New aquascape.

Simply stunning!

Can't wait to see it stocked, great choice of fish by the way!

Andreas

A couple of subtle changes.
The lighting has been changed from 2 to 4 bulbs. I also raised them from the previous 36cm above substrate level to 45cm.

With the extra light im getting slight pearling (plants producing oxygen bubbles) after a couple of hours of light.
I also found 1 strand of hair algae (a bit like finding your first grey hair ) today. I will leave it there and keep an eye on it. If it starts to grow or I find more of it I will raise the lights a little bit more.

Rotala wallichii pearling. But you have to look closely to see the tiny bubbles.
Sorry it's the clearest shot I could take.

I also added some more plants. Anubias nana was split and randomly placed.
Also more Ludwigia repens to the back right of the tank.
You can see how the color has changed from the newly planted plant. I love the autumn colors.

Ludwigia repens "rubin"

I have changed the symec-micro in the filter and added purigen to help keep the water crystal clear.
Although I am getting a bit of surface tension. I may have to add slight aeration 24/7 to keep this clear. I don't want to add a surface skimmer. It will just spoil the view in the tank.

I have put a pleco cave (from "happypleco") under the fern in the centre of the tank.
This wont be for plecos, it will be a hide out for the apisto's. The entrance is hidden out of sight.

Tank after 2.5 weeks.

It's looking savage mate fair play t yeh, and thanks for sharing

What the background colour is it on the tank or is it just the wall colour, really liking this allot

Cheers Jeff.

It's obscure backing I got put on the tank when it was made in seahorse.
A bit like frosted glass. Great for back lighting a tank and IMO cleaner looking than black or blue.

Love it.quality as ever.

Stunning indeed. Learning a lot from ur posts. Thank you

platty252 wrote:

Cheers Jeff.

It's obscure backing I got put on the tank when it was made in seahorse.
A bit like frosted glass. Great for back lighting a tank and IMO cleaner looking than black or blue.

Sound nice one, it's savage fair play

Ok not a lot has happened with the tank. This is the slow growing in period.

I have trimmed and shaped the Ludwigia rupens on the back right.
the rotala wallichii grew fast and hit the surface. So that has been trimmed.
The Ludwigia perennis Hasn't shown much growth. Which can be a good thing. I was afraid it would rocket to the surface and be high maintenance.
It is however growing slightly twisted and curved leaves. Possibly a deficiency in calcium/magnesium. I will keep an eye on it.

I have added some Heteranthera zosterifolia (star grass) near the back. But I am just growing it on for another tank. Its out of sight so I don't mind having it here.
My only fear is the Amapa tetra may nibble on it.

The single strand of hair algae I found 2 weeks back turned in to multiple strands. So the light was raised a little.

The moss got its first trim. Some strands were growing longer than others. I want it to grow only slightly dense but the strands similar length.
This was also were the algae was starting to grow.

I have added some live stock.
Elephant snails. 2 youngsters were added. Photo was taking before the moss was trimmed. You might make out the strands of algae.

11 yellow shrimp were added.

I also added the pygmy corys. 15 of them. Photo taken just after they went in.

Just a quick shot after the corys were added. Most of them hiding.

More stock to be added soon.

It's been 5 weeks since this tank was started and the newly added livestock seem to like it.

The Cory's have settled in well so its been easier to photograph them.

They spend half there time in one group and the rest in two groups.

I added 15 Amapa tetra this evening. These spend most of there time in the upper section of the tank. Which is perfect for this tank.

Full tank photo.

The Apisto's will be added next week. Once they are in its just a case of letting the tank fill in with plants.

Darren.

Great choice of fish, stunning tank..looking forward to the tank updates as it matures

Nice one Darren looks amazing

It’s been a little while since I updated this tread so here it goes.

The plants:
The Microsorum sp. Mini is doing fine except the tips are going transparent. I have seen this before with this plant and I ended up losing the tips. Anyone know what causes this?

The Ludwigia perennis has stayed small and compact. This is the plant I taught I would have to remove from fast tall growth. I’ve only trimmed a couple of stems so far.

The Ludwigia rupens "rubin" is doing great with some lovely colours. This gets trimmed right back every 2-3 weeks.
The Rotala wallichii is cut right back at the moment. It grows really fast. I was trimming it weekly just to keep it under control.

The moss gets a light trim weekly. The piece at the bottom front right is getting dirty. The male apisto keeps going underneath it and digging in the sand making the moss dirty. I think I will change this.

The Marsilea hirsuta and Eleocharis sp. mini are doing better than I expected. I might have to start pulling some of it out.
When I’ve grown these in the past they have been in nutrient rich substrate and have grown ridiculously slowly. They seem to do so much better in the sand.
The little bit of star grass I added has grown fast. Needing weekly trimming.

I had changed the lights from 2 bulbs to 4 bulbs. Then down to 3 bulbs and now I’m back to 2 bulbs.
Co2 is at 90 bubbles a min. Aeration 24/7.
Plant food is Tropica specialized with 2ppm phosphate and 0.5pp iron weekly. 1.5ml of Easy carbo daily.
Lighting is 6 hours a day.
Water change is 1/3 a week.
I was trying different levels of plant food and ended up with a big tread algae bloom. I’m getting this under control at the moment. You might see it in some of the pictures.

The pair of Apisto’s were added.

Apistogramma baenschi "Inca" Male:

Apistogramma baenschi "Inca" Female:

Within an hour the male found the cave under the fern. The female decided to redecorate the tank. She pulled clumps of moss off some wood, moves Anubias and even tried to move some wood. She rules the roost.
Once she found the cave she claimed it and put on her best breeding dress and breed they did. So did the Corys.
There was no way of saving the Cory eggs as the Amapa Tetras consumed the eggs as they were been laid.
I added a small single LED for a night light so the female Apisto can protect her young.

Some photos.

Ok I tried to up load some photos to photojunk but its not happening.

Maybe you would prefer some videos..

The Apisto"s just before they spawned. You can see the female trying to entice the male in to the hidden cave.
The water is a bit cloudy. I had just done some filter maintenance and added some liquid filter medium.


After they spawned. Video taking just with the night light on in the tank.


Darren.

amazing looking tank and beautifull fish very well done

Superb setup and great choice of fish!

Andreas

Simply Stunning Darren. Excellent photos and information , Well done & Thanks for sharing

Michael

Great looking tank and fish. Cannot download the video Damn phone. Will check out later. Great u got them to spawn

Wow first time seeing this post Darren awesome as usual
I love the choice in fish and those apistos are beauts and the Rotala wallichii is really nice

Well done buddy


Mark

Awesome job Darren, was in the shop yesterday to put the order in for my tank, thanks for the tip on the clear obscured background

I'll be in to you when it's ready and i'll just buy what ever you recommend

Would love to get something half as good as that!

Any more updates Darren? Hows your tank doing? The floating plants I've got of you (Salvinia Natans) in my nano starting to spread like a mad. Last week growth is about 30%. I'll start to bring them back to Seahorse. lol. Anyway - I love them they serve the way I suspected - no fish or shrimps can jump out anymore. Thanks

Lauris wrote:

Any more updates Darren? Hows your tank doing? The floating plants I've got of you (Salvinia Natans) in my nano starting to spread like a mad. Last week growth is about 30%. I'll start to bring them back to Seahorse. lol. Anyway - I love them they serve the way I suspected - no fish or shrimps can jump out anymore. Thanks

was that plant salvinia natans? The growth on that is incredible

LemonJelly wrote:

Lauris wrote:

Any more updates Darren? Hows your tank doing? The floating plants I've got of you (Salvinia Natans) in my nano starting to spread like a mad. Last week growth is about 30%. I'll start to bring them back to Seahorse. lol. Anyway - I love them they serve the way I suspected - no fish or shrimps can jump out anymore. Thanks

was that plant salvinia natans? The growth on that is incredible

Yep. I've got just a small bunch of Darren in Seahorse. 3 weeks ago. Surface of my nano was covered only 15% (25x40cm). In 3 weeks it managed to take over up to 80% of surface. If you interested in these I'll come back to you in 2-3weeks as I will need to give some away. Just it will need a good amount of nutrients in your rank. I'm dosing EI salts and the levels of all needed for plants are in the best shape. *sorry for off-topic Darren

Unbelievable tank Darren really am in awe of the effort put into it,you have really made me want to go out and get another tank to scape around with!
Good luck with it I'm sure it's booming.
luas