James' Updated Tank Photo

[JamesC]

Decided I didn't like the old blue background so scraped it off and painted it black which I'm much happier with. Brings out the colours much better. Moved a few plants around and also brought some dwarf hair grass to see how well it would grow in my plain quartz sand. I was amazed to how quickly it took off. I only brought a little bit that I thinly spread about and now after 2 months it is threatening to take over. The alternathera rosaefolia has also really coloured up nicely.

Hardware wise I splashed out and brought a fantastic inline CO2 reator off a German ebayer and upgraded my external filter from a Rena XP2 to an Eheim 2028 as the Rena was struggling to pump water with the CO2 reactor, UV steriliser and inline heater.

Think I'm now happy with current scape.

James

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

very nice! good job!

 

[iroc]

Your actually painting your tank? how come you don't just buy a colored background?


Great looking tank BTW

 

[excaliborg]

Looks good! Would look better with some hardscape though, as at the moment the whole substrate looks completely flat.

Some nice long thin branches would look good on the left-rear corner perhaps...

 

[fish_master]

I think it looks to well perfect everything is inline and flat and straight but if thats how u like it

 

[stang1]

I love the tank, it looks great!

 

[George Farmer]

Without doubt the best example of a Dutch layout I've seen on here. If you were after any critique then my main observation would be a lack of a distinct focal point as the two brilliant groups of red stems appear a little symmetrical.

I like it a lot though, Kudos James.

What CO2 bubble rate are you running into the reactor? And what bubble counter are you using (bubble size matters of course!)

Would you mind posting a full spec?

 

[shaz3271]

i love your tank its beautiful, love the colour of the plants
well done

 

[tophat665]

That's beautiful. Nothing wrong with level sustrate. Makes it look like a glade in an alien forest. I hope to develop mad aquascaping skillz like that someday.

And I am down with the black background. I myself use nothing else.

 

[ulster exile]

Beautiful tank (I hate you BTW)

Just curious - I note that you have some very vibrantly coloured 'red' plants there - which do you think helps more in their 'redness', added iron or overall light?

 

[JamesC]

Thanks for all you kind remarks everyone.

George:
I see what you mean about the focal point. I'm not in the least bit artistic so always have problems with planning layouts. I tend to just plant and hope for the best. Everything grows so fast anyway that the tank very rarely looks the same.

You wanted specs - well OK here goes.

210 litre Rena Aqualife
RO water is blended 4 parts to 1 part very hard London tap water and a bit of MgSO4 is added due to GH being all calcium
Substrate is inert quartz sand and nothing else
Lighting is 3 of Interpet Triplus 38W T8 and 1 of Arcadia Freshwater 38W T8
Eheim 2028 filter
Hydor ETH300 inline heater
Inline CO2 reactor with built in bubble counter - piccie
6.35KG pub bottle of CO2 and a JBL regulator

CO2 bubble rate is around 2-3 bps
pH tank water is 6.3
pH standing tank water is 7.3
KH is 5.5

Dosing is Estimative Index.
More details on my website.


RE Red plants:
I just add the traces from Aqua Essentials and no extra iron. Lighting is only T8, but I do have 4 tubes. Not sure why the alternathera rosaefolia has turned out so red, guess it just likes the conditions.


Believe it or not there is a very large piece of bogwood on the right that sticks out the top of the tank and has a large hollow at the bottom which is where the cherry shrimp like to gather. It is covered in Java moss and Anubias barteri and hidden behind the echinodorus tennellus.


James

 

[Miss Wiggle]

really really really nice tank mate

i'm jealous!

 

[RadaR]

Looks great.
Love the colours.
Hair grass carpet looks very nice.
Jeez, those plants on the right (some sort of Echinodorus right?) are much bigger than I last saw them.

 

[Liam]

I love your tank its superb, the new black background really shows off the beauty of the plants. I think it’s stunning. The plants look in perfect condition.

 

[Themuleous]

Nice tank vibrant colours. It just goes to show what you can achieve with no substrate ferts and EI dosing!

This might be along a similar line to Georges comment, but the right side looks a bit regimented? I.e. all the plants are of the same height. Just a thought, really like the Rotala macrandra with the lower plant in front.

Sam