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90cm/150litre - "Patience"

Steve Smith

Member
Joined
19 Jul 2007
Messages
4,412
Location
Wellesbourne, UK.
Following on from feedback and comments in my previous post, I think I've got the rock positioning nailed and I'm not going to touch it now! As such, I'm starting this as a journal :)

So, here's the hardscape:

final_hires.jpg


Planting:
  • Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba"
  • Pogostemon helferi
  • Eleocharis acicularis
  • Blyxa Japonica
  • Staurogyne Sp.

In the short term, to up the biomass I'm going to plant Rotala SP "Green" as I have loads of this at the moment. I'll remove this eventually.

Tech Specs:
  • Dimensions - 90x35x45cm (ish)
  • Substrate - 18L ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia + Unipac Zambezi sand (padding)
  • Filtration - 2x Tetratec EX1200
  • Light - Arcadia 4x24w T5 Luminaire
  • CO2 - 5kg Fire extinquisher with solenoid. Glass diffuser(s).
  • Heater - Hydor ETH300 external

I'm waiting on my plants being delivered from TGM (some things out of stock), and they should be with me for Thursday! :)
 
Hi Steve,i think the name is very suitable because you have shown great patience indeed,good luck with it and i hope any algae issues are minimal,regards john.
 
Should be a crackin' journal, Steve. I look forward to following it.

To assist an algae-free start I can recommend running 2 tubes for 6 hours, with 50% water changes at least 2x per week. More if you can.

What fertilisers will you be using?
 
Thanks guys :) I was looking for some cool japanese name to give this, and as I was hunting around for something to combine with the japanese word for "rock" ("Iwa" according to me googling), and was heading towards "Patient Rock". But then I thought "You know what, lets stick with English" :lol:

George Farmer said:
Should be a crackin' journal, Steve. I look forward to following it.

To assist an algae-free start I can recommend running 2 tubes for 6 hours, with 50% water changes at least 2x per week. More if you can.

What fertilisers will you be using?

I most definately intend to stick to 2 tubes, and 6 hour photo period for the first few weeks at least. I'm highly doubtful I'll get away algae free but I'm really trying to give this a good crack of the whip. I'm usually quite slack when it comes to rigorous maintenance but this tank will be different :) (feel free to mock me in 2 months time when everything's gone belly up :lol:)

At the moment I'm unsure on the ferts. I'm thinking DIY TPN+. I mixed up a batch of mix no. 3 from JamesC's guide. I guess I'll tweak it as I go along though :) An all in one solution is ideal really.

My next task, after planting/filling etc is to figure out my water changes. I was going to buy a cheap submersable pump, like LondonDragon's guide in the DIY section, but then I realised I could just use one of the Fluval 204's I have kicking about, and some hose pipe. I'll get to that next week :D

As always, comments/suggestions welcome.

Onwards!
 
SteveUK said:
Thanks guys :) I was looking for some cool japanese name to give this, and as I was hunting around for something to combine with the japanese word for "rock" ("Iwa" according to me googling), and was heading towards "Patient Rock". But then I thought "You know what, lets stick with English" :lol:

Glad you stuck with the English, imagine if you only managed to translate one half and ended up with "Patientiwa" would't have worked for me! :lol:

Looks like an excellent start, really interested to see the progress on this one.
 
Great rock placement mate, in comparisson to your first attempt this is AWSOME!!! looking forward to seeing it planted and watching it develop into a great tank :)

Good job and keep us posted :)
 
Looking good, shall be interested to see this progress. :)
 
SteveUK said:
Looking forwards to my day off tomorrow! Mind, not looking forwards to planting all this HC! Hopefully I've got enough, but I have a feeling I haven't!
I've got some going spare and i could pop in tomorrow evening????
 
Themuleous said:
Great scaping, should look quality.

Sam

Thanks sam :)

Had Mr Crawford pop in yesterday eve and drop off a couple more pots of HC which was very kind :) I'm starting to thin I might not need them though! I'm just taking a break from splitting the 3rd of 4 pots I bought from TGM. I've done half the tank with 2 pots so far (stem by bloody stem!)

Dan really liked it in the flesh, which is a serious stamp of approval in my books :D I think I also impressed him with my Rio 180 plant holding tank, with the CO2 cranked way up, and almost enough ciruclation for a jacuzzi (no fish in the tank of course). :lol:

If the two pots of HC Dan gave me aren't needed, they'll go in the sale/swap section for a reasonable donation, unless he wants them back of course :D

I'll post pics later/tomorrow when I've got it planted up and got my filters and equipment in place, and when the water is less cloudy (though not too bad at the moment).

My next quest, after planting, is to decide on some apropriate fish! I would of used my existing fish - a group of 7 mixed harlequins (from different shops so some are possibly hengal's, some are another form) and 8 pentazona barbs. I'd really like to get this right so they'll go into the Rio 180 when I've finished using it to store plants, and it'll be a low light crypty jungle with redmoor and all sorts :) Should suit the barbs as I think this tank would be too open for them.

Annnyway, I'm rambling now :) Heres a list of fish which I've seen and liked. I'm searching through places like TropicalFishFinder and choosing fish that I think look good, and don't grow too big. This does not gaurantee suitability and I'll research the species I like best before buying any fish!

Rasbora dorsiocellata
Hemigrammus vorderwinkleri (Platinum Tetra)
Hyphessobrycon haraldschultzi (Schultz's Signal Tetra)
Nannostomus beckfordi (Golden Pencilfish)
Nematobrycon palmeri (Emperor Tetra)


As you can see, I'm going the rasbora/tetra route. Any other suggestions welcome, but must be a good small/medium (less than 6cm) shoaling fish which isn't impossible to source ;)
 
If you're contemplating pencils then I'd look at the Rocket Pencils (Nannostomus eques). I have 13 in my Rio and they are amazing things that hover in the open water at 45 degree angles. In an Iwagumi they'd look amazing IMHO. I'll try and take some pictures later and update my journal to show them off.
 
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