Dou's 90x36x30 (25G/90L)

[Doubu]

If you guys followed my other thread, you'll know that I recently rescaped my 60P. I actually moved it to the other side of the room at the same time so that I could start on a new 90cm (25G/90L) tank. My condo restrictions put a limit of 30G (~110L) max so I had a custom tank built that was big enough to do what I wanted but also within the limits imposed on me. My inspiration for this tank is Takashi Amano's iwagumi aquascapes/nature aquariums. All of his aquascapes are simple yet complex - and it inspires others to want to take on the hobby. When I first saw them, I thought wow - how incredibly balanced.

That being said, I wanted to keep this tank true to the nature aquarium/iwagumi style, 3 plants with balanced stone arrangements (although I'm not completely following all the "rules"). I'm not going to try and overthink it/add too many plants/etc., I just want to be very clear in my intention RE: stone placement/plant selection. I want this aquascape in the end to make someone feel like they want to create something as well and have the same feeling of awe when I first saw Amano's iwagumi scapes (as well as think in their head, I want to do this too!).

Equipment:
Eheim 2215 (350)
DICI Skimmer
Finnex 24/7+ Planted LED
Custom 90x36x30cm (25G) Tank
Do!Aqua Music CO2 Diffuser
Marineland 300W Heater
Fusion Air Pump
VIV Inflow/Outflow Pipes

Layout/Substrate:
Lava Stone
ADA Power Sand-S
ADA Amazonia Normal
ADA Amazonia Powder
ADA Kei Stone

Plants:
Monte Carlo
DHG Mini
Rotala Rotundifolia OR Rotala Singapore (still deciding)

Livestock:
20-30x of [Still thinking...]
?x Ramshorn Snails
?x Amano Shrimp

2016/09/15 - Set-up, planted, flooded, but only one picture for now =).

 

[CooKieS]

Hi, love the tank dimensions.

Stones are nice looking too but beware, they Will be covered with hc and eleocharis sp if you don't add a little height to the smaller ones.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Doubu, Great Start What are the blue bits in the substrate.

 

[Doubu]

Hi, love the tank dimensions.

Stones are nice looking too but beware, they Will be covered with hc and eleocharis sp if you don't add a little height to the smaller ones.

Thanks for the reminder... I will be trimming and maintaining diligently for this one so everything grows the way I want it to =D

 

[Doubu]

Hi Doubu, Great Start What are the blue bits in the substrate.

They're the poor man's TGM substrate supports LOL. Essentially plastic sheets (meant for cutting paper on with blades) cut up to size to stop slopes from collapsing.

 

[alto]

LIKE!


Extraordinary stone - where did you manage to source Kei stone

 

[Doubu]

LIKE!


Extraordinary stone - where did you manage to source Kei stone

Thanks! There was a place out east in Ontario (Canada) - but I thought Kei stone was readily available though.. or is that not the case? I still see it as one of the products available on the ADA website. Shipping across Canada is not too bad and they would ship for free if I ordered X amount so I ended up picking a lot of pieces. I still have about a third left that I haven't used yet and still thinking what I want to do.

 

[alto]

I saw the photo on their FB page a while back - looked around in shops as I wondered how it looked under water/lights etc
I'll wait for your flood

 

[Bolota]

Hi
Very nice! I guess you have seen James Findley Continuity scape? One of the best for me.
I'll forward to see how you resolve that

 

[Doubu]

Hi
Very nice! I guess you have seen James Findley Continuity scape? One of the best for me.
I'll forward to see how you resolve that

Yes! I actually saw that video haha. If I can come anything close it will be a success to me =D

 

[CooKieS]

Thanks for the reminder... I will be trimming and maintaining diligently for this one so everything grows the way I want it to =D

Good luck! You'll need it

 

[CooKieS]

Hi
Very nice! I guess you have seen James Findley Continuity scape? One of the best for me.
I'll forward to see how you resolve that

Looks very artificial too me...but that's Findley style isn't it?

 

[Doubu]

Looks very artificial too me...but that's Findley style isn't it?

Thanks for the well wishes - this is the first time I've truly said okay I am going to keep this nice and simple. I was thinking about this for a long time (your artificial comment) and realized that in the end all of this is artificial - we can only get so close to nature. When I googled photos every time for inspiration, everything in nature is very "wild". Not many people would consider what you see aquascaping (but I actually love the chaos, which is why I rescaped my 60p to be just like that). I think it's great that James Findley has his own "style" - you can definitely tell when something looks like it's been created by him.

 

[tim]

Nice start doubu, plants could make or break this hardscape and shallow tanks can be a total PITA having seen your 60p& mini M I think you have the plant trimming side of things under control good luck with the scape mate, watching with interest.

 

[AnhBui]

For some reasons my eyes keep being drawn to red circled area Is there any space between rocks in green oval?

 

[Doubu]

For some reasons my eyes keep being drawn to red circled area Is there any space between rocks in green oval?

There is space between those rocks - I'm planting DHG mini there! The red circle area should be less harsh once plants fill in - that's where DHG/MonteCarlo/Rotala Rotundifolia/Singapore will all meet. I'm not sure yet if I want a red-ish plant in there, but I think I will try singapore if I can get my hands on it. It's actually really hard to find and the only time I found it I didn't buy it =[... Now I will be lucky if it ever pops up again. I am thinking of adding just one more plant - sagitarria subulata in key places as I think the thicker blades of leaves will help create some more balance as well.

 

[AnhBui]

I am thinking of adding just one more plant - sagitarria subulata in key places as I think the thicker blades of leaves will help create some more balance as well.

With it you need extra care to keep it under control. It's rated as easy. If I am not wrong, it does not require lot of Co2, light and nutrients to grow. Use it at the very beginning and in short term is not a bad choice. It can absorb exceed nutrients and help to balance the tank. But in long term, I do not suggest to keep it

 

[Doubu]

With it you need extra care to keep it under control. It's rated as easy. If I am not wrong, it does not require lot of Co2, light and nutrients to grow. Use it at the very beginning and in short term is not a bad choice. It can absorb exceed nutrients and help to balance the tank. But in long term, I do not suggest to keep it

Do you have a lot of experience with it? I was asking a bunch of friends and reading online but there's no post accompanying with evidence of what they're saying. On tropica's website it says it can grow quite huge with the right conditions - which I do not want. I just want thicker blade-like grass here and there so I may end up doing a lot of trimming to keep it under control... Do you have any suggestions for something that is like a thicker blade-like, low-growing plant? Basically, a mini jungle val... I was also looking into mini aridarum but it's kind of too dark =/.

 

[AnhBui]

Do you have a lot of experience with it? I was asking a bunch of friends and reading online but there's no post accompanying with evidence of what they're saying. On tropica's website it says it can grow quite huge with the right conditions - which I do not want. I just want thicker blade-like grass here and there so I may end up doing a lot of trimming to keep it under control... Do you have any suggestions for something that is like a thicker blade-like, low-growing plant? Basically, a mini jungle val... I was also looking into mini aridarum but it's kind of too dark =/.

I had bad experience with its over growth. It looked nice at first then after a couple of weeks it started generating big leaves and my tank completely messed up. Perhaps you can give crypt lucens a shot.

 

[CooKieS]

I had bad experience with its over growth. It looked nice at first then after a couple of weeks it started generating big leaves and my tank completely messed up. Perhaps you can give crypt lucens a shot.

My friend had the same experience with this plant, it carpeted over his whole 60P scape in about 1 month, and it was a non CO2 tank.

Plus, it looks ugly when trimmed.