Alvin Koh's Journal: 90x45x45cm Planted

[Alvin Koh]

Originally Posted by troyz

as to grow UG is quite easy...
given them lights,co2 n chill water...they will grow
starting is abit slow...after a while, it spread like wild fire

troyz, thanks for sharing your experience.
I am still noticing very slow growth at the moment although there are no dead leaves so far.

[EvolutionZ]

interesting journal bro.. long time no see a detailled journal thread here

[Alvin Koh]

Updates: 9 January 2011

Flora: Utricularia graminifolia
Equipment: Aquazonic T5HO (4x39w), 8000K & 6500K Osram T5HO tubes, UP CO2 Inline Atomizer,
Decoration: New feature rock

My tank has not arrived although I have been in heavy anticipation for the last 3 weeks. I reckon it's due to the shipping delays caused by backlog due to the year-end festive season. The tank I ordered is a standard ADA 90P.


Utricularia graminifolia

I managed to find the Utricularia graminifolia (a.k.a. UG) by ordering from a local LFS (C328). I collected it the next day and despite the seemingly small batch I received (slightly bigger than golf ball), it turned out to be quite a bit when I separated them into individual strands. There were bits of debris and moss tangled in the free floating cluster of plants. I used 2 pairs of tweezers to separate the good UG from the dirt/moss.

I portion the UG into 3 parts:
Individual strands (emersed), small clusters (emersed) & free-floating cluster (submerged).




New feature rock

I went down to Mainland Tropical Farm (at Pasir Ris) again today with my family as an 'excursion' (excuse to look for rocks). I immediately chanced upon the following rock and liked it very much. It was large - 15 inches at the longest ends and weighed 17.5kg. This should replace the previous largest rock I bought (about 5kg). My only concern is the sheer size of the rock could cause disproportion & distraction to the other elements in the final layout.

[Alvin Koh]

Originally Posted by EvolutionZ

interesting journal bro.. long time no see a detailled journal thread here

Thanks! Still have so much to learn.. Please guide me along.

[Alvin Koh]

Update: 10 January 2011

Rocky Part II

Soaked the new rock in bleach solution (1:10 ratio to water) overnight and most of the algae is gone. Just to be safe, I tested the rock with household vinegar and it was inert.

The container I used to bleach the rock was pretty big and I was began to have doubts on whether I'd bitten off more than I could chew by buying such a huge rock relative to the dimensions of the tank.

To put my worries at rest, I tested the rock on the actual cabinet surface to get a feel of its proportion. At first, it seemed too large and quite awful looking. I tried different orientations to make it look 'smaller' & finally settled on laying it lengthwise - this may just work. Subconsciously, I kickstarted my first attempt at hardscaping.

With the main rock in place, the placement of smaller rocks took more experimentation and the process was quite enjoyable. I am glad that with more rocks on hand, it was easier to find ones that match the layout - the search for rocks was rather fruitful.

My final hardscape ended up looking somewhat like a weathered rocky sea shoreline - nothing like what I'd envisioned when I first started. I guess that's what makes aquascaping unpredictable. There are so many factors leading to the final scape.

Please feel free to comment and give suggestions to improve my hardscape and thank you in advance!

[EvolutionZ]

how about swopping the right positon with the left? i felt that it could look better..

[GreenChapter]

Hi Alvin, you may want to put a small, slight longish rock closer to the right rocks, extending towards the left. This can connect the lines and features. Now, it looks like a disconnected story.

[CullTail]

Very interesting journal. Im reading it with great interest! Thanks!

[Freedomivan]

Interesting journal and thx for Sharing wif us

[Alvin Koh]

Originally Posted by EvolutionZ

how about swopping the right positon with the left? i felt that it could look better..

EvolutionZ, I will try to simulate in photoshop and see if I can get it to work.

The reason for the feature rock on the left is also because of the tank cabinet placement, as the right side is first exposed to anyone entering the main door, my concern is that the back face of the rock (which is not as attractive as it looks artificially broken off) will be the first thing they see. I will try to take more perspective photos of the arrangements.

Originally Posted by GreenChapter

Hi Alvin, you may want to put a small, slight longish rock closer to the right rocks, extending towards the left. This can connect the lines and features. Now, it looks like a disconnected story.

I can relate to what you say - and it forms a link to my initial impression of the look and feel, that it looks like a rocky shoreline. Because the rocks look partially submerged in 'water' (black base) without the use of soil, thus the left/right formations look detached.

I found some really small rocks matching your description this morning to place around with the right formation, but left for work before I could find something satisfactory. I will attempt again tonight.

If I cannot get the change to work satisfactorily, I will probably use suitable plants to break the disconnect and improve the flow.

Thanks for the suggestion guys!