Little-AL
Member
So I set up my Maidenhead Aquatics / Aqua Manta 'Eco 80' back in June as a 'Jungle' style tank:
AL's 130ltr Jungle | UK Aquatic Plant Society
I wanted a pretty low maintenance tank as I spend 5.5 days a week away from home currently. Suffice to say it has worked pretty well - i've changed and upgraded a few bits (much bigger external filter, better CO2 components etc) but on the whole haven't had to do a while lot other than add fish and occasionally trim some growth out! Lately though it has started to bug me that the tank looked so full - there weren't really any true open spaces for the fish to swim and whilst it looked pleasant, it just wasn't right for me.I think the moss was part of the issue as it grew like a weed, got everywhere and held a lot of detritus...
How it looked 21/12:
Tonnes of growth recently - putting the improvements in growth and colour down to the Tropica fertilisers I started using!
I purchased a new piece of wood recently - not the most stunning piece but was nice and chunky so I felt would look good with my various Ferns and Anubias hanging off it...
Unfortunately despite several months soaking in the MA pond system and a few weeks in a tub at home it wouldn't sink when I came to stick it in the tank!
Ready to start the strip down:
Wood removed:
After finding that my new piece of wood wouldn't sink I decided to re-use one of my existing pieces. I re-attached the ferns and anubias to this piece, added some rock and trimmed down the crypts before they went back in. Have also re-added the vallis around the back of the tank following a trim.
Bit cloudy in there following the disturbance but you can get an idea of how much more open it is!
Once it had settled down tomorrow I will carry out regular filter maintenance and replace the floss etc as I suspect that will be pretty minging by now! My only other plan is to remove the male Gold Ram and look to add additional female Apistogramma Cacatuoides to join my males.
Thanks for reading - better pics later/tomorrow when the water has cleared
AL's 130ltr Jungle | UK Aquatic Plant Society
I wanted a pretty low maintenance tank as I spend 5.5 days a week away from home currently. Suffice to say it has worked pretty well - i've changed and upgraded a few bits (much bigger external filter, better CO2 components etc) but on the whole haven't had to do a while lot other than add fish and occasionally trim some growth out! Lately though it has started to bug me that the tank looked so full - there weren't really any true open spaces for the fish to swim and whilst it looked pleasant, it just wasn't right for me.I think the moss was part of the issue as it grew like a weed, got everywhere and held a lot of detritus...
How it looked 21/12:
Tonnes of growth recently - putting the improvements in growth and colour down to the Tropica fertilisers I started using!
I purchased a new piece of wood recently - not the most stunning piece but was nice and chunky so I felt would look good with my various Ferns and Anubias hanging off it...
Unfortunately despite several months soaking in the MA pond system and a few weeks in a tub at home it wouldn't sink when I came to stick it in the tank!
Ready to start the strip down:
Wood removed:
After finding that my new piece of wood wouldn't sink I decided to re-use one of my existing pieces. I re-attached the ferns and anubias to this piece, added some rock and trimmed down the crypts before they went back in. Have also re-added the vallis around the back of the tank following a trim.
Bit cloudy in there following the disturbance but you can get an idea of how much more open it is!
Once it had settled down tomorrow I will carry out regular filter maintenance and replace the floss etc as I suspect that will be pretty minging by now! My only other plan is to remove the male Gold Ram and look to add additional female Apistogramma Cacatuoides to join my males.
Thanks for reading - better pics later/tomorrow when the water has cleared