journal Aquascape ALL THE THINGS!

[amkr]

Just set up a new study and decided a nice planted tank would suit it (with shrimp in it of course! ):)

The idea is to go for something vibrant and colourful. Something like dutch colouring with bright greens and vivid reds.

Gear:
Mr Aqua 2ft low iron tank (600x305x320)
Eheim 3e 350 filter
Hydor inline heater
Co2 through an ista regulator
3 x T5 light - still working out how to mount this one

Going to lay the bottom down with benibachi powder and possibly some kind of light yellow/white border substrate around the tank.
I quite like the contrast between the yellow substrate and the plants seen in Dantrasy's tank - http://imageshack.us/a/img706/2756/twk9.jpg.
If I could get something going along those lines I'd be happy.

hardscape:
Heres where I am at so far. Help me out guys!

softscapescape:
not set yet, but I'm thinking a small java fern on the stem of the wood (will hide the joins in the wood pieces)
Rotala Sp. Green in the background.
Mini Pelia on the large rock and scattered on smaller rocks infront of the wood
Something small and red?
A few blyxa in the back behind the rock?

This is my second aquascape, so I'm really quite new to the whole concept. Any and All advice is welcome (and needed)

[jayc]

Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' would be what you are after that is red & small.

I'd move that lone piece of drift wood over to the right with the other pieces. It seems out of place over there by itself.

 

[amkr]

Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' would be what you are after that is red & small.

yep!

that looks exactly like what I was after!

[neo-2FX]

It will be worth trying 2-3 different scapes before you decide. Also leaving it overnight and seeing it in the morning with a fresh mind. That's what I did with mine until I settled. You ended up tweaking a few things.

One thing I would try is flip that right hand side piece to see if you can get more branches flowing out if that makes sense. And could even use that rock to steady the driftwood as well as using it for mini pelia. It also feels (my opinion only) that coming out from from the left into the middle is more natural but up to you!

Also agree with jayc on not leaving that branch by itself.

[amkr]

Thanks Neo!

I can't come from the left hand side as the tank sits in a corner, the front and left face outwards so I have to go from the right hand side.

My goal was to put some pelia on the rock and a bit around the wood too- nice fern in the center of the wood as well.

I'll play with the layout some more, consensus seems to be to remove the left hand piece so I'll try and integrate it into the right hand side somehow.

I pucked up some ADA La Plata sand the other day too, I want to have sand in the front left corner for some contrast, I just need to work out how to lay it down without it looking like a strange line between brown and white sand.

[neo-2FX]

Got any updates or pics on this?

[amkr]

Step ahead of me mate.

Stopped past and grabbed a couple of rocks tonight to acompany my lonely rock.

 

Played with it and ended up with this.

 

I think I'm on the right track!

Edited July 2, 2015 by amkr

[Shrimpo]

Amkr

I am only a new kid on the block but I have had plenty of experience in Aquascaping.

I would prefer to see your mock up in a box with a low front using sand as a substrate at the moment its too flat to give an honest criticism.

You are on the right track as far as experimenting with different hard scapes

 

Shrimpo

 

 

 

[amkr]

 

Man you'll never guess what my occupation is...

 

Basically brown sections slightly elevated which will create a low area for a tunnel/path under the driftwood in the middle.

 

obviously more plants than what I've put in - Java fern on the trunk, some pelia, rotala and a crypt parvo carpet.

[amkr]

Here it is after my glue disaster. Not as nice as the above mock-up but hopefully it still comes out all right.
Put a few rocks on the edges to break the transition up a bit.

haven't done too much witht he tank, was a little distracted last weekend.

Still got to play with fish to some extent... no idea what this guy thought he was doing - ate a bait bigger than him.

Back to the smaller aquarium...

Spent a bit of time working on an auto-top up system, ended up grabbing a Tunze Osmolator nano, its sitting in the old tank testing while the new one is getting set up.
I hate the idea of having so much stuff hanging into the tank. Lilly pipes weren't too bad.. I'm stretching a bit thin with the float switch... no way I'm putting a crappy little hose hanging over the side to pump water in!

Inline auto top-up feed. Have got a non-return/backflow prevention valve coming in the mail but I don't see why it wont work.
Plumbs straight into the return hose of the filter so it will be nice and hidden under the cabinet.

Close up of the feed line (mockup using air hose). Its just a cap with a hole drilled in it and a hose barb glued in. 

Side note - does anyone know if I need to seal the threaded poly pipes with anything?

[amkr]

update time.

Yesterday was fraught with disaster.

I flooded the tank, everything going according to plan so far...
Moved the filter and heaters and all the equipment over from the old tank, cleaned out the Co2 reactor, ran all new hoses and made it all nice and neat. 

Prime the filter and the Co2 reactor starts spewing water everywhere....

Drain the hoses, pull apart Co2 reactor.. re-assemble and test in the sink... still leaking (first model ISTA, leaking from the bottom o-ring).
I start to get creative and decide to superglue it together. So I smother the threads and the join with super glue and subsequently get my hands coated in superglue.... reactor still leaks.
side story: Quick google shows acetone removes super glue, so I yell out to the missus asking for nail polish remover, douse my hands in it and wait... all the little cuts and scratches on my hand become amplified in the process, superglue does NOT budge. So I inspect the bottle and notice "ACETONE FREE!".... god dammit. Found some real acetone and it did a much better job.

So I run up to Le Aquatic and grab a new Co2 Reactor, they only have the ISTA 2nd gen with 12/16 hoses... I have 16/22 hoses. So I grab some of these ISTA adaptors they had at $5 a pop.
Reconnect everything, tidy it all up and start the filter. Everything seems to be running well. Then I notice a slight kink in one of the hoses, I touch it and the ISTA adaptor 20cm away explodes everywhere coating the entire cabinet and powerboard and everything. I jam my thumbs over both the hoses and call out for help.... Waiting Waiting Waiting.. Turns out help was out hanging washing and had no idea of impending flood I was preventing with my fast fatiguing thumbs.

So I get that sorted and cleaned up, I throw the ista adaptor in the bin and found an EHEIM barbed one... much safer! Assemble everything and start the pump. Everything is running PERFECTLY!
I move the glass lillypipe outlet down a touch. It hits the driftwood which falls over uproots a few plants, now the driftwood no longer wants to sit where I had it resting before.

At that stage I tidied up, and called it a day before I destroyed anything else.

Heres some pictures from the day, looks significantly less eventful int he photos =/

Planting, glued the Java Fern rhizomes to the driftwood. Also a bit of superglue on some mini pelia to attach it to the driftwood

Under the tank, you can see the kink and the crappy connectors here - this pic is before the great cabinet flood of 2015

And before the driftwood went walkabouts

Not sure what to do about the driftwood yet :(

 

Oh and for future reference, yes you need to seal the poly-pipes. (I used teflon tape)

[fishmosy]

 

Yep teflon tape on all BSB threads will prevent those nasty leaks. 

I'd suggest putting something heavy on the driftwood (rocks?) to hold it down until it gets waterlogged. You can always pull the rocks out later.  

Another option is to glue the driftwood onto a base (glass or perspex) that will hold it down and get covered by the substrate. Not sure hiw this would work though since your driftwood seems to sit on top of rockwork. 

[amkr]

Its sitting on top of a pile of substrate.

Does the DW get 'heavy' when its waterlogged? I've got a rock sitting onto of it but I reckon if you get 5 shrimp on one side it would tip over. I'm trying to work out the best way to fix it with the least impact but its looking like I may have to just drain the tank, fix the woodwork and re-fill it.

[jayc]

Aquarium silicone comes in handy when trying to keep driftwood down.

Silicone it to any part that is sitting on rocks.

Add a small rock under the based and silicone that to the wood, you can hid the rock under substrate.

Edited July 13, 2015 by jayc

[amkr]

hmm I might have to try that. Would mean draining the tank though.