# Two sisters



## Martin in Holland (17 Aug 2015)

Started a new scape in the (almost) 300 liter tank. Cleaning out the tank is always the most messy and less favorable job, but when it's all clean again it is nice to get going.

Tank size: 120 x 45 x 55
Filters: 2 Atman canister filters with each 1550 l/h turnover
Power head: 2000 l/h
Lights: 4 x T5 (only 2 on at one time)
Nutrients: CO2 via reactors and PPS-pro for Micro and Macro

I started growing plants in my previous scape to be used in this one also had almost enough wood, I just had the get some sand and I collected stones from an area where someone dumped leftover stones from Jade manufacturing.

After 2 days hard work this is the result. There will be a black back added to it, I just don't have it at the moment.















Water in...little blue light gave it a spooky look

Next day planted the tank, which went pretty fast and easy as most plants were already tight to a stone.







I'm sure I will tweak a bit here and there after the black back is on, but I am pretty pleased with it.


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## Dantrasy (17 Aug 2015)

Man, you make it look easy. You must have had access to a ton of plants!

Remind me of a tank a friend of mine has.

A bit of red foliage poking out from the top would be nice.


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## Martin in Holland (17 Aug 2015)

Dantrasy said:


> You must have had access to a ton of plants!


I didn't even use all the plants I had.



Dantrasy said:


> A bit of red foliage poking out from the top would be nice.


With the low light I am using reds aren't going to be very red, I am thinking in trying it later on though, first want to see how the plants in the back look when they grow above the ferns.


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## Greenfinger2 (17 Aug 2015)

Hi Martin, Love this  Great hard scape and planting


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## Alexander Belchenko (17 Aug 2015)

What is the planted at the back? Light green plants?


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## Iain Sutherland (17 Aug 2015)

love two island scapes and as such love this one, looks grown in already Martin, great job fella.


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## Martin in Holland (18 Aug 2015)

Thanks everyone for the nice comments and the likes.



Alexander Belchenko said:


> What is the planted at the back? Light green plants?


Hygrophila difformis



Iain Sutherland said:


> love two island scapes and as such love this one, looks grown in already Martin, great job fella.


I used my old setup to grow the plants I wanted to use in this scape, so indeed the plants are already grown nicely.


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## leetaylor (18 Aug 2015)

That looks awesome mate....looking forward to seeing it mature as time goes by...are you going to get a carpet in it?


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## Martin in Holland (19 Aug 2015)

No carpet this time, I love the sand as it is.


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## Yo-han (19 Aug 2015)

Looks really really good, you created a lot of depth!

Only thing I would change if it was my tank would be the spraybar on the back. My eyes keep getting drawn towards it...


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## Martin in Holland (20 Aug 2015)

Yo-han said:


> Looks really really good, you created a lot of depth!
> 
> Only thing I would change if it was my tank would be the spraybar on the back. My eyes keep getting drawn towards it...


That spray bar is only now right in your face because the back isn't black yet in those photo's.


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## Martin in Holland (20 Aug 2015)

A little update.
I will take the floaters out after a few weeks, they are only there to give me a good indication about my nutrients level.


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## 5678 (21 Aug 2015)

Lovely!

Some of you guys make it look easy!


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## flygja (25 Aug 2015)

Very nice scape there! The stones you got which were dumped are really good! People pay money for those!


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## zozo (25 Aug 2015)

I never was a great fan of sand  but this scape is realy changing my mind. It's beautiful..


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## timofeje (25 Aug 2015)

zozo said:


> I never was a great fan of sand  but this scape is realy changing my mind. It's beautiful..


Sand is really great, but the particles have to be really all about one size. If they are all different size then the sand loses its permeability and this will be chance for the anaerobic bacteria. This will not look nice nor will it be healthy for the fish.


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## Martin in Holland (26 Aug 2015)

Sand size is indeed important, if in doubt just sift it yourself again.


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## The_Iceman (27 Aug 2015)

This is a good one, Martin and the collected rock just looks fabulous!
You do know that they look a lot like Manten Stone!

2 Island tanks are one of my favourites and your tank size is perfectly fitting for this kind of layout!

Great work!

Cheers,
Chris


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## Tim Harrison (27 Aug 2015)

It looks great, a lovely scape.


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## Martin in Holland (28 Aug 2015)

The_Iceman said:


> You do know that they look a lot like Manten Stone!


I thought so too....I should go and collect more and try to sell them (there is still half a mountain of them, but most are lighter grey, nice ones non the less). It's just that stones are so heavy to ship out  and the cost of that is ridiculous


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## flygja (28 Aug 2015)

I'm jealous. Most of the "junk" stones in Malaysia are limestone or light coloured granite-like, so not easy to use in a tank. The granite-like ones break off like slate, which doesn't suit well to an iwagumi.


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## Martin in Holland (28 Aug 2015)

flygja said:


> I'm jealous. Most of the "junk" stones in Malaysia are limestone or light coloured granite-like, so not easy to use in a tank. The granite-like ones break off like slate, which doesn't suit well to an iwagumi.


Atleast you should have good fish and plant nurseries there.


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## flygja (28 Aug 2015)

Martin in China said:


> Atleast you should have good fish and plant nurseries there.


True, though the fish sold are usually the very common types like tetras and goldfish. Plants are ridden with snails and insecticides.


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## Martin in Holland (28 Aug 2015)

flygja said:


> True, though the fish sold are usually the very common types like tetras and goldfish. Plants are ridden with snails and insecticides.


That doesn't sound good at all. It means you have to wash, wash and wash again.


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## flygja (28 Aug 2015)

Martin in China said:


> That doesn't sound good at all. It means you have to wash, wash and wash again.


Usually a 24 hour soak in a bucket, changing the water 2-3 times works. If not, the shrimps will probably be dead. Plant condition is also important, some plants will melt if placed in a bucket for 24 hours, probably because it spent a few days being shipped in the first place.


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## Martin in Holland (1 Sep 2015)

It's going great so far...I really enjoy looking at it every day.


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## Martin in Holland (4 Oct 2015)

The quality is not great (the sand isn't this white...actually not white at all)....still nice to show I think.


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## tim (4 Oct 2015)

Lovely scape Martin.


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## zozo (4 Oct 2015)

Martin in China said:


> I really enjoy looking at it every day.


An aquarium is more interseting than watching TV series, even more educative then the for ever repeating itself History Channel. 
And a lovely tank like this is even better than watching a hollywood movie. At least this tank has a never ending plot with real characters.


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## Lindy (5 Oct 2015)

I love this. This is the style of scape (2 island) that I hope to have a tank large enough to pull off one day. Questions... How do you address flow behind the islands? How do you keep the sand so clean lol?


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## Edvet (5 Oct 2015)

ldcgroomer said:


> How do you keep the sand so clean


Chinese cheap labor?


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## flygja (5 Oct 2015)

Lovely! Reminds me what I did with an older scape of mine, which I unfortunately changed and its never looked as good. Put some angel fish in there!


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## Lindy (5 Oct 2015)

Any substrate in the rock piles?


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## Martin in Holland (5 Oct 2015)

Thanks for the compliments.



ldcgroomer said:


> I love this. This is the style of scape (2 island) that I hope to have a tank large enough to pull off one day. Questions... How do you address flow behind the islands? How do you keep the sand so clean lol?


The flow behind (on) the Islands isn't much at all actually and it doesn't need to be as I only have low to medium light, it also helps that my filter inlets are at the far corners (behind) those islands which draw the flow to them. 
The sand is staying pretty clean so far, I siphoned it ones but I don't even think I needed to do it as the Amano shrimp are constantly cleaning it for me. Also just as Edvet mentioned, "cheap Chinese labor"...LOL.


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## Martin in Holland (5 Oct 2015)

ldcgroomer said:


> Any substrate in the rock piles?


Yeah, almost filled with gravel and substrate to the rock's edge.


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## Martin in Holland (5 Oct 2015)

flygja said:


> Put some angel fish in there!


I don't think the tank is big/high enough for angel fish and I wouldn't want my shrimp to become food.


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## Bacms (6 Oct 2015)

Looks awesome really like the concept and even more the execution

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


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## banthaman.jm (6 Oct 2015)

Martin, tank looks fantastic 
JiM


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## Martin in Holland (6 Oct 2015)

Thanks Jim and Bacms


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## flygja (7 Oct 2015)

The hobby-grade angelfish don't grow very tall. Only the wild ones like altums will grow to be 10 inches tall. Amano shrimps will be ok... once they're big enough, they won't fit into the mouths of hobby-grade angelfish. Cherry shrimps will be food.


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## Martin in Holland (7 Oct 2015)

flygja said:


> The hobby-grade angelfish don't grow very tall. Only the wild ones like altums will grow to be 10 inches tall. Amano shrimps will be ok... once they're big enough, they won't fit into the mouths of hobby-grade angelfish. Cherry shrimps will be food.


How are angels effected by high flow?


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## flygja (8 Oct 2015)

Sorry I don't know, haven't had angels in a long time now. I guess if discus are fine, angels would be too. I have 10x flow with discus. They can always find a place where the flow is calmer and just sit there.


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## Martin in Holland (27 Oct 2015)

I was pruning some plants in the tank and came across this Java fern which was much smaller last time I had it in my hands....and they say Java fern grows slow.


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## The_Iceman (27 Oct 2015)

Wow, that'S a big one 
Look at the leave size! Nice!


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## Martin in Holland (27 Oct 2015)

The_Iceman said:


> Wow, that'S a big one


That's what she said....(sorry couldn't resist)


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## Martin in Holland (3 Nov 2015)

I got some Angels in the tank which is great, on a bad note ....my moss doesn't seem to like it in my tank at the moment, I stopped using Glut. but so far no change.....


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## Omegatron (3 Nov 2015)

The tank looks great martin!!!

You mentioned that you are using 2 filters but i only see 1 very large spraybar. Should i assume you connected 2 filters on 1 spraybar? If so how does this work out? maybe you have some pics? Im interested because im working on my watercirculation and i wonder if I should use a praybar aswell but i also have 2 filters so then i would need 2 spraybars....

cheers!


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## Martin in Holland (4 Nov 2015)

Omegatron said:


> The tank looks great martin!!!
> 
> You mentioned that you are using 2 filters but i only see 1 very large spraybar. Should i assume you connected 2 filters on 1 spraybar? If so how does this work out? maybe you have some pics? Im interested because im working on my watercirculation and i wonder if I should use a praybar aswell but i also have 2 filters so then i would need 2 spraybars....
> 
> cheers!


My tank has 2 canister filters, but they aren't hooked up to the spray bar, the spray bar has a power head attached to it, this one is separate and only there to give me the flow I need.


 
In this picture you are able to see the 2 in- and outlets from the filters and the power head in the far right corner.


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## Richard Dowling (4 Nov 2015)

Martin in China said:


> A little update.
> I will take the floaters out after a few weeks, they are only there to give me a good indication about my nutrients level.


Fantastic scape Martin, love it! 

One question, the way I read the above is you were using the floating plants as an indicator for nutrient levels in the tank!? Can you elaborate on what you are looking for and why the floating plant is a good indicator?  I've not heard of this before.

Also is there any substrate on the islands or just sand?

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk


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## Bacms (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Dowling said:


> Fantastic scape Martin, love it!
> 
> One question, the way I read the above is you were using the floating plants as an indicator for nutrient levels in the tank!? Can you elaborate on what you are looking for and why the floating plant is a good indicator?  I've not heard of this before.
> 
> ...


Hi Richard,

You can read about the use of floating plants by searching for the duckweed index which was created by @dw1305. the idea is to use a floating plant as indicator of nutrient deficiency on your tank since the floating plant has access to aerial CO2. So if the floating it's not showing any deficiency and you can see deficiencies on the plants submerged then you know it's a CO2 problem


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## Martin in Holland (5 Nov 2015)

@Richard Dowling as explained by Bacms, floating plants show fast which nutrient deficiency you might have in a tank without having to worry about CO2.


Richard Dowling said:


> Also is there any substrate on the islands or just sand?


Behind the rocks is substrate.


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## flygja (5 Nov 2015)

Hey you took my advice with the angels. Looking super lovely now!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## Martin in Holland (6 Nov 2015)

flygja said:


> Hey you took my advice with the angels. Looking super lovely now!
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


Yep, I always wanted Angels and you helped by giving me that little push I needed...I love them.


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## JBronsveld (7 Nov 2015)

Looking great!
Love the look (planning to create something similar in my tank, which is a bit smaller 100cm)


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## Rob Dahl (10 Dec 2015)

Martin,
Boy that was fast. Your first pictures looked like the tank had been planted weeks ago!


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## Martin in Holland (11 Dec 2015)

Thanks Rob. The plants have taken over the tank now and I have to make some changes soon, I want to keep this layout for a long period so just need to re-arrange some plants.


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## Greenfinger2 (14 Dec 2015)

Hi Martin, Fab Journal, Great Hardscape and planting Nice fish too Wow the Java Mother plant


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## Martin in Holland (29 Feb 2016)

This layout is slowly going to turn into a new layout, because I am planning to get some Discus fish and they need some more space. It will still be a planted tank, but more simplified.
This was the first step. I'm trying to do the rescape without draining the water and even leave the fish in (for now).


 
Found a nice piece of wood, went for something more bulky as Discus fish are more bulky too.


 
After poring boiling water over it and cleaning it it went into the tank to soak. 


 
This is the messy tank now, I will do a bleach dip to kill of most of the algae (which isn't much) and snails. It is still a long way from even starting to look like something.


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## castle (29 Feb 2016)

Martin in China said:


> It is still a long way from even starting to look like something.



And yet, much better than anything I'm coming up with.


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