Horcum Heather

[Ben M]

Hi Guys, I've done a rescape on my nano, and I thought I'd share the journal.

Tank Info:

Tank: Superfish Aqua-Qube 40l
Dimensions: 33cm (L) X 33cm (W) X 40cm (H)
Lighting: 18W Superfish nano light
Filter: Superfish Aqua Flow 50 (100lph)
Heating: 50w Heater
Ferts/Carbon: EI + EasyCarbo.
Inhabitants: 9 X Trigonostigma hengeli, 1 Trigonostigma heteromorpha and approx. 100 Sakura shrimp.
WC Routine: 50% 1-2 x per week.

Here is the tank before the rescape. The plants were Christmas moss, Limnophila sessiliflora, Eleocharis parvula, Echinodorus vesuvius and riccia fluitans (floating):

I have taken out the old wood, and added some new wood (heather branches from the hole of horcum). I'm much happier with this wood, as it looks much more natural. I have tied come Christmas moss to the top half of the wood, but not where the branching starts, as I want that to stay visible through the plants that will grow through it. I have Used Limnophila sessiliflora for the whole of the background, as I'm hoping it will grow densely and hide the wires, filter and heater. The foreground is still E. parvula, and I have pygmy chain sword and Echinodorus vesuvius growing through the branches of the wood (they will be more visible as they grow). I have added some Anubias nana golden, which will hopefully grow over the wood on the right and not have loads of algae on it as it will be partially shaded by the Limnophila. There is some moss on stones in the foreground as well, which will grow into a nice carpet. I have also added some water lettuce as a floating plant, as I have noticed that the shrimp like floating plants to climb on.

Here is the tank after the rescape:

What do you think? I'll keep updating the journal as the scape progresses.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[ian]

nice Ben, i like it!

It could do with a few more Limnophila stems, but other than that it's very good.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Looking good, like the old scape too.

 

[Tetra-Chris]

I like it, would like to see it grow in - if your old scape is anything to go by it should be lovely!

 

[lljdma06]

Is the wood actually dead and dried? Otherwise, nice find, look forward to it filling in.

 

[Ben M]

Thanks for your thoughts.

Hi Ian, I have put as many Limnophila stems in as will fit, but some are really short so it'll be a while before it will be really thick. I want them to thicken out to shade the Anubias a bit to stop any algae growing.

Hi Liz, some of the heather in the moors is burnt each year to control it and allow new growth. The wood I've used is this wood, so it has been drying out on the moors for about a year, but only the bark was burnt, so I soaked it for a while and the bark came off really easy.

cheers,
Ben

 

[TetraUk]

Hi Ben,

Is this tank still running, if so can you give me some tips on dosage for ferts as I have the same sized cube..

Cheers,

T'UK