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80cm island

My favourite aquarium filling experience o_O :wideyed: :banghead:

(happened more than once when I rescaped my 60P last month - I finally stripped it down and rescaped with different wood - though this was very much about how the S selatenensis were using the space
They showed no interest in all the lovely wood hideaways, so new scape is much more open swimming space)

It’s infuriating, as it’s completely my fault getting over excited and not testing the buoyancy before hand. It sank in 6” of water but not 12!

S selatenensis are stunning fish.

I went to my local fish shop today and may have had a change of heart, saw a shoal of green tetra.

I’ve always stayed away from them seeing them as the easy choice, but can’t help but think how amazing 2/3 dozen of them swimming around would look.

Also saw Trichopsis pumila

So think they might be on the cards as well.


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Day 5.

No buce or crypt melt! Probably because a lot of plants, hardscape, filter media and water from my previous scape was used.

Lots of wood fungus, so since the Chemistry looks good I’ve added 6 ottos to munch on it!

70% water changes daily.


Added a few more tufts of Eleocharis, all be it a bit yellow. Hopefully they’ll take.

Hydrocotyle has taken off already, HZ, starting to bounce back.

Wondering when to start ferts? Not for another few weeks, and it’ll be lean at that.

Low energy people- advice please?

Also swapped the lily pipes out for a less bulky design and moved them. Concerned about flow now though. Any ideas?

The skimmer on the left runs for 15 mins every other hour.

676f7b24b9e3662b10209dc645d6b36f.jpg



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Day 5.

No buce or crypt melt! Probably because a lot of plants, hardscape, filter media and water from my previous scape was used.

Lots of wood fungus, so since the Chemistry looks good I’ve added 6 ottos to munch on it!

70% water changes daily.


Added a few more tufts of Eleocharis, all be it a bit yellow. Hopefully they’ll take.

Hydrocotyle has taken off already, HZ, starting to bounce back.

Wondering when to start ferts? Not for another few weeks, and it’ll be lean at that.

Low energy people- advice please?

Also swapped the lily pipes out for a less bulky design and moved them. Concerned about flow now though. Any ideas?

The skimmer on the left runs for 15 mins every other hour.

676f7b24b9e3662b10209dc645d6b36f.jpg



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Looks great! Love the design and choice of plants.

I run low energy and I chose to start fertilising once I could see leaves and roots actively developing which took around 7 days. I've got lots of root tabs in the substrate so I'll dial the liquid fertilisers up or down as need be.
 
Starting to see the back end of the furry wood. It’s a persistent b*****d this time. And the 6 ottos I bought have done next to nothing. Spend more time on the glass than the wood.

Woods finally sunk. The stones been removed, although I’m not sure if it looks better with the centre stone or not.

If not, not sure what to plant in its place. As it looks awful where the stone was.

Opinions on the stone please!

Before
a501bfdbe822a83ad3b82a7b929de62a.jpg

After
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Also, if I wanted to add more soil powder, would I have to pre soak it first?

And do water changes while soaking it in order to reduce an ammonia spike when I put it into the tank?


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2 week update, still carrying out daily 50% changes, purely because I can (furloughed).

Added a few more plants, crypts front and centre and another batch of MP trident.

Had a slight hardscape issue, with the wood settling and toppling over. Not how I wanted it but toying to leave it this way to all the plants are well rooted.

Added a couple of rams that were on FB market place. Both females unfortunately but still stunning fish. With very interesting behaviour.

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edb8470dd71725be8ad32deb4db7b184.jpg



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Quick update, it’s going pretty well, due a big trim tomorrow with its water change.
Current stock is
24 green tetra
3 German rams
6 ottos
And shrimp.
Had 5 corys from a chap on here but they have been moved to their own tank in my sons room as I couldn’t cope with them uprooting plants. Will possibly move them back when the plants are more established.

I wanted a jungle tank, and feel it’s lacking something I can’t quite put my finger on, maybe just leave the ferns to grow out.

Also bought my wife (me) a lumix gx880, and can’t for the life of me figure out how to use the thing so will be spending the evening watching YouTube videos to get some decent pictures.
284319DA-639C-4C27-AF77-DC4CB60CD652.jpeg
 
Still going!
going to be pulling most the HZ out from the back and replacing with crypt & vals
spiralis

Moved some of the hydrocotyle about to balance it and added some more moss to the wood.

Slow burner but I like it that way!

18546014-DD1B-4624-B6FD-E130686BCA6C.jpeg
 
Loving the scape, how are the green tetras doing? Do they school together well?

really interested in them after watching the green machine’s “nature’s chaos” if you’ve seen it?

would love to make a smaller version of his scape and have them swimming around the island, looks so natural and interesting to me.
 
Loving the scape, how are the green tetras doing? Do they school together well?

really interested in them after watching the green machine’s “nature’s chaos” if you’ve seen it?

would love to make a smaller version of his scape and have them swimming around the island, looks so natural and interesting to me.

Thanks pal!

The tetras are great!

They really group together when they’re out, but the tank is in a high traffic area of the house so even with 24 of them they’re still quite shy, but if you sit at the tank for a minute or so they soon come out. Will try and get a video for you tonight!

Haven’t seen nature’s chaos but will be checking it out tonight!


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1 year update, I said it’d be a slow burner.

The tank has come into its own, a few months back I was struggling with BBA, but in the end a dosing pump, with TNC and excel going in regularly and more water changes was what it needed.

Had a bit of a re-shuffle just before Christmas to make it less of a island and more of a triangle.

Pretty happy with this now,
Live stock stands steady with
24 green tetra,
6 sparkling gouramis
12 salt and pepper cory’s
And a colony of yellow and amano shrimp,
9AD4CEB7-4818-47DA-BBC2-EAAFD437090B.jpeg
 
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