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This is a true non CO2 low tech approach. Soil is aDA aqua soil, tank is 60x45x10cm, a single small internal filter is used, and a light, no other electrical devices are used. I dose about once a week or two,a tiny bit of everything. Trimming? Not much, I thin some plants out maybe once every...

I'd swap some faster weedy species for slower growing and non stemy types. Since you are already neglecting the trimming, maybe maybe not, but the shallow nature leaves less time to between trim before it throws off the scape. Maybe a corner's worth of stem plants, something pink or more red...

Removed all the White Anubias finally. Looks nicer I think.

I'm not particularly fond on unnatural colors in planted tanks, hybrids etc, but I've bred normal phenotype fish and gotten a few Albino recessives over the years, so I'm okay with it. I had a lot of CPD, but you'd never see them. The fish are small, easy to keep as flies, contrast very...

No, this is showing off: welcome to the Borneo forest stream.

Yahoo worksAlbino neons About 150, they do better than I thought they might.

The small ones are just that, small plants, over time, they end up getting much larger. All the so called dwarf and other mini types seem to be much larger after you grow them out in rich aquarium conditions, they might be just stunted and smaller from natural systems, where many of them come...

The scape has a few more months off before it develops, Buce foregrounds take some time, but they are really special and develop into beautiful gardens. Most are just tossed in and the aquarist do not try to really develop and grow the genus. They tend to be concerned with selling them or happen...

I have some CPD in the Quarantine tanks, have had them maybe a year now, took me a long time to catch them and I just never bothered to put them back.tghe past design, they just did not look good nor did they feel comfy. This design, they should. I subjected them to really massive temp flux...

This is that piece.

I'm still messing with the scape and will make some changes as things grow in a bit more. For now, I'm just getting some plant species mixed in that I want to grow in some more and not languish in a bucket or in the Quarantine tanks. I likely will add another emergent branch in the back and...

I'm still messing with the scape and will make some changes as things grow in a bit more. For now, I'm just getting some plant species mixed in that I want to grow in some more and not languish in a bucket or in the Quarantine tanks. I likely will add another emergent branch in the back and...

See comments on using an inverted measuring cup, this should make standardization of the units world wide the same and it's cheaper and easier than any other method. Much better than bubbles second that ADA suggested or pH or anything else actually.

If you limit NO3, you end up with yellowing in some of the faster growing green plants. Why? You have less Chlorophyll. This reduction in N means the pyrrol rings are limiting that Chl a and Chl b use. So you have less green pigment masking the red pigments, but.............you anemic green...

I redid the Blood vomit section, looks much better now, sold 20 small plants= 200$. Still need a nice small foreground section on the right perhaps.

Well, that is the question, what cannot I not grow? Most anything, but gardening with it? Then you are master.

Added some Limnophila "wavy" next to the Blood vomits. I've always liked this plant and it's a small thin row stuffed in there for now.

H2O2, standard drug store 3%. Use not more than 1-2 mls per gallon(3.785 liters). You can use it once every 2-3 hours without any issues. You can see it bubbling(working) right away. Do not overdose: dead fish etc. Otherwise, it's pretty safe. You can also use a 1-2 punch and add H2O2 then a...

Try Mini pellia, Ricciacardia instead of Riccia. Different darker shade that what you have now. Another interesting plant perhaps: Hottonia or Limnophila wavy. Fine textured, delicate and bright white green.

Nice shape tank and nice scape. Riccia is not common much in many scapes, weedy and troublesome for many, but it grows well. Good use of it here. A pipette and some peroxide might be more useful than Glut for spot cleaning the rock. A toothbrush is also under rated.

Yes, like when I had it in the past, perhaps even better. It's a slow carpeting plant compared to the others. It will spread okay, but then takes a few months to really thicken up and make a decent green carpet with no gravel showing below. I had a good example in the past, then I added 100...

Haha, it only takes 35 years of aquarium experience, 20 on plants alone:) Well, I do have a PhD from the top ranked university in the world for Agriculture. Does not help me here though. Mostly just experience and trimming, trying new groups.

Compared to my old 120 Gallon Video also, nice colors, but not like this one today. Same camera and video.

You can see the Erio type 3 recovering in the rear at about 0:20-:0.35 Gets ratty when I move it. You can see the color is the same in my pics, the light bulbs seems to help with the coloration. I think maybe a couple of years ago, I thought the red color was too much, but.........my views...

Hell, this same thing happens to many of us if not all. If not today, then just wait and stay in the hobby longer, it surly will. Seen it happen to folks that made the top IAPLC 20. It'll happen to me and to you as well. Correct the issue, see where you went wrong. Try to avoid it the next time.

If you lost 60 Amanos, and had a CO2 issue, that right there is the problem. The bloom occurs, then you need to really work to get it back, add algae eaters back etc. Once the bloom happens, then you need correct things 1st, THEN kill what is there. Otherwise you waste a lot of time and energy...

TOO, yes, CO2, perhaps lowing light might also make the demand for CO2 lower, thereby making management easier. Root issue seems to be CO2 though in your case/,most cases on some level if the basics are being done. Adding more Amano shrimp can help a lot also to stop new growth, that's what you...

True. Amano has issues still with algae, so does the ADA store here. Some rather bad stuff. I really have not had any real issues over the last few years, I go looking for issues though and help others. I work on seeing if I can prevent BBA and other algae over long time frames, or taking BBA...

Xmas moss is your best bet, can handle high or low KH's. Good CO2= good moss growth. Grass and ferns are pretty though, so the Moss would be the canary in the mine.

I think Belem grass would be ideal for this foreground area. It'll make a nice long term rug. Some other plants around the edges of the wood like you have on the right side, those crypts look good. The Belem grass will match well and it does get nice and dense, even in the plain sand. If...

The Buces look good on the rocks also, covering them as much as you can afford to. They do well in the soil also. If you do this on the rocks, it will give a more aged look to the tank and make it look bigger than it is actually.

CO2 sits about 40-45ppm and the light is about 40-50 umol average for 8 hours with a 0-35% ramp at 1 and 7th's hours to ramp up/down(0-35%) with the ATI 6 bulb config. No issues with algae on leaf tips. The oldest leaves are still from emergent growth, they have a little bit, but not much and...

Yes, George, clearly.......I have an over grown tank that needs more open space.

I could always graft any type of tree nearly to these pieces of Manzy and then I'd have a nice looking tree, even if the wood is technically different, few would know. I did this with my 1st graft.

I'm going to allow the Ricciacardia and the Buces to over take the wood almost entirely. I drilled a few holes into the larger piece of wood and pushed the Ricciacardia into those holes, this is much easier than trying to tie with string and frankly works better. The holes also can simply have...

The overflow and the sump are critical to keep the CO2 stable. The quieter you can get the overflow prefilter the better. Search "Bean Animal overflow". Use something like that and modify the overflow. Sealing up the wet/dry section of the sump is relatively easy. I would likely use a nice...

You know, the 70 gallon tank is a sucker...........I keep looking at the growth that's really gotten dense and starting to take a life of it's own. I was not pleased at the mid point. Now.......well........... The new wood is really well soaked and matured now. I have the new Mr Aqua Soil...

I would think so since Crypts and similar type plants(the Hygro has Crypt like attributes). C affinis is the oldest kept Crypt that grew well for many hobbyists in the 1970's and before.

Hygro araguaia, pretty easy plant, the Crypts take more time to fill in a look nice. But I like this color more personally and Found a better long term home in another tank for the Crypts.

All the Rotala sunset transplants are doing well and no melt. I'll be hacking the Cuphea tomorrow, not sure if I should uproot and trim that, or trim like a hedge. I think I'll try the hedge method 1st. I'll hack the UG and sold some of that and the Cuphea and a few others that need a trim...

I might move the Tonina where the Rotala Sunset is and then move it up front somewhere maybe or somewhere in the back.

Some changes and I have a theme in mind later. Rotala Sunset, Erio Compressum, and Ludwigia sphaerocarpa are all nice native USA plants that have recently come into the hobby via the work of fellow hobbyist. Highlighting these species will be pretty much the central region of this tank. I have...

The elephant noses shall stay, they are pets and I've had them for awhile. I wish they'd eat RCS. They eat brine, live etc, and mysid, but will not touch the live cherries. If I mash the live RCS, they will eat that. Weird. I plan to chose the fish sometime this week or next when I'm at the...

The new plants list and some returning species: Blood Vomits "Tirthuria sp" Elatine hydropiper Rotala Green Cuphea Ludwigia sphaerocarpus Syn. variety Lago Grande Crypt affinis metallic red I am most pleased with the Cuphea, it's really taken well and was very green and emergent grown when I...

Been picking at the tank, have a couple of changes still to make(story of my life). Tank has bounced back as far dosing/ferts, no algae or other issues. Never missed a beat after being totally broken down and set up again. The H araguaia and the Blood vomits, I'll make a few changes in there I...

I like the leaf loss in the fall/winter, signifies the changing of the seasons. Most Japanese Gardens use evergreens to keep the feeling of the garden year round. Nice beech tree, as those branches fatten up, it'll look better and better, nice shallow pot also.

Yep, that was the 2nd water change, I added the wood after the 4th. Tank has fully cleared and is totally cycled already. I just packed the plants in for now, I still need some more ADA aqua soil so I'll pick some up next week or so. It will take some time to get the planting the way I like...

Nahh......I was hoping it would be a bit smaller around the base and then flatter than it was. I'm not entirely happy about it. I'll keep my eye open for a similar piece and I know there are some out there, I just have not found it yet.

It lends well to the shape of the tank. I think we have things backwards frankly, we should find nice hardscape stuff, THEN FIND the right sized tank for it. This makes sizing and modifying hardscape materials critical and also worrying about scale a great deal. So even with 3-4 tonnes of...

The initial plan: I'll be making some changes, but for now, this is about all the motivation I have for today. As is often the case, whenever you touch ADA AS, it mucks the tank up severely. If you redo a tank and re level things, it's mud stew. While this requires several complete water...

Looks like I'll redo the tank not this week, but maybe the next week. Wood has been soaked, then blasted clean, then is soaking now for another 1-2 weeks. It'll leach some tannins for another month or so, but 2x a week 60-70% water changes will not make that an issue.

Well, once you see how it's going to be used and the scaling done, i'll look even better. I find a number of these where I collect, but getting them loose is another matter. A chain saw is of limited use also, they tend to be well lodged into the ground or have some green left, so the roots...

Well, no longer a teaser Bit of a teaser: I'll add a few more branches to this and have them hide the overflow more and the return in the 70 Gallon. Footprint is 24"x36" inches, about 60x90cm base. I walked by the tank a few months ago and got the idea and where I wanted to go with this...

Adding on to what George states: I would suggest you consider some rock/stone to add height and depth to the sediment. My 120 Gal was too shallow to do much there, I even skimped on the sediment depth to max the height I have to work with. With your tank, you can really do some fun things...

Yes, essentially the same.

Take a cooking measuring cup, invert under water, remove all the air, then take the CO2 line and bubble the gas into the inverted container. Measure the total volume of gas collected after say 300 sec/5min. This is golden, it will be the same standardized measure no matter WHAT, for anyone...

I use mls/5 minute, not bubbles/sec, which are worthless units.

Compare the 1st pic and this one above. A lot more growth than I thought.

Yea, but I had my issues with that also. Client liked the idea a bit much. I wanted to nibble down the rocks, but if I broke one the wrong way, I had no real backups. I could not risk it. I also wanted a steeper slope, but he was concerned about having less pace for the fish to swim. I was...

They are very different sizes, but you cannot tell so much after the tank was put together. We tried to use some smaller stones in the front and other spots, just did not look right at the end. If I had my way, I would have sawed the stones down about 10-15 cm and made them flat on the bottom...

I agree about Diorama, I feel it's a bit tacky, but I like it at the same time. So I tend to go with if it looks good and is well done, it is good. But it's nothing we might see in a well done Japanese landscape garden. Some elements can be added, but.........I do not think you would ever see...

Shrimp are effective and then bacteria and microinverts. They break the waste down well. The tank stays very very clean. I could set up a dozen such tanks and maintain them pretty well without that much work. nd they could support high fish loads. I think the ADA aesthetic frowns on good fish...

Slide show is pretty nice and mellow: Day 43 Lava Scape Slideshow by gerrydirish | Photobucket

Other versions:

I keep companion plants out in my bonsai which is really where and what Wabi-Kusa is all about. I enjoy those very much and use aquatic plants instead of more traditional Bonsai herbacous species. A tank this size can do many things and often times that gets away from many aquatic gardeners. I...

Well, for the mor epicture oriented folks, this is a bit more relaxing than video: Nice run of various shots. Now one thing many of you may not realize, I had to fly 3000 miles across the USA and ship/bring everything to this site to do this scape. Not the easiest thing either. Day 43 Lava...

I've had a few Asian folks really hate this scape and the rocks. Mostly ADA fan boys. They felt like I just tossed the stones in here any which way:) They did not justify it much, said it lacked a focal point. But it's clear as day when you sit in front of the tank. Scaping for a specific...

One thing that is interesting is that we have a single type of stone, a single fish species (mostly), single plant species(not including the pennywort), and at a large scale. You can see how the fish schooling behavior is influenced by the scape. If you added more plants and other designs...

I nagged him to tripod and HD the sucker, there's no bad views from this tank really. Each side is pretty well done. It's not a FTS tank. I really do not enjoy such tanks. I need to see and be around the tank. One of the reasons why I cannot judge tanks for on line contest, it's a photography...

Apogee light meters seems pretty good, the local UK folks should all pitch in and then ship and share it. This way it only cost a few $ per each hobbyists. I think 50 umols is a good range once the grass grows in nice. About 8 hours total, that includes the ramp up/down. 12 x 39W but these...

Check out at 8:00 on for the brief version. Card's schooling behavior is now about where you want it. the client always wanted a big tank full for card's that was easy to care for. They move through the rocks nicely and the simple mono culture will rough texture contrast strongly with the...

I think 50 umols is plenty of light. Now on going maintenance routines for folks with such scapes: About 1x every one to three months or so, you will likely need to do a large water change. When you do this, H2O2 and Excel/easy carb will help spot clean the rock and keep it clean. Some harder...

The grass will grow in nice and be easy to care for, you do not NEED much light for this tank. The sand looks like dolomite and then the Seiryu, carbonates also. DO NOT RELY on the drop checker for CO2. Plants and pH/KH are better. Add shrimp soon, maybe 2 weeks after set up.

They do not have rest periods unless you have higher temps or poor conditions. They do not stop growing in my experience. Cooler temps help, so 25C or so or less, they should never stop growing. Even at 30C like my 180 Gal, they never once stopped growing. Since you keep things in the 21-25C...

I'd not worry about the size, they will grow well if you give them ferts and plenty of CO2. 60cm long leaves, x 10cm wide etc if you keep them long enough, Bulbs are fairly cheap. Just wait, they will fill in, I'd get 3-4 bulbs. You can do this now while you keep the other plants in there, then...

I already do 99% of the cooking in my house. When it's 40C here, cooking inside is not fun.

Pennyworts are all NO3 hogs, this makes them useful as "test kits" for NO3. Mic umbrosum is another plant similar in that regard. Pennyworts will go pale and yellowish without good NO3. 10-20 ppm etc. See the 180 Gallon cardinal tank of mine for the lace plant effects, I think you will see the...

Oh, once the ferns overshadow the Anubias, they will remain algae free. Nice new growth on the Java and the Bolbitus, that's what you want to watch.

Ady, what about a nice lace plant instead of the grass in the rear? Once those ferns and moss mature a bit, the tank will look pretty shape, good hard scape and thicker wood choices. If the Bolbitus wanes, it's CO2, so that's you indicator plant. Penny wort for NO3.

I understand, some things I see rub me the wrong way, maybe later on, folks come around, I often have to some elements that are added. Sand waterfalls? I'm okay if they are done well. REcently, addign a non aquatic bonsai tree to a tank, I'm still not okay with that, in a paludarium, okay.

BTW, some hobbyists really hate the rock placement. Haha :twisted: But..the tank, when you are sitting in front of it, is awesome to to look at, the stones look like they go back forever into the rear. The scape will evolve still also, some mini pellia and the penny wort will make the valleys...

HD with more fish:

Yes, this rate is pretty standardized actually IME. I've used my 180 Gallon as an example and been able to compare it to the 1600 Gallon and this tank and a few others. But the large fish school's health is well worth the degassing rates. Current is nice etc. I have used pure RO for one client...

Cardinals always look better against darker backgrounds. I had some other ideas for the tank plant's but the client needed to be able to grow those species, I knew he could grow this plant and it would be easy to care for.

Some pearling goes away when you add more flow. I still have it even with this amount of flow and the tanks at my home. Okay, now the tank has fish in it, he'll add more later.

Well, the Client wanted the minimal work load specifically. n the past, all the various stem plants and other plants he had trouble with took some of the value away really, it can take a 1-2 years for clients to realize this and come to their senses. I cannot convince them otherwise, each...

BTW, this is the same mini hairgrass you folks can get from Tropica, same genetic clonal stock. This is as tall as it gets. If you hate HC and trimming, this is your plant. Also, if you enjoy mixing HC and Riccia etc, and want some other plant mix to hold it down in place so you do not need...

He updated the tank and trimmed, added some livestock finally. The grass is almost totally grown in and looking good.

Hardly done much, plants have grown significantly, added some stumps from the White Anubias on one side, they should do very well in here also. I wanted to use higher light if possible to see how well these species do and if they get attacked by GSA. So far, no. They could easily grow with 1/2...

Th stocking will be done shortly, Amano shrimp and otto's, maybe 100 shrimp and then 40 Otto's, but likely will end up with about 10-20 Otto's. Some Painted Fire shrimp. Cardinals will go at 30 or so a week. About 400-500 total, but this too will widdle down to 350-400 or so. I'd add 100 a...

Update time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIc_5oOMS-Y you can see after 20 days, the huge change in the plant, i's now a different color and submersed growth has started and taken over the old emergent growth. It's now time to trim the taller old emergent stuff down to the same height...

FYI, you might try contacting a local glass blower to make the eblows and then simply slip some vinyl tubing over the U shaped pipe so all you see in the water is the glass elbow. Should not cost much and you can add a flare or other customized things, or dabble with glass blowing yourself. I...

Yes, starfire. About all I use these days. No, we did nothing to the rock, I dusted it off and rinsed it before. But not even much of that for this tank. Yes, the tubing is an eye sore to me also. I suggested a nice stainless steel tubing set, say 17mm ID. He has cats and they would likely...