Monday 19 January 2009

New Layout


It's been barely a week and this tank has already undergone a makeover. Redoing the layout was quite easy since everything is on driftwood. Did try a couple of times to rearrange the ferns within the tank but nothing would work considering how narrow the tanks. The ferns and driftwood it was attached to was simply too large.

Since the Significant Other wasn't feeling too well, it was a matter of convenience to get the plants changed. Brought it back to the farm and they were quite nice to change it even though I didn't transport it right. It's important that the ferns are bagged to prevent excessive moisture loss.

This time it was more windelov as well as what might be a tropica variety. Will have to wait a while more to see what it grows into. But the new layout does look better with the Significant Other giving this a rating of 8 compared to the previous layout which stood at a 4. The variety of plants and the smaller size of the ferns probably did the trick.


As a parting shot, this was taken at night with only the tank lights on. Yes, the tank is just beside this huge mirror in the dining hall.

Sunday 18 January 2009

Setting Up: Lights & Gravel

It's been just over a week since the tank was set up. Definitely an overdue on giving details about the setup for which I must apologise.

First up, the dimensions of the tank:
965mm x 350mm x 500mm

As you can see, the tank is quite narrow which really limits quite a bit on the options for layout. Not very forgiving on mistakes either. The glass is about 10mm thick as the tank has no frame above to brace it. What would happen according to the lady is that the high pressure of the water would result in the glass bending, which overtime might crack or suddenly give way.


First up was to lay the gravel, which I bought from Nature Aquarium at Thomson. It is slightly more expensive than the river sand that we normally buy from shops. This is because knowing that this was to be a java fern tank, the gravel needs to have more reds and be shade darker to bring out the contrasting green. This gravel in particular is unique cause it looks more like fish food pellets - being spherical - rather than the angular types normally used. The only problem when placing it in the tank is that it is pretty dusty. No visible problems though when water was added.


Next is lights. I decided to go with LED because of firstly, it is more efficient and hence will save electricity in the long run. Secondly, the lifespan is much longer. If the hype is true, I shouldn't need to change lights for the next 3-5 years compared to flourescent tubes which need to be changed every 6 months or so. Last of all, it's high efficiency means very little heat is emitted which is of particular importance considering how everything is enclosed within the cupboard. It should save me money on having to buy a fan to cool the tank.

Oceanus LED lights was chosen in particular because of it's unique design. The LEDs are enclosed within the tube which makes it waterproof. If desired, the entire unit can be submerged. That makes the entire unit small, lightweight and easy to carry around. I bought 2 sets from C328 at Clementi and it turned out to be a costly mistake.

With each tube is a DC adapter to plug the lights into the socket. Unfortunately, C328 forgot to give the adapters when the purchase was made resulting in me being extremely horrified to find that no adapter was included. In part, it's poor design on the Oceanus as no lighting system is sold without some kind of power device. The other was me having to rush through setting up the tank. The pressure combined with the shock resulted in me going to the nearby electronic store to buy two DC adapters setting me back $44. Perhaps if the pressure wasn't there, the simple solution would be to return to the shop to check for any missing parts. Nonetheless, after several exchanges over e-mails, Oceanus said that the problem was between C328 and me but they were at least nice enough to deliver the proper DC adapters to me.

Lighting wise, LED lights emit a beam that is very narrow. So unlike conventional lighting, while it is more efficient, it makes it tough to light up the entire tank evenly without the use of some reflector. Also, the light is somewhat blue which makes the fish look a little funny although the rest seem rather fine. If given a choice, I'd probably revert back to conventional lighting for now. LED is the future, but at present, it still has room for development. Unless you're in a situation that demands that type of lighting, best to wait and see.

In the meantime, stay tuned as I bring you updates on the new layout done over this weekend.

Saturday 10 January 2009

Tank Begins


The new tank is finally here! The setup hasn't been easy and I have to admit it's a little overcrowded. But I'll give a detailed account of the entire process. For now, I hope this pleases you. The Significant Other has commented it is relaxing to view even at this juncture.

Friday 9 January 2009

Peripherals

Getting the right equipment for water change can mean the difference bliss and pain. During the first days of keeping aquariums, I'd lug pails of water to and fro the toilet which did put quite a strain on my lower back. Considering that the tank was coming tomorrow, it was high time I got the peripherals ready.


The equipment is quite simple; get a hose that will fit on the tap directly. If that is not possible, then get a plug or a hose connector that will do the job for you. I was glad to be able to get the contraption you see in the picture. It was a simple matter of screwing off the shower hose, screwing in this piece and voila, ready to fit the hose in.


The hose itself doesn't have to be any fancy hose. Just a simple garden hose or something cheaper will do. Just make sure it is long enough. The length I ordered was just a tad short but with a little teasing, it should reach the tank just nicely. All that is missing now is to get the U-tube to hang off the side of the tank and I should be all set.

As a side note, the driftwood still is leeching tannins, albeit much slower than it was before. Hopefully, one more night of soaking and it should be unnoticeable.

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Where The Fish


3 more days till the tank comes! Long waiting time and my mind is still buzzing with various layouts and sorts. Might just want to return one of the java fern back and change it for a windelov.

That aside, what you see in the picture is where the tank will be. Just beside the dining table and that's all my stuff there that you see. Considering how brown the entire cupboard it, a spot of green there should do nicely. But I think the context the tank is set within also kind of limits the layout to a U-shaped layout. A mount or triangle layout wouldn't look as nice, especially with the mirror beside it.

I'm hoping the U-shape layout will let the eye flow from the cupboards to the tank and back without any difficulty. Mount and triangle shaped layouts tend to make the eye rest on the main focal point. A U-shape tends to encourage more sweeping eye movement in my opinion. Then again I might be wrong in all this pseudo-psycho-science.

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Driftwood


Java ferns weren't the only purchase on Sunday. Did pick up a few pieces of driftwood too. At $8 per kilo, they were quite cheap compared to those sold in shops elsewhere.

In my earlier post (History I), I talked of the driftwood floating up and essentially destroying my first ever planted tank. Once bitten, twice shy. Since then, I've always checked if the driftwood was dense enough to sink. Prior to this tank, I had one set up in the office and all I simply did was to silicon the driftwood directly to the base.

This time, I was able to check if the driftwood was able to sink since it was a farm after all with plenty of huge plastic drums to test it out. Sink it did to my elation. Back home, it was into the pail to let it soak. I had completely forgotten that driftwood needs to be pre-soaked to remove all the tannins. Tannins are harmless but it does give the water a weak tea colour that you see above. Not that good for planted tanks.

It has been soaking for 2 days now and the water has begun to clear up. So it's probably set for the arrival of the tank this Saturday. That aside, the driftwood that the java fern has been tied to is somewhat oversized. There's a huge possibility that I'll need to re-tie the java fern onto the driftwood.

Sunday 4 January 2009

Java Fern


I bought the first live thing for the fish tank - which isn't even ready yet! The intention today was to take a look at some LED lightings and it ended up me lugging home 3 blocks of Java Fern and $20 worth of driftwood.


The only reason why I bought the java fern despite the tank not being ready is that this variety of java fern is hard to come by. What I commonly find are the small ones in which the leaves are 20cm long at most. This one is about twice the size at 40cm. If you notice in the picture above, these large ones tend to have split leaves as well. I'm not too sure what this variety is in particular but it could be microsorum pteropus 'phillipine'. Nonetheless, I wanted to reserve the pieces considering how popular it was but the owner couldn't promise that someone else might not pick it up. It's a big farm and not all transactions go through him. I hope the java fern survives the week, then again, it's the toughest of all aquarium plants.

This isn't particularly the perfect buy as I was primarily looking for loose java fern that was untied. But at $15 per block, it really isn't too much of a loss if I decide to cut away the fishing line and tie them myself. At present, they'll sit in the bags until the tank arrives to decide whether or not I need to tie them on my own. The trial setup with them in those bags point towards the likelihood of that occurring. At most, it's a trip back to the farm and picking up more driftwood and tying them on my own. Probably another $10 loss perhaps.

In case you are wondering, these plants were picked up from Pasir Ris Farmway 3. The driftwood was from OTF Aquarium Farm while the java fern from the plant farm just a little further down. If ever one is in need of java fern, that's the place to go.

Thursday 1 January 2009

Inspiration

Been trying to get inspiration. As such, been doing a lot of search on the net for Takashi Amano. The only problem is trying to find articles on him in English. Nonetheless, after several cold leads, managed to find a site or two that provides good translation. The best so far is the Online Aqua Journal that has proper translation and a wealth of information.

Thing is, to be like Amano requires a huge investment in equipment and products. I honestly do not think they are cheating as many people out there have tested ADA products and found a huge difference in the plants. I've used some of their products in the beginning. The planted tank you saw in my earlier post had an ADA CO2 Ceramic Diffuser. Till now, I've yet to see any other brand produce bubbles as small as that. ADA is expensive, but you get what you pay for. Nonetheless, it does not mean that low tech and budget tanks will not do as well.

Was browsing through the low tech thread in AquaticQuotient and I stumbled upon two tanks of which are very similar to what I want to achieve in my tank. 


The first tank you see here is by RuiEstrelinha who took this of his girlfriend's tank. It a really lovely mounded composition using what seems to be the common java fern (microsorum pteropus). You can tell it's a fern just by the spores on the underside of the leaf. The java fern serves as the background plant. In the foreground is the anubias nana perhaps if my identification is correct with bushy plants (my guess is java fern 'windelov') at several spots serving as the middle ground plant. Together with the drift wood, it makes a splendid landscape. 


This next tank is also his girlfriend's too but an earlier setup. I'd put this as a cross between a triangle and U-shaped composition. Not as fantastic as the earlier one but still just as nice. A reason why this may not look as good is simply because of the mismatch of the bushy plant in the centre. It does not blend well with either the anubias or java fern breaking the harmony. Also, notice how the plants are delineated in front exposing a strip of gravel. There's nothing wrong with bare gravel, but such a straight line does not occur in nature and hence spoils the overall landscape.

Do check out his blog although it's entirely in Spanish or Portugese - I can't tell. By far one of the best aquarium photographers I've seen on the net myself. Pretty neat and definitely inspirational.


This beautiful Asiatic 80l cube setup is by tipoman. What you see here is a thick lush bush of various green plants that would be pretty boring if not for the nice reddish brown lotus in the middle. That's one of the things that has been bugging me, unless I show enough driftwood breaking out from the sea of green, it'll look more like a monotonous but overwhelming green sheet. tipoman also shows how important it is to choose the right fish to go with the setup. The green is balanced off by the harlequin rasboras (rasbora heteromorpha) and the pearl gourami (trichogaster leeri).  Also, note how tipoman also has the same bare foreground but it's separated from the plant patch with nice driftwood arrangment. 

As an update, the tank has been ordered and I've already put out an appeal for the following plants on AquaticQuotient:

Java Fern (microsorum pteropus)
Java Fern 'Windelov' (microsorum pteropus 'windelov')
Narrow Leaf Java Fern (microsorum pteropus 'narrow' [?])
Bolbitis (bolbitis heudilotti)
Peacock Moss (taxiphyllum sp.)

The replies did come fast and furious. The tank should be ready for collection on 10 January. So just a few more days but I'm not too rushed about it. For now, my mind is still debating whether or not LED lights are a worthwhile investment.