# Planted Tanks > Aquascaping >  Reveru's Second Tank

## reveru

Hi guys,

Just started another 2 feet tank scape yesterday. Post up some pics to share with you guys. Will update weekly with full tank shot, similar to what I did on my other thread documenting my first tank scape.

The tank:






Tied with fissidens, narrow leaf java fern and bolbitis heudelotti:






Full tank shot:



Flora
Ludwigia Arcuata
Didiplis Diandra
Eleocharis Vivipara
Cryptocoryne Wendtii sp. Green
Echinodorous Tenellus
Microsorum Pteropus Narrow Leaf
Glossostigma Elatinoides
Bolbitis Heudelotii
Fissidens Fontanus

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## duncanl36

hey,
are you using the ada filter or just the glass outlet and inlet pipe

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## reveru

Nope not using ADA filter nor the glass lily pipes. I'm using a normal canister filter from local fish shops. Brand is Aquanic. Not even Eheim. Heh. As for the lily pipes, its from ANS.

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## duncanl36

whats the benefit of using the lily pipe and the glass intake tube

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## reveru

Appearance-wise, lily pipes look nicer in the tank. Other than that, not much use.  :Smile:

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## Aquanoob

Reveru, is this the same tank that you won the 7th place or another new tank?

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## reveru

it's another tank, but also 2 feet. this time, it's not the front glass panel that is curved, but the front edges. haha. got this tank second hand as well.

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## David Moses Heng

come help me set up my 4 feet leh :Grin: 

Good job !! Keep the flame burning bright!!

BTW, what fauna are you considering?

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## reveru

I don't mind helping at all. Haha. Can gain myself some experience.  :Smile:  Never set up 4 feet before, will be a big challenge!

Honestly, have not thought about the fauna yet. Still cycling, I got 3 weeks to think. Any suggestions? It's only a 2 feet so I'll probably drop in some small fishes.

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## madnugget

nice scape bro! haha why didnt you spam the fissiden to cover more areas of your wood =p too little ah? are you using powdered ADA?

visited his 7th place tank yesterday and it is totally beautiful now! bro, update update and show others!

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## icemanken85

Wow, very nice setup...I am planning to setup a cube tank with a sand path in mind, wonder you can tell me how you do it, what are the steps to take to fill the sand so nicely and separating from the soil...thanks

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## ADA SG

> Appearance-wise, lily pipes look nicer in the tank. Other than that, not much use.


Hi,

Sorry that we didn't mean to hijack this thread, but would wish to clarify that if ADA Lily pipes' functions are concerned, they have specific roles to play. Please feel free to contact us on this matter.

However, if these pipes are made from another brand, we cannot comment on their uses. 

Lastly, the tank looks great.

Best regards :Smile:

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## kenny

The water is so clear even on day 1? What substrate did you use?

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## Jimmy

> The water is so clear even on day 1? What substrate did you use?


i use gex and ada soils and water are cleared after around 2 hours of cycling. shouldn't it?

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## o2bubble

Looks nice for a simple setup. Just a comment that the "white" path could be more curvy and the front should be much lower than the back to give a deeper feel. Also, attach more fern and bolbitis should look better.

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## reveru

*madnugget:* heh the fissidens not enough to cover all the wood haha. cos i had to choose the greener ones from the brown ones. so in the end not much left. but still have to thank you for free fissidens!  :Grin:  yup i'm using powder amazonia II as the front-most and top-most layer. i think i bought too much. got a completely new pack unopened.

*icemanken85:* hi i sure don't mind telling you more, if you like you can drop me an email or PM. meanwhile, have you seen this site? http://www.aquajournal.net/na/basics/basics_02.html

*ADA SG:* i'm quite sure there is a purpose to the ADA lily pipes, hopefully one day i can try them for myself! but for now, i must say that the vortex created by the ANS one is not very strong, but it does make the water flow more laminar. personally, it's a matter of cost for me!  :Smile:  anyway if anyone is interested, the driftwood was acquired from biotope... heh.

*kenny:* hi i'm using ADA substrate. but i don't think it's a matter of substrate choice. i filled the tank with water using a hose meant for CO2 injection until it was 1/5 full. then repeated with a 8/12 hose and then a 12/16 hose. maybe you can try that?

*o2bubble:* thanks for your feedback. do agree with you that the path could be more curved. it didn't look that straight while i was setting it up though. heh. as for the flora, i kinda ran out of plants to tie to the wood.  :Opps:

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## madnugget

sorry for the lousy free fissidens =p wow you bought so much powder, must have cost a bomb. did you use powder for your HC setup also?

The vortex for the lily pipe is dependent a lot on your flowrate. I tried directly hooking up to the filter and through my co2 reactor, got some difference.

For getting clear water, i guess its a lot depending on how you introduce water. you can put a plastic bag inside and allow the water to flow into the bag and overflow out into the tank.

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## ranmasatome

Hi Reveru,

You planted crypts and then behind the crypts you put a rock with fissidens on it? Won't the crypts cover that rock when they mature?

In other words, all that fissidens behind the crypts cant be seen.. even those on the wood. no? because the crypts might grow big and cover them all?

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## reveru

*ranmasatome:* haha you noticed.  :Opps:  i pre-tied the stone with fissidens, thinking i would place it somewhere visible, then realised i didn't have enough rocks to brace the driftwood. so in the end, everything kind of went everywhere. not exactly what i would call "according to plan"!  :Grin:  well, i'll see what i can do about that. either move the crypt or move the rock. thanks!

*madnugget:* i didn't buy ALL powder. you must have mistaken me  :Razz:  i meant that i used the normal amazonia II for most of the substrate. only the front i used powder. then i spread a bit over the entire top layer cos it helps a bit during planting. when doing your re-scape?  :Smile:

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## reveru

Day 7:



most of the plants still in transition stage, especially the fissidens. somehow i noticed stem plants seem to adapt to new surroundings faster.

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## icemanken85

Thanks, I have managed to find the way of doing it....

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## reveru

End of week 2:

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## ranmasatome

Hey.. its looks like its on its way to lushness heaven! wahahaha!  :Smile: 

Can't see that rock anymore and the wood behind also covered liao.

Try using rocks or wood at the edge of your path to break the straight line path.

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## bryan

> Appearance-wise, lily pipes look nicer in the tank. Other than that, not much use.


Lily pipes when installed properly, will creat a small vortex on the surface which breaks up the protein layer. Therefore you don't need a skimmer. I remember seeing a youtube demo before.

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## johannes

Hey bro, i think your water level s too high, it should be just below the upper part of the lily output to create the vortex to dissolve the surface film. that's what i noticed at Midori. you can actually adjust the water level accordingly and see at which height the vortex will be created optimally.

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## fireblade

find that the horizontal wood a bit eye sore.. :P
maybe let it stand? also the slope like not enough...

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## reveru

*ranmasatome:* thanks, i will post up the pics weekly and hopefully it does grow out lushly. as for the boundary between substrate and sand, i'm hoping that when the plants grow out, they will naturally obscure the distinct line.

*bryan + johannes:* thanks for the info. i do know that lily pipes create vortex that can keep the protein film away. my point was actually that lily pipes are not strictly necessary in a tank because a protein skimmer is likely to be cheaper anyway. as for the water level, i realised that the flow rate also matters. for example, in this tank, even though the lily pipe outlet is approx 1 inch below water surface, the surface scum is still being swirled downwards by the vortex. i'm running 800l/hr in this 2 ft currently. compared to my 600/hr in my other 2 ft, this vortex is much stronger.

*fireblade:* thanks for your feedback. hopefully the flora will obscure and soften some of the harsh lines of the horizontal wood and make it seem less stark. as for the slope, somehow it looks ok in real life but on the photo seems flatter.

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## blue33

The soil behind is abit low, let the plant grow some more, can always use the plant to trim and shape the scape.  :Smile:

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## reveru

Day 40:



Bolbitis Heudelotti seems to be melting still. Not sure what's wrong.  :Sad:

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## Shadow

Nice, look wild. I like the way glosso mix, look natural. You might want to make E.vivipara thicker a bit.

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## Javanus

Scape is beautiful. I like the wild grassy look. Where did you source for the E. vivipara?

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## reveru

Thanks Robert. I was quite surprised by the way the glosso spread. They grew onto the driftwood and rocks and anchored themselves quite nicely. As for the vivipara, I keep having to trim it because of the plantlets at the end. Trying to make them grow thicker, but will take time.

Hi Javanus, I bought the Vivipara online from Mizu World (do a google, sure to find them). You don't have to buy online though, can buy from LFS, quite common. I bought online cos I needed all my plants on the setup day.

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## Aquanoob

Reveru, very nice scape. It really makes me want to do a re-scape to my 2ft tank which I keep delaying.
Can I check what is the water temperature in your tank and how do you maintain that temperature? thanks.

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## Shadow

What I did for vivipara, cut them short when first plant. After a while almost all those cut part grow plantlets and let it grow long reaching the surface. That will make it thicker. Occasionally need to selectively trim the plantlets to make sure not too thick or too thin.

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## barmby

Kaoz! Reveru scape tank way better than I first started the hobby  :Smile:

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## ndy06

Wow, can't wait to see the plant cover all the wood surface.  :Smile: 
Keep update.

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## reveru

*Aquanoob:* Thanks for your kind words. My tank temp is kept at 25 degree C by a Hailea HC-150A. I don't think that chiller is absolutely necessary for a planted tank, but since my tank is quite near a window with sun, it can get quite warm. Thus I added a chiller to this setup instead of using fan. Do re-scape your 2 feet! Although the setup work is quite tiring, I think when you see the plants grow it is quite rewarding. I could help out if you want!  :Very Happy: 

*Shadow:* Thanks for the tip! Will keep that in mind if I use vivipara in my next scape(s).  :Smile:  Meanwhile, I'll just try to trim it gradually to see if I can coax it to grow thicker.

*barmby:* You are too generous with your words! Like what was said in my other tank's thread, as long as the plants grow well, the scape will naturally look nice! So I feel more like a farmer than an artist...  :Very Happy:  tell you a secret, the path of sand is inspired by a certain someone's "The Wilderness and Forest"!

*ndy06:* A bit busy but I will update it periodically.  :Smile:  Thanks for visiting!

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## reveru

*Day 62:*

Just recovered from a tough fight with cladophora algae. Very hardy stuff and pretty difficult to remove. Not sure if it will return.

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## Aquanoob

Reveru, this is an even nicer mature scape. Take some pictures (without the pipings and tubes) for next year's IAPLC, so that you will have a few scape picture to choose from.

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## barmby

Cools. Is it a trend now that glosso must grow upwards? I have noticed it in Shadow's tank.

btw, Reveru, how is your placement in this year IAPLC?

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## Shadow

Mine is unintended one, grow tall because light blocked my overgrown moss  :Embarassed: 

Reveru's one is different, he nicely mix glosso and tennelus, it give me natural feeling  :Well done: .

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## reveru

*Aquanoob:* i do intend to take picture of this scape. waiting for the didiplis diandra and l.arcuata to grow out before taking picture. probably in another 3-4 weeks or so. did you rescape your 2 ft tank?  :Smile: 

*barmby:* some of the glosso grew upwards because they pushed themselves against the wood/stones and started to grow up. i don't know about trend but i like the way the glosso seems to "climb" even though it's supposed to form a "carpet". my placement this year was 629. i'm pretty happy about it too. will try again next year.  :Smile: 

*Shadow:* is there a problem with my l.arcuata (at the rear left and rear right corners) ? not growing well, wonder why.

anyone can help? adrian?

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## ranmasatome

i dont know about yours.. but my arcuata loovesss No3.

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## Aquanoob

Reveru, look forward to your more mature scape in 3-4 weeks time. I have not rescape my 2 feet yet, again.  :Exasperated:

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## barmby

reveru, good job, nonetheless

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## freshwtrmonster

any update on it? love it..

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## tcy81

hi, what is your lighting setup for this tank ?

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## blue33

Oh someone mentioned my name?  :Grin:  Perhaps the condition just not right for it to boom, like water temp and lighting.  :Smile: 

This might help you. Click >Here<

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## Ben555

Hi Reveru,

I can see you are paying lots of attention to your new tank.

Any picture on your current progress? 

Good job!!!

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## reveru

*Day 81:*



*tcy81:* hi bro, my lighting is 4x24 watt T5HO at 6500K. On for 10 hours a day from 12 pm - 10 pm.

I am very happy. There are now many many snowball and malayan shrimplets in the tank. There are also 5 lamp-eyed killifish fry swimming around happily. However no macro lens so can't share the joy with you guys.

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## Aquanoob

Nicer and nicer scape but is the driftwood is bit bare and is the plant leaning to the right side?

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## barmby

It gives me a natural feeling  :Smile: 

But I don't see the water surface move or ripple, yes?

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## blue33

Looks like everything overly grown? Glosso growing upwards? Tenellus growing too long also. Here's my Glosso and E.Tenellus, short short. They are currently growing at about 2ft height depth using T5 only.  :Grin:

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## widjajas

looks very soothing...can you share your fert regime? Do you do EI dosing?

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