Sam's Nano Journal

[Dave Spencer]

Ever thought of adding an inline Hydor heater to reduce the amount of furniture in your tank?

Do you think your plants will have matured enough in time for the competition? Hope so, as you may well be a front runner.

 

[voo]

Definitely a big improvement, that rock formation on the left is looking really nice Is it just one rock, or built up out of many?
Are you running just 2 of the 3 lights? And did you replace the bulbs? (They come with marine i think?)

Do you have much water movement on the left side of the tank?
I think a little algae on the rocks to give an aged look would look nice.

Good luck with this attempt, lets wait and see how it turns out in a few weeks.

 

[George Farmer]

Do you think your plants will have matured enough in time for the competition? Hope so, as you may well be a front runner.

Judging won't be 'til late this year (November time), so it gives everyone plenty of time.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Judging won't be 'til late this year (November time), so it gives everyone plenty of time.

So now that I have time to set one up myself I can blame you George when a nano turns up and `er indoors starts whining

 

[Themuleous]

I've heard good things about Aquajardin. They're into planted aren't they? Jeremy Gay has mentioned them a few times to me.

Yeh they know about EI and everything! normally have a great stock of plants and lots of decent plant equipment, substrates and Co2. I talked to the manager about ADA products too, but he said there wasn't the demand yet, which I can understand. Def worth a visit if you've over there sometime.

I made a trip to them specifically to get these rocks as they normally have a great selection.

Ever thought of adding an inline Hydor heater to reduce the amount of furniture in your tank?

Yes I have, but they are pricey and the smallest is 200w, far to much for a 4G tank! I will remove all the equipment for the final shots But thanks for the tip

Is it just one rock, or built up out of many?

Three rocks in there, all individual no building up of smaller rocks, I had thought about that but it didn't look very good.

Are you running just 2 of the 3 lights? And did you replace the bulbs? (They come with marine i think?)

2 tubes, dont think I'll risk all three, thats 72w or 18WPG! Bulbs are as supplied as this model came with daylight tubes, not sure of the K, but def not the marine ones. They do do a 6500K tube (around 5-6quid) which is pretty cheap so will replace with them when the time comes, but both the riccia and HC was pearling so it must be ok. Looks like a nice white colour which is a good sign.

Do you have much water movement on the left side of the tank?

I DIY'ed the spray bar so there is a bit of movement at the left, but the full amount was pushing the HC out, so I'll leave it low until its had time to establish.

Thanks for all the comments.

Sam

 

[George Farmer]

Judging won't be 'til late this year (November time), so it gives everyone plenty of time.

So now that I have time to set one up myself I can blame you George when a nano turns up and `er indoors starts whining

The PFK Aquascaping Contest is not nano only BTW. All sizes.

As soon as I get more details I'll put up a thread on here.

 

[Liam]

Fantastic, great job Sam really excellent.

 

[cleekdaFish]

best set pf rocks i have ever seen , them

 

[Themuleous]

Is there going to be size categorise like in the AGA one?

Sam

 

[Themuleous]

Double post

 

[Daz CPFC]

Great tank Sam. Loving the rock effect will look awsome (even though it already does) once the plants have filled out more.

Just wondering what CO2 set up your using on the tank

Hope all goes well!

Darren

 

[excaliborg]

Looks great, and looks sooo much larger than 4 gallons!!

 

[lljdma06]

I like the new layout, Sam, it's going to be gorgeous when it fills out. I pity the poor rasboras, however, they must have had quite a fright, but they bounce back quite well. It looks much larger than 4g.

 

[Themuleous]

Just wondering what CO2 set up your using on the tank

Its a pressurised kit I DIY'ed together from different parts, 500g JBL cylinder, German reg and AE glass diffuser. Cylinder lasts around 3 months give or take. Am hoping to get a pub type cylinder soon as the refills are 13quid and a 12lb pub one would be around £30 and last years, so clear savings to be had!

I spent ages looking for the rocks in the shop, took every single one out of the 'bin' to see how it looked, even made them get me a few more from out back! seems to have been worth the effort

Looks great, and looks so much larger than 4 gallons!!

Thanks I think I got the height right with this layout, the last one was far to flat.

I like the new layout, Sam, it's going to be gorgeous when it fills out. I pity the poor rasboras, however, they must have had quite a fright, but they bounce back quite well. It looks much larger than 4g.

Thanks you I did loose one during the re-scape, jumped out of the tank after I set it up again, but think I have sorted the spray bar so that shouldn't happen again. Down to just 6 now I have a DIY cover for the tank so if I cant find a suitable replacement fish I might well get a bunch more, at least with the hood they'd not commit suicide so easily!

I'm incredibly jealous I've sworn off substrate plants, but now your tank's making me think of setting up a new one
Funny you mentioned it took you hours to tie the riccia. That should give you an idea how many hours I've labored over the marimo and Christmas moss carpet for my 15 gallon

I'm loving this tank, Sam! This is your very best one yet!

Thanks FK, I am rather pleased with how it looks now its all done, you can never quite tell just by looking at some rocks. Hopefully it shows Im learning

Substrate plants are easy I have always found HC an easy plant to grow, guess that's a sign I'm doing something right! I guess its not the plants per se that are the problem, but all the extra effort you have to go to get them to carpet!

I feel your pain with the marimo balls! Makes your arm ache hey?

Thanks for all the comments people, much appreciated. Will update the pics once it's started to fill out a bit

Sam

 

[thefirethief]

This is all rather exciting. Cant wait to see the pictures in a few weeks!

The rocks are indeed fantastic. The one on the left seems to suit your description perfectly. Ive spent hours and hours trawling all over the 'shire fish shops for rocks but havent found any I like. Just picked up some nice sandstone from our local river Avon yesterday for not a single penny. Probably going to give my fish the plague but its totally worth it.