# 60p - "Greener Pastures"



## Shinobi (16 Feb 2019)

Hey guys,

Finaly got some time to play around for ideas for my next layout.

This is what I got so far, I’m currently planing what plants to use.

Will update as it progresses


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## Ed Wiser (16 Feb 2019)

What type of rock is it? Looks like petrified wood.


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## Shinobi (16 Feb 2019)

Ed Wiser said:


> What type of rock is it? Looks like petrified wood.



Frodo Stone


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## CooKieS (17 Feb 2019)

Nice tryout.

The small stone on the top of the right part, Ever tried to remove it?


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## Shinobi (17 Feb 2019)

CooKieS said:


> Nice tryout.
> 
> The small stone on the top of the right part, Ever tried to remove it?



Yes, in the end i found it gave the trianguler composition a unnaturally “smooth” look, without it - but good input


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## Shinobi (17 Feb 2019)

Moved to the tank:


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## David NIelsen (17 Feb 2019)

Maybe a bigger master stone?  so the dramatic effect is bigger and top of with small Stones for more details. just an idea

Sendt fra min SM-G955F med Tapatalk


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## CooKieS (17 Feb 2019)

Yes, now that's in the tank, the layout look an bit flat and the big stone is too low, you could try to make it sit on volcano stones bag to make it higher?

And with sand instead of soil in the foreground it will look even better IMO (carpeting plants will grow even in sand) 

That ada light screen rocks!

Just some thoughs.


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## Shinobi (17 Feb 2019)

I get the idea and appreciate the input.

However,  the plan was never for this to be a diorama style depiction of a mountain, so height was purposefully kept at a certain level to leave room for stems to rise in the back ground. After all I’m much more a plant layout than a layout guy, this hardscape only helps elevate the expression of the plants and the layout should work as a whole. If you ever seen a bareboned classic nature aquarium style, you know what I’m talking about.

Reason I avoided sand in the foreground is because It’s been done and seen over and over again the last couple of years - including my last scape


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## alto (17 Feb 2019)

Sorry for the lateness of the hour 

try adding some tilt/slant to the rocks re Adam Paszczela style 

It looks grand


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## Tim Harrison (17 Feb 2019)

Nice stone, hardscape looks fine as is, I'm guessing it'll all make sense when it's planted.


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## Keith GH (18 Feb 2019)

Shinobi

I fully agree with Tim I would also leave it alone and see how it develops when planted.

All those flat stones in the foreground if you are using plants they could be hidden what do you intend to do in the foreground?

Keith


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## akwarium (18 Feb 2019)

I love it, and I really can see it work with lots of different plant types and species.


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## Jayefc1 (18 Feb 2019)

After the last tank mate I think you pretty much know what you want and how to get it looks good to me


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## Fred13 (18 Feb 2019)

I personally dont find any reason to get a bigger main stone. It is fine as it is. Looks pretty beautiful to me.


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## Shinobi (18 Feb 2019)

Hi guys,

Really appreciate all the inputs and constructive criticism 

The layout will still get some minor changes, mostly added details. To be fair, this was never meant to be a “critique my hardscape” thread, the composition was pretty final from start 

To elaborate on some of the criticism; this is NOT a Iwagumi scape, and as so, terms like “main stone” and so on doesn’t really apply in that sense. As I said, my hardscape is meant to work complimentary to the plants - hopefully in somewhat harmony.

Still lots of room is reserved for planting as hopefully shown in the pictures:


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## CooKieS (18 Feb 2019)

I just found sad to cover that Beautiful frodo stones that sat on the front with soil and plants. You could use some volcano rocks (in French it's called pouzzolane) to support the bigger stones and avoid good soil circulation. 
Anyway I'm sure that once
Planted it will look nice, What's your plan about plantation?


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## Shinobi (18 Feb 2019)

CooKieS said:


> I just found sad to cover that Beautiful frodo stones that sat on the front with soil and plants. You could use some volcano rocks (in French it's called pouzzolane) to support the bigger stones and avoid good soil circulation.
> Anyway I'm sure that once
> Planted it will look nice, What's your plan about plantation?



If Tropica have everything in stock, this is the list:

Potted or Other:

Bucephalandra sp. 'Red x3

Myriophyllum mattogrossense x4

Riccardia chamedryfolia x3

Hemianthus micranthemoides x 2

Eleocharis montevidensis x 3

1-2-Grow:

Staurogyne repens x2

Ranunculus inundatus x1

Glossostigma elatinoides x4

Littorella uniflora x2


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## Keith GH (19 Feb 2019)

Shinobi

I like every aspect about your tank, very careful planting will only improve on every thing you have done so far.

Keith


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## alto (19 Feb 2019)

New photos show scape so much better

Plant comments  

Myriophyllum mattogrossense x4 - this is such a weed, I can’t see needing more than 2 pots for a 60P

Hemianthus micranthemoides x 2 - again, fast growing weed that will grow from just a few cm of stem, so you could easily go with a single pot

Eleocharis montevidensis - depending on your design, could easily increase this as these pots often seem sparse 
(I got a couple of “short” pots recently that seemed much more “stem” dense than their taller cousins)

(I’m still in budget tank mode  )

Are you doing an online order? Or in shop?


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## Michal550 (19 Feb 2019)

i think sand would look nice at the front.


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## JustinG (19 Feb 2019)

Scape looks great so far.
Really like the small wood accents.
Could you tell us how much kilo Frodo stones you use? 


Greets 
Justin


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## Costa (19 Feb 2019)

Beautiful scape and tank


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## Shinobi (19 Feb 2019)

alto said:


> New photos show scape so much better
> 
> Plant comments
> 
> ...



I do collaboration with Tropica, so I’ll order directly from them.

Thanks for the plant advise


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## Shinobi (19 Feb 2019)

Michal550 said:


> i think sand would look nice at the front.



You guys and your sand


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## Shinobi (19 Feb 2019)

JustinG said:


> Scape looks great so far.
> Really like the small wood accents.
> Could you tell us how much kilo Frodo stones you use?
> 
> ...



Hey Justin,

I’d say about 25 kg


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## Keith GH (20 Feb 2019)

Sand has a place and that is at the beach.

I rare cases it might look OK but and a massive but if disturbed it can cut a filter to beyond repair.

Keith


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## CooKieS (21 Feb 2019)

Keith GH said:


> Sand has a place and that is at the beach.
> 
> I rare cases it might look OK but and a massive but if disturbed it can cut a filter to beyond repair.
> 
> Keith



I have to disagree at 200% with this. 

BUT Shinobi is an plant expert and his aquascape won't need sand to look great!

Free plants from tropica? How cool is that ! 

Cheers


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## alto (21 Feb 2019)

Shinobi said:


> I do collaboration with Tropica, so I’ll order directly from them.
> 
> Thanks for the plant advise


Well done
Tropica needs new layouts for their Inspiration 

Littorella uniflora - the cups I see locally are pretty sparse, so depending how much of an impact you want from this ...


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## Shinobi (1 Mar 2019)

Plants arrived Tuesday and went in the tank the day after.

Here´s some pics straight after planting and a look at what under the 'hood'.


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## soggybongo (1 Mar 2019)

really like it mate, any reason for not using an inline defuser?


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## Shinobi (1 Mar 2019)

soggybongo said:


> really like it mate, any reason for not using an inline defuser?



Thanks!

I’ve used them in the past, but always found they produced too many micro bubbles for this size of tank.

I’m using a new atomizer from Co2art that apparently has the highest dissolution rate in the world of any in tank diffusers, and after using it for a couple of days I must say I’m really impressed! Producing a much finer mist than even the mighty Neo diffuser, I don’t see the bubble mist except from just above the diffuser so I’m really pleased with it so far


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## alto (1 Mar 2019)

Brilliant (as expected )

How many pots of E montevidensis?

(I’ve planted up my 60P going on a month now, Elatine hydropiper is actually carpeting and the E montevidensis just _might_ be growing ... as opposed to my usual s.l.o.o.o.w melt with this Easy plant 
I’m excited to see how yours fills in)

Solar RGB light?

ETA no sand in mine either


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## Shinobi (1 Mar 2019)

alto said:


> Brilliant (as expected )
> 
> How many pots of E montevidensis?
> 
> ...



Thanks man! Appreciate it.

I think I’ve used 5 pots in this layout.

EP is really slow and picky about heat conditions, but once it gets going it’s a real nice carpeting plant. I preferred the “glossy” look of glossestigma in this layout, also after seing it at the Nature Gallery In Japan and admiring how low and dense they where able to keep it, I’d had to challenge myself to try that. 

To soon to say anything about Montevidensis yet.

I use Solar RGB yes. Simply love it


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## Jayefc1 (1 Mar 2019)

Wow man looks amazing already but shouldn't have expected anything else as normal with your tanks love the under the hood look too can I ask what the 2 great things are from your filter pipes?


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## CooKieS (2 Mar 2019)

Shinobi said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I’ve used them in the past, but always found they produced too many micro bubbles for this size of tank.
> 
> I’m using a new atomizer from Co2art that apparently has the highest dissolution rate in the world of any in tank diffusers, and after using it for a couple of days I must say I’m really impressed! Producing a much finer mist than even the mighty Neo diffuser, I don’t see the bubble mist except from just above the diffuser so I’m really pleased with it so far



Interesting...I'm an huge fan of the neo diffuser, gotta try that atomizer from co2 art...too bad it looks massive in a 60cm tank. is it LOUD? (I mean louder than the small misting sound of the neo?)

Interesting plantts choice and placement, can't wait to see it grow. 

Still using the ada ferts?


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## Shinobi (2 Mar 2019)

Jayefc1 said:


> Wow man looks amazing already but shouldn't have expected anything else as normal with your tanks love the under the hood look too can I ask what the 2 great things are from your filter pipes?




Thanks you!

I think you’re talking about the quick connectors on the hoses. They are used for quick and easy taking off the visible part of the hose and glassware for cleaning


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## Shinobi (2 Mar 2019)

CooKieS said:


> Interesting...I'm an huge fan of the neo diffuser, gotta try that atomizer from co2 art...too bad it looks massive in a 60cm tank. is it LOUD? (I mean louder than the small misting sound of the neo?)
> 
> Interesting plantts choice and placement, can't wait to see it grow.
> 
> Still using the ada ferts?



There’s a smaller version than this one, and I haven’t noticed any sound from it. Looking at the front, it actually takes up less space because of its horizontal design.

Planing on continueing with ADA ferts when I start dosing after week 2


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## Jayefc1 (2 Mar 2019)

Yeah I thought they where just wanted to check 

Thanks


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## Ady34 (2 Mar 2019)

Shinobi said:


> Plants arrived Tuesday and went in the tank the day after.
> 
> Here´s some pics straight after planting and a look at what under the 'hood'.
> 
> View attachment 122129 View attachment 122130 View attachment 122131 View attachment 122132


Stunning 
Really high impact well executed scape. Love the perfection of every detail.


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## Shinobi (2 Mar 2019)

Ady34 said:


> Stunning
> Really high impact well executed scape. Love the perfection of every detail.



Thanks a ton! Really appreciate it


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## Shinobi (8 Mar 2019)

1 week update - things are growing fast!


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## CooKieS (8 Mar 2019)

Final pic in 2 months? 

Awesome colors with that ada solar, love it!

Any livestock idea yet?


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## Shinobi (9 Mar 2019)

CooKieS said:


> Final pic in 2 months?
> 
> Awesome colors with that ada solar, love it!
> 
> Any livestock idea yet?




Thanks!

I was thinking of perhaps a group of red phantom tetras, I'd say their shape and colour would look nice in contrast to the layout. Yes IAPLC deadline I already just around the corner


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## Shinobi (25 Mar 2019)

Some buce love (phone picture)


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## Shinobi (2 Apr 2019)

A bit 'artsy'


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## CooKieS (2 Apr 2019)

Clean! 

What hyphessobrycon species are these?


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## Birkefeldt (3 Apr 2019)

Your aquarium as a whole looks stunning. Beautiful scape and very nice equipment.


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## Shinobi (3 Apr 2019)

CooKieS said:


> Clean!
> 
> What hyphessobrycon species are these?



Thanks!

It's hyphessobrycon sweglesi. tank is well due for a trim


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## JEK (3 Apr 2019)

The Glossostigma looks great! Any secret to keeping it nice and dense like that? Never had much success with it.


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## CooKieS (3 Apr 2019)

You can't go wrong with hyphessobrycon sp., lovely choice. 

May I ask Why you switched back to neo CO2 diffuser?

Some toothbrush cleaning will help on those Beautiful rocks. Can't wait to buy those ancient stones, finally found some from a new local scape store!

Cheers


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## Shinobi (3 Apr 2019)

JEK said:


> The Glossostigma looks great! Any secret to keeping it nice and dense like that? Never had much success with it.



One of the goals for this tank is to achieve a glosso carpet similar to what the maintenance elfs over at the ADA gallery have done. Done right,  it can actually be one of the lowest and densest carpets.
Now mine is not there yet, and at this point I'm letting it grow out a bit before cutting it completely down again. It's quite weedy and will regrow from barely anything and promote the growth pattern that I'm trying to achieve. Also it seems to benefit a lot from high light and soft acidic water.

Photo from Nature Aquarium Gallery:


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## Shinobi (3 Apr 2019)

CooKieS said:


> You can't go wrong with hyphessobrycon sp., lovely choice.
> 
> May I ask Why you switched back to neo CO2 diffuser?
> 
> ...



Yes, they're quite lovely and I wanted to try some larger species for a overall different impression - also hopefully get the red colours popping through good diet, for that contrast.

The tank overall,  is in need of a big maintenance. Major trim of EVERYTHING! Tank is still balancing, and as so, some initial algae is still on retreat. It'll disappear on its own once the tank settles in.

I'll unfortunately had a leak from my atomizer. Co2art is sending me a replacement, so I'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive since I'm blasting way over double the amount of Co2 through the Neo diffuser and gets worse dissolution rates - so it's only there as a temporary replacement


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## JEK (4 Apr 2019)

Shinobi said:


> One of the goals for this tank is to achieve a glosso carpet similar to what the maintenance elfs over at the ADA gallery have done. Done right,  it can actually be one of the lowest and densest carpets.
> Now mine is not there yet, and at this point I'm letting it grow out a bit before cutting it completely down again. It's quite weedy and will regrow from barely anything and promote the growth pattern that I'm trying to achieve. Also it seems to benefit a lot from high light and soft acidic water.


Wow that's incredibly compact. Are you using RO water?


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## Shinobi (4 Apr 2019)

JEK said:


> Wow that's incredibly compact. Are you using RO water?



I am - KH/GH 3-4


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## FishLifeLondon (5 Apr 2019)

If you want a low growing carpet, perhaps Elatine Hydropiper would be a good idea. It's apparently demanding, but it's a smaller and slower growing lookalike to Glossostigma, or so I've heard.


Love the look of low and dense carpets, looks much better than the typical rotting and detatching carpets that grow up and up.


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## CooKieS (5 Apr 2019)

FishLifeLondon said:


> If you want a low growing carpet, perhaps Elatine Hydropiper would be a good idea. It's apparently demanding, but it's a smaller and slower growing lookalike to Glossostigma, or so I've heard.
> 
> 
> Love the look of low and dense carpets, looks much better than the typical rotting and detatching carpets that grow up and up.



Yes, e. Hydropiper is an awesome plant, but very small and very slow growing. Impressive roots!

Here's mine;


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## Shinobi (7 Apr 2019)

FishLifeLondon said:


> If you want a low growing carpet, perhaps Elatine Hydropiper would be a good idea. It's apparently demanding, but it's a smaller and slower growing lookalike to Glossostigma, or so I've heard.
> 
> Love the look of low and dense carpets, looks much better than the typical rotting and detatching carpets that grow up and up.




EH does look similar, I have had a full carpet of it in the past. It is a bit to sensitive to heat for my taste, and also a very slow grower


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## Shinobi (27 May 2019)




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## JEK (27 May 2019)

I see you have achieved to compact glosso carpet - congrats! I'm not entirely sure whether I like the Eleocharis vivipara or not, but that's details. Really nice scape!


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## Shinobi (28 May 2019)

JEK said:


> I see you have achieved to compact glosso carpet - congrats! I'm not entirely sure whether I like the Eleocharis vivipara or not, but that's details. Really nice scape!



Thanks man! This scape is going down soon. Didn't really do it for me


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## CooKieS (28 May 2019)

Shinobi said:


> Thanks man! This scape is going down soon. Didn't really do it for me



Shame, I really like the front part and the middle with the Beautiful stones and details.

Background plant selection could be improved, by adding colours with another type of stems and maybe remove that eleocharis or put in the back left of the tank?

Very nice glosso growth btw! Cheers


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## Shinobi (10 Jun 2019)

Some carpet mix love


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## Shinobi (6 Jul 2019)

Got a 90p coming in next week. Meanwhile I'm testing this beautiful ADA "Blue Manten" for future projects


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## Shinobi (10 Jul 2019)

Look who's grown


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## alto (10 Jul 2019)

Congratulations 

Keeping both I hope


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## Shinobi (11 Jul 2019)

alto said:


> Congratulations
> 
> Keeping both I hope



Still undecided. Depends on if I can find the time to maintain both. I'm pretty strict about maintenance


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## Jayefc1 (11 Jul 2019)

Shinobi said:


> Depends on if I can find the time to maintain both. I'm pretty strict about maintenance


Oh I'm sure you can make time they would look amazing if you could


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## alto (11 Jul 2019)

Shinobi said:


> Still undecided. Depends on if I can find the time to maintain both. I'm pretty strict about maintenance


Just do them alternately, establish the 90P before scaping the 60P - which could also just be a fun hardscape dojo - Adam Paszczela style


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