# Bosque de cumbre (Hilltop forrest) Marimo's ADA Hakkai stone layout



## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

My MIni S set up will be relocated to a place at work. Also before I take the challenge of setting up my 2nd 120P (found the wood I want just need $$$) I figured Ill get my hands wet again with a smaller tank. I went to Nature Aquarium today for some inspiration. I have bought many peices of ADA horn wood at NA before, so I have a couple that will fit my Mini M tank. After spending an hour at the shop and almost pulling the trigger on some blue axelrodi. I decided to look at the ADA stone available. Knowing how rare and beautiful the Hakkai stone is, I grabbed a couple and Toru and I worked on a hard scape for a Mini M. Toru was great. He gave me a box lid with the dimensions of a Mini M, and we both worked on the hardscape for an hour. Customers were intrigued on how focused we were and how the hardscape was tweaked until it had flow and was balanced. After weighing the stone, I left the store with 6 pounds of stone. Hakkai stone is used in my all time favorite scape Amano has done. Having the oportunity to use it in a tank really exites me. Im glad I picked this up becuase according to Toru this will be the only time it will be available as it is protected by the Japanese government and collecting it is forebidden.


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## karatekid14 (Jan 16, 2011)

Sounds great! I went to AFA and the guy helped me tweak it too. I will definatly keep up on this thread.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

For now equipement and supplies will be as follows.

ADA Mini M
ADA Mini Solar light
Eheim 2211
Do! Aqua lily pipes
Do!Aqua diffuser
ADA NA 74 Co2 system
ADA Aquasoil type I powder and normal
ADA Tourmaline and Bacter
ADA step 1 brighty K "special lights", green gain
ADA Hakkai stone
Fuana will be Sandanio axelrodi "blue", pygny corry, otto catfish, 
snowball shrimp
Flora Elocharis belem, Rotala butterfly, Rotala Sp green

Im gonna go all out and put all my nice stuff in storage to good use.


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## aman74 (Feb 19, 2007)

MARIMOBALL said:


> Im glad I picked this up becuase according to Toru this will be the only time it will be available as it is protected by the Japanese government and collecting it is forebidden.


Sounds like maybe it's not such a good idea to support the removal of it then?


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Any pictures of this stone?


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

aman74 said:


> Sounds like maybe it's not such a good idea to support the removal of it then?


The stones were not collected recently, only when it was legal.


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## aman74 (Feb 19, 2007)

MARIMOBALL said:


> The stones were not collected recently, only when it was legal.


That's good to know, but I wasn't thinking it would have been done illegally as your source is very reputable.

I was more curious as to the environmental issues of collecting it in general. Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's a good idea. By the time something is forbidden it's usually because terrible damage has already been done.

I'm not saying this is the case here and I should have been clearer in my original question.

Environmental issues have been on my mind and I had been thinking about them in relation to our hobby. It seems to an afterthought to the vast majority here. People clamoring to get species of plants/animals regardless of the impact all the while claiming there love of nature.

Anyways, sorry I wasn't clear initially. I'll think about starting a separate thread about environmental issues.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Aman I totally agree with you. Pics comming up soon.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Here are some quick pics of stone.


















The remote make the stone look small but they are larger…


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

Nice looking rocks! I can't wait to see your hardscape.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

kcirtappatrick said:


> Nice looking rocks! I can't wait to see your hardscape.


The pics dont do them justice. Hopefully under the right light and a little algae growth they will look better, and show more detail.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Everyone likes pictures.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

You're teasing us! Hurry up and get the hardscape going and share photos!


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

somewhatshocked said:


> You're teasing us! Hurry up and get the hardscape going and share photos!


The tank is scaped. I stayed up till 3 am till I was done Ill have pictures up soon followed by video. Now I have to plant it.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Finall scape just needs to be planted.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

LMK what you guys think . Im not entirely happy with it but I already added the aquasoil powder substrate.


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## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

This is going to be great! But you know it's going to mess with your head if you're not "entirely" happy with it. For what it's worth, I like the layout.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

mcqueenesq said:


> This is going to be great! But you know it's going to mess with your head if you're not "entirely" happy with it. For what it's worth, I like the layout.


After looking at it again I did a small change and now im happy. Tomorrow is planting day.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Lets see some pics.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

That tank has been planted for about 2 weeks now. Im doing the dry start method and the belem just rooted and is begining to grow runners.


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## jimmyjam (Dec 25, 2008)

looking good so far, lets see some updated pics!


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Ill post pics tomorrow but the condensation of the water on the glass will make it hard to see.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Belem does well emersed. Its doing good for me submersed also. I really like the plant.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Ill have a new picture up today. I have been propegating the rotala butterfly in the 120P but the rotala green is not growing. I need to find more.
_____________


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Well not much to look at but I tore down my ten gallon and pulled out more belem. Ill be planting some more.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Ok here is some pictures. Th R. butterfly and the R. sp. green was pretty tall but I wanted to plant with roots on them. In about a week the roots should be comfortable with the substarate. Then ill do a big trim and replant some back. hopefully after a few trims Ill get the dense short bushy look Im going for.
Ok enjoy. Please give me some feedback. Ill probably add some micro rasbora kubotai. I dont feel like paying the high price for sandanio axelrodi blue.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

After two weeks the plants have taken root. Its now time for a trim to get the stems nice and bushy and a water change. I might start adding live stock, since this tank has grown emerged for a month and after filling I added water from my big tank as well as cycle and tetra's fresh water version of biospora its called tetra safe start. I have had success with safe start and am able to add live stock to an uncycled tank as long as the bio load is low initially.


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## NYREPS (Aug 31, 2010)

Very nice


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.139092,-77.700294


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

I've been thinking about trying that Rotala Butterfly. I might want to buy some off of you in a month or two. Has the color stayed the same?


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## stuworrall (Oct 29, 2006)

very nice! first time I've seen these stones used in a nano so looking forward to seeing it planted


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

stuworrall said:


> very nice! first time I've seen these stones used in a nano so looking forward to seeing it planted


Thank you. I already did the first trimming and a little re-planting I added some snowball shrimp and today some micro rasbora kubotai will be added.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Have you noticed any morphing with the Rotala 'butterfly'? It's not known to be a stable cultivar and i didn't think that an ADA solar fixture would provide enough light to prevent it from changing. It looks like its doing great so far though. 

Nice nano tank! I love the hakkai stone. Where did you get it?


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

You should consider replacing that CO2 diffuser with an in-line one. The one you have is too prominent in the tank.

I use this one on my Mini-M/2211 (but I got it from ebay for half the price). It also performs much better than a glass diffuser.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

MARIMOBALL said:


> ... Im glad I picked this up becuase according to Toru this will be the only time it will be available as it is protected by the Japanese government and collecting it is forebidden.


Can you explain the sugnificence of these stones? Are they from some sacred mountain?


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> Have you noticed any morphing with the Rotala 'butterfly'? It's not known to be a stable cultivar and i didn't think that an ADA solar fixture would provide enough light to prevent it from changing. It looks like its doing great so far though.
> Yes it is known to morph and change, but this strain dosen't seem to do that. It does require straight RO water, ADA step 1 , ADA brighty K, and green gain. The light is 27 watts on a 5.5 gallon, its suffient. I also have the butterfly growing in the 120P with RO and metal halide, just incase.
> 
> Nice nano tank! I love the hakkai stone. Where did you get it?


Yes it is known to morph and change, but this strain dosen't seem to do that. It does require straight RO water, ADA step 1 , ADA brighty K, and green gain. The light is 27 watts on a 5.5 gallon, its suffient. I also have the butterfly growing in the 120P with RO and metal halide, just incase. The Hakkai stone comes from AFA via Nature Aquarium in Santa Monica CA. Thanks for the complement.



TLE041 said:


> You should consider replacing that CO2 diffuser with an in-line one. The one you have is too prominent in the tank.
> 
> I use this one on my Mini-M/2211 (but I got it from ebay for half the price). It also performs much better than a glass diffuser.


Thank you for the link. Once the 2211 is set up ill look into it. For the moment I have an AZOO mini HOB which should be suffient with a low bioload that I plan to keep and weekly water changes.


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## karatekid14 (Jan 16, 2011)

DogFish said:


> Can you explain the sugnificence of these stones? Are they from some sacred mountain?


I think they are "endangered" so they don't want any more taken.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

DogFish said:


> Can you explain the sugnificence of these stones? Are they from some sacred mountain?


Not sacred but extremely rare, even in Japan, and foremost beautiful. They come Hakkai mountain in Niigata Japan near the ADA headquarter/gallery


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

The tank now has 6 microrasbora kubotai, 5 golden bee shrimp and CBS CRS.

I have not run CO2 in this tank for two weeks and everything is fine with the exception of the rotala butterfly. Ill get the CO2 going and hopefully add a new eheim 2232 just need to go buy the lily pipes.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Picture


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

This is do for an update. The first pic is from a couple months back I added Microrasbora kubotai and CBS/CRS/Golden Bee mix. The butterfly was not doing so hot.










This is the current state before I trim the rotala green and belem. Still have not added a canister with lilly pipes. removed the fish becuase there are crystal babies in there. Little maintenace. It only has a small red sea hob filter and the ADA CO2 system. Top offs and water changes here and there. I do dose ADA step 1 ADA brighty, ADA green gain and fluval shrimp mineral supliment, because I use pure RO water. I dose once a week. PH is 6.4 temp 70F TDS 170 pmm. Do you see any crystal babies in the pics?


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## ADAtank (Jul 26, 2011)

i really like that stone!


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

ADAtank said:


> i really like that stone!


Thanks I have CBS and CRS babies that hatch in the tank now.:bounce:


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## Zer0 (Mar 25, 2012)

Tank looks awesome dude!


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Nice shrimp. I, for one, appreciate goldens!


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Nice shrimp. I, for one, appreciate goldens!


Yes love the golden and CBS.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

This is what it looked like about 3 months ago. Im going to work on getting the R. butterfly red again.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Ill be changing some of the plants soon.


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## ChadRamsey (Nov 3, 2011)

wow, nice. i like it how it is


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

awesome!


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

*Bosque de cumbre (Hilltop forrest)*

*Bosque de cumbre (Hilltop forrest)
*










I could not keep the rotala butterfly red under the LED Mini Solar but It intially grew it with this light. The tank had been with no CO2 and random photoperoids becuase i did not have the light on a timer. Well now that my salt water tank is gone I moved this to the kitchen counter where it will get more attention. did a massive trim on the belem and rotala green along with a water change and pressurized CO2 now added. the nerites keep evrything spotlaess. I have some rotala butterfly growing out in another tank before I re-introduce it here. For now just a bit of ludwigia hybrid red., buts its leaves are too large for tis scape. Once everything grows out I will take a final shot and rescape the whole thing. Currently there are some fire reds, CRS one CBS two cpds and one nerite. Im goning to get rid of the fires soon though.
Here is some pictures from last night next to the wabi kusa


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Nice setup!


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## Chyrol (Jan 18, 2012)

Looks good! Are you going to increase the lighting when you reintroduce the butterfly?


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Chyrol said:


> Looks good! Are you going to increase the lighting when you reintroduce the butterfly?


I think the butterfly just needs CO2 and fertelizers the light is lenty bright 27 watts 8oooK soectrum for ten hors on a 5.5 tank.


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## Chyrol (Jan 18, 2012)

MARIMOBALL said:


> I think the butterfly just needs CO2 and fertelizers the light is lenty bright 27 watts 8oooK soectrum for ten hors on a 5.5 tank.


Gotcha. Best of luck, and keep us updated on what happens!


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## amajoh (Jan 10, 2013)

I love the rocks.


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