Ok, here I go. I changed my mind. This 40 breeder is going to be a planted tank. I’m thinking wood- scape and a foreground of eleocharis ‘belem’, but before I get all excited about that stuff, I need to buy all of the equipment. I’m only going to go with an eheim 2217, maybe even a 2215, but I will have a koralia 2 in there to help out on flow. I’m going to drill the tank and do loc-line returns like Tom Barr did on his 180 gallon tank

I’m going to get a fancy Victor CO2 regulator from GLA! Standard 5 lb tank, maybe a 10 lb-er if I can get a good price on one. Aquasoil amazonia I. A catalina t5ho 39Wx4 fixture with only 2 or 3 bulbs in, suspended over the tank (even though it’s not rimless, and most likely a regular ceramic diffuser, maybe an in-line diffuser. 35-40 green neons, a trio of SAEs (maybe, I haven’t made up my mind on if I want moss or not. Has anyone ever had a sae that didn’t eat moss?), snowball shrimp, and amanos in there as well as some otos (maybe I’ll have better luck with them this time)

Possible plants include:
eleocharis ‘belem;
rotala ‘colorata’
anubias ‘petite’
java fern’trident’
java fern ‘needle leaf’
ludwigia guinea ‘broadleaf’
bolbitis
maybe some hm or lawnmarsh pennywort.

So here’s my potential budget

• Tank
• Stand
• GLA CO2 Regulator
• Manzanita
• CO2 Cylinder
• Aqua Soil Amazonia I (three 9L bags in addition to the 6L I have already) – $112.26 (I might do mineralized soil…)
• Eheim 2217 – $150
• CO2 diffuser ~ $30
• Catalina T5HO – $250

I got my wood from Tom Barr today! My CO2 cylinder should be here from GLA tomorrow!

I made the light hanger today, and I just ordered the Aquasoil. Things are rolling now! the light hanger being tested:

I’m trying out lawnmarsh pennywort as my first foreground. I’ll just change it if I don’t like it. I also grew this stuff emersed for 5 or 6 months and it took over my 40 breeder. I didn’t even use half of it in here. Not fully planted yet, but it will be soon. I still have a bunch of crypts and anubias petite to plant.

I figured you guys deserve an update. I thought that the tank looked good tonight, so I took a few pictures to share with you guys.

Equipment:
Tank – Do!Aqua 90p 94×45x45 cm (36×18x18″) That’s about 48 gallons
Stand – half-DYI 36×18x33″
Light – GLO light T5HO 2×39W, both 6700K, one Lifeglo, one Coralife
Filtration – Eheim Ecco 2232 (35gal) and 2236 (80gal) with Do!Aqua and Aquamagic glass lily pipes
Heater – Hydor In-line 200W (on 2236)
CO2 – pressurized 5lb, 24/7 at about 0.5 bps. Diffuser under small powerhead (for now)

Scape:
Bottom layer – mix of natural Fluorite, Laterite, Turface and sand
Upper layer – mix of black Fluorite, Laterite and black Onyx sand.
Front – Sand from Lake Tahoe
Manzanita collected in East Sierras and Lake Tahoe area (soaked and hand scrapped)
Rocks bought from fellow aquarist

Plants:
Java fern ‘narrow leaf’, ‘windellow’ and ‘trident’
Anubias nana and nana ‘petitte’
Bolbitis heudelotti
Crypt. wendtii ‘mi oya’, ‘Florida sunset’, ‘green gecko’, (?)
C. lutea
C. parva
Eleocharis acicularis
Glossostigma elatinoides
Hydrocotyle
Hygrophila corymbosa ‘compact’
Lobelia cardinalis
Myriophyllum mattogrossense
Mayaca fluviatilis
Rotala macrandra
R. indica
R. colorata
Potamogeton gayii
Polygonum sp. kawagoeanum
Blyxa aubertii
Echinodorus ‘vesuvius’
Fissidens fontanus

Animals:
Cardinal tetras (Paracheirodon axelrodi) – 10
Rummynose tetras (Hemigrammus bleheri) – 30(?)
Columbian tetras (Hyphessobrycon colombianus) – 2
Panda cory (Corydoras panda) – 5
Mystery cory (Corydoras ????) – 2
Otto (Otocinclus affinis?) – 2
Pitbull Pleco (LDA-25) (Parotocinclus jumbo) – 1
Amano shrimp (Caridina japonica ) – 1
MTS (Elanoides tuberculata) – many
other snails (Helisoma sp. (?), Physa acuta, Lymnea (?), Planorbis sp.)

Skeleton of a Bush is the Aquascaper’s first serious attempt to create a beautiful aquarium garden. The plant selection was the first major challenge of this aquascape. After a trial with over fifty species, thirty-five species of plants were selected for the aquascape. The goal was to combine the different plant shapes, leave structures and growth rates into a balance aquascape that evoked harmony and fluid-eye movement.

The central focal point and the foundation of the layout consisted of the dead skeleton of a bush plant (located on the right). The piece of driftwood with the thin curled branches was perfect for this aquascape. Crinum calamistratum was planted so that its curled plant leaves would complement the similar shaped branches of the driftwood.

Pagoda stones where placed at the bordering edges of the white sand over the first few months of the aquascape. Also, on the left side, mangrove driftwood was incorporated to balance the side, and complete the aquascape. Lava rock was placed beneath the driftwood to prevent plants from growing under the driftwood.

For the substrate, Seachem Fluorite and Caribsea Eco Complete were placed at the corners of the aquarium where the majority of the stem plants would go. In the center, a wide white sand path was created to add brightness and contrast.

During the first four months, this high-tech, high light aquarium experienced algae issues. Extensive research on plant biology, fertilizers, carbon dioxide injection, algae, and lighting helped the Aquascaper understand the needs of the plants to the point where the Aquascaper developed a “feel” for the aquarium. This led to regular following of the Estimate Index and PMDD fertilization methods that ensured plant health and the eradication of algae. For fertilizing, a formula of KNO3, K2SO4, Fleet enema, Power4, Seachem Iron and Epsom salts is dosed.

Trimming takes part every week for the stem plants such as Heteranthera zosterifolia (Stargrass), Micranthemum umbrosum, Hemanthius micranthemoides, and Glossostigma elantinoides. Sometimes two or three weeks would pass without a trimming for some slower growing plants to ensure a balance and rhythmic growth of all the plants in the aquarium. Water parameters are: pH 6.6-6.8, NO3 20-30 ppm, PO4 1-2 ppm, DH 8, Kh 4. Every Monday a 50% water change and maintenance of the two external filters and the internal DIY filter occurs. The DIY filter is composed of a 1000L Eheim pump head, and is also responsible for carbon dioxide diffusion.

As the first true aquascape achieved by the Aquascaper, Skeleton of a Bush is a great achievement and far beyond the level of where the Aquascaper thought he would be. This aquascape received a 6th place ranking in the large category and a 10th place world ranking at the Acuavida Aquascaping Contest 2009. It also received a 66th ranking in the 2009 International Aquascaping Plant Layout Contest (IAPLC).

2005

2006

2007

2008

Iochak8 who setup this tank by using ADA Tank and ADA GRAND SOLAR Lighting.

New cylinder with the coarse salt before dipping for a few days left …

After a hard work, then drill another Dem, and finally to a light aircraft fitted with sticks

Good lighting installed, it will only water cylinder out, and then washed with water once, began to fall off the mud with five treasure

Put shrimp in the tank.

2rd Place : 412L (109 gallon) Aquatic Garden: “Shou Stone Ridge” Michael G.W. Wong, Hong Kong China

	First time entry.
Tank Size	150 x 50 x 55 cm (59 x 20 x 22 in)
Volume	412L (109 gallons)
Category	Aquatic Garden
Title	Shou Stone Ridge
Plants	1) Glossostigma Elatinoide, 2) Echinodorus Tenellus, 3) Staurogyne sp., 4) Anubias barteri var nana “Petite”, 5) Taxiphyllum sp “Flame Moss”, 6) Hydrocotyle sp, 7) Cryptocoryne sp “Dwarf”, Fissidens sp
Fish/Animals	Cardinal Tetra, Amano Shrimp, Puntius denisoni, Dwarf Gold Pleco, Neritina Ruby Snail
Decorative Materials	ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia II, ADA Powersand, ADA Bacter 100, ADA Clear Super, ADA Tourmaline BC, Penac P, Penac W, Shou Stones
Background
Lighting	T5HO (80W x – 9 Hours per day
Filtration	Tetra EX120 Canister Filter x 2, AquaClear PowerHead 30 Undergravel Filtration x 2
Additional Information	ADA Brightly K, Tropica AquaCare Plant Nutrient, Seachem Flourish Trace, Ferka Bottom Fertilizers….. 250g Water Softener Resin added into filter (replaced every four weeks)….. Pressurized CO2 System (9 Hours per day) 2 bubbles per second….. pH 6.6 – 7.0, KH 3, GH 3dH

3rd Place : 450L (119 gallon) Aquatic Garden: “Beyond the Nature” Gary Wu Kwok Fai, Discovery Bay Hong Kong China, HKSAR

Honorable Mention : 400L (106 gallon) Aquatic Garden: “Oriens et occasus(East and west)” pasquale buonpane, Piedimonte Matese CE Italy

Deep Mystic River

Miracle Valley

White Stone

Java Backwoods

Red & Green

Forest of equilibrium

Island

Power Of Nature