Once upon a time at the riverbank. A long term aquascape journal

SuperColey1

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Feb 17, 2007
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........continued

I am aiming now for this tank to be ready for competition early next year. Therefore I can show the full setup at the moment but soon I will not be updating with full tank shots for a while.

With this in mind I still have the same problem area, in the left to centre midground, that I have had since the start of this aquascape (19 months ago.)

To sort this area out and with very limited budget I decided to make my own 'redmoor' branches' to fit in this gap. I can then use my favourite needle fern to make the transition from the smaller Crypts to the larger ones at the rear.

Using the woodworking skills I have gained from other projects I selected some of the offcuts from a guitar neck. This is kiln dried American rock maple.

Out came a set of rasps, A plasterboard saw and sandpaper.

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AC
 

SuperColey1

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Feb 17, 2007
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Lack of motivation and a general lack of interest has meant I've not been updating journals on forums nor my website since October. However I was still taking a few pictures and am now in the process of catching up so here we go with the backdated updates. May take a few days to catch up lol.


9th October 2010

With the new 'tree' ready for the tank I first tried it at a few angles to see what would look best and then attached some needle ferns to the lower branch, some anubias to the base and tied some moss around the upper branch. Finally it was put into position.

At this time I had just bought a new camera which is supposedly not as good as the last one. You'll have to forgive the amount of pictures below. I was testing out different settings on the camera. I finally settled on auto though. This camera unlike the previous one seems to get everything right anyway so no point messing about really.

The first picture of the central area was a mistake as I forgot to turn the flash off however i like the picture. It looks quite spooky so I kept it.

Another change is that I am testing out DIY yeast for an article I am writing. Not to see if it works because it does but to see if I can get it to work and remain stable as the problem with DIY setups is that they peak and trough in their output and therefore algae like BBA and staghorn is often a problem.

On the fish front there are 11 rasboras left and all seemingly healthy. I think they are starting to get to the age where they die of old age as every now and again one develops a growth and a month or so later dies.

The young Corys are dong well and are nearly full size now. There are 8 Corys in the tank including one of the originals.

The shrimp are doing far too well and I am selling off 200 or so a month at the moment with seemingly no effect on the colony. It will grow over the window as I won't be selling any while the weather is cold.

Finally I bought a tiny thermometer which is dwarfed by the old one. I also like the blue colour rather than the red of the old one. Quite a cool items and only £4 delivered.

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Regards
AC
 

SuperColey1

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Feb 17, 2007
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7th February 2011

The DIY yeast setup was removed just after christmas and I returned to the non CO2/non water change method.

The Crypts on the left have grown enormously since the last update and several trimmings of anubias have been needed as the gap down the centre was closing up completely.

This scape is nearing its end now. The Rasboras are getting old and are down to 8. They keep getting tumour-like growths in between body and tail and then succumbing after a month or so.

However with a new scape in mind things are looking up and in preparation I bought 8 platinum tetras (Hemigrammus vorderwinkleri) to see how they looked and acted. Needless to say they are beautiful and look great in contrast to the green behind them but with the Rasboras in the tank I can't see how they act as they just follow the Rasboras around. Pretty sure they are what I will go with though so I will probably rehome the rasboras and increase the platinum shoal to 20-30. The Corys will stay, no chance of them being removed.

So next week I intend to take some photos and enter this scape into the ASE contest. Its not as I want it as the rear right corner is still not matching the left even after 2 years but I am eager to move on

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Regards
AC
 

SuperColey1

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Feb 17, 2007
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Jim Miller;62401 said:
Is that a limited range thermometer? What range does it cover? Looks like a great idea if so!

I don't think it is. Maybe because it is celcius and not farenheit. says 0 at the bottom to 50 at the top and each increment is 2 degrees C
 

SuperColey1

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Feb 17, 2007
503
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Lincoln, UK
Tonight I took the photos for the ASE contest. Took a couple of attempts as I am not used to doing competition photos. First I set the camera up wrong. So I had to pull all the pipes out and the thermometer.

Then when I had taken the photos with the right settings I noticed the light cable was still at the back. Out came the pipes and the thermometer.

Finally I took the photos. The first 2 below are not the ones I entered but from the same shoot. Not allowed to show you the actual one. You'll see what I mean about the right rear section of the tank. The third picture is the 'working' picture.

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Regards
AC
 

Tom Barr

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Lots of damn work for a stinky little branch:)

Crap, just PM me next time.

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I've never seen so much trouble for a little branch.

I mean if you glued leaves on it and made it look like a real tree etc.......maybe:)
 

SuperColey1

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Feb 17, 2007
503
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Lol Tom. I have no job, can't get one for love nor money with the amount of EU migrants in the UK. Far too much time on my hands and love working with wood. Besides I have zero money. lol

The next scape is going to cost minus something pounds. lol Selling off plants and hardscape to buy errr.....plants and hardscape. lol

AC
 

SuperColey1

Guru Class Expert
Feb 17, 2007
503
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Lincoln, UK
Thank for the compliement Gerryd. however Job situation won't improve until UK leaves the European Union I'm afraid. I am one of many that I know who hasn't been able to find a job (unskilled as it were and not professional) and I've been out of work since late 2008!!! It isn't much of an economic problem here unless you are one of the many that considers everything that you can possible is vital :) I'm old school prioritise and make sacrifices when times are tough rather than blame governments for all the money going on credit and super dooper TV packages. lol I could go on for hours on this subject if you haven't guessed already ;)

Hopefully will get back to the grind one day but until then I can make do with shrimp and plant sales :) This tank currently cost in the region of -£1000 a year :) so its not a luxury as such.

AC
 
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SuperColey1

Guru Class Expert
Feb 17, 2007
503
1
16
49
Lincoln, UK
With the photoshoot now done and the new scape already planned for an April start I started to take some parts of this scape down. Not all, just the plants and redmoor that I won't be using.

So out came the redmoor with the Needle Ferns and anubias attached to it. You can see the pictures of this below with my watch next to it to gauge size. Then the needle fern was removed and split up into 25 portions. I kept 5 for the next scape and glued them to some of the cobbles along with the anubias from this scape to keep them in shape and then bagged up the remaining 20 portions.

You can see them pre-bagging below. These are all sold. Last time I sold a load I had messages galore from Eastern Europe wanting some but I had to tell them they were all sold. Therefore I decided to list them on ASW to give them first chance this time. Needless to say they were sold pretty quickly.

The Redmoor is on a radiator drying pending listing it on ebay. I need full price for these because I have to buy new hardscape.

Next to come out will be the Cryptocoryne Retrospiralis which is a monster plant (60cm or so) and is pretty hard to come by here in the UK.

I'll post up some pictures of the temporary 'messy' appearance in the next few days too.

The rasboras although 2-3 years old will be free to a good home if anyone wants to collect them. Send me a message if you are interested.

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I hope you enjoyed reading through this journal. I love(d) this scape and its a pity to break it down as it could've lasted for a lot longer than 2 years, however I am eager to try something different in terms of layout and so it has to go.


The new scape will be entitled 'Rio Bonito' and is scheduled to start at the beginning of April.

Regards
AC
 
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