# Plantless Aquascapes



## chad320

Lol, wrong site for that  If you really want to see some great scapes, Monster fishkeepers is a good place to look around. I would assume way better than here.


----------



## manualfocus

I first read this as "Pointless Aquascapes." LOL..


----------



## leviathan0

The AGA contest has some pretty good plantless scapes in the biotope section sometimes. It's probably weird, but sometimes I look at tank journals, and I like certain scapes more before the plants are added in rather than after.


----------



## TexasCichlid

I did some plantless scapes using holey limestone for African cichlids. Can make some very interesting scapes using stark contrasts.


----------



## Fishly

chad320 said:


> Lol, wrong site for that  If you really want to see some great scapes, Monster fishkeepers is a good place to look around. I would assume way better than here.


True, this is Planted tank.net, but I think we here tend to focus so much on keeping our plants healthy that we neglect the aquascape part of it. Personally, I'd rather see a nice plantless aquascape than a growout tank, so I think this a good post. Especially if we can draw out some of the talented aquascapers on this forum and get them to give us some tips.


----------



## Sophie and Mom

Hee heee....I keep seeing "pantsless" in every post, and being new here, I just thought that was a cute little euphemism for no plants.


----------



## crimsonbull57

Yeah I realize this is a *planted tank forum* but sometimes I feel people get to consumed with the complexity of plants. No doubt planted tanks can be stunning, but not all of us have a green thumb, or want to spend on expensive substrates and co2. I'm a big fan of low tech tanks and some plants could be added to the tank above and make it a really simple low tech. Just seeking some inspiration.


----------



## mistergreen

Aquascape doesn't need plants but they can add to the experience.


----------



## Blazin

wow looks really cool :smile:


----------



## Centromochlus

Plantless aquascapes can be really amazing if done correctly. 

These two aquascapes by ADG are pretty neat:



















Always been a fan of these discus biotopes as well:









(source: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals/133528-190g-wild-discus-biotope-w-led.html)









(source: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showt...uaTerra-3D-background-(picture-heavy)./page17)


----------



## zachary908

^ I'm a huge fan of Jose's tank!


----------



## adriano

crimsonbull57 said:


> I was just wondering if anyone has any plantless, or very lightly planted aquariums or has seen any good aquascapes like so. Please feel free to post pics.
> 
> This is one of the nicer one's I have seen.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JjRLqTxGQs


 I've loved that White Cloud minnow setup for quite some time. So simplistic but it works.


----------



## evilhorde

It's nothing like the tanks posted above, but I like it.

















Edit: I don't yet know how to take a good picture. I have to shoot from awful angles to avoid bad reflections. I am also using a cell phone camera. I'll try to get something better soon.


----------



## Fishly

Do you have a lighter version of that pic? It's so dark that it's hard to see the tank itself.


----------



## orchidman

i love the first one! its awesome! and in the future i hope to set on up similar to it!  here are two i like!

lets not worry about if the goldfish tank is or isnt overstocked please roud:


adg-goldfish-tank by orchidman10, on Flickr


aq1 by orchidman10, on Flickr


----------



## IWANNAGOFAST

i love the gold fish one! makes me want to set up a goldfish tank again


----------



## Daximus

Oh wow...this one is amazing!


----------



## orchidman

i love both! dream tnaks of mine for sure!


----------



## chad320

I would love to see a "And one month later..." shot of ANY of those tanks.


----------



## Fishly

What do you think would change, Chad?

Here are some I found:



















Evilhorde, where did you get that ship?


----------



## Booger

Fishly said:


> What do you think would change, Chad?


Halides on a tank full of fish and white sand?


----------



## Nocturnal

Booger said:


> Halides on a tank full of fish and white sand?


:icon_lol:


----------



## houseofcards

Booger said:


> Halides on a tank full of fish and white sand?


LOL, yes putting aside the overstocking, if a regular light cycle was applied your pic of the result probably isn't far off. Since it's plantless you really don't need any kind of light cycle so basically the tank would only be lit when someone is viewing it, either way not very realistic.


----------



## chad320

Exactly. The maintenance on those must be a nightmare. White sand and a see through background sounds to me like someones wearing out Mag floats like they are razor blades.


----------



## tharsis

Some really beautiful scapes for sure.

The ones being shown here don't seem to have any sort of filtration so they are unrealistic but if you set it up like a saltwater tank I think these could be quite sustainable. 

A large sump would do wonders. You could have a refugium with plants having high nutrient uptake and a protein skimmer for additional nutrient export.


----------



## orchidman

i thin k the filtration was removed for the photos


----------



## IWANNAGOFAST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zi-Wn5nKi8

A video of the goldfish tank. There is actually a very powerful filter fitted to that tank. All equipment is removed for the photoshoot.

The angels and halide one though, that's pretty crazy that they don't get algae.


----------



## Eldachleich

I love plantless aquascapes.. 
I really want to try one. But I'm bad at aquascapes and use plants to hide my hardscape... rather than enhance.
I wish I could do amazing hardscapes like that.


----------



## IWANNAGOFAST

It can be done, you just have to find the right hardscape materials.


----------



## Booger

IWANNAGOFAST said:


> It can be done, you just have to find the right hardscape materials.



Agree. Amano, Senske, and co buy the absolute choicest hardscape materials by the dump truck or transocean shipping crate. We buy a few pieces of whatever is sitting in the LFS bins and try to make it work.


----------



## Aquarist_Fist

Well, it's your lucky day, guys. The domain plantlesstank.net seems still available. 

Jokes aside, I'm not a fan of those scapes, the look like they were created just for the photos, and that bothers me. I get that many people love the clean look, sharp edges, etc., but that's just not what aquariums are. Personal taste...


----------



## somewhatshocked

HAHA. This entire thread caused me to have heart palps.

Wow. TPT has made me jaded and bitter toward non-planted and non-FW tanks.

I am thankful for that.

*BIG SIGH OF RELIEF*


----------



## trackhazard

I notice that a majority of the really nice hardscapes I've seen have been done by guys with planted tank experience such as the Senskes, Oliver Knott and G. Farmer.

I've seen some pretty spectacular scapes from some of the cichlid guys esp. on the African side.

Lee Nuttall has done some really nice work with CA cichlids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzrMLZshj08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8NGAv7qmOE

-Charlie


----------



## greenman

this thread has Rocked my world ! complete plant enthusiast but absolutely love the architecture of these non planted tanks. Keep it coming.


----------



## LB79

Aquarist_Fist said:


> Well, it's your lucky day, guys. The domain plantlesstank.net seems still available.
> 
> Jokes aside, I'm not a fan of those scapes, the look like they were created just for the photos, and that bothers me. I get that many people love the clean look, sharp edges, etc., but that's just not what aquariums are. Personal taste...


One thing that many people leave out in "natural", "biotope", and such is microflora and microfauna. Algae, although considered the enemy, does have its place in any and every nature-based aquarium. In nature, you never see bare rocks and wood. Never, ever. The "clean" look mentioned above is not natural. If someone wants to create a natural plantless tank, they should keep the algae off the glass and sand and leave it be elsewhere. Algae can be very cool-looking. My ¢2.


----------



## Kurious

My feeling is: different strokes for different folks. As caretaker of 2 heavily planted tanks for 12+ years, I'm currently planning my next plant-less project. 

Just as a raked, gravel and stone Buddist zen garden is far from "natural" compared to the heavily planted European style, I find them both beautiful for different reasons. I love and appreciate both sides and want to try my hand at the hardscape only. I don't think you need to buy expensive woods and stone from Japan to achieve your look. Love this thread!


----------



## Bombalurina

LB79 said:


> One thing that many people leave out in "natural", "biotope", and such is microflora and microfauna. Algae, although considered the enemy, does have its place in any and every nature-based aquarium. In nature, you never see bare rocks and wood. Never, ever. The "clean" look mentioned above is not natural. If someone wants to create a natural plantless tank, they should keep the algae off the glass and sand and leave it be elsewhere. Algae can be very cool-looking. My ¢2.


I don't know about that. I agree with the algae-looks-cool part (I think those scapes would look lovely with algae on the rocks and driftwood...someone should try it), but I was swimming in a river a couple of days back with a bunch of jungle perch. It actually looked a lot like those scapes with the rocks and sand (much darker, tannin-y water, though) and there was no visible algae. It did look surprisingly clean. 

I do prefer the tanks with the tannins in them - the rest look too stark for me.


----------



## evilhorde

We're at least a page and a half without pictures now so I'll pad the thread a little with a couple more of my own fledgling attempts at photography. I'm still using a cell phone, but I think my technique is improving very slightly.


----------



## Snowflake311

This is a cool thread. I need to work on a better hard scape for my plant less tank.


----------



## crimsonbull57

Here are a few more


----------



## Kurious

Does anyone know what type of "banded" rocks are in the second photo above?
Thanks in advance!


----------



## crimsonbull57

I'm not sure but perhaps somone else more educated about geology would happen to know.


----------



## samamorgan

Sophie and Mom said:


> Hee heee....I keep seeing "pantsless" in every post, and being new here, I just thought that was a cute little euphemism for no plants.


Thats funny, i keep reading "pantiless", guess my mind is in the gutter. I am male after all.


----------

