My Juwel Lido

Short introduction: About 15 years ago I got into aquariums and at one point I think I had around 15 tanks. I was breeding angels, trying wild fish and all sorts of stuff. I then suffered a power outage whilst away and lost almost everything. That was the end. Following that I stayed in a number of different places where a fish tank just wouldn't have fit in well and I wouldn't have had the time. Now, finally, 15 years later (can you believe it?) I'm giving it all another go!

A month ago, this all started.

 

Some more pics:



Sorry about the angle, I'm too lazy to deal with it, my time's better spent on the tank

 

Very nice! Well done!

 

Hey Chris. Looking good. Get some nice Willow Hygrophila for the back of the tank. Also, maybe think of covering the back right piece of wood in moss or remove it completely. I don't think the 2 pieces compliment each other very well but that is only my opinion

 

@HEIHACHI Thank you!

@Hawk - I would like to get some moss, I just can't find a source for it yet. Willow Hygrophila sounds and looks great, I need to find some of that too. I'm interested to hear that you don't think the two pieces compliment each other because just a couple days ago I was saying to a friend that I felt something was wrong about the wood, a mismatch or too much, or the wrong angle, etc. Nice to hear someone else say that, I guess I should perhaps look for another piece, hmmm. I don't dislike them together per se, but I'm not overly thrilled about them together.

 

It's something about them. Both are nice pieces in their own right and if I was to use them together I would lie the right piece flat on the substrate and create some hollows under it. I would then look at getting some more spiky pieces. Oh wait...that's what my tank looked like :laugh:... Here is an example of what I mean:

 

That is about 6 pieces of wood stacked together.

 

@Hawk I see what you mean, thank you for the reference pics. I think the piece on the right of mine (when looking at it) is almost too big for the size of my tank - it sort of dominates things. I picked them up at the nursery and there were a few bits left so I'll go back and look, otherwise I know SAMs and Elite Aquatics have some decent pieces too.

I think a lot of this has to do with my focus being on the plants at the moment and ensuring that they're growing. Once I'm satisfied with the plant growth and I see what it looks like once the plants get far more density and height, then it'll become easier to work on the hardscape.

 

Grow your plants around your hardscape. If you want to concentrate on growing plants then take most of your hardscape out to give you more planting space.

Try taking the right piece out. Rotate the spiky piece 180 degrees and move it towards the right, 1/3 of the width of the tank away from the side. Then get some nice moss and tie it up the spikey part. Get anubias and tie it on the flat part of the wood. Maybe some small java ferns...Let me stop before I get carried away :laugh:

 

Hehehehe, pity the aquariums aren't open now, I'd head on down!

It's almost weekend, I'll do some water changes, get some more plants and play with wood ideas. Oh, out of interest, where do you get plants from?

 

I got some from other members, some from Uncle S (who I can't mention because they aren't sponsors), some from an online shop (who I can't mention because they aren't a sponsor) :bigsmile: Where about are you in the Southern Suburbs? You want some plants? Not now though...it's late :cheesy:

 

Hahahahaha, silly rules

Ya, in the burbs, Lynfrae to be precise.

 

The offer is there if you want some plants. I recently did a trim of my tank (the last pic in my thread is before the trim):


http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?13973-300l-of-Responsibility/page86

 

Such a beautiful tank!

Where about are you based in Cape Town? I might just take you up on that offer, perhaps in exchange for some beers

 

Thanks Chris. Yup...that's my pride and joy. I stay in Heathfield/Bergvliet (Very near Uncle S) and work in Ottery so let me know.

 

Ah rad, nice and close.

I popped down to Uncle S yesterday and he'd just received a shipment of HC, Anu Gold, Moss and a few other things so I got some new stuff. I also removed the big piece of wood and bought 4-5 smaller ones to try stack together. Here's an update:

 

Update!