74l Journal

[crimsontsavo]

So far very interesting. I am really going to enjoy the look of this tank.
Would be neat if you could use that brown hair algae stuff for the grass.

 

[denis coghlan]

Howdy folks,

This is not really an update on the progress of the tank as I haven't had a great deal of opportunity to work on the tank or collect the rest of the pieces required.

However, I have been playing around with the hardscape of the rocks. I will be using a total of five rocks and although they are not as detailed or as interesting as some of the rocks I've seen in other "Iwagumis" setups, they give the look that I am trying to achieve. I like the arrangement of the rocks on the left but might have to change the right a little. I think it will look a lot different when the substrate goes in provided the scape with more depth of field.

P.s. I will move the reptile on when he gets too big for the tank! :side:

 

[aaronnorth]

Whoah! i had to look twice at that pic!

 

[lljdma06]

Wait! Don't touch a single thing! It's perfect! A definite for the ADA competition.



Seriously, you are the king of DIY, the tank looks great. I would have burnt down my home or caused a noxious chemical spill if I had attempted what you did. Good work. Careful with the initial planting, you don't want to end up with algae-covered grasses and lawncovers. I always advocate ignoring the fact that you eventual goal is an Iwagumis or Iwagami or whatever tank, and plant densly with the weeds first. When things are stable, gradually swap out the weeds for your final plant choice. This setup also has potential to try the emersed method of growth for HC, especially if you have a good substrate. Something to think about.

llj

 

[denis coghlan]

Thanks folks for the comments.

You guys reading this must be starting to wonder if water is ever going to make it into the tank! So far this project have been a very laid back and I would like to have all my bases covered before starting to plant.

After pondering about the amount of light in this tank (and other peoples concerns) if it will be sufficient to allow for "quality" plant growth I decided to add an additional two 18W T8's. The ballast that I am using is a standard electronic number stripped from a lighting hood that used to be in a fast food shop (spot the cheapskate). It was a fairly simple process but it was important to observe and record the original wiring on the electronic ballast before stripping off the old wires and adding the splash proof end caps. See the pictures below for a brief run down of operations. As it stood I had roughly 2 watts per gallon with the T4's but with the addition of the new tubes it has bumped it up to 3.8 watts per gallon. Is this classified as high light?

Standard 2 x 18w T8 ballast stripped of its original wiring. The ballast has been mounted away from the tank to avoid water damage.

Had to move the existing T4's to make space for the T8's, but they all fitted in neatly!

T4 tubes on their own on a fast shutter speed

T8 tubes running, I will have to replace that ####ty warmlite tube and it makes my tank look pink. I was sold it as a juwel daylight tube.

Everything going full blast. Photo was taken on a fast shutter speed to stop brightness, other wise it would look like the below picture.

Let there be light!

The next two photos are a comparison of the extra light given off by the two new tubes. Both photos where taken with the same aperture and shutter speed so light absorption by the lens of the camera is identical. The first photo is the T4 tubes only, while the second photo has both the T4 and T8 tubes running. Although it doesn't show a massive difference, the small increase in light can cause a dramatic effect on the growth of plants (hopefully :silly: ).

That's all for the moment. I'm still on the hunt for the co2 fire extinguisher, "J Arthur Bowers Sulphate of Potash" , grit or sand and some plants. Hopefully by next weekend I can start to plant.
Regards

Denis

 

[denis coghlan]

Still no water but I have the substrate in!

The first layer into the tank was a layer of horticultural grit to give the overall shape of the substrate hardscape that I wanted. I also did this as I didnt want to waste a load of plant substrate at the back of the tank where I wanted the substrate to be higher. I firmly pressed this layer down so when I spread the layer of plant substrate on this it would not be disturbed. Once the Tropica substrate was in I added a final layer of horticultural grit to stop water disturbingthe tropica substrate and help anchor the plant.


Hard scape

Substrate

Ready for planting

My own personal opinion on the finished hardscaping; I'm sceptical if all the rocks are going to be visible once the plants start to grow. I would think that after a while the only rocks that are going to be visible will be the two large fellas on either side of the tank. The other thing that I would like to say is that in the pictures don't give the tank any "depth". However, as I sit here looking at it I think it looks rather well but is in need of some plants.


Regarding ferts,

I have the following ingredients to make PPMD ferts

250g KNo3 - Potassium Nitrate (raw)
125g K2Po4 - Potassium Phosphate (raw)
125g MgSO4 - Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salts)
1000g K2SO4 - Potassium Sulphate (Sulphate of potash)

however I am unsure of the mix! I would like to just add the ferts daily and avoide weekly EI doesing. Is the daily PPMD fert mix the same as the one used for weekly EI treatment (pinned topic)?

Regards

Denis

 

[garuf]

Keep the animals, Olive knot did.
looks very promising. especially now there's even more light!
Are you over on Ukaps? I'd be interested to see what they make of it all

 

[aaronnorth]

I ThinkThe EI dosing is same for any period of time, if you briefly follow the routine:

Sunday - 50% water change. Add KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4
Monday - Add traces
Tuesday - Add KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4
Wednesday - Add traces
Thursday - Add KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4
Friday - Add traces
Saturday - Rest day

Then you should keep all the elements on par.
When you mix the elements according to the thread eg KNO3 (40g to 500ml water) then the mixture will equal 5ppm when you add the correct dosage to your tank.
When using EI you have to experiment to what suits best, it depends on plants, lighting etc, i would reccomend PM'ing George Farmer or Tom Barr to help you as this isn't my stongest area.

Tanks coming on nicely, those rocks blend in perfectly with the substrate. As do the animals! They look really good in there!

 

[denis coghlan]

Keep the animals, Olive knot did.

Are you over on Ukaps?

Em, I might keep the hippo but I think the rhino might have a bit of a hard time handling the water. I'm not a member of UKaps, think it might be a while before I get to the "advanced" stage of planted aquarium tank and design. However, I will sign up and have a read see what people there have to say.

A.north, thanks for taking the time to post. However I was wrong with the term for the type of fert system I wanted to use. It wasn't PPMD but PPS-pro. I found a good few recipes on the different plant forums but one stood out in particular on APC.com by a guy called Edwards it goes as follows,

500ml of water (distilled, Ro or tap water that in not heavy in nitrates or phosphates)

K2So4 = 29g
KNo3 = 33g
KH2Po4 = 4g (It was recommend that I added a gram to help with GSA)
MgSo4 = 20g


I will add 1ml for ever 10 gallons daily and I will add the same for the TE (trace elements).

Regards,

Denis

 

[denis coghlan]

Well there is no turning back now! the plants and water have been added. Had a little time this afternoon so headed out to pick up some stock for the tank. I didn't really know what would be in the shops so with the aid of the Tropica brochure I headed out. The shops didnt have a great selection of small grass plants, in fact they only had two Lilaeopsis brasiliensis and Echinodorus tenellus ,but with a quick reference on their suitability I decided I would take two pots of the brasili and a pot of the tenellus. I had previously been given a wade of Hemianthus callitrichoides so that makes a total of three species being used in this setup.

Plant on the left plate is Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Plant on the top plate is Echinodorus tenellus
and the big ball of green on the right is Hemianthus callitrichoides

The first thing I did was strip down the plants to individual stems to get the most bang for my buck. Usually there is a little of the pot material left on the plant roots but it seemed like that plants had only been in the pots for a few weeks and sufficient rooting hadn't occurred yet for this to happen, so I was dealing with bare-root stock. I tried to placed everything out in some sort of orderly fashion to make planting as easy as possible.

Planting took well over an hour as each piece of vegetation had to be inserted into the gravel using a pair of fine nose tweezers. To keep everything moist I used a fine spray gun and when everything was planted I used an airline to fill up the tank with water so as not to disturb the tiny greenery with their minute rooting systems.

Close up of the HC with the Lilaeopsis brasiliensis in the background.


I will post a picture of the tank with the water in it once it has cleared up slightly.


Now, roll on the algae battle!

 

[DevUK]

Fantastic so far! Looking forward to seeing it with water in

Good job!

 

[Dave Spencer]

Em, I might keep the hippo but I think the rhino might have a bit of a hard time handling the water. I'm not a member of UKaps, think it might be a while before I get to the "advanced" stage of planted aquarium tank and design. However, I will sign up and have a read see what people there have to say.

Denis, UKAPS is for people of all abilities, so get your tank over there.

Mind you, I can`t guarantee you won`t get slaughtered for having plastic animals in the tank.

Dave.

 

[aaronnorth]

May have taken long to plant carpet, but it will be well worth it in the end! I joined at UKAPS and you are better than me, just because you are not superb at aquascaping (not saying you aren't!) doesnt mean they will overlook you, you will get great advice.

 

[Luketendo]

Seriously, joined at ukaps, it will help a lot.

I'm not very good at plants but I hope to be so that's why I joined.

 

[lisa_perry75]

Just want to re-iterate that UKAPS is definately not just for experts, the guys over there have helped me immensely.

I love this scape and am really looking forward to seeing this grown in. It is definately refreshing to see a scape with smooth stones!

I cannot believe you got all those plantlets from the clumps you started out with! That is sooooo thrifty!