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The Lonely Mountain- Fish added

26K views 191 replies 26 participants last post by  orchidman 
#1 · (Edited)
Here is my newest aquascape. I have been wanting to do a scape like this for quite some time.

I recently got a hold of some Anubias barteri 'Micro' which is super awesome! i cant believe i was able to get it! its such a tiny plant with each leaf being about the size of a pencil eraser! it fits the scale of this tank perfectly.

Specs-

Tank- Aqueon Evolve 4 gallon

Light-Stock LED. i know its at least bright enough to grow Dwarf red Lilies.

Filter- built-in

Heater-Hydor Theo 25w

Substrate-Eco-complete

Flora
- Anubias barti 'Micro'

Future Fauna
-1 Black Orchid crowntail betta from Marco

now on to the pictures!

Scape is set- ready to fill

DSC_0019.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


DSC_0020.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


DSC_0021.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr

All filled up

DSC_0023.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr

i cant seem to figure out how to get depth into the photos with a black background. this scape really needs a hazy white background.

DSC_0026.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr

starry sky

DSC_0031.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr

BEAM ME UP SCOTTY

DSC_0029.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr

Nothing like Kiran's desk, but it will do
DSC_0033.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr

View from my bed

DSC_0034.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr



DSC_0036.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


DSC_0039.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr
 
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#7 ·
thank you! there are seven stones. hopefully the slope wont be too bad, because some of the stones are larger and kind of makeup the slope, with the substrate just covering them.

Nice, I like it. Only thing I wish you'd done was use ADA AS or Fluval SS. That substrate is a little distracting. Cool plants though!
thanks kiran! i wish i has Aqua Soil!!!!! someone gave me eco-complete with is why i used it. when i did the dry test-run scaping, it wasnt distracting, but wet its much worse :\ This tank was and is a super low/no budget sort of thing. the stones were left over, the tank and plants i got good deals on, i had the substrate, and water comes from the tap.

Those plants are the best. They grow nice and slowly but are so beautiful when finally all bunched together.

They blossom with CO2...which you should consider since algae may sprout with so few plants.

Beautiful tank!!

thank you!

with the light being as low as it is, i dont think algae will be a problem, even with the minimal plant load. especial since im not fertilizing for anything.
 
#9 ·
Day 3 update.

i did a water change yesterday (was planning on doing them everyday for the first week, but i wasnt home)

here are some pictures, theres not much growth, but the bubbles are gone and the water has cleared up.

messy dresser


DSC_0010.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


DSC_0005.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


DSC_0009.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr
 
#10 ·
#13 ·
i know! i wish they were larger although it looks much better in person. the photos make them look small. when i switch the soil over the aquasoil, ill add more slope. and the way i plan on planting it, they wont get too lost....hopefully. these are the largest rocks i have

i want to plant it like this...maybe with some vivipara in the back though


iwagumi fts by George Farmer, on Flickr
 
#14 ·
Very nice on both of those, Bob. I have been toying around with a stone based scape when I upgrade my 20high to a 28gal rimless. Not sure what type of substrate to use though. The plants in the 4gal are awesome, and I may have accidentally come across some of that same one, not sure though.

P.S. Do you still have the salty setup?
 
#15 ·
thanks cable! you should do Aquasoil! thats what im planning for the iwagumi.

i bought the anubias micro here on the forum. its awesome and soo small!

no i tore that down a while ago. just wasnt working out. the iwagumi hardscape is in that same tank actually...

hows the fam?
 
#18 ·
i am working on another scape :D although it im slowly peicing it together. it wont be setup for a while. some of you may remember that i was planning to do a nature aquarium in the 7.5 mr aqua (the same tank the iwagumi hardscape is in now) it was supposed to look like this


527748_332958720115337_1721926855_n by orchidman10, on Flickr

i already received the manzanita and seiryu stones i traded for, so i was committed to that look. but i was bored and threw that scape together. now i love it and have to at least set it up like that for a while. lol!

I finally got my salty setup. Nothing great and actually I am going to be upgrading big time.

The family is doing well. Keeping me busy though along with work. But I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. How about you?

Sent from my phone via my job's wifi, most likely.
nice! send me some pics! whats the setup?

thats good! do you still work at taco bell?




the betta is here! he is healthy albeit very stressed looking, he is drained of all color and has some pretty insane stress lines. buy he looks pretty healthy. i floated the bag and acclimated to temperature and then introduced him into the tank, as instructed from Rachel. his tail is awesome though! probably shouldve thought it out better though, because he is mostly black and so is the background..

ill take some pics once he colors up and once i finish school
 
#19 ·
A light blue background would look great with the scape and provide you with contrast with the Black Orchid. Something else that would be interesting, i don't know how practical it is, but have a red glow emminating from just left of the highest mountain rock, fade that into yellow and orange, and paint the rest of it light blue. That way it looks like a sunrise/sunset. That's just what the hardscape reminds me of for some reason...perhaps because I worked at the observatory here on campus (we're in the mountains) and was working from sunset to sunrise multiple times.
 
#20 ·
turns out he actually stands out pretty well. its not plausible to change the background color here because the background panel is made of black acrylic. so i cant just tape something to the back. if i could though, it would just be frosted glass!

here is a quick photo that i took with my iPod touch. it shows his colors pretty well. although you cant quite see how nice the individual rays of his tail are.



Untitled by orchidman10, on Flickr
he is eating like a beast already
 
#28 ·
im starting to get some diatoms on the rocks and plants. it is getting a water change tonight which hopefully should help some. some of the plants have pulled out of the substrate and are now floating freely. ill plant them again when i do my WC. i think the betta uprooted them when he was trying to find a cozy place to sleep.

does anyone have suggestions on what to do for the diatoms. there are tiny bits of what looks like hair algae too, but i cant tell. I asked frank what he though, he said add amano shrimp, but some of the plants have been pulled up and im not sure the plants ar rooted firmly enough for the amanos. so does anyone have suggestions?
 
#30 ·
yeah bettas arent too gentle on the plants. it doesnt help that your substrate is probably a bit too large in particle size for the roots to really penetrate well.

for the diatoms, there isnt much but manual removal from the glass, frequent water changes, and possibly algae eaters. amanos or otos (though i dont advise having a school of otos in a tank that small).
 
#31 ·
Thanks for replying Marko! Yeah they definitely aren't, hah. But only a few plants have floated up the rest seem okay and he has finished the initial days of exploring the tank. So I don't think he will be trying to nestle in the plants as much anymore. Because he has already found a sleeping spot.

I've decided to tie the Anubias that have floated to rocks and then if others float I can tie them down as well.

Now that I don't have to worry about that, I can either add Amanos of Otos. I have other tanks I could rehome the Otos Into once the algae is mostly cleared. So I could do Otos. But I could also do Amanos. Anyone know which is better?
 
#36 ·
#38 ·
thanks!!!! the fourth one is my favorite as well! its the 3rd photo i took :icon_roll i figured out an awesome lighting setup to get great photos!

in case anyone is wondering, NONE OF THESE PHOTOS HAVE THE COLORS ENHANCED!
 
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