# Random scapes



## manini

120P
My first try at an iwagumi









75gal









60x36x36

















180P









75G









36G corner tank

























Mini 'L'

















ADA 45F


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## So_Fishy

Wow are these all yours?? Just beautiful! I think I like the 36gal corner scapes the best.


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## kcartwright856

I love each and every one of them! You are definitely an artist. I can see a lot of love in your work!


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## manini

Thank you. Yes they are all my my work. The oldest tank is roughly around 6 years old (Large hex tank).


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## Kai808

Very inspirational!!! But aren't these only 1/3 of all your tanks?


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## talontsiawd

Not that it's the most impressive but I really love the 2nd one. It looks really "rich" and "high end" but all the plants are easy to grow and are easily available. It's strength is 100% in the design.


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## ua hua

That hexagon is really beautiful. How many gallons is that?


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## Nocturnal

Very talented


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## nokturnalkid

Kinda miss visiting your shop. Lfs around here suck as far as plants go.


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## manini

Kai808 said:


> Very inspirational!!! But aren't these only 1/3 of all your tanks?


Thank you. Yes, I do have more. Some just need to be photographed and I need to hunt for the other photos.


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## manini

ua hua said:


> That hexagon is really beautiful. How many gallons is that?


It is about 200 gallons. It was a pain to scape. Tank was viewable 360 degrees.


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## manini

nokturnalkid said:


> Kinda miss visiting your shop. Lfs around here suck as far as plants go.


Check out AFA in SF, they have a good selection of plants there or Aquatouch in AZ. If I am not mistaken, there are only a few shops that specialize in aquatic plants.


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## Centromochlus

manini said:


> Check out AFA in SF, they have a good selection of plants there or Aquatouch in AZ. If I am not mistaken, there are only a few shops that specialize in aquatic plants.


If i can also add in a recommendation, i'd definitely check out Albany Aquarium in the bay area. It's a great store with a very nice plant selection. 

Absolutely love the 120P iwagumi and mini-S Jojo. What type of HG did you use in the 120P?


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## manini

AzFishKid said:


> If i can also add in a recommendation, i'd definitely check out Albany Aquarium in the bay area. It's a great store with a very nice plant selection.
> 
> Absolutely love the 120P iwagumi and mini-S Jojo. What type of HG did you use in the 120P?


Yes, thanks Philip. Forgot about Albany Aquarium. 

Thanks. The 120P was my very first try at an iwagumi. HG was E. parvulus. It was actually pretty cool using parvulus because I could actually change the look of the tank by just trimming E. parvulus in different way.


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## talontsiawd

I just want to say, I will also vouch for Albany Aquarium. I love AFA but Albany Aquarium is a very nice store as well.


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## manini

Found more tank pics. Please excuse me for some of the bad photograph. 

Mini 'L'

















Mini 45F









48x24x30









Mini 'M'









90P









Oceanic rimless tank (57 Gal?)


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## freediver

BAD ASS BRA!!!!!!!!!!!!  all of um!!!!!!!


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## S&KGray

:drool:

I need you to be my sensei...hehehe


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## bsk

Beautiful tanks Jojo! I'm inspired everytime I go to your shop.


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## manini

Thanks guys. Glad that you like them. I got a few more that I will be adding hopefully soon.


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## zeldar

amazing work


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## GitMoe

Those are all great tanks. I love people who can use all the simple plants we know and love to make gorgeous scapes. Im not one of those people. After two years of scaping I'm still very much learning...


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## manini

Thank you!


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## amphirion

great work sir! you most certainly have an eye for it! i have a question about that last tank that you showed; what foreground plant did you use for that? it seems to stay very small, about an inch or so i figure? would love to know, so i can incorporate it into future scape plans. thanks very much!


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## manini

amphirion said:


> great work sir! you most certainly have an eye for it! i have a question about that last tank that you showed; what foreground plant did you use for that? it seems to stay very small, about an inch or so i figure? would love to know, so i can incorporate it into future scape plans. thanks very much!


Thanks. They are lilaeopsis noveazeliandiae.


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## manini

Found a few more pics....

Mini "L"









60H









Mini "M"









120P









75P


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## jkan0228

In that Mini L in post 17, is that all fissidens?? All your scapes are just awesome!


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## manini

jkan0228 said:


> In that Mini L in post 17, is that all fissidens?? All your scapes are just awesome!


Yes, all of the moss is fissiden fontanus. Thank you, glad you like them.


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## amphirion

wow....and they just keep on going...i need some time to process these works! amazing stuff!


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## wabisabi

Finally!!! hahaha!

You DA MAN!

So that's how the 90P looks like under all those plants! Awesome!

I really like the Oceanic rimless. For some reason the first pic looks like its a cube tank. This may be my new favorite. Too bad I didn't get to see it in person.


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## sewingalot

Manini, you are an inspiration to everyone. You have skills I can only hope to someday to obtain.


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## maknwar

Have you entered any of these in a aquascaping contests? It makes me sick looking at them they are so nice. I wish I could make my tanks look half as good. How much time do you spend on the tanks? Are they time consuming?


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## dewalltheway

manini said:


> 120P
> 36G corner tank


Love the layouts! What is your forground plant in the above 36 corner bow?


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## orchidman

Woahhhhhh these are absolutely amazing!! I wish I could even come close to Creating anything this beautiful! I love them!


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## LB79

If I'm right the layout foreground plant looks like Lileopsis spp. or Echinodorus tenellus. These are great tanks. Keep posting pics.


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## manini

@wabisabi:Thanks! Hopefully I can find more pics of random scapes that I've done. I am sure there are more.

@sewingalot:Thank you for your kind comment. 

@maknwar: Yes I have entered an aquascaping contest before but only once. I try not to spend too much time on them just because when I start tweeking the tank too much, I end up tweeking too much if you know what I mean.lol. I try and tell myself I have only 15 mins to play with the plants and 15 mins to scrub and change the water for each tank. If not, my wife gets mad. Hahaha!

@dewalltheway: It is lilaeopsis noveazeliandae.

@orchidman: Thank you. If I can do scapes, anyone can.

@LB79: Thank you.


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## S&KGray

manini said:


> I try and tell myself I have only 15 mins to play with the plants and 15 mins to scrub and change the water for each tank. If not, my wife gets mad. Hahaha!


I totally LOL'd at this Jojo! 

So true, its happening to me with only one planted tank that I actually play with more than just changing water and scrubbing glass. My wife: "You aren't done with that yet?!?!"


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## kayjay

These tanks are absolutely breathtaking! Thank you for so many inspiring ideas!


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## manini

Here are a few more pic.

Another oceanic nano cube w/150MH










Update of my 45F










90H 































60Px45x45


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## manini

Found this one....its an old one that isnt really a scape but I think its a great addition. 

(Just to clarify, none of these photos were tampered with photoshop or any other software)

60 P


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## wabisabi

Ah.... the beautiful and infamous Rotala 'butterfly'! :tongue: :hihi:

Awesome scapes! Keep em coming!


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## nokturnalkid

Awesome tanks. I remember that 90h as soon as you walk in the door to your shop. Always meant to ask, but what are those green blobs on the driftwood? I know some of your other tanks had them too.


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## orchidman

Wow! The colors are amazing!!


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## catwat

Man, I wish I could get Rotala 'Butterfly' to look this good in my tank. You make it look sooooooooo simple!



manini said:


> 60 P


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## Jason Baliban

Fantastic body of work!

jB


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## manini

Thanks Jason!


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## wabisabi

Bumping this up! I hope you don't mind me posting another of your awesome scapes. Sorry for the bad quality shots, it's an iphone pic.


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## jcgd

Wow. Probably the best single collection of scapes I've seen on this forum.


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## ChadRamsey

manini said:


>


pardon my ignorance, but what is that growing on the DW Jojo?


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## TheNamelessPoet

Only one word can describe your work








breathtaking


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## NWA-Planted

I was going to go with jealous ;-)

Beautiful tanks!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2


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## manini

ChadRamsey said:


> pardon my ignorance, but what is that growing on the DW Jojo?


Its a type of algae that I could not identify. I sent out some samples to our university but never got a response back. As the tank matured, they slowly disappeared.


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## manini

@namelesspoet: glad you enjoy the layouts.
@nwa: thank you


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## ChadRamsey

manini said:


> Its a type of algae that I could not identify. I sent out some samples to our university but never got a response back. As the tank matured, they slowly disappeared.


 
thats too bad. I really like the looks of it. Oh well.

Thx for the reply


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## Ganyon

Those are awesome tanks.


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## manini

Ganyon said:


> Those are awesome tanks.


Thank you!


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## jczz1232

Some great looking tanks you have there, wish my tank is as nice yours.


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## chantellenolan1

The second picture '40 gallon breeder' - do you know what plants are in that? 

I am in love with it!


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## speedie408

Very nice all around work sir. I didn't know you had a shop... may we take a tour?


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## CmLaracy

very nice, some of your hardscape work is absolutely fantastic. It's not easy to mesh wood and stone like you do!

And I'm truly jealous of the 90H, must be so nice to work with that footprint and height. I'm constantly wishing my 75P was a 90P for the extra 6", and I know if I had a 90P I'd be wishing for that extra height of the 90H.


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## tricity

All of them look amazing!


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## deleted_user_17

My favourite (today), is the 90p, what an amazing piece of wood that is. I say today, because it's likely to change depending on mood.

They are all really good, thanks for sharing your photos


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## S&KGray

speedie408 said:


> Very nice all around work sir. I didn't know you had a shop... may we take a tour?



Jojo's awesome shop:

Aquascapes shop photos album on facebook 

But better in person of course :thumbsup:


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## manini

Thank you guys for the great feed back.

Not sure if I got this tank in but....... 

Do Aqua! mini 'S'


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## Colorful

My favorite tank is the 60P! What kind of plants were used in that one?


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## manini

Colorful said:


> My favorite tank is the 60P! What kind of plants were used in that one?


I am glad that you like them. In the 60P all the plants that I used are V. nana, singapore moss, A. nana, and L. noveazeliandae. Hope that helps.


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## Colorful

manini said:


> I am glad that you like them. In the 60P all the plants that I used are V. nana, singapore moss, A. nana, and L. noveazeliandae. Hope that helps.


Oh thanks! How did you make those little bushes of moss? Did you just attach it to rocks and let it grow?


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## manini

Colorful said:


> Oh thanks! How did you make those little bushes of moss? Did you just attach it to rocks and let it grow?


Yes! Exactly!


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## tropicalmackdaddy

AMAZING scapes. Do you think you could tell me some of the plants in the 90p?


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## BoxxerBoyDrew

AS it was already posted, BREATH TAKING!!!!!! 

You do have a Green Thumb 4sure!!!

I have worked in a Local Fish Store, gone now and was owned by a Good Friend, so I know what it takes to keep it up and running, you have done a AWESOME JOB on these tanks! They are VERY CLEAN, and look like they belong in a Museum! You must live in Your Shop to keep them all looking PERFECT like they do!!! 

I am truly amazed at the quality, amount, and cleanliness of the displays! I wish I could afford the air fare to fly over so I could see these in person! I also wish all LFS took pride and the time to keep their displays looking half as good as yours, because these tanks are with out a doubt the best I have ever seen and in the same location! WOW!!!

THANK YOU for your time in posting the pics!
Drew


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## 50089

Just WOW!!! I love all of them but I'm partial to the 40 breeder, probably b/c I've been trying to scape my 40 forever now and I can't do it.  lol 

So how did you learn these techniques? Trial and error? Studying other scapes? Also you seem to have a knack for which plants go well together; is this something you've learned along the way? I tend to buy a mishmash of plants and then try to get them to work together but so far it hasn't gone well.


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## manini

tropicalmackdaddy said:


> AMAZING scapes. Do you think you could tell me some of the plants in the 90p?


Plants are fissidens fontanus, eriocaulon cinerium, crypt wendtii, anubia lanceolata.


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## manini

BoxxerBoyDrew said:


> AS it was already posted, BREATH TAKING!!!!!!
> 
> You do have a Green Thumb 4sure!!!
> 
> I have worked in a Local Fish Store, gone now and was owned by a Good Friend, so I know what it takes to keep it up and running, you have done a AWESOME JOB on these tanks! They are VERY CLEAN, and look like they belong in a Museum! You must live in Your Shop to keep them all looking PERFECT like they do!!!
> 
> I am truly amazed at the quality, amount, and cleanliness of the displays! I wish I could afford the air fare to fly over so I could see these in person! I also wish all LFS took pride and the time to keep their displays looking half as good as yours, because these tanks are with out a doubt the best I have ever seen and in the same location! WOW!!!
> 
> THANK YOU for your time in posting the pics!
> Drew


Thank you for your kind words. Yes it does take a lot of work but I enjoy it!


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## Neatfish

Freaking awesome work. How can I get that 40 breeder look and 120p carpet look? This would be in a 29g. My lighting 24" 17w t8. I'm thinking of using organic potting soil with sand over that with no co2.


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## manini

librarygirl said:


> Just WOW!!! I love all of them but I'm partial to the 40 breeder, probably b/c I've been trying to scape my 40 forever now and I can't do it.  lol
> 
> So how did you learn these techniques? Trial and error? Studying other scapes? Also you seem to have a knack for which plants go well together; is this something you've learned along the way? I tend to buy a mishmash of plants and then try to get them to work together but so far it hasn't gone well.


Thank you. I am glad that you enjoy my scapes.

A lot of the techniques were learned thru trial and error. Understanding how the plants grow helps out also. The more you practice the better your layouts become. Also study layouts that you enjoy and see how they match their plants in their own layouts. Just remember to have fun and enjoy the hobby!


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## Snowflake311

You should call this your aquascape portfolio. 

So have you done tanks for other people? Is it your side job? Or do you work at a fish store? 

Great work.


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## manini

Glad you like it.

In a nutshell, its a hobby that has turned into a job. Still love the hobby but not the job...if that makes sense. LOL.


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## DogFish

Jojo - Thanks for taking the time to post these great tank pics. They are truly inspiring!


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## chrisjen1985

These are so inspirational! Thanks for sharing.


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## jbig

the 60Px45x45 in post 40 is genius. I love how how managed to turn a tank into an underwater forest. 

if I'm ever reincarnated as something, I want it to be a fish you decide to keep in that tank.


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## manini

Thank you all for the great feedback. Glad that you enjoy my scapes.


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## manini

jbig said:


> t
> If i'm ever reincarnated as something, i want it to be a fish you decide to keep in that tank.


awesome!!!


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## flight50

You have done some very nice setups. I really like that 40gb from the first page. I like how you used the moss as a bush and it's all neat, clean and has some depth IMO.


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## Jegli09

These are all great, very talented


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## manini

@flight50: Thank you.
@jegli09: Thank you.


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## thebuddha

manini said:


>


that one is my favorite!


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## manini

thebuddha said:


> that one is my favorite!


Yes. This was one of my favorites for a corner tank also.


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## driftwoodhunter

An absolutely stunning body of work! I easily forgot that I was looking at planted tanks, and felt instead that I was looking at masterful landscape paintings. I hope you'll keep posting more!


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## tetranewbie

My goodness! How have I never seen this thread before? SOO many beautiful tanks!

Manini - may I ask how you've acquired such a huge amount of A. petite? They're everywhere! And freaking beautiful!


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## manini

tetranewbie said:


> My goodness! How have I never seen this thread before? SOO many beautiful tanks!
> 
> Manini - may I ask how you've acquired such a huge amount of A. petite? They're everywhere! And freaking beautiful!


I got a whole lot right now from breaking down one of my tanks. These were grown for a while now. Roughly about 2-3 years. Let me know if you are interested in some.


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## BHolmes

Subscribed. Amazing work!


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## manini

...been awhile but here is a few tanks that I've been working on. Excuse me for the bad quality of the photos. These were taken with my old iphone.

Aquastyle 9 (...time span of about 5 weeks)





























My wifes mini 'M'


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## BruceF

Really great use of the cube. Love what your doing.


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## NWA-Planted

I think you need a apprentice/padawan 

Sent from a dark corner in my happy place


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## StraightAddicted

Gorgeous setups you have going on. The wood/stone complimenting is great. Also, great use of some easier plants. I def. aspire to have setups like these one day. Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to seeing more down the road!


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## astrosag

You are clearly very skilled. I love the large ones and your wife's mini M is just awesome!

Hope you stick around to give us less skilled people some pointers!

Thanks for sharing.


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## InannaMoon

Very pretty!! Thanks for the inspiration!!


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## manini

Thank you all. Glad that you like it. I should have a few more to post up.


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## bgo

Wow....the ones I've seen at the shop was just a small taste of your work! Every tank is different, but awesome! That's why I always need to stop by for inspiration and to talk-story.


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## Aplomado

Wow! I've save some of your pics for my folder!


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## rwong2k

what's the address of the shop? I'll be in Hawaii next month


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## I3raven

Definitely should apply for an aquascaping contest


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## tomfromstlouis

Not sure how I have missed this thread until now. These are terrific aquascapes - nice wood and rock selections and beautiful texturing with the various green plants. My own taste veers away from heavy use of colors other than green so I am especially attracted to these.

It is rare to see so many of this quality by one person. It is doubly rare that they can be viewed by the public in a store! I congratulate you and thank you for sharing them.


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## annyann

Thanks for sharing these pictures! Like the others have said they are very inspirational and make me want to play with my tanks and get them looking better.


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy

I don't like my tanks anymore.


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