Heart of the Mountain

[Donut the Donkey]

Hey everyone! Newbie here and this is my very first attempt at aquascaping. Tank is a quarter circle corner bowfront and is currently about four months old as planting began on the 9th of August 2014 (nothing significant, just that it was a holiday and I was free ).

Ah yes, HUGE LOTR and The Hobbit fan, hence the name given was apropos (hope I don't get into trouble for that). Initially was supposed to be a simple minimalistic Iwagumi setup but it got crazy as I soon realized that I really love plants (I blame my mum heh) and couldn't stop buying. Thank goodness the tank ran out of space (unless I..).

Apologies for the quality of photos (taken from my iPhone) and also certain pictures have surface film buildup. Eheim Skim350 flatlined days ago and sent for repair. Probably will get it back next week.

Enough talk. Will upload more quality photos in the future and also some initial planting phase pictures. Comments and critiques are welcome!

Heart of the Mountain
Tank Size: Quarter Circle Corner Tank
Radius: 36 inches
Height: 21.5 inches
Tank Capacity: 94.737 gallons / 358.62 litres

Substrate: ADA Amazonia / Fine Beach sand

Filter System: Eheim 2213
Fan: ANS Cooling Fan 3000 (24/7)
Temperature: 26.5 – 28 c (based on ambient temperature)

Surface skimmer: Eheim Skim 350
Wavemaker: SunSun JVP-110 Mini

Lighting: Maxspect Razor 27” 160w 16000k
Light Duration: 7 hours

Pressurized CO2: ANS Solenoid + Up Aqua Inline Atomizer
Fertilizer: Seachem Planted Dosing Chart
Currently switching to LushGro NPK and KH2PO4

Water Change: 50% once every two weeks
Water Parameters: Never tested

Flora
Hemianthus callitrichoides “Cuba”
Micranthemum umbrosum “Monte Carlo”
Pogostemon helferi “Downoi”
Eriocaulon sp. Vietnam
Alternanthera reineckii “Mini”
Hygrophila odora
Hygrophila corymbosa “Angustifolia”
Ammannia pedicellata Or Nesaea pedicellata
Bolbitis “Mini”
Cyperus helferi
Echinodorus osiris “Melon Sword”
Echinodorus bleheri – Broad leaf Amazon sword
Tonina sp. “Belem”

Microsorum pteropus Java Fern
Microsorum pteropus Narrow
Microsorum pteropus Windelov
Microsorum pteropus Trident
Microsorum pteropus Taiwan Narrow Leaf

Anubias barteri var. nana
Anubias barteri var. nana “Petite”
Anubias barteri var. nana “Gold”


Fissidens Nobilis
Vesicularia dubyana - Java Moss
Taxiphyllum sp. - Spiky Moss
Vesicularia montagnei - Christmas Moss
Vesicularia ferriei - Weeping Moss

Fauna
Siamese Algae Eater
Otocinclus Catfish
Neon Tetras
Clea Helena - Assasin snails
Neritina natalensis – Nerite snails

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[Donut the Donkey]

Here are some backdated pictures of the hardscape before I got crazy and bought more plants. I wanted a more "lush" look.

IMG_6898.jpgIMG_6912.jpgIMG_6914.jpg

[Urban Aquaria]

Fantastic scape!

[inrewind]

I prefer the 'lush' look for sure, awesome scape!

[Phillipians]

Your mountain is covered up by the cypherus helferi in the latest scape. Your original scape looks fantastic
Maybe the wildness covered up your hardscape a little too much....

[AQMS]

I like the current scape and i like the stretch of white sand on the previous scape.
If you have the stretch of white sand on the current scape ,IMHO it will be nicer.
Anyway awesome scaping...

[Shadow]

Nice scape for your fist attempt. Your plants grow quite well which is important foundation for aquascaping.

[mUAr_cHEe]

Based on your current tank pictures, I only have one question: What mountain?


But I like the plant growth. It is very inspiring. It will be a challenge for you to get good pictures with a bow tank but I am sure it looks awesome in real life.

[lantian69]

Very nice scape

[jervinphua]

I can take a chair and sit before your tank the whole day.

[sbladerz]

Amazing scape. Getting inspirations now. Going to reset my tank soon.

[wongce]

Nice scape!!!!

[Goalkeeper]

Nice!! The round tank front gives the scape a different perspective.

[azman_haron]

Really nice...in all its variants, from showing off the hardscape at the start, to the going crazy over plants phase!! I have been there before but never pulled it off

i am surprised you don't use chiller, only fan. Guess I am under the mistaken impression that chiller is a must have!!

[limz_777]

rocks placement looks good

[Ingen]

Both scapes are equally unique, nice.

[sateman]

I like the earlier one better

[Donut the Donkey]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Very humbled reading your kind comments/critiques.

@Urban Aquaria
Thank you. Been following your blog for quite some time now. Always inspiring and presentation/photography is top notch. Your comment made my day!

@inrewind
Thank you. This is the current setup and who knows, like we all do, get "itchy hands" one day. Minor changes, here and there. Not always for the better though. Haha!

@Phillipians
I agree with you. Been thinking about it the past few weeks. Bought the plant because I saw online, it's bright green colour and the way it sways with the current.. I may possibly change it in the near future, until I find a suitable plant to replace it with.

@zerofighterx101
Thank you. Agree with you bro, but the white sandy part is a pain to maintain. Haha! My SAE's always get startled for some reason and the black Amazonia soil always gets onto the sand part. Over time, it looks really messy. My OCD kicked in and I couldn't even stand the sight of 3-5 specks of black soil on sand. I will get my elbows wet just to remove it, daily. Fish poop is also very visible and I used to gravel vac this area often. So I thought the best way to counter this is to just bank it up with rocks of some sort. Xmas moss on rocks it is then.

@Shadow
Thank you. Your scapes inspire me and others too. Yes, I consider myself lucky and I really feel that my lights and soil play a big part in helping me achieve this. I feel that I cannot cut back on substrate and lighting. I try to get the best I can afford because at the end of the day, for a noob like me, I need all the help I can get. Hopefully this continues.

@mUAr_Chee
Thank you. I'm guessing you're implying that the "mountain" of my scape is somewhat lost among the tall growing plants? If that's the case, I agree. The sense of scale was lost the moment I chose wrong plants. For example, if you can spot the Melon Sword in the initial panting phase, and how small it is, to where it is currently (I almost threw it away at one point because it grew enormous). This is what happens when you don't research plants before buying. Haha! I might change a few plants in the future to bring the scape back to scale, particularly the Melon sword and the Cyperus helferi.

The bow front is definitely a challenge when taking pictures. Even when not taking pictures, and I put my face close to the glass to "zoom in" on a particular area, I get a slight distorted view due to the refraction.

@lantian69
Thanks for viewing and thank you for your kind words!

@jervinphua
Haha! You Sir, very very kind of you. Thank you. Appreciate it very much. We've all done that, but mostly, at least for me anyway, it's hard to put my mind at ease and enjoy the tank currently. Maybe I've still lots to learn and it's my first attempt. At the back of my mind, I'm always thinking if water circulation is okay, or if the plants are getting the CO2, any dead spaces, should I move this plant here and this plant there etc etc etc. List goes on.

[Donut the Donkey]

@sbladerz
Thank you. All the best with your new setup and do post pictures!

@wongce
Thank you. Your setup and detailed write ups are always inspiring too!

@Goalkeeper
Thank you. This tank is actually more than 10 years old, and given to me by my neighbour (because he couldn't fit it in the elevator the day he moved house and the story goes, when he bought it, it took 5 men and more than 2 hours to "carry" everything to the floor we live on lol). It's actually a blessing and a curse at the same time, as due to the size of the tank, it means that you have to spend more on everything. I'd much rather have a 2 feet tank to start with, considering this is the first time I've gone hi tech, plus being a noob, I try to learn as much as I can in a short time. It pretty much almost drove me bonkers. Haha!

The bracing at the top of the tank practically means I cannot install a lily pipe, as much as I want to. And I had to DIY a solution just to have a canister filter. Luckily I stumbled upon some spray bars by chance at a LFS, and it managed to clear the 4 inch bracing, so this will do for now. Not optimum, but it is what it is.

@azman_haron
Thank you. Very kind words. I can assure you though I have over 300 pictures of all the stages that it went through, all saved and documented. Haha! But I had to choose certain pictures, otherwise you guys would get bored. Plus, being new to the forum, I guess there's a limit to the size of the pictures I choose to upload. I'll try to upload some more backdated pictures while continuing to improve the current setup.

Don't give up bro. If you love plants, or any species of plants in particular, do some research online and get them. I did the dumb way initially and bought like 3 non aquatic plants (the latest being Star Moss). Haha. Also I had 3 different plants I discarded because it didn't go with the scape. Very dumb of me, I know. Looking forward to your aquascape!

With regards to the chiller, trust me, I want one. But a fan is a poor man's chiller. Based on ambient temperature, it is able to bring down 2-3 degrees as I'm sure you already know. I've been lucky these past few weeks, rainy season. Come April-July, that remains to be seen. Hopefully all goes well.

@limz_777
Thank you. I got lucky. The rocks I bought are from 3 different LFS' (maybe even 4) and when purchasing, based on how they look, I get a rough idea of what I want. Strangely enough, the moment I reach home and get on with the hard scape, THEY DIDN'T EVEN LOOK REMOTELY CLOSE TO WHAT I HAD IN MIND! Haha! Thankfully I managed to pull it off, just barely. Maybe I will upload pictures of how atrocious the scape looks like, just for laughs. Or maybe not.

@Ingen
Thank you. I'm pretty sure with most of everyone here, there were plenty more stages our planted tanks went through. I'm tempted to upload more backdated pictures but I don't want to confuse/bore everybody. But that's the beauty of this hobby. It never really is "finished".

@sateman
Well I kinda like the initial stage too, as it looks clean and very "island-like". But on hindsight, I feel that it looks too unnatural, in the sense that, it feels "too planned". This goes here, this goes there, so to speak, at least that's what I felt anyway. I looked up some of the most gorgeous aquascapes online, from various sources, and most to all had that "lush, natural, thick, dense, wild look". To just let it grow, let it spill out a little. Haha.

Not saying I accomplished that look just yet, I do agree as mentioned previously, current setup has room for improvement, but that "lush" look was always going to be it, for me. Will probably upload other stages of setup soon. Thank you very much for your input though.

[AQMS]

Hi, you do not know how to use multiple reply,here is a thread for it.
It is easy.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...1-single-reply