Johns 450ltr (110 Gals) Journal

[john starkey]

Black is good, you could debate painting the back of the glass but that is a tad permanent! Gives the best finish though, a very even colour.

Hi nry thats weird my wife suggested painting it black but like you say its a tad permanent but i will give it some serious thought. regards john

 

[nry]

I have black backgrounds on both of my tanks (way smaller than yours!) and they look good, however if they are not 100% stuck down they do look like they are there...strange comment I guess! With enough plants it won't really matter, I guess you could use a water based washable paint so if you hate it in the future it can be removed.

 

[john starkey]

I have black backgrounds on both of my tanks (way smaller than yours!) and they look good, however if they are not 100% stuck down they do look like they are there...strange comment I guess! With enough plants it won't really matter, I guess you could use a water based washable paint so if you hate it in the future it can be removed.

Hi my wifes sister is a head mistress and she thinks she has something at her school that might work, i will find out tomorrow, this thing is really turning into a family thing my mum whos 80 yrs young keeps asking me if i have finished it yet she says i hope its done before me ( my mum has a great sense of humour) regards john

 

[nry]

Lol the only thing I can think of with water based paint (that will wash off) is that if you splash water on it at any point it may run all over your floor and/or streak on the back of the tank....not thought of that until now! You can use water with a bit of PVA (or I think washing up liquid?) to stick a plastic film to the glass. I think some use bin liners, though you can buy black film for some LFS, mine sells it and I used this on my tanks but without glue/water etc.

 

[john starkey]

Lol the only thing I can think of with water based paint (that will wash off) is that if you splash water on it at any point it may run all over your floor and/or streak on the back of the tank....not thought of that until now! You can use water with a bit of PVA (or I think washing up liquid?) to stick a plastic film to the glass. I think some use bin liners, though you can buy black film for some LFS, mine sells it and I used this on my tanks but without glue/water etc.

At the moment nry i think the black film is favourite it sounds a lot easier to do and less problematic, the paint thing and water dosent mix i think regards john

 

[SuperColey1]

you could use black perspex but personally I think the art card is best (although Im going for a moss wall. lol)

Andy

 

[doubledee]

I use black fablon from homebase/b&q etc. It went on easy enough, just used a credit card to get the bubbles out and took my time. Cheap as well. Can't wait to see this tank setup...

 

[Hooligan]

How about black pondliner? Thats what i used on mine, and looks spiffing.... ((looks like a black hole at the minute ))

 

[john starkey]

Hi all ive not been on the forum much this past week been really busy at work, this coming fridays strike by postmen makes my job difficult,anyway i am picking up my co2 bottle today from aquatic habitat glos, i will get all this set up ready for the planting when i am on holiday on the 9th july, i will order the plants on the tues of that week and plant the tank on the thursday, i will load up some pics when its all done. regards to you all john ( this seems to be going on for ever )

 

[john starkey]

Hi all, this is my final plant list, i have narrowed it down to these plants for these reasons 1) colour, 2) leaf shape, 3) height, the shape and width will come with trimming (i hope).
Foreground
Hemianthus callitrichoides (cuba) X 20 pots
Pogostemon helferi X 5 pots

Mid ground
Bacopa australis X 5 pots
Crypt wendtii brown/green X 10 pots of each
Crypt wendtii "tropica" X 5 pots

Background
Eusterallis stellata X 5 pots
Heteranthera Zosterfolia X 5 pots
Hygrophila polysperma "ceylon" x 5 pots
Ludwigia repens "rubin" x 5 pots

plant attached to wood
Versicularia Dubyana X 5 pots

All plants will be from Tropica from aquajardin glos with 15% off the order, i know it is expensive but i believe after spending so much on everything else why not go the whole hogg and buy the best plants afterall the plants are the main feature of the setup. All the best john

 

[nry]

That will be a serious amount of plants! One pot of h.c. did my 15 and 5 gallon tanks! I'll be interested to see how good the plants are, Tropica plants are not available from many online suppliers at present with AE having their summer break from live plants.

 

[john starkey]

That will be a serious amount of plants! One pot of h.c. did my 15 and 5 gallon tanks! I'll be interested to see how good the plants are, Tropica plants are not available from many online suppliers at present with AE having their summer break from live plants.

Hi nry, aquajardin will order the plants direct from tropica for me and i will pick them up on thursday, as they are direct from tropica i would hope they will be top notch otherwise i will not be too pleased especially as this order is going to be around £300 all the best john.

 

[nry]

Fingers crossed you get no algae problems! That is some plant order

 

[mlawson]

Goodluck with the HC, planting one pot took me ages because they float up quite easily and you've got to plant 20!

This tank is going to be brilliant, the tension is too much!

 

[Biulu]

Hi all ive not been on the forum much this past week been really busy at work, this coming fridays strike by postmen makes my job difficult,anyway i am picking up my co2 bottle today from aquatic habitat glos, i will get all this set up ready for the planting when i am on holiday on the 9th july, i will order the plants on the tues of that week and plant the tank on the thursday, i will load up some pics when its all done. regards to you all john ( this seems to be going on for ever )

I hope you will be finishing this tank before I leave on holiday; I don't want to miss the end of the story!