3ft shallow scape

[Marc Chandler]

Hi guys,
I have been away with work for the vast majority of the year and have been unable to do any aquascapeing so finally now I am back I'm getting back into it. Starting with my shallow 3 ft. tank. So here it goes..

Equipment list
Tank: 90x40x25cm
Filter: Eheim pro 2
Lighting: up aqua pro z
Co2: Unsure may get pressurised

Substrates

10mm Red scoria from Bunnings
Cal aqua labs Black Earth 10l

The majority of the hardscape will made up of volcanic rock, I would have liked larger pieces but could not find much in Sydney. So I opted for the BBQ bags you can get from Bunnings used around 4 bags. Originally I wanted to have 2 mounds on either side of the tank with an open area in the centre. But after fiddling around with it I came up with this layout of three mounds descending in height from the left hand side of the tank. I had to really pack in the red scoria behind the lava rocks to keep them stable although it is still quite touchy.



I wasn't intending to use any wood in this scape however, I have some wood from my last scape with some nice growth on that I didn't want to waste. So I have tried to place them in a way that keeps the growth around where the waterline will be (the growth is terrestrial ferns mostly maidenhair fern and moss).
My only concern is that they may struggle under the lighting. I have found maidenhair fern to do fine after an initial adjustment period.



I have used the red scoria as a base layer for the substrate, I am hoping this will aid in keeping the substrate healthier. I am also experimenting with using some elephant ear plant in the top left hand corner, I know they can grow very large but I hopefully can keep it under control. Has anyone used this plant in a scape before? Thoughts?



I have now filled in the Black Earth substrate this is my first time using it be interesting to see how it compares with ADA Aqua soil. Some initial planting using Staurogyne repens, Alternanthera reineckii Mini and mini Fissidens attached to volcanic rocks.
I am going to use various clumps of Bolbitis heudelotii and Microsorum pteropus varieties I have floating around. I will also use different mosses among the volcanic rocks.

But I am unsure what else to use for the lower areas of the scape perhaps something in the Marsilea family? Has anyone had much experience with them? I have actually never seen it for sale over here.





Anyway that's where it is as of day 1. I would love some feedback on what I could perhaps improve or add to the scape.

 

[zozo]

Wonderfull!! Working in the coal mine..
Love it, especialy the dark sinister looks in it,,.. Can''t wait to see how it develops. Also love that chrome eifel tower look aqaurium stand. Totaly my thing. Please keep it comming.. Aplauss....

 

[Marc Chandler]

Slight update:

Added in some small bunches of Microsorum pteropus "Windelov java fern", Anubias nana and Bolbitis heudelotii. I left the tank empty all yesterday and the Elephant ear plant and Alternanthera reineckii Mini have shrivelled up a bit. Now that I have filled the tank I hope they will come back a bit more lively.
I'm still looking into options for the foreground not having much luck with finding any of the Marsilea sp.

 

[Marc Chandler]

Thanks Zozo never had of sinister looking scape before haha. Hopefully it won't disappoint. Thank you for the kind words

 

[zozo]

Well its the darkest tank i've ever seen.. The black makes it all looks so dark it remebers me of my chilhood. We had an old castle ruine near our home with a ditch ending up in a stream and a few hectare swamp land behind it where all the wells came to the surface. I was always intrigued by it and i was one of the only daring to venture in there. There did i also find smelly pools wich were totaly black of decaying matter with dark branches of wood sticking out.

That Elephants ear, is that an Alocasia cucullata (Hooded dwarf)? I'm already looking some time to find it but they are not so often for sale in the shops near me..

 

[Marc Chandler]

Wow sounds quite exciting (maybe scary for a child) to have that sort of thing close to home very cool. Did you ever find any cool plants growing down there for your aquariums?
The Elephants ear is Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic' this is actually a pup plant from a large one I have growing downstairs on the balcony in an old tank/pond which has grown to about a meter tall. It just had a read of the plant ticket that originally came with it and it says "do not allow to dry out" which I pretty much did when I left the tank empty yesterday. So no wonder it's looking very sad today, hopefully it can come back.

 

[zozo]

I was the only one daring (or maybe stupid) enough to go in there i was about 7 years old. I never was scared i loved it. Luckily never got killed nor damaged by my own curiousity.. Always was a bit nurdy and on myself, others playing soccer and i was in the swamp or nearby forest. It triggered my intrest in aquarium and my first one was a big one with a steel rim sealed with putty in our garden. Always went in there with a bucket and a net to catch critters and fish. Like stickelbacks, water spiders, water beatles, slamanders, baby frogs etc. I realy wasn't that much in to plants that time all though i took some home with nice flowers but didn't have the recourses to find out what it all was. For the summer i enjoyed the garden aquarium and before the winter started a did bring all back to the swamp. Now it all is turned in to a monument with a park and all gone.

I'm not realy experienced with the alocasia, still waiting to get my hands on a little one. But i geuss yours possibly will recover.. Can take some time, if it has a shock now and the leaves die off then just keep in check that it doesn't start to rot from the bottom up. If all leaves die off i would take it out and keep it moist for a while instead of in fully wet feet in the water, till there is new healthy growth comming back..

 

[Marc Chandler]

Sounds like you had some experiences there Zozo.
I will am keeping an eye on the Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic'. Although two of its large "ears" have shrivelled up there is another one starting to form which is looking much more lively and strong so maybe its just adapting and hopefully will go well.
I have added in more Staurogyne repens along the rock lines.
I'm still waiting to hunt down some Marsilea species maybe in a week or so I should have a few varieties to test out.
For the rocky areas I'm throwing in some assorted ferns, Bucephalandra and mosses.
Still very much a work in progress in terms of initial layout.

 

[Marc Chandler]

Update:

I was getting worried about my Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic' having had it's two primary leaves melt away under the light so I cut them off. But now it has shot off some new stronger leaves which seem much more happy with the new environment.
The maidenhair ferns are starting to look happy in there new place as well.
I have released a small colony of red cherry shrimp into the tank and did a large water change earlier in the week everything seems good at the moment.
I want to start looking into pressurised co2 options.

 

[zozo]

I also see some bolbitis looks nice.. Can't wait to see it grown in and booming. What also would look very nice kreeping out the waterfront. Is that new Bolbitis sp. Buea.
http://www.aquamoos.de/product_info.php?products_id=789

It slowly creeps and stays very low about 3 cm forms dense mats of dark green leaves.

I had it in my tank to see what it does, via an other provider and didn't prepare. It's wild catch from Africa, it grows so slow there are no batches grown indoor for sale at the time. So you never know what relation gift comes with it.. It was so much infested with hair algae and clado it almost ruined my whole tank. It kept nesting and had to take all out, threw it in the pond. there still is 1% in the tank at a very shady spot on the back side of a peace of wood. Looks ok and clean now and growing a bit.. But i definitely going to try it again in my shallow i want to build next year. Maybe i can make it grow enough to use that.

Just an idea it would look awsome in your scape i'm sure..

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I was getting worried about my Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic' having had it's two primary leaves melt away under the light so I cut them off. But now it has shot off some new stronger leaves which seem much more happy with the new environment.
The maidenhair ferns are starting to look happy in there new place as well.

They both look fine.

I also see some bolbitis

I was wondering about that. I think it might be a <"Filmy fern"> (Hymenophyllum sp.)

Was the moss collected locally, rather than bought?

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

I realy not that sure what it is.. Ferns are often tricky to determine from a picture if you don't know all small details. But that one looks pretty simular to the Heudelotii i got in my tank. Color and leave shape are very simular.

 

[Marc Chandler]

I also see some bolbitis looks nice.. Can't wait to see it grown in and booming. What also would look very nice kreeping out the waterfront. Is that new Bolbitis sp. Buea.

Hey Zozo, I assume your referring to the (Hymenophyllum sp.) sitting next to the maidenhair fern I am unsure if it is true mini bolbitis.
That other Bolbitis sp. Buea you mentioned looks really interesting but is unfortunately is unavailable here (We have some pretty strict import rules) I cant just go on eBay and order some nice cool new plants which is a real shame. Obviously there are strong reasons for it for example keeping out exotic pests, diseases and protecting our native flora and fauna. But it's still a shame as an aquascaper/plant collector.
I will keep an eye out for native variants though and see what other interesting things I can find

Hi all,They both look fine. I was wondering about that. I think it might be a <"Filmy fern"> (Hymenophyllum sp.)

Was the moss collected locally, rather than bought?

cheers Darrel

Hi there Darrel,

Yeah they are really starting to look good now after that initial scare (for me anyway) haha.

Yes the Hymenophyllum sp. were collected on a hiking trip I went on, They seem to be adjusting ok generally a lot of collected stuff doesn't survive for too long but these guys are doing ok I just have to regularly mist everything to keep them moist and happy whilst they adjust. When I found them though they were quite dry anyway so it's mainly the new light levels they are adjusting to as they were found in a deep shaded spot.

The maidenhair fern is growing from spores, because in my previous tank the same driftwood was used and I had a green wall set up as a backdrop to the tank with maidenhair fern all over it. And what it has done is drop spores onto the surface of the water and spread over to the exposed bits of driftwood and formed little maidenhair colonies hence why I re used these bits of wood. I think they look great personally

I also do have actual Bolbitis Heudelotii growing on the rocks below the surface as well.

 

[zozo]

Hey Zozo, I assume your referring to the (Hymenophyllum sp.) sitting next to the maidenhair fern I am unsure if it is true mini bolbitis.
That other Bolbitis sp. Buea you mentioned looks really interesting but is unfortunately is unavailable here (We have some pretty strict import rules) I cant just go on eBay and order some nice cool new plants which is a real shame. Obviously there are strong reasons for it for example keeping out exotic pests, diseases and protecting our native flora and fauna. But it's still a shame as an aquascaper/plant collector.
I will keep an eye out for native variants though and see what other interesting things I can find



Hi there Darrel,

Yeah they are really starting to look good now after that initial scare (for me anyway) haha.

Yes the Hymenophyllum sp. were collected on a hiking trip I went on, They seem to be adjusting ok generally a lot of collected stuff doesn't survive for too long but these guys are doing ok I just have to regularly mist everything to keep them moist and happy whilst they adjust. When I found them though they were quite dry anyway so it's mainly the new light levels they are adjusting to as they were found in a deep shaded spot.

The maidenhair fern is growing from spores, because in my previous tank the same driftwood was used and I had a green wall set up as a backdrop to the tank with maidenhair fern all over it. And what it has done is drop spores onto the surface of the water and spread over to the exposed bits of driftwood and formed little maidenhair colonies hence why I re used these bits of wood. I think they look great personally

I also do have actual Bolbitis Heudelotii growing on the rocks below the surface as well.

Ok i didn't know about your different import rules.. Thanks for sharing, explaines some for me now, why i haven't seen some plants at a forum called UKAPS.. Now i can stop wondering about that. And stop asumming your garden centres are equiped the same. But at some points there most be a way to get 'm in, since there are yet also tropical plants available as well. Who's responsable for that these days? Royal Botanical society seal of aproval? A pitty.. Few years back a novice from Thailand sended me some Clitoria Ternatae seeds in a letter, it was more a half dried plant, only had issues with the plant the customs didn't care.

But still even without all there's enough to create the most beautifull scapes ever seen...

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The maidenhair fern is growing from spores, because in my previous tank the same driftwood was used and I had a green wall set up as a backdrop to the tank with maidenhair fern all over it. And what it has done is drop spores onto the surface of the water and spread over to the exposed bits of driftwood and formed little maidenhair colonies hence why I re used these bits of wood. I think they look great personally

Brilliant.

cheers Darrel

 

[Marc Chandler]

Update:
Having been away for a week the algae has started to appear a little bit will have to do a water change soon.
I have done a lot of extra planting around the emergent areas and have added extra moss covered rocks trying to get them bushy before I place them properly. Also have added in some native mini bolbitis.
The Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic' has really taken off now.

Here's a few pics..























Thanks for looking

 

[tim]

Lovely scape mate.

 

[Marc Chandler]

Lovely scape mate.

Thank you Tim, It's coming along still very young.
Looks like the algae battle is going to start soon It's about that time in an early scape when algae just decides to try take over everything.

 

[zozo]

Very nice! good job.. Realy love the transition to emersed.. Very nicely done.. Throw some floaters in there to help battle the algae.. What kind of mosses did you all use?

 

[Marc Chandler]

Hi zozo, I have used Australian native mini Fissidens, another larger native Aus Fissidens, US Fissidens, mini pellia, Aus native mini pellia, and then a whole bunch of other mostly emergent/terrestrial ones I have collected over the years which I have no idea what they are.