# Aquascaping design



## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Hello, i'm new in aquascaping, but i can sketch littlebit and have some ideas about design. This is the main view of my planted aquarium very first proeject. please tell me if i'm doing it wrong way, i need your sugestions, about distribution of key components. Tank size 3.2m lenght, 0.47m widht and 0.35m height. Thank you


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## sudhirr (Apr 12, 2019)

I love the sketch. I should say this is an ambitious for a first scape. But all the very best. Will follow this thread for updates. 


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## atm424 (Jan 21, 2014)

First, beautiful sketch! You obviously have an eye for natural scale and design. I do have a few points that you might want to take into account. Before that I want to make sure I understand the tank dimensions. Is the tank really 3.2 meters long, as that's about 10.5 feet? If so, you will probably have some trouble with getting good flow throughout the entire tank without a substantial amount of equipment in tank. Second, those rocks (if you keep that scale) will be extremely heavy and require a ton support beneath the tank. Based on the scale of the sketch provided, the large rock on the left of the formation will roughly have a volume of 2.25 cubic feet. Most stone that we use in aquascaping, with dragon stone being an exception, is fairly dense (120-160 lbs/ft^3). So that stone alone would weigh between 270lbs and 360lbs. You are probably looking at 500-600lbs of stone on the right side of the aquarium. The possibility for catastrophe with very large stones near glass is high. I would get an engineer involved in the design of the stand when dealing with that length of tank and that much weight. Also, the forest on the left of the aquarium would be gorgeous if done properly.

I would love to see this tank in real life as it is a beautiful design, but I think it is a little bit ambitious for a new aquascaper. Ambition is a great motivator and I believe that this would be possible with extremely detailed plans and a flawless execution. For the price of just those rocks, you could probably get a full 20gal rimless setup and mess around with different aquascapes as a testing ground for the large tank. 

Whatever you decide to do I think your keen eye will produce something to be proud of!

-AM


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

First of all thank you for your valiable advices. Yes tank size is really 3.2x0.34x0.45m with 1cm ultraclear glass. I'm architect, so sketching, drawing and scaling is not my weak sides (if i can say so  
1.i plan to reduce the weight of big rocks, by making them almost empty from invisible side
2. Do i need co2? or there is another way?
3. I want to make some cracks in cave's floor flat rock, red light will comming up from them like lava. Is this possible?
4. Aalso some fog/smoke in cave to achieve red ,,godray'' like efect. What i need for it? How to achieve smoke in water? 🙂
5. I want to add some rare cristal ilends inside cave' walls. Which cristals can i use?
That's the main questions i have. Also sorry for my english and thank you once again


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## atm424 (Jan 21, 2014)

Tengo said:


> First of all thank you for your valiable advices. Yes tank size is really 3.2x0.34x0.45m with 1cm ultraclear glass. I'm architect, so sketching, drawing and scaling is not my weak sides (if i can say so
> 1.i plan to reduce the weight of big rocks, by making them almost empty from invisible side
> 2. Do i need co2? or there is another way?
> 3. I want to make some cracks in cave's floor flat rock, red light will comming up from them like lava. Is this possible?
> ...


I'll try to address each point.

1. If you can be successful in hollowing out the rocks, that will make a huge difference in terms of weight and support needed.

2. CO2 needs are dependent on several things. Level of lighting, plant selection, use of fertilizers. In a high energy system CO2 is pretty much necessary in some form. For a 150gal tank you will need a substantial CO2 bottle and probably a reactor.

3. This is possible with a cutout in the stand top and tank mat with a red LED light mounted underneath. This simplifies the electrical side, but you will have to keep substrate off the tank bottom in that area. Or you could mount a waterproofed LED in the cave.

4. This is out of my wheelhouse and I'm not really sure how to go about this. Maybe a Twinstar nano mounted in the cave would give that effect.

5. I have read that rare crystal use can cause some algae growth on the crystal, but I could be wrong! If I were to add them to my tank, I would clear coat them with an epoxy to seal them off from the water.

BTW, your English is very understandable!

-AM


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## Bunsen Honeydew (Feb 21, 2017)

What a fun tank and design.

On point 4, I think that you will likely find this difficult. If the tank has good circulation, you would probably just end up with a cloudy tank.


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Thank you very much. Everything is clear yet 🙂


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## Hujeta (Jan 26, 2020)

For point 4 the best suggestion I could think of is the use of a fogger. It's really quite easy and think you could make something really cool out of that cave. Here's when I used that for my old nature style tank:


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## Bunsen Honeydew (Feb 21, 2017)

Is the fog in 4 supposed to be above the water or in the water?

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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Both 🙂 i understan it will be two different systems


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## Bunsen Honeydew (Feb 21, 2017)

Tengo said:


> Both 🙂 i understan it will be two different systems


Ok, I was referring to the underwater portion. Probably hard to do with good flow.

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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

*Flow*

OK, now the main Problem  FLOW.
Questions:
1. How far can Blower blows? or how far Filtered water distributed?
2. Can i split inflow and outflow tubes, so i can place them in different places?
3. what's your sugestions about V1 and V2 schemes of flow?
Thank you


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## dipan (Dec 3, 2006)

In the reef world closed-loop water circulation is used sometimes to minimize in-tank equipment (power heads). It’s not used much in the planted tank world because of size/complexity mostly. Your tank project is pretty ambitious however. The obvious problem with a closed loop is that there have to be holes in the bottom of your tank with bulkheads. For your needs, probably could get away with smaller well placed bulkheads to get the flow around your scape that you want.


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## madmark285 (Aug 27, 2020)

Tengo said:


> First of all thank you for your valiable advices. Yes tank size is really 3.2x0.34x0.45m with 1cm ultraclear glass. I'm architect, so sketching, drawing and scaling is not my weak sides (if i can say so
> 1.i plan to reduce the weight of big rocks, by making them almost empty from invisible side


Long ago I had a 50 gallon African Cichlid (Mbuna) tank with medium sized rock cover the entire bottom of the tank. I made a PVC frame (3/4" pipe) to hold the rocks which create an upward slope. This drastically reduced the amount of rocks need. For cleaning, I just removed a couple rocks and could vacuum out debris under the pvc frame.

You could also use cellular PVC trim boards to create a platform for the rocks.

Bump: For circulation, any thoughts on just setting up a river flow: ie the water flows in one direction?


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## atm424 (Jan 21, 2014)

I'm not confident enough to tell you the best flow setup, but I do have a suggestion on the plants you have noted in the sketch. I would not use Java moss in this tank. It grows stringy and it can spread everywhere if you are not careful while trimming. A hairgrass will probably be a better choice for this portion of the tank. Also, the marimo moss on the ground might be hard to keep down. HC Cuba is a low growing carpeting plant that has small leaves that a lot of people use to establish scale.

-AM


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Here's my glass. Ultraclear glass is really clear. I'm very excited 🙂
It's looks much longer in reality.


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## jsvand5 (Aug 26, 2012)

Are you sure that glass will be thick enough without euro bracing? I see that it’s a shallow tank but that seems like a long span with such thin glass.


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Here we go 🙂


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## Hujeta (Jan 26, 2020)

Ah it looks so much fun to custom build and you found a really nice spot for it! Are you starting a separate journal for this?


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

*Water, Soil, Hardscaping*

Hello everyone,
I'm on the next stage, so i have some newbie questions  :

1. What kind of grawel, or ,,material" can be used, uder Soil (#3 on section view), for biological filtration
2. Can i use boiled and dried wooden roots for hardscaping?
3. Can i use aquarium water for other plants at home (ect. fikus, lemon...)
4. my aquarium will be 500l. what is the cirtulation ratio (GPH) ? 2.5 times in hour, will be enough?
5. As i mentioned my tank is 0.45X0.35X3.2m, 1.44m2. how many Watt do i need wor lighting?
6. If i separate my ,,OASE BIOMASTER 600" filter intace/supply tube, will it inpact the circulation?
7. Changing Water every week 30%, enough? and can i fill that 30% directly from tap with warm water?

Thank you all, for helping and suporting me


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## SingAlongWithTsing (Jun 11, 2015)

Tengo said:


> Hello everyone,
> I'm on the next stage, so i have some newbie questions  :
> 
> 1. What kind of grawel, or ,,material" can be used, uder Soil (#3 on section view), for biological filtration
> ...


1. Pumice or lava rock will do, should be able to find them in a gardening store
2. depends on the type of wood
3. yes
4. you need enough for a nice ripple at the surface and enough to distribute ferts and co2 around
5. PAR is more important than watts. Are you planning to hang the lights? or mount them to the back wall?
6. Yes, splitting the flow will lower the velocity in some areas.
7. the amount will depend on you bio-load and how much ferts you add. you can use tap water, just use a dechlorinator like seachem prime to get rid of the chlorine. personally i try to make sure temperature between the tank and tap water are near the same to not shock the fish.


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

awesome! How'd you caulk it? Did you run silicone up and down the seams and then placed your glass over it? Or did you do the injection method? 

I've done both and the injection method is more time consuming but ends up cleaner and more secure.


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Thank you for quick response. jus couple more questions please :
1. Pumice/lavarock or any other biological filter in aquarium's base layer, necessarily must be covered with gravel or something?
2. Beneficial bacteria will appear by itself, or i need to add them?


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

Tengo said:


> Thank you for quick response. jus couple more questions please :
> 1. Pumice/lavarock or any other biological filter in aquarium's base layer, necessarily must be covered with gravel or something?
> 2. Beneficial bacteria will appear by itself, or i need to add them?


1. You can place Pumice/Lavarock in a fine mesh bag and layer under as needed. Then you can put your substrate over that.
2. It will appear on its own. Slowly though. You can get starter bacteria from your local petstore such as Tetra Safestart+ or you can find someone that has an established aquarium and ask for some filter media or gravel. You can then place the filter media into your own filter and it should help jump start the cycle.


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

I run silicone up and down the seams and then placed glass over it  but it was my first time and looks little ugly in back corners


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

Tengo said:


> I run silicone up and down the seams and then placed glass over it  but it was my first time and looks little ugly in back corners


I did the same with my 22gallon build. Learned the hard way that measuring the corners, taping them up with painters tape, spreading the silicone and then removing the tape is the easier way. 
I ended up scraping the silicone off (left the actual seams intact) and ret-aping the corners and putting more silicone over it. You can scrape off the excess silicone thats dried up with a razor blade. Just take care not to cut yourself nor scratch your tank.

The injection method is nicer. Dry assemble your tank but leave like 1mm-2mm gap between the glass( I used flat toothpicks as spacers). Tape off the corners as usuall, but you take the tip of your silicone tube, press it up against the gaps and 'inject' the silicone into the seams. You can visually see any gaps or bubbles if you've missed any and fill as needed.


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

*Co2*

What about CO2? it's better to use pre pressurised CO2, or CO2 generator?


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

Tengo said:


> What about CO2? it's better tu use pre pressurised CO2, or CO2 generator?


Do some research around your area, if you haven't already. Find out if you have easy access to get your Co2 tanks refilled. I get my co2 cylinders refilled at a welding shop. 

I'd recommend pressurized co2 for your tank and also a reactor, unless you like seeing a lot of bubbles in your tank then you can get a couple diffusers. Probably want to get the biggest CO2 cylinder you can possibly fit under your tank. 

https://www.2hraquarist.com/ has a lot of information. I recommend reading his articles.


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Hello everyone,

Stone distribution is almost done, today going to river for driftwood. I littlebit changed composition  , because of rock design, but i think it's going well at this time. again thank you all, for your support. i will continiue to posting progress photos.

Thanks

Bump:

Bump:


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Here's my trees, almost done


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Update oct 23


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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

*Almost done*

PH=6.2, PPM=122, Temp=24c, Light LED 6500K (CRI 95).
Almost done, just need to change technikal details (IN/OUT tubes, Co2 stone, O2 stone, Fresh water IN/OUT, Drop cheker) with fancy glas details.


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

Great work making your design happen!


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## sudhirr (Apr 12, 2019)

This is one tank where a Panaroma shot would make better picture where we can zoom for the details. 











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## Tengo (Sep 10, 2020)

Added some plants and stones


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## Karley (Jun 16, 2020)

This is looking beautiful! Nice work.

Just wanted to add a note in case you're still considering adding crystals. I have a quartz geode in my tank, and when it gets dingy, I just rinse it off and leave it in the sun for a day or two. I don't know if it's the UV rays or just the chlorophyll producing algae dying off, but that's all it takes to clean it. At first I was scrubbing it with a toothbrush and baking soda, but this works better and is less work.


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