# Dong Hu Gorge



## Martin in Holland (8 Oct 2013)

I started to mess around with some stones I collected in "Dong Hu" Park near my home and now they end up in my tank ....
The idea is to have lots of mosses growing over the stones (Fissidens, mini Pelia, Willow) but still enough stones uncovered
The light will be placed from front to back as to give the whole Gorge enough light for plants to grow


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## Lindy (8 Oct 2013)

I love this layout and that stone is stunning. How did you do it? did you pad the side glass or support the stone away from the glass? I had thought of a similar thing but wondered how not to put pressure on the glass.


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## James D (8 Oct 2013)

That should look spectacular planted up!


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## Martin in Holland (8 Oct 2013)

ldcgroomer said:


> I love this layout and that stone is stunning. How did you do it? did you pad the side glass or support the stone away from the glass? I had thought of a similar thing but wondered how not to put pressure on the glass.


 The stones don't lean against the glass and are glued on top of each other...on the bottom I used some 1.5 cm thick foam first covered by sand to even out some irregularities from the stones onderside


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## TOO (8 Oct 2013)

Looks good and different. I am wondering if the stones are not too close to the front, creating a somewhat overcrowded feel to it? Also, would it not create too much shade in those parts? Otherwise, the gorge idea is strong and refreshing.

Thomas


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## Lindy (8 Oct 2013)

TOO said:


> , would it not create too much shade


 He's already said he will run the light from front to back rather than side to side. I think It will look great.


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## sa80mark (8 Oct 2013)

Very clever use of rocks, the idea is brilliant and the moss should really set the scape off, definitely one to watch 

Can you give some more info such as tank size etc 

Mark


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## TOO (8 Oct 2013)

ldcgroomer said:


> He's already said he will run the light from front to back rather than side to side. I think It will look great.


 
Yes, I saw that but don't understand how that solves it - will the light not be concentrated in the gorge? Anyway, a theoretical problem. Let's see how it works out .

Thomas


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## Tim Harrison (8 Oct 2013)

Looks like a really good public display tank, could you give us the tanks vital statistics and stick something in there to give a sense of scale?


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## Martin in Holland (8 Oct 2013)

ok ok....the tank size....45 X 36 X 36cm....the filter I am going to use is the same I used in this tank before and worked perfect is a hang on filter 350 liter/ hour, I hope it will function as before although the scape has changed dramatic and could have a to big effect on the flow for this filter to handle....also using pressurized CO2 and LED lights.

I am trying a dry start, hope this work for my mosses


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## siddaa1 (15 Oct 2013)

I really like this.


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## Orlando (15 Oct 2013)

Wow, very impressive. This is one of those tanks that turns into magic. Its going to be spectacular, I just know it is.


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## Martin in Holland (15 Oct 2013)

thanks you guys / girls.....
1 week has past now but the moss still didn't attaché to the rocks, I will give it another week .....if it still doesn't attaché I will glue it with superglue


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## steveno (15 Oct 2013)

love the hard scape setup, cant wait to see how this turns out... good luck with the attaching the moss...


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## Martin in Holland (27 Oct 2013)

The moss didn't want to stick to the rocks, so I used superglue ....now it's sticking really good and already starting to grow a bit...it needs to grow a whole bit more, it needs to cover 70 to 80% of the rocks...I hope it will grow fast (anyone here have a good suggestion how to make it grow really fast? I inject CO2 )


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (27 Oct 2013)

Martin in China said:


> The moss didn't want to stick to the rocks, so I used superglue ....now it's sticking really good and already starting to grow a bit...it needs to grow a whole bit more, it needs to cover 70 to 80% of the rocks...I hope it will grow fast (anyone here have a good suggestion how to make it grow really fast? I inject CO2 )



Empty the tank and grow it emersed ?


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## Martin in Holland (27 Oct 2013)

tried to let them grow emersed...they seem to grow better submersed....probably because they came from my other tank


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## tim (27 Oct 2013)

Moss doesn't really like to grow fast ime add more moss for better initial coverage.


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## James D (5 Nov 2013)

So how's it going Martin? Moss growing yet? I'm really intrigued by this layout.


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## Martin in Holland (6 Nov 2013)

James D said:


> So how's it going Martin? Moss growing yet? I'm really intrigued by this layout.


 Moss is showing some new growth but still not fast enough for me  ...I guess I have to be a little patience, which is not my strong suit.
I got some shrimp and fish in it now, also local once.






Sorry for the super quality pictures, but here you can see that the moss is starting to show some growth and the locals, of which I don't know the name....


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (6 Nov 2013)

Amazing rockscape. I really love this tank. It will look even better once the moss is grown, just be patient.
 Easy said than done I know.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk


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## James D (6 Nov 2013)

I thought moss grew a bit quicker but I didn't notice the date you started, I thought it had been in longer than that. Maybe I haven't got the patience to try something like this!


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## Martin in Holland (6 Nov 2013)

Jamis D said:


> I thought moss grew a bit quicker but I didn't notice the date you started, I thought it had been in longer than that. Maybe I haven't got the patience to try something like this!


Lucky that It's not the only tank I have otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to wait too...I know that fissidense moss isn't the fastest grower, but it's the best one for this scape I think


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## Martin in Holland (15 Nov 2013)

I've taken some pictures of the tank and some of the locals....(does anyone know what kind of fish this is?)


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## Andy D (15 Nov 2013)

The scape is coming along nicely!

The fish looks like a type of Loach - Loach Species Index — Loaches Online


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## Martin in Holland (15 Nov 2013)

Andy D said:


> The fish looks like a type of Loach - Loach Species Index — Loaches Online


 
Nice website...I think it's a loach indeed, lets see if I can Recognise them better when they grow up


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## darren636 (15 Nov 2013)

That's a very interesting concept. A lit gorge.


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## James D (15 Nov 2013)

Still looking good Martin.

I'm curious, along the sides of your tank there's a small gap between the glass and rocks that looks too narrow to clean, does the white backing on the glass help stop algae growing down there?


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## Samuran (15 Nov 2013)

I really really like this 'scape 

Well done Martin!


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## Martin in Holland (15 Nov 2013)

James D said:


> Still looking good Martin.
> 
> I'm curious, along the sides of your tank there's a small gap between the glass and rocks that looks too narrow to clean, does the white backing on the glass help stop algae growing down there?


No algae growing there as of yet, not much light in that gap I can clean it with a small paint brush though)...I am planning to put some more moss in that gap after Fissidense has grown more...the white backing is mainly there because the few from the side isn't nice


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## steveno (15 Nov 2013)

nice to seem teh moss take root and fill out... will be watching with interest.


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## Martin in Holland (26 Feb 2014)

The tank is really coming along nicely without mayor problems. I forgot to turn on the CO2 a few times and got some BBA as result, but the plants overgrown them and most of it is gone.


 
the HC finaly grow a bit over the "mountain"


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## James D (26 Feb 2014)

Nice!!!!!


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## Curvball (26 Feb 2014)

James D said:


> Nice!!!!!



I concur.


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## Ady34 (27 Feb 2014)

Looking really nice mate.


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## Martin in Holland (27 Feb 2014)

I forgot to turn on the back light...I will take a new picture later


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## aliclarke86 (28 Feb 2014)

This looks great martin, well done

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


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## Martin in Holland (28 Feb 2014)

Now with the light behind the tank ON


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## Lindy (28 Feb 2014)

The last photo, stunning.


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## James O (28 Feb 2014)

Wow!  2nd photo is a *perfect *example of tricking the eye regarding depth of the tank.  And I love the overall look with the emersed growth in #3

Really well done


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## DTL (28 Feb 2014)

Superb!!


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## Ian Holdich (28 Feb 2014)

Not much to add really, but it's looks awesome!


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## Martin in Holland (28 Feb 2014)

thanks for those nice remarks ...


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## cookie3985 (28 Feb 2014)

Well done, you have much more patience than I do and it has really paid off. It will look even better after a few more months.


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## Andy D (28 Feb 2014)

Looks excellent. Well done!


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## ourmanflint (28 Feb 2014)

Very inspiring layout. Really like what you've managed to do.


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## Deer (7 May 2014)

Update please! Love it.


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## mlgt (7 May 2014)

Sorry didnt get in touch. Just came back from HK and totally forgot about meeting up. 

However did visit goldfish street and some interesting scapes from the shops. Focused on Buces this time round. 

Hope you are well.

R


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## Timms2011 (7 May 2014)

Wow, that looks a stunning little setup!


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## ADA (7 May 2014)

Awesome, done a similar thing with my other halves GSP tank about a year back, hers is low tech so not as grown in as yours but I will have to throw a pic up soon.


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## Martin in Holland (8 May 2014)

"Dong Hu Gorge" is no more.....soon to become a plant collection tank in a Dutch style(ish) setup. 

I wanted a tank I could also few from my lazy sofa, which wasn't possible with the white plastic covering the side to hide the "ugly" back of the rocks.


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