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Higher heights - 54L to 70L 'upgrade' rescape...

nry

Member
Joined
23 Oct 2007
Messages
1,225
Location
Cumbria, UK
In light of finding a 60h x 45h x 30d (cm) tank in a skip at work, wanting to rescape completely, and having regretted not buying this dimension in the first place (prefer the height, I bought a 60x30x30 originally), here begins the saga of my next aquarium setup.

Genera specs will be:

* 70L 60cm x 36cm x 30cm aquarium
* 2 x 15w T8's in modified Juwel Rekord hood
* TetraTec EX600 filter
* Inline Hydor heater
* Inline CO2 diffuser, running from 2kg FE and eBay regulator

* Substrate - Tetra Complete topped with Dorset 3mm gravel

Decor:

Wood:

wood.jpg


The image above has been turned upside down so the shadows make it look strange. Dimensions are ~45cm x 25cm x 25cm so it should look like a dead tree stump of sorts once in the aquarium. It should sit in the back-right of the aquarium.

Planting:

The wood will either house java fern or windelov, or I'll put a large crypt behind the root stump and put some mini java fern along the spur and around the stump.

I plan on a clump of smaller crypt, probably wendtii to the back left of the tank, with a carpet of eleocharis mini filling all the gaps. I'm toying with one of the longer/thinner leaved crypts reaching up and along the surface somewhere, but I'm sticking with everything above for now. The aim is for lush but simple, with reasonably low maintenance!

No idea on fish as yet - I'll have some cherry shrimp from my existing setup, I'll see what is around in the LFS's once everything is settled in.
 
Okie dokie, the tank from the skip is great, no scratches, no leaks, not entirely sure why it was just dumped but hey ho!

It is actually 60cm w x 30cm d x 36cm h - in short, 5cm taller than my existing tank. That doesn't sound much, but the tank space just seems so much bigger!

Cleaned:

cleaned.jpg


Leak test passed:

leaktest.jpg


Front view of initial layout testing:

front.jpg


Side view of initial layout testing:

side.jpg


Comments welcome, I am going with heavier planting to the right, but I'm not sure if the wood needs to move left at all, either way I am really liking this one - the wood has been sawn though, so I am thinking of sanding the cut section to remove the saw tooth marks.

I'm also not sure on what colour to choose for the background. I'm thinking 'magnolia' of sorts, the background above is some old wallpaper.

Pictures are from my phone as my camera memory card is in my laptop at work, not much use there!
 
Hi the tank looks amazing for a skip find and I can imagine the 6cm makes all the difference as I have a 30cm and it does feel a little short.

My only worry about the hardscape is the the "roots" of the wood are so far in the substrate they will disappear underneath everything, is it possible to raise the whole piece up a couple of inches to show them better?
 
I actually really like it... it has a really nice natural feel.... the only thing i would suggest you try maybe, bank/slope the substrate high to low from back to front at an angle where the wood is situated to give some height.... did that make sense? lol
 
Banking makes sense, I perhaps need to bank it more as it is raised higher already :)

The wood would lift out, I wasn't sure if it looked better with the roots in/out of the substrate like above, or more of them out. If I lift it too far it looks like it is sitting on the substrate as opposed to being 'rooted' in it.

I don't mind the height of the stump, though higher would be fine too :) It is really really tangly, loads of thinner roots weaving in and out of each other.

Nice links Garuf, thanks!
 
I have 25kg of substrate, I suspect I can rinse some more :)
 
Plants ordered today:

2 x Tropica Eleocharis sp. 'mini' 1-2-GROW! for carpet
1 x Cryptocoryne costata for rear-right
1 x Microsorium Pteropus Windelov for wood
1 x Microsorium mini also for wood

I'm guessing they'll be here next week given the bank holiday :)
 
I love that wood. Good hardscape!

Hate to critiscize, but you should add more depth by sloping the substrate. I would have sloped it behind the "stump" in the corner, but thats just me!

Keep up the good work :D
 
I am debating that, I've got oodles of substrate left so I may rinse some more.
 
It'll be fine, there will be other plants giving substrate cover too and I am thinking of keeping some of the front area clear of plants.
 
Any better? I'm not adding the small pebbles until the plants are on the wood, they're a fiddle to fish back out of the small gravel :)

1.jpg


2.jpg
 
I think I've decided to go for some cardinal tetra in this one - along with ~6 oto's and some shrimp.

Not entirely sure how many cardinals to go for in this size of tank, 12-15 or is that too many do you think?
 
I'm not sure on stems, really not sure - mainly because they grow like wildfire and they need trimmed all the time, however I did debate some crypt balansae or similar...
 
Hi, how did you get 2 t8s into your hood? Photo would be appreciated as I have one of these...

Cheers
 
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