# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Nature Aquarium - First Attempt



## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

This is my first "serious" attempt at a nature aquarium.

 

Flora - Microsorium pteropus on wood, Sagittaria platyphylla, Crinum calimistratum
Fauna - Paracheirodon axelrodi, Caradina japonica

Tank - 32"L x 20"H x 14"W (125 litre, 34 US Gallon)
Water - pH 6.5, KH 3.5, GH 6, CO2 30ppm, NO3 10-20ppm, PO4 1-2ppm
Light - 4 x 18W T8 full-spectrum 6500K and 7500K
CO2 - 500g pressurized refillable - 1 bubble per second
Substrate - Dennerle Deponit, 1-3mm black quartz, 25W substrate heater cable
Fertilisation - KNO3, KH2PO4, Dennerle A1, S7, E15, V30

The sag grows like crazy; I have to thin it out by around a third every fortnight. I exchange the surplus plants for credit in my LFS which pays for my expensive Dennerle fertilisers, "what goes around, comes around". That said - I intend replacing the Dennerle products with Plantex CSM+B when they run out. Slowly the UK is catching on to EI.

Long-term I would like to replace the sag with a smaller leafed plant i.e. glosso or HC. Thankfully HC is fairly cheap here in the UK - I understand it is very expensive in the US.

Constructive criticisms, feedback and questions more than welcome. 
Thanks for looking.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

> I have to thin it out by around a third every fortnight.


i have no clue how long that is, but it sounds like it's a pain anyways









yes! hc is very expensive here. it usually goes for around 20 dollars for a 4inch by 2 inch section.

my only constructive critisism is:

the plants are very close as far as color and leaf structure. if i were you, i would also use a plant that is possibly darker green or red with small leaves. i think it would break up the aquascape and make it look better, but it looks awesome as it is right now!!


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

> Originally posted by russell:
> i have no clue how long that is, but it sounds like it's a pain anyways


Thanks russell

fortnight = 2 weeks

It's not as high maint as it may sound. I simply cut the runners on the oldest, largest plants and slowly pull them out. This allows the younger, smaller plants to spread and the process is repeated two weeks later. I dare it is no more a pain than pruning/re-planting stem plants









I 100% agree with you on the colour, structure thing. That is why I am considering glosso or HC. Personally I'm not a fan of red plants, I prefer to use the fish to provide the non-green splash of colour, I suppose red plants look less natural to my taste.

Thanks for the feedback.


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

The triangular design is a common practice in the Nature aquariums the shape of the leaves are indeed quite similar yet I really like the tank as it is. If you are to modify your foreground with HC probably that crinum will no longer look as good. Once again I enjoy the simplicity of your design and your fish selection as well.
Not bad for a British man!
Regards,
Navarro


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Luis, welcome to the forum. It is an honor.

Floraqua, the dwarf sag and the javafern together make the whole thing look very out of control, wild... like all your hair standing up in different directions. I think if you used a softer looking, shorter foreground, it would really compliment the java fern better.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

> Originally posted by Luis Navarro:
> The triangular design is a common practice in the Nature aquariums the shape of the leaves are indeed quite similar yet I really like the tank as it is. If you are to modify your foreground with HC probably that crinum will no longer look as good. Once again I enjoy the simplicity of your design and your fish selection as well.
> Not bad for a British man!
> Regards,
> Navarro


Thank you very much. I am a big fan of your work Luis, your comments have made my day!


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## Ben C (Apr 16, 2006)

to tell you the truth, i like it the way it is too. i think changing the foreground to HC would change the whole scale, and I'm not sure it would work. 

just out of interest, what substrate do you use? i now live back in the UK and am having trouble finding anything like eco-complete or flourite anywhere.. and i live in London!! 
just wondering if you have any tips for aquatics in the UK? where's good online?


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## Ben C (Apr 16, 2006)

ps russell.. fortnight comes from "fourteen nights". we use it a lot over here!


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

The honor it is mine! Thank you for having me!
Cheers,
Navarro


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## MOR B. (Oct 9, 2003)

beautiful layout, specialy if its first attempt


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## aquasox (Sep 11, 2005)

Spectacular aquascape. I'm wondering if echinodorus tenellus might provide a similar effect with less maintenance than the sag. I had some "dwarf" sag in my 72-gallon. It grew like crazy...the older plants even started flowering.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Latest pic.

I've just planted the Glosso. I've increased my lighting from 2 to 3 WPG and photoperiod from 10 to 12 hours in an attempt to get the Glosso established. I imagine my dark substrate won't help and my tank is 20" high. I'm hopeful though.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

i think your glosso should fill in fine. i can grow glosso nicely with 28 watts over my 10 gallon. 

your tank is still looking very nice. have you had any problems with algae? from what i can see, your tank seems to be very clean.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

> Originally posted by russell:
> i think your glosso should fill in fine. i can grow glosso nicely with 28 watts over my 10 gallon.
> 
> your tank is still looking very nice. have you had any problems with algae? from what i can see, your tank seems to be very clean.


Thanks.

What's algae?









Seriously though, since dosing EI and pressurized CO2 (for about 6 months now) I have never had an algae issue. The bit of green spot algae I occasionally see is taken care of by dosing more PO4. Other than that the only visible algae is on my glass.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

yeah same here. well, as long as i remember to do the water changes


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

The tank looks minimalist with nice presentation. The surrouding dark atmosphere also complement the green-only plants very well. Add the finishing touch blue colored tetras and you complete the picture nicely. Once glosso fills in you will be ready to enter any contests.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Update.

The glosso is filling in nicely.


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## raggamuffin (Nov 11, 2005)

hey i love that tank! it looks fantastic and must be a very nice home for those luck fish!

just out of curiosity, i was wondering what you used for your background, as it looks amazingly black. i like the way the glosso is coming along. i reckon that dwarf hairgrass would have produced an interesting effect, too.


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## KRiley (Jun 30, 2005)

Hey,

Man that glosso really does the job in there. I cant wait to see what it looks like when it all fills in. Nicely done!


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Thanks.

raggamuffin - The background is a thin plastic laminate bought from my LFS. It comes in rolls and you cut it to size. It is graduated blues on one side and black on the other. I attached it using olive oil and a credit card.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Update with new camera.

I'm still not entirely happy with the dark space to the left of the fern. I may move the Crinum slightly to compensate. I've also removed the piece of wood to the right of the fern, I think the layout flows better now.


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## atos (Dec 3, 2005)

Simply wonderfull


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

that glosso sure adds depth to the scape.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Your tank looks awesome! The glosso looks manicured and the Sag looks real good too. Often times when I see the 'dwarf' Sag it never looks too good to me, too haphazard and stringy, but you've done a great job with it in your tank. I wouldn't hesitate to enter that baby in some contests.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

> Originally posted by Bert H:
> Your tank looks awesome! The glosso looks manicured and the Sag looks real good too. Often times when I see the 'dwarf' Sag it never looks too good to me, too haphazard and stringy, but you've done a great job with it in your tank. I wouldn't hesitate to enter that baby in some contests.


Thanks Bert.

The glosso and sag are surprisingly low maint in my tank. I'm somewhat surprised by the glosso's success actually as I only have 2 WPG NO T8 in a 20" H tank.

I literally haven't touched the glosso, I've just let it grow. You can see the slight convex profile it has created due to my 24" T8 tubes in a 32" tank.

The sag is actually platyphylla and seems more well-behaved than its cousin subulata. I rarely need to remove whole plants now, it seems to be almost self-regulated. All I do is pull of older, ugly leaves from the rhizome - the same applies to the fern and Crinum.

The sag and glosso are kept segregated via some black plastic inserts that run between, although the glosso is now managing to "jump the fence".

I'll eventually replace the glosso with something less invasive i.e. HC (cheap in the UK) or hairgrass.

Thanks for the vote of confidence re. contests. I intend entering into next years AGA at least, it will be ready for its final photoshoot pretty soon I feel.

Here's a couple of nice shoaling shots.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

I'm unsure of the identity of this stem plant. I've just bought a pot for £1.69 (US $3) with about 25 stems, bargain!

I think it's either Rotala sp. 'Nanjenshan' ,Mayaca sellowiana or Mayaca fluviatilis. Any thoughts?


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## KRiley (Jun 30, 2005)

Your tanks look great!! As far as the new stem plant I would say it is mayaca fluviatilis.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

What a great evolution. The perfect before and after shots! Like Cinderella! 

The plant looks like Mayaca to me.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Thanks a lot for the feedback.

One quick question if I may? How quickly does HC carpet and how long before it needs pulling out and re-planting. My glosso took around 6 weeks to carpet fully (2cm thick) with 2 WPG to give you an idea of growth rate in my tank.

I assume HC grows on top of itself like glosso and eventually smothers out light. I'll re-planting all my glosso soon for this reason.

Here's a recent photo. I'm not convinced I'll be keeping the Mayaca.


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## sherry (Sep 30, 2005)

this is of course beautiful. I loved it best one incarnation before.. without the mayaca.

At first I thought nothing could top the first version, fern and sag, but the addition of the glosso gave it depth and really made the tank.

If I had only seen the latest version, I'd be drooling,b ut you have me spoiled as I get to see all three and I vote for number 2


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

The new design it's refreshing, the layout as I said before has such impact just for it's simplicity; I don't like to pin point to others what I think is wrong with out knowing more about the designer "layout idea" but please allow me to express myself. Please consider removing the Crinum spp. and the stem plants, some times less is more!
Just my two cents.
Cheers,
Navarro


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

> Originally posted by Luis Navarro:
> The new design it's refreshing, the layout as I said before has such impact just for it's simplicity; I don't like to pin point to others what I think is wrong with out knowing more about the designer "layout idea" but please allow me to express myself. Please consider removing the Crinum spp. and the stem plants, some times less is more!
> Just my two cents.
> Cheers,
> Navarro


Thanks Luis.

Would you keep the glosso out of interest?


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

FWIW, I'm not sure I care for the mayaca there. Seems out of place to me.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

> Originally posted by Bert H:
> FWIW, I'm not sure I care for the mayaca there. Seems out of place to me.


It's gone now. I was never happy with it either. Nothing ventured and all that.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Other than the Crinum, I think this layout looks very nice. The stem plant is in my opinion, can or can be kept. Either way, it still looks refreshing to my eyes. Good job and keep the pictures coming


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Update time.

 

Here's my latest photo. I'm not really happy with it but it's irrelevant now as I've stripped the entire tank down; fish, plants, hardscape, substrate, the lot. I'm away from home for 4 months so rather than trust my wife to look after it I thought I'd use the opportunity to start from scratch.

I'm very excited about setting up the new layout. Here's some initial ideas -

ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia (2 x 9L) substrate with Caribsea Tropic white sand at the front. I like the look of the unplanted foreground that the more recent Nature Aquariums use. Less maintenance too.

Lots of wood and stones.

Narrow ferns and fine leaved stems. Possible some moss covered stones.

Same principles as this maybe? -


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## JKCoyne (May 1, 2006)

What kind of filtration did you use on this tank? I realize it's been over a year since this thread was active, and there being a response is only a shot in the dark. I'm just very interested in this tank, as I plan to pursue a similar design course. Congratulations on a job fantastically done, and good look on your future endeavor.


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