My Complete Roma 125 Journal.

[KirkyArcher]

Pity there aren't any "like" or "thanks" buttons on these forum pages, well done on not only your aquarium set up, but for letting us share your trials and tribulations in this journal 

 

[Joshwainwright]

It's a "complete" journal, everything goes in it 

 
Well, when I'm active on the forum

 

[Joshwainwright]

Ooooh, my plants have been dispatched! 

 
Should have them tomorrow

 

[greenmumma141]

Just read through this on going journal!!! It was really fun seeing the progression of your tank over time, and to see that Im not the only "fickle pickle" out there too hehehe...  can't wait to see it with the crypts and swords!

 

[Zikofski]

wow just read this myself to and this is amazing very good work, i have a question going back a few years into the post's you had what looked to me as a spreadsheet for your cycle do you have the complete version of this still i would love to have a copy or if you can post the the final copy or PM me that would be amazing if you can i soon will haft to do a cycle and that would be a very good guide to follow the beginners guide i haft to admit is a tad confusing but i do know what i am doing thank you again tank is amazing crypts are my fav plant cant w8 to see them in the tank

 

[Joshwainwright]

wow just read this myself to and this is amazing

very good work, i have a question going back a few years into the post's you had what looked to me as a spreadsheet for your cycle do you have the complete version of this still i would love to have a copy or if you can post the the final copy or PM me that would be amazing if you can i soon will haft to do a cycle and that would be a very good guide to follow the beginners guide i haft to admit is a tad confusing but i do know what i am doing

thank you again tank is amazing crypts are my fav plant cant w8 to see them in the tank

 
 
 
Thanks for looking through it The tank's not how I would like it to look at the minute but hopefully it will be by the end of tomorrow!
 
I don't have the spreadsheet saved on my current PC but I think it might be on the hard drive of a PC I have stored away in my cupboard. It was only really to keep a track of the parameters for myself, not really a guide or anything but I can dig it out and see if it's on there tomorrow if you like?
 
I'm not even sure if I kept it fully up to date, I might have resorted to jotting things down on random bits of paper by the end of the cycle
 
I can't wait either!! 

 

[Zikofski]

haha well if you don't mind and it is not to much hassle i would appreciate it, even if its not complete im a logical person and seems to be a perfect logical system to follow

 

[Gootz]

Great journal, thanks for sharing all the ups and downs.  Subbing to keep up with your progress.

 

[Joshwainwright]

JOURNAL POST
 
So my plans were delivered today and the portions really were more generous than I expected. They were also in great condition (probably won't stay like that) and well packaged so I'm pleased with my purchase. They were from AquaEssentials if anyone is looking for somewhere to buy some plants

 
Anyway, after about half an hour of planting I realized I probably ordered too much as I was running out of space fast. I've ended up compacting my moss on to two pieces of bogwood, I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not but without taking it out of the tank to dry out and die it was the best I could do. If it's going to die from being compacted, I might as well sell a few portions in the classified section of the forum.
 
Two sets of Crypt Wendtii really was overload too, I think I've spaced it out too much in the foreground but I was thinking of the leaves being shadowed and not getting enough light from my T8 tubes. I might move them around a bit tomorrow to make them look a bit more appealing and less of a scattered mess.
 
As you can tell from the photo below, I'm not a genius at planting and it really was just a case of "oh look, there's a space there... oh no, it's shadowed" so I've made a bit of a mess

 

 
I don't know if anyone has any suggestions how I should organize the plants?
 
Yeah, I need to get a new background too. My previous one annoyed me so I ripped it off

  
 
Hopefully you're not disappointed, it's a mess but it's where I'm at now. Look while you can because everything will probably have melted by morning! I'm going to be dosing my homemade ferts and Neutro CO2 daily so I'll have to see what happens, maybe something will actually grow - who knows!
 
Also, here's a photo of one of my cardinals:
 

 
Anyway, any suggestions what I should do?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Can you just flip the background to the other side? I have some hideous backgrounds, but flipped over they're just black.
 
Plants look wonderful. I have two huge masses of java fern ... one I kind of did what you did and smashed it under the piece of wood I have in my 20g, and the other is just overtaking my 55g.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Can you just flip the background to the other side? I have some hideous backgrounds, but flipped over they're just black.
 
Plants look wonderful. I have two huge masses of java fern ... one I kind of did what you did and smashed it under the piece of wood I have in my 20g, and the other is just overtaking my 55g.

It's some horrid rocky scape on the other side. I'd like to just paint the back back but I'd probably make too much mess!
 
Thanks! I'm just not happy with how the crypts looks and I'm not sure what to do with them

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yeah, one of these days I'm going to paint the back of my tanks black. Right.
 
I always seem to have trouble getting my crypts to look right. I only have one that looks good to me in my 20g.

 

[Zikofski]

Ye I would recommend painting the back black and you can get non drip glossy paint like I used for the back of my tank just use a mini roller to apply It works a treat check out my DIY cabinet post I the DIY section for details on that comes out perfect I only used half of a small tin to do 4 coats

So far very nice I like what you have done just keep taller plants at back to middle and spread the smaller one around the tank try not to space them equally if your going for a natural look everything in nature has no strait line or much symmetry

 

[greenmumma141]

Josh, I had a really really reallllly hard time with my crypts. I love the way they look, but planting them is a mess! Getting all the roots covered is hard enough, and getting them to look natural is ridiculous!!! Mine looked just like yours, and I finally clumped them together and now that I've left them like that and they have just a bit of growth, they look great and Im happy with them.  Don't think of them as individual plants, but find a place in the tank that you want a clump and plant them together. Not so close that they're crammed, but close enough so it doesn't look placed.  Just try putting them into groups, and see how you like it... if anything i said made any sense at all lol.
 
The plants look great though!!  Moss is pretty easy, I think it should be fine
 

 

[Joshwainwright]

Ye I would recommend painting the back black and you can get non drip glossy paint like I used for the back of my tank just use a mini roller to apply It works a treat check out my DIY cabinet post I the DIY section for details on that comes out perfect

I only used half of a small tin to do 4 coats

Thanks for that little tip, I'll bear it in mind for if I eventually grow a pair and decide to make a mess
 

Josh, I had a really really reallllly hard time with my crypts. I love the way they look, but planting them is a mess! Getting all the roots covered is hard enough, and getting them to look natural is ridiculous!!! Mine looked just like yours, and I finally clumped them together and now that I've left them like that and they have just a bit of growth, they look great and Im happy with them.  Don't think of them as individual plants, but find a place in the tank that you want a clump and plant them together. Not so close that they're crammed, but close enough so it doesn't look placed.  Just try putting them into groups, and see how you like it... if anything i said made any sense at all lol.

Yeah, it did make sense I'm going to have a go at putting them in groups later because they look silly at the moment!
 
I know where you're coming from with getting the roots covered being hard enough too, that was the most frustrating part. Then I'd push a bit of the roots down and it would end up tilted, looking even worse
 
I'll get there in the end... eventually... hopefully!