# 75G - "Hanzomori" The Forest of Hanzo - a minimalist tank - 11.18 update - EGGS!!!



## haddaj04 (Oct 24, 2011)

Can't wait to see this tank take shape


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

WHooooaaaaaaaa.............that would be a nice idea. I can't wait for more progress.


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## ANBU (Oct 7, 2011)

wow nice, im am staying tune for this thread...


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Looking good!!


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## Diesel3443 (Sep 16, 2011)

Sub'd. Cant wait to see the progress


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## Hcancino (Jun 18, 2011)

I didn't know who Hanzomori is or what the forest of Hanzo is so I googled it and this thread is number 1 and 2! Subscribed!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Very nice wood, interested to see how this turns out. Good idea on the soaking of the wood.


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## leviathan0 (Oct 6, 2007)

I kinda dig the way it looks in the first set of pictures.

And my Japanese has never been much good, but shouldn't it be Hanzo no Mori rather than Hanzomori?


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

thanks everyone!

I'm also thinking of ordering some black acrylic wall designs of birch trees to put on the white walls. 









leviathan, yes, technically it would be Hanzo no mori but I like the way hanzomori sounds better, rolls of the tongue better. 

I wish i had taken a picture once I had cut the branches in half before I started soaking them. doh. but it looks better than how a cropped version of the first photo would look, since I have more "tops" now to use. and while I liked the tall look from the first photo a lot, it would creating a lighting nightmare 

going to post a separate thread in GT asking for carpet suggestions.


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## ProjectCode619 (Oct 29, 2011)

Interesting idea and design. Love the wood pieces.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

spent a lot of time today on the light fixture...had to go to the hardware store again to pick up black spray paint (fyi, it's illegal in the city of chicago...homedepot doesn't carry it, but for some reason Ace has some in a backroom) and ceiling hangers.

didn't get one of the anchors right in the ceiling, but it'll do. spent a few hours coating/drying the light fixture and just hung it up 30 mins ago. timer arrives tomorrow to finish the lighting setup. 

now that i've soaked the wood for 72 hrs, it looks much less 'white' now compared to the dry branches i still have. almost like it was kinda dyed instead of bleached. would suggest just going with the 'natural' finish for anyone who's interested in using decorative Mitsumata branches.

anyhoo, here's the tank exactly as it looks right now. during my trim of my 56G today, trimmed out several stems of red tiger lotus...decided to plop them in here for looks. Red + white looks really nice together....is there such a thing as a red carpet plant?


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## londonloco (Aug 25, 2005)

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

I love the idea, can't wait to see it progress. I think a large school of angel fish in this would look amazing.

Or have you thought about some larger fish to protect your tank? I think an Oscar would be awesome. 75 gallon would be great for a big ol' black male oscar to protect your forest! Or even a white one  I've never owned one myself but when I go to my LFS I find myself staring at them the longest because they seem to be the smartest aquarium fish and you can really tell they're thinking about things.


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## fuzz_16 (Oct 28, 2011)

love this, but as hubby pointed out...the wire in the back is annoying and draws attention. thought about a background? spray paint cardboard or something?

oscars would knock everything down and ruin the plants. lol

i think some koi angels would look beautiful, or even black and white ones for contrast

why not do DHG framing the black sand and rocks toward the back and have it kinda grow out along the back of the tank to give it depth..or dwarf chain and the little bulbs it would send up be a nice effect. 

do crypts in the back maybe? to get the red color but still be not super tall. maaay get long stems due to being low light though... -.- i do love the lily leaves in there though, it looks really good against the bleached wood

other than mosses idk a carpet plant that would grow in low light though


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

fusiongt said:


> I love the idea, can't wait to see it progress. I think a large school of angel fish in this would look amazing.


not the first time it's happened, but I am planning on getting white koi *angels*. not koi fish  so we're both on the same page re: school of angels 




fuzz_16 said:


> love this, but as hubby pointed out...the wire in the back is annoying and draws attention. thought about a background? spray paint cardboard or something?
> 
> other than mosses idk a carpet plant that would grow in low light though


agree re: the light cable, but that's cuz my timer isn't here yet. should arrive today for me to finalize the lighting...going to either tape or clip the cable so it runs along the back right corner so it's out of sight. I am trying to avoid a background because I like the white/light minimalistic look of it all right now. 

while my lights are just 2x 32w T8's, it seems a lot bright because of 1) the white walls, 2) light colored sand, both of which serve as light reflectors. putting up a background is going to block off a lot of bounced lighting. 

i'm leaning towards no carpet at all now and transplanting all of my lotus plants from my 56G over. I might plant some 'green' plants in the black ecco-complete area though. still mulling that over.

my guy with white koi angels is OOS right now, so i'll probably end up getting marbled koi from him - these guys. gonna get 7 overall, but am probably going to get them from 2 different sources to mix bloodlines.


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

Hey zenche, I saw this nano tank and thought that you might gain some inspiration. 

http://tankscape.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-planted-buddha-betta-tank-peace-and.html


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

Gnomecatcher said:


> Hey zenche, I saw this nano tank and thought that you might gain some inspiration.
> 
> http://tankscape.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-planted-buddha-betta-tank-peace-and.html


haha, i actually tried something similar to that in my 56G tall when I first got the tank. I bought a bunch of 'lucky' bamboo to do it, but I scrapped it eventually - it works if you keep it immersed, but I wanted it submersed. Good thing I've a Chinatown close by, so the lucky bamboo was priced reasonably, unlike at petstores.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

though now i kinda of want a buddha for this 75g....


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## sssnel (Nov 8, 2011)

That looks amazing, can't wait to see it done.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

moved over 3 of my tiger lotus' (one green, two red (mother + runner)). also put in a guppy and two endlers to help cycle. 










also adding a closeup of the wood right now. weird white wispy stuff around nearly all of them. quick search here shows that this is normal the first time you immerse wood. should go away in a couple weeks.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

FISH!!!! got 8 koi angels today. made a 2 hour RT drive to pick them up from a Illinois breeder. his basement has 1700 gallons or so I'd guess. 95% of that volume was for angels...if i had more room...man. picked them up for $10 per, which was a little higher than I woulda liked but I don't mind supporting the local fish biz  he also gave me 4 little baby plecos. also moved my 1 white koi angel + 2 ghost blushers from the 56G too.

also added 3 floating riccia patches and a koralia 2 from the S&S. the koralia 2 annoys me...either gonna move it elsewhere or take it out completely i think. moved over my last tiger lotus from the 56G into this tank, and will have 8 more bulbs coming richardgordon in the next week. 

coming together nicely imo.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Is that the Riccia you got from me, if so I hope all went well and it looks nice and green from here. I like your tank and it looks really clean with a little different take using the white branches paired with the white sand and Koi Angels, nice work!!!

What did you do with the Plecos? That's a pretty nice gift if they were free!


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## cableguy69846 (Dec 13, 2010)

:drool:


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## semperfimrn1 (Jan 19, 2011)

looks awesome!

i myself am very fond of koi angels.. here is my male


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

150 - yup, your riccia  they're doing great in my tank. i like the touch of green that they add. and the plecos are in there too. just harder to see cuz they're small and thus far have stuck to the ecco-complete/rocks. 

nice koi semper! i like how your male has color in his top veil too, very neat! how do you sex your angels? i only wish mine were veiled too 

glad you like the tank cableguy


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## semperfimrn1 (Jan 19, 2011)

i actually got lucky with this guy. i had another angel in my tank and when i put him in they got paired up lol. they ALWAYS lay eggs in my tank


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

lol, lucky you!

have you tried raising the fry? trying to decide if i'd like to try my hand at it or not. mostly concerned cuz then this would mean yet another tank, for which i don't have space for. I suppose I could try raising a few in my empty eclipse 12G, though I had planned on selling it.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

wow this is simply awesome!!!


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

thanks danepatrick!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Yeah I do like the touch of green they add and they are such a bright green too, so much so when tied to a rock and pearling it is hard to meter a photo and I always have to use some recovery on the highlights.


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## Bjielsl (Sep 13, 2011)

Love it!


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

this tank is awesome!!! i love the aesthetics! i think that the floating riccia is a VERY nice touch. and the koi angels go with the theme so well!!


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

150EH - interesting. i'd like to try attaching to rock someday, but probably not in this tank. 2xT8's only, and no CO2. and they're suspended nearly a foot off the top of the tank. 

bjielsl and orchidman - thanks very much! glad you guys like where I'm going with this 

after a couple weeks, the wood seems to be holding up okay. the pfs seems to be getting a little darker in some areas though, not sure what's up with that.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

also, gonna need to take some time to get better shots of each of the angels....only way i'm gonna be able to name them is by ID'ing the tails I think, lol.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

was 15 mins late to work this morning cuz i just had to snap this and drop it into my PSD file before leaving.

*O.M.G.* 
i don't know what to do with this....









I'm a little concerned for the safety of my other angels. there are 11 in the tank, obviously 2 of them are a pair right now. I could probably move 4 into my 56G w/o any problems..hopefully that's enough space for everyone to be happy.


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## cableguy69846 (Dec 13, 2010)

zenche said:


> was 15 mins late to work this morning cuz i just had to snap this and drop it into my PSD file before leaving.
> 
> *O.M.G.*
> i don't know what to do with this....
> ...


PM wkndracer about the fish. He breeds them like crazy and can help you out with it.

And congrats on the eggs.:icon_smil


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

thanks  i'll shoot wkndracer a PM.


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## cableguy69846 (Dec 13, 2010)

zenche said:


> thanks  i'll shoot wkndracer a PM.


No problem. Glad to help.roud:


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

What a gorgeous tank - love the stark architecture of the branches.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

thanks. i'm still not sure this wood will hold up for a significant period of time. trial and error experiment.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Congrats on the eggs. Lovely set up.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

thanks!

right on schedule, wrigglers today. though this morning when i looked at the tank, there was a moment of slight panic as i didn't see any of them. then i noticed it was curious that the parents were still defensive...before noticing they had moved all the eggs! 










i have to say, it's a pretty cool experience and feeling to have the opportunity, watching the parents do their thing. from what i've read, i'm pretty fortunate that my parents have been as good as they are. i am not sure if they ate eggs, or if other residents in the tank ate them...but these wrigglers are only maybe half of the eggs that were laid. 

admittedly, i'm a little sad that these guys aren't going to get any tlc from me, and therefore aren't likely to make it. i am not going to have the time to spawn bbs for them, etc. bummer!


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

That's pretty awesome and who knows, maybe a few will survive?


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## semperfimrn1 (Jan 19, 2011)

zenche said:


> lol, lucky you!
> 
> have you tried raising the fry? trying to decide if i'd like to try my hand at it or not. mostly concerned cuz then this would mean yet another tank, for which i don't have space for. I suppose I could try raising a few in my empty eclipse 12G, though I had planned on selling it.


i have tried raising the fry. have had wigglers to full swimming small small babies but they got out of the trap and got eaten lol

haven't tried since tho


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

what kind of trap did you set up?

as I observe the wood, i don't think this is going to work. they are already showing signs of deterioration...not sure if it's fungi or rot, but seeing how it's not even been a month, I think I'm going to need to come up with an alternative plan.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Go to Angels Plus and look through their website, they have some great breeding jars and informative videos too, those could stack up some cash or credit even at your LFS.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

thanks. that jar thingy looks pretty cool. i might not try it with this spawn, but might get one for the next spawn. 

my biggest concern is my inability to raise fresh bbs for them right now.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

well folks, to those who were following along, it is with sadness that i'm updating this to say Hanzomori is no more. While I LOVED the look, it simply wasn't going to be sustainable and maintainable in the long run. the wood was breaking down much faster than I anticipated and the white PFS was a pita to keep clean. 

did a 180 on the tank yesterday, after picking up stuff at our chicago fish swap (GCCA). still waiting for a large plant package from Gordon, which should get here Wednesday. Not sure if I'm going to keep a formal journal on the new scape...but this is how the tank looks now:


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## cableguy69846 (Dec 13, 2010)

Looks good man. I am more partial to the black substrate though.

And do not deny us a journal with lots of pics!:angryfire:hihi:


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

this looks really cool too! its minimalistic like the other one, just a whole different type. i woudlnt add tooo many more plants!


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

cableguy69846 said:


> Looks good man. I am more partial to the black substrate though.
> 
> And do not deny us a journal with lots of pics!:angryfire:hihi:


haha, that angry face is awesome. i'll probably end up doing a journal. gives me a reason to shoot stuff...especially over the winter months when i'm loathe to go outside.



orchidman said:


> this looks really cool too! its minimalistic like the other one, just a whole different type. i woudlnt add tooo many more plants!


Thanks! I like the minimalistic look too...but I already paid for the plants for gordon. we'll see...there's a smaller piece of d/w in my 56G that might be good here too if i can position it right and if the coloring isnt too different. if so, i can put some of the new plants there to avoid crowding this one.


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## cableguy69846 (Dec 13, 2010)

zenche said:


> haha, that angry face is awesome. i'll probably end up doing a journal. gives me a reason to shoot stuff...especially over the winter months when i'm loathe to go outside.


I am with you on that one. I hate Chicago winters.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

You'd BETTER give us a journal - we all have to suffer through winter, too! lol
Both set-ups have a great beauty - you have a natural talent for scaping. Because one was light and one is dark, I will forever think of them as the tank and it evil twin - lol
The darkness accents the color of the angels nicely. Because you didn't black out the background, the dramatic shapes of the driftwood really stand out...lovely!


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

lol re: evil twin. 

i'll probably start a journal this weekend. 

it's kind humorous though..with a minimalistic style...there's less "content" to go into a journal, lol. 

was also interesting to note just how much light is bounced back from having light colored PFS substrate vs. black. it makes for quite a visible difference. can see if comparing the shot above to that from 11.13.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

Y'know, a journal on a minimalist tank is a challenge. It's like a painting - some artists fill with every detail, some capture a brief essence. I like to discover _why_ an individual choses one over the other, or any of the points inbetween - style is an extension of our inner beings, and I think that is so interesting.
Perhaps part of the journal could include what you are saying/experiencing with your scape.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

hrm. that is a very interesting observation. I think i will give that a shot.


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## phorty (Aug 2, 2010)

Fellow CHicagoan checking in. How is this tank doing? I'm currently setting up a 75 with a school of blue angels...


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

hi. i sorely need to start a new journal to showcase the way this turn looks now, but am too busy. and the g6 filter on it is having problems...getting it replaced this week hopefully. single eheim 2215 running it right now only.


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