Aquascaper 600

[Wells]

That's looking fantastic, I wish you better luck with this scape!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Nice aquascape, be real nice when plants grow out and grass plants spread.

Agree if wood is suspect then best to take it out and swap.

Nice touch getting some Frodo rocks.

Hopefully this time round you’ll not encounter any hair algae issues.

Looks forward to next post and perhaps you can post results of silica test if you’ve got that now. Interested to see what your next step is.

Keep up the good work.

Btw had a quick look online at that store you went to, looks real nice, I’d like a nosey around in there one day but it’s a near 4 hour drive from where I live so may incorporate a look around next time I drive up to Scotland

 

[Wills]

Btw had a quick look online at that store you went to, looks real nice, I’d like a nosey around in there one day but it’s a near 4 hour drive from where I live so may incorporate a look around next time I drive up to Scotland

Thanks this is my plan too haha! Its only a junction or 2 north of Scotch Corner!

 

[Essjay]

What are their fish stocks like, Wills? I've never actually been there even though I don't live far away. I'm waiting for inspiration to strike about another shoaling fish species for my main tank, and a look round a new shop might give me ideas.

 

[Wills]

What are their fish stocks like, Wills? I've never actually been there even though I don't live far away. I'm waiting for inspiration to strike about another shoaling fish species for my main tank, and a look round a new shop might give me ideas.

Definitely worth a trip they had one of the new unusual Congo tetra types in that might scratch that itch. They had one big room with regular fish and an other nano specific room - some very nice small rainbow fish species in there too.

 

[Essjay]

I don't drive so I'll have to see if I can persuade my husband - he gets fed up sitting in the car for hours while I'm looking at fish

 

[Wills]

So few days have passed and it’s looking good... don’t want to jinx it but I think the fast growing plants are helping and removing that piece of wood is doing the trick too. Holding off doing too many water changes but keeping a strict eye on it to know when to jump in. Will probably do a change tomorrow though either way.

hoping to order some more fast growing plants to add at the weekend too if I can keep it stable and not inundated with algae I might start to think about adding fish soon

 

[Wills]

So did a waterchange and a bit of maintenance tonight. Bit of green algae on the right side glass above the Helenthium Tenelum so I trimmed down the limnophila sessiliflora and replanted the cuttings in the area as it seems to be doing well. The Helenthium is growing I can see lots of shoots just under the soil so hoping that wont take too long to fill in. I do have an other pot of the Helenthium but I didnt want it to choke itself but I might add it at the weekend. I split up some of the Cardamine up tonight as some of the lower leaves were struggling but it is doing really well over all.

I ordered some more pots of the Cardamine, some Hydrocotyle Leucocephala and Hydrocotyle Tripartita which should be here on Saturday so will get them added in. I planted the tank quite quickly on Saturday as I had spent too long on my tank with going to the shop and had to get other stuff done so might move some other plants around.

Anyway enough rambling heres the tank tonight after the water change

 

[AilyNC]

Your aquascape is really great absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Ch4rlie]

That’s looking pretty good, can already see a little plant growth and additional plants.

Don’t think the green algae is particularly worrisome at all as your plants are beginning to establish pretty well now so the balance for ferts and nutrients is now leaning on the plants side rather than the algae, so winning the battle so far, touch wood.

Tidy job.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Wills]

Thanks guys really appreciate it

I think this approach with faster growing, easier plants is the way forward. Almost as if I have learned something from watching George Farmers entire YouTube channel haha!

 

[ClownLurch]

Definitely worth a trip they had one of the new unusual Congo tetra types in that might scratch that itch. They had one big room with regular fish and an other nano specific room - some very nice small rainbow fish species in there too.

I’ll be up that way testing my eyesight in a few weeks time. I’ll be popping in if things don’t get any worse.

 

[vanalisa]

View attachment 110748

This is my first foray into properly planted tanks, in the past I've kept to many diggers, herbivores and just descructive fish to succeed. But now with a smaller tank and wanting to focus on something new here we are! I've been posting a few WIP posts about this tank so I wanted to consolidate them all into once place as it develops over time.

I'm facing a couple of challenges so far with the Co2, its not dipping down over night, I think this is because the plants are not using enough of it through the light period so hopefully this will get resolved. I will not be adding fish to the tank until this is stable and I feel more confident in using Co2 injection.

Planting has gone quite well, I got a set of cheap aquascaping tools from Amazon which have really helped. There are a couple of plants I just cant get to plant fully but hoping over time they will take root and burrow down into the substrate. I have seen some pearling though so thats quite cool!

Next step is waiting on a delivery of some Bucephalandra, Mini Bolbitis and one more type of crypt for the back right corner.

What is the low plant in the foreground?
I like the grass along the back, and the wood is wicked!

 

[vanalisa]

Woke up this morning and before I even turned the lights on I could see the tank was innundated with green hair algae, I noticed a bit last night but there were strands reaching the surface from some plants.

I managed to manually remove most of it off the plants and scrubbed wood and rocks with a toothbrush but was feeling pretty defeated if I am honest.

So I've taken a pretty drastic step, and I have added a group of 15 Amano shrimp. In response to this I have dropped my Co2 injection to 1 bubble per second (down from approx 5) and I have cut the light intensity to 80% with a daylight arc on it (dimmer start and end, brightest in the middle). Before adding them I did a large water change to help reset the Co2 level in the tank and make it an easier transition for them. In just a few hours they have visably made a dent in the algae and biofilm that my wood has been producing over the last few weeks.

Needless to say now that there are animals in my tank, it will be much stricter monitoring - though I do take comfort with this species of shrimp and Co2 given they are named after the man who developed Co2 injection and invented modern aquascaping

I'll try and update with some pics tonight once its darker outside

Wills

"A pretty drastic step.....added 15 Amano shrimp."

 

[Octopink]

This is so gorgeous, Wells. Please keep up the amazing work and updates! That is a beautiful driftwood piece too. Oh man!