90 x 45 x 45 - All The Little Things - New Journal

[JohnC]

Hi,

So slack on updating.

Photos.


With the sand in. Still need the smaller stones.


Planting


More Planting


Planted


Another view

Then some from 5 weeks in once the rocks were off and things are growing in.







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Still a lot to do. The light is great but is creating a little more shadow than i anticipated. It has a 120 degree lens but since it's tight to the top of the tank and my hardscape is pretty high in the centre the shadow areas are large. I'll compensate by moving stuff around a touch in the future and adding a bit more lower light stuff to those areas.

Other things I'm planning on changing or have already.

- The jet outlet is wrong for this scape, I'll switch it to a lily soon. The plants on the far left are bending too much in the flow.
- Still not happy with the stems at the back. Some, like the hygrophilla were in as fast growers to remove once stuff grew in but I'm open to suggestions for new background plants. Background plants are always my weak point. I refused to do stem plants for years
- Getting a bit of light BBA on the exposed wood. Not out of control but enough to mention. Considering dosing liquid carbon at double dose for a period (did we ever come to a conclusion in the "what causes BBA?" monster threads?

Comments and suggestions always welcome.

Best Regards,
John

 

[Nelson]

Oh wow John .
That's jaw dropping good.

So micro rasbora, scarlett badis.... that kind of thing. shoals of tiny

I really want to do a scape for these sort of fish as well.One day............

The light is great but is creating a little more shadow than i anticipated. It has a 120 degree lens but since it's tight to the top of the tank and my hardscape is pretty high in the centre the shadow areas are large.

I found the same on my low tech.Put the light on my 60cm high tech in the end,and got a different one for my low tech.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi John, Exquisite Scape

 

[JohnC]

Oh wow John .
That's jaw dropping good.

I really want to do a scape for these sort of fish as well.One day............

I found the same on my low tech.Put the light on my 60cm high tech in the end,and got a different one for my low tech.

Thanks man,

But as ever lets see how it develops. 8)

re: the light, I was designing the scape knowing the angle would cause shadows, it's just a little more pronounced then I initially thought. I'm musing over switching out for a couple of Aquabars so that the dual strips spread the light a little better, but might just adjust the planting to take advantage of the effect instead. The current light (and outlet tbh) would suit an iwagumi better me thinks.

John

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi John, Any Updates

 

[fandango]

great tank. agree about the lighting. any updates

 

[rebel]

Wow amazing execution!

 

[Wookii]

Hi,

So slack on updating.

Photos.

View attachment 82874
With the sand in. Still need the smaller stones.

View attachment 82875
Planting

View attachment 82876
More Planting

View attachment 82877
Planted

View attachment 82878
Another view

Then some from 5 weeks in once the rocks were off and things are growing in.

View attachment 82879

View attachment 82880

View attachment 82881

------------------------------

Still a lot to do. The light is great but is creating a little more shadow than i anticipated. It has a 120 degree lens but since it's tight to the top of the tank and my hardscape is pretty high in the centre the shadow areas are large. I'll compensate by moving stuff around a touch in the future and adding a bit more lower light stuff to those areas.

Other things I'm planning on changing or have already.

- The jet outlet is wrong for this scape, I'll switch it to a lily soon. The plants on the far left are bending too much in the flow.
- Still not happy with the stems at the back. Some, like the hygrophilla were in as fast growers to remove once stuff grew in but I'm open to suggestions for new background plants. Background plants are always my weak point. I refused to do stem plants for years
- Getting a bit of light BBA on the exposed wood. Not out of control but enough to mention. Considering dosing liquid carbon at double dose for a period (did we ever come to a conclusion in the "what causes BBA?" monster threads?

Comments and suggestions always welcome.

Best Regards,
John

Sorry to post on an old journal thread, but I really like the look of this scape, it looks really natural.

I see you're still active on this forum John, so can I ask - what are the small plants all the way along the branch that bridges over the sand area? Do you have the trim them to keep them that small, or is that their natural size?

 

[Witcher]

@Wookii - it looks similar to Fontinalis squamosa or F. antipyretica.

 

[Wookii]

@Wookii - it looks similar to Fontinalis squamosa or F. antipyretica.

Thanks Witcher. Looking at the images I think you could well be right. The leaves look quite large in John's images above, which is why I assuming it was some other type of non-moss plant.

I might look into that myself, it has quite a distinctly different look to the more more traditional java and Chritsmas mosses.

Edit: Could it be this sp.: https://www.aquasabi.com/Fontinalis-antipyretica-var-gigantea-Portion

 

[JohnC]

Hiya,

I am actually just back after a long hiatus posting here. not in the best way tbh, i'm about to knock high tech/energy on the head due to ongoing issues with the many scapes I run at home probably stemming from my spring water. Just not feeling the joy I got from scaping like I used too.

Time for something new.

To answer your question, it was a giant willow moss.

Yup, trimming was a must as it really didnt attach well.

Best Regards,
John

 

[Ady34]

Ah, sorry to hear that John, I hope you can rekindle your passion.
I must admit, I’ve never really got that sweet spot with a planted tank where things are just great. Plant growing is not that easy for me so I tend to just stick with easy plants and create a tank that works with what tools I have available. Hope you don’t give up the hobby completely and good luck with whatever the something new may be.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[JohnC]

Thanks man, I've got a big thread on the algae sub forum chatting things over.