Portinho Da Arrábida - Uma Vista De Troia

[SuperColey1]

September 22nd 2011

About 2 and a half months old now and this scape has some algae problems being GDA on the rocks. The plants seem to be algae free though which is puzzling.

The main cause is because I have had some CO2 problems. Namely the bubble counter broke, so I made a DIY one while I waited for a new bubble counter, then the DIY one started leaking and to complete the agony the seller who I bought the replacement bubble counter got removed from ebay.

So in the end I decided to plug the CO2 directly into the diffuser with no bubble counter. Hopefully now with stable CO2 the algae will improve.

The second problem is that my style and preference has been evolving a bit and quite rapidly. This scape was spurred by an interest in more minimal and modern styling however it seems I started this scape 'mid evolution' as within a month I was thinking of much more modern 'abstract' ideas. More sculptured, more a design ethic than a nature mimicry. More to let the viewer decide what they were looking at rather than the scape telling you what you were looking at.

So with that in mind I have been stuck with these ideas in my head whilst still being in the early days with a scape that is already obsolete in my preference of style.

However I shall persevere. I don't want to give up on this. So I will continue and put a little more effort into it.

Next month I shall be altering the plan slightly but not to a modern 'abstract' styling. If anything it will move closer to the NA style I complain about so much. I am going to add in some Rotala 'sp green' and Rotala Wallichii in the rear. I'll also trim the Fissidens and spread the trimmings over some more of the rock. Then add some more Needle Fern in to hide the lower portion of the Rotalas.

 

[Aquamaniac]

Nice tank. Shame for the algae though. Can't believe i only saw this today. I grew up in setubal. Use to go to troia beach,and portinho da arrabida all the time when i was a kid. Also the serra da arrabida was my favourite place for a drive with my girlfriend,my wife today. We used to have this ritual,every year on the day we met we use to go to the palmela castle,and right there on the top looking at that awesome view i always surprised with some present.

She's my wife now and of course london is quite far so we don't do that anymore.
But its a nice looking tank,and not usual to find any scapes from back home even among people from back home.

 

[SuperColey1]

Oh I am English. The wife is Portuguese so we go to her home village every year or 2. Arrabida is stunning. May have to go closer to Christmas one year because I hate the sun

I think this the view you mean. Don't tell the wife. I think this is the best picture I ever took of her. lol

 

[ian]

i hope she doesn't see that Andy or you're a dead man!

 

[SuperColey1]

i hope she doesn't see that Andy or you're a dead man!

That's the good one She's too short for this one. lol

 

[minnnt]

That algae looks great!!!! I love it!

What kind of Cory is that?

 

[SuperColey1]

I bought them as Aenus black.then I was told they were actually Schultzii black. It's since been suggested that they may have been returned to Aenus. So take your pick

 

[minnnt]

Lol... they look great mate. Really impressed with them. Is there an updated FTS?

 

[SuperColey1]

there will be. Not promising. I always say I will do it this week and then 2 months later update something. lol

 

[minnnt]

Lol! I usually put off pics with the camera and just use my phone... which makes the tank look awful!

 

[Killikeeper]

Nice, just read the whole journal

 

[Aquamaniac]

Oh I am English. The wife is Portuguese so we go to her home village every year or 2. Arrabida is stunning. May have to go closer to Christmas one year because I hate the sun

I think this the view you mean. Don't tell the wife. I think this is the best picture I ever took of her. lol

Yes that it.The view of the bay from the top of the castle is stunning. And christmas if it doesn't rain you can get good weather not cold,except maybe a bit more at night,but if the skies are clear wich most of the time it is you'll get basically a summer weather without the heat. But if it rains it does rain harder than the english winter. But even during the winter most of the time is good weather just colder.

 

[SuperColey1]

Just an update. This was done 31st October 2011

Planted the stems in the rear. There is Rotala sp green on the left and right with Rotala Wallichii in the centre. The green algae on the rocks remains every now and again crusting and falling off. Hopefully these stems will help add plantmass to combat this.

Regards
Andy

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Looking good Andy, I hate algae cycles, every time mine clears up it comes back again.

 

[SuperColey1]

Just an update but with no pictures I'm afraid. Will get some pictures sorted next time

I got a bit carried away pruning back the stems in November and cut them in the weakened part of the stem. The section at the bottom which was orioginally in emersed form so am now having to wait for the clippings I saved in my emersed cupboard to recover enough to plant. lol

As a makeweight I have planted some Rotala Rotundifolia in the centre until I get enough Walichii to replace it. Will also have to wait until the Rotala sp Green recovers to replant the side. lol

Am also going to prune and reglue some Fissidens this week. Just lower the water level down to 2" at the front, make sure the fish are all in that water and then clip and glue. Already done this twice and may well need to do it more yet just to get a nice covering. Doesn't seem to spread out like it does on wood. Just grows out from the point it started. After 1 hour or so later refill with saved water just to make sure the glue has 'cured'.

Also the flame moss has been removed (or all but the smallest amounts) because I didn't like the look of it. Not what I was envisaging. Have replaced it with loads of little bits of gravel with a rolled up ball of thicker more horisontal growing moss instead. I'll do a little pictorial of how I do this in the Lallana Point journal in the next few days. As I am adding some more flame moss in there. Won't be adding many full pictures of Lallana Point though because I have plans for that one to enter competitions. They'll just be teasers, not full frontals.