# Moody's nano Journal "SOAR".



## Moody (Sep 14, 2006)

Hi guys,

Well you may remember my last design SHAKKIE . Well i thought it was time for a change.
Shakkie was a sustainable aquascape and hopefully a successful one at that. It was entered into THE International Aquatic Gardeners - Aquascape contest 2006, results out NOV 11th, fingers crossed, and maybe if George pushes it in the right direction, in a future issue of PFK with a write up from ME

So why "Soar" i here you ask!
Well Soar is a place me and my fiancé visit at least once a year camping and we just love it. Cliffs, coves blue waters and sandy beaches......Ahhhhhhhhh.





The design is loosely based on the cliffs and coves that i visit. So i wanted to create a sense of the coast, cliffs and grassy hills with bracken and gorse.
The rocks/stones i am using are collected from the spot its self.This is going to be very simple but hopefully have the desired effect and response.

Ive decide to use some of my ADA substrate that Ive had in waiting. There is ADA power sand special and ADA aquasoil Malaya. I also have a bottle of Brighty step1 which i think ill use on this design.

Then in go the rocks. I haven't even coincided the golden rule, triadic formations or anything like that, i just went with what i felt did the job. I haven't decide if this is the front or the next picture.





After the rocks where arranged it was time to add the water. I used mature water from another tank and no fresh tap water was added. The filter is already mature. I'm hoping that doing this will help keep that algae at bay.



I think it looks best from this side!









Plants

Vesicularia dubyana 
Riccia fluitans 
Hemianthus callitrichoides ''Cuba''

At the moment im on day 2. I will do the first water change tomorrow ( 50% )and then every third day there after (50%). The Co2 has been set @ 2 bubbles per second this should ( guesstimated ) give around 40ppm and on 24/7.
I will dose step 1 after each water change, I'm going to go for only five drop, thats only because there is few plants and no other reason, i will monitor the plants and go from there.
I am lucky to have my Corydras Pygmaeus spawn earlier this month and they are growing nicely. Hopefully thew will end up in the nano if all goes well.

Regards,
Graeme.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Cool rockwork! I really like the effect in the 2nd & 4th pictures. Both ways look good, but that angle really has an impact. I think its because those last 2 rocks look like cliffs receding into the distance.

How big is this nano?


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## Moody (Sep 14, 2006)

Its an 8lt cube, 20cm x 20cm x20cm.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Looks great dude, good luk!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Very nice!... I really like the shape and texture of the rocks, the layout is not bad either


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## MATTHEW MAHLING (Dec 1, 2005)

Great choice of hardscape and placement. can't wait to see how things go!
Good luck as well from me.


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## nevada (Apr 3, 2005)

A good way to start before doing ur aquascaping. I like your style  i hope i have good camera too to start that kind of begining. 

Just wondering, is the CO2 in the tank going to be overdose?


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## YzMxer99 (Jul 17, 2006)

Can't wait for it to fill in, its going to look awsome


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## dougiefresh (Sep 22, 2006)

Great work. I like the angular rock display. def


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## qpixo (Sep 9, 2006)

awesome! \\/ 
I like the way u placed your rocks dude.

As I can see, there's no foreground plants?


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Moody said:


> ........and maybe if George pushes it in the right direction, in a future issue of PFK with a write up from ME


I'm on it mate.

Great work. Should be a cracker!


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## anthonysquire (Mar 15, 2006)

Very nice!! I think it looks great from both angles btw!


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## Moody (Sep 14, 2006)

Hi guys up date time.

All has been going well down at Soar.

Water changes have been done every other day without fail! with dechlorinated tap water @ 50% at each water change.

Fertilizing has been ADA brighty step one @ 5 drops the first week and then 10 drops there after, yesterday i dropped this down to 7 drops. The fertilizer is added after each water change.

The plants are doing well the Riccia be the most obvious but the moss is also growing well.

There is a slight hint of algae on my sand. I have no animals in there apart from some snails ( the curly flat type ) and some cyclops. Not sure what I'm going to do if this becomes an issue, my water isn't pure enough for shrimp and i cant bring myself to buy RO water from a shop, ill be there every flipping day no that would be to tempting!

Did my first test only PH and KH!

The cube has ADA aqua soil Malay. I know this substrate effects KH so i was interested to see what my KH reading was, well the water is that soft that the KH didn't even register, all i know is its below 10ppm thats 0.6 degrees or less, i cross referenced this with my PH and if the KH was at 10ppm this would give me 18ppm of Co2. Ordinarily in this cube without ADA substrate the amount of Co2 that i am putting in would be around 45ppm Co2. So now knowing these figure i have pushed the Co2 up, I have no reading as yet.
Before i cranked it up i was running at one bubble per 2.5 seconds now its one bubble per 2 seconds ( I'm going to increase this again further!).
I have to admit, i don't fully understand the relationship between KH and PH. I know they are linked to each other and have tried reading numerous articles on the subject but still struggle to fully understand the whole chemistry. Any one who can give me a layman's description would be great!

OK OK heres some picture taken tonight.

FROM THE FRONT.


THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, TO ITS BEST SIDE.


FROM ABOVE.



Regards,
Graeme.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

your plants appear to be extremely healthy!!! I really like the rocks and sandy foreground too!! I dont think you could get much more texture from your rocks.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Its looking great! I still like the right hand side best as the cliff effect is more noticeable to me that way. That one stem plant above the second rock from the left is a bit distracting as the leaves are too big for the scale. I love the look of the mosses in there.


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## fishman9809 (Feb 4, 2008)

Holy crap that is nice *excuse my French*


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