• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

The Karoo Dream

a1Matt

Member
Joined
10 Mar 2008
Messages
2,489
Location
Bromley
I wanted to share a tank that has been running for about 3 months now that I set up with frothhelmet on here. The idea is to set up a scape that looks like a terrestrial scene from the South African savanna, hence the name.

Specifications
Aquarium: 30 Liter Dennerle Nano
Filter: Dennerle EckFilter
Light: 12hrs/day 11w power compact + ~1hr direct morning sun
Driftwood: Unknown type - got it used
Rock: Red (European) + Blue (Japanese) Dragon Stone
Sand: B&Q play sand
Heater: AquaEl 50w

Water
Ph 6.7
Gh 8
Temp 75F

Livestock

Fish:
Nannostomus Unifasciatus x 2 (waiting to get more)
Corydoras Panda x 4

Shrimp:
Caridina Simoni Simoni x 23

Snails
Black Tarebia Granifera (MTS) x 17
Theodoxus Fluviatilis (river nerite) x 15

Plants

Moss
Afro Moss - new moss exclusively available from Living Waters Croydon. This is a micro moss, and it grows in little tufts like terrestrial moss does but underwater. You can see a better photo of it here when we visited the shop 2 years ago, second photo from the bottom; http://www.lfkc.co.uk/index.php?topic=1042.15. Photo skills courtesy of LondonDragon - word up Paulo.

They weren't selling the moss then, as apparently the shop owners found it from a single strand of other moss and took 4 years to grow enough of it on to sell. In a way, this scape was designed to showcase this moss.

Floating
Phyllanthus Fluitans (red-root floater)
Limnobium Laevigatum (frogbit)

Here we have the tank about 3 months ago with just the hardscape of Dragon Stone
cimg7631.jpg


cimg7635.jpg


cimg7636m.jpg


cimg7637k.jpg


Where we had the bright idea to hide the filter
cimg7639f.jpg


cimg7641up.jpg


cimg7646r.jpg


cimg7644s.jpg


cimg7649b.jpg


Just filled it up with water
cimg7675.jpg


With the afro moss and floating plants and livestock added. The moss is tied on with ‘invisible’ nylon, but it’s not so invisible here. When the moss grows in I am hoping it will cover the thread. One 3x4cm moss grid was enough to cover all of the driftwood. The afro moss is the only submersed aquatic plant in the whole scape, as we wanted the rocks and stones and wood to look a bit ‘barren’ like the semi-desert savannah.
cimg8038.jpg


cimg8040c.jpg


cimg8041k.jpg


Some floating plants pics. Afro moss does not like too much light so we put in quite a few floating plants. Frogbit does a good job soaking up nutrients and improving the water quality so we put a few in there too. The red root floater was chosen because its leaves and roots turn blood red in a bit of direct sunlight, and it gives the impression of a sunset in the background. Speaking of the background, you can see a lot of algae on the glass and rocks. Luckily this is the only algae so far, which is being cultivated for the river nerites to eat. These photos were taken before adding all the river nerites, hopefully they will now keep the glass clean but enough algae will grow to keep them alive and breeding ;)
cimg8044.jpg


cimg8045h.jpg


cimg8046.jpg


Some more photos
cimg8048.jpg


cimg8051z.jpg


Black Tarebia Granifera
cimg8063.jpg


cimg8064.jpg


River nerite on the glass
cimg8101.jpg


Berried Dwarf Sri Lankan Shrimp
cimg8065.jpg


cimg8060a.jpg

I like this shrimp because it is hardier and more heat resistant than cherries (breeds at 34C), though perhaps less colorful. Although I am sure almost all of the babies will be eaten by the pencilfish, the shrimps are important to keep the moss clean.

Unberried Female
cimg8070.jpg


Male
cimg8057.jpg


Here is a picture of the cave under the driftwood. You can see one of the one-lined pencils hiding out. These guys are really pretty and elegant, and are the only other pencilfish including eques (hockey-stick) that swim with their heads up at a 45 degree angle. They will happily eat off the gravel though, and in fact are pretty scared of the surface, only going there occasionally in this tank. The males do fight. Apparently these are only available wild caught and one of them was very emaciated when purchased. They wont eat any prepared or frozen foods and their mouths are extremely small, they can't eat live bloodworm or tubifex, which was very worrying in the beginning, but after obtaining cultures of microworms, grindal worms, and moina macrocopa and feeding them some ostracods (harvested from another tank) they have fattened up :)
cimg8072.jpg


cimg8090.jpg


cimg8091i.jpg


cimg8073p.jpg


The panda corys bring a lot of movement and action to the tank, which is a nice contrast to the subdued pencils. It's fun to see them sprint to the surface and dig like mad in the fine sand spraying it everywhere. Happy campers.
cimg8075.jpg


cimg8080o.jpg


Some close-ups of the afro moss
cimg8081c.jpg


cimg8082f.jpg


Some more pics
cimg8074.jpg


cimg8066q.jpg


cimg8094o.jpg


cimg8095.jpg
 
Love the concept Matt.

Looking forward to seeing more of the moss when it grows in and the sunset idea is genius - never seen or heard of the red root floater but now I want some!
 
Subject: The Karoo Dream

Eboeagles said:
Love the concept Matt.

Looking forward to seeing more of the moss when it grows in and the sunset idea is genius - never seen or heard of the red root floater but now I want some!

I've got a little spare at the moment, pm me and we'll sort out getting some over to you - maybe an ADC meet next week after work if you've got some spare time. I'll post it if not.

I've got to give Gerard the credit for the concept.

Stickleback said:
Great piece of wood. Reminds me of Cthulhu!

It certainly is. It lifts straight out for easy maintenance too (thats also why some of the rock positions are not more manicured) :thumbup:
 
Indeed it's time for a meet and always presents! pm me when works for you and let me know if there is anything I can let you have?
 
Mini update. As hoped, the freshwater nerites have destroyed the algae in the tank, you can only see a little bit now on the front glass-figures that they would leave that one spot heh. Unfortunately their shells are corroding because the Ph is only 6.7 and Kh 3. I think two have died because of this. However, they have now laid eggs all over hard surfaces on the tank and fingers crossed we should have some babies soon. I am doing water changes with London tap water now to raise the Ph and Kh to the point where the nerites dont suffer. The MTS I have though are fine.

cimg8647.jpg
 
Looks sweet good to meet the both of you out in SF and the for the simoni and those presents, will pm you about the Hawaiian Specimens and shipping them out to you.

Here is a manzi burl I found this weekend up in the mountains can't wait for the tank set up I create for this one
a6cd8887-2804-b5d9.jpg
a6cd8887-2815-9cfd.jpg


Looks great matt subscribed!


From the mud grows a Lotus~
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
 
Stickleback said:
Great piece of wood. Reminds me of Cthulhu!

All hail the great Cthulhu. 8)
 
Some more photos

Bit of algae on the glass here, but you can really see the Afro moss and the new growth coming off of it.
cimg8648d.jpg

cimg8649.jpg

cimg8651.jpg


Little blurry, but you get the idea.
cimg8653.jpg


The don't call it red-root floater for nothing. Apparently, it's the shrimp equivalent of mistletoe
cimg8655.jpg


Here is the tank with the lid off.
cimg8657.jpg
 
Nice to meet you the other day at ADC Gerard.

This is coming on very nicely, can't wait to see the moss grown in more.
 
Any updates? How is the Afro moss filling in on the tree?


From the mud grows a Lotus~
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
 
Updates with photos. The afro moss is filling in nicely. Got a bit of Clado and Spirogyra in it, but will get a red-nose shrimp to take care of it.

cimg8054.jpg

I am now successfully breeding theodoxus fluviatilis in here. The unfocused dot the glass in front of the driftwood is a baby. Have seen about 4 in there, so probably a few more. They are very small, maybe 1.5mm. When I first saw it I thought it was a nerite egg, and was about to scrape it off, when I noticed it had moved :D
cimg8053i.jpg
cimg8049.jpg
cimg8047d.jpg
cimg8045p.jpg
cimg8042.jpg
cimg8041j.jpg
cimg8040.jpg

Side view
cimg8038.jpg

You can see a bit of the Clado up on the afro moss here
cimg8037x.jpg

Afro moss on mesh
cimg8035.jpg
cimg8024.jpg

More photos
cimg8023x.jpg
cimg8022.jpg
cimg8021u.jpg
cimg8013.jpg
cimg8012.jpg
cimg8002.jpg
cimg8001.jpg

One of my black tarebia graniferas on the glass. The white dot on it is where one of the theos laid an egg.
cimg8015.jpg

I like the furrows the MTS put in the sand
cimg7999o.jpg


Theo sex
cimg8050.jpg

Tested water recently
NH4,NO2=0
NO3=15ppm
Ph=7
 
Any more updates with some close ups of the moss?

frothhelmet said:
Updates with photos. The afro moss is filling in nicely. Got a bit of Clado and Spirogyra in it, but will get a red-nose shrimp to take care of it.

Do red nose shrimp really eat the Clado & Spiro?
 
Hey Ian, 'fraid that those photos are the best close-ups my camera can do.

Red-nose do eat Clado and BBA, I don't know if they eat Spiro, thought there was a chance. They aren't available locally anywhere, so in the meantime I added 2 amanos. Will see if they make a dent.
 
The tank has had no fish since the last update, and simonis were replaced with blue pearls competition - not deliberately removed. The amanos controlled the problem staghorn algae in the end, but there is now a fair amount of clado now on certain places on the wood that get direct sunlight. Also recently threw away the garbage dennerle light and got a superfish 40 LED. It's perfect for the tank. The afro moss has had one trim in the intervening 2 years. Starting to look incredible methinks. Just did a water change so some bubbles on the glass.

IMG_0245_zpsdbd9e44d.jpg
IMG_0244_zpsfa00026c.jpg
IMG_0247_zps8de6a6f9.jpg

IMG_0248_zps9fbafa10.jpg
 
Back
Top