Matt Holbrook-Bull
Founder
Okie dokie.. after serious neglect due to lack of time, and a substrate that went totally sour on me cos I was a dork, I decided to totally start over. This has been an expensive operation! Because of that, the money to spend on plants has been limited.. I shall be propagating more plants over time, so the scape will fill up.
Im aiming for a jungle/nature finish.. Ive decided to loose all wood, and go with some nice posh rocks from AE, first time Ive used them. I also opted for some nice Aquasoil Amazon II (due to my extremely alkaline water).
First job was a total clean out.. this wasnt pleasant as the previous substrate was extremely sulfurous. Scrape out, rinse out, and scrape out again.
After a bit of messing about with a different scape idea which I junked due to not enough rock, I decided to do a basic layout which I could build biomass around as time goes on.
As I'd asked Richard for smallish rocks because of my other idea, I had to make the most of what I had available.. even this lot was £30 quids worth. I like the look of it, even empty.. the rocks are very interesting alone, so hopefully provide a focal point until its grown up a bit.
Filling time! Very careful not to blow it all about, so used a large pyrex jug.
So.. planted up, 2 days later after another water change to cope with any NH4 leeching from the AS. Everything is settling in nicely. There are plants in the back in the gaps that you cant see yet.. these were cut right back to the substrate and are now coming back up.. so In a few weeks Ill post again and you can see how its going.
Tank:
100cm x 50cm x 18cm (c. 235lt)
160w T5 Arcadia Luminaire
EI ferts with powder based trace (AE)
Pressurised CO2
Fluval 304 (due to be upgraded end of the month!)
Initial every-other-day water changes
Flora:
Bolbitis heudelotii
Microsorum 'Narrow'
Glossostigma Elatinoides
Hygrophila Polysperma
Cabomba Piauhyensis
Lysimanchia Nummularis
Echinodorus 'Rosé'
Echinodorus cordifolius 'Tropica Marble Queen'
Common Amazon Sword (cant find the latin)
Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri)
Anyway.. doing this on a budget as we all generally have to.. so its something thats going to build over time. Ill keep this updated warts and all.
Im aiming for a jungle/nature finish.. Ive decided to loose all wood, and go with some nice posh rocks from AE, first time Ive used them. I also opted for some nice Aquasoil Amazon II (due to my extremely alkaline water).
First job was a total clean out.. this wasnt pleasant as the previous substrate was extremely sulfurous. Scrape out, rinse out, and scrape out again.
After a bit of messing about with a different scape idea which I junked due to not enough rock, I decided to do a basic layout which I could build biomass around as time goes on.
As I'd asked Richard for smallish rocks because of my other idea, I had to make the most of what I had available.. even this lot was £30 quids worth. I like the look of it, even empty.. the rocks are very interesting alone, so hopefully provide a focal point until its grown up a bit.
Filling time! Very careful not to blow it all about, so used a large pyrex jug.
So.. planted up, 2 days later after another water change to cope with any NH4 leeching from the AS. Everything is settling in nicely. There are plants in the back in the gaps that you cant see yet.. these were cut right back to the substrate and are now coming back up.. so In a few weeks Ill post again and you can see how its going.
Tank:
100cm x 50cm x 18cm (c. 235lt)
160w T5 Arcadia Luminaire
EI ferts with powder based trace (AE)
Pressurised CO2
Fluval 304 (due to be upgraded end of the month!)
Initial every-other-day water changes
Flora:
Bolbitis heudelotii
Microsorum 'Narrow'
Glossostigma Elatinoides
Hygrophila Polysperma
Cabomba Piauhyensis
Lysimanchia Nummularis
Echinodorus 'Rosé'
Echinodorus cordifolius 'Tropica Marble Queen'
Common Amazon Sword (cant find the latin)
Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri)
Anyway.. doing this on a budget as we all generally have to.. so its something thats going to build over time. Ill keep this updated warts and all.