gf225 thanks sir, the more the nature aquarim concept is promoted in the UK the better IMO. We need to start getting these types of tanks into aquatics shops to show people the potential of them, give me a planted tank over a reef tank any day, and with EI it makes it a lot easier to maintain. It's just a difficult thing to 'sell' to people unless they can see these tanks in the flesh, that's why its good that there are a lot of UK peeps with planted tanks on this board.
i totally agree. thats the exact reason my LFS has 10 laminated A4 pics of my tanks on the wall behind the counter. full tank shots to inspire and close ups of glosso and riccia etc.. to show what is possible (and prompt a few orders!!)
i just popped in to show them and the manager wipped them off me and asked if he could display them. i think more people would take up the hobby if they knew how easy (okay used rather loosely) it was to create a nice planted tank. i keep saying to people get the equipment right from the start and you'll be fine, start plunging swords into goldfish bowls and trying to back track to produce an aquatic jungle is just impossible. most of the problems people on here have with plants stems from inadequate lighting, lack of nutrients in the substrate and lack of co2. all of which could have been saved by a conversation with an informed LFS employee. if only they had the tools to make the sale. i say all fish stores that sell live plants should make the effort to produce a proper planted display tank. wildwoods is the only shop i have seen that has one (worth mentioning) but even theirs isn't that great.
so how about it guys. if your friendly with an LFS employee print off a few pics of your planted tank (they'll have to be good ones) and pop them down. the more demand there is for planted tanks the more neat stuff will become available to us. imagine it an ADA concession in every maidenhead aquatics. they would make a killing. (hmm, me's just had an idea!! i know some very senior people in Wyevale garden centres through work where most of the maidenhead aquatics shops are situated!!
oh and before i forget oldwhitewood
care to join us?
That's really imressive to actually have your tank pictures in an LFS inspiring customers. I feel exactly the same way, I have only ever seen one great planted tank in an aquarium shop, this was years ago before I knew about Amano so it may have been crap in retrospect, but at the time it was amazing. The nearest parallel I can draw is that of a reef tank. Reef tanks by their nature always look really impressive, if one is thriving and well stocked it can be a remarkable thing of beauty and interest, but if you take a step back from that and analyse what is actually going on, they have just pilled in a wall of live rock and put in lots of inverts and expensive softies etc, it's not aquascaping in the way we have to think about an aquascape and how we have to maintain and develop a tank. I truly believe sometimes keeping a planted tank is more difficult than a reef tank. Certainly the workload is comparible, (and bloody hell the cost is too I have just spent nearly £150 on substrate alone! *shakes head*) I dont think you need to be as spot on with your water chemistry and you dont really have to use RO, whereas with a reef tank using live rock, a skimmer and plenty of powerheads with strong lighting; this works great but you need to use RO or DI'd water and that requires some effort in preparation. I used to run a marine tank so I know how long winded it is to get your water right for each water change. But to me its aways been about a planted nature aquarium and I just wish more people would get into the hobby and the attitude towards this type of tank would change especially in the UK, where I feel sometimes we are in the dark ages almost! I guess it just makes me more determined to keep going and try and create a tank I can be proud of, I dont think I'm near there yet at all, every time I see an Amano picture it brings me back down to earth, but also inspires me to keep on trucking with it all.
Anyway enough of my droning on, I thank you for the invite for the members tank thing but I must confess I dont think mine should be on there because I dont really test my water parameters that much, I just kinda react to it if there is a problem, so I start drilling down if I notice algae or poor plant growth etc, but mainly I just stick to the EI method and keep the CO2 and lighting up, trim the plants and do my water changes.
paulioo - Thats a cool diffuser you have there. OK when I first connected mine it was noisy compaired to a normal ladder type thing, but really its a very quiet hiss, my filter makes more noise, as well as my fridge on the other side of the wall, trains going past, hi fi blaring away I rarely notice it, when I had my marine tank I had a hang on skimmer on it which was like having a boat engine in my back room!
RYO - I use a solenoid to control the CO2, it goes off when the lights go off.
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im getting used to it but I didn't think the'y would be noisy. Its not really loud, its just noticable.
Bravo guys, I'm impressed.
