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I've had a bit more of a play without tonight and I'm much happier with this version. What do you guys think?

Hi everybody, this is my first tank after a couple of years off. This is the first bash at the hard scape. I haven't added the aqua soil yet until I'm 100% happy and had a few days of looking at it. I'm going for Microsorum narrow, H. Pinatifida, crypts, mosses as the staple and maybe some...

Hi all, I want to grow my mosses in using the dry start method before the main planting and I plan to use ADA power sand under Amazonia as well as ADA substrate additives. Is growing the tank in using the dry start method likely to impact on the effectiveness of things like bacter100?

Brilliant -thanks guys. I'm definitely giving that a go. I find tying moss and ferns quite fiddly.

Really nice perspective, I like the winding stream of sand. How big is the tank?

This is awesome, looks pristine :)

Nice share, thanks :)

The hippuroides in the middle has looked much better but I'm pretty happy with the tight stands of erectus and stellata. Especially in a small tank. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi all, here's a final shot of the tank. I entered it into this years IAPLC, it was placed 1327. Not bad for a first entry :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi all, I spotted this rather useful looking cotton dispenser on a recent ADA view video. It seems to make tying on cotton quick and easy. Does anyone know anything about it? Is it an ADA product or can you get one elsewhere? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

** I have taken this down temporarily until after the competition :)

Hi John, have you looked at any in line dechlorinators? There are some available for pond use but I reckon you could make one easily enough.

Thanks! It's 50 x 30 x 30cm

Been a while since my last update and I have made a couple if changes, here's the latest. b Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks all. Webworm the rocks are ADA Koke Stone. They're like a very finely porous volcanic rock, although they look remarkably like the coke formed from coal burning. They stack well and don't move around when in position. Once they're in the right position I'm going to grow mosses on them...

Hello all, I have just acquired an ADA 75-P which is a considerable upgrade from my current 50l tank in terms of both size and quality. It is beautifully made, I can't wait to scape it. Thanks very much to Jim, Gaz and Mark at TGM for all their advice and inspiration. Best shop I've ever been...

Hello all, I'm a little late to the party on this one but I'm interested in buying some NA steel flow pipes, I've not had any response from the email link on the NA web page and I'm informed that freshwatershrimp.co.uk will only be supplying NA gear as full setups. Can anyone point me in the...

As Hoggie said, unfortunately it will be too long. There is a fake ADA Vuppa available on ebay but it's not much cheaper than the real thing.

Thanks all :) I love the texture of fissidens. I have a big clump awaiting me from a friend's tank. The riccia was only really meant to serve as a barrier to stop the aquasoil from spilling through the gaps which it did, but now it's turned into a monster! Ha ha I have the exact same timing...

Here's a 'warts and all' shot of how it looks this very minute. The glass is a bit dirty so the photo looks a bit hazy. I'll get a cleaner one up soon. I have a small change to make - I think I am going to pull out the Riccia and replace with fissidens. The riccia has gone rampant and needs...

Really nice mate, looks very lush and full.

Thanks, I'm really happy with it. I actually added it later to stop aquasoil from creeping through the gaps in the stones but it's turned out well. Here's a newer pic Blue Garden | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Thanks Luke, I'm not 100% sure what they're called but they're becoming available in most places. My local shop sells is for a reasonable price of about £3 / kg. Yeah that's riccia at the front.

I don't seem to be having much luck with P. helferi in this tank. It keeps on melting. Everything else seems to be doing nicely. Does anybody have any suggestions?

A little update - added Marselia crenata and Alternanthera reinickii mini a couple of days ago. I'm also toying with the idea of a little bit of delicate branch work coming through the hippuroides and stellata which might let me bring them a bit taller.

Lovely mate, really vibrant. Like the mossy branches.

Thanks Mark, the plants are as follows: Riccia fluitans Eleocharis parvula Fissidens fontanus (not really grown much yet!) Pogostemon helferi Pogostemon stellata Pogostemon erectus Hemianthus callitrichoides Limnophila aromatica 'hippuroides'

Thanks Gary. I'm really happy with the skimmer. I got it from ebay - NAG 12/16 Glass inflow Surface skimmer | eBay it's quite reasonably priced and good quality for 'fake' glassware. The skimming part is an acrylic float but the rest is good quality thick glass. It takes some balancing in terms...

Alright - it's not very blue, more purpley but I always seem to be listening to 'Blue Garden' by Masters of Reality whenever I do any maintenance so it seemed apt. This is a more grown in incarnation of my little under water garden. It is my first high tech scape and I have recently replaced the...

Hi all, I have recently set up a peristaltic pump to dose ferts with. I only have one pump but wish to add a daily dose of easy carbo and tropica specialised fertiliser. Would it be possible to make a solution with these to dose daily with the pump or would they react / bind before they...

Thanks Bradley, yeah I got mine from Maplin too. Oddly it has stopped buzzing and is now perfectly silent. I am not sure what caused this but all is well now. If it does it again then it may be faulty and I will exchange it.

Hi all, I have recently been fortunate to find an ADA solar II second hand for a good price. It is a great light and looks slick but there is just one drawback, the step down transformer I am using for it makes an audible droning hum sound. Is anyone else out there using one of these? What...

Just 5 otos and 5 amano shrimp for now.

Hi mate, I have an Eheim pro3 2075 I bought it second hand so it's a few years old but runs fine. I can hear mine running from within the cabinet. It's a gentle hum coming from the filter itself possibly amplified a little by the cabinet. I can live with it but I think it is more annoying for my...

I thought about this, if the fert solution was clear then this would be great but it's a muddy green / brown - this does not sit well with my glistening glassware paradise. The other possible problem is that one of those glass U bends would probably sit below the water line giving the...

Thanks for your responses all. Ian thanks for posting your build thread, that is a really nice share - good on ya! Following everyone's advice I will avoid dosing inline - although there is the appeal of keeping the pipes hidden away in the cabinet the risk of non return valve failure outweighs...

Great stuff. I would like to try this in my next aquarium.

Thanks for your replies guys. Nice dosing system DTL.

I wondered if that might be the case. Either that the back pressure would be too much or it would work the other way and cause the ferts to rush in too quickly. The reason I want to keep it out of the tank is more for aesthetics than anything else. What are you dosing yours with?

Hi all, I have been dosing EI with a separate macro and trace and have been pretty happy with it. My only problem is that I am away occasionally and am sometimes a bit forgetful so an automatic fert dosing device would be good for me. I don't want anything in the tank which means that my dosing...

Hi Suzannah, nice tank. I'd try a couple of changes if you want some real growth from your plants. using an air driven filter will drive off any co2 in the tank which your plants need. You can add co2 yourself using some of the pressurised kits available or a product like liquid easycarbo. There...

Hi James, the pant at the front is Riccia fluitans. It's a really nice easy one to grow. It needs to be tied down onto a stone or wood with net and fishing line but it grows through it very quickly. You can usually find portions of it for sale on ebay or for swaps in my Aquarium Plant Exchange...

Thanks mate, yeah the sand is new for me but I much prefer not having anything growing against the front glass :)

What a stunning piece of wood!

Good stuff mate, hope it does the trick for you.

Thanks for your comments, it was a drastic measure and I appreciate that it may not have been everyone's preferred option. It worked for me but I would advise anyone who is considering doing it research the potential impacts of this. I am actually starting to wish I had done a bit more reading...

Get one! I totally rate it. I can't believe ADA haven't cashed in on this idea. It works a treat, only one very minor drawback is that the inside the tank part of the pipework is quite long so it will literally come all the way to the floor in a 30cm tall tank but otherwise it does a great job...

I agree with all those who have recommended the skim 350. Yes you need to address the cause of your film but in truth, we all get it form time to time, I've even seen it in the immaculate displays at The Green Machine once or twice so it does happen to the best of us. I did use the skim 350 for...

Hi all, I hope the admins don't mind my plug here but I would like to share a link to my facebook page for swapping aquarium plants with others. It is for just that, not selling or profit. The intention is to bring people together and let you get your hands on cuttings, spares or a previously...

I have no idea how it arrived for sure mate but I can speculate. There were two 'recycled' components of this scape. Firstly I used mature media from a big system which has been for about 15 years, secondly I used old substrate from my last scape as a base and capped with a small bag of new...

Hi all. I recently had some joy treating cyano with the antibiotic Erythromycin. I did this as a last resort after having no joy with increasing nitrates and night time aeration. I also purchased Easy Life's "Blue Exit" for eliminating Cyano. I am a fan of Easylife products but I found this one...

Beautiful tank. The Eriocaulon works really nicely. I only read about this plant for the first time last week and it is definitely something I would like to try in my tank some time in the future after seeing it in yours. Great work. Nice to see undeniable evidence that expensive substrates are...

Hi Justin, it was from ebay NAG 12/16 Glass inflow Surface skimmer | eBay for 'fake' glassware, the glass is actually very sturdy. Seems to be made of thicker stuff than some of the cheap glass lillies I've had in the past. I totally rate it, it's nicer than having the eheim skim 350 in the...

Oh and I will be changing the somewhat distracting little red O ring for a black one when I do my next water change.

Incidentally - is anyone else using one of these surface skimming glass / acrylic inlets? I'm really happy with mine (unfortunately though I have just noticed that it is covered in yesterday's trimming remnants in the photo - oops)

Hello all, This is my first non question post - I certainly haven't had the answers to any! This is my first successful planted tank, I've had a few before but not really what you'd call high tech. It's still a work in progress and there is a little bald spot to the left which I think I will...

Hi all, yes I'd be interested to know if anyone else has this problem. I have planted 4 emerse portions into my new tank with good light and co2 distribution only to find that within less than a week much of it had gone brown melted. The tank looked really nice on the day of planting, now it...

Dear all, I have just ordered one of these from ebay NAG 12/16 Glass inflow Surface skimmer | eBay it looks fairly neat and should do the job I hope. I have been using an eheim skim 350 on the occasions when it is needed but I don't like the look of it cluttering up my tank. The above...

Cheers for the link to the micro skimmer review, looks like a useful piece of kit.

Sounds like CO2 is the first one to address then, thanks for the comments. Although there is a good turnover in my tank, the movement of the Blyxa does show that there is clearly an area of strong flow and then some areas with apparently very little. I'll address this first and then see about my...

Don't laugh - I am growing under a 28w LED street light. It's incredibly bright and sufficient to grow a reasonably convincing glosso carpet. The tank is 50l and I have my CO2 running 8hrs/day on a solenoid and approx 4 bubbles every 3 seconds. The CO checker is just on the yellower side of...

Hi All, I am considering using some form of surface skimmer to clear up organic films on my tank. Currently I have a false back wall with a wier which skims the surface nicely but I am hoping to invest in a proper braceless optiwhite tank soon. I have always found surface films to be a...

Gary that's pretty much exactly what I had in mind perhaps with a kind of flared spike effort at the cucumber end to skewer it so when I'm flouncing around in my smoking jacket I can just delicately lift it out and easily replace it without even getting my hands wet (cos don't we all hate that!)...

Hi All, I am finding that now my Otos have got my algae under control there is not enough for them to eat day to day so I am having to supplement with a slice of cucumber every few days. My lettuce clip, although not a gaudy plastic effort, is starting to mess up the vibes and adds visual...

Any takers?

Firstly, apologies if someone has already covered this but here goes: I have recently bought an entry level CO2 system (which I have not used yet) for a not yet set up tank. It is a Water Plant CO2 Disposable Supply Set 16g like the third one down on this page...

WOW! This is a really awesome project and a great use of space. Definitely something to aspire to here! The DIY light fixture is a nice piece of work. I need to make a friend in the metal work business!

Seconded Chris, Thanks all for your very detailed replies. Likewise, much of the chemistry is beyond me but a good solution for me has put forward - to cut my rainwater with tap water to achieve my desired pH - Thanks Mark. I will experiment with ratios until I have the quantities figured...

Hi all, I have just purchased a water butt which collects run off from our roof via a downspout. I plan to add RO right and waterlife 6.5 buffer to reconstitute and use this in my tank. (I will have to buy RO from a local shop when there is insufficient rain water). Is there anything I need...

Cool cheers tom.

I'd much rather use tap water as it will save me a lot of money and trips to the aquarium store with a big vat of water. should I still use a 6.5 buffer with the tap water? or just tap water? I've heard that Amazonia will buffer water to around 6.8 but I wasn't sure if that would still be the...

I am planning a 'high tech' 50l planted tank for dwarf puffers Carinotetraodon travancoricus and otocinclus. I will be using ADA Aquasoil Amazonia substrate. I want the pH close to 6.5. To achieve this I will be using RO water with RO right and waterlife 6.5 buffer. According to the article I...