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Stu's 90x45x45cm - Wave Island - IAPLC 2013 rank 82

Really really like this tank. The hardscape I like very much. Where can I get hold of this 'manzi' wood? I have Red mopani wood but I think I prefer this manzi wood you are using..
 
You've certainly made that seiryu and manzi combination work stu, nice to see the detail on the hardscape setup this will be another amazing scape grown in, top job !
Cheers Tim :)

Very nice Stu, very nice indeed. That's an awesome bit of rock and the wood makes it look very natural.
Thanks Ian, when I said it was some big rock i wasnt joking! took a while to decide on the right pieces and its nothing like the setup I did in TGM's sand pit but that will be for a future scape ;)

Stu, lovely use of stone and wood.i rather like the overplanted look.:)
Keep the photo's coming.
Cheers
Martin
Cheers Martin, glad to oblige below

Great journal Stu. I love the last photos. Starting with such a high biomass has really helped the tank look grown in, in such a short space of time. I keep coming back to this journal to view the images. Put some more on soon !
Yes the initial biomass really helped with any startup problems. I had some BBA problems but its seems to be going now ive fixed my flow problems. Ive also got some of the dreaded BGA in there but only a very small amoutn by the glass.

Really really like this tank. The hardscape I like very much. Where can I get hold of this 'manzi' wood? I have Red mopani wood but I think I prefer this manzi wood you are using..
Have a search for Tom Barr. He sells it. Its Manzanita wood to give it its full name and it comes from the states so you wont find it in the UK

Woooow, those detail pics, just fantastic and thx for adding them too! Iv been a bit bored with this kind of tanks but you certainly did it different way, very inspiring! I think your tank looks very natural, thumbs up, mate!
:thumbup: ta raven

Love this tank. Really ambitious with the hardscape and inspirational!.
Thanks Nick. I like to stretch it now and then. sometimes it works, sometimes now but its all about learning and haivng something nice for the lounge :)

Some more detail shots

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Red cherry shrimp by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

Pencilfish

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`Pencilfish by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

A lone cherry shrimp under the arch

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Shrimp under the arch by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

Purple Harlequins on patrol

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purple harlequins by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

Ludwigia sp Red

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Ludwigia sp by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

Ammania sp Bonsai and ludwigia sp

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Ludwigia sp and Ammania sp Bonsai by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

Bubbling Ludwigia.

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Ludwigia sp by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

I have some more to process as I let the tank grow in and its had a major trim. It pointed out a few errors in the design which im in the process of fixing

I was also struggling to get flow (and co2) around the tank with there being such a big obstacle in the way! I was very lucky in just browsing ebay one day and I managed to pick up this at a huge bargain price. I managed to snap the ADA inlet putting it in (dont ask!) but its now solved the flow problems in the tank

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I'd like your thoughts on bga.

I saw someone mention a while back that you can sprinkle one if the ei ferts onto it to get rid but I can't find the post

I've got an annoying bit on the exposed to air moss that I can't get rid of so its ideal for sprinkling on.
 
A little bit of extreme trimming.

I let everything go for a few weeks, stems included then had a big chop back.

Jungle massive! this is how hairy it got

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90x45x45cm planted tank - trimming by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

right side trimmed

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90x45x45cm planted tank - trimming by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

fully trimmed

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90x45x45cm planted tank - trimming by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

after the trim i identified some faults. the top branch is now too straight after the moss and HC has grown in. Ive hacked it back since to shape it more to the wood curve.

the bottom HC is too much so Ive added some more small stones to break the line up a bit. its looking a bit straggly after the trim but will soon bounce back

The other thing is the lens length. All of these shots are 50mm on full frame and this is what the tank what designed at onto a TV (as per handy tips from mark evans). Ive tried it on 16mm and it does look quite different but Ive yet to try something like 30mm.
 
the first shot is crazy amount of healthy plants, you can barely recognise the scape.
How much tropica ferts are you dosing now stu?

All of these shots are 50mm on full frame and this is what the tank what designed at onto a TV (as per handy tips from mark evans)
lost me a little here.. is it welsh:angelic:

Nice to see the self critisism, did notice the straight wood but thought the HC looked fine until you mentioned breaking it up a bit. Will be good to see the difference.
Very handy tips for the budding scaper :thumbup:

I tried KN03 on BGA for about 4 weeks along the side of my glass but didnt really see any difference, ended up just persevering with agitating it almost daily until it gave in... then it came back a few weeks later. Best of luck shifting it mate.
 
This looks superb mate, even overgrown as it was your trim back has transformed it - I always think its a huge skill to be able to take that much trimming back and make it look as good as ever!

PS, perhaps you were a barber in your previous life? ;)
 
Stunning mate. I actually really like the pre-trim "jungle". The way you've mixed the plants is a sublime balance between chaos and order, tied together with brilliant hardscape selection and composition.

The photography is absolutely stunning too. World-class.

Can you remind us all about a few specs and maintenance practices, please?

Filters
CO2 injection method and bubble rate
Water chemistry (RO/tap, hard/soft)
Fertilisers (type and qtys)
Water changes

Good luck with the BGA. It is pure evil!

Thanks for sharing. Inspirational stuff. :)
 
the first shot is crazy amount of healthy plants, you can barely recognise the scape.
How much tropica ferts are you dosing now stu?
To be honest it didnt look too bad in the flesh but on 2D it looks massively overgrown.

re the ferts about 6 ml per day alternating between the green and brown. i probably should bump it up though with the increased biomass.

lost me a little here.. is it welsh:angelic:
Previously when shooting a step by step ive taped the lens so it stays that the same focal length. this time I decided to use a fixed lens at 50mm so instead of looking at the tank and designing with your eyes I designed it around how a final pic may look for a comp. its helps massively with mark evans tip about plugging the camera into a TV to view.
Nice to see the self critisism, did notice the straight wood but thought the HC looked fine until you mentioned breaking it up a bit. Will be good to see the difference.
Very handy tips for the budding scaper :thumbup:

I tried KN03 on BGA for about 4 weeks along the side of my glass but didnt really see any difference, ended up just persevering with agitating it almost daily until it gave in... then it came back a few weeks later. Best of luck shifting it mate.
Yeah that straight wood was like an iron bar running through the scape after i'd cut everthing! interestingly its all from plant as unplanted its quite curvy so it was possible to remove it by trimming more.

Thanks re the BGA, im just keeping on top of it and Ive changed from 50% water change weekly to 50% twice weekly. will see how it goes but its only on the front bottom glass gone from the surface wood at the moment.

This looks superb mate, even overgrown as it was your trim back has transformed it - I always think its a huge skill to be able to take that much trimming back and make it look as good as ever!

PS, perhaps you were a barber in your previous life? ;)
i was never a sweeney todd :dead:

I had an idea what needed to be trimmed and when so it was just a matter of waiting. The HC clump on top of the rock has gone ballistic so that had a heavy cut.

interestingly ive found that the weeing moss just doesnt want to attach to the wood. some bits were ready to lift when I cut it back :(
 
Stunning mate. I actually really like the pre-trim "jungle". The way you've mixed the plants is a sublime balance between chaos and order, tied together with brilliant hardscape selection and composition.

The photography is absolutely stunning too. World-class.

Good luck with the BGA. It is pure evil!

Thanks for sharing. Inspirational stuff. :)
Cheers George, veyr nice of you to say :) I think the left is looking a bit untidy at the moment. once the stems on the left bunch up with crowns it will be better but Ive got a few mixes of lileopsis, Hygrophila pinnatifida, ammania bonsai and HC at the front! probably too much in this area.

Can you remind us all about a few specs and maintenance practices, please?

Filters
CO2 injection method and bubble rate
Water chemistry (RO/tap, hard/soft)
Fertilisers (type and qtys)
Water changes
Why of course old chap :)

Filters:
RHS - Eheim 2078 through ada p2 lily (13mm so more velocity out the nozzle), cal aqua 17mm inlet.
LHS: - ADA ES-600 through ADA p2 lily and cal aqua 13mm influx (I broke the ADA inlet! ouch!!!)

CO2 injection method and bubble rate:
2bps through an UP atomiser into the inlet of the Eheim. First time ive used an UP and im really impressed with it

Fertilisers (type and qtys):
Tropica Plant growth specialised fertiliser - 6ml every other day
Tropica Plant growth premium fertiliser - 6ml every other day

Water changes:
Usually 50% weekly but now 50% twice weekly till the BGA buggers off!

Water chemistry (RO/tap, hard/soft):
Straight out the tap. Most of our water around here is quite soft as im fed from a mix of the alwen reservoir and the river dee

Here's where my water comes from :)

River Dee

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Fishermen on the Dee by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

Alwen Damn

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Alwen Raindrops by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr

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Alwen Skoda Panoramic by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr


That is fantastic tank, Stu! Again a winner, fuuuu! ;)
Cheers antoni, looking forward to meeting up again soon mate :)
 
Thanks Stu. :)

I remember Mark's tip about using the TV to determine the layout from photography vs. human eye perspective. I guess it's more appropriate for those who really take competitions seriously.

Is there any theory behind the alternate TPN/TPN+ dosing? I remember its something Graeme used to recommend but could never figure out why.
 
Is there any theory behind the alternate TPN/TPN+ dosing?
They both contain nutrients that the other doesn't therefore if you use both the plants get all the nutrients they need, the best of both and to an extent keeps the NPK down a little ;) from what I understood about it, I do the same!
 
Is there any theory behind the alternate TPN/TPN+ dosing? I remember its something Graeme used to recommend but could never figure out why.

TGM do this as well...., I'd like to know too :)
 
They both contain nutrients that the other doesn't therefore if you use both the plants get all the nutrients they need, the best of both and to an extent keeps the NPK down a little ;) from what I understood about it, I do the same!
What does TPN contain that TPN+ does not? I thought the only difference was NP.

I might try it too. :)
 
what paulo said! I got it from the same place as you as i think Graeme may have had it from tropica and I'd forgotten the theory behind it but its always worked well before when I havent been on EI.

Here's an in-situ in the lounge after the new stones have been added and a further trim.

The ADA filter started out being quite noisy which I was worried about but it settled down to nothing after a bit of running in over a week. Would you belive its the one from the PFK comp!

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90x45x45cm front view by Stu Worrall Photography, on Flickr
 
What does TPN contain that TPN+ does not? I thought the only difference was NP.
I might try it too. :)
We didn't go into too much details but speaking to Lars at the Bar in Holland when we went to Vivarium he did say there was some difference between both ;)
 
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