Journal of a Mad Scientist: ADA 120-P (56K warning!)

[dufus]

i see no thermometer, i see the glass diffuser and co2 drop check.

sergio, the tank looks awesome!

[SuRje1976]

Bob - Wow! Not sure I deserve that, but it sure felt nice reading it - Thank you!


PeteyPob - Thanks. The Drop Checker is low because I don't want it to "catch" any of the little CO2 bubbles that are being shot around the tank by the outflow above the Beetle, on the right side of the tank. By the time the mist reaches the left side, it's floated up higher than the drop checker.


Ted - The thermometer is out! LOL I've tried a few ways to separate the soil from the sand. When I come up with something great, I'll let you know. Pretty tedious work, but it does look nice when it's done.


Devin - Thanks! The thermometer was there (back left) but it's gone now!



Some changes I'm pondering...

I'm thinking of removing 2 stems of Blyxa from the RIGHT REAR section of the stand, and add more R. rotundifolia to that stand, trimming them low in the front, sloping up toward the back and around to the left behind the wood, then sloping back down as it approached the "river." Nothing carved in stone yet!

I was also thinking about removing the Toninas, to the left (belem) and right (fluviatilis) of the left R. rotundifolia stand. I'd expand that stand of rotundifolia to match the slope made by the Toninas. From left front, a quick-sharp slope up, and around the wood towards the right, "peaking" just about behind the high point of the wood, then a much more gradual slope down toward the river and the front of the tank where the C. lucens are.

This would overlap nicely I think with the stand of rotundifolia on the right side of the river, leaving a slight "gap" or negative space where the two stands cross, above the river just to the right of the center of the tank. There may be a little tricky trimming there, but I think it will look great!


Thanks for looking guys!

[LondonDragon]

Originally Posted by SuRje1976

dufus - Here's another shot for you!

Wow that looks pretty impressive, never seen anything like it, would a proper diagram detailing what you use and how everything connects be too much to ask for?

Great work, will keep monitoring your progress, congrats

[SuRje1976]

LondonDragon - I will get a thread started on the dosing system as soon as possible.



Made a few small changes...the pictures are a bit bigger too!

[FelixAvery]

thats really nice!
one thing though the change from sand to planted area is to abrupt, find some small flat stones in your garden and wrap them in riccia and tie it with some cotton or riccia line, then place them along the divide and it will look beutifull and so very natural, like one of amanos!

[SuRje1976]

Felix - You're right. I will be working on this! I won't likely use riccia - the stuff gets into everything, but the tank could use more of a mid-ground. Thanks!

LondonDragon (& anyone else interested) - I just put together a thread on the Automatic Fert Doser as promised. Check it out if you'd like!

[PasD]

I'm a big fan of your journal, and I've learned a lot from it. Instead of riccia, maybe use some sort of moss as a border between the sand and AS.

[dufus]

how about pellia? or some taiwan moss.

[scolley]

Sergio - Wow! So few people here could do something so good looking 30 days in! You should be very proud! I, for one, could not do that. Your balance and sense of flow is beyond the vast majority of what you see in tanks here. Congratulations!

Now, with those deep and sincere comments out of the way (and they are completely deserved), I'd like to make a few suggestions. Back seat driving is always easy... but there are few tanks around here that I feel are truly worth detail commentary on. Yours is. So here goes...

1) Lose the middle "dragon headed" looking piece of drift wood in the middle. It looked really interesting when you had just driftwood. But now it obstructs a potentially beautiful balanced right/left/open toward the center design.

2) Split the lotus and move them to the far right and left back corners. That will emphasize that open middle with an increasing plant height - culminating in the lotus at the water surface at the back two corners.

3) Here's the painful one... just saw the big driftwood knot (sticking half way up on the right) off. It's just distracting, and IMO anything at that point in your aquascape will never look right. If you cover it in moss, it will only be a big moss covered lump half way up the water column on the right side of the tank. Sorry.

That's enough for starters. But IMO it would turn a really nicely balanced tank into an incredibly balanced tank.

Looks great Sergio!

Only 30 days... Wow.

[SuRje1976]

PasD & Devin - thanks for your ideas! I was thinking some moss too, but I need to wait until the diatoms subside. I pulled a bunch of moss out this past week - it was a mess! I'll give it another shot once things settle in a bit.

Steve - My wife and I were sitting here thinking about your suggestions. The dragon's head is actually a small piece tied on with wood tight. It would be very easy to remove. I messed around a bit with PhotoShop to try and visualize:



When I look past my terrible photoshop skills, I like it. The rotundifolia can be trimmed to look quite nice I think. The lump piece can be taken out, or possibly rotated 90 degrees in one direction or the other to reduce its height. This is what that particular piece looks like "dry:"



Thanks for taking the time to post the detail commentary. I really appreciate it!

[King's_Blend]

Are you planning on adding more fish and how much pounds of shou stones did you order from Aqua Forest?

[SuRje1976]

King's Blend - There will be a large school of cardinals added to the tank within the next 2 weeks or so. There is 10lbs of Shou stone in the tank.

[styxx]

SuRje1976,
I have a similar set up but I'm torn between the Seiryu Stone and the Ohko (which they're out of) have you considered the Seiryu stone or do you not like the gray color? Also, how in the **** do you keep your anubias free of algae? I've got that brown diatom issue too but no other algae to speak of, yet they simply won't remain clear of it and my ottos are working overtime, lol...I'm using an 8 hour photo period to minimize that issue too...otherwise everything is growing exceptionally well...

[ebichu]

Surje,

Those plants you got there on the bottom right corner (next to your diffuser), above the driftwood, are they echinodorus tenellus ?

Your tank looks very very good

When doing borders between AS and sand, you can use some moss ball or some riccia to blur the edge. It doesnt look natural to see black soil meets sand abruptly. Just my opinion.

Thanks

[SuRje1976]

styxx1 - I like the texture of the Ohko stone, but I like the color of the Seiryu stone. I think it depends on how you use them more than what they look like independently. The Shou stone I have is pretty grey actually, though the pictures on AF's site would lead you to beleive otherwise. It took 9 Otos a month to *almost* clear the diatons in this tank. How many do you have, and what size tank? A reduced photoperiod will not likely help much with diatoms. I have an slight issue with GSA on the anubias leaves. I'm going to be rearranging things a bit so they don't get so much direct light.


ebichu - The plant in the bottom right is Blyxa japonica. It got out of control and has since been removed. I'm a little overdue for an update I guess. The majority of the borders are stone/wood. There is a very small spot or two where sand meets soil directly, but they've got Anubias over them no the distinction is less evident. Thanks for the input!