Well this is an extremely late journal! I started this scape in September but am only now sharing this journal with all of you
Setup
So where do I start.... I bought this 55L Dennele off of Geoff a little while ago. The whole settup has a 250 Oase thermo filter, 450E Twinstar light, EA lily glass set and a Pro-SE CO2 regulator.
Hardscape
I'm planning on doing a rock only hardscape with Mini landscape stone. I'm using neo soil and amazonia powder as well as some ADA la plata sand.
September 17th
Starting things off trying some sort of triangle composition but wasn't happy with how it was going, so went somewhere completely different. Trying to get some depth I put my large rocks at the front making this gorge diorama with a path down the middle.
Leaving plenty of room on the sides for planting. I then plugged holes with filter floss and added my sand and ADA powder, separating the soil from the sand with slate chippings.
September 26th
Planting day! So now I've sat with the hardscape for a while and I'm content with it. My plant list is as follows:
My first attempt at planting stems with tweezers....here goes nothing..
So once I had everything planted, I filled the tank and realised that my fire extinguisher was faulty and released the gas from the head instead of going through the reg.....living across the road from Aquarium gardens has its perks so I ran over there and got an Adams gas bottle (meanwhile my tank is empty but covered in cling film) hook up the new bottle and it all works! Phew!
October 5ft
So Its been a week since planting, lets see how well i did:
Lights are set to 40% for 6 hours a day. The monte carlo didn't do to well and really died back pretty hard. All the other plants seemed to do well, a lot of the H'ra would lift on and off for the first few weeks ( I guess i didn't plant them deep enough ) I was given a lump of Fissiden which i glued to the rock spire at the back then regretted it, since this photo the lump was ripped off, leaving small pieces of moss that actually took better than I thought. Also added some frogbit to soak up any excess nutrients.
November 11th
Lights set to 60% for 8 hours a day. Cherry shrimp and nerite snails added! I started having issues with brown algae on the rocks, added 5 nerites and that problem vanished completely! The Lindernia and hydrocotyl japan are doing exceptionally well. I planted some japan cuttings on the bottom right corner where the monte carlo completely melted away just to get something growing there.
Fert routine:
4ml of Tropica Premium everyday.
4ml of Tropica Specialised once a week.
Later I started using a squirt of ADA ECA after every water change.
November 21st
Lights are now on 80% for 8 hours a day. Nearly time for our first serious haircut! The Ludwigia is getting really intense sunburn, slowly followed by the H'ra, hoping for some amazing autumn colours by the end, contrasted by the Lindernia and mosses.
Speaking of autumn colours?! Time to add some fishie boiz! 15 Ember tetras to be exact!
Hard to see them because they are so pale! I have some Dennele colour boost to help with that
November 25th
Two and a half months have passed and its time to get the scissors out!
Feels a little bit sad being this aggressive with the snippies but I know it has to be done! I also cut the pinnatifida right back to promote smaller leaves, once they sprout ill trim the last large leaves they have. The remaining monte carlo have been doing really well since using the ADA ECA! which is really nice to see an actual change.
So you are all up to date with my first aquascape, hopefully things will really start to bronze over the coming weeks. Ill post updates as they come, thank you for reading
Setup
So where do I start.... I bought this 55L Dennele off of Geoff a little while ago. The whole settup has a 250 Oase thermo filter, 450E Twinstar light, EA lily glass set and a Pro-SE CO2 regulator.
Hardscape
I'm planning on doing a rock only hardscape with Mini landscape stone. I'm using neo soil and amazonia powder as well as some ADA la plata sand.
September 17th
Starting things off trying some sort of triangle composition but wasn't happy with how it was going, so went somewhere completely different. Trying to get some depth I put my large rocks at the front making this gorge diorama with a path down the middle.
Leaving plenty of room on the sides for planting. I then plugged holes with filter floss and added my sand and ADA powder, separating the soil from the sand with slate chippings.
September 26th
Planting day! So now I've sat with the hardscape for a while and I'm content with it. My plant list is as follows:
My first attempt at planting stems with tweezers....here goes nothing..
So once I had everything planted, I filled the tank and realised that my fire extinguisher was faulty and released the gas from the head instead of going through the reg.....living across the road from Aquarium gardens has its perks so I ran over there and got an Adams gas bottle (meanwhile my tank is empty but covered in cling film) hook up the new bottle and it all works! Phew!
October 5ft
So Its been a week since planting, lets see how well i did:
Lights are set to 40% for 6 hours a day. The monte carlo didn't do to well and really died back pretty hard. All the other plants seemed to do well, a lot of the H'ra would lift on and off for the first few weeks ( I guess i didn't plant them deep enough ) I was given a lump of Fissiden which i glued to the rock spire at the back then regretted it, since this photo the lump was ripped off, leaving small pieces of moss that actually took better than I thought. Also added some frogbit to soak up any excess nutrients.
November 11th
Lights set to 60% for 8 hours a day. Cherry shrimp and nerite snails added! I started having issues with brown algae on the rocks, added 5 nerites and that problem vanished completely! The Lindernia and hydrocotyl japan are doing exceptionally well. I planted some japan cuttings on the bottom right corner where the monte carlo completely melted away just to get something growing there.
Fert routine:
4ml of Tropica Premium everyday.
4ml of Tropica Specialised once a week.
Later I started using a squirt of ADA ECA after every water change.
November 21st
Lights are now on 80% for 8 hours a day. Nearly time for our first serious haircut! The Ludwigia is getting really intense sunburn, slowly followed by the H'ra, hoping for some amazing autumn colours by the end, contrasted by the Lindernia and mosses.
Speaking of autumn colours?! Time to add some fishie boiz! 15 Ember tetras to be exact!
Hard to see them because they are so pale! I have some Dennele colour boost to help with that
November 25th
Two and a half months have passed and its time to get the scissors out!
Feels a little bit sad being this aggressive with the snippies but I know it has to be done! I also cut the pinnatifida right back to promote smaller leaves, once they sprout ill trim the last large leaves they have. The remaining monte carlo have been doing really well since using the ADA ECA! which is really nice to see an actual change.
So you are all up to date with my first aquascape, hopefully things will really start to bronze over the coming weeks. Ill post updates as they come, thank you for reading
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