Lava rock valley - Low tech can look good

[anfield]

Have had the pleasure of browsing this forum for some time (used to post regularly on TPT and this is cross posted there) and you guys have some top notch scapes. Wanted to post my own contribution. This tank has taken over a year to mature.....one of the downsides of low tech but on the other hand, it has been relatively low maintenance. However, it does have a lawn that I would say looks pretty decent for a non-CO2 tank without using organic soil.

Soil: Mr Aqua aquarium soil and Eco complete combination.
Tank: ADA 36 inch by 18 inch by 18 inch
Hardscape: lava rock
Plants: Micranthemum montecarlo, dwarf anubias, wisteria and some assorted buces (none of which did well)
Fish: Mix of apistos and congo red tetras. I know this is a bit small for congo reds but I will eventually upgrade the tank
Lighting: Two satellite Current LED strips to get better coverage across the 18 inch deep tank. This allowed me to grow the lawn but needless to say it was challenging to keep algae at bay. Used a 7 hr photoperiod and about 40-60% light intensity. Still have some algae but nothing major.
Ferts: Daily excel, with weekly doses of Seachem Flourish, Trace and API leafzone. I did a dry start first for about 2 months using a mister and then flooded the tank. However the pace of growth was really slow for 9 months.....until I started using Seachem Advance and dosed phosphate (tested phosphate levels). At that point growth rate doubled from very slow to just slow .
Water change: 50% every two weeks.

The rock hardscape to quite a bit of time to assemble. It does get challenging to clean and annoying when fish get trapped in hard to get places. It may be hard to see but there are multiple caves that the fish love to use and there are shrimp hidden in there as well. Please note that this is meant to be relatively low maintenance so ignore the algae covered fixtures and my novice picture taking skills!

20170316_081004 by miclino, on Flickr

20170420_093922 by miclino, on Flickr

20170615_234418 by miclino, on Flickr

20170701_101045 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0109 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0074 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0092 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0125 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0090 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0135 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0118 by miclino, on Flickr

DSC_0117 by miclino, on Flickr

 

[Tim Harrison]

Hello, and welcome to UKAPS. Thanks for sharing your scape with us, looking good btw

 

[zozo]

Always when i see Lava Rock in the LFS i wonder what the hell should i make from that?? It kinda just doesn't inspire me. I guess i got a huge blind spot there.. This lookes great.. Love the arch and the drapping plants.. Kinda makes me think of one of The seven wonders of the ancient world, The hanging Gardens of Babylon..

 

[anfield]

Thanks
Forgot to add, I used Eheim 2215 and an aquaclear 50 for filtration. In hindsight, I might have left more open space but next time I will try using a larger tank. Lava rock does offer a lot of possibilities and is definitely cheaper

 

[anfield]

Can you guys see the pics within the thread or do you have to click on a link? Seems odd that I could see the pics in thread at home but not at work.

 

[Edvet]

I can see them without clicking

 

[Eduard18]

Nice rockwork
but I think that you need more plants, like WAY more plants , different kinds, to add more detail and texture to complement your rocks

 

[anfield]

Thanks. I have had tanks with much heavier plant growth. But the challenge I wants d to overcome here was to grow a decent looking lawn without CO2 or organic potting soil. Took me nearly a year to do it with daily double dosing of excel. I also had to remove a lot of the buces and anubias because they could not handle the level of light required to grow the lawn.

Ironically I had to dose phosphates to get the lawn to reach this level of growth.

 

[TomatoandEgg]

isn't it less cost effective and more effort to dose excel twice a day rather than using a co2 diffuser? excel is pricey where i live

 

[anfield]

Maybe but with co2 then I have to significantly increase ferts and water changes. Risk of algae breakouts is also higher whereas here things move at a slower pace and I have time to correct mistakes by keeping it somewhat low tech

 

[TomatoandEgg]

interesting! i didn't realise there were downsides!

 

[anfield]

In my own experience, low tech takes weeks before an imbalance in nutrients shows up as large scale algae outbreak. So I can travel for work and not worry that I will return to a tank full of green haze. I don't think CO2 based tanks are as forgiving.

Of course I had plenty of algae in this tank but easily kept in check by spot dosing excel

 

[anfield]

Also, if i skipped excel for a week, no harm done. I'm not sure the same would be true if the tank ran out of CO2 for a week or two