'under The Forest Canopy' Journal

SuperColey1

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'UNDER THE FOREST CANOPY'

TANK:

Fluval Duo Deep 800 (125 Litre / 33USG)

FILTRATION/HEATING:
Tetratec EX700. Vecton2 200 8W UV steriliser. Hydor ETH-200 external in-line heater. Glass 'lily' outflow and inflow pipes.

CO2 INJECTION:
Disposable 600g cannisters. Dual gauge welding regulator. Lunapet needle valve. Lunapet CO2 hose, Gamba XII glass bubble counter. Gamba XII non return valve. Rhinox 2000 glass/ceramic diffuser.
(Running 24 hours @ 1-2bps)

LIGHTING:
1 x 29" T5 30W Hot5 Daylight. 1 x 29" T5 30W Hot5 SpectrumGro (1.8WPG).
Timed 4 hours @ 0.9WPG, 2 hours @ 1.8WPG, 4 hours @ 0.9WPG.

WEEKLY ROUTINE:
Macros - 6.5ml dosed daily. Solution consists of 500ml DI Water, 17g Potassium Nitrate, 3g Potassium Phosphate, 36g Potassium sulphate, 16g Magnesium Sulphate.
Micros - 3ml Tropica Plant Nutrition Daily
Hard tap water loaded with nitrate and phosphate.
10-15% water change on Wednesday and Saturday nights.


BIOLOAD:
10 Cardinal tetra, 4 Pitbull plecs, 3 Otocinclus, 2 Bolivian Rams and 10 Malaysian trumpet snails (I counted them in.)

PLANTS:
Bacopa caroliniana (giant bacopa).
Nymphea rubra.
Nymphea zenkeri (tiger lotus).
Nuphar japonica (spatterdock).
Philippine java fern.
Needle leaf java fern.
Anubias Barteri v Nana.
Anubias Barteri Petite.
Cryptocoryne Balansae.
Cryptocoryne Undulata.
Cryptocoryne Spiralis.
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green.
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown.
Christmas Moss.

Plants.jpg



THE SCAPE:
The substrate contains fresh mulm (from previous setup),leonardite (Earthworks soil builder granules), Tropica plant substrate and finally J Arthur Bowers silver sand.
Substrate.jpg


First the ferns, anubias and moss are attached to bogwood so that they aren't out of the tank for too long a time. One Anubia has a flower on it from the previous setup.
attach.jpg


A nice clean and empty tank and then in situ with white fablon background.
EmptyTank.jpg

EmptyTankWhite.jpg


Fresh mulm is spread across the bottom. Still in a little amount of tank water that it was mixed with when I boxed it.
Mulm.jpg


A ½ inch layer of leonardite added which will be invisible as it is below the bottom border of the tank. This is quite a powdery substance rather than granules as it says on the box.
Leonardite.jpg


Tropica substrate goes in as close to planned scape as possible. I can't give a review on this for a long while because I don't know how long it will last etc, but I'm chuffed to bits with the colour because it is the same as the sand and therefore blends in much better than some of the more orangey/brown substrate additives.
Tropica.jpg


Finally the silver sand goes on the top to complete the substrate. I love the colour of silver/dry/play sand. They are all the same material with the only difference being that dry/silver sand is sterilised and play sand is not. It is also the perfect colour to see Pitbull plecs do what they do best which is to change their colour to match their surroundings within reason so when they are on the sand they go a very light sand colour and when they are in the shade or greenery they darken up and show their greeny freckles

Then hardscape is positioned, the tank one third filled with water and equipment added, planted and then filled.

And this is how it looks now.
Tank-1.jpg


Tank2.jpg


The scape's title 'under the forest canopy' is really based on what I envision this scape will turn into, which is to use the 7 Nymphae bulbs in the tank (5 x Rubra, 2 x Zenkeri) to provide the 'tree trunks' and stagger their pads through the top third of the tank which will make the 'forest canopy'. I hope I don't need to rename it!!

I have also added Bacopa Caroliniana as individual stems as it has developed nicely in the previous setup and has nice thick stalks and a lovely texture to the leaves. I hated the look of this plant when I first got it in a cheapo collection but I have developed a fondness for its fully grown appearance.

All this cover will provide the plants below with the shelter they need as they are all low light plants (Ferns, Moss, Anubias, Crypts.) These should fill out the floor nicely and provide quite a bit of foliage. In greens and browns and yellows.

I cut the leaves from most of the crypts and Lilys so that I won't need to fish out dead leaves and also because the Lilys need to be trained to stagger again because during my recent 2 weeks holiday they all got carried away and would look a little bit too much for this scape.

Therefore this tank will be a slow grower and the vision I have of it may not come into fruition for 6 months or more which I think will be quite interesting to watch (Do I sound boring or what?)

I have chosen the white background because when you walk through a wood or forest you see the horizon through the trunks as white although I'm not too sure about the fablon backing. I chose fablon because my equipment is all glass and it needs to be suckered to the outside of the tank. The fablon is very smooth and lets the suckers hold on whereas paper, cloth etc doesn't let you do this. I may yet paint the back of the tank white but I'm not too keen on this.

At the moment it looks poor and people may say black would be better but if the tank develops as I am planning then it will get a lot darker with the Lily pads blocking a fair bit of light and then the white will be integral to the overall effect. Black would look better at the moment but in a couple of months would mean you couldn't see much at all. This tank is very much a case of planning for the future and I may well keep it the way it is for many years to come if it turns out the way I want it to.

Another integral part is the hardscape. Some may say that it is too low for a high tank but there are no set rules in this hobby and I have intentionally left the hardscape low because I want the sense of depth to make the tank seem taller and give an illusion of height to the 'forest'.

Let me know what you think. I am open to critique, both positive and negative, but please be gentle as this is my first real attempt at an aquascape rather than just a tank with plants in it.

Andy
 
I've been looking forwards to this one Andy :) Its a great idea! Are you going to plant any major fast growers to combat algae in the first instance?

I think if I were to give some constructive criticism, it would be that I'm not sure about the substrate built up so much in the front corners. I'm not sure, it just looks a little weird to me :)

I love the Fablon I think :lol: Not sure I follow how its attached though :)

Great job so far!
 
Will be interesting to see this develop and how the substrate does. Out of interest what size is the tropica substrate? Just like gravel or is there lost of sand sized particles mixed in with the larger bits?

Sam
 
It looks like a nice start. Don't know why you've gone pressurized, and the whole setup seems a bit complicated for only 1.8WPG, but perhaps I'm missing something. You boys do like your toys, though, and I am far more lazy. I like the idea of the Nymphaea, the floating leaves will look great.

llj
 
Dev

Although in the pics it may look like the substrate is built up in the front corners, from the side the rear corners are higher. The substrate is quite deep all over the tank and I'm bound to get the 'anaerobic pocket' scaremongers chipping in but there are a huge amount of root feeders in the tank and they will need all this substrate.

1 Rubra bulb with 20 stems & leaves that I took out of the previous setup had a rootball which once 'cupped' would be the size of a golf ball. Some roots were nearly 1ft long (This bulb was only in the tank 2-3 months!!!)

The fablon is sticky back vinyl plastic which was £3.50 from Wilko for a 1.5m x 650mm roll. The only problem with it is it is nearly impossible to remove every single little bit of air whilst pushing it onto the back therefore there are a few rub marks on it which look a little like darker smudges. Once grown the plants should remove this sight and I think the effect will work but until then I have to put up with the highly visible shadows.

Ignoring all advice this will have no weeds to combat algae in it. I shouldn't really need them because it is going to be under 0.6WPG for the next 2 weeks (until the hot5s arrive) and then will only be under 0.9WPG for the first month or so. Even after that it will only get 4 hours at 1.8WPG


Sam

The Tropica is like large clay type granules, virtually no sand at all. Some of the particles were close to 1cm but mostly was like gravel size.


LL

I already had the pressurised and still only have 1 tank so I may as well use it. The lower light has meant I have dropped from 3-4bps to 1bps. Looking at George's low light tank with CO2 convinced me I should use it but then if George poured weedkiller in his tanks he'd probably still get lush growth. lol

The same with the rest of the setup really everything equipmentwise (apart from the Hot5s) was already in Situ and I just reconnected it all. the only new bits are substrate, tank, plants and lights (plus the new pine hood which I have nearly finished) I guess I've just made the spec list look like there are huge swathes of machinery and equipment.

The spend on the actual rescape was £66 plants, £30 substrate.

Andy
 
Cheers Andy, just thinking you could use it on its own if size isn't to big, doesn't have to be topped with anything. Might try that when I re-do my nano.

Sam
 
Tropica do suggest a barrier layer. but it is quite clay'ish'. Thre were a few bits of organic matter in there as well like composted material that hadn't broken down fully but was defo dead so under it went. lol

Hopefully I won't be getting a potatoe plant growing in the middle of the tank in a couple of months.

andy
 
Hi Andy, nice looking scape so far my only slight nit pick i would have added a few more fast growers just to help with any algae issues, good luck and i am looking forward to its development regards john.
 
John

I'm not really expecting any major algae issues on this one as I have just turned the CO2 on at the start at 1bps and haven't needed to adjust it so it will be constant from the off (Good guess at a reduced rate eh. lol) :p

Also the lights have been substantially lowered from the previous setup!

Was: 3 Hrs 0.6WPG, 6 Hrs 2.5WPG, 3 Hrs 0.6WPG
Now: 4 Hrs 0.9WPG, 4 Hrs 1.8WPG, 3 Hrs 0.9WPG

This should mean that any algae issues if they do occur will be slower.

I am still dosing although not as much and with the practice gained previously this should also help to combat the green enemy.

The UV is on 24/7 for this first month to help kill any floating algae spores after which I will cancel the overide on the timer so that it only runs when the lights are out (to stop the tank getting hot with lights and UV on, then cooling down when the lights go off) To balance the temperature out (set at 24ºC.)

Should algae appear I may fasten a fair few stems to a fair few suckers on the sides of the tank but I am planning to let this tank run on its own with small 15-20% weekly water changes and no inteference or repositioning (which is most likely the main cause of a lot of newbie problems along with the CO2.)

One week in and the only algae in the tank is a little staghorn which was already on the Nuphar Japonica and Crypt Balansae from the previous setup. This is not getting worse and once the other plants find their feet properly and start getting their roots into the Tropica they should (relatively speaking for slow growers) start to shoot up which should as we know even further diminish the algae threat. :ninja:

The only problems I have had so far is that the older Anubias and Ferns which I tied to the wood first must have been out of the water for too long and are suffering a crypt like melt. I have also decided to dose a small amount of K2SO4 for a while to help boost the Potassium just in case but all these things are (comparatively speaking) minor minor setbacks.

The Crypts which I cut back to their crowns already have several leaves and all the Lily bulbs are sprouting again.

The moss which had gone a bit brown from its 21 day black out (shouldve been 5 - in ½litre tank in cabinet for 5 days, then on top of the hood whilst on holiday, then forgot and left it in the cabinet) is starting to get some green to it so hopefully this should now recover nicely.

I'll take some piccys tomorrow because I've just done an emergency water change due to the missus not understanding the request 'Can you put about 10 of these little Tetra Prima pellets in tomorrow?' I arrived home to se about 50 Cichlid Gold pellets (10 times the size of a Tetra Prima pellet) on the substrate and quizzed her, then I opened the lid and there were even more floating still.

After 2 hours of watching the tank with it all in all the fish were snapping at each other and I decided I had to remove it all!!

They have calmed down now.

Why do I have Cichlid pellets you may ask?

My little secret. I'll let you know tomorrow. :devil:

:thanks:
Andy
 
I won't be updating this journal every week because with the plants I have chosen for this scape and also the reduced lighting the growth will be much slower. I also won't be changing the layout at all so there won't be huge changes week to week.

However I can show you the finished pine hood that is now on the tank. It is definitely better than the original hood that I persisted with for so long, modding and modding over and over. lol

mysight.jpg


The two HO T5s are fitted and I have moved from the previous 0.6WPG (1 x 18W T8) to 0.9WPG (1 x 30W T5) with just the Spectrum Gro Lamp on for a straight 10 hours. Next week I will have the Daylight on for the middle 2 hours which will give me 1.8WPG (2 x 30W T5) during this 'midday' period. This is the lighting routine I am planning to keep.

These lights are super cool looking and the light they give is nice too. These shots are with 0.9WPG!!! Only the Spectrum Grow 30W is on.
Arty-2.jpg


fulfrontal.jpg


The final 'little' change this week is that I have joined a Cichlid forum. Why? Because I have purchased 2 male Bolivian Rams!! These are peaceful dwarf Cichlids which enjoy planted tanks and are hardier than German Blue Rams. The 24 hour CO2 should benefit them by keeping the Ph in the low 6s rather than the low 7s that my tap dispenses (No RO etc on this tank.) I had been looking to buy a pair of German Blues but saw these and loved their more subtle but still vibrant colourings.

bothtogether.jpg

bothtogether2.jpg

Ram1.jpg


Although they are peaceful for Cichlids, the males are territorial and they are still confronting each other to decide where the middle ground is. lol. They seem to take it in turns to back off though.

A week or two to let them get settled in and I am planning to add 2 females and hope that they pair off with the boys.

I'm already loving these fish as they compliment their co-habitants really well. The plecs laze around ignoring you unless you move suddenly and then they hide. The Otos ignore you totally with their tunnel vision focused on grazing all day. The tetras rush away to hide when you come near before slowly advancing back towards you and these Rams see you there and come towards you as if to say 'What you looking at Eh?'

One of the pitbull plecs munching away on Tetra Prima.
pitbullmunch.jpg


Thanks for reading

Andy
 
The hood looks excellent, nice work; the rams are a cool addition, even if they push each other about a bit they don’t do any damage. Looking forward to seeing how this one develops.
Thanks for the review of the lights, I am thinking of replacing my ugly yellow juwel lights.
 
Nice tank :good:

I really like your fish selection they suit this tank well.
 

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