Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Chris, Great rock work very pleasing to the eye 🙄 Plants look fab and healthy to congratulation on a super Aquascape 
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Island Shore - 60 x 30 x 45 Rock, grass and hopefully class!
- Thread starter Chris Jackson
- Start date
Chris Jackson
Member
Thanks Greenfinger2!
A bit of playing with backlighting tonight. As mentioned earlier the tank uses an ADA Aquasky 602 but I'm only using one of the Led banks. I did have the second one on for one of the 6 hours of lighting for a couple of weeks but stopped that as algae was growing a little quick and it made the O2 pearling ridiculously vigorous. So today I put this largely redundant light to good use by lifting it from the fitting and positioning it to shine on the wall behind. A promising start for photographic purposes but for everyday domestic pleasure I think I shall look into getting a a thin LED strip light to mount discreetly behind. Photography wise I can see a long day coming spent trying to herd the fish into good pose!
These Images are taken at f/8 1/250 at ISO 1600 with a 23mm lens
A bit of playing with backlighting tonight. As mentioned earlier the tank uses an ADA Aquasky 602 but I'm only using one of the Led banks. I did have the second one on for one of the 6 hours of lighting for a couple of weeks but stopped that as algae was growing a little quick and it made the O2 pearling ridiculously vigorous. So today I put this largely redundant light to good use by lifting it from the fitting and positioning it to shine on the wall behind. A promising start for photographic purposes but for everyday domestic pleasure I think I shall look into getting a a thin LED strip light to mount discreetly behind. Photography wise I can see a long day coming spent trying to herd the fish into good pose!
These Images are taken at f/8 1/250 at ISO 1600 with a 23mm lens
Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Chris, Superb 
And stunning photos
And stunning photos
Chris Jackson
Member
Hi all,
Well I'm very pleased with how this tank is settling in now. There is very little algae, excellent plant growth and happy critters. I've backed off a little on the ferts dosing 3 pumps of ADA Green Step 1 and Brighty K every other day with a 40% water change weekly. KH is kept at 5 with the addition of some sodium bicarb to the water change water. CO2 is at about 1-2 bubbles per sec directly into the filter input hose and is set on a solenoid to come on at midday and off at 10pm. Lighting is one bank of ADA Aquasky 602 from 2pm to 8pm. My PH probe is showing ph between 6.6 and 6.8 and the drop checker is nicely green.
As an experiment I fixed some car window tint to the back of the tank to see how it would look and photograph. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it that way (not least because my 13 year old daughter hates the look) but I do quite like the photo effects possible. The pearling almost looks like stars in the night sky...
But using some back light the effect is more subtle..
The position of the tank in the room is bit messed up by window reflections but these are less noticeable in the flesh than in photos but here you can see the difference the back ground makes..
I think I prefer the natural look
Well I'm very pleased with how this tank is settling in now. There is very little algae, excellent plant growth and happy critters. I've backed off a little on the ferts dosing 3 pumps of ADA Green Step 1 and Brighty K every other day with a 40% water change weekly. KH is kept at 5 with the addition of some sodium bicarb to the water change water. CO2 is at about 1-2 bubbles per sec directly into the filter input hose and is set on a solenoid to come on at midday and off at 10pm. Lighting is one bank of ADA Aquasky 602 from 2pm to 8pm. My PH probe is showing ph between 6.6 and 6.8 and the drop checker is nicely green.
As an experiment I fixed some car window tint to the back of the tank to see how it would look and photograph. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it that way (not least because my 13 year old daughter hates the look) but I do quite like the photo effects possible. The pearling almost looks like stars in the night sky...
But using some back light the effect is more subtle..
The position of the tank in the room is bit messed up by window reflections but these are less noticeable in the flesh than in photos but here you can see the difference the back ground makes..
I think I prefer the natural look
GreenNeedle
Member
Very nice journal and a good read 😀 I like the day by day updates at the beginning. Scape looks very nice and in the photos the black background looks great as does the gradient (greyer) backlighting. Also love the cabinet especially the Zebrano 😉
Chris Jackson
Member
So nearly 10 days later and things are still going very well. The grasses are really growing in now whilst the Monte Carlo has needed another quite severe trim. I am now starting to shape the carpet a little to help further form my vision for the scape.
You don't see many black and white aquascape shots but I rather like the effects that can be achieved. I like the wintery mood created here from processing the image above..
You don't see many black and white aquascape shots but I rather like the effects that can be achieved. I like the wintery mood created here from processing the image above..
Attachments
Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Chris,
I agree not enough B/W photos 😉 It brings out the structure of the stone in this photo 🙄
I agree not enough B/W photos 😉 It brings out the structure of the stone in this photo 🙄
Fantastic idea with the tint, it never even crossed my mind. 😀 (from an ex tinter, wrapper and signmaker 
)
I like a black background, but to be able to change it at the flick of a switch is perfect for what I was looking for on my new tank.
What % tint did you use?
Thanks again, best idea I've seen in a while and will definitely be making an appearance on my new tank
)I like a black background, but to be able to change it at the flick of a switch is perfect for what I was looking for on my new tank.
What % tint did you use?
Thanks again, best idea I've seen in a while and will definitely be making an appearance on my new tank
Chris Jackson
Member
Thanks
I used something calling itself "Defender Auto Film - Light Smoke" from Motor World. I've removed it now which was far more difficult than applying it particularly due to the restricted access behind the tank so be warned and choose wisely
I used something calling itself "Defender Auto Film - Light Smoke" from Motor World. I've removed it now which was far more difficult than applying it particularly due to the restricted access behind the tank so be warned and choose wisely
The_Iceman
Member
- Joined
- 29 May 2014
- Messages
- 375
The black one is definitely giving you more contrast... but I prefer the white background. Looks more friendly and "open" 😉
Chris Jackson
Member
Ryan Thang To
Member
chris! your tank is amazing keep up the good work.
cheers
ryan
cheers
ryan
Alexander Belchenko
Member
Your tank is almost perfect. It looks nice with any background, imo.
Sent via Tapatalk
Sent via Tapatalk
ADA
Member
Great scape, final shot time imo, looks perfect. 🙂
Jason King
Member
Nice tank 🙂 great job
Chris Jackson
Member
Well hello again. Thanks for the positive comments... however I've had a slight setback by virtue of a bit of an algae outbreak...Doh!
I think that primarily I backed off on the ferts a bit too much. In hindsight there were a few indicators as far as slowing plant growth but I was also kind of happy for things to slow a bit as the maintenance can be inconvenient! Hair grasses are a sod for trapping waste also and I think that that combined with some relatively dead water flow areas has all been a contributor
The Monte Carlo is unaffected and quite tellingly the grasses at the other end of the tank (photo below) where water flow is higher is also much less affected...
So I've given the worst affected areas a trim right back, syphoned off the detritus caught in the grass and am selectively trimming the worst affected leaves. I've upped the ferts and will be doing a 40% water change every 3 or 4 days. Oh and I've ordered a longer and larger inflow pipe to improve circulation in that corner of the tank.. New growth seems to be largely unaffected so i'm fairly confident that I can get back on track reasonably quickly...
Stay tuned...
I think that primarily I backed off on the ferts a bit too much. In hindsight there were a few indicators as far as slowing plant growth but I was also kind of happy for things to slow a bit as the maintenance can be inconvenient! Hair grasses are a sod for trapping waste also and I think that that combined with some relatively dead water flow areas has all been a contributor
The Monte Carlo is unaffected and quite tellingly the grasses at the other end of the tank (photo below) where water flow is higher is also much less affected...
So I've given the worst affected areas a trim right back, syphoned off the detritus caught in the grass and am selectively trimming the worst affected leaves. I've upped the ferts and will be doing a 40% water change every 3 or 4 days. Oh and I've ordered a longer and larger inflow pipe to improve circulation in that corner of the tank.. New growth seems to be largely unaffected so i'm fairly confident that I can get back on track reasonably quickly...
Stay tuned...
Chris Jackson
Member
Still in the land of algae bloom here and after a week of knee jerk adjustments (Extra ferts basically) I've spent some time reflecting and researching...
From what I can tell, as far as algae is concerned, there is no absolute clear consensus on causes or cures but CO2, flow, distribution, nutrients and light can all combine to create success or failure. Now I've been running planted tanks continuously for some 24 years now and if you count my childhood then a fair few more years on top of that however in those 24 years I've only actually started completely anew about ½ a dozen times. Algae hasn't been too great an issue for the most part but my worst breakouts have all been of the blue green variety and mostly down to lack of ferts and or circulation. I've noted a behavioural pattern though that runs something like this....
Yikes I've got algae....I'll try this...
A couple of days later...maybe adjust this..
A couple of days later....oh maybe if I change this..
A couple of days later....oh of course I should do this...
A couple of days later...oh no I probably shouldn't have done that..
A couple of days later...ok, I've got it now, I'll do this..
etc. etc.
Finally, having got totally fed up with fiddling about with parameters, I leave it be for more than a few days and...ta dah...improvements, then gone...
So in the case of this setup I'm thinking along the lines that...algae broke out when I backed off on the recommended ADA Step 1 and Brighty K regime and I moved to weekly water changes even though I had increased fish and food wastes to contend with...
Another thought I have is that it may just be that algae blooms can be a natural part of cycling a new tank and that rather than panicking we should simply ride them out with the minimum of messing. What I can say unequivocally is that historically all the troubles I have with my tanks have been down to either neglect or tweaking...
The shot above is of my tank this evening before cleaning/trimming..there's plenty of new growth in both plants and algae. Last water change and trim was 4 days ago when my new deeper Cal Aqua x2 inflow pipe was installed which improves flow lower in the tank due to it greater depth and all round because of the increased water flow through the additional slots in the tube.
So tonight I rinsed out the filter media with aquarium water and did a 50% water change adding just ADA Step 1 and Brighty K and enough Bicarb to give me KH 5. I've been tempted to switch to another fert regime because ADA seems so overpriced but in a small 60cm tank ADA costs aren't extreme and it is the system that I've been wanting try for years so I'm going to stick with it and order up some Step 2 as I'm easily at the 3 month stage. My drop checker and PH meter all suggest that CO2 is fine and in such an open tank I'm pretty darn sure flow is ok so I'm resolving to ride things out for awhile without meddling..... 😉
Be back next week!
From what I can tell, as far as algae is concerned, there is no absolute clear consensus on causes or cures but CO2, flow, distribution, nutrients and light can all combine to create success or failure. Now I've been running planted tanks continuously for some 24 years now and if you count my childhood then a fair few more years on top of that however in those 24 years I've only actually started completely anew about ½ a dozen times. Algae hasn't been too great an issue for the most part but my worst breakouts have all been of the blue green variety and mostly down to lack of ferts and or circulation. I've noted a behavioural pattern though that runs something like this....
Yikes I've got algae....I'll try this...
A couple of days later...maybe adjust this..
A couple of days later....oh maybe if I change this..
A couple of days later....oh of course I should do this...
A couple of days later...oh no I probably shouldn't have done that..
A couple of days later...ok, I've got it now, I'll do this..
etc. etc.
Finally, having got totally fed up with fiddling about with parameters, I leave it be for more than a few days and...ta dah...improvements, then gone...
So in the case of this setup I'm thinking along the lines that...algae broke out when I backed off on the recommended ADA Step 1 and Brighty K regime and I moved to weekly water changes even though I had increased fish and food wastes to contend with...
Another thought I have is that it may just be that algae blooms can be a natural part of cycling a new tank and that rather than panicking we should simply ride them out with the minimum of messing. What I can say unequivocally is that historically all the troubles I have with my tanks have been down to either neglect or tweaking...
The shot above is of my tank this evening before cleaning/trimming..there's plenty of new growth in both plants and algae. Last water change and trim was 4 days ago when my new deeper Cal Aqua x2 inflow pipe was installed which improves flow lower in the tank due to it greater depth and all round because of the increased water flow through the additional slots in the tube.
So tonight I rinsed out the filter media with aquarium water and did a 50% water change adding just ADA Step 1 and Brighty K and enough Bicarb to give me KH 5. I've been tempted to switch to another fert regime because ADA seems so overpriced but in a small 60cm tank ADA costs aren't extreme and it is the system that I've been wanting try for years so I'm going to stick with it and order up some Step 2 as I'm easily at the 3 month stage. My drop checker and PH meter all suggest that CO2 is fine and in such an open tank I'm pretty darn sure flow is ok so I'm resolving to ride things out for awhile without meddling..... 😉
Be back next week!
Chris Jackson
Member
Meanwhile....
It's been an entertaining week and I do believe the plants are now overtaking the algae in terms of growth. I mentioned that I was planning to continue with ADA fertilisers but having realised that the recommended package of Step 2, Brighty K, Green Gain and ECA works out at a little shy of £95.00 I concluded that I simply cannot justify that for fertiliser, be it sprinkled with ADA fairy dust or not. I already have stock of most of the dry salts I need and they are equally well proven to be efficacious so I've made up some stock solution of macros and traces according to the online calculator at http://blog.fluidsensoronline.com/calculators/estimative-index/ as well as reading up on the theory a bit more. Great resources here http://www.prirodni-akvarium.cz/en/index.php
In reflecting on what might be lacking in my tank I realised that my GH is very low and that calcium and magnesium maybe lacking so I've addressed that with GH powder.
Next up I've being considering how to optimise everything and have concluded that bubbling CO2 directly into the filter is probably not optimum for either CO2 distribution or filtration so I've added an UP inline diffuser (http://www.co2art.co.uk/collections...ine-co2-atomizer-diffuser-system-16-22mm-hose) to the outflow and oh what a difference that makes. It creates the finest of mists of micro bubbles that are visible on close inspection but are not unsightly in the tank while the tank remains delightfully uncluttered by a CO2 diffuser. This then also allows you to see the water flow around the tank and plants and this must be an easier way for the plants to get sufficient CO2 in a well lit aquarium. You can see the micro bubbles in the close up below with the bigger bubbles being O2 from the plants.
I've also been browsing some ADA videos for inspiration and happened upon one that showed ADA staff raising lilly pipes to aerate the water at night and that set me thinking... well greater dissolved O2 during darkness can surely only benefit the O2 consuming micro organisms in the filter and substrate etc. so I've adopted this habit as well as it seems a very elegant way to accomplish some aeration without adding any extra equipment. The improved CO2 addition via the diffuser also allows me to get CO2 levels back up to speed before lights on with ease.
This is a section of growth from the 19th Nov.
And the same section from 23rd.
Tonight I've done some heavy trimming in some areas and this next week will be very revealing as I see how cleanly that grows back in.
Now talking of ADA videos I recommend these:
This coverage of the 2012 ADA Nature Aquarium party by the Aquarium Design Group
This ADA produced one of Mr Amano guiding and inspiring his staff is a delight
And finally this after hours look at how the huge ADA tanks at the Sumida aquarium in Tokyo are maintained each night is pretty impressive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r50d7WkIMTA
Oh and as it's "Movember" http://uk.movember.com/?home , how about this photo from an early/mid 90's Dennerle catalogue, white socks and all...
It's been an entertaining week and I do believe the plants are now overtaking the algae in terms of growth. I mentioned that I was planning to continue with ADA fertilisers but having realised that the recommended package of Step 2, Brighty K, Green Gain and ECA works out at a little shy of £95.00 I concluded that I simply cannot justify that for fertiliser, be it sprinkled with ADA fairy dust or not. I already have stock of most of the dry salts I need and they are equally well proven to be efficacious so I've made up some stock solution of macros and traces according to the online calculator at http://blog.fluidsensoronline.com/calculators/estimative-index/ as well as reading up on the theory a bit more. Great resources here http://www.prirodni-akvarium.cz/en/index.php
In reflecting on what might be lacking in my tank I realised that my GH is very low and that calcium and magnesium maybe lacking so I've addressed that with GH powder.
Next up I've being considering how to optimise everything and have concluded that bubbling CO2 directly into the filter is probably not optimum for either CO2 distribution or filtration so I've added an UP inline diffuser (http://www.co2art.co.uk/collections...ine-co2-atomizer-diffuser-system-16-22mm-hose) to the outflow and oh what a difference that makes. It creates the finest of mists of micro bubbles that are visible on close inspection but are not unsightly in the tank while the tank remains delightfully uncluttered by a CO2 diffuser. This then also allows you to see the water flow around the tank and plants and this must be an easier way for the plants to get sufficient CO2 in a well lit aquarium. You can see the micro bubbles in the close up below with the bigger bubbles being O2 from the plants.
I've also been browsing some ADA videos for inspiration and happened upon one that showed ADA staff raising lilly pipes to aerate the water at night and that set me thinking... well greater dissolved O2 during darkness can surely only benefit the O2 consuming micro organisms in the filter and substrate etc. so I've adopted this habit as well as it seems a very elegant way to accomplish some aeration without adding any extra equipment. The improved CO2 addition via the diffuser also allows me to get CO2 levels back up to speed before lights on with ease.
This is a section of growth from the 19th Nov.
And the same section from 23rd.
Tonight I've done some heavy trimming in some areas and this next week will be very revealing as I see how cleanly that grows back in.
Now talking of ADA videos I recommend these:
This coverage of the 2012 ADA Nature Aquarium party by the Aquarium Design Group
This ADA produced one of Mr Amano guiding and inspiring his staff is a delight
And finally this after hours look at how the huge ADA tanks at the Sumida aquarium in Tokyo are maintained each night is pretty impressive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r50d7WkIMTA
Oh and as it's "Movember" http://uk.movember.com/?home , how about this photo from an early/mid 90's Dennerle catalogue, white socks and all...
