Zoom's 4ft system

wish i could have a green tank hehehe everything i plant even outside dont grow hehehe ... looks great with all the plants .... maybe someday
Leslie

 

LOL,shame dude, one day, ne?

dont feel bad, i wish my tank was that green!!!!!

 

Thanks. They took a serious knock when I put Pond clear into the tank. (Algaecide with Weedkiller as the active ingredient... was a real "DOPE" moment!)
I'm actually very excited about the CO2. I want to get my tank looking like @Rudi , @shihr, and @wearsbunnyslippers . Then to top it off.... a school of Discus, with about 15 Cardinals. That's my 12-18month plan. (assuming the baby which is planned for around there too doesn't hinder it!)

 

The green actually get's VERY tiring at times. I want to get some red/purple ones going... hence the light upgrade soon and CO2

 

The green is great but does get boring. I think that is why I went mad with the driftwood to ad some different colour

 

The other problem with going mad with driftwood is that you now go the other way... with too much driftwood, you haven't got space for plants... so everything is brown... or you cover it with moss, and you back to green.....

 

Yeah one have to find a balance there. Moss on top with plenty of wood sticking out.
I would like to always keep to the easy growing plants.
So Java fern,moss and the odd groundcover plants need to do the job.

 

Finding a suitable ground cover plant (that is easily available) that will grow in a low tech set up isn't the easiest thing either. I tried some pygmi chain swords... but I think the light is too far away. My tank is fairly deep.

 

Yeah ground cover is mostly high light but there are one or two that should do with some just above low light.

Or the alternative is to scape so that easy grow plants can be used as cover or ground cover is not needed.
I think the main thing would be for anyone to walk into a LPS and be able to create something good.

Most of the more exotic plants found in tanks like Rudi,WBS, Algae wizard and shihr did not come from a LPS but other hobiest.

 

You 100% correct Vis. Most of my "unusual" plants have come from other members. They all still easy growers, but you won't find them in LPS.

I still maintain that if someone like Tom Barr (the only name that came to mind now) was to walk into any of our half decent stocked LPS, he would still be able to create some amazing scapes simply by using those plants, LPS globes, and LPS fertilizers. It's not what you use, it's how you use what you have!

 

And a new chapter in the life of my 4ft begins!

As many of you know... I have moved into my new home, which meant relocating of the tank. This was no easy task... The fish moved to my sister's house 2 weeks ago. The plants were moved into buckets for 2 weeks... and obviously they took a HUGE knock.

But before we get there, I wanted to do some scaping levels on the tank... and in order to save costs on HUGE amounts of substrate, I made a styrene hill.


It started with blocks and sheets of styrene purchased from a floral wholesale type shop.




The styrene was cut up into small pieces, and then glued together with silicon. I don't have pictures of it all stuck together... (this week of my life seem very vague considering the Styrene fumes I inhaled). After sticking them together, I basically used a soldering iron and melted it to form the shape I wanted. I pitted the styrene with lots of holes... basically to allow for roots to grow.





And here's what it looks like in the tank...




I actually wanted it to be higher... but the tank is actually not very wide... so it I went higher, this meant the slope would have been steeper. This was not an ideal situation as the gravel would have simply slid down.

 

Can't wait to see the end result. I think it's going to be good.

 

and here it comes:

Started out with an empty tank (in my new home.. YIPPEE)



Put in the 2 canisters, heater etc. I filled those holes in the styrene with gravel, and positioned it where I wanted it.




PFP had been soaking for 48 hours, and was evenly spread throughout the tank.




Placed the rocks in their position to prevent "substrate" slides and capped it with 30kg's of midnight black fine gravel.




Half filled the tank, did the planting, and this was the outcome:




The main wood wasn't waterlogged yet, so it is currently floating. The plants took a huge knock by not being in a tank for 10 days. (They were only in a bucket of water). When people say crypts melt... they are not joking. I had about 20... of which I only found about 10. The rest I found their root structure, but the leaves had withered away.

Dosed with DSD according to dosage, and having lights on for 12 hours a day at the moment just to give them a little bit of a boost.

Got home this evening and discovered the water browning a little. Not too much of an issue for me though. It's more than likely the PFP. (There was too much water with the PFP when I mixed it, so I suspect it's from that.) It could however be from the wood too. Not too sure. (@neilh was this wood ever kept in a tank? Did it finish it's leeching?)

The filters are as follows:

Main filter filtering through (in order)
* Filter floss
* Sponge
* Ceramic rings
* Seachem Matrix
* Bio balls

The secondary filter is running through
* 2 layers of different grade sponge (as supplied with canister)
* Ceramic rings (only because I had excess)
* Xeolite
* Activated carbon.

Single airstone (for visual effect)
1 x 250w Jaguar heater

Pressurized CO2 coming soon.

 

Good job Ashley .. like the scape. Remember to remove the air stone when you add the CO2.

Later Ferdie

 

Got big problem with this tank guys.... Heater off and it sits between 28 and 31degrees!!!

 

@Zoom,
I haven't had my heater on for about 2 months now and the big tank stays at 27 - 30 degrees and the nano with no heater is 25 - 27 degrees.I wouldn't worry.

 

That scape really looks good there Zoom.
Keep the ideas coming.

 

I was actually more worried about the plants. (I know the fish should tolerate it... not ideal but they should be fine.)

Thanks Jacques.

 

@Zoom,
I would love to keep my tanks at 20-24 degrees,but in Summer the temp is out of my control.My plants always seem to be fine,I just make sure there is enough surface agitation to oxygenate the water.Warm water doesn't contain enough oxygen and because I inject Co2 that is always a worry.

 

@Rudi
This is also a big concern for me. I will be introducing pressurized CO2 in the near future. I've added the larger airstone to create a bigger surface agitation, as well as having both my canisters on spray bars, which I can turn more upwards. Need to find the balance with hot water, surface agitation, and loosing CO2 and O2.

Fetching my fish tomorrow.

Just did a 50% w/c (PFP was leeching badly) and it took me literally 20 minutes to empty using the hosepipe, and hosepipe to fill again! Was an absolute PLEASURE. Compared to the bucket parade in my old home!