Dave`s Juwel Lido Journal.

[lljdma06]

Well, stripping tanks down after a few months is the high tech way, after all.

Ain't that the truth!

 

[Dave Spencer]

Well, I threatened to carry out a rescape, and here it is. Lighting is now 3 hours of 1.7WPG, three hours of 3.4WPG and three hours of 1.7WPG and dosing is still EI supplemented with TPN.

It looks a bit tatty at the moment, with a fair bit of work to do once it has grown in a bit more, but I hope you can see where I am trying to go with it:

Initial planting. Photo was taken during 1.7WPG period.

After two weeks. Photo was taken during 1.7WPG period.

Dave.

 

[George Farmer]

Looks good, Dave. Interesting design.

Hi-tech doesn't have to be short-term BTW. Plant choice and clever lighting is the key. Look at the ADA Nature Aquarium Gallery - full of ferns/mosses. Although the lighting is MH/PC look how high it's suspended, and there's the midday burst, of course.

Keep away from stems and high growth carpets and "hi-tech" can last years. Just ask Jeff Senske....

Keep up the good work matey.

 

[john starkey]

Hi dave thats going to be superb when it fills out,with the plants attached to rocks will you be moving them around from time to time or are you going to leave it as it is.regards john

 

[Themuleous]

Interesting scape Dave, good luck keeping all that riccia the right shape!

Sam

 

[RadaR]

Ah, so you went ahead and did it eh. Looks good. Will look sweet when its properly grown

 

[Dave Spencer]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

My thinking for this tank was that most people seem to use Riccia sparingly in the foreground, but I wanted to use it as the main plant. I just hope I can maintain the undulating effect as the Riccia grows.

George, I have noticed Jeff Senske using a lot of ferns and mosses in ADA set ups but, to be honest, I am happy trying out as many different scapes as I can for the moment, despite all my whinging about this tank. TA has written an article on long term scapes in the latest edition of TAG. There are a lot of plants and ideas I want to try out before I slow things down, but the 3.4WPG had to be addressed due to the look of the tank changing virtually daily.

John, it occurred to me while I was setting up this tank that the rocks could be moved around at any time. The rock on the left in the second picture was a late addition which I may yet remove and replace it with a bush of HM. I cocked up a bit when I planted the Micranthemum umbrosum because I accidentally threw away the best bunch which was looking fantastic, and planted the sorrier looking bunch that been shaded for a while. Still, it is bouncing back and the growth is phenomenal. There is a large amount of space behind the rocks and in front of the Eleocharis vivipara which may well be filled with HM and MU.

Thanks Sam, I sure am a glutton for punishment.

Cheers Fred, I think I will add some more Cardinals like I discussed. I see a bit more of them in this scape, but I would like to be able to capture a photograph with them all out and about.

Dave.

 

[Castellop123]

...

 

[Dave Spencer]

Just another quick update. Things are still looking a bit tatty while I am waiting for the Micranthemum umbrosum and Hemianthus micranthemoides to really grow in. There is a lot of work to do with the stems and the Eleocharis vivipara.

The Riccia starts to pearl during the 1.7WPG, and really goes mad during the 3.4WPG period. The photo below was taken during the second 1.7WPG, just after the 3.4WPG. I am currently in the process of filling in the gaps that my original shoddy work missed. Some of the netting is still visible.

Tomorrow, I will be adding some more Cardinals in the hope that they will be more confident in a larger shoal and I will see a lot more of them.

Dave.

 

[Castellop123]

Nice tank, Dave... This tank has given me new ideas...

 

[Liam]

Its beautiful, the riccia is fantastic. The tank will look great when all the stone is covered. Cardinals do tend to hang out in a sheltered place going for occasional swims but a bigger shoal should make them more confident.

 

[lljdma06]

Wow! Bubbles, bubbles everywhere! Where are the plants!? There are so many bubbles! Too many bubbles.

Tetras will usually benefit from greater numbers, however, they do not really school unless given a reason too. If they are not afraid, they won't really school, but will break off into smaller foraging groups. When a predatory fish (or hand) is introduced, they will then school together tightly. They probably really like your layout, so they are just kind of chilling in sheltered spots, as Liam said. Some tetras move more than others. I found cardinals and neons, when I kept them, to be a more stationary fish. The blood characins, also like to stand and pose. Some really good fast-swimming tetras are the bloodfins, blue tetras (which I have), and rummy-nose. Blue tetras are especially quick and are rather danio-like in their habits.

llj

 

[Dave Spencer]

Thanks for the comments people. Corin, what have you got in the pipe line then?

Thanks Liam. I have just added ten more Cardinals to make a shoal of around twenty, and it has worked a dream. I now see at least ten or so out and about all the time.

Wow! Bubbles, bubbles everywhere! Where are the plants!? There are so many bubbles! Too many bubbles.

Right then ll...bloody ...jdma06. , making fun of my aquascaping. There is actually tons of plants underneath those bubbles. What happens is that the Daylight tube at the front comes on for the first three hours, giving 1.7WPG and the pearling starts off. The next three hours is both the Daylight and Triplus giving 3.4WPG and the levels of pearling go mad, the result of which you can see in the photos above. The final three hours is 1.7WPG with the Triplus at the back which gives the shadowy look I have photographed. The contrast between the bright green of the tank during 3.4WPG and the silvery look of the final backlit three hours is a really nice contrast. I am thinking of increasing the light to 5.1WPG just wind to you up. How do you like them apples llj?

I have kept an eye out for Blue tetras, but haven`t seen any yet.

Dave.

 

[Themuleous]

You gotta love Ricca for its pearling ability! Tank progressing nicely Dave, should turn out nice once you can get in there with the pruning scissors.

 

[Dave Spencer]

You gotta love Ricca for its pearling ability!

Cheers Sam.

This tank looks stunning of an evening, even if I say so myself, which is hard to capture on the camera. I was hoping to get it ready for the PFK competition, but I dropped a bit of a clanger when rescaping it.

When I changed over from my stem jungle I thought...."nice stable tank,no algae for months....no problem." Unfortunately, the change in plant mass, plus a disturbed substrate meant low ammonia levels in the water column. I think an AWOL Oto may have died and not helped the ammonia situation either.

Anyway, the result was rampant spirogyra, a type I got in the early days of this tank, but nothing like this. I have carried out a three day black out with an increased water change regime with a 100% success, but I want a little period of stability before I start hacking away at the M. umbrosum and E. vivipara.

Of course, both my other tanks have come out in sympathy with spirogyra, so I am basically in the middle of an algae war at the worst possible time for PFK.

Dave.