New 10 gal Mountain-scape

[Wasserpest]

After my first attempt of a mountainscape http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2993 got all covered up with Javamoss, I redid my 10gal tank today.

Rocks from mountains closeby, a bag of Flourite and a Javamoss background are the new ingredients. Filled up a bucket with tank water, moved the fish, shrimp, clams and plants. Removed the old substrate.

Added largest "mountain" on a styrofoam base, then the well washed flourite, then the rest of the rocks. Half an hour of Glosso planting. Then some Wisteria and Tenellus and Javaferns.

I put the Javamoss in between two plastic thingies that are used for something artsy, not sure exactly, cross-stitch? Anyway, I am hoping it will grow out of the holes, and give me a nice green carpet. If it starts rotting and stinking instead, pulling it out takes only 3 seconds.

The two otos, five pencils, and the Ram girl seem to like their new environment... after the bucket shock they started getting their color back and had already a light dinner :mrgreen:

[jart]

aw man i though you were going to include some pics of how you laid out the sytrofoam, (and what type you used). could you provide any insight as to how you laid it out? did you color it at all in case it shows through the gravel? or i suppose you can just keep covering it up again when you do your maintenance.

i like the java fern on the terrace; i have never used terraces in such a small tank. but then again i just went out and bought a 10 gal today as a temporary home for my gf's goldfish... they were in the 45 which i tore down today instead of watching football. should be the last time i ever have to rip out an ugf that's been in place for years... yuck is the word :evil: . hopefully the 10 gal will be home to such a project in the future; your pics are an inspiration.

also i would be most interested in seeing a pic of your hood (i've never constructed one on a tank this small). i understand you use a hob filter on this tank.

regards

[SCMurphy]

Nice rockwork, can't wait to watch everything fill in.

[Wasserpest]

Forgot to take a pic of the styrofoam... it was just a part of a packaging something, not very big, it's all covered with flourite. I used it because that big rock is quite heavy and standing on its tip, and the thought of it smashing into the glass just wasn't too comfortable.

So I heated up that rock on the gas stove -- not too much, not too little -- and pushed it gently into the styrofoam. It needs to be just hot enough to melt it a little, but without totally liquifying it. I usually heat it up, test, heat further, until it has that sweet hot spot.

The melted styrofoam is a very good glue... nothing else necessary, it just sticks. So... there you go... no layout, just a base for that one rock.

The hood is just what came with that AGA tank, modified with selfmade reflectors, as described here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2914 Very efficient mod... under the 20 watts Glosso is growing nicely

I use an AquaClear Mini on this tank... CO2 bubbles into the inlet.

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Wow, those are some gorgeous rocks! Can I go shopping in your backyard? haha.
The placement is beautiful. This tank is going to look great!

[Scorpion]

Nice rocks!

[Wasserpest]

Hehe, California is full of interesting mountains, with interesting rocks... I live really close to Pinnacle National Monument, nice place for hiking, collecting rocks... of course, outside of the park boundary :mrgreen:

Right now they are a little too red, especially the one in front. But I think in a few weeks algae bio film/slime will tone them down a little, to make it look more natural.

BTW I think the flourite looks very unnatural too... hope it will be less red'n'black after a while.

[^iMp^]

Love the arrangement. Normally, I'm not too keen on flourite...but it works well with the rocks of similar color.

^iMp^

[Wasserpest]

Otherwise, thanks for the idea! I might have to find something different for the Javamoss background. Black would look better anyway. Just testing right now, it's easy to pull out and redo.

I don't like the flourite look either... hopefully it will tone down a little, as algae and bacteria start to grow on it.

[jart]

thanks wasser. btw, how did you afix that foam to your ac filter outlet? i presume just silicone.

also i am intrigued with the idea of using styrofoam to build terraces. has anyone else used this method?

[Rolo]

Is that all fluorite? I didn't think It was so two toned. I'm glad you posted this b/c I'm now going to get eco-complete instead.

The rock work is great! In particular the 3 rear rocks that gradually build in height makes the tank look definately larger than a 10 gallon. The tallest rock looks just like Mount Matterhorn of Switzerland!

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Regular Flourite is definitely two-toned. I actually like the new Green Flourite better.

[aquaverde]

OOPs, I see the word, "NEW". Never mind!

/insipid grin
"All my Flourite turns green after it stays in my tank a while...."

C'mon Sam, help me out. What is green Flourite?

[GulfCoastAquarian]

I'm not sure what's available in your area, but at my PetsMart, they don't have the "clown puke" colored Flourite like what I have in my 55g. There is a red one and a green one. The green one is sort of an olive green/grey color. I kinda like it. It's not actually called Flourite Green, though. I just checked. It's still called regular Flourite, but it looks very different to me.

[Wasserpest]

jart,

I just squeezed the sponge into the outlet, no silicone, not a very permanent solution. If you click on the link in the first post, you can see a pic of what it looks like. I am still looking for a better solution, some kind of plastic/mesh that directs the water downwards. The sponge is almost too effective, not even a tiny little bit of surface movement.

I used styrofoam to build a little terrace in my 100 gal tank, same method with heating up rocks and pushing them into the styrofoam. Works great.

I think eco-complete would look better than flourite, but since the color of the "Swiss Alps" is similar it isn't too bad. Otherwise I would probably have chosen puke-colored flourite or eco-complete if it was available locally. Good thing about a 10 gal tank is that you can completely redo it in one day or less.