Low-Tech 140L

[bumbleweasle]

Aah, nice one! I'll set it up this weekend once the tank's moved, then! Cheers mate. The fluval only has the sponges, but yeh I was planning on just folding/squishing/cutting 'em into the Eheim for a whiley..

 

[minnnt]

Do that and just leave them in there.

 

[bumbleweasle]

Do that and just leave them in there.

 

[bumbleweasle]

Tank successfully moved, Eheim 2217 installed, Fluval 4+ banished forever!!!

 

[bumbleweasle]

Yey! I love my new filter.. more space for plants!!

Tank looks completely dark during the day in its new spot, & all! Couldn't quite get the layout back the way it was, but am still playing around with it:

Started playing around with the aperture priority thingummy on my camera (just been using Auto so far!)... zooooomy fish!

Now I just have to work out the settings for "perfectly still fish", lol..

xx

 

[bumbleweasle]

Time to order plants!

Reckonin' on a bunch o' crypts.. I can get these fairly cheaply:

balansae
beckettii
pontederiifolia
walkeri
wendtii

Maybe some echinodorous? The ET is doing well, so maybe I can try one or two of these:

ech.augustifolia
ech.latifolius
ech.quadricostatus

Not wanting anything too tall, really, so am trying to work out potential heights from Google at the moment! (Feel free to just tell me if you know )



(...although I could perhaps be persuaded by a single aponogeton crispus.)

What d'ye reckon, folks?

 

[ian]

the balansae will get tall, but will suit the back of the driftwood. The rest will be great, i would personally order some Crypt 'Mi oya', these are also taller, but they would suit the left hand side where the heater is.

Remember, what you don't want to do is to have your eyes drawn away from the main part of the scape, which IMO you have got just right. Well done!

 

[bumbleweasle]

Thanks Ian,

I do like those Mi Oyas! These guys don't have 'em, so I might have to wait til next month.. this lot will only cost me £12.99, but am having to pretend i have no cash at the moment, since I might soon have to spend stupid amounts of it for the sake of my health & career.. But that is a rant for a different forum.. yey the plants!

Remember, what you don't want to do is to have your eyes drawn away from the main part of the scape, which IMO you have got just right. Well done!

Cheers! I'm such a perfectionist, lol.. I'm still debating whether I've got the main part right, think I preferred the way it was before I moved the tank! The difference is slight, really.. (one piece of wood upside down, swords & java fern in slightly the wrong place).. but it's bugging me, so I'll be in there sorting it this week at some point. Gotta play with the flow a bit as well, some of the wee sand dunes I'm getting are nice, but the ET is threatening to escape if I don't sort it!

 

[ian]

I have just read you're a student nurse! If i'd have known that, you'd have got first dabs on my donations Us RN's need to look after the students. Unfortunately i'm not Learning dis, I did meet some brilliant LD nurses when i did my training. Also spent some time at Rampton. Good luck with everything.

 

[bumbleweasle]

lol, cheers Ian.. LD branch is AWESOME!!!

Got my first lot of new crypts today.. not sure which ones are which, to be honest! there were LOADS more than I expected for 13 quid, & a bunch of extra stuff I never asked for & all! (see donations thread, hehe)

I really need a light for when the hood's off, hehe.. I can barely see where I'm planting things!! T'was a fair comedy sketch earlier, me with the torch in my mouth, trying not to stab my fish with the tweezers & knock over the bits of wood, hehehe.. not sure about that flame moss now.. might move it, or maybe just trim it.. I'll see what I think tomorrow. What d'ye reckon?

...I'm just preparing myself for the epic melt, now...

 

[bumbleweasle]

Hope ye all had a good time over Christmas/Hannukah/Xmyth/whatever..

I got £100 to spend on my fishtank!

Hmm.. new plants, fish.. I dunno! What d'ye reckon, folks?

xXx

 

[minnnt]

Crypts, crypts and more crypts!

 

[bumbleweasle]

Hehehe, that's very tempting.. Think the first lot are finally gettng past their melt, I'll be in there clearing out the last few strands of bleh over the next few days.. can't wait for them to grow back!

 

[minnnt]

Totally stunning when they recover. Definately worth their weight in gold.

 

[bumbleweasle]

Hmm.. well some of the crypts are definitely showing some new growth.. is slow, but it's happening, & it looks pretty! Others.. well they're still just melted wee stubs with roots. Still leaving 'em in for a whiley since the roots might still be OK. And attempting to cultivate some epic patience skills.

Having said that...

I was lurking in the journals section a while back (as I'm prone to doing...) & made an idle comment on Ian's Nano Cube... Didn't think much of it at the time, being invested as I am in this rather cryptic effort. But.. well, the idea's been plagueing me ever since...

After some pondering, I've decided to combine what I've already got (& maybe some more crypts) with loads more grassy plants, a little h.micranthemoides.. see if I can't get some sense of scale on the go. Won't be an iwagumi, of course.. but hey, applying things to other things (aka jumbling everything up) is one of my superpowers.

Hopefully it'll produce sommat a bit more lush looking, without starting from scratch or taking out any of the plants I like.