Favourite Anubias species

I thought i'd share some of my favourite anubias species. As for most of the plants i have kept over the years, I prefer miniature plants as they not only make the scape look a lot larger, they also do not take up much room. 

 This is anubias nana petite (or anubias barteri var nana). It is one of the smallest anubias species I keep and a personal favourite due to its size and colour. It can be glued onto driftwood using Loctite or the rhizomes can be buried. Contradictory to popular belief i have never lost this plant by burying the rhizome.

Next is white anubias. Not many plants are pure white like this one and another interesting perk is that it does not grow very large. This plant forms an amazing contrast to red plants and can be planted adjacent to them.

Next is Anubias pinto. This is larger than the white variant and has more green streaked through its leaves. I find this plant easier to keep compared to anubias white and also looks very beautiful. Currently this plant is rare and therefore quite expensive.

[EHEIM OPAL] Deep Blue Bolt

Hi everyone,

A very long time since my last update. I almost forgot about this blog until i was reminded of it this afternoon. Family commitments have kept me busy but i still have a love for this hobby. Here are a few recent pictures id like to share.

I have been breeding and fine tuning blue bolts for quite a while now. Here is a picture of one of the parents. Absolutely stunning.

They have been breeding for quite well for a while now but it has slowed considerably due to the recent summer heatwaves.

My black cherries have been getting darker and darker due to intense selective breeding as well. I have many happy new owners to share these with. Here are six selected for sale during last years auctions. Notice how their shells are so shiny they look like they have been waxed?

Moving to Youtube

Hi Everyone
I am currently moving my future efforts to youtube under the username Emboli Aquatics
I will try make videos in future on things that i have leaned over the years of aquarium keeping to
help others enjoy the hobby as much as i have.

I will not retire this blog but will do updates in my own free time

Thanks

Below is a link to my first video: How to make Mini Pellia Meshes

[1ft IWAGUMI] Bonsai Aquascape

It has been a long time since my last post. I have been too busy with moving house and had to leave for the hobby for several months. However I will still be updating the blog from time to time. I recently purchased this piece of driftwood and have planted it out with miniature bucephalandra species. Here is the tree before and after planting. I will be placing this tree in my nano to see how it looks as it grows out.

[1ft IWAGUMI] Equilibrium reached

Just a quick update on my nano aquarium.

It seems to have reached an equilibrium and is in need of a trim. A few things:
- HC is growing very well under the Comboray LEDs 3+cm high
- Mini pellia is suffering a little with BBA
- Pogo helferi is being overtaken by the HC
- All plants seem to be responding well

Overall quite happy with the progress but it does need some maintenance

[EHEIM OPAL] Sandy Paradise Aquascape

The time comes when for no reason you decide to turn your tank into a muddy mess and do some back breaking heavy lifting and mud siphoning.
Then comes the endless waves of anxiety as you pull out plant after plant and rescue the fish for the inevitable Armageddon that lies ahead.

Here is a list of items that I purchased

- About 20kg of Seiryu/Yingshi rock
- Bag of La Plata Sand
- Bag of Caribsea Rio Grande
- Bag of River Sand
- Driftwood

I love looking at white sandy beaches so I wanted to do something that would remind me of the Isle of Pines. Here are a couple of photos.

Rocks to be used in the scape

Pre-Sand Layout

 La Plata Sand added

Experimenting with sand colour tone

 Full Tank Shot

Water Filled

[1ft IWAGUMI] Algae War Over. Aquascape photo

It has been a hard battle for my nano. The 3 day blackout did not help and killed all my HC but the water changes did seem to help a little. 

I dont know what exactly i did that destroyed the algae but here is a list of things i performed:

- Put in a few fish (pleco + cardinal tetra + darwin algae shrimp)

- Water change with water from my other aquarium

- KNO3 dosing

- Turned UP temp to 24 degrees

Here is a photo of how the nano Aquascape looks today. Enjoy :)

[1ft IWAGUMI] Algae Battle Begins

 Wow it has been a while since I have put up an update on the 1 foot Nano cube.
Sometimes i wonder if anyone actually reads my blog. If you are a regular to my blog please let me know as it gives me motivation to update it more often.

Since filling the nano I have been plagued with problems.

Here is a quick summary of the highlights:

1. HC has finally rooted. time to fill

2. Tank filled at the beginning of August. I am very happy and excited. CO2 ordered and has arrived. Light put on a timer for 6 hours a day. Fingers crossed. Diatom battle incoming. 

3. Outbreak of Rhizoclonium ( I believe that is what it is called). I tried nuking some of it with H202 in a 1mL syringe but ended up destroying the HC carpet on the right front corner of the tank. Now i resort to daily 50% water changes. I have also planted the back of the aquarium with fast growing stem plants. As of today (25/8/14) I am double dosing excel and adding 10ppm of KNO3 in an attempt to beat the algae infestation. To reach 10ppm I have added 20g of KNO3 powder to 500mL of water and mixed it into a bottle. I am dosing 10mL of this solution daily then as needed.

VIDEO REVIEW COB VITAL WHITE AND AROWANA RED

Here the VIDEO REVIEW on the new COB series made by Illumagic. This review includes information on the Vital White and Arowana Red and also shows my aquarium in all its glory.

[Review] Illumagic's COB Vital White and Arowana Red

Chip on Board Vital White 90

I have been wanting to replace the T5HOs on my Eheim Opal 100 for some time now. After some researching there is a model that has a very similar design to the Comboray and even uses identical Rotating Legs.

This light has not been officially released yet as it is new tech but I have been lucky enough to get my hands on a pre-ordered model last week Friday from Dalua. I believe that a there are a few pre-orders left but there is so little information about this light so I will be doing a quick review on it.

Description taken from Dalua
http://www.daluaaustralia.com.au/OurProducts/Illumagic.aspx

This light is VERY interesting but before we get into first here is a quick summary of its features: 

- 4 x 10 watt Cree LED Clusters (Each LED approx 1 watt each)
- Each Cluster contains cool white, red, and green LEDs
- 60 degree optics with each LED
- 6500K Cool white
- 500nm to 620nm
- 872mm x 81mm x 25mm
- 40 watt power consumption
- plug and play

Unpacking and First impression

Delivery overnight and upon receiving the light I was happy with its packaging. Here are some unboxing pictures.

The main frame of the COB Vital White looks pretty much identical in shape from the top and sides as the Comboray Series. When Illumagic is onto a good thing they are sensible enough to stick to it. Again like the Comboray series the build quality of the aluminium frame is fantastic. Brushed aluminium curves; screws that fit perfectly, and a gliding aluminium rail that is not too tight or too loose. Perfect. 

Next I move onto the modern looking rotatable mount. The main concern I had before i received the light was that if it would fit my 100cm long Eheim Opal. Illumagic has solved this problem by bringing in rails that extend outwards to fit larger aquariums. If it looks great, then there is no need to change it.

One problem is i wish those rails would lock into place somehow. This would prevent the light from sliding out when playing around with it above the aquarium (for larger aquariums).

In depth analysis

This light is very interesting. The three foot version is composed of 4 LED clusters. Each cluster has a mixture of 9 LEDs. The Vital White is made of 6x Cool White, 1x Red, 2x Cyan and  9 empty slots. It appears that Illumagic has done all the thinking for us and have arranged and chosen the ratios of the LEDs to optimally suit a freshwater setup.

Vital White COB Cluster

Arowana Red COB Cluster

Spectrum Analysis

Below is a comparison chart of the Vital White and a Photosynthesis Light Absorption Graph taken from the internet. The spectrum is indeed very close to perfect apart from a lot of green. I am suspecting the spike in the green spectrum are from the Cyan LEDs. The green really brings out the colour of plants but is not very useful for photosynthesis. 

Now compare this with a graph of the photosynthetic spectrum of plants

The first thing that crossed my mind was why the cluster technology?

I may be wrong but it appears Illumagic has done this to reduce the shadowing effect and to allow better mixing of the different spectrums?

Light intensity and overall appearnce

The COB Vital White is very bright in intensity and produces a glorious shimmer effect inside the aquarium and out.
I would not recommend the COB Vital White by itself unless you just want a budget LED that grows plants. It definitely requires the COB Arowana red to even out the colour balance. Without the Arowana Red I found the COB Vital White too green for my taste.
With both lights combined, the plants look more vibrant and intense. There is minimal shadowing and the colour balance is dramatic. If I were very picky I would say the lights still lean a little too much on the green side.
One very cool feature I found was the ability to play with the Rotatable Stands. Rotating each stand allowed me to play with the foreground and background lighting of the tank. Tilting the background light away 30 degrees illuminated the background plants and the difference was immediately noticeable. The aquarium appeared to have more depth and had more character. Rotating both lights forward 30 degrees lit up the foreground plants and made the background appear shadowy and sinister. A very cool feature.

Summary

The COB Vital White combined with the COB Arowana Red is a high performance light for planted aquariums that I believe is able to grow the fussiest of plants by matching their photosynthetic needs. The lights are of quality build, versatile and fun to play with and can be adjusted via rotatable stands to bring out vivid and dramatic lighting that is difficult to achieve with standard T5HOs. If you want all the advantages of LEDs without the hassle or expense of making your own I would definitely consider the COB Vital White and Arowana Red.

The Good
- Great build Great Quality.
- Exceptional Performance. Plants responded very well.
- Very classy rotatable mounting stands. Interchangeable between the Comboray models.
- Extendable rails to fit larger aquariums that do not conform to the standard 90cm measurement
- Rotatable mount stands allow the user to play with lighting to focus on the background or foreground

The Bad
- Sliding rails don't lock into place and maybe could have been longer
- No channels to play around with
- No Day Night Setting