Where it began...
Apologies in advance for the short essay, I got a bit carried away...
Having been a keen gardener and lover of plants and nature my whole life it was only a matter of time before I found the planted aquarium hobby.
A few years ago myself and my partner moved into an apartment and decided to get a 'pet', but as we rented and lived on the 4th floor many things were instantly unsuitable. My partner suggested fish as being ideal, but I wasn't too keen having memories of the goldfish I kept as a child in a tank with multicoloured gravel which lived on a shelf (an environment I now realise wasn't suitable for them!!). However it was quite by chance that one day googling aquariums I came across planted aquariums, which then lead to the likes of the nature aquariums by Takashi amano. Wow! That was it I was hooked. These small works of art in a water and glass box, reflections of nature and its beauty.
We started with a small 30 cm Aqua one cube aquarium with heater as we liked the guppies and tetras we'd seen in the LFS. I did my research, but later on obviously not enough, and I added Tropic aquarium soil topped with a layer of mixed natural gravel. To this several stems (can't remember which ones) and Cryptocoryne wendtii 'brown' were added and the tank allowed to cycle. After this I added a group of six glowlight tetras as these were more subdued and 'natural' looking than the flamboyant guppies my partner wanted. However eventually we got some of these too... Inevitably algae struck, brown at first them others with the stems being struck down quickly and dying whilst the crypts struggled (I now see this was due to the high levels of light and long daylight period). Eventually it came under control, and after properly doing my research, I raised the light fitting and shortened the photoperiod. I also added some anubias attached to drift wood and some floating plants. It was a steep learning curve but after a few years I think I have finally learned how to grow and look after these simple plants and my small fish and shrimp.
A new challenge
So following on from the first tank it was only natural than I got another one! I decided that this one would be planned aquascape/plant aquarium, taking inspiration from the likes of Takashi Amano, George Farmer and James Finley and many others on the internet, books and of course this forum!! My inspiration was to start with the fish and after seeing some Lambchop rasboras (Trigonostigma espei) in my LFS I though they would be a change from the primarily south american tetras I had kept. I had also grown to love the many different species of Cryptocoryne that I had grown and the two went well together in my mind, being from a similar geographic region (Asia).
And so it began, after several months the different components of my research and purchases have come together, and after moving house I am now ready to start. Whilst I welcome criticism, I would ask you to be gentle and constructive as this is my first attempt!
The setup
I decided on a Super Fish Home 60 as it was affordable and the size and style fitted well with the simple decor and size of the room where it was going to live. I was also impressed with how it looked when George Farmer feature one on his YouTube channel and so snapped one up when my LFS first got them in.
After being filled with water and my driftwood pieces for a week I cleaned it out today and began.... I started by adding some PVC mesh to protect the bottom glass panel from the dragon stone which I planned to use. As I intended it to be a longterm project I also opted to use part of the ADA substrate system, utilising power sand special and ADA Africana. This was because of both its appearance and also it lower nutrient content, compared to ADA Amazonia.
I wanted to achieve a triangle style aquascape and so banked the power sand into the back left hand corner, taking care to go as high as the filter casing but not obstructing the intake louvre/meshing. On top of this I added some of the Dragon stone which I ordered from Aqua essentials, although I think that 10 kg was far too much for this scape!!
To this I added the red moor (or whatever it was called) drift wood pieces I had collected, and part buried it all in a layer of africana (although again I think a 9L bag was a bit too much for this!!). This is all that I have done so far as I am now after some cosmetic sand to complete the rest of the open area (I was thinking Unipac silica sand mixed with small fragments (<1 cm) of the dragon stone. So tomorrow I will be going to make my choice and shall also hopefully be receiving some of the plants in the post to begin planting (yay!!). But here it is to date....
Apologies in advance for the short essay, I got a bit carried away...
Having been a keen gardener and lover of plants and nature my whole life it was only a matter of time before I found the planted aquarium hobby.
A few years ago myself and my partner moved into an apartment and decided to get a 'pet', but as we rented and lived on the 4th floor many things were instantly unsuitable. My partner suggested fish as being ideal, but I wasn't too keen having memories of the goldfish I kept as a child in a tank with multicoloured gravel which lived on a shelf (an environment I now realise wasn't suitable for them!!). However it was quite by chance that one day googling aquariums I came across planted aquariums, which then lead to the likes of the nature aquariums by Takashi amano. Wow! That was it I was hooked. These small works of art in a water and glass box, reflections of nature and its beauty.
We started with a small 30 cm Aqua one cube aquarium with heater as we liked the guppies and tetras we'd seen in the LFS. I did my research, but later on obviously not enough, and I added Tropic aquarium soil topped with a layer of mixed natural gravel. To this several stems (can't remember which ones) and Cryptocoryne wendtii 'brown' were added and the tank allowed to cycle. After this I added a group of six glowlight tetras as these were more subdued and 'natural' looking than the flamboyant guppies my partner wanted. However eventually we got some of these too... Inevitably algae struck, brown at first them others with the stems being struck down quickly and dying whilst the crypts struggled (I now see this was due to the high levels of light and long daylight period). Eventually it came under control, and after properly doing my research, I raised the light fitting and shortened the photoperiod. I also added some anubias attached to drift wood and some floating plants. It was a steep learning curve but after a few years I think I have finally learned how to grow and look after these simple plants and my small fish and shrimp.
A new challenge
So following on from the first tank it was only natural than I got another one! I decided that this one would be planned aquascape/plant aquarium, taking inspiration from the likes of Takashi Amano, George Farmer and James Finley and many others on the internet, books and of course this forum!! My inspiration was to start with the fish and after seeing some Lambchop rasboras (Trigonostigma espei) in my LFS I though they would be a change from the primarily south american tetras I had kept. I had also grown to love the many different species of Cryptocoryne that I had grown and the two went well together in my mind, being from a similar geographic region (Asia).
And so it began, after several months the different components of my research and purchases have come together, and after moving house I am now ready to start. Whilst I welcome criticism, I would ask you to be gentle and constructive as this is my first attempt!
The setup
I decided on a Super Fish Home 60 as it was affordable and the size and style fitted well with the simple decor and size of the room where it was going to live. I was also impressed with how it looked when George Farmer feature one on his YouTube channel and so snapped one up when my LFS first got them in.
After being filled with water and my driftwood pieces for a week I cleaned it out today and began.... I started by adding some PVC mesh to protect the bottom glass panel from the dragon stone which I planned to use. As I intended it to be a longterm project I also opted to use part of the ADA substrate system, utilising power sand special and ADA Africana. This was because of both its appearance and also it lower nutrient content, compared to ADA Amazonia.
I wanted to achieve a triangle style aquascape and so banked the power sand into the back left hand corner, taking care to go as high as the filter casing but not obstructing the intake louvre/meshing. On top of this I added some of the Dragon stone which I ordered from Aqua essentials, although I think that 10 kg was far too much for this scape!!
To this I added the red moor (or whatever it was called) drift wood pieces I had collected, and part buried it all in a layer of africana (although again I think a 9L bag was a bit too much for this!!). This is all that I have done so far as I am now after some cosmetic sand to complete the rest of the open area (I was thinking Unipac silica sand mixed with small fragments (<1 cm) of the dragon stone. So tomorrow I will be going to make my choice and shall also hopefully be receiving some of the plants in the post to begin planting (yay!!). But here it is to date....
