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Low tech, zero skill

mrhoyo

Member
Joined
20 May 2020
Messages
263
Location
Halifax, UK
Tank: Dennerle Scaper's Tank 70l
Light: Lumini Asta 20
Filter: Seachem Tidal 55
CO2: Nope

All the below should arrive in the next couple of days:

Substrate: JBL Volcano Mineral and Tropica Aquarium Soil

Flora:
Taxiphyllum Flame Moss
Helanthium tenellum
Microsorum pteropus Narrow Leaf
Anubias nana
Taxiphyllum barbieri
Staurogyne repens
Salvinia auriculata
Cryptocoryne crispatula
Micranthemum MonteCarlo

Hardscape:
Dragon stone
Spiderwood

I'm not overly confident how it will turn out but it will be my first attempt at a planted tank so who knows.

Frosted film should arrive soon too so I can blur out the cables.

I quite like the offset filter, can anyone see a problem with it?
 

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I’m looking to get a lot of those plants myself.

Did you order online?

Great set up btw


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I quite like the offset filter, can anyone see a problem with it?

Hi @mrhoyo

Perhaps the filter, being quite conspicuous, will detract from the overall aesthetics of your finished masterpiece? Just my two penn'orth. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder - so please feel free to consign my opinion to the nearest bin!

JPC
 
I’m looking to get a lot of those plants myself.

Did you order online?

Great set up btw


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I did. I bought the tank and filter from Pro Shrimp so decided to give them the plant order too. It's probably the closest shop to me that sells that kind of stuff too so I'll have to make a visit one day.

All arrived earlier except the Tropica soil because some imbecile forgot to order it so had to rush an order in on Amazon to come tomorrow.:confused:
 
Hi @mrhoyo

Perhaps the filter, being quite conspicuous, will detract from the overall aesthetics of your finished masterpiece? Just my two penn'orth. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder - so please feel free to consign my opinion to the nearest bin!

JPC
You're probably right. I went HOB because that's what my Edge had (see Introduction forum for full story) so I felt most comfortable with that style. I nearly ordered a sponge and then HMF too but they ended up costing similar and I thought this big HOB would give me space for some crushed coral or something if my parameters are odd.

I need to learn about canister filters if I get another tank.
 
Hi @mrhoyo

I understand. The HOB will give you room for additional filtration media. But, Dennerle have a hybrid filter called something like 'Scaper's Flow' and they also do a very compact corner filter, which would be very discreet. I'm just chucking in a few ideas.

JPC
 
Hi @mrhoyo

I understand. The HOB will give you room for additional filtration media. But, Dennerle have a hybrid filter called something like 'Scaper's Flow' and they also do a very compact corner filter, which would be very discreet. I'm just chucking in a few ideas.

JPC
If I remember correctly the Scaper's Flow filter got pretty poor reviews on here and the corner ones were too small

There's meant to be a full 70l Dennerle kit out at some point which I could've waited for I suppose.
 
First job of the day done it was both easier and harder than I imagined. I did spend about 15 minutes trying to get a new blade in my Stanley though which probably soured things a bit (why do they have to over-engineer everything now?).
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Depending on what style you go for, you could possibly build it up to the back right, so that plants will block the view of the filter
 
Depending on what style you go for, you could possibly build it up to the back right, so that plants will block the view of the filter
Possibly. I'm thinking of actually doing the back left, I don't really mind the exposed filter at the moment. It would probably annoy me more if it was partially covered, might as well make it a feature.

I like the sort of angled island look as attached. I don't know how my version will turn out but when my damn soil arrives I can finally get cracking.
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This while picking up bits of stone business is harder than it looks! This is where I am so far, any decent suggestions?
The stone is pretty pants, there are only a couple of bits with any character and they're mostly the same size.
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Right, this is it then. Let's see how it goes.
A few things I underestimated:
How hard it is to pile rocks up
How many plants you get in those tiny Tropica pots
How much of a pain filling water with buckets is
How buoyant little plants are if not far enough in the substrate
The strength of the skimmer on my filter (thankfully adjusted before the floating plants got totally mashed)
20200606_180024.jpg
 
Possibly. I'm thinking of actually doing the back left, I don't really mind the exposed filter at the moment. It would probably annoy me more if it was partially covered, might as well make it a feature.

I like the sort of angled island look as attached. I don't know how my version will turn out but when my damn soil arrives I can finally get cracking.
View attachment 149960
View attachment 149961
Im with that way of thinking too!
I like to see the workings of tanks. Not so popular nowadays what with everything being glass in the tank etc. The filter is pretty cool.
 
Im with that way of thinking too!
I like to see the workings of tanks. Not so popular nowadays what with everything being glass in the tank etc. The filter is pretty cool.
It's pretty noisy to be honest, Seachem are apparently sending a replacement part out so we'll see what that does.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
That's a solid start, plenty of water changes at the start will dramatically increase your chances of success :)
 
That's a solid start, plenty of water changes at the start will dramatically increase your chances of success :)
Thanks.
I think think I'm going to do 50% a day but might follow the Tropica app. Not sure yet.
Any advice on speeding up the process? Buckets seem to take ages!

Also, need someone to talk to me about fertiliser. I imagine I'll need it soon.
 
Day 2 update
Nothing exciting, just a 50% water change that took 25 minutes. Ordered a pump and hose, hopefully things speed up.
Also ordered some TNC Complete, looks easy enough to use.
 

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