Jimbooo's Jungle Journal 2 (rio 180 - 40g)

[jimbooo]

wow 2000 posts i really must do more work this forum is way too distracting...

it's been a while since the last update, in short i've still got no co2 but im ordering the dennerle kit next week. I've just put one nutrafin back in to keep things ticking over and lowered the lighting to 2 WPG.

well well i have some extremly exciting news. i took a drive over to peterborough yesterday to visit our friendly mod gf225 or george as we now know him. he is stripping his tank in preperation for 4 months away. well we couldn't let that beautiful fern go to waste could we....

anyway what a lovely bloke, not at all what i'd expected (university scollar type). he certainly knows his stuff though and that tank.. OMG pictures can not do it justice. i've never seen a flawless planted tank before but wow. he's not pulling the wool over our eyes it was stunning and at the same time he's appologising as he's missed a couple of water changes lol, like you'd notice..

met the family etc.. had a long chat about all things planted and had a thoroughly enjoyable visit. Then came the good part (well good for me, heartbreaking for him i'm sure). the baby was in need of attention so i had the task of pulling his masterpiece apart. That fern really is massive, the root ball/rhizome is the size of a shoe box!! and not to mention the glosso carpet, again flawless.

i got rather carried away and decided to take the lot, plants, fish everything (well not the tank) packed it all into a massive bucket and started the long hour and a half journey back home (one handed mind you, the bucket was rather wobbly at 70mph!!)

made it home safely, then started to get my head around what to do with it all. on top of that his water is KH3 and mines KH13 so the fish transfer was rather tedious but i wasn't going to risk killing any of the iconic cardinals!! you lot would string me up lol.

i wanted to keep to a simillar layout as his, kind of a tribute for all his past help so at 3.30am i'd finally finished. here's the result. sorry for the blurryness, the whole tank got emptied and redone so there were a few bits floating around and i couldn't keep awake to let it settle.

this better work, that layout took me hours and hours before i even started planting the glosso carpet.

any comments welcome the more the merrier. just got to get that co2 sharpish.

 

[ghent_3rd]

very impressed as normal Jimbooo!!!

I am getting my RIO 180 tomorrow and hope to emulate your creation although layout will obviously be totally different with lots of bogwood, slate and large pebbles.

hope to get some pics ASAP so will post in my journal that I have set up.

Being a bit cheeky ) but could you possibly PM me your stocking list so I can get a heads up on amount of stock that I can keep once tank has reached maturity?

Java fern looks awesome by the way!!!!

 

[jimbooo]

thanks ghent_3rd. to be honest it's massivly overstocked at present due to yesterdays mission. click my member name to look at my profile. the old stock list is on there and is more realistic. i'm going to have to move some fish in the 180 as at present it's rediculous.

 

[ghent_3rd]

jimbooo, have you ever used elodea and if so how do you prune to get best results?

 

[jimbooo]

sorry mate, never used or heard of it, i'm sure someone will though (feel free to reply to that in this thread whoever knows the answer)

 

[George Farmer]

Looking good mate. I’m relieved the livestock made the journey ok.

Thanks for the kind words too, it’s a relief to hear I’m only perceived as a geek on the net and I’m actually an ok bloke in the flesh!

It is a sad time for me seeing the end of an era for my tank, but every cloud has a silver lining. I know everything will be well looked after by you James and I can’t wait to plan my next venture.

I’ll be updating my journal soon I hope so everyone can see us in the flesh.

And for everyone’s interest – jimbooo is a top bloke in real life too.

All the best with your new plants and fish mate. I hope they bring you as much pleasure as they did me.

 

[ghent_3rd]

It looks like this

If anyone knows the best to prune get in touch ASAP!! Via PM though please as this Jimbooo's journal.

It is currently potted and growing like wildfire!!

 

[jimbooo]

i'll take good care of them mate rest assured. i may be bugging you for some ei dosage tips when the co2 arrives though. the fern is going to totally throw all my previous estimations regarding dosage of nitrate etc..

oh take a look at the cube journal and look at the lilly, you'll see what i mean about the growth, it's insane. Only 1.3 WPG in there remember.

looking forward to the mug shot in your journal...

keep well

ghent_3rd prune as with any stem plant. uproot, chop off the bottom few inches and replant. dont chop the top off as most people do.

 

[gt568]

I like your new layout a lot, your tank makes the fern look so much smaller though, and I have to agree with you, after seeing george's tank the day before you came, that pictures just didn't do that tank justice, and yet he reckons he was neglecting it. Madness.

 

[jimbooo]

i know funny isn't it. my tank has never looked as clean as his did yesterday. i suppose your more critical of your own work than other peoples. i've never been totally pleased with my tanks, theres always something not quite right.

the layout should look a lot better if the glosso carpet takes hold. i've planted every single bit of gravel you can see in the pictures. time will tell

 

[gt568]

i know funny isn't it. my tank has never looked as clean as his did yesterday. i suppose your more critical of your own work than other peoples. i've never been totally pleased with my tanks, theres always something not quite right.

the layout should look a lot better if the glosso carpet takes hold. i've planted every single bit of gravel you can see in the pictures. time will tell

Thats true, everybody is there own worst critic. Gotta agree the glosso looks better filled out. I note you've had loads of probs with your JBL CO2. Interestingly I got my profi 2 at xmas and haven't looked back, its been superb!

 

[pseud]

Awesome, love the look Jim, it looks great.

Those anubias look fantastic.

 

[jimbooo]

gt568: i've just had a bad batch i think. got fed up changing it so decided to go the dennerle route. i'm a bit miffed as well as thousands of people are using them with no problems at all.

Pseud: thanks mate. georges anubias really are spotless (excuse the pun). very very good quality plants indeed. it's like theyve just been delivered by tropica.

 

[pseud]

Yeah, they look beautiful. I've only really just started appreciating them. Have a load of A. nana and one rhizome of A. coffeefolia that I'm trying to get going! I wanna try some A. heterophylla too.

 

[DarkSeraph]

Riccia question: After you first grow it on the slate it will attach itself to the ground and keep growing? I didn't realize that from reading your pin on riccia.