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Love the idea of an Xmas moss carpet. Shrimp will love that! :) Those choc gourami's are stunning!! I only run standard London tap water in my tank so think I can only day dream about having them in mine. Hope they keep well in there for you mate.

Well I've always attributed sand discolouration to dirty filters and bright light. For this set up, the 2 t5 bulbs are nearly 2 feet off the top of the water surface, only on for 7 hours a day. Also, this sand is a nice natural colour to it. Unipac Fiji.

Thanks very much. Yeah I believe I am now. I've added some amazon frogbit on the surface, but I think it's soaking up all the nutrients before anything else has the chance. Is this possible? It is rather lean dosing. Also, I think it's restricting flow as over the last couple of days I've...

Still going strong. Everything except algae is growing. Added eleocharis acicularis to both far sides and back middle. Runners after a couple days!! My light is about 2ft off the water surface! Two 4th t5 tubes only. 8 hours a day. Thanks.

It's changed a little. Thanks for the sand suggestion, George. I actually have gone for a mass of Fiji sand. Lots of moss. Cut the stems right down also. Was getting lots of BBA on the hardscape so I've purchased a new regulator and raised the lights about 2 foot off the tank surface. This...

Re: 120 x 55 x 55 What a day! Wow. Where is this being displayed? Sorry, I've been under a bit of a work shaped rock for a while.

Also throwing in half a teaspoon of KPo4 and TRACE. 50% water change twice a week. Not happy with the Unipac Maui sand. Far too bright for this layout I think. May suck it out am stump up for some ADA stuff. What you guys think?

Been a little while since my last update. This is how it looks as of tonight. More sand, less light. Got rid of the moss all over the wood as it was just gathering algae. Added some crypts around the vase of the wood and a few moss stones. The stems are growing, but seem to die whenever I trim...

Yeah I did love that. Still got all that wood so may go back to that at a later date. Really feeling that style more than the landscaped look lately.

Thanks very much Alastair. Appreciated. Done the intake also. Just crimped the end together and willsand it down later. Then sawed some slices up the tube. Looks ok and does the job!! Really can't get over how nice it makes the whole tank with no horrible green tubes in there. Just broke down my...

Been a busy boy today. Got 20mm outer diameter clear acrylic tubing, a heat gun, pipe bender and sand. Created this after plugging the end and blowing. 20mm pipe is bigger than the hose to my filter so I heated the end and stretch it over. So here it is. Not the greatest of lily pipes, but...

Re: 60*30*40 Green Paradise Easy mate. Great formation of hardscape, healthy plants and all over beauty makes it happen. Love how the 2 shoals of fish help add to the distant perspective! :)

Well that's what I've done today. Plant list that i planted half hour ago... 2 x bacopa Australis for the dark corners 2 x rotala sp. Green Polygonum sp. Pogostemon erectus And something else I just can't remember. :(

It only looks like that. The filter outflow is actually aimed at the back glass flowing to the Koralia. So there is constant left to right flow. I did have a spraybar and Koralia all aimed at one end of the tank but Co2 wasn't getting to all of the tank. I've had this configuration in a prvious...

Not too bad mate. But not spotless unfortunately. I was hoping to keep it as just the two stems I have now, but I think I'm gonna have to just throw an absolute ton in there and let them soak up a load of nutrients to help balance it all out. Then I can 'scape how I want it. Got a little bit of...

Well, less than 2 weeks in and it's still fairly pretty. Wish I had time to set up my camera for some proper shots but I'm a super busy boy nowadays. I'm having to do everything via my iPhone. Anyway... This is how it looks as of tonight. gradually lowering my light as I'm a sucker for good...

Re: 120 x 55 x 55 'Ruby' The bits you cant see (pics)@ 4 da Definitely. With a good gang of Rhombocellatus.(sp?)

Re: 120 x 55 x 55 'Ruby' The bits you cant see (pics)@ 4 da Don't know where you're looking mate. But there is obviously a few different species of barb in there. :)

Re: 120 x 55 x 55 'Ruby' Run out of superglue! Really beautiful. Nothing over the top, just a great layout making good use of the depth. How exactly are you getting co2 into the tank Mark? And what's the filtration and flow?

Yeah I figured the lighting wasn't close enough for the pearling. But I'd rather keep it where it is an get steady growth than have it lower and have less margin for any errors in co2 or dosing. Going to spot dose a couple of areas tonight after a WC I think. I have seen the HC Cuba starting to...

Ok. So I've got a 7 hour photoperiod with 2 x 54W T5's at just over a foot off the water surface. Co2 at about 3-4 bubbles per second 24/7 with minimal surface agitation. Dozing about 15-20ml easy carbo and 30ml TPN+ every day. Half a tank of water is removed every 3 days.... Still no sign of...

Re: New 4ft journal The Island 2 New Pics 15/07/2011 Nothing to do with me mate. But with your set up you could grow anything you like I reckon. Something With fine small leaves?

Re: New 4ft journal The Island 2 New Pics 15/07/2011 150!? Wow. Bet they shoal amazing if startled. That foreground is so nice. What moss is it? Shame about te Rotala. I always have trouble growing it too. :oops: you consider maybe a couple of different stems?

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. Thanks very much, and yes I plan to keep this one for a very long time. Really happy with the hardscape. Just need to het my plant growing back on track. :oops: My fish have never had a problem with it either. Except for a malfunctioning regulator which gassed all...

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. My Co2 is on 24/7. No solenoid I'm afraid. That's my next purchase though as it ploughshare through gas that's not needed. Do you think this constant co2 and obviously high levels at lights out is triggering algae?

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. Well here it is getting a 50% WC after getting some new planting. HC "Cuba" dotted around front and on the rear middle hill, Rotala rotundifolia behind the larger leaved myrophilliam(sp?). Some crypt varieties around the wood and weeping moss stuffed in a few nooks...

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. Half a tank 2-3 times a week? Doesn't that make the Co2 concentration fluctuate?

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. Well I've just got some HC Cuba and Rotala. Probably add some crypts from my othe tank. Yeah the water changes or lack of has always been a problem for me and I know they do wonders. I will give the easycarbo overdosing a go along with 20ml TPN+. 1/2 tank waterchamge...

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. 48L x 15W x 18H. Inches obviously. The staghorn hasn't been too bad lately, but the beard algae was tufting around EVERYWHERE!! Wood was covered. So just yanked it out and scrubbed it with a metal plumbers brush. Also, Ive been noticing that my plants stop pearling...

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. Woah! That's a lot of easycarbo. Does it not affect the inhabitants at all? I've got green neons, checkerboard cichlids and amano shrimp. In terms of algae, it's the same usual culprits. Staghorn. BGA, anything related to poor/fluctuating Co2 levels.

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. Yeah I've increased the bubbles to around that this morning and last night I was reading a post from ceg about the one flow direction so I moved the hardware around. Like this? Dosed 6ml easy carbo. 20ml TPN+ drop checker is lime green/yellow. It's low near the...

Re: 120 x 55 x 55 'Ruby' Tank and cabinet arrive! Looking great. And yes!! Keep that middle back open. Nice low lying plants to create a nice hill through a forest opening look to it. Each side? Do what you like mate. Good amount of tight stems I reckon... And get some red in there.

Re: 120cm. Nearly given up. I was doing 20ml but still getting algae. I dropped it down over last couple days after rearranging it since there is such a low plant mass. Sorry, should been more specific. The lighting is 2 x 54w Osram t5's. Raised about 2 foot above the tank. Co2 is about 2-3...

Hey everyone! Been a while since I've shown any of my tanks but thought I'd show this one as id like some feedback and advice on it since I've been having a nightmare with algae issues and plants not growing. Basically, it was like this up until a couple of days ago.. Dirty, murky, algae...

Re: 60cm Nature Aquarium. Moss report Lovely as usual mate. Glad to see you doing a nice Nature Aquarium style. lots of slow gowers, nice aged forest look. Looks like theres moss growth already! Ive recently just re-scaped my 80cm with a whole lot of moss no growth though. What do you think it...

Some great perception of depth to that path. Is a little artificial for my taste, like a garden path made on Ground Force. But if that's the look youre going for with planting also, then it's fine! Just wondering how great it could be with your layout ability and some more natural stone work...

Oh ok. Yeah anything smaller than a rummynose would definitly be in the knifefish. Good stocking though.

Really natural. A great idea done well!! What's the plans for stocking? Are you done now or will you be adding anything else? Can imagine a good shoal of tetras weaving through the roots.

Re: Bobtastic's Iwagumi Scape Balansae really is a more jungle scape plant, although I've sen Amano use it in an iwagumi to awesome effect in Nature Book 1. With river stones.

Re: Bobtastic's Iwagumi Scape Really nice original stones. Like the original layout, maybe bring the two main stones together? And even swapped them so the largest is near the middle of the tank. Just to see how it'll look.

Look at that for a before and after. Just shows you can get a great 'scape with baby steps. Rather than the planting overload thats recommended from the outset. Congrats!

Thanks very much. Good to have time for my fave hobby again and to discuss with you fine peoples. Got a new tank on the go soon so i may be pillaging this tank for foliage... maybe.

Re: Saintly's 120cm' Fraggle rock' @ 3 weeks Those gourami's just show how drab some fish can look in a shop compared to how they can look in optimal conditions. Really great choice there Mark. So impressed with this tank... Its a great example of how the hobby can go in so many new directions...

Its the new hygrophilia from Tropica. Cant quite remember the name im afraid. Really beautiful and seems easy to grow even in my low light, liquid carbon tank.

Well its been a while since an update... basically there's not been much going on. Slow growth an all. Couple of new plants thrown in. Little bit of melt on the crypts i took from my nano. Some of the hygo coming along. You can see some blyxa japonica just behind that i planted. Not doing too...

Re: Saintly's 120cm' Fraggle rock' A good shoal of Arnoldichthys spilopterus the african red eye tetra. Get about 6cm and look stunning.

Liking the idea of a plantless tank for a while now. Especially after seeing the Jeff Senske Altum tank. Bare wood, bleached sand, good filtration and a collection of great fish that you've always wanted to keep. :D

Re: Saintly's 120cm' Fraggle rock' I love these simple river rock style layouts. Easy to plant up too. Often looked at George's white cloud tank and imagined how easily it could be changed to a planted tank. Really very simple too, moss stones, some tennelus maybe, and hairgrass.

Couldn't believe what i was seeing. It has got only 2 bulbs though. BUT, i only ever use 2 for photo-period anyway. This size tank could really do with more light but i haven't got any other lighting... only the 4 ft Arcadia that's' stashed away. Swallow Aquatics in Colchester... that's where i...

Thanks man. Know what you mean about the OT series. Mine isn't actually an Arcadia though, its VERY similar though. Same styling, but cost me only £20 a couple of years ago in Essex. Cant remember the name of the store though.

These are all straight from the camera. My Photoshop AND Lightroom are playing up. Well enough moaning... Little shot of my two favourite tetras at the moment... Always seem to shoal together. Hopefully will continue when the columbians grow. Thanks very much for your comments guys.

Ok, so this is how the tank looks today after being rescaped less than 2 weeks ago from the pictures above. Apologies for the state of the pictures, i just couldnt get rid of the reflections... blazing sunlight There's actually a mass of tetras in there but they're all hiding after the...

Re: sams 60cm 'Pinnatifida Peak' (1 week) Cant wait to see that HC cascade over the partition. Going to make it look like a really healthy, thick mound.

Re: New 80cm Thank you. I'm afraid there are no other full tank pictures of this scape. Its been rescaped now. Have a couple of the barbs. Yes I have got many shrimps in this tank. Amano and a large amount of breeding cherry shrimp. These barbs, although looking similar to tiger barbs, really...

Really nice. good use lava rock, which isn't used very often. The long plant at the back, what is it?

Well its been a while since i posted any evidence of aquascaping. Had a 4ft tank a while ago which you can see here: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2956 and here: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=4195 The 120cm tank went a little wrong with a co2 related mass murder...

great hardscape. larger rocks? cardinals, rummies, earth eaters and angels will set it off a treat.

check your Co2 levels. Maybe turn it up a notch, be careful with this as you dont want to kill the livestock. Then you just got to keep the levels constant. Staghorn is the result of fluctuating Co2 in the water column. Beautiful scape by the way.

Your photography always makes everything seem as though its a true landscape... the lighting is incredible. And give me those rasboras!!! :lol: beautiful.

Its looking wild, but great. Reminds me of this wayne sham number How are you liking the neons in there? They look all over the place now, like most "shoaling" fish in a tank after a while. :)

Vary clever. Bet Oliver Knott is kicking himself now :P

I've never been guilty of picking fish for cosmetic purposes for a 'scape. Anyone who saw my tank right now could tell i'm still a fishkeeper at heart before an aquascaper :roll: But i really dont see the problem with trading fish when a 'scape is over... maybe a little bad on the fish, having...

Re: Aaron's 240l journal! three 9L bags of AS sorted my 4ft tank.

Re: Aaron's 240l journal! Oh this'll be good :) What regulator is that?

Agreed

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi Looking beautiful Mark, and great choice with the rummies. You wont regret that. Anyway, not sure if you've said already, but what fert measures are you dosing?

Thanks. This 'scape is no more now, but the meadow you're talking about was a favourite of mine. The plant you mean is Hydrocotyle verticillata, a slow grower at first but can start spreading at a good pace. Not too demanding either... needs Co2 though.

The last shot was nice. Most of them tend to disorientate me, trying to work out where in the tank they would be... any chance of a full tank shot?

Ha! Oops, bet the lady of the house wouldn't like that.

Re: Rio 240,hc emmersed setup Looking nice. Although i dont think the swords go well with the finer leaved plants on the other side. Maybe when they grow in or you add more? Have you thought about adding a bit of sand at the foreground? maybe border it with moss or riccia stone? Really is a...

Cant remember rightly but wasnt this tank built in the Maxim magazine 21st century bachelor house or something?

Re: John starkey 450lts 112g journal new pics added today 25/03/ Thats awesome.. and the most staurogyne ive ever seen in a tank.

Re: Vito's first planted tank - Juwel Rio 125 (Finally!!!) lowering surface agitation with more co2 is a bad combination. Its an error that many have done. Very bad news espeicially losing the green neons. Beautiful fish.

Thanks. It's an Arcadia 4xT5 luminare with just 2 bulbs on for around 8 hours. The tubes are 8000k :P Moss will win that war in time.

Re: Tonsers 14L Nano Rouge Think any fish can be a potential jumper. Few weeks ago i woke up to a rummynose flapping about on the floor!!! Then a couple of days later, a laeticara dwarf cichlid!!! They both fine.

Re: Vito's first planted tank - Juwel Rio 125 (Finally!!!) I think this has some great potential! the rocks at first, looked a bit all over the place, but the plant choice and placing actually suits it. Get the hc and hairgrass spreading and it will look like a nice meadow. Noticed some brush...

The hardscape is real nice, and good planting. Looks very tasty (don't worry, i wont eat it)

The "log" at the back there, it's covered in flame moss, so hopefully once it starts growing out from the fishing line it will be quite the beauty :wink:

Thanks Steve. Yeah the CAU guys are a big influence to my style i think. Know just what you mean with the graded gravel, just a bit worried about using too much. I already started with it... Here: This gravel has eleocharis parva planted in there now. Have to excuse all the fish, they thought...

theres a ton of crypts in there mate. lucens, wenditii, bullosa, and onite, parva. I love crypts and feel they NEED to b in there :)

you ain't seen nuttin' yet :wink: :lol: thanks very much for that confidence boost Tom. Really believe I could have made something better with the hardscape, but as i didnt have anywhere to put the fish while i emptied the tank, i had to do all the 'scaping with water and fish still in the...

definitely. just got 2 t5 tubes its all coming along nicely. just got the 2 rotala sp that could give me grief.

full tank shot. still plenty of growing!! Added some eleocharis parva around the front of the rocks to soften the edges (hopefully) then going to do as LD suggested and add more graded gravel... hopefully calm down the clinical nature of the sand foreground. Not going to use too much gravel for...

I got that, just too may ideas to get through. Got a new wee tank for that now though, should be able to leave this be for a while.

Re: saintly's MA "long term" scape. he's seen it all before i suppose

I just need to stop getting ideas in my head!! Suppose to be a long term tank but i've done about 3 'scapes already :roll: cheers

Re: saintly's MA "long term" scape. 80cm??? good luck with that mate. May as well check this out for ideas :lol:

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi I was always a bit unsure with soil lowering ph, especially as the Co2 we pump in lowers it also, and worried how doing WC with hard tap would swing the ph and be hard on the livestock. But i've had wild checkerboard cichlids in my tank for about a week now and even...

Thanks. Yeah i think having lots of small tetras and dwarf cichlids really adds scale to it. This has been a really clean set up for me, no algae (touch wood). Not even much on the glass. Cranked Co2 right up, drop checker is near yellow. Add TPN+ 4ml daily. AS amazonia behind the "tree line"...

Been a while but here is the re-hash 'scape. Needs a lot of work (planting) Some of you may recognise some of the wood (thank you Mr Evans) 8) Its got eleocharis vivipara at the back with rotala wallichii thats reddening up nice and rotala rotundifolia thats just sitting there doing nothing...

hope that wallichi comes good, it looks great with fossilised wood, and will really set of off that amazing scape. b e a utiful 8)

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi Good idea. Hope you plant the lilaeopsis just behind the HC and it starts to creep along and starts shooting through the HC carpet. I love the look of that. Got the same plan for a lil' Iwagumi of my own. It's a slow starter, but once it's settled in the soil, it...

Looking nice, good plating. Now we play the waiting game.

I'd love to have more to say about your posts Mark, but i'm sure there is only so many times you can read "mate your tank looks absolutely stunning... as usual" :lol: Sure after a few more trims, the rotala will redden even more.

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi Think Mark has been stone shopping.

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi So the stems will carry on growing up without the bud?

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi Me too 8) I can see a craze sweeping the Ukaps forum! Hope mine is the same thick stuff that JamesM pictured. Understand what George says about it looking messy, I believed the same after seeing it used in a few jungle and "ryobuko"(?) But in a good iwagumi,(Mark...

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi I may be wrong but I really don't think that is Vivipara that Jason used for that beautiful 'scape. It is either a form of Giant hairgrass from Japan, or is Isoetes japonica. It seems too thck stemmed to be vivipara.

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi Vivipara? Never really been a fan in the past but I recently got a few AquaJournals and seen the stuff kept well in check. Think it looks the nuts in an iwagumi.. With your commitment, I'm sure it would know it's place :wink:

Re: saintly's 120cm iwagumi Looking lovely as we all knew it would. Must say I prefer the one where there is more space between the middle and right stones. bit more space for planting. That rock is real nice too. What is it? Just a little niggle.... The right stone? whats the other side of it...