# "Rocky Mountain" 2.6 G



## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

*"Rocky Mountain" 2.6G and Mr. Amano workshop in Portugal*

Here goes my new nano.

"Rocky Mountain" Setup:

Setup day: 16th April 2005

Light: DIY stand with 2 X 9W PL 6500K

Filter: 501 Jebo

CO2: DIY, Hagen bottle

Substract: mixture of several that I had from the previous tank ( already matured)

Flora: Hemainthus micranthemoides, Hemianthus calitrichoides " cuba"


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

Thanks for sharing. Could you try and get a front view picture of the tank?


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

Hello Mr Gomer.

Yes of course. Here are some updated pics that I took Tuesday. I have been updating this tank once a week.

Took out Hemianthus micranthemoides and planted Eleocharia acicularis to have a low maintenance tank regarding to trimming. H.C. is spreading very easilly.


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## Aqua1 (Mar 2, 2005)

I think you've got something here. Although I have a great deal of respect for Amano, I just think aquascaping should be as free as one's creativity. You have clearly demonstrated that here. I think it is awesome.


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## commandantp (Jan 16, 2005)

hi , i love this nano, i think that it will be beautiful when hc will have grown 
Just a question....how did you manage to inject CO2 in such a little tank?


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## victri (Mar 18, 2004)

If you notice the little black flexible tube feeding CO2 into the filter inlet, that's how it's done. Also, the water level has to be kept high to avoid splashing from the filter outlet. Great idea! He just gave me the inspiration to CO2-rize my small 5gal. Have to find a way to hide the tube from view though.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Your tank looks great, I think you have a winner there! How are you holding up the slope on the gravel? That's quite an angle there.


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## |squee| (Feb 3, 2005)

Imho, couldn't you do anything about the biggest rock? It's too angular, but that's just me


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

Hello to all and thanks for the feedback.

Aqua1 I couldn´t agree with you more when it comes to Amano and an aquascaper creativity.

commandantp as victri already said, the co2 is injected via the inlet filter.

Bert H the sloap is holdinh up just nice with only the rocks. The substracte is a mixture of gravel with river sand so that can be the help I need to hold the sloap.

|squee| when a layout with rocks is made, one should follow the forms and directions of the rocks in its positioning. I tried to follow this simple rule and the big rock actually has a flat base that holds the rock in that position and oriented in that direction. It has a triangular shape that gives the rock a perfectly stable balance when placed like that. 

Here goes an update of today´s session





































Regards,

André


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

The settler: Macrobrachium lanchesteri


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I have to say I really like this tank (and the 'settler' too!)


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## Bavarian3 (Oct 21, 2004)

thats awesome! is it difficult keeping a tank this small?


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

Muito bonito cara! es um gusto tener gente do Portugal facendo paisajismo! Nice work man I hope you can keep us posted with more pictures as your plants grow more. Did you attend Mr Amano presentation in Portugal?
Best regards,
Luis Navarro


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

Piscesgirl, Bavarian3 and Luis Navarro, thanks. It is good to know that our work is appreciated by others.

Bavarian3 this nano isn´t hard to keep at all. It only needs some daily fertilization and two water changes per week. Next week, more exactly Monday, this nano completes 1 month old and, as you can see, Hemianthus Cuba is growing nicely. Next week I´ll post some updated photos of it to show you how H.C. has spread since this last pics.I had some algae problems for two weeks but playing with ferts and water changes made the algae go away.

Olá Luis. Obrigado pelo elogio. Há muita gente a fazer paisagismo em Portugal, mas poucos o mostram em fóruns estrangeiros. Next week I´ll show you " how deep this rabbit hole goes" - quote from " The matrix" 

Yes I have attended Mr Amano´s presentation and workshop here in my country. He turned out to be a very acessible man, quoting the old relationship between Portugal and Japan wich he has a great deal of respect, always with good humour and available to answer any questions we had during his presentation. As many others, I am a fan of his work and he his, for sure, one of my great inspirations. Here goes some pics I took from the Workshop. By the way, how did you knew Mr Amano visited us? For those who don´t know, Mr Amano has accepted our invitation to celebrate the 2º Anniversary of the major portuguese tank forum ( don´t know if I can right down the name of the forum, so I won´t do it unless you or other Moderator/Admin tell me it´s ok).

I moved the pictures to an independent topic so more people could see them and not only those who visited this thread.

http://aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?p=47956#post47956

Regards,

André


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

I notice you used rocks that are disimilar. I've tried this in the past and it never felt right to me. The larger rock in the rear seems, well, bland and lacking character, the shape does not match the shapes of the other rocks.

You might consider searching for a different rock(s), as the tank can easily have a variety of different colored rock groups added and removed without disturbing the plants.

The rocks lower down might look better if you bring them to together into a few groups rather than spacing them so evenly apart.

Take a look at the tank and think about this and see if you agree.
You can take a small play empty tank and try this also(I always do this).

It is a challenge to find good character rocks for small tanks!

Plant choice is great.

The other thing to consider especially with rock work, try not make it too contrived. See how the stones are in a stream bed, note how they lay and appear.

I know Amano approaches things this same way. He looks at nature for the idea.

He mentioned the Chinese stones that try to emulate the Krast mountains in the South are too contrived. Initially I though they would not be, but reflecting back, he was correct.

So I tore them down and tried something different, I used Cyrpess knees(this is not contrived in appearance and is found in nature).
The left over rock sat there, then walking down a stream bed collecting some Callichtriches, I saw something laying much like the stones I'd had. They where all laying shingled with the flow of the water. I went home and made a mock up for a tank. I'm extremely pleased with the rock grouping now. 

Still, it's worth exploring to see what you personally feel.
Do not get too attached to something that is not perfect, you can switch a rock in or out easy.

The same applied for smaller pieces of driftwood etc.

Give these ideas a try and play around and explore.
You will only get better if you attempt more designs/ experience more decore changes. 

Take a trip to a local small hilly/mountain stream in the county(not a bad thing to do either).
Take a look at the rocks.

This will help you with any design work you do now and later.
Also, get a great deal more rock than you need, try different colors of rock, white, black, tan, blue, green, rust, petrified wood etc.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

*"Rocky Mountain" 2.6G and Mr. Amano workshop in Portugal*

Hello Tom.

Thanks for the feedback. I feel that your suggestions are very good and I too agree with your point of view in some issues regarding to this tank though I have to explain some things that don´t make this tank even better and, as you said, must be corrected.



> I notice you used rocks that are disimilar. I've tried this in the past and it never felt right to me. The larger rock in the rear seems, well, bland and lacking character, the shape does not match the shapes of the other rocks.


You are right, this rock, as well the the left one that stands in the same level, do not seem the same rock type as others but I assure you they are. The problem is that those two rocks have more minerals attached to the rock itself, wich gives them different colour/texture than the ones under. I only had this quantity of this type of rocks wich I picked up in the North and wanted to do something with them so it resulted this. Anyway you are right as I should change the rocks in the begining when I noticed that the observer of this tank would not consider all rocks the same rock type.



> The rocks lower down might look better if you bring them to together into a few groups rather than spacing them so evenly apart.





> Take a trip to a local small hilly/mountain stream in the county(not a bad thing to do either).
> Take a look at the rocks.





> he other thing to consider especially with rock work, try not make it too contrived. See how the stones are in a stream bed, note how they lay and appear.
> 
> I know Amano approaches things this same way. He looks at nature for the idea.


Yes Mr Amano looks for his inspiration in Nature. I do too. I sometimes, when I have time, do some explorations to a mountain wich is near my home. It is called Serra de Sintra. It was there that I got my inspiration for this tank, as big rocks with the size of trucks are disposed seperatly, sorrounded by cushy, dense vegetation.I tried to capture one scenary in particular although I had no success because that big rock on the backright didn´t allowed me to. I agree with you when it comes to rock placement simulating a river strem but rock placement when it comes to hills and mountains are different. There can be too rocks or too few, with big distances apart each others or simple together, bended or straight, big or small, etc. That´s what I see when I do some mountain exploration, not quite the same when compared to river streams.



> Do not get too attached to something that is not perfect, you can switch a rock in or out easy.


Yes, I confess it is tempting to feel that our work is very good after done but in this case, even if I wanted to now, I could not change the rocks as it is them that are holding the substrate sloap in place and removing them would make the layout fall apart. As a first tank in Iwagumi style, I feel I have much to learn in rock placement and, as you said, more exploration/designs/experience is needed to achieve more satisfaction and get even close to perfection ( if there´s such thing).

Best regards,

André


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Hi Andre,

Yes, the fun in this is trying new designs.
I often will flip back and forth on what I like. One day I might love the design, then after a few days, I start to notice elements that do not feel right to *me*.

I do not like to place design judgements on other people's designs, the reason we do this hobby is not to please judges, other people, we do it for our own sense of the aesthetic. So it should "feel" right to us.
A simple point such as designing the layout as a hill/group of hills instead of a stream bed makes this case. I am thinking something quite different, while you have a vision of what *you* want.

The goal of a judge or mentor etc, should be to help the person achieve *their goal with the design*, not the judge's design goal.

Many seek to define this feeling and many express themselves well.
I tend to leave it wild and untamed, much like the nature the plants, decorations exist in.

I'd almost rather leave it *less defined* in order to gain more.
"Less is more" is a common principle I often approach things from beside art as well.

A simple design is "more" since it is easy to add one or two new elements and build upon that to explore your own sense of the aesthetic.

I fully encourage that exploration.

Blistering critques do more harm than good in many cases.
The goal is to improve and get more enjoyment out of the hobby.
I hope I do not ever do that when I discuss the artistic elements.
Nutirents and other quanitative sciences are much easier to define.

Guiding someone to that artistic direction for themselves, rather than set of rules seems more appropriate, this is just my opinion and one reasons I do not judge contest.

Since the tank is small, collecting more rocks and having a large number to play with and try out will allow you some fun.

You can try accent plants later as well.
You can use them for a month or two, then change them for another plant and so on to see what you like.

There is no need to have a permanent accent plant, the tank can change every 2-3 months or stay the same once you feel you have something you cannot live without.

I've yet to produce a tank I have been entirely happy with.
I might not ever do that, but I do like trying.

You might try using the grouping closer together with wood and small branches, branches work wonderful and offer lots of design options.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

Hello Tom.

Indeed your words are wise and you speak of what you know. You have resumed everything I feel like when it comes to design aquarium layouts and seeing other people´s work. Probably this layout in the future won´t feel right to me either and changing things or building a new one from scratch with more notions and ideas of what is right will be a certain. That´s what makes this hobby so interesting and dynamic. One is always learning and feeling realized everytime a tank design is build. Again, thank you for your comments regarding to this tank and to aquascaping in general. It´s always nice to exchange ideas with others that are only an Ocean apart.

Best regards,

André


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## FazTeAoMar (Jan 2, 2005)

Here´s an update and a comparison in its early stages. The tank completed 1 month last week.










Regards,

André


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