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Barb Island. its all over.

Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite dream...emergent plants?

foxfish said:
The main problem is the leafs drying out though, I bet loads of us have had plants putting up 'above water foliage' but the leafs very quickly turn brown.
It looks like most swords stand pretty good chance....

I convert my aquatic plants to emersed form in high humidity, then slowly bring it down until room humidity and a few sprays a day is all they need.

I have various ludwigia, bacopa, harigrass and hygros and none dry out or turn brown.

Fittonia also work really well. Especially attractive if you can get hold of the pink variety.
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite dream...emergent plants?

I know it is possible but, we are talking about plants emerging out of the display tank & this normally means being exposed to a very dry environment directly under two T5s!
I have got a metal halide suspended 600mm above my tank so this might help but I still dont fancy spraying the plants every day.
Toms tanks obviously has some good examples viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14521&start=200
 
The 90x45x75 optiwhite dream...emergent plants?

Do pm me, if this next wave of cold does not kill the plants nothing will, and they will last till summer! :)

I think that halides may dry them too much, so keep that in mind. A two day spray is more than enough.


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Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite dream...emergent plants?

foxfish said:
I know it is possible but, we are talking about plants emerging out of the display tank & this normally means being exposed to a very dry environment directly under two T5s!
I have got a metal halide suspended 600mm above my tank so this might help but I still dont fancy spraying the plants every day.
Toms tanks obviously has some good examples viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14521&start=200

Ah sorry I get you now.
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite dream...emergent plants?

The postman has been very busy.... 5 parcels a day and havent even got to the good stuff yet :)

I received expanded hydroponic clay pellet today to go in the shower caddys for emersed plants and immeadiately wondered if it would be a good idea to put a layer of these under the akadama with the peat and osmocote to help improve the airation/ movement under the substrate??
As i understand it, i can expect the akadama to break down some what over time so would the clay pellet help to stop roots becoming strangled??

Any ideas if this would be a good idea or totally pointless?
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite. Clay pellets under substrate??

went to the garden centre today to see what was on offer and picked up an aspidistra and sneakily 'borrowed' a 1 leaf cutting from a philodendron (they wanted £24 for it!)

I washed the root ball of the Aspi and put it in a tall vase with clay pellet and added water to half cover the root ball.
Bare in mind i dont really know what im doing so any advise appreciated :)

The leaf structure for what i want is ideal so i plan to raise the water level every few days until the vase is full, then once full will transfer to the tank and continue to lower into the water in the shower caddys until at the substrate then plant.

Im hoping this will work but i guess time will tell!!

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Roots in water... will these rot and new ones grow or just adapt??
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Excuse the very unimpressive nano, it was the crab tank.. took out the crabs yesterday and filled it as need to store my cardinals and shrimp until the new tank is running.
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite. Clay pellets under substrate??

I just bung it in and hope for the best. All mine have adapted as opposed to rotting away.
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite. STUPID SNOW!!!

Following a small snow delay, I picked the tank up today!!
Im overly excited :lol:
Thankyou to Magpie, tanks in great condition and for the really nice bits of Mopani (i think) wood as a bonus!!

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So waiting for the light bracket from naturalaquario.com now i have fixed the Halide unit after the couriers used it as a football!!
Lily pipes, ceramic diffusors, auto top up unit all in transit also. Then its fun time :p

Will be putting in the hardscape hopefully this week and will be needing feedback for sure!!
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite. Finally collected!

very interested to see how you get on with the na delivery.
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite. Finally collected!

they dont actually tell you how long it will take which is very annoying. Did get an email saying it was being processed for dispatch...
Just hope it fits, its a 90cm hanging arm but measuring the tank it is 91cm :?
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite. Finally collected!

Oh wow I am JEALOUS ! I saw this tank and really wanted to buy it but it just would not fit where I have a space :( It will be almost as good watching it develop in someone else's living room though. What an awesome tank. Lovely depth to it.
 
Re: The 90x45x75 optiwhite. Finally collected!

Last few days have been like christmas... bits arriving everyday!! Man i love buying cool aquarium bits, especially glassware ;)

So the lily pipes were one of the things to arrive this week, very annoying though that when i opened the box they sent the wrong ones and got the poppy style.

Waiting to hear back to replace and hoping they wont ask to send these back... so might have poppy outlets for sale soon. They are from Aquaticmagic in Singapore following recommendation, quality looks good and just £40 a set.

Also got the GE Arc halide bulbs after Alistairs recommendation, wowzers they are bright!! Wont need any lights on in my lounge anymore!!

Very smart gUSH ORB dropchecker and thermometer from our sponsor APF. Great service and super fast delivery, with discount to boot!

TMC auto top up unit also arrived, interested to see how well this works. Really cant be doing with top ups every day so will run this 24/7 with RO water to minimize mineral build up.

Lots of other less interesting bits too... sphagnum moss peat, osmacote, clear tubing, matrix etc...

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I have set the tank out and done a few hardscapes, my first one was the favorite (quite a classic scape this time round) so have now taken it all back out again to raise the cabinet by 4" and get all the pipework as tidy as possible and add a shelf on Saturday.

All slowly coming together... the wait to plant is killing me!!
 
90x45x75 optiwhite. NA light arm.. unreasonable?

So i have been waiting for NaturalAquario to deliver the light arm which should have arrived last monday. Went to send them an email to see why it hasnt arrived and found this email arrived this morning.

hello
because of the carnival, your order takes more time than normal.
We also decided to make a new arm, since you told us your aquarium was 90.8cm, e we send you one that fits perfectly.
Shipping number PT ************** send by Chronopost.
The shipping costs was 24.90eur as you will see on the package, if you proced with a paymanet of 4.80eur extra by paypal: info@naturalaquario.com, we appreciate.
regards

so im a little miffed, if this is the case why didnt they advise to start with!!
And then to have the cheek to ask for more cash for delivery!?!

Id like your opinions if im being unreasonable?? Should i pay the extra postage?? A budget product doesn't have to have budget service!!

Im going to be really jacked off if its not here by wednesday as 40 pots of plants are arriving!!


Quick update, nothing particularly interesting :( but while im here....
Most things have arrived now, just light arm and replacement lily pipes to come after poppy style sent.
I have set up the tank so just waiting for water now.
Went and bought some plants for the emergent growth out the back, repotted them in clay balls and are sitting in a bucket with ferts getting used to emersed life. Not too sure if they will all make the transition, particularly a fern i thought would look good...?
Have reserved the CUC and first lot of fish with MA ready for next weekend, really wanted these fish for a long time so looking forward to collecting. :D
Stupidly saw a few plants while there that i hadnt seen before that i really liked and started planning another scape before this one is even set up :lol:
 
Re: 90x45x75 optiwhite. NA delivery, unreasonable?

i think potentially you are being a little unreasnoble if they've gone to the extra length of basically custom making you an arm to fit your tank perfectly as opposed to an "as close as" off the shelf item. not many companies will go to that length for you.

between the overall cost reduction + a custom fabricated arm I think an extra £4 is a small price to pay
 
Re: 90x45x75 optiwhite. NA delivery, unreasonable?

Thankyou Hinch, sometimes i just need a bit of perspective. Patience isnt one of my strong points and i have been without a proper planted tank for over a month now, maybe its withdrawal!! :twisted:

I appreciate the effort of custom building one but they had already told me that the stock one will fit. Its not the money, just annoying as should have been here days ago!!

I guess with all the other delays and wrong items sent then maybe they are getting the brunt of it....

Ill pay the difference but if its not here by wednesday im getting a flight to Portugal :lol:
 
Re: 90x45x75 optiwhite. NA delivery, unreasonable?

Hey Iain, I agree with Hinch, £4 in the run of things with what you have spent. Ain't worth the hassle.
 
Re: 90x45x75 optiwhite. NA delivery, unreasonable?

Auto top up is nice and simple shut off switch but I am not sure I would trust it completely. One day micro switch will just get broke without additional fail safe mechanism I would not want this in my living room :D. I see they are doing 2x float switch as well I would get that one. Or make sure your reservoir + water in aquarium would not exceed total aquarium capacity.
 
Re: 90x45x75 optiwhite. NA delivery, unreasonable?

Radik said:
Auto top up is nice and simple shut off switch but I am not sure I would trust it completely. One day micro switch will just get broke without additional fail safe mechanism I would not want this in my living room :D. I see they are doing 2x float switch as well I would get that one. Or make sure your reservoir + water in aquarium would not exceed total aquarium capacity.

It did concern me slightly so bought 2 x 10ltr jerricans ill swop when empty and the tank will always hold an extra 10. Luckily because of the depth of the tank even with 2 large eheims it all fits in the cabinet :thumbup:

Just finished the cabinet today too. Raised it up 10cm with inset 4x2 painted ADAish matt grey. I'm quite chuffed with it :D

Ill get some pictures up when the light arm arrives, definitely before wednesday ive been assured.
 
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