Nicky's 422 planted aquaria

[Nicky]

This is how my planted tank looks like currently. Mostly slow growing plants but still need 2 hours every week to thin out some of the plants while changing water. White-spot problems are gone, but so are some of my wild collections that had been with me for the past few years, no thanks to using the wrong white-spot medicine


This setup is about 3 month old. The right top bright-green crop can appear to be a little too "stand-alone" and I'm trying to encourage the ferns to spread downwards to "merge-in"..


This pic is taken using my iphone 4s and hence the resolution left alot to be desired.

[eddy planer]

Hi Nicky

love it love it..how I wish i got this like yours..drooling! Doing this scape like this i'm totally a failure.

Many thanks for upload to share your awe some scape with us, maestro !

[Nicky]

It's easy Eddy.. just got to remember the concept of 乱中有序 and be bold and plan for the mess in the mind everything got to fit in (or so I hope) and there is no need for any clean line.. develop no heart for plant; when a stalk or patch of plant has to go, it has to go.

[eddy planer]

Hi Nicky

The reason why i quit planted tank. I used to have 422 planted tank ( occupied with a lot of java ferns ,nana, and countless of crypts and a single 6" red tail gourami) 3 years ago. And the screwed front wall glass gave way at near midnight. My balcony flooded with lapis sand and whatever come down, whole house power trip and lastly my late red tail gourami 's body was pierced with broken glass.

That's prompt me to switch to vivarium an easy way out! however i do still miss those days and i can only admire other beautiful scape like yours

[Nicky]

Eddy, I remembered reading this accident before where your gourami died with piercing wound.. I'm familiar with the sadness of losing a fish that has been around for long time, and I believe the shock of hearing and seeing your tank gave way must be hard to forget.

There was another story I heard about someone setting up a big planted tank with tampered glass. One day the glass gave way and luckily there was no one in the office as it will be a fatal accident with the "claymore mine" type of glass sizes blastings outwards.

I also cannot forget the sight of a popular "farm" in the west part of Singapore where one of the big tank bulged when viewing the front glass from the side. And that tank was a braced one. This happened 8 years ago.

It is with this in mind that I have opted to use 15mm glass for my 422 braceless. It cost 4x more than those made of 12mm when I ordered it, and I also made myself get use to the slight distortion when viewing really close to the tank. For cabinet I chose to use solid chengai with no 90 degree edges (more for kiddo's safety).

Come back to planted.. when it is done right it can be very rewarding.

[eddy planer]

hi Nicky

if i decided to have planted tank, I'm taking take your advise..I'll DIY using 15mm thick glass to built 522 tank and Chengal rack however my queen is watching me like hawk to ensure me not to built more due to lacking of space for mega tanks! , signs

[sateman]

Wow! Awesome tank! Is that c wendtii brown in the background?

[aquarius]

Your tank looks Nice! Is this a low tech non-CO2 tank and also did you use chiller?

BTW eddy, i can understand your apprehension about going back into planted again after what happened and i hope time will heal the nightmare of that very unfortunate incident. Just a thought that maybe the tank that broke is due to silicon problem and not the thickness of the tank??

[Nicky]

Wow! Awesome tank! Is that c wendtii brown in the background?

Yes they are Cryptocoryne wendtii "Brown".. one of the most common crypts.

[Nicky]

... Is this a low tech non-CO2 tank and also did you use chiller?

It is a traditional planted tank with CO2 injection and chiller. I tried to hide all the inlet and outlet pipings but I have not achieved that in this setup yet.

[limz_777]

It's easy Eddy.. just got to remember the concept of 乱中有序 and be bold and plan for the mess in the mind everything got to fit in (or so I hope) and there is no need for any clean line.. develop no heart for plant; when a stalk or patch of plant has to go, it has to go.

i like this sentence

[felix_fx2]

Nice shades of green there Nicky.
Care to share foreground & the crypt center rear?

[Nicky]

..
Care to share foreground & the crypt center rear?

Dont understand what you are asking for.... can you help rephrase ?

[sherwin]

love your scape... very inspiring