[ropate]

So, I've had half attempts in the past, gave up the hobby for a few years due to work and life commitments, but now am giving it a go. Appreciate any and all comments, advice or criticisms.

The equipment:
Cade CB900 - 90 x 50 x 50
Eheim Pro 2073
Hydor Inline Heater 300W
Cal Aqua Lily pipes
Lighting
Cade Lighting Stand/hanging kit
EcoTech Radeon XR15 x 2
Ecotech Radeon Rail Kit - Long
Substrate
ADA Amazonia Soil
ADA Amazonia Powder
ADA La Plata Sand
Hardscape
Seiryu Stone - like a tonne!
Co2
Co2 Pro tank from my attempt 4 years ago
AquaMedic Solenoid
Tunze regulator

Inspiration after months of following the work of a few forum members from various forums, and the result will be combination of quite a few, plus Amano etc etc.

Questions:
1 - have already had Amazonia in the tank running for a week, and will be using the LA Plata Sand in the next few days. I notice quite alot of clouding, does any one else have this experience and will it stop with planting? it just keep recurring on each refill despite precautions not to disturb it.

2 - Do i need to use plastic card to separate the sand and soil?

Setup initially a week ago:

Tried working on scapes using a towel that fit the dimensions of the base.

great in theory... very different when in the tank and working with Amazoinia soil. lets just say it was a long night!!

 

[ropate]

Right, current scape with tank filled. Definitely not in love with it and the transition from the towel to inside the tank meant it didn't quite work. Thoughts?

I am contemplating:
1 - ditching the sand running through the centre and having a beach rather than a stream through the centre
2 - repositioning rocks and making soil higher in the background with mounds on left and right.

Any feedback appreciated guys

 

[ropate]

So, completely removed everything from the tank except that last 1cm of water, drove me nuts... lessons learned, no water till the scape is done!!

Here are the 4 viewing angles and sorry for the low quality phone pics:
Front:


Top front:

Left side:


Right side:


Thoughts and critique very much appreciated...
As you can see below, i have a tonne of rock left, and a load of artists polystyrene.

 

[ropate]

A little tweaking, and 2 support rocks around the big one on the left, also cut the soil down at the front. want to take it down a little more but the mound of soil above it looks like the angle is too steep i feel. May need to stick some plastic card in there to hold it up or i might end up with a landslide!? Also, going to smash up another rock and see what i get.

Arrows indicating new placements
Front:


Top


Sides

 

[TankAaron]

This is looking great. Sorry, I don't have any advice. But I had to post something so I can follow this thread. =D I can't wait to see the end result.

 

[ropate]

This is looking great. Sorry, I don't have any advice. But I had to post something so I can follow this thread. =D I can't wait to see the end result.

Thanks! I have about 5 days before plants arrive and i fill it, so mini tweaks here and there

 

[marty93aus]

Hey, the only advice I have is, come up with as much scapes as possible! Thats what I did with my tank

Your tank is looking good so far! What plants are on their way? I also found that selection of plants helped me settle on a scape design.

 

[ropate]

Hey, the only advice I have is, come up with as much scapes as possible! Thats what I did with my tank

Your tank is looking good so far! What plants are on their way? I also found that selection of plants helped me settle on a scape design.

this is like layout 53, and still not sure. So i get you! the main thing I'm not sure of is height and whether the 2 main stone should be differentiated more! Will play around today before plants arrive tomorrow!

Plant list has extended. was going for an iwagumi scape then went a little nuts ordering plants online:
Eleocharis Belem
Ludwigia senegalensis
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Pogostemon helferi
Cryptocoryne parva
US Fissiden
Hemianthus Micranthemoides
Limnophila sp Mini 'Vietnam'
Syngonathus sp. Madeira

Anything in there in your opinion thats out of kilter with the rest of it?

 

[ropate]

Prepping for planting

Helpers

After planting

 

[ropate]

Day 3 - melt and discolouration

Tank this morning before i do another water change. The discolouration doesn't come up in the pics, but its a cloudy yellowish. Sorry for phone shots, need to organise a proper camera.


Is this normal melt on the zosterfolia and L. Senegalensis? I am wondering if it might be that i had excel in the water i was using to spray the plants while planting!?


and one of the pots of eleo had a small bunch of very healthy HC in it, so chucked it in to see if it works

 

[HybridHerp]

None of the photos in your last post are working it seems. What kind of birds are those btw?

 

[ropate]

None of the photos in your last post are working it seems. What kind of birds are those btw?

oops, reposting. they are Princess Parrots.

 

[marty93aus]

Hey mate

I read an article on an ADA website stating they had a batch of Amazonia with excess humic acid and that it can cause yellowish water from the initial setup right until your plants cover the substrate. It also said that it will not impact plant growth or the health of fish.

My 200L has been running for a week now, I've had yellowish water since day 1. All of my plants have shown new growth and the yellowish water is slowly fading away

I can't find the article again! I can't remember the whole thing either, sorry mate. Hope that helps though.

Your tank is looking sweet btw!

 

[ropate]

Thanks mate... hopefully it works out then. It's a bit better than 2 days ago so fingers crossed

 

[ropate]

Day 5 Update

sorry its image heavy and only phone shots. Looks like new growth on the eleo belem which is good. came from 2 batches, one was emersed grown (jeff at LCA) and the other submersed (zaquatics) the submersed being the back right of the tank, you can clearly see the lighter green colouration and a higher rate of first growth.

Lud. Senegalensis, H. Micran and the other stems all have had melt but the new growth on the tips looks solid and bright already. so i trimmed and planted the tops of the H Micran.

Ludwigia Glandulosa had no melt at all:

The random bits of HC that snuck into my eleo pots from LCA are pearling and growing fast! is that normal?

Pogo yellowing slightly

Added a little of the Anubias Nana which i assume is either super petite or just come from a low tech tank....i've had it for years and its overtaken a small piece of driftwood. had to clear off some tough BBA and a little bath with excel (despite recent lessons) then it went in to try it out. second shot gives you a size perspective of the leaves, they only grow maybe 60% larger.

FTS:

 

[HybridHerp]

This is going to fill out nicely.

 

[ropate]

I'm definitely thinking the melt is brought on by the accidental use of excel when I planted. Worried that the Lud. Senegalensis and the Syngonanthus won't survive?!

Should I pull them and reorder or wait it out?

 

[ropate]

Eleo belem is growing well. Just did a trim to encourage root growth on advice. Am a little worried as one batch appears to be growing straight and tall. Whereas the other (front of tank in the first picture) is growing bent down to substrate as expected.

The eleo growing straight was grown submersed whereas the other appeared to be grown emersed based on leaf colour being so dark.

Anyone with belem experience like this?

 

[ropate]

Look what must have snuck in on one of my plant purchases. And berried!

 

[ropate]

DAY 8 UPDATE
right, replacements arrived from Liverpool Creek Aquarium with a few extras and a replacement fissidens (thanks Jeff) and zaquatics.

Went in and pulled out all the dead and salvaged what looked like it had growth.

May have over ordered the Lud. Senegalensis and don't like wasting so have put it all in. Pogo replaced and parkeri added! The Lud. Inclanata pantanal and normal are also in although I'm not sure which was which exactly. Chucked em under the light so had to move the Lud. Glandulosa down a bit. So between the 2 main rocks is mostly red...I do have a small bunch of baby tears in there for colour contrast. Will see how it grows in.

you'll see quite a bit of space behind and around the main rocks, this is for the hemianthus micranthemoides when i'm able to trim and spread it out more.

Eleo growing fast, the part of the 'field' directly in the path of the filter outlet and co2 is growing really fast. Not sure if it's just the submersed grown batch outpacing the rest of it though...

Full tank shot... would appreciate comments, suggestions.

One separate question, the new growth on the glandulosa is green, do I need to start dosing proper?

EDIT: i seriously need to get a real camera