Onoma1
Member
Ok this is a slightly different kind of journal. I have seen so many inspirational tanks on the forum from those developed by new scapers and the experienced with some amazing ‘competition ready’ tanks. Looking at these tanks and working through the constructive advice provided by members has been fairly awe inspiring, tremendously helpful and provided an impetus for development.
My journey has been slightly slower with lots of false starts, wrong turns and errors. I am still very much learning about the craft of aquascaping and am acutely aware of my lack of knowledge. I know where I want to get to, however, realise that I am starting from a point where my skills and knowledge are far behind those of most of the scapers on this forum.
So this journal is about recording this journey – perhaps for other scapers on the forum that are at the ‘back of the class’ plodding along rather than the natural gifted lot! I would welcome comments or advice!
Where it started: a 60cm old tank and a first start to see if I could maintain a planted tank. This was very much an ‘experimental tank’ and put together on a budget (second-hand or re-purposed).
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ludwigia-palustris-advice-needed.53730/
After battling Cyanobacteria, BBA, algae and learning more about the craft of growing the plants I got to the point where I was reasonably happy with this tank, closed it down and moved to the current tank.
This one was inspired by the Green Aqua Cube 360 Cube Tanks and James Findley’s Altitude Scape.
It’s a 60 x 70 x 45 tank with opitwhite to the front, back and sides. The size was determined in part by pragmatic reasons: the space available in the house and the need to reuse an existing piece of furniture as a base. The other equimpment includes: Chihiros WRGB 60cm light, an inline Hydor 300w heater, Chronos Doctor, Co2 in-line diffuser and a JBL external filter. I have also included an internal Fluvial filter to increase flow. Glass Lilly pipe and skimmer. The lights and filter are on a smart plug with a six hour light period (Co2 comes on one hour before the lights). I will replace the filters with a larger one when budget allows. The water is naturally very soft.
The design idea was to create a space with different type of planting environments - moving from a carpeted or lawn area, to a jungle area, to a rocky area planted with epiphytes and then to an emersed area. I wanted to keep it fully planted (without sand) and to learn more about using and managing stone in a hardscape before starting to scape using wood.
The objectives of this tank are to maintain an aesthetically pleasing tank, learn more about the needs of different types of plants in different environments, maintain plants in great condition - including getting the deep reds and rapid growth, learning how to keep the tank in balance and maintaining a ‘happy’ healthy population of fish.
The plants introduced were:
1. Anubias Nana Petite
2. Ceratopteris cornuta
3. Cryptocoryne Bullosa
4. Cryptocoryne green gecko
5. Cryptocoryne x willisi
6. Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' –
7. Heteranthera zosterifolia,
8. Limnophila sessiliflora
9. Ludwigia
10. Micranthemum monte carlo
11. Ranunculus inundatus
12. Rotala rotundifolia
13. Staurogyne repens
14. Pygmaea Helvola Dwarf water lily
15. Pyg Rubra Dwarf water lily
The planting has taken place over a two month period with some plants having been introduced in the last few weeks (Rotala rotundifolia and Limnophila sessiliflora)
I have also got an unknown but fairly rampant floating plant (that came with some shrimps) that I am using to shade the Anubias and the shrimp seem to love sheltering in. I was also sent a free plant with some plants I bought from a fellow member of the forum - I am not sure what this is (thin leaved plant at the center of the picture).
Livestock is a shoal of Green Neon Tetras, Nine Otocinclus, Nerite snails (one large and some small), Red Cherry Shrimp and an Amano Shrimp.
Current problems with the tank/ learning points:
1. I bought a tub of Heteranthera zosterifolia (Pets at Home) wasn’t in a great condition and while it started to grow much of the existing growth died back. Normally I would nurture a plant in my garden back to health, however, in the tank I realised that different approach was needed. It was binned.
2. Ceratopteris cornuta – is in the wrong position and is far too large and needs removing.
3. Eleocharis needs trimming
4. BBA on the Monte Carlo – this seem to have been introduced when I changed the lighting, however, seems be resolving itself as the plants becomes more established and I balance the Co2/ Fets/ Lighting again, however, is still a worry. I want to take a 'natural' approach to management of it by introducing a few more snails and removal.
5. The Lilly’s are doing well, however, they aren’t sustainable long-term and need moving into an environment with less surface flow (perhaps outside). The approach that I took here was to introduce Hardy Pigmy Lillys that could also survive within warmer tropical environments rather than more delicate tropical Lillys. The varieties were used by James Wong in some of his small indoor micro ‘ponds’.
6. The tank is too busy and the rock area is unbalanced.
7. Shrimps - I can't maintain my population. I had a set back at the start with a dodgy heater and the survivors from this attempt are 'hanging on' but not reproducing. I need to address this.
Aims for the next month include building the emersed area.
Any advice, comments for improvement or development would be welcome!
My journey has been slightly slower with lots of false starts, wrong turns and errors. I am still very much learning about the craft of aquascaping and am acutely aware of my lack of knowledge. I know where I want to get to, however, realise that I am starting from a point where my skills and knowledge are far behind those of most of the scapers on this forum.
So this journal is about recording this journey – perhaps for other scapers on the forum that are at the ‘back of the class’ plodding along rather than the natural gifted lot! I would welcome comments or advice!
Where it started: a 60cm old tank and a first start to see if I could maintain a planted tank. This was very much an ‘experimental tank’ and put together on a budget (second-hand or re-purposed).
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ludwigia-palustris-advice-needed.53730/
After battling Cyanobacteria, BBA, algae and learning more about the craft of growing the plants I got to the point where I was reasonably happy with this tank, closed it down and moved to the current tank.
This one was inspired by the Green Aqua Cube 360 Cube Tanks and James Findley’s Altitude Scape.
It’s a 60 x 70 x 45 tank with opitwhite to the front, back and sides. The size was determined in part by pragmatic reasons: the space available in the house and the need to reuse an existing piece of furniture as a base. The other equimpment includes: Chihiros WRGB 60cm light, an inline Hydor 300w heater, Chronos Doctor, Co2 in-line diffuser and a JBL external filter. I have also included an internal Fluvial filter to increase flow. Glass Lilly pipe and skimmer. The lights and filter are on a smart plug with a six hour light period (Co2 comes on one hour before the lights). I will replace the filters with a larger one when budget allows. The water is naturally very soft.
The design idea was to create a space with different type of planting environments - moving from a carpeted or lawn area, to a jungle area, to a rocky area planted with epiphytes and then to an emersed area. I wanted to keep it fully planted (without sand) and to learn more about using and managing stone in a hardscape before starting to scape using wood.
The objectives of this tank are to maintain an aesthetically pleasing tank, learn more about the needs of different types of plants in different environments, maintain plants in great condition - including getting the deep reds and rapid growth, learning how to keep the tank in balance and maintaining a ‘happy’ healthy population of fish.
The plants introduced were:
1. Anubias Nana Petite
2. Ceratopteris cornuta
3. Cryptocoryne Bullosa
4. Cryptocoryne green gecko
5. Cryptocoryne x willisi
6. Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' –
7. Heteranthera zosterifolia,
8. Limnophila sessiliflora
9. Ludwigia
10. Micranthemum monte carlo
11. Ranunculus inundatus
12. Rotala rotundifolia
13. Staurogyne repens
14. Pygmaea Helvola Dwarf water lily
15. Pyg Rubra Dwarf water lily
The planting has taken place over a two month period with some plants having been introduced in the last few weeks (Rotala rotundifolia and Limnophila sessiliflora)
I have also got an unknown but fairly rampant floating plant (that came with some shrimps) that I am using to shade the Anubias and the shrimp seem to love sheltering in. I was also sent a free plant with some plants I bought from a fellow member of the forum - I am not sure what this is (thin leaved plant at the center of the picture).
Livestock is a shoal of Green Neon Tetras, Nine Otocinclus, Nerite snails (one large and some small), Red Cherry Shrimp and an Amano Shrimp.
Current problems with the tank/ learning points:
1. I bought a tub of Heteranthera zosterifolia (Pets at Home) wasn’t in a great condition and while it started to grow much of the existing growth died back. Normally I would nurture a plant in my garden back to health, however, in the tank I realised that different approach was needed. It was binned.
2. Ceratopteris cornuta – is in the wrong position and is far too large and needs removing.
3. Eleocharis needs trimming
4. BBA on the Monte Carlo – this seem to have been introduced when I changed the lighting, however, seems be resolving itself as the plants becomes more established and I balance the Co2/ Fets/ Lighting again, however, is still a worry. I want to take a 'natural' approach to management of it by introducing a few more snails and removal.
5. The Lilly’s are doing well, however, they aren’t sustainable long-term and need moving into an environment with less surface flow (perhaps outside). The approach that I took here was to introduce Hardy Pigmy Lillys that could also survive within warmer tropical environments rather than more delicate tropical Lillys. The varieties were used by James Wong in some of his small indoor micro ‘ponds’.
6. The tank is too busy and the rock area is unbalanced.
7. Shrimps - I can't maintain my population. I had a set back at the start with a dodgy heater and the survivors from this attempt are 'hanging on' but not reproducing. I need to address this.
Aims for the next month include building the emersed area.
Any advice, comments for improvement or development would be welcome!
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