'd have to get the drill out again and use much longer brackets, I wish I'd suspended from the ceiling now for both aesthetic and functional reasons.
looking forward to the pfk feature on your tank, you must feel pretty proud.
Cheerio for now,
Ady.
 
Water change night tonight.
Managed to clean the glassware with no issues. Id recently been discussing the best methods for glassware/tubing seperation elsewhere on the forum and was armed with vaseline ready to lube up the pipes to facilitate easier seperation in future....however after first trying the pushing piping further onto the glassware technique ive decided not to bother with vaseline as they came apart without a fuss :D so glassware now clean again and pipework too.....only a tiny bit of dirt left at the base of the out pipe as the JBL cleany couldnt quite get to the flat base. I dont have a spare so leaving to soak in a mild bleach solution wasnt an option.

cleanglassware.JPG


Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Glad it went well and without incident Ady :) Is there any chance of you taking a pic of the top of your tank with and without the lids slid open ? Im going to consider trying to find somewhere that may still have one of these laying around in their shop. Also, what made you choose this one over the "profile" model ? Cheers mate.
 
Glad it went well and without incident Ady :) Is there any chance of you taking a pic of the top of your tank with and without the lids slid open ? Im going to consider trying to find somewhere that may still have one of these laying around in their shop. Also, what made you choose this one over the "profile" model ? Cheers mate.
Hi Chris, yeah ill try tomorrow night, lights went off at 11 and my fish need their beauty sleep!
The glass sliders arnt in runners, they literally do slide on split level seats so are easily just lifted off. I cant close them fully currently with the glassware hung over the side, but the gap is minimal and they prevent the rapid evaporation suffered in full open top. I like having them as security for jumpers too, when i get some plants growing near the surface im going to get some hatchetfish so lids are a must.
Heres an image from pfk which shows the top:
4df4cdeba8917.jpg


Chose this one purely on aesthetics to match the living room decor.....edit.... the wife chose this one to match the living room decor! ;) I liked the gloss finish to the cabinet....plus im vertically challenged so i couldnt reach the bottom of the profiles :lol: .....and they are limited as to where you can site them with their stupid end of cabinet doors!
In all seriousness i really liked the design, the glass sliders and sliding lighting unit meant it was kind of a step towards the open topped rimless, braceless optiwhites of the die hard aquascaper. I still wanted the comfort of the closed top as the cats were fond of sitting on the hood of the old Juwel rio180, and after seeing one of them fall into the pond one day and the mess she made getting out, i didnt fancy taking the risk indoors! There was always the fear of the kids launching missiles too...only the other day my youngest had his pirate sword sloshing around my crs nano :eek:. At the time i also liked the fixed surround around the top as i wasnt fond of seeing the water line...too used to closed tops i suppose. After reading the pfk review and seeking out one to see in person i was convinced by the claims of excellent build quality so got one. I still really like it to be honest, but i do have the desire for an NA set up in the distant future.
Cheerio.
 
Thanks for that mate :) much appreciated.
Rather than fill up your thread with chit chat I will PM you with the other questions I have ;)
 
Hi ady, if you put a little rice and water in the inlet with your hand round the slits and shake it'll clean the bottom out where the brush misses.
Works a treat mate.

I love this post.
 
Hi ady, if you put a little rice and water in the inlet with your hand round the slits and shake it'll clean the bottom out where the brush misses.
Works a treat mate.
:cool: Nice tip Iain, I'll give it a go next time!
cheers,
Ady.
 
After getting over the earlier whitespot outbreak issues, and in need of a couple of plants to fill in some gaps, i decided yesterday to take a trip out to Maidenhead Stokesley for a gander. Idealy i wanted a small shoal of Marbled Hatchetfish, but they had none in stock, instead some little Ruby Tetras id seen on my last couple of visits took my fancy as i thought they would be ideal with the ember tetras i have already. Great choice, lovely little fish and happily exploring with the embers..... unfortunately one succumbed to the filter intake which is sad, the glassware i have has limited slots so the suction is quite strong with the G6 and i think he just got too close, im going to look at an alternative outflow glass pipe with more holes/slots to reduce suction. Unfortunately i cant seem to capture a good fish shot of the more active fish with my camera so no photos of them. They are a nice small fish about the same size as the embers so really look great and keep a good sense of scale in the tank.
I also found a couple of plants on my list, some more anubias nana and a bolbitis heudolotti to fill some gaps. Still looking for a nice echinodorus to fill a space at the left rear. Think i need some more red/brown tones to the left side so looking to get an E. Ozelot Red for the space.....will check out my LFS for one this week. Anyway, these are the new plants, Bolbitis under the wood, and anubias to the right of the picture filling in some more gaps between the rocks to soften that area below the Microsorum sp. You can actually see one of the Rosy Tetras at the very left of the picture.

feb20122695.jpg


This is how the gaps have been filled, still needs that echinodorus for a bit of height between the two upright branches behind the microsorum at the left side:

feb20122690.jpg


There are still a few c02 related issues in this tank, again manifesting itself with my crypts melting, you can see in the two photos above the left rear crypts melting leaves. The hairgrass in the foreground is also showing signs of co2 deficiency so even though my light is this high.......

feb20122679.jpg


......looks like ill have to get the drill out after all and add some longer brackets so i can raise it further as i dont seem to be able to strike a good balance for flora and fauna! I may even reduce my photoperiod so i can run a shorter co2 period. Im finding even with starting c02 injection 3 hours pre lights on at a slower rate, that c02 concentration is on the high side towards the end of injection.

The tank is running algae free which is good, and i only have 4 cherry shrimp in there along with 3 ottos and a Siamensis flying fox as a cuc. I really want more shrimp as they are interesting and a nice splash of colour. Im considering trying a batch of my CRS from the nano tank to see how they fare. TDS was around 190ppm when i checked yesterday which would be ok, but this was after a recent water change, so will check it later in the week after dosing to see how high it rises.
Its not often i see the shrimp out and about so it was pretty good to get 3 of the 4 on one branch in one shot, if only they would breed :confused: :

feb20122678.jpg


The photo above and the one below also show how the moss has started to take on the branches and is looking pretty healthy now which im pleased about. The shot below also shows my sturisoma who is now in need of additional food supplements. Ive tried both lettuce and cucumber and algae wafers, but he seems uninterested in those so if anyone knows of a tried and tested food for him itll be good to hear as the tank is no longer providing for him now hes growing.

feb20122693.jpg


Interestingly one of the manzy branches i purchased from George, has sprouted some Fissidens moss from a dry brown patch id not scrubbed off just in case ;) The wood was bone dry for months while it was sat in my cold garage, and how long before that i dont know, just shows how resilient it can be!

feb20122681.jpg


Cheerio,
Ady.
 
It was the night for camera videos the other day, so took one of my Sturisoma searching for some peckings when the c02 went off!

 
Nice vid, it's really growing in well now. Bet you're glad you didn't ditch the plants now!
 
:pompus: spiffing tank old boy! :pompus:

Absolutely stunning now Ady, love the way the plants have come on so much and everything is looking very balanced in visual terms.
Maybe, at a push, is there abit too much leafy greens on the right hand side? I dunno, looks stunning either way!!

...what is that yellow/clear pipe thing in front right of shots?
Is that the spray bar?
 
Nice vid, it's really growing in well now. Bet you're glad you didn't ditch the plants now!
Sure am mate. Just wish I'd made my mind up sooner so I could have had aquasoil throughout!

:pompus: spiffing tank old boy! :pompus:

Absolutely stunning now Ady, love the way the plants have come on so much and everything is looking very balanced in visual terms.
Maybe, at a push, is there abit too much leafy greens on the right hand side? I dunno, looks stunning either way!!

...what is that yellow/clear pipe thing in front right of shots?
Is that the spray bar?
Thanks Andrew, I'd thought maybe too much light green at the left with the mass of lobelia....but it actually grows so I'm reluctant to thin it out. The tenellus to the right is darker so think looks ok. I prefer the right side of the tank myself, transitions better. Hopefully the left side will improve with the addition of a red/brown Echinodorus at the rear and when the tenellus fills in there. Also going to add some more lobelia to the right side to balance the colour better.
I think your referring to the glass pipe at the right which is part if a lily pipe glassware set. The one you mean is the out pipe with the slots in the bottom which draws water to the filter and the one higher up is the filter return 'lily' pipe ( so called due to its shape). It's made of glass to be less visually intrusive.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
would love to see a pic of this backlit ady, think it would really pop!!
Will be a great IAPLC entry mate.
May give it a go soon, think I have a spare light unit in the garage!
 
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