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Taking a step forward as aspiring aquascaper

R

rion_bio

New Member
Joined
18 Feb 2024
Messages
6
Location
South Africa
I live in South Africa and have been watching mainstream aquascaping YT channels like mad, the last 2 years. However, I am only an aspiring aquascaper as I have been hesitant to take on the hobby. High temperatures in my home and high cost are some limiting factors preventing me from “taking the plunge”. I am hoping that this forum can allay some of my fears. Regards.
 
Mike Singh said:
Hi Rion
Welcome. How hot will your aquarium water get?
Click to expand...
Mike, thanks for asking. Temperatures will easily fluctuate around 30 degrees C. Question I have is what plants and aquatic fish and shrimp as well as snails even, could be kept under such conditions for a week until temps drop, if any?
 
Welcome!
rion_bio said:
high cost
Click to expand...
I'm sure there are plenty of us here who this is an issue for. I don't know what the market is like in SA but second hand is the way to go here. My tip would be to look out for whole setups secondhand, and then upgrade with secondhand equipment from there. I recently paid £70 for an entire shallow 60 set up including a large piece of bogwood and aquasoil, lily pipes, canister filter, LED the lot. The other advantage of buying complete setups is that you actually know the price. I have upgraded gradually and ended up spending more in the long run than if I had bought a complete setup for a couple of hundred.

Fb marketplace is good in the UK. In fact, my brother is in Australia and I got my Chihiros wrgb on Facebook marketplace in Australia ,via him and then a visiting family member to get it back to the UK. My whole setup I got for maybe 35% the new prices.

I'd say too that if scaping is your bag, over keeping particular fish, then you can get a lot of enjoyment out of a smaller size tank (even a 30 cube, or 45p) and smaller does generally equate to cheaper despite temptation to just keep going a little bigger a little bigger. If you've been avidly watching YT you'll have seem some pretty awesome small tanks
 
rion_bio said:
Mike, thanks for asking. Temperatures will easily fluctuate around 30 degrees C. Question I have is what plants and aquatic fish and shrimp as well as snails even, could be kept under such conditions for a week until temps drop, if any?
Click to expand...
I vaguely remember some species of Cryptocornyne may tolerate that so of heat. I’ve read about aquarists in America using chillers to keep the water inflow to their tanks cooler.
Could you find native species of aquatic plants and fish that are used to that heat?
 
Thanks Richard and Mike.

I don’t know what the used aquascaping scene is like in SA and have not heard of Fb Marketplace being a thing here; hobby pretty new here and I won’t hold my breath. Thing is I cannot afford to spend anything especially if expensive plants from local suppliers, ADA or Tropica die due to temperatures. I am however looking at no larger than 45-p. A new ADA however, is currently on special in the country.

Mike, I know we have some native aquatic plants but also many exotic plants. This is a good idea nonetheless. I will see if I can find temperature ranges on cultivated hobby plants but were hoping some experts could point to an info source on this. Fish-wise we do not have colourful native fish. I have seen freshwater shrimp though that’s native and could work. Thing is we do not know temp ranges. Chiller-wise is a no-go as the proces are very high. I am however, considering fans but the efficacy to lower water temps seems negligible while simultaneously resulting in faster evap. Hmmmm…
 
I also started this the last year. My first tank was 800 liters and the second 60.
So my advise dont go a for small tank. It is much easier with big tank to balance it and release your creativity. If you could afford go for a big tank
 
Hi, welcome! Have you considered plant growth above the water in a paludarium style? You could grow local native plants that are happy with the heat. The roots are a pretty awesome addition to the aquascape too! Bit of a strange suggestion but Charlie moorcroft keeps tropical fish outdoors in ponds, as he is based in florida - might be some inspiration there. You could also check out south African biotope aquariums for inspiration.

The benefit of using local plants is that you can get them for cheap, or for free. Just make sure you know what you are collecting, and that you are not taking too much.

I also got a secondhand set up on Facebook marketplace in the UK. Maybe eBay might be better for you? Or you can look for any other aquarium people local to you (I did this through facebook) and see if anyone has any spare kit for sale.

I am currently doing my first low budget aquascape and I have managed to keep costs low by:

  • repurposing houseplants for growth above the water
  • getting my tank, lights and heater secondhand
  • DIYing elements like the mattenfilter and backdrop to cut costs
  • using cheap play sand for substrate without adding aquasoil (plants will grow slower but that means less maintenance for me)
  • collecting local native moss rather than buying it
  • swapping/begging for plant cuttings haha
  • buying my tank and kit secondhand
  • keeping the setup as low tech as possible . This means using my dechlorinated tap water without adding things to change water chemistry, and I'm not adding cO2. Using my own water does mean I can't keep some of the species I originally wanted to, because the water is too soft for shrimps and snails. But I'd rather work with the water chemistry and make sure the species I can keep will thrive. And there's less chance of things going wrong!

Hope some of that is helpful.
Good luck :)
 
megwattscreative said:
Hi, welcome! Have you considered plant growth above the water in a paludarium style? You could grow local native plants that are happy with the heat. The roots are a pretty awesome addition to the aquascape too! Bit of a strange suggestion but Charlie moorcroft keeps tropical fish outdoors in ponds, as he is based in florida - might be some inspiration there. You could also check out south African biotope aquariums for inspiration.

The benefit of using local plants is that you can get them for cheap, or for free. Just make sure you know what you are collecting, and that you are not taking too much.

I also got a secondhand set up on Facebook marketplace in the UK. Maybe eBay might be better for you? Or you can look for any other aquarium people local to you (I did this through facebook) and see if anyone has any spare kit for sale.

I am currently doing my first low budget aquascape and I have managed to keep costs low by:

  • repurposing houseplants for growth above the water
  • getting my tank, lights and heater secondhand
  • DIYing elements like the mattenfilter and backdrop to cut costs
  • using cheap play sand for substrate without adding aquasoil (plants will grow slower but that means less maintenance for me)
  • collecting local native moss rather than buying it
  • swapping/begging for plant cuttings haha
  • buying my tank and kit secondhand
  • keeping the setup as low tech as possible . This means using my dechlorinated tap water without adding things to change water chemistry, and I'm not adding cO2. Using my own water does mean I can't keep some of the species I originally wanted to, because the water is too soft for shrimps and snails. But I'd rather work with the water chemistry and make sure the species I can keep will thrive. And there's less chance of things going wrong!

Hope some of that is helpful.
Good luck :)
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for that insightful response! Few steps closer to making aquascaping a reality. Thanks everybody.
 
Hi Rion
I would suggest visiting a few aquarium shops and they should be able to point you in the right direction re local aquascapers or advise on suitable temperature tolerant fishes and plants.
 
megwattscreative said:
Using my own water does mean I can't keep some of the species I originally wanted to, because the water is too soft for shrimps and snails.
Click to expand...
Hi,
You could purchase 500g each of Calcium Sulphate and Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salts) for a little over a tenner and adding a small quantity of each to your water change water, to bring your dGH up to 4 or 5 will enable you to do this.
I can see you are trying to keep costs to the minimum but these salts should last you a good few years depending on the frequency of your water changes. Adding these salts does not take you out of the low tech bracket but will reward you with option to keep a much wider variety of critters.
Cheers!
 
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