90cm river bank scape (conquered HC)pic heavy

[Callum]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape

Thanks! I'll probably make a pre-Christmas order of dry ferts

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape

Thanks! I'll probably make a pre-Christmas order of dry ferts

thats great if this is your first time using dry fertz like me... these links should help a lot
http://blog.fluidsensoronline.com/calcu ... ive-index/
http://calc.petalphile.com/

 

[Callum]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape

Yeah, it's my first time with dry ferts. Those sites are really helpful... Thanks a lot!

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape

hello, little update

the scape is starting to come together as i add more plants, i've added some starougyne and christmas moss unintentionally coinciding with the christmass season here's a pic

i'm still doing emersed hopefully not to anybody's dissapointment, as the scape grows in i'll be adding some fissidens fontanus and some small species of ferns to add that tropical jungle feeling i'm looking for

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape

hello, a little update

heres a front tank shot

i added a java fern which i am unsure yet of the variation, trying to get help identifying, i also added two smaller ferns also i dont know the species.

so far now i have 5 flora species

lawn marsh pennywort
Java fern?
small fern
christmass moss
and staurogyne repens

i'm quite happy with my progress so far, the java ferns reinforces that tropical look i was looking for, and might serve as a cichlid hiding place and maybe some green neon tetra... the HC and slope on top is growing much better then the ones in the foreground which is puzzling me.. they seem to like dryer spot. or I suspect its closer to the light... i also plan on upgrading my lighting to 3 t5ho tubes of 3x39 watt.. thats about it

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape

hello, update time

i succumb to the temptation and flooded my tank, here's my tank on its better looking side

any thoughts and opinions on my progress thus far? would really like some available input to jack me up or down

also i'm starting to get the hand of scaping with plants rather than hardscaping alone... finally able to decide with much better clarity on which plants to add and which go where... so there's still alot of improvements to be made

for now this is my source of happiness

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

helo, just some new year update

i added three new plants since my last update, mini fissidens, cyrptocoryne wendtit(any help ID'ying would be great) and African Water Fern(bolbitis Heudelotii) here are some pics

this is the mini fissidens on the rocks and driftwood

this is the bolbitis which died a few days ago

this is the crypt which i think is either brown or red, i was actually looking for the red variation

and this is the FTS

the only reason its not filled yet i because i'm waiting for my toe to heal before i have to do the water change labor, had an ingrown toe nail removed... in the end i might still wait for the HC to grow in before i fill... either that or i'll definitely fill it up when i get my 150 metal halide to replace my current T5ho fixture

 

[Piece-of-fish]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

Looking beautiful. There is not much point to wait to be honest. Also be aware you will have to hang MH at least 60-80cm high at the beginning. Just 80w T5 would be enough for you at the beginning and maybe even all time. Less is more
I am a fan of this hardscape.
Java fern looks like standard type.

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

Looking beautiful. There is not much point to wait to be honest. Also be aware you will have to hang MH at least 60-80cm high at the beginning. Just 80w T5 would be enough for you at the beginning and maybe even all time. Less is more
I am a fan of this hardscape.
Java fern looks like standard type.

thanks a lot, i am aware that it has to be hung high , i was thinking maybe 20 inches or 50cm, actually come to think of it the real reason i want metal halide is because i've never had one before, so i'm really really itching to try one out,

about the java fern.. your right, initially i thought it was the narrow leaf version but i was mistaken.., oh well...

 

[Alastair]

90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

I run halides on my tank, just make sure your really on top of co2, flow and ferts and youll need to increase your co2 also or you'll have an algae bath in no time


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

hey Alastair thanks for the advice... now i'm having reservations on getting metal halides... it did occur to me previously that i might get an algae bloom... but i'm really itching to get one... i dont really want to ruin my first decent attempt at high tech aquascape(or at least what i think of it), i think ill go with the metal halide on the next scape

still a newbie when it comes to handling algae... especially with my limited budget in case something goes wrong

 

[G H Nelson]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

Hi Rabb
I like your scape...I think you could do with removing some of the wood on the left it looks a tad congested too me.
Doing that will open up the aquarium more and improve your flow.
hoggie

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

hey hogan, thanks for your interest,

initially there seemed to be quite a bit of mixed feelings and comments on the driftwood scape, some said the one on the right was distracting some said on the left... so i figured i'd just got with both and stick with the scape :idea: actually i do agree it looks packed and jumbled up but i'm hoping(with my lack of experience and whatnot) that the christmass moss will compensate for it.... i'll try and get a pic up with some of the driftwood removed

when it comes to flow, i feared the same initially, but when i filled the tank a few weeks back the flow with the nano powerhead and the lily pipe with my 2217, seemed to make really good circles clockwise so i figured the driftwood doesn't disrupt the flow as much as i feared... just to give you an idea about slightly less than half(based on looking) of the co2 bubbles makes two rounds around the tank surpisingly

 

[G H Nelson]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (still emersed)

Hi Rabb
Its all trial and error at this game there's no set rules.....I would like to see more of the rock at the back though.
Carry on scaping....see how it goes, you will tinker with scape trust me
Watch your lighting duration and intensity.....it will only give you head aches if its too much/high.
Cheers
hoggie

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (flooded)

hello, a little update

finally flooded the tank, doesn't look as good as i felt it did without water... i also seemed to have found a better method of taking FTS's, it seems its better to take fts from a distance than to get everything close up, seems to be better to zoom in than to fit the tank in the frame, at least thats what it felt like

hes a fts pic

now the only thing to do is to wait for it to fill in and grow nicely than it'll be easier to judge what new plants need planting and what scaping needs improving... feel like going in the january intake just to pass by time

funny its, when life is a fish tank and Uni a way to pass time

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (flooded) pic heavy

hello, a little update

did a water change, water cleared up a bit and i added three more plant species,

1-Anubias barteri var nana petite
2-java windelov fern
3-bolbitis heudelotii

heres a FTS clearer pic, i tried getting the colors accurate, but the HC still looks paler in the pic

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (flooded) pic heavy

hello a little update,

i'm having the new tank syndrome>brown algae attack, so added a battalion of oto's to cleanup and clear the debris and algae, not too sure if oto's were the right choice.. heres some pics

another pic of oto's in the tank

although there's no progress on the HC growth but still decided to go ahead with the obligatory FTS... i also added another batch of HC for RM 10... the pic is a little yellow and brown cause of the algae

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (brown algae attack)pic h

This is a great scape' full of potential.

Or algae issues are a case of too much light with insufficient CO2 distribution.

I'd suggest to lower light intensity.

 

[Rabb.D]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (brown algae attack)pic h

This is a great scape' full of potential.

Or algae issues are a case of too much light with insufficient CO2 distribution.

I'd suggest to lower light intensity.

wow that coming from you is fantastic!.. now im officially @#$%^& happy.. made my day!!!... (or maybe my year)haha

on the light.. its funny cause i'm using 39x2 which is what most people on here recommended i also measured my par using the formula found on barrreport and if i'm not mistaken on the soil is around 90+/- i think... which is considered to be moderate to high light... but not to sure how accurate that is considering all the variables... so should i raise the fixture? its about 15cm from water surface... and also co2 is through reactor... which is another strange thing... shouldn't that be more efficient? unless of course its not.. since its actually really cheap heres a pic and also the drop checker seems to be the right color.. slightly light green?

Edit: and i've seen your videos.. they're really beautiful i subscribed a while back... hehe

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: 90x45x45 under the river scape (brown algae attack)pic h

so should i raise the fixture?

Indeed mate. It's how i have all of my lights these days.

Switching 1 light off would half your lighting and 'spread' would be average at best.

Raising the light, decreases intensity, but gives you better spread. So, yes, raise it if you can

On a new tank, we have issues like diatoms, and even with decent co2 distribution, we still can get these minor start up problems.

The Ottos are good move. Get as many as you can. Also add Amano shrimp at some point.

increase 50% water changes to maybe 3 x weekly.

i've seen your videos.. they're really beautiful i subscribed a while back... hehe

Thanks for subbing. really appreciated