Hi, folks, this is my 90L 18" cube tank with slate hardscape. This post for design concept and prep, then will do a post about how it's gone the first month.
Basic idea is from gardening interests, wildlife, woodland, plus small bulbs and alpines. Our garden has an informal feel, with some old walls and raised beds. I wanted that feel in the tank, with a formal hardscape and the planting jungly. Like a formal garden where nature went wild. This is my first ever scaped tank but I still want fish in it, a community tank with a limited range of species. Past favourites were livebearers, tetras and corys. The tank is by Blau. I started setting it up in mid-late December, but prep started in October.
Prep was done with two small tanks to grow on plants and cycle filters. A 25L tank from P@H, and a container from the garden, c. 16L, similar footprint to the 25L but shallower. Separate post about substrate follows to break up the info.
Plants, nothing difficult (w. 1 exception). S. repens, Crypt beckettii Peitchii, Lilaeopsis braziliensis, Java moss, Hydrocotyle, Hemianthus tenellus, Buce 'Theia' and, foolishly, Alternanthera 'mini', for which I realise now I didn't have enough light. Some came in rockwool, some in gel. Everything did ok except for the Alternanthera, which mostly melted, though a few bits sulked on for a while. I used liquid CO2. Crypts from the gel melted but have slowly recovered, the ones rooted in rockwool (which were much larger) were fine. Idea was to buy a few larger 'specimen' plants at planting time.
Spent November working on the slate. Loads of sketches. Picked up a four large roofing slates from local Travis Perkins, c £3 each, ended up using two plus some scrap bits I had already in the garden. It's a simple box with a tall backplate for main visual impact. Backplate is c. 12" wide, 14" tall, sides c. 6" high by about 10" long, front of box reinforced by a horizontal shelf about 3" wide. Miliput (a lot) to hold it. Slate-cutting skills minimal so it's rough; can add more detail if anyone's interested. Basically it's a slate s**thouse. I also made a small slate 'raised bed', which is just a small box, c 3" x 5". (sizes approximate). Idea being to add another level for interest, with somewhere nearer the lights for the Alternanthera. Perimeter is c. 3" at the sides, a bit more at the front, wide enough for fish to roam along and through the planting. Plenty of room behind upright piece of slate for heater, filtration and any other stuff, als plenty of handspace allowance for being a klutz when doing maintenance.
Filtration is mainly old-school sponge filters, (efficient, fry-friendly, and I love the sound of them). I wanted a tank not dependent on CO2 but using DIY while plants are establishing, and not minding a lot of it gassing off because of the bubbling and movement at the surface. The 25L had two small sponge filters, relying on nitrogen from the substrate leaching up into the water, and that with decaying plant material being enough to cycle the filters, which worked ok. The 16L had one sponge filter plus an airstone. In November I added a few small blue platys to the 25L. A small internal power filter came with the 25L so that went into the 90L for modest mechanical filtration and a bit of flow.
The pic was taken today, so c. 1 month from planting. Failed to take pics when newly planted. It gives an overall idea of the design. Effectively it's a big clunky island of slate. Will add more details when I talk about how planting has been developing, which should also show details of the slate structure. Be gentle with me, it's my first time.
Basic idea is from gardening interests, wildlife, woodland, plus small bulbs and alpines. Our garden has an informal feel, with some old walls and raised beds. I wanted that feel in the tank, with a formal hardscape and the planting jungly. Like a formal garden where nature went wild. This is my first ever scaped tank but I still want fish in it, a community tank with a limited range of species. Past favourites were livebearers, tetras and corys. The tank is by Blau. I started setting it up in mid-late December, but prep started in October.
Prep was done with two small tanks to grow on plants and cycle filters. A 25L tank from P@H, and a container from the garden, c. 16L, similar footprint to the 25L but shallower. Separate post about substrate follows to break up the info.
Plants, nothing difficult (w. 1 exception). S. repens, Crypt beckettii Peitchii, Lilaeopsis braziliensis, Java moss, Hydrocotyle, Hemianthus tenellus, Buce 'Theia' and, foolishly, Alternanthera 'mini', for which I realise now I didn't have enough light. Some came in rockwool, some in gel. Everything did ok except for the Alternanthera, which mostly melted, though a few bits sulked on for a while. I used liquid CO2. Crypts from the gel melted but have slowly recovered, the ones rooted in rockwool (which were much larger) were fine. Idea was to buy a few larger 'specimen' plants at planting time.
Spent November working on the slate. Loads of sketches. Picked up a four large roofing slates from local Travis Perkins, c £3 each, ended up using two plus some scrap bits I had already in the garden. It's a simple box with a tall backplate for main visual impact. Backplate is c. 12" wide, 14" tall, sides c. 6" high by about 10" long, front of box reinforced by a horizontal shelf about 3" wide. Miliput (a lot) to hold it. Slate-cutting skills minimal so it's rough; can add more detail if anyone's interested. Basically it's a slate s**thouse. I also made a small slate 'raised bed', which is just a small box, c 3" x 5". (sizes approximate). Idea being to add another level for interest, with somewhere nearer the lights for the Alternanthera. Perimeter is c. 3" at the sides, a bit more at the front, wide enough for fish to roam along and through the planting. Plenty of room behind upright piece of slate for heater, filtration and any other stuff, als plenty of handspace allowance for being a klutz when doing maintenance.
Filtration is mainly old-school sponge filters, (efficient, fry-friendly, and I love the sound of them). I wanted a tank not dependent on CO2 but using DIY while plants are establishing, and not minding a lot of it gassing off because of the bubbling and movement at the surface. The 25L had two small sponge filters, relying on nitrogen from the substrate leaching up into the water, and that with decaying plant material being enough to cycle the filters, which worked ok. The 16L had one sponge filter plus an airstone. In November I added a few small blue platys to the 25L. A small internal power filter came with the 25L so that went into the 90L for modest mechanical filtration and a bit of flow.
The pic was taken today, so c. 1 month from planting. Failed to take pics when newly planted. It gives an overall idea of the design. Effectively it's a big clunky island of slate. Will add more details when I talk about how planting has been developing, which should also show details of the slate structure. Be gentle with me, it's my first time.
works well with the Cardinals too!