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Ultra minimal. Will be adding more emergent wood at some point.

Stem plants in the wabi kusa have been flowering over the last week :)

Added some more emerged Anubias to improve the composition from the front. Just attached with freezer bag ties until they take hold.

Looks excellent George, those shrimp seem happy too. The red really contrasts well with the green and seems like a nice alternative to the usual 'ornamental' fish choices.

FYI have found that ADA Phyton Git is very effective at keeping Anubias leaves looking fresh over time. Has also given great results on the big rock. I'm afraid I haven't got a link as I found the tip in an ADA product catalogue. I just drained the tank and used a small paintbrush (like the kind...

Wabi in the kitchen getting there; Loving the Do!Aqua concept of keeping things achievable and low maintenance. Cheers all :)

Introduced 5 Crystal Black Shrimp yesterday that came in the post from freshwatershrimp.co.uk. Great fast service. Only went for low grades this time as this isn't a specialist setup. I'll be honest and say stocking looks a bit odd at the moment and wouldn't mind some advice. I currently have...

Thanks Tim. I think this will be a slow grower so my next update may be a while :D The beauty of being attached to hardscape is I can change it all if I'm feeling different!

Thanks very much Dave. Heres another shot of the tank in situ next to my desk.

Cheers Gary, I'm liking the contrast in textures in the emersed bit and tempted to add some more branch wood to build it up. Camera is an iPhone 5S, I really need a full DSLR but end up spending money on plants and nice hardware first :thumbdown:

Heres another shot and a wabi kusa that was originally going to be part of the scape

Inspired from ADA's Do!Aqua concept I wanted to go for a back to basics approach and concentrate on growing easy plants well in a nice simplified composition. I also wanted an emersed element to the tank. I also liked the idea of a modular scape that could be easily 'unassembled' to make...

Harry's ADA Mini M-ish Boil the hell out the wood, if needs be keep refilling the saucepan! Then leave it soaking in a bucket. All the substrates you suggested would be good, I've used both Florabase and ADA in the past. All are clay based and do the same job.

Harry's ADA Mini M-ish Looks great in your office space, nice piece of wood too. Nice computer display too, what is it if you don't mind me asking? (sorry again off topic). Keep up the good work

Re: Schruz's Works I would love to see a step by step tutorial on how to create something this amazing :D Awesome work on both the Wabi's and the photography :thumbup:

Re: Double Opti White Nano - Cherry/Sakura Breeding Colony I blame you for inspiring me to start another tank... Which mosses have you got in both out of curiosity? They look nice and compact.

Re: Double Opti White Nano - Cherry/Sakura Breeding Colony Very nice and healthy indeed. Lovely tanks. Did you have CO2 running on either or liquid carbon? Keep up the good work :)

Stunning mate. I wish had I had space on top of my cabinet for my ferts and tools, what a great idea.

This is the insider info I was looking for, thank you! One month seems pretty reasonable for such a nice looking piece of kit. When I get some spare dollars this is one of the first things I'll get :)

Cheers again guys I've just had a rather long search looking on the Japanese Patent Office Database and it appears that my method isn't the same as ADA's production as mine doesn't make use of any binding material or weight inside the ball. Thats that mystery solved. So far so good on how its...

Cheers spyder. I'm keeping my exact process a trade secret until I can do the same thing a few more times :shh: . I'll say that it doesn't contain any string/cotton or moss though. Answers on the back of a postcard :lol:

Cheers guys, hopefully there will be more in the pipeline

Afternoon :wave: I wanted to post some pictures up of my now matured wabi thats ready to go. At the moment its home is a Do!Aqua Plant Glass but I do intend to transfer it to a Do!Aqua Mini-S or Mini-M in the future as the basis for a shrimp tank. Been reading 'The Book of ADA' and also...

Re: First try - 65L planted Looks awesome, one to be proud of :thumbup: . I really like the red. That Hydro looks very healthy indeed and really dense. The only thing I'm not so sure on is that light, but then its obviously given you results so it does the job! Would look amazing with pendant...

Re: Schruz's Works Some awesome wabi's, well done indeed. I've recently had better success with emersed plants. Some good tips too, thank you :thumbup:

Re: Rebirth (Ians 80CM) Looks lovely and healthy mate. Like the unusual fish choice too :thumbup:

Maybe something minimal like Georges Iwagumi; http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f= ... &start=250 or something very vibrant and green to contrast. Was your gear from The Green Machine?

crackin' start. That cabinet looks awesome in the white decor of your room.

How's the CO2 bottle holding out? Still on the first one? Looking good btw :)

Re: Andyh's ADA 60P Cube Garden This is my ideal tank-reasonable size for scaling and amazing build quality :)

Either thats a massive tank or a very small guitar :lol: Looking great :thumbup:

Sorry to bring up an older thread mate. What was the outflow jet pipe used on this setup? Is is a Do!Aqua JP-1? Cheers, Neil

Cheers, I'll take a look into your plant suggestion. Crypts seem to be excellent plants for a setup like this Thanks :) I don't know what made me pick that gravel, I think in the shop it looked darker but I was stuck with it once I'd opened it. My dad likes it at the moment as I've briefly...

Hey chaps :wave: I thought I would show the progression of my Dads kitchen nano. I set him up the tank as a gift last year and since then its been a case of trial an error due to the location being in full sunlight. CO2 wasn't an option due to budget and liquid carbon due to laziness. As a...

This sounds promising, which solenoid did you go for?

Stunning little setup. I would LOVE one of those Solars in black and an ADA CO2 system. I'm interested to see how you get on with that Do!Aqua set as I got my eye on one of those - I wonder how long the little cylinders last.

Re: 120 x 55 x 55 possibly, for the last time. Looks great half emersed mate, just leave it as that job done :thumbup: Any inspiration for your new scape?

Re: Tom's 60P build - Change of paint - again! For my MDF cabinet I had some issues getting the paint right too. I first got hold of 'multi surface' primer which contrary to the description wouldn't work with MDF and went disgusting. I had to then had to rip off all the old paint and buy a...

Lovely little setup. Great job on covering the flat cut off ends on the wood with plants too. That plant holding tank in the background looks like it could be a scape by itself! :thumbup:

Looks great, nice healthy plants. Maybe worth seeing how it would look with a background ?

Re: 120 x 55 x 55 Strange crypt roots. Growing upwards From my basic knowledge I think plant roots will always grow in the direction where its needs can be met. I've also read that Crypts are a root thirsty species, so my deduction would be that its finding something tasty elsewhere and...

Slide an old credit card down there mate :thumbup:

Re: A very English Spring...happy with the wood! That sounds incredible mate I may have to take you up on that. So its a cutting of a cutting of a cutting, cousins twice removed kind of thing? I'll see how my standard stuff grows first and let you know before murdering a plant that cool.

Re: A very English Spring...happy with the wood! Looks awesome mate, you should be proud of that. I like that it it looks like a standard tank from the front shot but you can see it has depth where its actually a corner. So that hydro is Amanos'?

Re: Tom's 60P build - *Paint Question May be an obvious thing but you didn't paint it in the wet/damp did you?

Re: Andyh's 190l Lounge tank (update 06-09-11) Love the dynamism and feeling of movement in this tank. Particularly like the full scale blyxa 'bush'. Nice work mate

Very nice first setup indeed, keep up the good work!

You lose a lot of your filtration without substrate which isn't a great thing with fragile CRS in the long run. If you were over zealous with your filter cleaning this may crash spectacularly where theres no backup substrate filtration. I'm currently using a barebottom tank with the intention of...

Re: A different approach - DIY ADA Light done :D It shouldn't be dusty at all as it's been rinsed and I also put it all through a sieve today. It has the odd grain of but for what you need it for it would be ideal as its already lost its ammonia content where its been in my tank beforehand...

Re: A different approach - DIY ADA Light done :D Columbo FloraBase Brown looks the same to me. I got some old stuff that I got out my old tank and dried out if you wanted a handful for some postage pennies?

Re: A different approach - DIY ADA Light done :D I may have missed it mate but what was the original lighting unit/where was it from in the beginning? Great work by the way! Cheers, Neil

Pretty cool idea with the single specimen, similar idea to what the Tropica cube was marketed for. Be nice to see when it fills out :)

Re: Now Lo-Tech nano - now up and running with photos In my experience Red Nose Shrimp were really difficult to keep. I remember finding somewhere that they actually live in estuaries so maybe they are more suited to brakish water? A shame though as they are such a nice looking shrimp

I'll let you know mate :thumbup: The next move is to separate them into a holding tank and get some shots so people can have a look. I have had a lot of interest but stupidly forgot who's already said they wanted some so I think I'll start a new thread in the for sale section to make it easy...

Looks bloody awesome mate. I always struggle to see the potential in rounded stone, but when someone uses it well its stunning. Heres a couple of my favourites by Amano; http://www.amanotakashi.net/portfolio/nature_aquarium/images/007.jpg...

Update; Looking to ship about 30 odd CRS out soon to thin them out abit. Old rocks now nice and clean, been playing around with a few dry compositions;

Long time since any updates. Due to neglect on my part from finishing the uni course the tank was a bit of a state where my only maintenance was the weekly water change. I made the decision that I want to rescape using the same lovely rock but with a change to a gravel substrate and mostly...

Two tips for your hairgrass 1) Try and separate all the individual blades with a comb. This may sound extremely tedious but I've found emersed hairgrass hates being stuck together for some unknown reason and as soon as the blades are individual you get a boost in growth. 2) Cut about 5-10mm...

I like the cunning use of the cardboard box from the tank so its the same size :D Nice rock formation too.

Lovely simple setup. Always interesting to see how people put lava stone to good use as it seems such a difficult hardscape. Once it grows in it could work well as a low-tech setup with a lower powered light if the CO2 gets expensive. Great stuff!

Is it off a Hagen Elite Mini?

Sadly I'm right down south in Basingstoke but thank you very much for such a kind offer! :thumbup: Just updated my location on my profile so I'm not so useless in the future

Inspirational little tank indeed especially with the use of liquid carbon and inert sand. Looks like a great side project to have some fun with cuttings and bits. Strangely I too found that moss doesn't like mega water changes or lots of liquid carbon or lots of nutrients - it just turns brown...

Cheers mate, I checked out their own site but it wasn't very enlightening. May be nice and cheap if I can use that stuff for the bulk and the ADA for the finer stuff at the front. Mind you I think it will only take 4kg in total!

Cheers Matt, I'll check it out. Perhaps I could combine both? You wern't thinking of Unipac's own 'Congo' Sand like this? If so it looks like they have a more even split of colours rather then predominately black in the ADA which is interesting. Thanks very much indeed Viktor :thumbup: ...

Cheers mate :) Had a bit of a CRS baby boom recently which is cool I figured a spray bar would still give me a dead spot but on the other side of the rock as its only a single directional flow (just over a wider area). Hopefully this will work better, although I could do with two 'jet' type...

Hey everyone, thought I'd go for an update I decided to try to eliminate the dead spot around the big rock with the help of one of these; By dividing the output power of the filter by two means a gentle but more even spread. If it works I'll replace the Eheim green plastic with...

I'm guessing you've seen the little cubes at the start of Nature Aquarium World book 2? Made me think of those straight away :thumbup:

Thanks mate :) It's already got a touch of coral pellia emersed on the rock where it attached itself from a trimming I did months ago but it is ridiculously slow growing. I may add some moss, but I need to work out a way of attaching it and keeping it wet to begin with so it can adapt...

On Garufs advice I swapped the lily to the stock Eheim shepherd's crook and I'll see how we go; The original Do!Aqua glass pipe was a reduced size as I got it on the cheap, so we'll see how we go with some more unobstructed directional flow. If it does the job I'll get one of these jet type...

Thanks very much David :D At the time I was reading a lot of stuff on general japanese aesthetics and rock gardens, so I think thats what inspired a lot of the 'complexity' in simpleness if that makes sense? Just about to read the book 'White' by Kenya Hara which is meant to be a more heavy...

Cheers, I'm glad you think so as it was a bit of a risk. Seems its balanced the whole tank out now though :thumbup: Thanks very much mate :oops: I havn't had time to check the forum in a while but I reckon Tom's ADA nano is a stunner, the plantings spot on so I'll take some inspiration...

Surprisingly it is! However its looking rather bare and unloved recently due to a lack of time, although not completely neglected as I have been keeping it clean and tidy. I added another rock in the foreground a few weeks back to prevent the soil slipping forward from the lack of roots but it...

I agree it looks rank, my main issue is you cant view the tank from the side either. As a plus though it will be pre-cycled for my Mini-S. If I get the spray bar sorted before I set up the Mini-S I'll squash the sponge from the HOB into my external to keep it going. I agree, I was going to...

Hello everyone :wave: I havn't been on the forum in while due to uni and moving house. On the plus side I've managed to get rid of any traces of algae in the tank with regular liquid carbon dosing at 0.8mls daily, regular water changes and better circulation with a temporary hang on filter...

Re: 10l - Picture update 7/01 Stunning tank, the planting makes the rock look like its been there for years. What species of moss did you go for in the end? Where did you get hold of your willow moss too, if you don't mind me asking? Keep up the good work! Cheers

Re: My Shrimp Sanzon Iwagumi - 20L Arctank What moss have you got going on in there now? Looks great!

Re: Re: Swamp Creek - updated 12/2010 Nice job :thumbup: Very useful tip with the plumbing bending spring as I'm planning to try to make a 12mm spray bar for my nano. If I had the skills it would be cool to have some made of stainless steel, ADA style!

Re: NayR's Opti-Nano: Mi Hermano Looks sweet mate, looking forward to some REAL pics :lol: Great kit list too. Amano uses mega lighting over like 10 hours in some of his nanos according to the data Luis. As long as you've got the CO2 to match I'm sure its fine. I wouldn't want your CO2...

Thanks for the great tip mate :thumbup:. Funny thing is that I don't run CO2, only liquid carbon so nothing mega. I think that last time my balance was off between lighting, flow and plant demands. Hopefully I've fixed the flow issue by moving the inlet and outlet pipe and I will address the...

Thought I would update this with what I'm up to and my current thinking. The tank has suffered due to a mega busy uni third year with surface scum and moss lifting. Today I had a big sort out and a rethink. The plan is to ditch the 'ideal' of going low tech and dose 0.8ml EasyCarbo and 0.3mls...

Funny you noticed that, making that out of cardboard was my stroke of genius for today as I was fed up of dropping the leads down the back. Maybe I should go on Dragons Den? :lol: The cats not positioned to the golden ratio so I won't go entering any competitions :geek: Maybe I could do a...

Meet my 'helper' who isn't helpful in the slightest! I looked up from the TV and saw this :eh:

Cheers :thumbup: Still a lot to do in the pipeline - planning, ordering, scaping, and a dry start. I'm only in Hampshire but sadly at the moment theres not much to see apart from an empty tank and a slightly tatty looking mildly staghorned nano thats in need of much attention :thumbdown:

I reckon you saw the book before me and thats where your inspiration was from :lol: Now wouldn't it be nice to have one of their full size aquariums in that quality! Got an Eheim Liberty in the post the other day but disappointingly it had a slight rattle to it which I was surprised about...

Cheers for the tip, I'll try and find a toothbrush and give it a go mate :thumbup: I had to be quick for that photo! :lol: I'm interested in giving the tank a good clean all round when I rescape so I think I'll get in with the toothbrush then.

Very nice and well thought out setup indeed. Looks great. Good luck with the Sulawesi's, I've sadly yet to see anyone to get them to live past a month or so so will be great if you succeed. I'm always curious about the 'sponge filters' as to how they're sold - do they come as just the sponge...

My plan for this tank is to change the planting completely to freshen it up but keep the hardscape as it is. The existing plants will get reused in my new nano or Do!Aqua plant glass. I was thinking just hairgrass like in this old Amano 'scape, what do you guy think? Would Eleocharis...

Its been a very interesting read so far as it was written in an age before mains electricity, so no filters or anything! It was also written in an age before equality, the very first line reads - "Few things are more interesting and less troublesome then a well cared-for aquarium. It makes no...

Maybe we should go back to the good old days and get galvanised buckets? B&Q don't know where they're at with their plastic rubbish :lol: I think the Mini 'S' has been one of my best tank related purchases, I can't fault it at all. For what I get up to with easy-to-grow plants and liquid...

Thanks for the recommendations mate, I'll go check them out! I had even more links but didn't want to go OTT :lol: ...but heres some more! http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/gallery/2561 http://www.adana-th.com/limagegal/page/adatank6.htm...

Hello everyone :wave: Thought I would create a new journal for my newly purchased ADA Mini 'S' although it is still in the planning stages its always nice to have some advice and input. :thumbup: My reasoning behind starting a new 'scape (as if you ever need one) was wanting to...

Re: Andyh's 190l Lounge tank. (now with ADA Solar 1) I'm no science buff but I would say your getting better diffusion into the water where the impeller of the filter is chopping the mist even finer so you've got total dissolution before it reaches the tank = better efficiency = yellow drop...

Ottos only seem to have an 'off' and 'superfast' switch :D I've caught him before actually 'hugging' a crypt leaf with his fins to hold on :eh: He likes my tweezers, does that count as a stick?

A fish out of water... First time I caught my Otto doing this, he was sat there for a good 5 minutes with his gills just below the waterline. I don't think its a water quality issue though as the CRS are fine and I don't dose CO2 and have plenty of surface movement so wouldn't have oxygen...

Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l Nano Scape Looking sweet mate! May I ask who supplied your CRS in the beginning? Yours look like they have really nice solid colours. I'm planning on getting some higher grades when I get a second nano so I can separate them :geek: Moss is looking the part...

Thanks very much for your kind words mate :) It's been a real battle to keep it on track due to poor flow from that beast of a rock but I'm hopefully on the road to recovery now I've rearranged the inlet and outflow. Thats great to hear someone still reads my ramblings, I'm surprised anyones...

Re: Once upon a time at the riverbank - September DIY pic Fr Bookmarked that link, just the job thanks :D TBH pressurised CO2 for me (and a few others I'm sure) is a big step if your not used to working with pressurised gas canisters. I've never welded, fired a fire extinguisher, refilled...

Re: Once upon a time at the riverbank - September DIY pic Fr Looks real nice mate :thumbup: We're missing a 'yeast CO2 tutorial' in the CO2 section so it would be great for someone like you who has tried applying it on a larger scale tank to do a write up maybe. Couple of questions for...

See if you can pick up some of these useful glassware brushes next time you visit the dreaded dentist :thumbup: left to right- interdental brush, ADA spring washer, sainsburys bottle brush