Hi Guys, I've been away from trops for a while whilst keeping a Marine setup - i've lost the love for marines somewhat and have been wanting something a little easier to maintain. I have been admiring some of the beautifully aquascaped tanks on the web and in mags like PFK and kept a longing for my last trop setup - it housed a stupid amount of Vallis, some Apisto's and a group of Koi Angels: So anyway... a long story short: I used to work for Maidenhead Aquatics and have always maintained a good relationship with the staff there. I managed to strike a deal with my old boss to credit me for my fish, coral and live rock from my marine setup and put that towards my new tank: Having checked the dimensions with a tape measure, the capacity before dispersal will be around 130 litres. It has twin 28watt T5's and I have chosen to upgrade the filter to a 1000 l/ph model Have also ordered a JBL 602m CO2 kit, a JBL test kit and purchased a few other bits for the setup: Will be collecting the tank & cab a week on Saturday. Unsure of when it will be filled, need to choose a plant supplier and make sure I arrange delivery to co-incide with a weekend that i'm not way for work! As the title suggests, i'm going for a jungle style - the hardscape will be a very simple few bits of wood then there will be LOTS of planting! Hoping to keep it fairly low maintenance but time will tell now that works out!
Personally I'd take the manado back and swap it for flora base, it's a better product. Other than that good luck looks like you're onto a winner.
Hi Garuf, Florabase is included in the bucket on top of the Manado - the florabase will be placed in the areas I am planning to plant most heavily and the Manado will be the main substrate for the entire tank (as I like the look, it is shrimp friendly and was a good price). Thanks
The abundance of Vallisneria in your previous layout was fantastic. I really enjoyed looking at that scape. Looks like your on your way to another great layout. Did you get the stand too? It looks pretty slick. -John N.
Got my tank today! Picked it up from Maidenhead Aquatics in Shirley this morning... Didn't realise the cabinet was quite so heavy! Had to unpack the pieces from the box so that I could move it all upstairs :lol: Was easy enough to put together - well constructed and ****** solid! Then I brought the tank up - again not particularly light! 12mm glass, decent bracing and very neat silicone. The trim is all aluminium too! Nice and bright with the T5's running... Stuck my JBL surface skim in place to see how it looked... Not too fussed about posh glass lily pipes and 100% hidden equipment. I've always been a function over form sort of chap Hoping to get down to Sweet Knowle Aquatics to buy some wood tomorrow then can finalise the plants that I want!
Brought all my JBL substrate up from the garage last night... T5's are pretty damn bright at night! Went out to a local store today and picked up some nice bits of 'swamp root' (big thanks to JenCliBee on the UKAPS for the tip!) - stuck them in the tank to see how they would look... Bit of a trim and a move around plus my JBL Aquabasis went in... Wanted to leave a small channel in the centre where I won't plant anything. All being well once the carpet has taken hold at the front and everything else has grown up it will stand out quite nicely! Then the Manado went in. Its sloped up to the back corners, particularly on the right so will hopefully look great once it is filled out. Just need to finalise my plant list no! Hopefully place the order for those at the weekend
Sorry for the late reply, I know a lot of people who have found manado to make their water impossibly hard and being not all that shrimp friendly as a result. Scape looks great so far, that's some good wood.
Hi little-AL, your first layout with the left DW is better as in the last picture in my opinion, cause the long branch isn t crossing the other DW on the right side. In the first layout the DW looks like a "stairway to heaven" and i like it
Quick update... My JBL m602 CO2 kit and JBL Combi Test Kit arrived at MA Shirley so I collected them this morning... CO2 Cylinder JUST fit in the cabinet with the filter... Decided on the majority of my plants... Need to figure out something for the background. Was thinking a bit of vallis but very much open to suggestions! Foreground: Eleocharis parvula Pogostemon helferi Midground: Cryptocoryne wendtii brown Cryptocoryne wendtii green (lots of both) Attatched to my Redmoor: Anubias barteri (var nana) Microsorium pteropus Vesicularia dubyana (and probably another type of moss) Hopefully that little lot will give a nice mix of colours, shapes and textures once it starts growing out!
I'd suggest against java moss in favour of christmas, also personally I wouldn't mix mosses at first as it can often spoil a scape otherwise the plant list is fine. You will want to upgrade the diffuser from a ladder to a atomizer, ladder diffusers are notoriously unsuitable for highlight tanks as they just don't get co2 into the water quickly enough. Did you also get a solenoid and a timer? We're lucky in the uk that Fire extinguishers fit out regulators so there's savings to be had once the tank is depleted.
Well i've FINALLY had a bit of time off work (a whole afternoon :lol so i've been and purchased plants and filled the tank up! My original plan was to order the plants online but due to a recent spell of mental hours at work i've not been able to guarantee a day I would be free to install the plants... Luckily I work less than 10 minutes from Sweet Knowle Aquatics so I popped down there to check out their Tropica plant selection... A lot of the plants have been there for while and were great quality! I then carrie on to my usual Maidenhead Aquatics (Shirley) and piced up some additional Crypts that were exceptional value! In the end, I purchased: Microsorum pteropus Microsorum pteropus 'Windelev' Anubias barteri var. nana Lilaeopsis brasiliensis Pogostemon helferi Bolbitis heudelotii Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' Cryptocoryne wendtii Green Cryptocoryne petchii Cryptocoryne moehlmannii Taxiphyllum sp. 'Spiky' Vesicularia dubyana 'Christmas' Picked up my RO from Maidenhead Aquatics: Planted the tank out then started the big fill! Brace bars came in handy here... Filled up with the lights on: And as it stands an hour later: Will be changing the CO2 diffuser in the tank and getting an inline heater very soon! CO2 currently set to 1bps - lighting starting at 4 hours per day with the CO2 on a timer to come on half hour before the lights... Not massively pleased with the layout at this time - the open space in the centre is bugging me. I think ultimately I will get some more plants (Crypts...) to fill out the centre. Also considering a Vallis curtain at the rear... Will see how it goes!
not bad. Though imo, I feel that the long piece of wood seems to follow the rest of the direction of the tank. I dont know, looks like its missing something. good start though. following.
Have upped the gas to around 3bps today, tank looks quite cloudy so far! Seem to be getting pretty good flow all around now as i've stuck my powerhead in - definitely better with increased flow! Just need to adjust the timer for the CO2 then... Get it on a few hours earlier! Moved a couple of plants too, Adjusted the Pogo and the crypts a little to open up the centre - when it has grown in and been trimmed I hope to make it look more like a channel running from off centre to the rear corner on the left. A way to go for that yet though!
few rocks at the base of the woods might do wonders IMO..plus a foreground carpet too! other than that a prety good start..
Yeah i've been considering some rocks but have not found anything suitable locally! May need to go to some shops further away to see what they have! Am hoping the Pogo will carpet the left hand side - want to keep the centre fairly open! Not been happy with the position of the wood on the left hand side so decided to have a play tonight... Took the wood out of the water - Have re-mounted the two ferns so that they are attached a bit more securely. I then spread the moss out over the other sections of wood and tied it carefully... Then moved the Pogo and Crypts to accommodate the new wood position. Once the Pogo spreads out my aim is to trim it to create a curved path in to the open space. Moved the CO2 diffuser to the left side for now as well so the Powerhead helps to move the gas around the tank... May have play with the wood on the right later in the week - attach the moss properly and move the ferns a touch... Next on the list: Glass CO2 diffuser and Drop Checker from Tankscape Hydor External Heater Possibly some LED strips for a bit of moonlighting... Change over to my JBL Surfaceskim outlet and a spraybar inlet.
Re-did the right hand side tonight. Moved the wood around then re-did the planting... Fills out the right hand side much much more. My Anubia is now on show properly and the Moss is tied on properly... Also moved the equipment again... Fitted my JBL Surfaceskim on the left rear and stuck the spray bar in to improve the flow. Intending to add some Vallis at the rear right and in the centre space to add a bit of height and some different colours/shapes. I'm hoping that the right hand side is starting to look a bit more like a jungle style tank now with the random sizes and shapes! One last thought... Happy days
Tank looks a lot clearer tonight! Settling down quite nicely now... Left side: Right side: FTS: Def gonna add some Vallis in the back right, maybe a little in the centre with a few stems.
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