Natural Aquascape Designs

Simple Pleasures

2011-08-16T11:58:00.011-04:00

Unfortunately life's been too busy and I haven't had time to 'really' scape a full size setup, so this little tank is filling the void. This little 0.9g Cube is unfiltered and just receives a weekly water change. The setup right now consists mostly of Riccia, but also contains some Mondo Grass and a few small Crypts that haven't grown in yet. This tank has a small LED lighting system and receive some afternoon sun. The little tank also features some emersed growth both from the semi-aquatic Mondo Grass, but also from the Riccia growing over the lava rock that is above the water line.

Because of the afternoon 'burst' the Riccia pearls all afternoon, adding to the satisfaction a little tiny setup can bring.

The setup is approximately four months old and I have not trimmed the Riccia yet, which I still don't understand the pearling and lack of extreme growth, but it's working perfectly right now.

Some specs on this tank include:

Hardscape: Pool Filter Sand, ADA Power Sand, Lava Rock.
Light: Rio Mini Sun LED Clip-on
Filtration: Weekly water change
Flora: Riccia Fluitans, Mondo Grass, Crypt Nurii
Fauna: Few pond snails

Here's another pic of the full setup with just the LED light for the picture:

Nano Cube Desk Setup

2011-01-28T19:19:00.006-05:00

I recently setup this tiny 0.9 gallon cube tank that I found off the shelf in your local PetSmart. Sold as a Betta cube I thought it would make a nice planted nano for my desk at work. The scape is designed to be of course extremely low maintenance since it's in an office environment.

The LED light that came with the tank was to dim to view the tank let alone grow anything green. The light was upgraded to the RIO Mini Sun. A 10 LED unit with a nice long flexible arm. The setup currently consists of Pool Filter Sand and Moss Rock for hardscape. Flora consists of Peacock Moss and Mondo Grass (semi-aquatic). A few pond snails inhabit the tank which will eventually house a few small shrimp. Maintenance consists of twice-weekly water changes. Total cost for this setup including the upgraded light is approximately $50 USD.

Here's another pic of the tank on my desk.

The Bluff

2010-04-21T08:27:00.013-04:00

My latest piece of aquatic art is called The Bluff. A minimialist aquarium of sand, rock, hairgrass and dwarf baby tears. The Bluff achieved a rank of 419 out of 1819 in IAPLC 2010 and placed 6th out of 39 American participants. My first entry ever in the contest.

Controlled Fury

2010-01-02T20:20:00.008-05:00

Here is one of my newest pieces of aquatic art - Controlled Fury.

The idea behind Controlled Fury was to create a wild nature looking scape without all the constant trimming and maintenance. With the use of slow growing ferns and a sandy foreground this was attempted. One year later this piece of living art is still going strong and maintenance has been kept to a minimum.

Central Park

2009-12-19T11:36:00.009-05:00

This artistic aquascape was inspired by Central Park. A park located in New York City. Central Park is dotted with large rock formations.

With the use of lava rock, driftwood a piece of Central Park is created right in one's home. Plants here include Riccia, Peacock Moss and Hygrophila sp. Roraima. These limited choices left the scape fairly barren, but with areas of grass, trees, and rocky terrain.

Mile Marker

2009-12-02T22:41:00.004-05:00

Showing that you can draw inspiration from almost anywhere. This little tank was inspired by a rock formation that caught my eye on a simple stretch of highway, thus the name 'Mile Marker'. The tank is a bold design with overpowering rock and some strategically placed lowlight plants making this tank an attractive piece of art with virtually zero maintenance.

Very Natural

2009-11-15T22:30:00.009-05:00

Probably my most natural looking scape to date. This piece of living art incorporated more than a dozen species of plants interacting with and growing within each other. Add moss rock and wood and you have another interesting nature aquarium.

Petrified Valley

2009-11-15T21:44:00.010-05:00

One of my first aquascapes to incorporate a divide using sand. Petrified wood was used to create the rocky effect in the middle, thus the name. I used some very easy to grow plants like Rotala Rotundifolia and Hygrophila difformis (aka Water Wisteria) and the scape lasted a very long time with fairly easy maintenance.