# Walking Aoyama



## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

Hi everyone! This is my new layout after Summer Dance last year!
I like photography and I always go hiking around Hong Kong, I would like to have a small layout at my home which is small copy from the nature!

Aoyama is a japanese word which means "green hill"
I hope you guys will like it!

Tai Long Sai Wan in Hong Kong:









see more in:
http://www.fotop.net/justinlaw/sai_wan

Setup:
1. ADA Cube Garden 17"(L)X12"(H)X9"(W)
2. ADA NA LAMP 15W X 4 (Total 60W)
3. CO2 24 hours(2 bubbles/sec)
4. Fertilizers: ADA STEP 1, ADA Brighty K, ADA iron bottom, ADA Phyton-Git, ADA Palm Net
5. Filter: Eheim 2224
6. Change water twice a week and 1/2 each time

#1 Front Wide View of Aoyama









#2 Side View









#3 Going up the top of the Aoyama, blue sky with white cloud!









#4 Sitting on the grass, facing the big sea view!









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#8


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## Gonzofish (Mar 26, 2005)

GoHan,
Superb! You have achieved a work of art there. The tank has an incredible illusion of depth. I'm not crazy about the hardscape since nothing like it appears in the photo. The fish really give your tank a sense of scale, smaller fish would make the tank look larger than it is.


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## Rek (Jul 19, 2005)

only one word FANTASTIC


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## Rub (Jul 14, 2005)

Very nice work Gohan !!!!! is amazing!!!!!
What´s the "fauna"?

A doubt: Where´s Boraras? (I have seen Boraras Brigittae or Maculata ? in your web site)

Greetings from Granada (Spain)


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

Gonzofish said:


> GoHan,
> Superb! You have achieved a work of art there. The tank has an incredible illusion of depth. I'm not crazy about the hardscape since nothing like it appears in the photo. The fish really give your tank a sense of scale, smaller fish would make the tank look larger than it is.


Thanks your comment, Gonzofish! I know the fish scale make the tank feel smaller, however, I cannot find another fish to replace it, I have tried Boraras before, however, they cannot swim in a group!


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

Rek said:


> only one word FANTASTIC


Thanks, Rek!


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

Rub said:


> Very nice work Gohan !!!!! is amazing!!!!!
> What´s the "fauna"?
> 
> A doubt: Where´s Boraras? (I have seen Boraras Brigittae or Maculata ? in your web site)
> ...


Yes, They have been moved to my friends tank coz my friend want them!

There are another photos the tank just completed 90%

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## violentray (Jul 20, 2005)

stunning tank.

what fish is that in the first group of photos? and the second group of photos?

i liked the first group of photos better because the fish are schooling more towards the layout versus the second group where there are all scattered about the top of the tank.


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## MikeD (Feb 26, 2006)

Looks just amazing! The photos are beautiful and the hole tank too! An excellent work!


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

violentray said:


> stunning tank.
> 
> what fish is that in the first group of photos? and the second group of photos?
> 
> i liked the first group of photos better because the fish are schooling more towards the layout versus the second group where there are all scattered about the top of the tank.


Thanks a lot! Actually I just know the chinese name of them, and I dun know their English name, sorry~
The second one, I think they called Boraras maculate! 
Anyone can help?

Yes, I like the first group more too!


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

MikeD said:


> Looks just amazing! The photos are beautiful and the hole tank too! An excellent work!


Thanks, MikeD!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Awesome tank, awesome pictures :first:

_Does your Dwarf puffer not bother your shrimp?_


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

trenac said:


> Awesome tank, awesome pictures :first:
> 
> _Does your Dwarf puffer not bother your shrimp?_


Thanks, trenac!
No, they just find the snails to eat, never bother the shrimp!


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## Sudi (Feb 3, 2005)

Fantastic! Great! Marvolous!
You are Amazing and have a huge talent!
Keep up the good work!!!

Matt


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## theteh (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Gohan,

Thanks for sharing pics of your tank!! They are so beautiful!!

One question, how do you keep the "mountain" structure? Do you put something under the soil to keep up the shape?


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## violentray (Jul 20, 2005)

while im not 100% sure, im going to take a guess that the rocks in the "mountains you speak of are holding the mountinas up. the rocks in this case work sort of as a retaining wall. some of us do this when we place stones or driftwood on the different layers of substrate to keep them in place.


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## theteh (Jan 19, 2006)

So you mean the rocks alone are enough to maintain the substrate in the slope? Perhaps the plants play an important role here in preventing landslides?
With my little experience, when ever I tried to create a 'mountain' (without rocks), the substrate eventually flatterns out through time.


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

To Matt:
Thanks a lot! You have already used all good wordings for me, haha!

To Theteh:
Thanks for your support!
For the "mountain", surely the rocks play an important role to prevent the slide down of the substrate! However, you must ensure that there are enough rocks to cover the whole line of the soil and sand! As you see in my tank, the rocks didn't cover the whole line, therefore, it is one of the difficulties of this tank! Every week, I have to remove the substrate which fell down from the "mountain" and then add back the substrate up to the top of the "mountain"! The steeper of the slope, the harder the maintainence! One more thing, if you got shrimps, they will always mix your sand and soil together!! Surely, the roots of the plants are important too! After they have covered the soil surface, far less substrate slide down now!

To violentray:
Thanks for your share!


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Your work blows me away Mr Law. Your aquascaping talent is only matched by your skill at photographing. 

Thank you for sharing and for prodiving me with furthur inspiration.

I'd love to provide some constructive critisism but for me your work is so far beyond my level that I could not justify this.

Kudos indeed.


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

gf225 said:


> Your work blows me away Mr Law. Your aquascaping talent is only matched by your skill at photographing.
> 
> Thank you for sharing and for prodiving me with furthur inspiration.
> 
> ...


Thanks for loving both my photos and layout! I am just try my best to do every layout and want to insert more new ideas to it. I think you can also do this, Kudos!

Justin


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

GoHan said:


> I think you can also do this, Kudos!
> 
> Justin


Thank you Justin. I will also try my best. I am starting a new layout in Aug/Sept so we shall see.

Keep up the great work, it is a pleasure to see.


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

gf225 said:


> Thank you Justin. I will also try my best. I am starting a new layout in Aug/Sept so we shall see.
> 
> Keep up the great work, it is a pleasure to see.


Thanks gf225! I am waiting to see your layout in Ang/Sept!


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## shanman (Apr 2, 2005)

I like this layout. What size is this aquarium (dimensions)? What type of lighting is this?


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## shanman (Apr 2, 2005)

I just read those stats. Awesome!


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

To shanman:
Thanks for your comment!
It is a 45cm tank(32L) with 60W lighting!


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## aquaessentials (Dec 15, 2004)

I think the fact that your aquarium is so small makes this an even more remarkable aquascape. To create such an illusion of space is a real talent and this type of aquarium really inspires people, no matter what your standard is.

Just amazing...


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## littar (Jun 26, 2005)

My gosh, i must have spent a good half an hour staring at a great tank and some excellent photography works of yours!
I have a minor question to ask: is the choice of your plant - glossostigma or some other smaller plant? The look like a little smaller than normal glosso.


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## javoski (Jan 9, 2006)

GoHan said:


> I think they called Boraras maculate!
> Anyone can help?
> 
> Yes, I like the first group more too!


The cientific name is Rasbora Maculata ... and I think they make your aquascape looks bigger and more dramatic, then the first group.

Really amazing, the aquascape itself and how you keep posting incredible layout after incredible layout.

Thanks for sharing.


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## shanman (Apr 2, 2005)

Littar, I believe the plant in questions is Hemianthus callictrichoides, great plant really easy once you get it going. It has only been available the past few years.


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

Thanks a lot! Thanks for helping me answering those question, coz my English is too bad. Thanks Thanks......


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

beautiful--

mm, what surprises me is how big the HC looks in relation to the tank.


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> beautiful--
> 
> mm, what surprises me is how big the HC looks in relation to the tank.


Thanks a lot!


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## Maran (Sep 8, 2004)

Hi Justin,
Tank, like always, looks great.


GoHan said:


> 4. Fertilizers: ADA STEP 1, ADA Brighty K, ADA iron bottom, ADA Phyton-Git, ADA Palm Net


Why you resign from ADA ECA ?


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## detlef (Dec 24, 2004)

Hi Justin,

did you find out the latin name for the schooling fish shown in foto #1 meanwhile? They fit very well into this kind of layout much better though than the little Rasboras. Anyone else have any idea what kind of fish this might be?

Thank you,
Detlef


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## Goby Girl (Feb 18, 2006)

Very nice tank.

Your rasbora looks to me more like Boraras brigittae than Boraras maculatus.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

Nice tank!

I like how your HC and rocks create a "hill" look.


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## tipoman (Feb 21, 2005)

Wonderful tank! Nice photos! Perfect scape!


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

To Maran:
I didn't use ADA ECA in this tank coz it is too fat for HC.....algae will grow rapidly!

To detlef:
Sorry, I cannot find out the name of the schooling fish, can anyone help?

To Goby Girl:
Thanks a lot!

To jeff63851:
Thanks a lot!

To tipoman:
Thanks!!


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## fishy_fishy (Dec 20, 2005)

WOW this is SOooOOOoo AMAZING!!! Great Setup n fish~~~
All pictures were so clear! What camera were u using?


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## TNguyen (Mar 20, 2005)

Great setup and photography! Excellent execution on making a small tank look huge. I definitely understand about maintenance in the front with shrimps. Guess we are not the only one that like to play with aquasoil!


NASH Team
Thanh


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## GoHan (Aug 14, 2004)

To fishy fishy:
Thanks a lot! I used Canon 350D to take it!

To TNguyen:
Thanks a lot! hahaa, those shrimps are naughty!


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## FelixAvery (Mar 29, 2007)

beautifull! you have inspired me to do a layout with hc
i admire the steep slope of your layout, was that hard to build and maintain

my new tank is quite tall and relatively thin so i would like a steep slope, any tips?


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## FishandTurtleJunkie (Apr 14, 2007)

At every level this tank is exceptional yet simple.


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## Leonard (Mar 4, 2007)

I'm also inspired, but I think I'm going to use som kind of moss instead and other stones, etc etc =)
Well a amasing tank, seriulsy one of the best I've ever seen!  I'm very impressed. It looks so simple and much bigger then it actually is! Good work.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Great looking tank! How do you get the moss or whatever it is to grow on the rock in this picture:


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