My Little Aquascape

[George Farmer]

Planted nanos are becoming incredibly popular of late. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and try one out for myself. PFK readers will see some articles on the subject in the future.

It's 12x8x8" and holds less than 12 l. / 3 gal. I have some Riccia sp. "Dwarf" and Lilaeopsis brasiliensis on its way to fill the foreground. I will eventually stock a small shoal of Microrasbora sp. "Galaxy" when the planting is complete.

You can see its development and full spec. in my journal (see sig.)

Feedback and questions welcome.

 

[ChrisC]

Woah That's lovely George.

Are you going to plant the foreground with anything? Glosso?

Chris

P.S: You need a little sticker with the ADA logo on to stick in the bottom right of the tank

 

[Neal]

Absolutely stunning George.
I've deffinately learnt a couple of things from your journal, and it has already inspired me for two of my tanks, one of them being my PFK nano. I'm planning lava rock coated in christmas moss, and Utricularia graminifolia in the foreground, and maybe something in the background. I'm not sure how I will go about laying this out exactly, I was thinking like an mbuna style rock formation, or maybe like you, having just three or so rocks in scattered. What would you recommend to coat the lava rocks in? Would you say christmas moss or moss balls (like Oliver Knott and FKNM have done something similar)? I was also inspired by your friend, tear-scar's "Naupaka Coast" tank, I was thinking of using maybe JBL or similar substrate, with pea gravel or black gravel sloped on top, embed the rocks into the substrate, and put christmas moss/moss balls on them. Then cover the foreground in Utricularia Gram. and maybe have some Ludwigia inclinata verticillata "Cuba" behind the rocks. I'm not sure on how I would go about designing this. Do you know anyone who could come up with a plan for this layout using MS paint or photoshop? I know Moody is quite good at aquascaping, I might have to give him a PM.

Here is a question or two for regarding your Co2,
How are you diffusing the Co2, are you using your HOB filter, do you find this an effective way, what is on the end of your Co2 tubing?

Regards,
Neal

 

[George Farmer]

Woah That's lovely George.

Are you going to plant the foreground with anything? Glosso?

Thanks Chris. I have already answered your question -

I have some Riccia sp. "Dwarf" and Lilaeopsis brasiliensis on its way to fill the foreground. I will eventually stock a small shoal of Microrasbora sp. "Galaxy" when the planting is complete.

 

[Underwurlde]

Is that rock arrangement one of those Japanese little buddahs bowing to Larger Buddah thingies?

 

[George Farmer]

Absolutely stunning George.
I've deffinately learnt a couple of things from your journal, and it has already inspired me for two of my tanks, one of them being my PFK nano. I'm planning lava rock coated in christmas moss, and Utricularia graminifolia in the foreground, and maybe something in the background. I'm not sure how I will go about laying this out exactly, I was thinking like an mbuna style rock formation, or maybe like you, having just three or so rocks in scattered. What would you recommend to coat the lava rocks in? Would you say christmas moss or moss balls (like Oliver Knott and FKNM have done something similar)? I was also inspired by your friend, tear-scar's "Naupaka Coast" tank, I was thinking of using maybe JBL or similar substrate, with pea gravel or black gravel sloped on top, embed the rocks into the substrate, and put christmas moss/moss balls on them. Then cover the foreground in Utricularia Gram. and maybe have some Ludwigia inclinata verticillata "Cuba" behind the rocks. I'm not sure on how I would go about designing this. Do you know anyone who could come up with a plan for this layout using MS paint or photoshop? I know Moody is quite good at aquascaping, I might have to give him a PM.

Here is a question or two for regarding your Co2,
How are you diffusing the Co2, are you using your HOB filter, do you find this an effective way, what is on the end of your Co2 tubing?

Regards,
Neal

Thanks Neal. You have a lot of ideas and questions - which is great. A seperate thread in planted would be a good idea.

I use an Aqua Vital 160 HOB filter. Directly beneath the output is a glass/ceramic CO2 diffuser that creates a CO2 mist that gets circulated effectively by the filter flow.

Is that rock arrangement one of those Japanese little buddahs bowing to Larger Buddah thingies?

They look like rocks to me!

I understand where you are coming from, and yes, this rock arrangement is an Iwagumi composition based on ancient Japanese gardening techniques.

 

[Mr.September15]

OK OUCH! My face hurts this acne medicine is burning the crap out of my face! God I hate break outs

Anyways, Nice tank! I love the background is it painted or is it a paper? Are you planning to put any fish in it?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

very nice! i like the white background, looks really light and lovely, i really like this!

 

[geemacd]

very nice! i like the white background, looks really light and lovely, i really like this!

Silly question but what is the grass (obviously grass, but what variety) and how do you plant like that ?

I would love grass like that in part of my tank

 

[CAC]

Looks great, wish i could read the journal, but it says that 'some files may be missing' or something, so i cant read most of them...

Really nice tank, and i think the galaxy rasboras will look supurb in that tank

Mikey

 

[KimA]

Stunning setup - even my husband (who's not a fish/tank person at all) thought it was amazing, especially for only 12L

 

[goldencomet]

wow thats really nice i think the grass makes it look a lot bigger than 12l

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks for all the nice comments and interest. I hope to give you some updates soon as I have some new plants arriving this week. I hope to stock fish by Christmas ready for a final photo shoot for PFK.

Anyways, Nice tank! I love the background is it painted or is it a paper? Are you planning to put any fish in it?

It's white card with a cold cathode lamp providing back lighting.

As mentioned in the original post I will stock some Microrasbora sp. "Galaxy" once the planting is complete.

very nice! i like the white background, looks really light and lovely, i really like this!

....what is the grass (obviously grass, but what variety) and how do you plant like that ?

The plant is Eleocharis acicularis, a popular variety if hairgrass. It's normally comes in pots. Seperate into 10 or so portions and plant these seperately with tweezers. Lots of light and CO2 will see it carpet very quickly.

 

[dasmall1]

I believe you have the background plants just right now . I still find your backlighting amazing.

EDIT: P.S. I love your new rocks. Great color and great texture.