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ADA entry 2009 - Forward Motion

zig

Member
Joined
4 Jul 2007
Messages
686
Location
Dublin Ireland
Hi everyone here's my entry from this years ADA IAPLC 2009 competition.

This tank wasn't finished when I entered it, I needed more time to finish it off, but I entered it anyway :D it was low light tank so I should have allowed plenty of time, lesson there. The second picture is nearer to what I had in mind when I started this aquascape and that shot was taken about mid July just gone, the shot for the ADA entry was taken right up to the deadline, probably just a couple of days before entry deadline day. I didn't use any special photography techniques other than a tripod, I did add more lights over the tank for the second shot though, just another overtank luminaire, both shots are taken at about 1/20 sec so the fish are a bit blurred. I photographed it with a point and shoot Canon powershot A610. Click on the pics for larger images.


The spec for the tank

Tank 90x45x45cm

Lighting 4x24W T5 about 9 hours per day

EI method dosing

CO2 2bps

50% Water change every week

Plants

Eleocharis parvula
Long leaf Java fern
Anubias (nana I think)
Cyperus helferi
Vallisneris nana
Various crypts
Java Moss
Spiky moss

Fish

White cloud mountain minnows

This tank recieved 90th position, I was happy enough with that all things considered, I will give it another shot next year and hopefully will be a bit more organised :thumbup:


031.jpg




ForwardMotion-2.jpg



finisha2.jpg
 
Hi zig,
I like it,to my mind it seems to have a wild look about it,
well done on the 90th place,
john.
 
I love it! Well done on your position, representing us in a great light. ;)

I like the fact it's low tech and the wood structure is great! Do you mind telling us what wood it is?
 
Major congratulations Peter. Not half bad for someone who is away most of the time.

It has nice, unkempt but controlled look to it, if you know what I mean. I like the way you never lost the piece of wood on the ground, too.

WCMM eh?

Dave.
 
I love it peter, a massive contrast to your previous entry, a testimant to your aquascaping vercitility. Congratulations on the week deserved position.
 
Dan Crawford said:
Congratulations on the week deserved position.

I hope that's a typo and you mean "well" not "week" or even worse "weak". LOL

Well done Peter, looks excellent!
 
Thanks everyone!

@rawr - Thomas the wood I collected over the last couple of years on my trips down the countryside over here, I have a couple of spots where I can get decent enough wood, found a new spot recently as well, like any aquascaper worth his salt always looking for new material you know yourself ;) Working out this aquascape took a while though, the hardscape was worked out alright but I had to go searching for a couple of pieces of wood that would "fit" the aquascape, I knew what I wanted but finding them is another matter so I had to go looking for them. I found a beauty of a piece on one of those trips though that will make up another aquascape, so always a bonus doing it that way

@Dave Spencer - Dave I used WCMM because I didnt want to use a shoaling fish, I wanted a fish that would be a bit more random the way it moved around the tank and also a fish that would primarily swim at the top of the tank, this was the space I needed to fill with the fish. Theres no heater in the tank either which is a bonus and that suited these fish quite well. The fish position in the shot I entered to the competition I think is quite good, in the second shot maybe its not so good, they weren't/aren't the easiest fish to work with.
 
Congratulations on your well deserved contest placement.
The scape is very original whilst still conforming to classic nature aquarium style, an amazing achievement.
You have an excellent eye for natural form, colour and texture.

Cheers
James
 
James Marshall said:
Congratulations on your well deserved contest placement.
The scape is very original whilst still conforming to classic nature aquarium style, an amazing achievement.
You have an excellent eye for natural form, colour and texture.

Cheers
James

High praise indeed!

Thanks for your words of encouragement James :D
 
zig said:
Thanks everyone!

I collected over the last couple of years on my trips down the countryside over here, I have a couple of spots where I can get decent enough wood, found a new spot recently as well, like any aquascaper worth his salt always looking for new material you know yourself

what wood is suitable to be collected? any particular trees? im in the countryside and if i knew what to look for it wood (see what i did there :lol: ) be excellent, a doddle really. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for all the comments guys :D

@Nick - Nick once the wood is dry and not still on the tree then its all collectable IMO, I dont know what type of wood it is TBH, I would avoid rotten wood newly downed wood from wind etc, once its totally dried out I would say its pretty safe to use. Normally what I do is collect the wood then I will debark it, that usually takes some time but gives you a good indication of how dry it is, totally dry and the bark comes off easy enough. I then store the debarked wood in a dry shed. Before I use the wood I will soak it for a couple of weeks as it gets a lot of the tannins out of it that way, I use a large plastic dust bin with a lid for that, I do it outside, I usually do a water change in the bin after about a week or so, can't say I have had any problems in my tanks from wood collected like this. Give it a go especially if you live in the countryside :thumbup:

@Aaron - Thanks a lot Aaron, the tank is still running with the plants in it but I have broken down the hardscape, trying to decide what to do next :geek: I have some other shots Aaron mainly the front view (thinking AGA here) mainly with a brighter background but I sort of like the shot above tbh.


Thanks Graeme :D

Not sure how I could have planted it radically differently tbh bearing in mind its a low light setup, it would have been nice to use more crypts but they just dont do so well in my water Im afraid, the water is extremely soft around here, halfway through the growout stage I wanted to change the foreground I was probably just getting impatient though, I sort of like the wild grassy look now that its finished, how would you have planted it mate? I would say if I had the aquascape finished and entered that version it might have gone up a few more notches in the rankings, but who knows, I will enter the finished version that I have now into AGA anyhow and see how it goes.
 
would boiling the water help? i have a metal bucket and could boil it up for a bit with some water from a kettle.

but thatnks for your response, i think i might go out collecting later.... :thumbup:
 
I can vouch for the quality of zig's collected wood.

I used the same stuff in my ADA entry, and recent Cambodia biotope. Thanks, Peter! :D

And Top 100 is one heck of an achievment, by the way. I don't expect to ever get that high, personally.

Kudos! :D
 
zig said:
Thanks for all the comments guys :D


Thanks Graeme :D

Not sure how I could have planted it radically differently tbh bearing in mind its a low light setup, it would have been nice to use more crypts but they just dont do so well in my water Im afraid, the water is extremely soft around here, halfway through the grow out stage I wanted to change the foreground I was probably just getting impatient though, I sort of like the wild grassy look now that its finished, how would you have planted it mate? I would say if I had the aquascape finished and entered that version it might have gone up a few more notches in the rankings, but who knows, I will enter the finished version that I have now into AGA anyhow and see how it goes.

I think thats it Peter, the tank is missing the crypts, or is it? I really love the wood, it draws your eye in and around the aquarium, very dramatic and full over energy and movement. The lack of crypts makes for a mono green planting, which is the only draw of this scape.

Do you get some feed back from the ADA judges at all?

I do love it Peter, I much prefer this one to your last ADA entry.

Very cool 8)
 
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