bigmatt
Member
Here goes another one then...
If you've read my other stuff you'll know i'm RUBBISH at journals
! But i solemnly promise to keep this one up to date and relevant...
This tank is being built around one of the AE optiwhite nanos i acquired from Garuf (thanks again) - with a bit of elbow grease on the silicon it's looking pretty nice, and as it's my first optiwhite i'm properly startled by the clarity (i have a secret plan to gradually replace all my tanks with optiwhites...don't tell the wife...). On this point i'm amazed at the price of Poseidon's Palace optiwhites - pretty affordable really, especially for made-to-measure!
Brief overview
Tank - 10/8/8 optiwhite (same as used by LD herehttp://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14669
Light - 18w PL
Filtration - Eheim 2224 (again acquired from Garuf) with glass intake and lily pipe outlet
CO2 - Pressurised
Substrate - Probably a mixture of Aquagrit, Aquabasis+ and either black river gravel or dark yellow sand
Plants - On my list i have Java fern (normal, windelov and needle - Garuf again!), mosses (fissidens fontanus, willow moss, Taiwan Moss and a temperate emersed species) - all these sourced from UKAPS members and of the very highest quality!, Hydrocotyle Vertilicata. I also have a lot of Marimo balls i'd like to use as i like the texture of them in the tank. Some anubias will probably also feature and SteveUK has very kindly put some Bolibitis Mini in the post
Overall theme is going to be a relaxed tank to house some Cherry shrimp. I love the moss work of LondonDragon - and it was one of Paulo's tanks that moved me towards planted tanks to start with. Basically i'm torn - i was thinking of using a redmoor root i have to create a "cave", but the wood seems just too big and completely dominates the tank, ruining any sense of scale and making the tank seem smaller. On the other hand i'm tempted by piling some rocks and using moss between the rocks a bit like this http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2010.cgi?&op=showcase&category=0&vol=0&id=112. To put it brutally, i'm not sure i'm skilled enough to carry that off! I have some other bits of wood but i'm thinking of accenting the rocks rather than the wood, as i always tend to emphasise the wood.
I think i'll have a browse over the rocks at MA tomorrow then i'll try and post some pics!
All comments gratefully received!
Matt
If you've read my other stuff you'll know i'm RUBBISH at journals
! But i solemnly promise to keep this one up to date and relevant...This tank is being built around one of the AE optiwhite nanos i acquired from Garuf (thanks again) - with a bit of elbow grease on the silicon it's looking pretty nice, and as it's my first optiwhite i'm properly startled by the clarity (i have a secret plan to gradually replace all my tanks with optiwhites...don't tell the wife...). On this point i'm amazed at the price of Poseidon's Palace optiwhites - pretty affordable really, especially for made-to-measure!
Brief overview
Tank - 10/8/8 optiwhite (same as used by LD herehttp://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14669
Light - 18w PL
Filtration - Eheim 2224 (again acquired from Garuf) with glass intake and lily pipe outlet
CO2 - Pressurised
Substrate - Probably a mixture of Aquagrit, Aquabasis+ and either black river gravel or dark yellow sand
Plants - On my list i have Java fern (normal, windelov and needle - Garuf again!), mosses (fissidens fontanus, willow moss, Taiwan Moss and a temperate emersed species) - all these sourced from UKAPS members and of the very highest quality!, Hydrocotyle Vertilicata. I also have a lot of Marimo balls i'd like to use as i like the texture of them in the tank. Some anubias will probably also feature and SteveUK has very kindly put some Bolibitis Mini in the post
Overall theme is going to be a relaxed tank to house some Cherry shrimp. I love the moss work of LondonDragon - and it was one of Paulo's tanks that moved me towards planted tanks to start with. Basically i'm torn - i was thinking of using a redmoor root i have to create a "cave", but the wood seems just too big and completely dominates the tank, ruining any sense of scale and making the tank seem smaller. On the other hand i'm tempted by piling some rocks and using moss between the rocks a bit like this http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2010.cgi?&op=showcase&category=0&vol=0&id=112. To put it brutally, i'm not sure i'm skilled enough to carry that off! I have some other bits of wood but i'm thinking of accenting the rocks rather than the wood, as i always tend to emphasise the wood.
I think i'll have a browse over the rocks at MA tomorrow then i'll try and post some pics!
All comments gratefully received!
Matt
! One of the problems i found with getting a forest feel was gettign the wood to stay upright (fnar fnar), esp. in high flow. I've nicked an idea from the viv keepers and made a base out of filler foam, which i've then weighted down with some 10mm glass i had. Supports the wood brilliantly! The only downside is that it does build up the substrate quite a lot so i might have to think around that a bit more. Having said that it look ace - i'm really pleased with it anyway!
