Summer’s End Over Three Hills
By Theblondskeleton
The basic design premise for this tank is the idea that intense colors and strong features can be used to balance one another so that no particular element is completely overshadowed by another. This is made possible by using bold plants, but keeping the number of species of plants to a minimum. This creates a striking collection that is at once bold and balanced.
Theblondskeleton's use of intensely colored stems leaves the impression of an early autumn sunset. The thick and lush carpet of hemianthus callitrichoides creates a bright lawn and foreground for the rest of the tank. Grounding the aquascape are carefully placed stone groupings, providing two focal points from which to choose. The strong vertical movement of the Blyxa aubertii draws the eye to a soft border of the smaller blyxa japonica, where 8 tiny otocinclus affinis can be seen grazing peacefully among the tall grasses. Behind the b. japonica, a young Kleiner Bar sword waits to make it’s own bold statement.
A humming shoal of 11 harlequin rasboras, and four adopted white cloud minnows dart across the broad field of HC, which carries the viewer to the deep red of the cryptocoryne wendtii red - a cozy haunt for the tank’s larger catfish, a farlowella acus (twig catfish), and ancistrus temminkii (bristlenose pleco).
A large grove of rotala rotundifolia grows from behind the crypts in an explosion of color fading from deep green to pink and even magenta at the topmost stems. Here, the dwarf gouramis find quiet solace from the bright light of day. A main feature of the aquascape is the dense collection of pogostemon stellatus ‘broadleaf’ floating above the largest stone - home to the feature inhabitants, a pair of veiled angels.
Finally, the aquascape is bordered on the left by the gently undulating arms of limnophila aromatica, and a tight cluster of hemianthus micranthemoides, and some young crypts. The deep green and purple of the limnophila help to tame the brighter oranges and pinks of the p. stellatus and rotala.
Tank Specifications:
90 gallon AGA white oak trim
324W T5HO (set for sunrise @108W, morning @216W, midday @324W, afternoon @216W, and sunset @108W)
Rena XP3 with DIY spraybar
18W UV filter
Marineland 300W Stealth heater
Pressurized CO2 with DIY inline reactor and Milwaukee pH controller set at 6.2
Modified PPS method
Tap Water
Water changes: 40% weekly
Flora:
Hemianthus callitrichoides ‘cuba’
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Pogostemon stellatus ‘broad leaf’
Limnophila aromatica
Cryptocoryne wendtii red
Rotala rotundifolia
Blyxa aubertii
Blyxa japonica
Kleiner Bar sword
Fauna:
2 Angels
11 Harlequin rasboras
4 white cloud minnows
8 otocinclus affinis
1 farlowella acus
1 bristlenose pleco
4 dwarf gouramis
Photos have not been retouched, only cropped and sized per the contest guidelines. All equipment is present in photos.
Thank you for your consideration!
Summers End Over Three Hills 
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