Aquascape tutorial guide

In this video the Narrator explains the step by step process as demonstrated by "James Finley" in setting up of a Nature aquarium (Also referred as Aquascaping). New lets get into the transcripts:

Welcome to 'the green machine' – the nature aquarium specialists

In this video you'll see the step-by-step creation of a planted aquarium by “James Finley” which is entitled sticks and stones.
Below you can see the grown in tank
it's an ADA cube garden 60P mist type which is 60*30*36 centimeters and features a frosted back panel to match the glass mist and on which it sits.
This is an extremely popular sized aquarium for the home hobbyist and a great canvas for a nature aquarium.
We'll show you how the substrate and hard scape was done followed by the planting and then how the filter and CO2 system was set up

Materials used:

Substrates and growing media

ADA Penac P
ADA Penac W
ADA power sand special s
ADA Bactor 100
ADA tourmaline BC
ADA aqua soil powder

Hard scape materials:

ADA horn wood
River pebbles (Big and small)

Substrate support
Plants:

Vesicularia dubyana or Christmas moss
Riccardia chamedryfolia
Hydrophilic
Micranthemum monte carlo
Echinodorus tenellus
Limnophila sessiliflora
Rotala walachi
Hygrophila
Hygrophila pinnatifida

Life support:

ADA Super Jet Filter S 600
CO2 Injector

Fishes

White cloud mountain minnow
Otocinclus
Amano shrimp
Tiger shrimp

ADA aqua sky 602

Details of Substrate and growing media:

(In this section we will see all possible substrate and growing media to be used in a nature aquarium to achieve a stunning result. Although the complete setup is not essential for hobbiest, it is good to study all these)

The first step is to add substrate additives to the bottom of the aquarium, these white powders are a

ADA Penac P which can help plant root growth and
ADA Penac W which prevents substrates from becoming anaerobic.
ADA power sand special s this is an organic nutrient rich substrate base layer with a large surface area. It encourages beneficial bacteria colonies which help with the filtration of the tank. Power sand contains ADA Bacter 100 and clear super which promote the growth of beneficial bacteria
More clear super is added which is a black powder
More reddish colored powder which is a ADA Bactor 100
ADA tourmaline BC is added which contains fine Bumble charcoal organic pollutant absorbance and tourmaline again helping to improve the substrate environment for plants
Now James pulls in ADA aqua soil powder type this is a complete substrate and technically may be used on its own without the other substrate layers that have been added. However because James wants the best possible start for is planted tank he has used a full ADA substrate system this also helps ensure that the life of the aquarium is maximized.
You can see how James is banking the substrate up at the back right hand corner.

Hardscape materials:

Now that the substrate is complete James moves on to the hardscape materials.
He only uses natural hardscape in his aquariums and here at the green machine it is all that we stock.
The wood being used here is ADA horn wood a dense and heavy dark colored root wood with beautiful shapes details and texture, due to its weight it will sink in water and so does not need three soaking or weighing down.
Now that the sticks have been placed some stones are added. these are TGM river pebbles which are available in a range of small sizes and various colors.
James places the largest first followed by some smaller pebbles which will eventually mostly be covered by plants.
Now that the hardscape has been finished James begins to add TGM substrate supports this method allows for substrate to be banked up on one or more points of the tank to effectively enlarge the surface area of the base of the layout and create perspective. (This is lengthy and boring process - we will cut short to keep the article short)

Tank and support briefing:

The aquarium stand is an ADA cube garden mist which is made of the same low iron high clarity glass as the cube garden aquarium and likewise features a Sun blasted rear panel to softly diffuse the light coming from the back.
ADA cube cabinets are also available with a clear back panel. Its minimal design perfectly matches the cube garden and aqua skylight.

Layout briefing:

This aquascape layout is a triangular layout banked up in one corner triangular layouts often work well when placing the aquarium in the corner of a room where it feels like the plants are naturally creeping in towards your living space.
Despite the apparent simplicity of a triangular arrangement careful consideration is needed.
The first thing to consider is the negative or open space with this layout the golden ratio or rule of 2/3 are often used with plants making up approximately two-thirds of the space and the final third being left as a negative space.
A further tip is to utilize triangles throughout the creation of the layout to highlight the composition and dimensions, for example, ward off stones are often used to counterbalance the triangle planting of this design by pointing them in in the opposite direction often opens the top far corner in the open area.
The other traditional aquascaping layouts are the u-shaped layout and the island layout there is also a linear layout which was first used by James you can read about these different layout styles on our website at www.thegreenmachineonline.com.
Aquascapes like all art forms have a plethora of rules of guidance and application these rules exist to guide us towards success and often will do but remember rules exist only to guide the skilled artists can actually enhance their work by bending or breaking the accepted rules if done so in the right artistic manner. aquatic artistry is no different. (Very important guidance)
One tool used by artists throughout history is known as the golden ratio. This is a ratio found in many places in nature which humans find satisfying or beautiful. Due to this effect we often subconsciously produce art using this ratio. we can also consciously use it to help guide our placement of hard scape and plants within an aquarium, here James has placed a large piece of wood using the rule of 2/3 which is close to the golden ratio.

Planting:

Now the planting begins..,

The wood has been removed to attach moss and then replaced into the aquarium. this Moss is vesicularia dubyana or Christmas moss. The Christmas Moss is so called because of its side branch structure which looks like a fur tree.
James add some riccardia chamedryfolia to the top of the largest piece of wood by wedging it into the gaps using pin sets.
Now the aquarium is part filled with water. Before water is added it can be beneficial to wet the substrate with a spray as this will hold it in place slightly as more water is added. Sometimes when water is added the substrate can shift and some pieces will float to the surface so this technique helps to prevent this.
always fill your aquarium very slowly, if the flow is too strong it may disrupt your carefully placed layout.
James adds Hydrophilic using aquascape in sets.
Now micranthemum monte carlo is added it's been separated into small planting plot. these are placed into the substrate with even spaces which will disappear as a plant grow and cover the base of the aquarium like a thick green carpet of tiny leaves. it's advisable to plant as densely as you can afford in order to achieve the best and fastest start to your aquarium.
The next plant is echinodorus tenellus which James plants across the back adding heights of a background. this looks like large blades of grass James sometimes uses a cannon Doris tell us as a foreground carpeting plant in larger aquariums but due to the smaller scale of this 60 P cube garden he is using it in the background.
Now Limnophila sessiliflora is added in the back corner because it's tall and will provide a delicate screen of green rising up behind the main piece of wood. this will grow into a dense Bush like area providing color and contributing to the composition of the grown in aquascape.
Next rotala walachi is added to the back metal this is a lovely plant which under good lighting develops red chute tips resulting in a gradient effect from green at the bottom to pinky red at the top.
He adds some more Hygrophila in various of the locations around the hardscape giving a more natural and wild look to the layout.
Now he adds hygrophila pinnatifida up tights against the main piece of wood. this completes the planting stage.

Life supports - Filter:

We'll show you how the ADA super jet filter S 600 is set up (This all steps is included as part of this mentioned product - all the below steps will be mentioned in instructions of the the product. so you can skip if you want)

ADA super jet filters are masterpieces of aesthetic and functional design with their stainless steel body they look so good that they can be displayed alongside your aquarium instead of needing to be hidden inside the cabinet like other filters.
The first step is to add ADA Bio Rio as the bottom layer within the filter, this is a pumice stone with a porous surface providing a large surface area for beneficial bacteria to live on this bacteria filters the water by breaking down the dead plant and animal matter into less harmful substances that may be consumed by the plant.
Next we have seachem purigen which improves water clarity whilst filtering the water making it better for plants and fish
next ADA Tourmaline F is added then a layer of filter wool which serves as a physical barrier.
now the superjet metal spacer is added so that the flow is not reduced at the top of the filter then the rubber seal is put in place before the pump is added to the top and clamped shut.
The filter is now moved into position under the stand. Filter pipe has been connected to the inlet and outlet of the filter. the glass inlet and outlets which are supplied with a super jet filter have been positioned on the side of the aquarium with the suckers provided. the filter pipe is cut to the correct length and then very carefully attached to the glass inlet and outlet.

Life support – CO2:

now it's time to set up the CO2 injection system. (This support system is not necessity for all aquarium. Depending upon the type of aquarium you are planning to setup, research whether CO2 system is really required or not. But enjoy reading this steps involved in below segment)

The length of pressure resistant tubing approximately thirty centimeters is cut and used to join the CO2 regulator and the L valve otherwise known as a solenoid valve.
The regulator is attached to the CO2 bottle and controls the rate of CO2 flow.
The solenoid is a mechanical on/off switch for the CO2 which is controlled via a timer we usually have the CO2 coming on two hours before the lights go on and off two hours before the lights out.
Pressure resistance tubing is used because it doesn't allow any CO2 to escape unlike silicon tubing which allows CO2 to slowly escape through its wall.
some silicon tubing is used to connect the solenoid to a non-return valve here you can see a small arrow show in the direction of CO2 flow so you know which way round to connect it
the reason silicon tubing is used at this stage is because glassware is very fragile and may break easily if trying to fit pressure resistant tubing the amount of CO2 that escapes is only small.
suckers are used to stick the tube to the glass aquarium.
next a drop checker is added this is a visual indicator of the CO2 levels in the aquarium
at this point the regulator is adjusted until there is a slower flow of CO2 approximately two bubbles per second in this case.
the last stretch of silicon tubing goes from the drop checker into the aquarium and connects to the CO2 diffuser.
the diffuser is responsible for increasing the surface area of the CO2 by making it into many smaller bubbles so that may be absorbed into the water faster and before it reaches the surface.
here you can see how the bubbles of CO2 slowly move along the tubing throw each device until they gather in the diffuser
when the pressure here is great enough the CO2 begins to diffuse through the ceramic plate the aquascape can now be seen with the filtration and CO2

Meanwhile..:

white cloud mountain minnow feature is the main fish choice there are also some otocinclus which are good algae eaters
Amano shrimp mingle with tiger shrimp forever cleaning up
the light James chose to use with this layout is the ADA aqua sky 602 which is an LED lighting system developed specifically for planted aquariums

10 Months later:

ten months later we re-filmed the aquascape. It has matured nicely during this time.

The Rotolo elechi has grown thick and bushy and has a delicate pink hue because of good lighting
the moss has grown to cover large areas of the wood giving an aged feel to the layout.
some of the foreground stones have been removed for aesthetic reasons and to allow more space for the green carpet
the results are plain. to see here in the lush and dense plant growth
the aqua sky range features a beautiful minimal design perfectly suited to the nature aquarium
the overall result is quite stunning a beautiful slice of nature

Curious Cousins

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