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'The Full Monty' Has Left The Building last photos

Hi All,

I finished work early today and shot off to the Green Machine to pick up my plants..:D. Had a good chat with Jim as usual, then spent ages talking to Gaz who made a few really good suggestions re the planting layout, he had some brilliant ideas. So tomorrow the planting begins...but with a few surprises in store from what was originally planned...:nailbiting::nailbiting:

Got a 4am start for work in the morning so I can get away by lunchtime...

Watch out for updates either late Friday night or on Saturday...;)

Thanks,

Steve.
 
:D exciting times! I also spoke to gaz and he did the same! Knows a lot that guy, and he's not even an aquatic lover! I pick up my shrimp tomorrow :D keep us updated and good luck!
 
Place called Wharf Aquatics junction 28 on the m1, place called Pinxton. Amazing place! Roll on 11 am! What do you do for work?
 
Sorry to hear of all the issues youve had Redstevo, it hasnt exactly been a relaxing experience, but it has served as an experience for you and others reading at least. One day soon youll be able to sit back and enjoy it, but beleive me when i say this....weve all been there and it can be extremely frustrating :mad:
Epoxy putty is what the reefers use for holding rockwork together, 'milliput' is one brand. Personally i prefer free standing hardscape structures built from the aquarium base up, i think if the rocks fit together firmly without glue then that is more natural and gives a more natural look. If they are built from the aquarium base upwards there is less chance of collapse from subsidence also, for that reason id me more inclined to go with your original hardscape plans with some feature rocks and wood as removing all of your substrate now would certainly end in frustration.....a smashed tank and a very unhappy wife :p Heavy rock backgrounds may also reduce flow efficiency and create dead spots, but with good attention to circulation this doesnt have to be a problem.
Good luck with the planting, look forward to some more happy updates :happy:
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
I'm tense.... Hope all is going well mate! Shrimpys are ace, there tds was nearly 500! Had to drip feed water to get it down to 100 haha! Let us know!
 
Hi all,

Well after a 4am start at work this morning for the third time in a row this week, I have just worked out that I have had 15 hours sleep in the last 72 hours...

Despite being completely knackered when I got home at 1pm...I was still excited enough to get cracking with the planting...and I have to say I thought it went pretty well...intense, loads of concentration needed, but extremely therapeutic, almost cathartic, that finally I got round to doing the bit that I was looking forward to the most.

Five and a half hours later, the tank was drained planted and filled again, filters on lights refitted, and all the mess tidied up again. The biggest pain was filling the tank up five litres at a time from water bottle, using all the water I had drained from the tank.

Needless to say I am completely knackered now and too tired to be messing about uploading the photographs to photobucket so that I can post them into this journal...so I am off to bed now and the updates with photos will be up sometime this weekend...

Got a grandson to visit tomorrow and an interesting football match against Aston Villa at 5.30 on Saturday...

Cheers,

Steve.
 
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That's refreshing news! Apart from the re-filling!!
If you say your happy then it Must be pretty good! We're always very self critical!
Look forward to the photo's! Sleeps overrated anyhow! Haha
Matt.
 
Errrrr... bit of a lie in this morning...sorry no pictures to update with just yet, got too much on today...

But the good news is all the plants are still planted except for one bit of Monte Carlo floating around the tank.

I have got a few pots of One2Grow left of mini hair grass, some red dwarf altananthera reineckii, some Rotala Macranda and Monte Carlo I could let someone have cheap if they are local-ish and want to collect them...otherwise I might be ringing Jim at TGM to see if he will exchange them for something...

Photos still to come...
 
Good to know! Same story on mine, shrimp haven't destroyed it so all is well!
Can't really justify the five for some macrandra and monte carlo but I'm sure you'd shift it easily!
Any more hardscape going in in the future or you done for now?
Matt.
 
Hi all,

Sorry there has been no updates today or photos! The wife decided that she had loads of things planned for today which did not involve me loading my photos up to Photobucket so sorry to keep you waiting. The good news is, as i have just been telling LocustDemon, I have borrowed an all singing all dancing camera and just been practicing with it! Wow the difference in quality between my little Canon Cyber shot and this camera...well all I can say is the photos will be much better and you will get a much better idea of how it looks...and I have to say it does look rather good...:cool:

I will tray and get them up tonight or tomorrow...honest...

Cheers,

Steve.
 
Well here are a few photos from the planting process on Friday but taken with my Canon Cybershot so please excuse the quality...hopefully once I have sussed out the destructions on my sons camera I will be able to take some decent photographs and show you what it looks like two days after planting..enjoy for now...

Getting all my containers ready to drain the tank again...oh deep joy...

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Laying out all my pots of plants from the Green Machine...

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Dividing up the hair grass...

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Got some of my spare Amazonia soil and powder on standby just in case...

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Some internal cabinet photographs...got some more use out of my glue gun sticking these coat hook brackets on to the inside of the door to hang all my bits and pieces on...should have waited longer for the glue to set, they went a bit wonky...

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I labelled all my plug sockets so I know which filter is which...

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And my plug sockets for the lights and the timers...

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Filters all nice and tidy with Co2 Kit all connected...

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Water temperature 24 degrees after refilling...

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Soon up to 28 degrees...

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Planting equipment...

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The 40 cm hillock but water a bit cloudy and lighting a bit naff...

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Some earlier work...not looking good...had to start again...

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Tank from end on right hand side...

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Tank from end on left hand side...wait until you see the pictures taken using the other camera...

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These last two photographs were taken with my son's camera...I hope they are a bit better but there are more to come soon..

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Cheers,

Steve
 
Errrrro_O I have borrowed this camera from my son...without the instructions...it is a Nikon AF - Nikkor 18-55mm, 1:3.5 - 5.6G with more functions than a NASA Space Shuttle...anyone know how to take pictures of close up stuff with mega clear quality...:confused:

There are ISO settings, White Balance, Auto, Fine, Raw, AF-F and lots of things I have not got a scooby doo about...:oldman:

Any photo medics out there who can advise...

Cheers,

Steve
 
If there's an image on the dial showing simplistic flowers use that (macro mode) It will depend on the lens as well though

Tbh full auto with autofocus should let you get close enough
 
Which Nikon camera? The number is on the front right hand side just below the shutter release
The lens has an auto focus switch on the side and theres another on the camera body switch these to man if the camera focuses on the glass
Turn the round knob on the top left to the small circle with a arrow in it, this if full auto without a flash. My nikon doesn't have a macro on the scene select switch
 
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