George's Nano Journal

[R1ch13]

Yeah George i never new how erm FAMOUS u are lol haha !

I got Januarys PFK mag a couple of days ago 1st time buyer

And i saw a little pic of one of your tanks and then your name I was like I recognise that name lol !

Was a good article on aquascaping LIVING ART

Cant wait on the next 2 parts

Are they going to be in the next 2 PFK ?

Thanks and Welldone

Richie

 

[George Farmer]

Wow, such an amazing tank, and its tiny! Ive just been reading your PFK articles George, considering ive bought the latest PFK mag down here! Terrific stuff, so tempting to convert BACK to FW planted, now thats a complement!

Thanks mate. Good to know PFK is being read in Australia too.

I remember your planted tanks, very good, as are your reefs. I like your lower-tech approach, it's good to see that attractive aquascapes don't have to be all-singing, all-dancing uber-lit set ups etc.

Yeah George i never new how erm FAMOUS u are lol haha !

I got Januarys PFK mag a couple of days ago 1st time buyer

And i saw a little pic of one of your tanks and then your name I was like I recognise that name lol !

Was a good article on aquascaping LIVING ART

Cant wait on the next 2 parts

Are they going to be in the next 2 PFK ?

Thanks and Welldone

Richie

Thanks.

Yes, the next two aquascaping parts are in the next two months.

 

[planter]

realy nice aqauscape this one George! am sure the next will be just as nice!

Pressures on George

 

[George Farmer]

The tank is now stripped ready for its new layout.

Here's my final photo, taken just before strip down. Plants and fish are re-homed safely.



And you can see some pro photos here - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=177396

I look forward to sharing the progress of my next aquascape with you all soon.

 

[Glod]

I will hopefully be starting the new aquascape this weekend, so look out for a new journal.

I can't believe how many views this journal has had - no pressure then.....

Well if it's any reassurance I think a couple of hundred of those views are mine Looking forward to the new journal George, I'll be sure to view it often just so it has a chance!

 

[MyraVan]

I just stumbled across this journal. I found it funny, mostly as it's a complete contrast to a tiny tank that I set up about a month ago.

My daughter (just under 4 years old) says "I want a tank". So I pulled out a small (16" x 8" x 8") Clear-seal tank I wasn't using and we set it up.

Substrate: Diana Walstad style
1" soil: 50% topsoil from B&Q, 50% aquatic compost
1" gravel: normally I use cheap alpine gravel from the garden centre, but I had some Flourite left over from before I became a Walstad convert, so I used that as the gravel.

Filter: a tiny Hagen Elite mini-filter

Lighting: none. I put it in front of a south window and used a clear sheet of plastic as the lid! I wanted to try a tank with 100% natural lighting, so this is an experiment.

Heater: there's a 25W Visitherm in there since it's a bit cold by the window.

Added some plants salvaged from other tanks on the same day (she wanted to have some plants in it) So we put in some Java fern on bogwood, dwarf sag, small crypts, Java moss on wood, and a couple of moss balls. Also put in a nerite snail so she could have something living in there. Tried to catch a few Amano shrimp to put in there, but I'm extremely bad at netting animals, so I gave up on it.

The next day we went to the fish shop and bought 5 Microrasboras "galaxy" and put them in. When I did this I put in the filter some filter media from an established tank so it would be cycled instantly. Monitored ammonia and nitrite for about 4 days, but got none, so stopped testing.

After a couple of weeks we added an apple snail (P. bridgesi, which won't eat plants).

So that's it. The plants are slowly growing, the apple snail eats the leftover fish food, the nerite snail criuses around looking for algae to eat, and the fish enjoy chasing each other in and around the plants.

I'm interested to see how this will work in the summer when it will get drastically more lighting than it does now.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Been a big fan of your tanks from the day i joined Gf and they get better everytime i look

Do you still have the 180 and if so can you point me in the direction of the latest pics?

Thanks

 

[George Farmer]

Hi MryaVan and welcome to TFF!

Your low-tech set up sounds excellent. Have you heard about the galaxy's natural habitat now under thread already? http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...m.php?news=1197

Perhaps you may have success breeding your own. They prefer temp around 24C and alkiline water apparently.

Sf05 - Thanks. I've given my Rio 125 to my daughter. It still going strong - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=166949 It's just had a re-scape actually, replacing the vallis with crypts, loosing the creeping jenny and adding some hygro stricta. There's some E tenellus on its way too for a foreground carpet. I should look great once it's filled out.

 

[MyraVan]

Hi MryaVan and welcome to TFF!

Your low-tech set up sounds excellent. Have you heard about the galaxy's natural habitat now under thread already?
Perhaps you may have success breeding your own. They prefer temp around 24C and alkiline water apparently.

Thanks for the welcome!

I just read the article you pointed to, and I feel very sad, and a bit ashamed for having contributed to the demise of their habitat by buying a few of them... At least mine are still alive and healthy.

As far as breeding them, I have had good luck with that tank. The last time I had it up and running I put in three white cloud mountain minnows, and a month I later notied these little tiny things swarming on the surface! This was my first (and so far, only) experience with breeding fish. I got them some commercial fry food and managed to raise a couple dozen to over 1cm, at which point I gave most of them away since the tank was getting pretty crowded. I kept 6 of them myself, and I still have them.

I think the fry were initially helped along by the apple snail I had in there (they encourage the growth of infusoria), and there's an apple snail in there now...

 

[Squid]

Here's a photo summary of the journal George.. i'm working on quality versus size... for now (sorry its too large and naff quality .. i'm going wrong somewhere!)

Squid

 

[Themuleous]

Thats quality work Squid

Sam

 

[~T~]

Thats class Squid!!

 

[George Farmer]

Nice one Squid!

Next time I'll be sure to take the photos, using a tripod, from the exact same spot for each progress shot. Time-lapse style.

 

[zig]

Neat squid, I think you need to slow it down a bit though, goes a bit fast for me, i'm a slow learner!

Nice work George.

 

[~T~]

What filter do you use on the setup George?