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My very first attempt - NA Aquarium.

Lee Sweeting

Lee Sweeting

Member
Joined
7 Jul 2013
Messages
677
Hi all! I've been thinking about starting a NA aquarium for a couple of years now but just haven't had the time. Mainly due to work commitments. My wife and i have just started a family and are very settled now. So i thought i would get stuck in. I used to keep basic aquariums when i was younger and have always been interested in the hobby. Over the last few months i have read loads of information, and asked lots of questions, on various forums regarding setting up and maintaining planted tanks (i'm sure i'll be asking a lot more in the coming months). I've really found UKAPS to be great source of information and have found the members to be more than helpful, and welcoming.

I purchased the following equipment with a view to creating my very own little slice of nature.

Juwel Rio 125.
Standard Juwel lighting (2 x 28w T5's) with reflectors.
D-D Co2 set
Tetra Tec EX 1200
Hydor inline heater
Borneo wild lilly pipes
ADA power sand
Colombo flora-base

I've always enjoyed looking at ADA style aquariums, and these have been my main source of inspiration. With that in mind i ordered some ADA horn wood, which i think looks great. The layout that has appealed to me most is the convex style layout. My horn wood arrived today :) so i got straight to work, trying to create something i was happy with, and i came up with this. Let me know what you think so far?

yoTIzDE.jpg


My next intention is to add some mini landscape rock around the base of the horn wood (i'm just waiting for some to be delivered).

I'm planning to include the following plants:

Bolbitis heudelotii
Cryptocoryne costata
Cryptocoryne beckettii 'petchii'
Microsorum pteropus 'Trident'
Glossostigma elatinoides
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'brown'
Rotala rotundifolia
Fontinalis antipyretica 'Willow'
Riccia fluitans
Staurogyne repens

Although these are not set in stone yet ;)

I'll keep updating as i go, hope you enjoy the post.

Lee.
 
Hi Lee.
Really nice wood and layout, with the Seiryu to foot it into the substrate I think this has a lot of potential....most rocks would work well and compliment this wood, petrified wood or dragonstone for example would look great too. This is another great aquascaping wood, being dense it doesn't need pre soaking so no risk of floaters :)
Look forward to more updates.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Nice set up Lee !!!!
we will be waiting for update and planting !
I like your list for the plants. Riccia and Glosso are very CO2 demanding, so you will need to adjust very well the CO2.

Good luck and welcome !
I'll be following this

cheers
Zanguli
 
Hi Lee .:) Love what you've done with the wood. Awesome first attempt and it looks like you've really planned it well from the beginning. Looks like there were a lot of preliminary work that had gone into this during the planning stage & the confidence with which you are carrying this out is enviable. Looking forward to seeing this progress.
 
Nice equipment list. And great wood layout. I wish I came into the hobby pre planning, to try all sorts of different layouts etc. Ill be subscribing to this thread to watch your progress. Well done ao far.
 
How many kg's was that and what did it cost you? Could do with some myself.

Looks good. Guessing substrate will fill the gab under feont right piece of wood?
 
Very very good for a first attempt!

Lets get the planting right and you'll be on a winner with this, well done lee!
 
Great start. :)

My first ever aquarium was a Juwel Rio 125. I have fond memories of the journeys it took me on.

You have a lovely classic wood/rock combo.

Think about your planting i.e. what species are going to go where, how tall they're going to grow and how they're going to impact on the rocks. The reason I say this is because taller plants will soon 'drown' your stone. You may want this to happen but if you don't then you could move some of the pieces forward or perhaps turn them at different angles, so they make a bigger impact. To me it looks like the best pieces are hidden somewhat at the sides behind the wood.

Take plenty of time experimenting with the hardscape at this stage until you are 100% certain you cannot improve on it in your own mind. If you're already at this stage then all is well. :)

Watching with interest. :)
 
Thanks George! I was planning on keeping the planting fairly simple, attaching bolbitis heudelottii and Microsorum pteropus 'trident' to the drift wood. Behind that in the back ground i was going to use Rotala rotundifolia / Rotala sp. 'green'. I was planning on using Anubias barteri var. nana "petite"on the rock work. The driftwood will be covered with willow moss and i was also thinking of using some Fissidens fontanus on the rock work too. I planned to use Marsilea hirsuta as a carpet in the foreground with some Staurogyne repens to the left and right of the island in the back ground. Let me know what you think, any further advice would be very welcomed. This is defiantly the hardest bit, and being the most important element, i would like to get right :D. If i'm honest i'm not completely happy with the rock work. I'm going to have a play around with it some more this week, when i add the substrate, and before i order the plants.
 
I've added the substrate today, and had a play around with the hardscape. i'm liking this layout out better than my last attempt. I'm gonna add some cryptocoryne around the base of the driftwood, which should add to the shaded areas of the scape and also soften the rock work. I've just ordered the plants :woot: so i should have everything up and running by the end of the week. I'll post some more pictures once i'm done :).

http://i.imgur.com/R7C6xgn.jpg
 
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