• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

'Cozen' - Journey to IAPLC '22 (Next stop: Cenote Aktun Ha!)

One thing to note, if you want to share your journey on UKAPS and get guidance on the scapes, before you are ready to take the final photo you can ask an admin to move the Journal offline until the competition results are announced then we can make it visible again upon your request ;)

Curious about this, can normal members see it then or just admins?
 
Curious about this, can normal members see it then or just admins?
We can move it to a section that is not visible to the public! until the results are announced and then we move it back to journals.
 
One thing to note, if you want to share your journey on UKAPS and get guidance on the scapes, before you are ready to take the final photo you can ask an admin to move the Journal offline until the competition results are announced then we can make it visible again upon your request ;)
Thanks Paulo!
 
Yesterday I woke up and I looked at my mini pond next to my bed, and I looked at the blue sky and just felt good. It was like spring had sprung and so I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Wildwoods World of Water with @shangman . Pre-Covid this was my vibe, wake up and go somewhere! I was hardly ever still.

As to be expected, it was a great visit and we came away with some really beautiful plants and fish.

The day before I actually discovered some Golden Ricefish being sold in my local Maidenhead Aquatics and so obviously I copped it! @Alex Papp told me Wildwoods had some Platinum ones so I went the next day and sure enough they were there. They are incredibly beautiful and iridescent in real life, and videos don't do it justice. They seem to be comfortable already and took a feeding on the day of arrival which is always a good sign. I'll keep them in this contest tank until spring when I'll put them in an outdoor pond. But to be honest, they look great in here.

6D83C828-2144-4490-B243-409A3B55B00F.jpeg


In terms of plants, it was a real treat! I picked up some 1-2 grow Eleocharis Mini and Eriocaulon Cinerum for the contest tank. The eleocharis fits better than the gratiola I had previously and I'm hoping will grow better too. The eriocaulon is an experiment and if it doesn't grow I'll just put some stem plants there and be done with it. I also got some Rotala Mini Butterfly from Dan which is a great hot pink colour. I doubt it'll stay that colour in my water but we'll see. Additionally, some really nice Cameroon moss which I've tucked into crevices and they look like mini ferns which really emphasises the diorama scale.

BE469BA2-7ABD-4741-ACE6-750F56828B0F.jpeg


Dan mentioned that last time I bought blyxa it was actually japonica rather than aubertii and that they had true aubertii in stock currently. You can tell the difference straight away in terms of size and leaf growth. Hopefully it does as well as the japonica has, it'll go into the Tidy Jungle. Also picked up some Water Mimosa and an interesting floating Ludwigia with white sacs on it, never seen it before but it looks good and I can't remember the name of it.

image.jpg


The show stopper was an Echinodorus Regine Hildebrandt that has some of the best colour I've ever seen on an Echinodorus. That will also go into the Tidy Jungle and I've put it front and centre!



The day didn't end when we left though. On our way out Dan told me about 2 more fish shops (dangerous) and that's where I found some gorgeous Gold Tetras. The pictures and videos don't do them justice, they are much more pretty and iridescent in person and a very cute size. They'll be my fish of choice for the contest tank. It's also ironic that they like to hang around in the exact places I'd be interested in photographing for the final shot.

81905D46-E2EE-4C2D-975F-434AE8EEA767.jpeg


C08A6CD8-5C72-4EE1-8511-0A927671611F.jpeg


Definitely pay a visit to Wildwoods if you can, easily my favourite shop so far for fish and plants.
 
The show stopper was an Echinodorus Regine Hildebrandt that has some of the best colour I've ever seen on an Echinodorus.
No kidding, what a beauty. I gotta have it! My name is actually very close to Hildebrandt so that makes it even cooler to have. I'll just pretend it's named after me. ;)

That cameroon moss looks great as well!
Gratz on your haul.
 
No kidding, what a beauty. I gotta have it! My name is actually very close to Hildebrandt so that makes it even cooler to have. I'll just pretend it's named after me. ;)

That cameroon moss looks great as well!
Gratz on your haul.
That's cool! Take that association and run with it haha.
I realised I actually didn't upload the shot with the Cameroon moss but you can see it in the photo with the single Gold Tetra. If you look closely in the background on right side it's a long thin piece of moss.
Hi all,

<"Ludwigia helminthorrhiza">. We <"have a thread">.

cheers Darrel
Thanks Darrel! I had a feeling you would know. 😁
 
Dan told me about 2 more fish shops (dangerous)
Hi Courtney,
Were these two other shops worth a visit? Just thinking if I was to take a trip to Wildwoods it would be good to make a day of it being 130 miles from home.
I've visited the WOW near Nottingham but it was pretty basic.
Thanks!
 
Hi Courtney,
Were these two other shops worth a visit? Just thinking if I was to take a trip to Wildwoods it would be good to make a day of it being 130 miles from home.
I've visited the WOW near Nottingham but it was pretty basic.
Thanks!
Hey Bazz,
The second shop is a Maidenhead Aquatics which is fairly similar across the board but they did have the Gold Tetras that I've never seen so it was worth it for me, for that reason alone. Worth just having a peek I guess.

The third shop is called Marine something and is much more focused on marine than freshwater but the marine tanks were pretty interesting. If you're looking for freshwater stuff it's fairly basic.

We brought our own lunch but there were a few pubs and cafès if you want a bite.
 
I think you and @shangman should have asked for a little commission 😂 I suspect that, following your posts, these stores will be getting a number of UKAPS visits in the near future.

I’m generally working in London at least 3 days per week so ‘tootling off’ for an afternoon is definitely on the agenda! 👍
 
I think you and @shangman should have asked for a little commission 😂 I suspect that, following your posts, these stores will be getting a number of UKAPS visits in the near future.

I’m generally working in London at least 3 days per week so ‘tootling off’ for an afternoon is definitely on the agenda! 👍
Haha well you know, Dan always treats us very well so I have no qualms. It does seem like we've convinced several people though!

You won't be disappointed!
 
Hi Courtney,
Were these two other shops worth a visit?
Definitely worth a visit, I think to get the most out of it is best to call up and ask if Dan who orders the plants is in, he always chats to us and highlights the best plants he has and knows all about them, cos some aren't labelled.

I also might ring up and check if certain plants I wanted are there, if there's a UKAPS run on things in the short term! 😂 There's a good variety but there's not loads of loads of everything, some plants there was just 2-5, but there has always been be things in so I think it gets restocked regularly.

I think you and @shangman should have asked for a little commission 😂 I suspect that, following your posts, these stores will be getting a number of UKAPS visits in the near future.

I’m generally working in London at least 3 days per week so ‘tootling off’ for an afternoon is definitely on the agenda! 👍
Does that make us UKAPS influencers? 😂 This is what UKAPS is for! 😀 Hobbyists sharing what we discover with others who love it too. World of Water is a shop with a real plant lover and expert managing the plants and I think that work deserves to be appreciated!! It isn't a massive section of the shop, but they pack in a lot. I want them to do well and hopefully that encourages even more fabulous plants, let's be honest we can't get them anywhere else easily any more! World of Water is in my regular rotation now and I think just should be one everyone knows and uses, my big tank is much nicer with these plants in it.

It's similar to be that I go to Riverwood Aquatics for beautiful hardscape because Pete has a great aesthetic eye, and to the Fish Barn for unusual quality fish from Elliot and Alan. Along with Dan at WoW, all three are clearly hobbyists themselves who sell lovely things I want with great quality, great prices and great service and banter too.

Interestingly my dad and his gardener friends have gone to WoW for their pond plants for over 30 years, I wonder what other great shops are hidden away cos they don't have a big online presence.
 
Last edited:
I went on a big cleaning spree last week which somehow coincided with me adding a background to the scape. I'm not sure how they're even linked but I guess it was just a general feeling of productivity so I rode the wave!

I've wanted to add a background since the beginning but I was debating buying an expensive ADA one, one from the several other companies that offer them (also expensive) or just making one. I decided to go for the latter, and in fact didn't order any new materials at all. I used some window privacy film that I have in my bedroom. Since the scape is already in place, I didn't even bother to apply it properly, I just taped the sides so it's tort. Then I taped on an old, slightly modular LED stick I bought from IKEA years ago that was originally for my desk, and faced it away from the tank.

I tried the several different colour options and I think I like orange the most. It's not the brightest and doesn't illuminate the whole background but I think in this scape that actually works to my advantage. The concentrated light creates a really obvious sunset effect which I think adds to the depth even more. You also get an amazing effect when the overhead lights turn off that looks like a roaring sunset and orange sky. For the final photo I may invest in a brighter light so it's more visible in photos but that's a future-me problem.

Would recommend! What do you think?

784A0F07-4250-4B17-883E-B7A5EF573AAF.jpeg


C16CC9A0-DEE8-4AB5-948D-05102C5D28BD.jpeg
 
Oooooh, it looks super pretty! I usually am not a fan of the weirder coloured backgrounds but this one looks really natural and dramatic.
 
Oooooh, it looks super pretty! I usually am not a fan of the weirder coloured backgrounds but this one looks really natural and dramatic.
Thank you! This scape is all about the drama. 😅

But yeah, normally I think either a white, black or blue works best but for this scenario orange kind of works. I think if the whole background was illuminated orange it might look weird and more artificial.
 
The orange really does look good, i may get a light screen in future but looking excellent mate
 
Back
Top