# Chris Cummins' small nature aquarium diaries...



## ChrisC (May 15, 2006)

Hi all,
this is the beginning of the build diary for my small (30ltr) bow front Aqua-40 aquarium.  It is mounted on the desk in my bedroom and is my first true attempt at an aquascaped aquarium.

I hope to use ADA products where possible although due to budget restrictions and due to availability here in the UK this will not always be possible.

*Equipment*
I am currently building a DIY fermentation CO2 setup, and plan to use the Estimative Index as a guide for nutrient dosing. The substrate I plan to use is ADA Aqua Soil, with a a 160lph Aqua Vital Hang On as the filter.

*Hardscape*
Using some wood I had lying around and some small rocks (sandstone I think), I made a first attempt. Having never read any of Amanos' books, and with this being my first attempt at an aquascape, I'm sure there is a lot which could be improved so please could all of you more experienced aquarists give me a hand here and let me know what you think. 






Thanks,
Chris


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

That is a really nice piece of drift wood! It looks like it was custom made for that tank. I would however move it up toward the front of the tank just a bit to allow you to put some stem plants behind it.

As for the rocks I like the shape & the color but the border you created around the driftwood looks un-natural. I would break it up a bit so they are at different angles (hard to do without substrate I know), and maybe bust some of them into smaller pieces so they are not a uniform size. If in fact they are sandstone you could probably shape them pretty easy to whatever you wanted. Also you may have some water chemistry issues if they are sandstone because they contain a lot of limestone. This will affect the hardness of your water. BUT Aquasoil tends to lower your hardness, so if you just had a few pieces in there it might be a non-issue. Just keep an eye on it when you do in fact fill it up.

If you can swing it I'd definitely wait until you have the funds to do the Aquasoil/Powersand combo. I promise you won't regret it! If availability is an issue, you may try contacting Jeff at ADG to see what you can work out. Overall I'd say you were off to a really good start!


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## ChrisC (May 15, 2006)

Thanks Ajax for the the great feedback! 



Ajax said:


> That is a really nice piece of drift wood! It looks like it was custom made for that tank.


Thank you.  There is only one thing I dislike about the wood, and that's that it was cut very badly and a lot of the ends will need to covered with moss/riccia to obscure the marks where it was sawn.



> Also you may have some water chemistry issues if they are sandstone because they contain a lot of limestone. This will affect the hardness of your water.


Yep, however, I guesstimated that it wouldn't make any noticeable difference as the regular water change routine used in the EI method of fert dosing allows for a fairly sizeable margin of error as far as water stats are concerned. TBH, I'm more worried about pH crashes as I live in a soft water area and plan to inject large amounts of CO2, which, when coupled with the Aqua Soil, could easily create a rapid pH drop, which I probably wouldn't spot until it's too late (I have a genuine hatred of test kits - long story...).



> If you can swing it I'd definitely wait until you have the funds to do the Aquasoil/Powersand combo. I promise you won't regret it!


Hmm that's interesting. After talks with Tom Barr, I came to the following conclusions regarding Power Sand:

a) It's unnecessary (Tom doesn't use it on any of his aquariums)
b) It's rubbish for people like me who like to replant things every so often, as the larger power sand grains rise to the surface of the substrate as it is pulled up by plant roots/continual turnover of the substrate through raking etc.

As well as being a first attempt at true aquascaping, this aquarium is also a chance for me to practice and improve my photography skills. Instead of taking a photo then post-editing it in Photoshop (cropping, bringing out colors etc), I am not editing any of the photos taken of this aquarium, and so what is shown in a photo what the camera saw.

Having decided that I defiinately want to do this project and I like the aquariums location, I rebuilt it, taking into consideration Ajax's comments.

Table cleared and given a quick polish:


Ridiculously oversize 100W heater and 650lph filter added - these will probably get replaced with smaller models when everything is set up.


Slightly altered hardscape. I plan to create a two-tier substrate, with the higher tier being supported by the rocks, and thus raising the wood up another couple of inches. I plan to have stem plants, crypts etc on the upper tier and a carpet of glossostigma on the lower tier.



View from the door and from bed 


BTW I forgot to mention: the light is a 30W PC 6500k daylight spiral bulb. Camera is Nikon Coolpix 995.

Chris


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

I don't think the ends look that bad at all. Maybe a tad un-natural because it's a straight cut, but I don't think you'll need a ton of moss to make it look even better.

Yeah, the Powersand issue is a big debate. Me personally I love the stuff, and wouldn't run a tank without it. The little bit that does come up is easily pushed right back into the substrate.

One other suggestion is to take the heater out. Unless you keep your house really cold, or you have some big temp fluctuations you don't need it. Save you some more space for plants


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Nice start. Considerign th ecut ends of the wood, I find them a little unsightly and you may not like it later. It would be very easy to simply carve a way a little to creat a more natural shape. Take wood off the back side and it won't ne noticable at all.


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

I love how it looks so far


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## ChrisC (May 15, 2006)

Thanks for the feedback.  Ok planting plan:




Chris


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Hmm, are the plants in, or is that a photoshop product, cause it looks so real to me. That's pretty neat if you cropped plants pictures into your tank, and also if it's a fully developed scape from the beginning..

Anyways, I think your plant selection is good, but I would take out the e.tennellus or the hairgrass because there might be too many foreground plants in there.

-John N.


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## MrSanders (Mar 5, 2006)

I agree with John, and I would go as far as to say it is the E. tenellus you should not use. When happy it tends to grow out of control.... and IME usually much larger than I had wanted.... that hair grass would be a better fit for the size of the tank I think.... however IME hairgrass can be a bit invasive also


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## ChrisC (May 15, 2006)

John N. said:


> Hmm, are the plants in, or is that a photoshop product, cause it looks so real to me. That's pretty neat if you cropped plants pictures into your tank, and also if it's a fully developed scape from the beginning..


Thank you.  Boredom+Google Images+Photoshoph = planting plans. 



> Anyways, I think your plant selection is good, but I would take out the e.tennellus or the hairgrass because there might be too many foreground plants in there.





> I agree with John, and I would go as far as to say it is the E. tenellus you should not use. When happy it tends to grow out of control.... and IME usually much larger than I had wanted.... that hair grass would be a better fit for the size of the tank I think.... however IME hairgrass can be a bit invasive also


That's interesting information, and just the kind of feedback I need, thank you.  Obviously with a tank that size I don't want any rampant growers, so any suggestions for alternative plants would be great. 

Chris


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## MrSanders (Mar 5, 2006)

> That's interesting information, and just the kind of feedback I need, thank you. Obviously with a tank that size I don't want any rampant growers, so any suggestions for alternative plants would be great


 The hairgrass I think would work well for you.... It isn't so much a rampant grower... It can be maintained... but what I ment more with that one is I think you will see it creeping into your HC.... and that can be hard and annoying to purn out.... if left un touched..... well you will pretty much end up with a dense hargrass HC mix.....

I guess its really just something more to be away of and keep on top so you dont have the two really mixing togeather... unless of course thats what your going for


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## ChrisC (May 15, 2006)

I think when it comes to foreground carpets I take a more purist stand - I don't like the look of more then one species, as I think it destroys the "carpet" effect.

All this talk of hairgrass tho reminds me: what about dwarf miniature hair grass as a foreground carpet?

Chris


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Hey nice Photoshop rendition - helps you really visualise it all.

The tank will look fine as shown on the rendition. Maintenance on such a small tank is not hard so I think the hairgrass is fine. One area that I see as problematic is the border of HC and tenellus. The HC will be growing pretty fast and when you try to remove it you may end up pulling some of the tenellus too. Just do the maintenance on a regular basis and you should be fine but that will definitely be a constant problem area.

The HOB filter may force you to really pump the CO2 fast - just keep that in mind and don't assume you are adding enough CO2. HOB filters are amazing in helping you loose CO2 .

One thing that you must do is to address is the midground. In your layout the eye naturally lingers in the very middle of the tank - where it finds only a black stump . Some Anubias nana will look good there because as it is now you don't have a bigger leafed plant that will make the tiny leaves of all the other plants appear truly small and really decorative. In any case - if you don't like the Anubias idea you must add a plant in the middle where there is only wood now.

Another point to consider is the tall red rotala in the back/middle. As shown on the Photoshop rendition it may look fine but actually it can add much more to the aquascape if it's mixed with a small amount of some other stem plant.

Have fun and post pictures of the progress.

--Nikolay


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

your main concern should be with ground space for plants. I do 2d renditions in photoshop also, so I know that the main problems happen when I didn't leave enough space for plants. In particular, I have doubts as to this lay out plan leaveing enough room for the r. rotundfolia to grow.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Nice first attempt. 

I agree with Dennis that after a while you won't like the cut-off wood ends. This might sound radical but is there any chance you could use the wood upside down and have the branches going down into the green foreground you have planned. I don't know what the bottom of the driftwood looks like but you might be able to soften it with moss and other plant growth.


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