tranquil_anteater
Seedling
Hi, just joined yesterday.
I've had tanks for close to 35 years now and have pretty much settled on what methods work for us and our lifestyle; that's low(ish) tech. Not as extreme as the Walstead method, but variations from it, still using it as the base against which alternatives are tried/compared (for example I use much more external bio filtration and more light, e.g. for cleaner looking water, a brighter scape, and being able to grow a range of prettier plants).
Always had big tanks (mainly to stop the big fluctuations, keep it a more balanced system, and get longer warning of emergent problems, lower maintenance frequency, etc). The latest is a 1.2M tank and system (1.1M water-depth, approx 500l of water in the whole system) integrated into the house which i've almost finished hardscaping. It is my deepest build yet so I'm trying to convert my knowledge of what I have found previously works to this deeper setup.
At present i'm mainly interested in the UKAPS help/critique forums to get other people's experiences and input/ideas. Happy to offer any experience to others as well.
I'm currently interested in the following areas:
i) Finishing the final bit of the hardscape. The tank is both tall and horizontally deep (i.e. from the front you can look a long way back into it) but has a narrower front view (to fit in our chimney stack). It was a choice of this or no tank, so we went for having the tank and accepting the limitations of it. The largest part of the hardscape wood feature is in and looks great but i'm no expert on detail so am looking for steer/ideas on what and where more detailed hardscape could be added to benefit how it looks to maintain its sense of depth and perspective (e.g. should I add some stone, should I add some small wood, etc).
ii) To sanity-check the planting choices and locations. I roughly know where we want to go with the greenery setup; really i'd be just looking for some general steer (or a sanity check) on our choices. I have hopefully addressed the main problems of deep tanks having dimmer lighting lower down and suspect water circulation by using a mix of technology and plant choice/location. So the questions are not really about those issues at present; they are, for example, about dealing with cosmetic challenges e.g. how could I stop the vertical tank joins being a distraction to the overall look (are there nice looking foliage plants available (i.e. not vallis) which could reach high enough to disguise them or planting which could draw the viewer away from them? Other questions are just to get a feel of whether I've made the right choice of plants to make it look natural and cohesive (e.g. not a mix of plants which look out of place together).
Cheers
I've had tanks for close to 35 years now and have pretty much settled on what methods work for us and our lifestyle; that's low(ish) tech. Not as extreme as the Walstead method, but variations from it, still using it as the base against which alternatives are tried/compared (for example I use much more external bio filtration and more light, e.g. for cleaner looking water, a brighter scape, and being able to grow a range of prettier plants).
Always had big tanks (mainly to stop the big fluctuations, keep it a more balanced system, and get longer warning of emergent problems, lower maintenance frequency, etc). The latest is a 1.2M tank and system (1.1M water-depth, approx 500l of water in the whole system) integrated into the house which i've almost finished hardscaping. It is my deepest build yet so I'm trying to convert my knowledge of what I have found previously works to this deeper setup.
At present i'm mainly interested in the UKAPS help/critique forums to get other people's experiences and input/ideas. Happy to offer any experience to others as well.
I'm currently interested in the following areas:
i) Finishing the final bit of the hardscape. The tank is both tall and horizontally deep (i.e. from the front you can look a long way back into it) but has a narrower front view (to fit in our chimney stack). It was a choice of this or no tank, so we went for having the tank and accepting the limitations of it. The largest part of the hardscape wood feature is in and looks great but i'm no expert on detail so am looking for steer/ideas on what and where more detailed hardscape could be added to benefit how it looks to maintain its sense of depth and perspective (e.g. should I add some stone, should I add some small wood, etc).
ii) To sanity-check the planting choices and locations. I roughly know where we want to go with the greenery setup; really i'd be just looking for some general steer (or a sanity check) on our choices. I have hopefully addressed the main problems of deep tanks having dimmer lighting lower down and suspect water circulation by using a mix of technology and plant choice/location. So the questions are not really about those issues at present; they are, for example, about dealing with cosmetic challenges e.g. how could I stop the vertical tank joins being a distraction to the overall look (are there nice looking foliage plants available (i.e. not vallis) which could reach high enough to disguise them or planting which could draw the viewer away from them? Other questions are just to get a feel of whether I've made the right choice of plants to make it look natural and cohesive (e.g. not a mix of plants which look out of place together).
Cheers
Welcome. I look forward to seeing some pictures. Are you going to do a journal of it?
