Advice on first aquascape

[Phargon]

Hi All-

I am in the process of setting up my first planted tank and I was hoping to get some advice/ suggestions on a few things (everything basically 😊).

Tank
The tank is a Dennerle 70L nano scaper tank white glass (W x H x D 50 x 36 x 39cm). Filter Oase Biomaster thermo 350. I recently posted about the custom made cabinet I had made for this. Thread 'Space between tank and walls'

It is placed in a corner (see picture attached) so I’m thinking of a triangle scape with a slope towards the back corner where the walls meet. This is because the tank will be seen mostly at an angle.

Rocks
In terms of or rocks I was thinking either dragon stone or dark seiryu rock. I prefer seiryu, but I have very soft water (GH2/3 KH0/1 PH6.8) and was worried or Seiryu changing water parameters significantly from my tap water.

Should this be something to be worried about?

Major reasons to prefer one over the other?

I want to leave plenty of space for plants and livestock so was hoping to get 5-10Kg of rocks. Will this be enough for the size of tank? I have 9L of tropical aquarium soil powder available which I’m hoping would be sufficient for a good slope unless you advice I need more?

Wood
I would like to add some details with wood as well and any advice on this would be appreciated. I will use purigen in filter to remove tannins.

Plants
I only have limited experience with moss (Java, Christmas etc), floating salvinia, and Java fern, so not much. I was leaning towards the nature style plants collections offered by aquarium gardens to make life easier whilst I learn. Something colorful that doesn’t need trimming too often would be preferable.

CO2
I don’t have this yet, but hoping to source a pressurised system by the time I plant. As I’m hoping to do a dark start, and things are quite busy at the moment, this won’t be for a few weeks

Livestock
Livestock will be small fish (probably something like chili rasboras, tetras and some small corys). I will also add some amano and neocaridina shrimp eventually. I think I’ll be ok in this selection when the time comes.

In short, it would be great to have advice on the following:

• suggestion on rock type (with regards of change in water parameters) and amount to purchase
• Is 9L of soil sufficient for a sloped corner
• Suggestion on wood that goes with the rocks above
• Plants suggestions

Sorry for long post and for so many questions- I am hoping for this to become a journal as I start the tank.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Great community- I’m learning a lot by browsing around!

 

[seedoubleyou]

Nice setup, the tank has nice dimensions and would suit an island style or nature aquarium style nicely.

Advice is one thing, but pictures paint a thousand words. So I’d look through some journals and get inspiration on both hardscape and planting on there.

Also, don’t be afraid to copy the works of others, maybe bettering it or putting your own touch on it. Copying successful tanks is a great way to start and learn.

 

[ElleDee]

Seiryu stone will absolutely change your water parameters. How much is a function of how much stone you use and your water change practices. People manage this because they like how it looks, but I can't give advice on that because I went with dragonstone myself to avoid the issue.

I think dragonstone can go with most wood, but because seiryu tends to be a cool gray I would stay away from wood with a strong orange tone. The most important thing is that you like it though.

As for plants, my go-to advice for beginners is to get a wide variety of easy plants and see what thrives for you. It's difficult to over plant in the beginning, and the composition of the plants is going to change over time as you figure out what you are doing and the tank matures.