• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

"Fallen Wilderness" - New Photographs First big trim!

Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Hi teve,great journal and a great aquascape i am looking forward to it filling out,regards john. by the way when i work on my setup i listen to u2 great band 8)
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Hi John,

Glad you like it. The Echinodorus is sending out lots of runners and new small plants are appearing. I have got some wild aquatic RED grass that I have planted as part of an experiment. I wasn't sure whether it would survive. But yesterday I noticed that there are new shoots appearing which start off like minature bamboo shoots and then they split and send out roots to the gravel to re-plant themselves. So I am quite chuffed with their development. I also have some wild GREEN broad leaved grass to the left of the tank which has sprouted some amazing shoots that have little green buds on, so I am keeping an eye on what they develop into.

I am still waiting for the Riccia to recover and start pearling again. I reckon it will take about another 5 days before it is worth taking any photographs for the update. But I could take some just of the wild Red grass and the weird green shoots with their buds. Maybe when I get home tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Steve.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Hi Guys,

Well it has been two weeks now since the rescape and then the mini rescape after that. The Riccia has recovered and the Echinodorus Tenellus is sending sproggets out. I have also got some pictures of a strange shoot sprouting out from the natural aquatic grass that I am experimenting with. The grass came from a Resevoir in Wales, it is a bit like Echinodorus Tenellus but the leaves are thicker and more rounded.

I am using the EI dosing every other day and now that I have got hold of the CSM+ trace elements from Richard at AE I have started to use that on the alternate days. I think I might reduce the dosage because the water by the middle of the week is taking on a sort of browny yellow colour. I have not experienced any algae problems so far.

Most of the Riccia is attached to the redwood roots using monofilament fishing line.

119_1981.jpg


Happiness is seeing your plants pearling. Here is one of my favourites at the moment.

119_1982.jpg


Here is the strange looking shoot. I did not see any of these shoots in the grass at the resevoir. I will wait and see what becomes of it before deciding on what to do. I'm still not sure whether I am going to stick with this grass or not. The Crypts in the background suffered a bit during the replant but are now making a full recovery with new leaves appearing from the substrate all the time.

119_1983.jpg


119_1984.jpg


Its looking a bit greener now, maybe too green so if anyone can suggest something that might contrast a bit I would appreciate it. I was thinking something along the lines of Barclay Longifolia :rolleyes: A sort of long leaved reddish colour that grows from a bulb.

119_1994.jpg


Loose bits of Riccia off the redwood roots collecting in the ET at the front of the tank.

119_1996.jpg


The Hair grass to the right of the tank has transplanted very well and has started to spread its sproggets out and it is interesting to watch the roots working their way through the substrate. I must say though, that so far as I can see none of the roots have reached the Tropica base substrate :( I'm wondering if the base substrate will ever get used? Although I am fairly sure that the Crypts on both sides of the tank will reach it eventually.

119_1997.jpg


119_1998.jpg


In these pictures you can probably see the yellowish brownish hue colour to the water I was talking about. :idea: I'm thinking that maybe this is being caused by the Tropica Substrate leaching slightly :( Has anyone else experienced this?

119_1999.jpg


Hopefully this picture gives a better view of the natural gravel effect that I have been trying to achieve. I opened up the space by moving things further back into the corner so that there is more space at the front to appreciate the substrate structure.
119_2000.jpg


120_2001.jpg


120_2002.jpg


Obviously it is still early days yet and there is a long way to go before this scape has evolved fully. Any views, opinions or suggestions as always are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Great journal, This is exactly the kind of aquascaping im into at the moment. I love the way youve been inspired by a real scenario. It seems Im not the only one who sees an aquascape in every rock or bit of water/moss I stumble across lol. I think this will look great once its all grown in, Might find it high maitenance though keeping alll that riccia trim! The effect will be worth the trouble though.

I think the browny yellow tinge in probobly from the redmoor roots. They leach tanin for a long time, I added purigen to my cannister filter and the water cleared up lovely. Just for the record im with Graeme on the Hendrix!

Great journal, great scape
Cheers
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Looking great, just love that riccia, shame like planter said its very high maintenance, I had it in my previous version of my tank and I had to keep redoing mine every 3/4 weeks as it became loose from the wood. Keep up the good work :)
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

I've had wood in my tank for a number of years and there is still a tinge in the water. I only notice when I siphon it out into a white bucket though, I don't notice it in the tank.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Cheers Guys,

I never thought about the wood causing the discolouration of the water ;) I have never used or heard of Purigen before "doh" :oops: Can you give me some more info on it. Also has anyone got a suggestion to contrast the "green planting"

I think I will persevere with the Riccia until it gets to the point where it is totally unmanagable. Having said that I think the trick is to get the rock or the wood out and give it a right good trimming before it gets out of hand.

Regarding the long stem shooting up from the grass it looks as if it is about to either flower or pop seeds.

Cheers.

Steve.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

JAmesM said:
Nice :D

I wish my plants would pearl :(

I don't get it all the time either but when they do it is great. I followed some advice from Clive about putting the CO2 on a timer so that it comes on 2 hours before the lights come on, reduced the rate slightly so that it was a constant flow instead of a massive dump of CO2 and then it would switch off because of my PH sensor. I set the PH sensor to 5.8 as an emergency cut off but so far the PH has never dropped that low. I now have the CO2 going off around 5:30 pm so that it is off about 2-3 hours before the last light goes out.

As Clive says it is just like training the plants to react through habit and practice, almost as if they learn from the light and CO2 settings.

Hope this helps.

Steve.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Already setup like that - co2 on two hours before lights on, and off two hours before lights off. I dose just before lights on. Its wacko :? I've heard loads of people never get pearling, even with 3+ w/g. Its not fair :(
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

JAmesM said:
Already setup like that - co2 on two hours before lights on, and off two hours before lights off. I dose just before lights on. Its wacko :? I've heard loads of people never get pearling, even with 3+ w/g. Its not fair :(

More light without more CO2 won't work. Inject a higher rate of CO2... :D

Cheers,
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

I really like the atmosphere. You say spooky and I think you are right, but it's a good thing. It is a nice change from the more conventional aquascapes.
 
"Fallen Wilderness" An update with pictures 4 weeks later

Hi,

I did my water change this afternoon and waited until this evening to take some photos. The Riccia has gone ballistic and pearling like mad. The ET is sprouting all over and things generally looking good. Still a bit spooky, still a bit samey green. Need some suggestions on plant variations / additions. The 30 ember tetras I bought from The Green Machine and put in the tank yesterday have coloured up nicley, so there is a bit of colour there now.

Hope you like the pics.

120_2022.jpg


120_2024.jpg


120_2025.jpg


120_2026.jpg


120_2027.jpg


120_2028.jpg


120_2031.jpg


120_2038.jpg


120_2039.jpg


120_2042.jpg


If anyone fancies having a go with Riccia Fluitans I might have some going spare in a few weeks. You don't need much to get started. I started of with a small clump and thanks to James Flexton's brilliant guide in the tutorial section look how much I have got now. I have only got 2.5WPG using EI and CO2 and the growth rate doubles in a week! It reproduces much quicker submerged than it does on the surface.

Cheers,

Steve.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Bah! Take your pearly pictures elsewhere. It looks rubbish.


:(

Love it mate, but you're right, it needs some additional colour. What about a Red Tiger Lotus or similar? Some nice pics and details in the plant section. Just got one myself for added colour :)

If I catch your topic at the time, I'll take some riccia off you too :)
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Wow. How did I miss this one.
Tank looks superb! Nice to see something a bit different, and I think it's worked very well indeed.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

JAmesM said:
Bah! Take your pearly pictures elsewhere. It looks rubbish.


:(

Love it mate, but you're right, it needs some additional colour. What about a Red Tiger Lotus or similar? Some nice pics and details in the plant section. Just got one myself for added colour :)

If I catch your topic at the time, I'll take some riccia off you too :)

No problem James,

I thought about the Red Tiger Lotus and I even kept some from the original tank set up and planted in them in my spare tankin the garage. The thing is they grew so big they overshadowed everything else and altered the perspective if you know what I mean.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Cheers,

Steve.
 
Re: "Fallen Wilderness" An Aqua Journal by Steve Lancashire

Graeme Edwards said:
Tut tut on the TV choice, get some Hedrix on while you scape man. 8)

lol I was so thinking the same thing!

great journal :) always copy to clipboard before you hit submit ;)

lovely looking scape too

re: red tiger lotus. If you restrict the roots with some kind of pot (with no holes in except for the bottom) then it wont grow so big.. failling that, chop the roots through fortnightly.. itll keep the leaves small and under control
 
Back
Top