35 replies to this topic

[kane29]

It was time for a rescape of one of my tanks. Finally I decided it was time to do one of these journals that we read up on in forums all over the world. I must say now that the project is nearly complete that the results from taking the time an effort with a journal are extremely impressive! The results beat my expectations, and it has only been a week. Anyway, enough of an intro.
 

3 Foot Tank Journal

 

Aquarium:

90cm (36inch) x 45cm (18inch) x 45cm (18inch)

 

Stand:

            White coffee table from Ikea

 

Fauna:

Otocinclus

Mikrogeophagus ramirezi Pair

Apistogramma Agassizii Pair

Caridina Typus

Caridina ‘North Queensland Algae Shrimp’

 

Flora:

Glossostigma Elatinoides

Blyxa Japonica

Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis

Ludwigia Arcuata

Ludwigia Inclinata Var. ‘Cuba’

Pogostemon Stellatus

Rotala Sp. ‘H’ra’

Staurogyne Repens ‘Tropica’

Staurogyne Sp. ‘Purple’

 

Substrate:

Ista Shrimp Soil 9L x 3

 

Hardscape:

Wood

Bonsai Rock

 

Co2:

Injection through Ista CO2 External / Inline Reactor – 3 bps

 

Fertilizer:

Micronutrients Mix – 7.5ml per day

Macronutrients Mix – 7.5ml per day

 

Lighting:

Up Aqua Pro U 90cm

90cm Cheap white/blue LED (Cosmetic mainly)

 

Filtration:

             Cheap Chinese 800lt p/h canister filter

             9watt UV sterilizer 100lt p/h (est)

             1000-3000lt p/h wavemaker

 

Photographs and steps to come

Edited by kane29, 18 September 2014 - 08:07 PM.

[kane29]

The old tank before tear down and after plants were removed showing the marble I had sealed and used (5 months the seal lasted for).

 Old Tank.jpg   126.91KB   10 downloads

 

 

 Old Hard-scape.jpg   74.57KB   10 downloads

 

Final position of wood

 Wood placement.jpg   90.9KB   9 downloads

 

Planning with tags for plant positioning and a few rocks in place

 Wood and Rock plus plant placement.jpg   133.68KB   9 downloads
 

 

[kane29]

Planning different angle

 

 Wood and Rock plus plant placement 2.jpg   152.79KB   9 downloads
 

Fresh Canvas

 

 Empty Tank.jpg   63.27KB   9 downloads

 

Base layer of Substrate

 

 Soil in base.jpg   80.67KB   9 downloads

 

First hard-scape

 

 First placement.jpg   95.16KB   9 downloads

 

Final hard-scape

 

 Final Hardscape.jpg   109.47KB   9 downloads

 

And Finally with plants Saturday 13/09/2014 Day 1

 

One note, my righthand side bit of wood came buoyant during planting and is now being soaked to be ready to place back in the tank.

 

 First planted photo.jpg   111.28KB   9 downloads

 

 

It took so much effort in patience to finish this plant. I separated every glosso stem, so all that glosso are separate plants, this foreground will fill out in 2 weeks. It took me 4 hours to plant this out.... I don't know if I could ever do it again.

A few spots of lilaeopsis and in a week I will add some Eleocharis Belem to the foreground planted similarly. I want those two plants and the glosso to hopefully make a natural looking lawn.

The Blyxa is used as a filler and softness creater. I used Blyxa to group other plants and to soften the hardscape by covering and blending the rock and wood. I then opted for Staurogyne because of they are nice plants plus slow and lower growing.

The rest of the plants will appear in the 1 week photo when they have grown into view.

Hopefully my final bit of wood that became buoyant sinks soon and he will go back in place. Then I can add either Xmas Moss or Hydrocotyle Tripartita ‘Japan’ to the wood.

Edited by kane29, 17 September 2014 - 09:45 PM.

[kane29]

Day 2 14/09/2014

 

 14_09_14 Tank.jpg   129.86KB   9 downloads

 

Blue Rams

 

 Blue Rams 14_09_14.jpg   52.39KB   9 downloads

 

Agassizii

 

 Agassizii 14_09_14.jpg   123.12KB   9 downloads

 

 

[Mattymak]

Looks schweeeet bro!

[Westie]

Love it
Plants and dwarf cichlids FTW

[MrLeifBeaver]

Amazing tank, 4hrs is well worth it with results like that! Well done. I look forward to all the updates.

[kane29]

Cheers guys!

Will post 1 week after photo on Saturday without any equipment in the tank, will even try the hair dryer effect to get surface movement for the photo.. So far these are the issues I have come across:
 

1. In two of my other tanks with UV sterilizers I have notice my water going a white smokey colour and pearling well and truly down. I switched off all the uv sterilizers in those tanks two days ago and now the water is crystal clear. I had noticed over the last few weeks that our normal tap water had been a little 'off'. In this tank I use a 50/50 mix of RO and tap water and have not had any cloudiness yet, but still might just leave the UV off.
2. As the trend with this type of wood has been, I have developed a slimy white/clear bacteria or leaking on the wood. I spot dosed 30mls of excel today on it after manual removal yesterday. I treated the wood with boiling and bleech separately before use. I am not too concerned, though it is not the most visually pleasing, it is only going to last for a while before it disappears for good.
3. My Blyxa is melting back a bit as well, yet again... not concerned as I did give all my plants a pretty strong potassium permanganate bath to prevent algae or any snails making it through and Blyxa or any other plants used, will just come back stronger and healthier.
4. My last bit of wood is still buoyant, I have been soaking it for coming up to a week, this is after it had already been soaked for longer than a week. Bit frustrating as it is preventing me from completing the tank.

Positives I have noticed:

1. The rams and agassizii's share the tank well, always near each other with no issues (though they are both on the more non-aggressive side of dwarf cichlids. Though once breeding begins I am sure there will be a few run ins. I am completely confident that this tank can hold both species even during breeding conditions though.
2. The new growth on the Glosso is kicking off, all the plants have really started to establish their roots. I reckon that the difference will be noticed massively between week 1 photo on Saturday and week 2's the next.
3. Staurogyne Sp. Purple, is generally a slower growing plant. I really had not noticed much growth from it until I put it in this tank, I reckon it has grown more in the last 5 days than the last 1.5 months. I also had not seen any purple in the plant until this week.
4. All the plants that are going to fill out the background have now started to grow into side. All have had really impressive initial growth particularly the Ludwigia Inclinata var. 'Cuba' and the Rotala.
5. I am looking forward to letting this tank grow out siginificantly before doing any trims. I reckon that will only be 2-3 weeks tops. After then I should have majority of the plants for sale including the Sp. Purple which is a great newer addition to the hobby.

Also I would like to say thank you to anyone that views this thread and also to all the kind comments.

Edited by kane29, 18 September 2014 - 04:45 PM.

[Redevilz]

Awesome write up Kane!

Is that Agassizii a Tefe?

[Mattymak]

Right up where ? Or do you mean write up?

[dori]

i think she means write up 

[Redevilz]

Damn auto correct lol.

[kane29]

Awesome write up Kane!

Is that Agassizii a Tefe?

Nah just a regular double red. I wish it was a Tefe!

i think she means write up 

lol..... she.

[Mattymak]

Haha Ben, you are now a she
Don't blame autocorrect haha why would it change write to right

[malawiman85]

Great journal kane. Cant wait to see the next pic on Saturday!
Looks like you have a masterpiece in the making!

[Redevilz]

Noo. Lol.

I am a terrible Typer lol.

[ronaldskitz]

Looks cool man

[malawiman85]

Arent we owed an update?

[kane29]

Did not get a chance to put up Week 1 photos last week, so here it is:

 

Sunday 21 September 2014

 

 22_09_14.jpg   133.65KB   10 downloads

 

Staurogyne Sp. 'Purple'

 

 SP Purple 22_09_14.jpg   132.61KB   9 downloads

 

[kane29]

More photos

 

Glosso filling in

 

Another Agassizii

 

 Agassizii 2 21_09_14.jpg   51.05KB   9 downloads

Attached Files

•  Tank 2 21_09_14.jpg   157.66KB   8 downloads