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Jungle cave 29g

13K views 92 replies 18 participants last post by  Hilde 
#1 ·
Been spending the last month or so trying to get my aquascape the way I want it and I finally feel like I'm actually getting somewhere now.

Love the three below and am trying to incorporate elements from all three of what I love about them in my 29gallon- my inspiration below






And here is what I have come up with so far. Left side has the cave, (right now its just a plastic cup temporarily until i figure out what i want to use to give the cave its structure

Any comments or criticisms are welcome!

 
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#3 ·
I like it, the only thing I would change is the cup just because I don't know how long it would last underwater. A pot for a plant would work just fine if you could find one small enough.

Are you doing a dry start? What do you plan on using to carpet the bottom? Or are you going to do stones instead of a carpet?

Regardless you're off to an awesome start I wish I would've took the time to do it right from the beginning like you are now.
 
#4 ·
I would recommend using egg crate and/or plastic pieces to achieve the hardscape shape to give your cave a bigger feel. Legos work great too for smaller tanks!! :)

I know the 2nd picture you posted is Dennis Wongs and he used egg crate for that particular scape. I think it will help with the extra height you'll need.

Still looking great though, very excited to see this one fill up with plants! I subbed.
 
#6 ·
I wish I had some suggestions but I'm pretty new to the planted tank game. I do like the way red ludwigia looks and the red flame sword. I just wish the red flame sword had smaller leaves.

I say go with the dwarf hairgrass if you already have it on hand.
 
#13 · (Edited)
You could put some white gravel in the valley. It would give the appearance of a dry river bed.

What light are you using over it? I have my 29g tank setup and still uncertain which light will work for the plants I have. Is this going to be a low tech tank? Injecting Co2?

Bump:
And here is what I have come up with so far. Left side has the cave, (right now its just a plastic cup temporarily until i figure out what i want to use to give the cave its structure
Here are my suggestions for the cave:
1. pcv pipe painted with rusteleum spray paint
2. hardware cloth spray with great stuff and painted with rusteleum
3. Make a mold with Sculpey III Polymer Clay around the cup.

Got a link to the second tank with the cave or the originators name?
 
#14 ·
You could put some white gravel in the valley. It would give the appearance of a dry river bed.

What light are you using over it? I have my 29g tank setup and still uncertain which light will work for the plants I have. Is this going to be a low tech tank? Injecting Co2?

Bump:
Here are my suggestions for the cave:
1. pcv pipe painted with rusteleum spray paint
2. hardware cloth spray with great stuff and painted with rusteleum
3. Make a mold with Sculpey III Polymer Clay around the cup.

Got a link to the second tank with the cave or the originators name?
I will be injecting CO2 and I have an aquatic life marquis dual T5 HO light.
 
#19 ·
Still nice!

Do you happen to have the link to that thread? Interested myself to hear of the tips they gave.

Personally I like how the scape is more "upfront"/in focus now that it is sort of "sloped" toward the viewer (not a big pile of substrate up front).

Though I did like the extended "creek pathway" that led from the front of the cave to the back of the tank. Now it looks more like a puddle in front of the cave. And I honestly think the wood reach over the cave entrance is sort of "hiding" the cave, making it more so just appear to be a hill, and now the cave isn't as noticeable in the previous scapes/set ups.

To me, as with the journal name, the cave was the main focus, with the tree and "creek pathway" being extra nice features. But I am no aquascaper though so take my opinion lightly!

Nice work either way! They all look great!
 
#20 ·
Added a couple more plants

So far I've got planted:

alternanthera reineckii mini
staurogyne repens
Dwarf Hairgrass
Hemianthus callitrichoides

Also, removed some more water after this picture was taken since one of the guys over at aquascaping world said for a dry start I had too much water in there.
 
#24 ·
Not fully carpeted yet but definitely getting there! The dwarf baby tears are definitely rooted and pretty deep too, it's been about a month now. There is a few leaves with some yellowing but other than that everything else looks good.

Question: I am planning on flooding this weekend if all goes according to plan- anything I can do lessen the initial "shock" of flooding the plants that have been immersed the last month or so?
 
#29 ·
Looking great! If for some reason the Baby Tears dont work out, you could try Micranthemum or "Monte Carlo". Monte Carlo looks pretty much the same as Baby Tears except slightly larger leaves...so if you ever want to achieve some sort of scale or sense of depth (for any tank not just this one), you can use the baby tears towards the back and the Monte Carlo towards the front. I also agree with Opare, have that c02 ready and crank it up! Keep us updated..
 
#33 ·
so I went ahead and flooded the tank yesterday. What a disaster...

Filled it up with a pitcher REALLY slowly and I still got a ton of disturbed aquasoil dust, by the time I was done the entire tank was so dusty and murky. Not only that, the left side of the tank that I had built up with about 6-7" of ecocomplete collapsed and fell onto the dwarf baby tears. I had to carefully clear off the ecocomplete not to destroy what would be left of the dwarf baby tears. Will take pictures when I get home tonight, hopefully will be clear enough to get some pics.

I'm sure all the hardscape and the rest of the plants are also covered in the dust. :(

On a side note: I tried starting up my C02 today and soon as i plugged in the solenoid, the diffuser seemed like it had a bunch of pressure coming out of it to the point where it was bubbling up the water all the way to the top of the tank and even has some water plop out of the tank. This was with the needle valve still closed. Any ideas on whats going on here?
 
#34 ·
so I went ahead and flooded the tank yesterday. What a disaster...

Filled it up with a pitcher REALLY slowly and I still got a ton of disturbed aquasoil dust, by the time I was done the entire tank was so dusty and murky.

I tried starting up my C02 today and soon as i plugged in the solenoid, the diffuser seemed like it had a bunch of pressure coming out of it to the point where it was bubbling up the water all the way to the top of the tank. This was with the needle valve still closed. Any ideas on whats going on here?
I saw on youtube that a piece of plastic was put over the substrate before filling with water. I do it and it works.

Check for leaks by dumping the entire Paintball Co2 Tank with the ASA On/Off Valve into a container with water.
 
#35 ·
I filled the bubble counter 3/4 way full like the instructions said. Keeping the needle valve closed, I plug in the solenoid and soon as i do, it seems like all the water in the bubble counter gets shot out into the tank. and all im getting is air being blown out into the tank causing huge bubbles to the top

What could i be doing wrong?
 
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