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The Gate to Elysium - TMC Signature 600 Scape

aquascape1987

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2014
Messages
368
Location
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Hi all. Just finished the first phase of planting on my new scape, which I think I’m going to call the Gate to Elycium.
Tank and equipment as follows:

  • Tank - TMC Signature 600
  • Lighting - Twinstar 600S with controller. Starting on 60% intensity, and 5 hour initial photo period, moving to 100% and 8 hours gradually, over 2 months or so.
  • CO2 - Fire Extinguisher with CO2 Art dual stage regulator and soleniod, feeding CO2Arts new inline diffuser on the Outflow Pipe. (Into the filter). CO2 on 2 hours before lights on, and off one hour before lights off. Drop checker is lime green most of the time, and only dips to deep green before CO2 comes back on.
  • Filter is Eheim Professional 4 250T Thermo
  • Lilly Pipes - Cal Aqua Labs Influx XS Inflow from Aquasabi and currently with lilly pipe outflow from Aquarium Gardens, but soon to be replaced with A Do Aqua jet outflow that I luckily picked up on eBay after much searching (No longer produced by ADA).
  • Hardscape is millennium stone.
  • Fertilizer - The Aquascaper complete all in one plus liquid carbon daily.
This is my 2nd scape after a long hiatus, but since moving into my new house, I’ve been having to fight the itch to dig out all of my old equipment and set up another. After a couple of weeks planning and ordering bits of equipment I was short, I headed out on the 200 mile round pilgrimage to Aquarium Gardens, to buy my hard scape. A week later, it was all arranged in the tank, and I had a special delivery (or three) of my phase one plants, which are micranthemum monte carlo main carpet, and Anubias Mini Mini/Petite to flesh out my hardscape.

The idea is to let the phase one planting take hold ( Mainly the Monte Carlo carpet), whilst researching and selecting my mid ground and background plants, which I hope to put in within the next month or so. After this, the plan is to lower the CO2 and stock with fish.

Hope you enjoy as much as I have,and am enjoying scaping this. And Many thanks to the guys at Aquarium Gardens for all of their advice and help in choosing and help in coming up with hardscape arrangement.
 
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I’ve had a bit of melt on the Monte Carlo after a couple of days in water, but this seems to have stopped with signs of new fresh growth all over. I’m hoping the carpet takes hold from here on, but there is still a lot of melted and dead Monte Carlo in there amongst the fresh green shoots. Any advice on this would be really appreciated. Eg why this happened? Whether you think the carpet still has a chance of taking off, and whether I need to be worried about removing the melted bits? This is currently quite difficult without uprooting the new growth
 
If sourced MC is in “perfect” condition
And
Aquarium CO2 etc are similarly “perfect” for the MC
Planting in large clumps as you did will result in steady new growth and little visible melt

(though I suspect one also needs a strong shrimp crew to clean up the older emerse leafs as they melt ie we just don’t observe the leaf loss)

If possible, I’d add shrimp & snails to help clean up the dead leafs - as that old growth deteriorates, it can take delicate new growth along with it, it can also act as a good home for algae

At this stage it’s very difficult for human hands/tools to separately remove only the dying bits - unless you lift the plants and clean up out of tank, replanting only the green shoots - ie bury the brown stem and leaf bits under the soil
But
too much localized melt from that plant debris (beneath the substrate) can also negatively affect new growth

Are you doing daily large water changes?
 
Yes 75% daily initially. Is this ok?
When you say perfect health. The plants looked lush and green in the in vitro pots, but melted after a couple of days in the aquarium. I thought this may have been due to too much light as I initially did not dim the intensity, and the first photo period was quite long. Also maybe the stress of chopping up and planting, as well considering tissue culture MC doesn’t have much of a root structure. When you say perfect aquarium CO2 etc for MC, what are the perfect conditions? I am fertilising and CO2 is near constant 24 hours lime green on the drop check
 
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Update. I ripped out the micranthemum Monte Carlo with the melt, and replaced with some healthy Hemianthus Callitrichoides. I used normal fibre insulation potted HC, as I cannot seem to get much success planting tissue culture plants. I know many do have much success, but not for me. This time I also used a razor sharp scalpel to divide them up and spent much more time doing so. The end result after planting looks positive, as all plugs look green and healthy. Fingers crossed my carpet will take off from here

I also replaced the glass inflow with the Cal Aqua XS inflow and the outflow with the Do. Aqua Jet, which arrived this week.

Next phase will be adding some mid ground plants between the rocks. Any suggestions would be good as I’m currently researching and selecting. Looking for yellows, reds and purples to add some colour and depth
 
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Update - Approx 5 weeks in now since initial planting and the HC carpet is really starting to grow in.Plants in there so far are HC Cuba, lots of Anubias Nana Mini, Petite and Mini Mini, Hydrocotyle Tripartita, and Ludwigia Mini Super Red in the Midground, and Ludwigia Senegalensis growing at the back.

Lights are now up to 85% intensity, and photoperiod is currently at 6.5 hours. I opted in the end to start at 5 hours due to early signs of brown algae forming on the glass. Algae at the moment is still present a little bit on the rocks, and on some of the Anubias, however this doesn’t bother me as it seems to be under control and being maintained at a low level by my Amano shrimp.

I changed the ferts to EI dosing, and have been running the Co2 quite high. Upgraded my regulator to the new CO2 Art Pro Elite Series regulator (which I’m really impressed with) as the old one had literally sprung a leak from every screw in fitting, and I was going through a fire extinguisher every two weeks. Just a few more plants to select to complete the mid ground now, which I’m going to do and order over the next week or two. Then I’ll be looking to add some fish
 
Thanks mate I’m really pleased with how it’s coming on, although still scratching my head as to how to get it to spread into the areas where the rocks jut in and out? Anyone any tips or experience on this?
 
Is it because it's a shaded area and it need light when I grew a hc carpet I'd push it down with the palm of my hand after trimming + I think you will see it spread once you get the light intensity higher by gloss carpet has gone mad now the 600s is at 100%
 
Yea, we’ll see how it goes as I increase the photo period and intensity to 100 percent. When do you think I should do my first trim of the HC?
 
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Great journal, sure loads of people trim and keep the HC low and dense and u have read ither people push it down aswel, looking great though mate

Dean

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