shadoh Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Fingers crossed it comes right... As I said, now i know what to do, I'm going to give it a go when it throws the next lot of flowers out. I've read that in ideal conditions they throw out flowers once a month... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Shadoh's Tiki Oasis - The perfect tropical chill out zone. Sit back, relax and watch the plants gently pearl away while listening to the sounds of the islands and drinking a soothing rum based drink... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPHp8lyoyAI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Wow. That really does look good mate. Like the way you shot the video too, might give it a try myself tomorrow. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 It's the only way to shoot individual plants, you can't make everything out with a full tank shot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 you'se lot have gone plant mad - looks amazing J. Love the little ladies in there - I think I can pick one from each of your spawn logs! just lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Just got a couple of Opaque ladeez to add (fishing them out of outdoor pond tomorrow Here's another video... I'm so proud of my efforts I can't stop showing it off. Also can't believe I resisted substrate and REAL plants for so long http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93BTPDpWPo'scuse my finger covering the lens for the 1st half *lol* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 I'm almost decided that I'll use this method for my next scape... I will adapt it though to ensure that it will meet all of my needs. I think you will like my new scape :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 What will you change Matt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 (edited) I'll make the base layer of sand thicker to elabate my substrate, I'll also mix in some chelated micro nutrients with some coconut fibre to ensure I don't run out of that. I will also probably add some work castings or mineralized top soil for bonding sites for nutrients to prevent excess nutrients leaching out.Oh and I will also add KSO4 to ensure I don't run out of K, that's a problem even in tanks with soil, it isn't present in large amounts in fish food and is a macro nutrient so it gets rapidly depleted from the substrate. Edited December 26, 2011 by Matt_95 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Hey Jarrod, Any updates? I ended up using aquasoil rather than this mix. Any algae? What are you dosing and how much? Any signs of defiancy? PS I went and looked up what blood and bone has, it has 14% N and 10% P but virtually no K so I was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Hey Matt, Growth rates are great. Everything is pearling away. I have recently had another big outbreak of hairgrass, so have been manually removing it and spot dosing with 6% H2O2. Not dosing the tank, as the whole idea of this substrate was that it didn't need ferts. No signs of defiancy. Using 2 bottles of DIY CO2... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 You mean hair algae? That indicates something is still out of wack, your tank should have settled by now although I am not familiar with how long this substrate takes to settle down. I'm tired and can't remember what causes Hair algae, do you recharge your CO2 at the same time or evenly spaced to keep it as even as possible? Have you tried halving the amount of light? I did that and mine stopped growing and is now dying off. I am now using 2 tubes 6700k and two actinic blue bulbs and noticed no change in plant growth but a halt in algae growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 LOL... Yeah, I meant algae... If only the hair grass would take off. Getting lots of new shoots, but needs to get thicker to be a proper carpet. I started both bottles of CO2 at the same time. Learnt my lesson and now alternate the changes to one per week. I am thinking the amount of light may be my problem. I think I will put the 2 Actinic blue tubes back in and stagger the lighting with timers. It is the only thing I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 It takes a while to get established doesn't it? What I do is use a four hour siesta to allow the CO2 levels to recover and stops the ph getting to high. You turn the lights on for four hours in the morning then 4 hours off (Diana says in tropical environments this could stimulate rains that happen nearly everyday in some areas) then 4 hours on again. Plants can't use much if any of the light from actinic blue bulbs, it's for the benefit of our eyes only, the nm range of actinic blues is not used by plants. I believe they emit light at around 460nm from memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Yeah, I ripped the actinic blue lights out because I thought it was mainly for corals. Mind you, I could use them to simulate dawn/storm/twillight/moonlight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 What did you end up doing Jarrod? How are all the new plants you got at the meet going? Any pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 (edited) Decreased the amount of light. Still manually removing and spot dosing algae (it is slowly disappearing.) No pictures for now, but the plants are doing well. Thanks :D Edited January 23, 2012 by shadoh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted May 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 So - Everything in this tank is now dead. After so much hard work and effort, it became neglected over the past few months due to more pressing demands on my time. It is beyond repair, so in the coming weeks, I will be stripping everything out and starting from scratch again. Watch this space... J PS: By everything being dead, I am referring to plants. Fish are still going strong and have been moved into other tanks :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelbourneGlobal Posted May 11, 2013 Report Share Posted May 11, 2013 That was a sad end to a really cool read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrefly Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Opportunity to try something new now Jarrod :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted May 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Is it wrong to want to re-create it? Lol. I loved it the way it was... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrefly Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 I have some HM in the garden still if you want it :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Yeah go on. Make it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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