The Grotto (Formerly Ghetto Badis)

[Henry]

Also, the plants didn't like me, and decided to go bad. Hopefully they'll bounce back.

 

[aliclarke86]

Looks great dude. I like how much of the wood is exposed out of the water!!

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

 

[Henry]

Cheers mate. With the tank sitting about knee height, I figured I'd need a 3D element to engage at a vertical level. Can't wait for the H. corymbosa to grow out of the top.

 

[Henry]

The tank is crystal clear now (thank you Eheim), so I figured I'd post some sparkly pictures. Shame they're only phone pics, but meh.

 

[aliclarke86]

This is looking really nice mate. I hope it has time to fill out before you move.

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

 

[simon86]

nice. good job

 

[simon86]

are you going to add any moss on the wood?

 

[Henry]

Thanks guys. Yes it should have plenty of time to fill in. I'll be increasing the light once I'm confident CO2 is up to scratch, so it should be lush within a month (yeah, right...)

Simon: Yeah, I've added some Fissidens to the wood, and I'm also attempting to get some sphagnum moss to grow on the protruding branches. I'm just going to see how it goes

 

[GabrossIV]

Looking good!

 

[Henry]

Having a bit of bother with diatoms at the moment, but I've cranked the CO2 and added a full length spray bar, so hopefully I'll see some improvement. Pics update soon, even if it's a mess...

 

[Henry]

Well, the tank has been taken down. I decided that I'm not yet experienced enough to be able to scape and maintain a tank with such long shallow proportions. I wasn't really satisfied with the layout, and couldn't get the CO2 right at all. Instead, I have gone back to my Arcadia Arc from my previous scape.

Here's how everything looks now:

I'm hoping the H. corymbosa will create a canopy above the wood for some vertical interest. Fingers crossed.

 

[Henry]

Just a quick update. Added some more G. elatinoides to the foreground in the hope that I can get a dense carpet more quickly. Also put some H. micranthemoides in the gap on the left, although I'm not sure it'll stay there, we'll see. Plant health seems to be ok, apart from a few patches of diatoms, although this is likely due to to the fact that one of my filter hoses was kinked all week This might also have something to do with the less than rapid growth from the Hygrophila.

Anyway, here's a picture. Nothing to exciting, but more for my own observations than anything.



I really must sort out a better camera