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Sam's now to be high light 20g

Themuleous

Member
Joined
6 Jul 2007
Messages
4,121
Location
Aston, Oxfordshire
Hi all,

As I updated my journal (yes at last!) over on TFF thought I might as well start one here too.

The last scape got ruined as I had a hagen power glo and Arcadia original over it, so the lighting was all wrong and BBA really took hold. So I stripped it right down, reused the bits of the plants I could and overdose excel for a bit to get rid of the BBG and small amount of staghorn that was present. I also added pressurised CO2 (see my FE thread) which the plants have really responded to. I also had to clear a spout of green water with my UV steriliser, but it worked a treat and only took 2 days.

Here's the tank as of tonight.

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Looks better if you ignore the top bit ;)

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Once the plants get a bit higher and fill the tank a bit more it should look better. I am also thinking of changing the sags with dwarf hairgrass, as I think the sags will get to high, but time will tell I guess. Thinking I might also put a java fern on the piece of wood, as the swords will probably be rather bare at the base once growing properly.

I pruned the H.poly the other night, and the base leaves looked like this.

Rotalaclose.jpg


Anyone got an ideas how to prevent this? It is the lower leaves, so could just be an age thing, it was tall when I pruned it. I guess I might need to be more pro-active with the pruning, that'll also help things bush out as well.

Thoughts/comments welcome :)

Sam
 

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Lovely Sam :) cant wait to see how that develops!

H. Polysperma grows so fast you might as well just prune out all the damaged, dodgy looking foliage. Itll grow back in spades so long as things are right!

Looks like you might have had a slight Nitrogen deficiency, H. Poly' is a veracious nitrogen feeder, IMO needing more than normally suggested EI amounts. Im actually currently experimenting with my own Hygro's to confirm this theory. Ill let you all know what I find. :)

Nice work Sam, keep us updated, really pretty looking scape in the making.
 
Thanks Flora :) thats a very kind post :)

I have checked the NO3 which is 10ppm and PO4 which is 0.5ppm if not a bit lower. So I have made up some ferts from my EI tank and will dose accordingly. Going to aim for NO2 of 30ppm and PO4 of 2ppm. I'm also going to watch the levels for a week or so to see what happens with both, I'm hoping that I wont need to does them more than once a week as I left it as a low light tank in order to avoid the hassle of an EI tank! :lol:

I'm also going to add a dose of AE trace mix 2x a week, just to be on the safe side.

Thanks again :) you were spot on with the fert deficiency.

Ben - cheers will be sure to keep you posted :)

Sam
 
Do you mean these fish?

Shari_american_flagfish.jpg


Those are three American flagfish. I originally got them as they are one of very few fish that will eat BBG and stagnorn, I've even seem them do it, unlike things like SAE's which I've never actually seen eat algae. They are reported to get to 6cm but mine have got no bigger than an inch. I've got three females, I did have a male but it died of unknown causes.

Great little fish IMHO, really taken to them since having them and they nibble my arm when I do water changes, which is cool. Nice to actually interact with a fish, most just hide!

Sam[/img]
 

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Just thought I would add these update photo as for last week. Certainly matured in the last month or so. I need to do something with the R.rotundifolia, but not sure what yet, its not working where it is. Pretty algae free, apart from a bit of GSA on the glass, nothing else to speak off, touch wood. Hopefully over the fert deficiency, not 100% sure but the H.poly is growing more normally now. It all needs a good prune when I can be arsed!

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Sam
 
I seem to have missed this update first time round.

I see what you mean about the R.rotundifolia. How about moving it to the back in a mirror position to the left back plant (H. stricta?) leaving a kind of gap in the middle?
 
Looking good Sam.

If your Sags are anything like the grassy types I have kept, they will need to kept thinned out ,or the overcrowding will force the leaves upwards, taking away any ideas you may have had for a mid ground.

Dave.

P.S. Can you adjust the white balance on your camera, Sam? Some of the pics have a green hue.
 
Cheers Dave,

Its nothing special but Im glad to see it developing. Thanks for the tip re the sag, they are getting a bit tall. I'll give them a trim when I do the general prune.

Re the colours, I did mess with the white balance, but these were the best pics. I'm pretty sure they were the same settings as the first set of photos, so who knows. 'IF' I ever take some 'final scape' shots of the tank I'll mess with all the settings and see what happens. I'm to used to film thats my trouble!

Sam
 
Right, you probably know that I did a complete strip down and rescape on Sunday, so here are the pics. I wont go into to much detail, ask if you want to know anything. Other than the scape, I will be adding a 4th 18w freshwater to make it fully highlight as I run EI anyway so might as well.

Here's what it used to look like, nothing special but having a experimentation tank has taught me lots, in particular how to prune stuff to get it bushy. Hopefully that new skill will help with the new scape.

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Here's the wood I got. Ive had to zip tie the two pieces together so it holds its shape and as I didn't have a time to soak it Ive got it tied it under the central brace of the tank to hold it down.

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And here's what it looks like now :) I have to say I'm rather pleased, just hope the plant choice lives up to it and fill out as I want it to. Not sure about the sags as they might be a bit tall, but time will tell, hope the crypts get taller so they are a bit more of an effective mid-ground next to the wood.

New1crop.jpg


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Comment/question always welcome.

Sam

EDIT - sorry about the H.poly floating about its for a friend and wont see him until Thursday. I'll take all the equipment out if I manage to get any final tank pics worth the effort. I've also manged to get three jiffy bags full of the old hydrophila and sags to send to people. Hopefully get a bit of cash for Ukaps :)
 
Haha I'm up for betting with wood, I regret letting you get them. :lol:
I love the new look, I can't wait for it to fill out, any mosses going on it?
 
OH!
And looking at it you'll want some rocks in there with the wood just to help break up the plant lines, wood I find is naked without something making it look like it either grew there or is lodged there.
 
Cheers guys :)

No mosses yet, will see how it fills out. Same goes for the rocks, but I take your point. There is loads of H.poly at the back left that with the other plants should break up the lines of the wood a bit and make it look a bit more natural.

We aint playing for this wood, ever!!! Gonna make a useful bit of hardscape for my 120cm when I finally get it.

Sam
 
Themuleous said:
We aint playing for this wood, ever!!! Gonna make a useful bit of hardscape for my 120cm when I finally get it.

Sam

Spoilsport :lol:

Seriously though, I'm glad you found something to inspire you at the weekend mate, it makes it all worthwile :)
 
Never mind aye, although I do like the idea of playing for planted goodies.

Have you spoke to anyone about chelsea at all?
I really like the new scape it still looks fresh so it's important to remember that it all will bush out something amazing.
 
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