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New tank, New scape, coming in the New year.

Very nice and love cabinet shots

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Finally, cabinet is completed with it's 5mm felt base.
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Not much news at the mo. Setup my 65ltr holding tank ready for the tank to tank transition period which is now holding a few fish and is soaking the roots, I put in a few potted plants to help with filter cycling and it was filled with the bigger tanks water. The missus said the other day when I brought in the small tanks there are too many tanks in here:playful: (2 in the front room and 1 in the kitchen) uh oh:)

I'm currently debating/fighting in my head as to what to do about the lighting.
  1. Use my current lighting, Juwel helialux 700 led with the day and night control. (if I use it I would have to mount off centre because its only 700mm in length (less than that for LEDs))
  2. Build a light. It would need to be very aesthetically pleasing as it's in the front room cant do ugly, that would probably bump cost to similar to a shop-bought unit.
  3. Buy new unit Twinstar 900 and control.
  4. or Chihiro's wrgb 90 with commander 4.
Please chime in your thoughts.:thumbup:
 
Maybe Chihiros WRGB has an improved warranty (ie 30% LED loss is considered “normal” and not an “issue” under their standard warranty) but I’d not invest any significant sum in a Chihiros product :rolleyes: - unless the retail shop is adding their support
(note that Aquasabi chose not to carry the product initially re fan noise etc so you might contact them re improvements as it’s now listed on their site)
 
@alto I was actually thinking about getting from fleabay/aliexpress cheaper there lol. There is a newer version to the WrgbII. Aquasabi doesn't list the 90cm version (confused though no fans on the WRGBs, Fans on their Vivid). Glad you mentioned warranty because after doing some digging found the below info, no actually UK distributor :thumbdown: so no warranty for UK shop-bought units and this would also rule out all bay/express sales.
Chihiros is now out of running as a lighting source, :stop: NO point in spending good money on lighting with no warranty...
 
After working yesterday, I was debating on whether to mess about with tanks or leave it for today so I sat and deliberated over a cuppa. The decision was made, I should just get on with it and stop trying to put it off, the first step was to transfer the remaining fish to their temp home/holding tank obviously acclimating them first. Now its time to perform the routine maintenance on the trigon which will also include moving it and the contents plus the unit from my living room to the kitchen crossing to door strips:nailbiting: without sloshy the water and plants too much then I can put the new tank in its place. I can say now that everything went well (ever tried moving 100+ kgs without marking a laminate flooring?).
Today I performed a 50% water change on the holding tank as well as doing a few minor tasks on the other tanks getting ready for the final swap over.

Now to a few questions ...

  1. When you strip your tanks down do you get your shrimp out pre or post plant removal?
  2. If the above is post how do you see them or do you wait for the water to clear again? will the soil disruption cause and danger?
  3. How do you catch your shrimp?
Pics to follow.:thumbup:
 
Let's get up to date :snaphappy:.
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All the inhabitants of the trigon are now in the holding tank.

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Plants and wood added to holding for hiding places, wood soaking and filter.

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Only the powder soil layer + the JBL plant start to go so I can now work on the wood placement and a few stones. I did try all sorts of combinations to try and get it looking at natural as possible. I have also added the glass work.
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This is the finger lings wood that I was hoping to use. I did try but coundn't get to look natural..
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Not much going on at the mo was hoping for some feedback on how it looked either here or on the critique post, but no dislikes or even likes/opinions hey ho onwards and upwards. I think I have made up my mind on the lighting. I tried out my Juwel helialux I didn't like the way it looked, it will be to close to the water and it's not wide enough at just under 700mm, I would need to place it off centre for the majority of the plants being planted on the right then sand area will loose out which will have a few plants on the rocks. Unless anybody advises me differently I'm going to buy a Twinstar 900e (all plants will be at approx 12" depth from the tank top).

I have been looking into plants and to say the least, I'm a little overwhelmed and worried about what will go with what. I'm thinking moss for the tree/wood and some to go on the rocks,
Foreground will be made up of different var's of Buce and Anubias.
Midground would be something like Microsorum Pteropus in the middle of the wood with AR mini, cryptocryne petchii/albida brown, hydrocotyle tripartita.
Now to the worst bit the Background because if I get this wrong the all the foliage in front will look like **** Hottonia, Bacopa carolinia, Cryptocoryne crispatula, Ludwigia palustris, Limnophila Hippuridoides.

I am still looking at plants and other journals for ideas of what things could look like. I think I'm going to have to work from the rear right corner dropping down towards the stonework for it to look right, I know I will lose sight of some of the wood towards the back/middle hoping it will poke out here and there.
Any advice here would be great not just on plants but possible locations, Help would be greatly appreciated need to speak to @Aquarium Gardens too about the above.
 
As someone who is still learning, I was quite tentative about offering an opinion, however, my first reaction is that you have two really nice aquascapes here rather than one connected scape. The rockscape on the left side looks more like a diorama and the wood on the left a traditional naturescape. I would choose one approach and run with it. It also seemed too symmetrical. I liked your wood on the right hand side more (I prefer traditional naturescapes) and would mirror that with a wood scape on the left leaving the middle section as the negative space or a space for the vanishing point. Perhaps use some rock to link them together. Something I am playing with atm in planning a new scape is working out how to place the larger stones at the front and smaller towards the back to create depth.

I would twist the wood so that it forms a triangle with the highest point at the back flowing forward perhaps over rocks?

I would also think about how the scape reflects in the side panels to create the impression of further depth beyond the tank. So I would keep low plants in the front third on both sides. I think this is seen as getting more layers in the tank.

Another thought would be to go for a triangular design. Raise the wood on the left, use the rock to create height on the left, put soil on the back third on the left and keep the front two thirds as sand.

I wondered how you would use the wood that emerges from the water? I loved the sinuous look to this. Woukd you use moss or just leave it?

Just some thoughts from a fellow traveller learning how to scape :) please take these with a liberal pinch of salt! @Keith GH seems to be one of the hard scape gurus on the forum. I find reading his critiques of other landscapes really helpful.
 
Blimey, those last 10 days flew by;) I've been a busy chappy tearing down the Trigon and saving 2 trays of MC setting up the new Propagator with plants as I've outgrown the old 1 anyway I digress back to the latest news on the 900. Last Friday week I took myself over to @Aquarium Gardens for a steal/deal that they had given me "a Twinstar 900s £215" ex-display, I also purchased the plants for the tank and a few other bits and bobs, changes were made to try and help amalgamate the 2 halves.
I planted and flooded the tank last Sunday week, I found I had made some errors during the flooding process firstly some of the plants started floating I could have sworn I planted most of them at about 50mm deep but hey ho these things happen I suppose, then the wood had floated about 1":eek: while I was out of the room, quick grab me a rock:nailbiting: I shouted to my daughter as I pushed it back down uprooting even more plants, that we're very close to where the wood had been. The wood had already been soaked and had sunk but it must have dried out again during the planning stages, not a lot I can do about it now, do you anchor your tank wood down?
Maintainance wise its been a bit of a pain getting everything running together apart from the WC's 4 so far, I had to use the light on full power for the first few days as I had not purchased the timer/controller when I bought the light doh:thumbdown: (I purchased it the next day though). I was intending to use Tnc complete for the first week but decided to change after the first water change to the Jeboa and E.I. dosing, setting it up with the new regime was a right royal p.i.t.a. I spent 3 hrs trying to get it to run right on alternate dates nearly giving up and purchasing a new unit, thinking it was knackered.
Right so this is where I'm at currently, changing this week to 50% Wc's twice a week, Dosing 19mm on alternate days macro and micro 50% dosage my reason for this whether it's right or wrong I don't know young plants settling in reduced photoperiod (6hrs) and 50% luminosity( I did start to see green algae prior to reducing light power and first WC), CO₂ fast and yellow have been dosing easycarbo 2mm per day aswell. I did do timelapse but I cant edit it at the mo, I will try and get it sorted soon, here some pics instead:snaphappy:.

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Looks better now its planted,
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Let's have a change of view my complete setup, I know I built the cabinet but adding the drawers but its tight in there.
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Now to some for the more experienced (not me), I think I'm experiencing some root melt/rot Frogbit when they first when in the had roots ranging from 5 to 50mm but today it seems like all the long roots are gone, some of the roots on others that are exposed for 1 reason or another are also showing signs of melting and about half of the Proserinaca looks to be dying. Just in case this is a flow issue I have added a koralia nano pump today.
Any suggestions or help with this would be great.

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Good pictures.the wood looks much better now! :thumbup:


Will look good with some Monte Carlo dotted in the white sand just above the soil bit. May help the transition between soil and sand even more.

you can also run a sand flattened down the front of the sand (when it touches the glass) to cover up the soil bit if that makes sense.
 
Good pictures.the wood looks much better now! :thumbup:


Will look good with some Monte Carlo dotted in the white sand just above the soil bit.
I'm assuming you mean at the front edge where the wood meets the sand, by the way, the plant at the front is Marsilea;), would it grow in the sand would have to be my first question?

you can also run a sand flattened down the front of the sand (when it touches the glass) to cover up the soil bit if that makes sense.
Not quite sure what you mean, Do you mean the sand that runs along the front glass that looks like I have bevelled it (top 1")? It is flat but the light reflecting back from the glass front is highlighting the top edge.
 
I've been taking a long hard look at the plants this evening Buce is definitely melting, the Proserinaca dying and Frogbit roots nearly all gone now, new wood beard being cleaned every water change. I have no idea why ANY ideas ?

Tanks stats
  1. Temp 21.6c,
  2. TDS 260-280 (testing after water changes)
  3. Water changes every 2 days now last changes Sunday and today,
  4. DC clear,
  5. Light 6hrs @60%, Twinstar 900s
  6. Ferts macro/micro alternate days 50% of recommended EI (38mm)
ps I added Chihiro doctor last weekend
 
As I could not see any reason for the Melting I decided to up ferts by 6mm per day approx 65% of the full dose, from what I have read it's associated with low CO2 or new plants acclimating...
 
2 weeks in and it could be better!
I thought to myself rather than just checking temp/TDS after WC I should check before just in case there are any issues, I'm glad I did as it has shown potential issue with my inline heater temp was well down need to keep an eye on it over the next few days..
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Few pics and videos of the melting,
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few pics showing some nice growth from the Bacopa and the Ludwigia Palustris
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Some nice new roots
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A month has gone by already sorry for the lack of updates time for me to ad you to catch up, there have been a few up and downs (accidents filling tank :eek:, plants dying, unwanted critters, shrimps committing hari-kari and I even found a Cardinal on the floor the other day) and a couple of upgrades. The first upgrade was the filtration system now using Oase thermo 600 to correct flow issues, 2nd was ph tester now using the Hanna plus pen my original seemed to be jumping around all over the place even after calibration. Everything seems to be settling down now.. most of the plants growing well, the buce's that were dying are now on the up and the other buce's seem to be on a down:thumbdown: I hope they turn round too... Fish transfers have started and will be ending today, maintenance will be upped to twice weekly again for next month while its occupants settle back in Ph profile is proving to be a pain to complete because of work commitments, fish and plants seem happy so not going to worry to much... Pic heavy from here out.

New addition, I got the thermo version so I could loose 1 of the breaks in the pipework. The cabinet was built with the Eheim 350 in mind, I did wonder if it would fit in and allow the pipework to connect without any mad bends creating more problems.
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These critters managed to get into the tank I have no ideas where from.
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Starting 3 weeks ago to show my growth progression.
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2wks ago. I hadn't noticed the growth until viewing the pics.
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A few close-ups of my (hoping) happy plants.
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And this one has me puzzled a strange plant has appeared growing from the Anubias, Can you i.d it?
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Last week. I started to return fish to their new residents. Another of the above unknown plant a week later hopefully making it easier for the plant experts to ID.
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How the new tank look's from my usual tv watching spot not that I watch a lot. For the eagle-eyed yes we still have choc's left from Christmas
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Looking grand :D

Somehow I lost track of your new tank so I’m seeing everything since Jan 6 :wideyed:

One thought, the water seems a little cloudy??? are you running Purigen or Carbon?

As for Buce’s etc melting, even Green Aqua have this problem - watched a video recently where the Buce was completely melting, also some other plants struggling (and most of the Anubias melted in the Josh Sims tank) - as long as the rhizome remains “firm” (it will go really mushy), with good care (careful of blocking too much light with other plants to hide the mess), most will recover
As usual, siphon away the melting leafs as soon as possible (just trim those that are showing early signs), return to large daily changes (if possible) when plants melt/struggle

As Seige mentions, I’d add some transition plants into the sand area - I always think grasses look good as that’s what I see locally (in the land to sand to ocean zone ;))

Watch that shark fellow doesn’t mess around the plants after dark - they can be impossible

The mystery plants are just some terrestrial weed - no idea which, but have seen it before in my own tanks

Those pond snails are very difficult to avoid unless you use only tissue culture plants (shark should pick them off unless overfed, they aren’t yummy like ramshorns :p)

It will be nice once the spare tank is gone
 
Hi all,
Another of the above unknown plant a week later
I'm pretty sure that is "Bitter Cress", and probably Cardamine hirsuta. All Cardamine spp. tend to look fairly similar, but it doesn't look quite right for C. lyrata.
These critters managed to get into the tank I have no ideas where from.
Looks like the Tadpole Snail <(Physella acuta)>.

It should have thin antennae, and if you hold it with spire upward, and look at the underside, opening is on the left ("sinistral"). Most other snails are "dextral" (opening on the right).

cheers Darrel
 
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Wahoo other tank has finally gone, Added some beautiful new inmates last Sunday, I had never seen them before and couldn't resist also bumping up the Cardinal stock, got a couple of Zebra snails to help cleaning crew and a 2 wood Shrimp just because they were different, I also got a couple of African shrimp yesterday.

@alto running purigen in the second basket down. Cloudy may have been because Chihiro's doctor had just been on (don't know other than that). The Buce's seem to be taking it in turn to melt the first one now making a recovery and others melting back a bit:meh:.
As Seige mentions, I’d add some transition plants into the sand area - I always think grasses look good as that’s what I see locally (in the land to sand to ocean zone ;))
I added a pot of Eleocharis mini during maintenance yesterday FInally got what was meant by Seige and you silly old me...
Pic heavy from here.
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Heres a few pics of some of the beautiful residents.
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