ADA 60cm Volcaniscape - Aquascaping

Craig Tarvin · 11-26-2006, 08:56 PM

This is my first tank that I would consider anything near an actual "aquascape", it is also my first time using ADA fertilizers. Up until now, I have just been learning how to grow plants. Now, I am going to pay a lot more atention to planning, trimming and making a good layout. I was looking through all of the branchy Manzanita on my parents' property near Mount Shasta in Northern California when I found this piece. It looks volcanic to me, which is fitting since there are a lot of volcanoes in that area.

I set the tank up yesterday, and these pictures were taken today.

Equipment:

ADA Cube Garden 60-P
Black ADA Style Stand from Aqua Forest

Aqua Medic Ocean Light (10,000k) 70W HQI Metal Halide Pendant (7 hours/day)

ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia Normal (~8 liters)
ADA Power Sand Special-S (2 liters)

Eheim 2213 Canister Filter
ADA Lily Pipe Inflow V-3
ADA Lily Pipe Outflow P-2
Hydor ETH 200 In-Line Heater 200W (upside down, on the intake)

5lb. CO2 Tank
JBJ Regulator (on timer with light)
ADA Pollen Glass Diffuser

ADA Brighty-K (3ml per day)

Here is the Power Sand Special (AKA "kitty litter" shot):

Hardscape:

Under the hood:

The whole setup:

Foreground is Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC), background stems from L to R: Elatine orientalis, Didiplis diandra, Rotala sp. 'Colorata', Ludwigia arcuata, Rotala sp. 'Colorata' again, Rotala rotundifolia 'Green', and Elatine orientalis again:

I planted the HC in groups of three stems:

Closeup of the cleanup crew:

shewey · 11-26-2006, 09:12 PM

Looks great Craig,

Looking forward to the pics when the plants start to fill in.

Mark.

Steven_Chong · 11-26-2006, 09:46 PM

I like the plant choices.

"A forest at the base of a volcano" is a scape idea I'd also like to try someday. Don't know if this is helpful, but I took this shot at the base of Mt. Fuji:

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42061189

chiahead · 11-26-2006, 10:10 PM

Looks pretty sweet. Nice and expensive setup there. Looks great though. Just curious if this was just set up then why do you have shrimp in it? Surely with the ADA soils spiking the Nh4 and dropping the kh/gh/ph so low your shrimp are goners. Just know that from personal experience.

Craig Tarvin · 11-26-2006, 10:28 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone. I do plan on updating with a lot of pictures.

Thanks for the pic Steven, for some reason, those trees' leaves remind me of HC.

As far as the shrimp/AS... This tank was set up with Aqua Soil only for about 2 months. Then I tore it down and set it up late last Monday night. I realized that I planted it way to sloppily and re-set it up last night. I have been using AS for over a year and never had a problem with adding shrimp right away. I do always wait at least a month to add fish, but I do that regardless of substrate choice.

Steven_Chong · 11-26-2006, 10:33 PM

chiahead, would it make a difference if there was a matured filter and half the AS was old? I'm thinking of bring a bunch of "wild form" neocaridina back from hawaii for next semester, and wanted to add them straight away. I'll keep the filter alive over the winter (using an auto feeder) and use half of the old AS.

Sorry for the thread jack Craig! Can't wait to see the updated pics!

chiahead · 11-26-2006, 11:12 PM

dunno...what I do to offset this is to use bio spira and add crushed coral to the filter for the first month or so. I still wait a week or two.

Craig Tarvin · 11-27-2006, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiahead

dunno...what I do to offset this is to use bio spira and add crushed coral to the filter for the first month or so. I still wait a week or two.

My canister filter is completely established, it had been running for over 2 months when I set this tank up. I have set up a couple tanks with AS now, and have never lost a shrimp do to it's use. Cherries have already hatched in this tank.

AaronT · 11-27-2006, 03:32 AM

Looks good Craig. I've always thought this would be a cool idea too. Are you planning to trim the reds as though they are erupting from the 'volcano'?

Yukilovesfish · 11-27-2006, 05:49 AM

Hi Craig,

It looks great I love your setup the driftwood is a neat shape! It's really fun tearing down your tank and starting from scratch. I did the same over the weekend, it was a good opportunity since I had a long weekend. Just curious how you started over with the aquasoil and power sand? I wasn't sure how you separated these after having them already mixed in.

I would love to see more pics as you add to the aquascape...