Daydream believer - Proxima plus

[MossMan]

Nice healthy growth, you've certainly got plenty of good material for rescaping if that's what you're gona do Sunday.

Thanks Troi, it was your article on the soil substrate planted tank that inspired the substrate on this tank. Thank you a lot for that! I didnt really know what I was doing tbh, but its worked out alright

Best wishes
Richard

 

[MossMan]

6th Februry, (Day78)

Well, I had a good bit of time with the tank yesterday. I'm not entirely sure I like it, its a bit like a new haircut, you know it needs doing, but it takes a bit of getting used to I guess! lol.

Here is how the tank looked before I took the scissors to her:

Before:
DSCF6471 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

And After:

DSCF6493 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

I left the vallis in place because I want to see if the CPD i am planning on breeding and adding will enjoy mooching around in it. I am hoping it will provide them a bit more comfort, though I am concious that it blocks half the tank. The lilly on the left has shot up out of the blue in the last two days, so thats really cool! There is one more plant behind the lily that is growing, but hasnt reached the height to be seen yet - so looking forward to when it grows up and fills that corner bit of background.

Other news, I have the jecod dosing pump that I have setup and am running in a test phase dosing water into a measuring jug. I will be measuring this week. Setup seems intuitive. Fingers crossed as I am away for two weeks soon!

Kind Regards
Richard

 

[MossMan]

Just spotted one of the amano shrimp in the post trim shot - if you follow the wood to the very end on the right hand side top corner of the tank you'll see him.

 

[alto]

though I am concious that it blocks half the tank

you can gradually move it so that it forms a C curve at that RH side & into the very back of the tank - shorten the front of the "C" so you get some depth perception back but there will still be a good area for the CPD
Just syphon as you uproot so that much of any dirt cloud release is captured - it seems you have few fish in the tank at present so that's a good time for rescapes
Vallis is generally not much impacted by moving so should keep right on with it's tank domination initiative

 

[MossMan]

Well, its been a while, and there have been no dramatic plant re-scapes to update you on.

I have not long been back from a two week holiday. The jecod dosing pump clearly worked well dosing micro and macro daily. My parents dropped in every so often to feed the shrimp and ottos, and I was very pleased to come back and find nothing more than a bit of hair algae!

10th March (Day110)

View from the sofa
DSCF6521 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

View from the other sofa
DSCF6520 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

Front of tank
DSCF6516 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

I'm thinking about stocking the tank with some dwarf neon rainbows. I'm surprised that I havnt rushed in and added fish already, but have been going through phases of wanting different things. But 5 (two male, 3 female) would look good. I know the water is clean enough as I am keeping up with my weekly water changes. I'll keep you posted when I finally get my fish!

Kind regards
Richard

 

[Tim Harrison]

Looks great...I'd love to be able to look at your scape from my sofa

 

[alto]

Tanks is looking awesome, well done

If you're serious about breeding CPD, forget the rainbows - I'd add more numbers if you decide to go ahead with them: despite often being described as "peaceful" rainbows, they can be aggressive if not kept in large enough groups & their level of activity can be stressful for more retiring fish.

 

[MossMan]

Tanks is looking awesome, well done

If you're serious about breeding CPD, forget the rainbows - I'd add more numbers if you decide to go ahead with them: despite often being described as "peaceful" rainbows, they can be aggressive if not kept in large enough groups & their level of activity can be stressful for more retiring fish.

Thanks Alto, thanks also for your feedback on Rainbows. My search goes on. Will pop into the lfs tomorrow to see what they recommend.
Regards
Richard

 

[MossMan]

I have a question too. I'm currently still in my original regime of 4hrs lighting, 4hrs co2 staggered and 50ml micro/macro dosing alternate days with one rest day and water change a week.

I have added shrimp and ottos, but am wondering whether i ought to increase the lighting period (and adjust co2) when I start increasing the fish stock.

I'm obvs happy with the plant growth, just not sure whether the fish would thrive more with longer periods of lighting. I know I would be happier with more than 4hrs a day daylight!

All the best - nearly the weekend
Richard

 

[parotet]

Wow, nice little jungle... It looks awesome now. Congrats!

Jordi

 

[alto]

Go ahead & extend light hours gradually (I skipped back quickly but am a little unclear on actual tank parameters & technology) - it's not uncommon to run a 6-8 hour photoperiod
You could also look at adding in a dimmable LED for fish/tank viewing after hours.

 

[MossMan]

So last weekend, I did get some amazing fish.

DSCF6530 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

DSCF6539(2) by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

DSCF6550 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

IMG_7521 [42033] by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

IMG_7515 [42031] by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

IMG_7512 [42029] by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

I got 6 melanotaenia lacustris - blue rainbow fish.

I went to the aquarium shop Saturday, took a note of what they had and the advice that they gave me and went back on Sunday having done my research.

They have really added to the tank and every day are getting more colourful.

I appreciate your feedback Alto about the rainbows not being quite as calm as some might say - they are very active. I'm not totally re-thinking the cpd plan, but will need to consider what stage I add them and if I add them at all. I do seem to now have one very active bold fish thats going to grow (the rainbows), and one small shy fish thats not going to grow (other than in numbers)...oops. I was warned, I got sucked into the blue glow of the rainbow! For now both can be happy in their separate tanks.

I am happy with my fish choice (although my vision has slightly altered its course).

Hope you guys enjoy the pics and have a happy weekend.
Richard

 

[Straight Shooter]

Excellent fish choice, you won't be disappointed. Lots of live food in combination with good prepared food and they'll colour up very nicely. Even frozen live food is good.

Tank is looking fantastic.

 

[MossMan]

1st May 2016 - Day 162

So time is going quickly and I have been letting my scape become a bit of a jungle. Everything is growing up and up and I keep meaning to get involved and have a cut back. But then I like it as is, so am reluctant to go in with the scissors and potentially mess things up!

I am of course continuing with the 50% water changes weekly, and the daily ferts.

Here is how the tank is looking today.


DSCF6567 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

DSCF6573 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

Annoyingly I ran out of Co2 and couldnt get any for a couple of days - and the algae appeared, but I will scrape it off next weekend.
DSCF6575 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

This amazon sword is probably going to be first in line for tank extraction - its totally taken a hold and believe it or not, there are still plants behind it that are not on show because they havnt caught up with the growth yet!
DSCF6580 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

DSCF6568 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

DSCF6564 by Richard Heasman, on Flickr

Hope you have enjoyed the pics.

Enjoy the bank holiday weekend!
Richard

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Richard, Simply Wonderful

 

[MossMan]

Hi Richard, Simply Wonderful

Thanks Roy, I'm really happy with the results. Spent a lot of time researching before I kicked off - I guess thats all captured by this thread, but now its just a 60min water change a week and 2min dosing daily. That leaves me with just 2hrs a day to enjoy staring at the plants and fish

 

[Albert Hofman]

your tank looks great! nice how the val takes over and in the middle you see some wood with moss.

 

[MossMan]

Just been looking through the old tank Journal, and sadly, day 1530, the tanks not looking as good as it has previously done. Nov 2015 is when water was first introduced (just over 4 years ago) and though I have dosed and done pretty much a 50% weekly water change religiously, I have undeniably done a frozen and 'let it go'.

Still, the fish are happy, and it cant be argued I havnt maintained the 'Jungle' theme! ha.
I'm happy too. Been enjoying the tank and am set to continue to do so for a while to come still!

So, my dilemma.....start again......or have a hard cut back.......perhaps do a bit of both and introduce some new, but keep some old. I welcome any comments or suggestions.

I'll share a pick of which direction I take it in but here she is for now....

Kind regards
Richard

 

[mort]

The rainbows have matured nicely.

I'd be tempted to do a little trial maintenance, like remove some of the carpet, strip the debris and replant some nice bits. If you do this you will see if you can freshen up the tank or if it will need a strip and rescape, just by looking how it goes. I always think it's a shame to rip a mature tank apart, especially as the fish aren't worried about a little algae.

 

[MossMan]

So I didnt go too full on, but I did have a tank tidy up. Still need to get in with the razor blade and tidy up some of that red spot algae, but I'm a bit happier with the tank now.

And a few general tank shots of the plants inhabitants!

Many thanks for popping by.

Kind regards
Richard