# DIY amazon root



## neelhound (27 Sep 2009)

Using mopani with lots of bits of carved manzanita arranged around and sealant-ed. Also little tiny branchy manzanita that stays white even underwater. The ukaps manzanita was as good but different so i used it in the other tank.
The mopani was heavy so i needed help and i had vto put so much tape on.
The last picture shows the final product after changing it around a lot( sometimes i changed it because it fell)
Its dry now and has a black background.


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## AdAndrews (27 Sep 2009)

Looks awesome with the black background, get some plants coming down from the surface like Frogbit, that will give it a real river finish!


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## JamesM (27 Sep 2009)

What a cool idea, love it!


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## neelhound (27 Sep 2009)

thanks,i would but im not sure how itll cope with filter output circulation. :/ it would look good though

im also thinking of painting a tree on the wall, as although if your far back it looks liek roots, when your right next to the tank you need some confirmation


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## neelhound (27 Sep 2009)

tbh id love frogbit, itd be great considerig some of the fish im getting like shade, however they would need considerable aeration as they are big, and i dont want the frogbit zooming around lol


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## aaronnorth (27 Sep 2009)

that looks sweet


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## Stu Worrall (27 Sep 2009)

that looks amazing! the tree on the wall idea sounds really cool too


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## Tunafish (1 Oct 2009)

Best root layout i've seen, nice use of space mate!, what fish are you going for?


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## Bobtastic (1 Oct 2009)

Wow, that looks really good. I can't wait to see how it progresses!


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## ScottYalloP (1 Oct 2009)

great looking!


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## plantbrain (1 Oct 2009)

Nice use of the wood in a different view.

This would look good as a non CO2 tank using floating water sprite and a nice darker look with white sand bottom.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## hydrophyte (1 Oct 2009)

That's hardcore. I haven't seen such an ambitious use of driftwood in some time.


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## neelhound (2 Oct 2009)

thanks all,
the fish will be my GT, a knifefish, and an undecided catfish. This tank was up and runnign with great fish but i returned from holidays to find them dead, unfortunately.
I was thinking amazon frogbit but maybe watersprite would give a better look actually. My main problem is figuring out hiding aeration, as with a spraybar the watersprite woudl go everywhere and i want them to cover eveything


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## hydrophyte (2 Oct 2009)

This setup could also look great with some larger emergent plants to mirror the driftwood in the space above the water. Is there any chance you could suspend the light up higher?


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## neelhound (2 Oct 2009)

Its a great idea, but im using t8s, the GT jumps and all the filter pipes and wires would be easy to spot :/


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## hydrophyte (2 Oct 2009)

Oh yeah. You could probably hide that hardware with enough foliage, but your fish would leap out with an open top. What is a "GT" anyway?


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## neelhound (2 Oct 2009)

green terror, hes in my planted tank uprooting things, once hes moved both tanks will look better


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## neelhound (3 Oct 2009)

Ok, i have decided im getting 2 eheim 2080s(used) WHEN I CAN FIND THEM, then putting an eheim diffuser on one and masking that area with vallis on that side, and will be getting many water sprites. Will be using rena smartheaters instead of hydor inline. 
Once I find my eheims, the tank will be up and running in no time


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## LondonDragon (6 Oct 2009)

Nice idea  can't wait to see it filled in and planted, have you tried the roots the other way round?


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## neelhound (6 Oct 2009)

thanks,
and londondragon do you mean like all the great scapes here where the wood is going outward? Im trying that with my smaller tank but with this tanks its already siliconed in.
Im only getting one 2080 and using it with an aquis 1250.
Spending lots of money on substrat pro...


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## neelhound (3 Nov 2009)

ok, the sand is cleaned and in, ive added a piece of thin tall mangrove wood at the right hand side to cover up intakes and heater from a front view, will get one for the left later after it is filled, the 2080 i got is arriving soon then i just have to set up the filters, heaters, plop in the lights and air pump,fill, start the cycle and add n the thermometer. It should be done this weekend, latest the following weekend, and then when the cycle is done i will put the fish in. I will try and find something to take pics with for when its filled, but i lost my camera on a short trip to rome unfortunately


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## Egmel (3 Nov 2009)

Nice and atmospheric, can't wait to see it with all the plants in.

I like the roots dangling down, it's a different effect from the usual and means you can play around with the plants rising to meet them.  It might be more difficult to scape this way than the other but that's half the fun of doing something different.

*Subscribing for updates*


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## neelhound (3 Nov 2009)

thanks, but just to avoid any confusion, its only going to have floating plants, i have another tank thats planted but hopefully im allowed to post this fairly non-planted tank on here lol


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## Egmel (3 Nov 2009)

Ahhh, it's because you were talking about buying lots of substrat-Pro and planting vallis that I assumed there would be other plants.  My bad, as they say assumption is the mother of the biggest mistakes


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## Steve Smith (3 Nov 2009)

It is a great idea, and as others have said it really looks great!


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## neelhound (15 Dec 2009)

i know ive taken a while, but i lost my camera. Here are some phone camera pics. There are fish in now but it looks about the same ill wait for a few more fish before uplaoding any mroe pics


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## TBRO (15 Dec 2009)

This is hardscape on a epic scale, I could well imagine a huge shoal of Neon gliding through that. Well done, Tom


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## Vito (16 Dec 2009)

Very cool looking scape cant wait to see some plants and fish!


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## jay (16 Dec 2009)

great hardscape.
larger rocks?
cardinals, rummies, earth eaters and angels will set it off a treat.


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## aquaticmaniac (16 Dec 2009)

Looks awesome  I'd use a few bigger stones too. Can't wait to see it with fish.


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## Gill (17 Dec 2009)

Looks AMazing, The use of wood really gives it alot of depth.


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## neelhound (17 Dec 2009)

thanks for the replies  ,
ive got some threadfin acaras in there atm, 
i might move my green terror in if he behaves,
im ordering a pimelodus ornatus + 5-6 green phantom plecos, they look awesome and get rid of what grows on the wood!
i really wanted a large shoal but i really cant imagine catching them if i ever have to. I could try a shoal of exodons later because i think neons would just get eaten.
Theres not going to be many plants, right now theres just some hydrocotyle leucocephala floating. Will get some pics tommorow!


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## hazeljane (18 Dec 2009)

looks good how many tubes of silicone did you use??


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## neelhound (18 Dec 2009)

2/3 giant  aquaria sealant ones lol, came to about Â£25 which i think is reasonable


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## hydrophyte (19 Dec 2009)

That's a bold, but very convincing scape--just like something you could see out in nature while out snorkeling.

Those threadfin acaras will look fantastic in there.


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## neelhound (19 Dec 2009)

using phone camera


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## neelhound (6 Aug 2010)

just an update: it now has a black ghost knifefish and a pimelodus ornatus
I sold the green terror as i'd had enough of the bullying, and I am planning on selling the two male acaras as they are fighting with each other and don't like new additions. I will put in a shoal of geophagus/gymnogeophagus

I am also adding large boulders to the tank when i get back from singapore and will begin moving amazon frogbit from my other tank. I know have 2 36w t5s and a nicer wood cover. 
I will also add some plants- either echinodorus bleheri, java fern or crinum thaianum. However the last two are not south american.
I have just converted to RO recently as i need this for another tank anyway and it will cut down algae and be better for the SA fish.
Will take a picture in a few weeks when i'm back and this is all done!


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## neelhound (26 Sep 2010)

Its pretty much how i want it to look like now


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## jay (26 Sep 2010)

Really natural. A great idea done well!! What's the plans for stocking? Are you done now or will you be adding anything else? Can imagine a good shoal of tetras weaving through the roots.


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## neelhound (26 Sep 2010)

Thanks,im done with stocking i think theres a large gold nugget, pim ornatus and black ghost knifefish there that aren't shown in the picture. I think tetras would get eaten


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## GHNelson (26 Sep 2010)

Hi
That's a fair bit of thought and work that went into this scape.... love the root idea...nice one   .
hoggie


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## Gfish (26 Sep 2010)

Hi

This tank has changed over time, and I really like the look and stock of it now.
What Geophagus are they? 
If you're still debating on Crinums, I could really see 2 or 3 of these looking great with the plants you have already.
Well done on a very interesting and effective dispay. My other favourite fish would look amazing in there amongst those roots. Everybodys favourite plant muncher, the silver dollar  black bar variety, myleus schomburgkii are made for roots!

Anyway, thanks for sharing. It's right up my street and gives inspiration for future tanks.

Cheers

Gavin


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## neelhound (26 Sep 2010)

Thanks, they are geophagus brachybranchus and I just got them yesterday, but they have already settled in well. Its 2 wild caught parents with 3 f1 young


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## jay (26 Sep 2010)

neelhound said:
			
		

> Thanks,im done with stocking i think theres a large gold nugget, pim ornatus and black ghost knifefish there that aren't shown in the picture. I think tetras would get eaten




Oh ok. Yeah anything smaller than a rummynose would definitly be in the knifefish. Good stocking though.


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## ghostsword (27 Sep 2010)

I really like your tank, and it looks very natural. This is how I would imagine an Amazon river to be.

If I was doing this tank, and would actually try to replicate it, I would just put tetras or neons on it, lots of them, with some cory's. 

Your tank really looks great, and it is a true inspiration.


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## neelhound (27 Sep 2010)

Thanks, unfortunately i already had soem of these fish in for a while, and even if i did rehome them small fish like tetras would be horrible to try and catch and there are quite a lot of caves and i'd be worried counting all of them every day,
all the fish are found in suriname with the exception of the L018, and all the fish are found in the amazon with the exception of the geophagus brachybranchus


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## Gfish (27 Sep 2010)

Where do Geophagus Brachybranchus come from then????????


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## neelhound (27 Sep 2010)

suriname


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## Gfish (29 Sep 2010)

I may be wrong, but I was always under the impression this was an Amazon tributary ???? 
Do you hope to get a spawn from this group? As they've spawned before.


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## neelhound (29 Sep 2010)

i may be wrong, but i cant seem to find anythign to say that they are from the amazon but would hope so as then they would all be from the same river.
I do hope to get a spawn i'll have to wait and see


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## Gfish (29 Sep 2010)

I think of the amazon as a continent. It's a river system of utterly giant proportions, so its tributaries are river systems in themselves. I forget the figures but it's about 4200miles from start to finish and pours about a third of the worlds fresh water into the Atlantic. Something ridiculous like that. I seem to be drawn to fish from the Rio Xingu which is an amazon tributary. My dollars and my altifrons are found there. And in my other tank I have G. Tapajos redheads and L34 plecs, both from the Rio Tapajos, another tributary. I'm not really into exact Biotopes but there's something nice about keeping fish from the amazon system together in a tank. 
I had a quick google but I think looking at maps might be best to see where the Suriname starts and finishes. 
Either way, great fish mate!  and you have good taste.


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## neelhound (2 Oct 2010)

Thanks, i have done some research on this but just concluded that they are all from south america and generally require similar water conditions


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