Aquascaping - part 2

Aquascaping

Discover how to build tiny aquatic gardens in your own home; as James breaks down his low-tech method of aquascaping.

Equipment used:

• 30cm Fish bowl
• 10-litre bucket
• Clear hosepipe
• IKEA desk lamp
• Daylight bulb
• Volcanic black sand
• Manzanita twig
• Watering can
• Seiryu stones
• Aquascaping soil
• Aquatic tweezers (optional)
• Aquarium super glue

Plants used:

• Pogostemon stellatus 'Octopus'
• Hygrophila polysperma
• Lilaeopsis 'Novae Zealandiae'
• Rotala wallichi
• Cambomba furcata
• Rotala 'Vietnam'
• Bucephalandra
• Hydrocotyle

Lesson Summary

• If you're an aquascape beginner, it's easier to start with a larger aquascape.
• The larger the aquascape, the less likely you are to have an algae bloom, and the easier it will be to set up.
• Bigger vessels are more stable when it comes to light, chemistry and temperature.
• A minimum of a 30cm fish bowl is recommended (13-15 litres).
• I have super-glued the driftwood twigs together with the instant superglue.
• Buy wood from aquascaping shops because they are hardwood, and will not rot underwater.
• The wood may float in the water, so it is necessary to anchor it at the base.
• I use aquarium soil, as this gives plants a source of nutrition and minerals that will encourage the plants to root.
• The baking of the soil prevents the water from getting cloudy.
• In an aquascape, fish are optional, and creating an underwater garden is the central theme.
• I love Bucephalandra for aquascaping. Bucephalandra don't like their roots being completely buried in the soil.
• Aquatic plants need to be underwater at all times.
• In this arrangement, the filler is Hydrococtyle.
• The thriller that I have used is Cambomba furcata.
• Keep aquatic plants misted as you work with them, as they dry out very quickly.
• I put the small plants in the foreground, and the larger ones in the background.
• All the aquatic plants come with very few roots, if any, as they will regrow them quickly.
• Ensure leaves are not buried, as they won't grow and can rot very quickly.
• The colouration of the plants is genetically determined. However, the ability to produce it depends on environmental conditions.
• The colour strengthens as the plants mature.
• Colouration is a stress response caused by two main factors; a lack of fertilizer and a lack of light.
• Plants will absorb the nutrition from the water, meaning they're going to outcompete for the algae, keeping the water cleaner.
• I mist the plants regularly to stop them from drying out. I add the aquarium gravel I had previously rinsed.
• The majority of aquarium plants grow easily. The key issue here is keeping the water clean.
• I use regular tap water to top up an aquascape.
• I break the flow of water so that his hand doesn't stir up the gravel.
• You want the roots to be buried, the top to float.
• Algae need water, light and nutrition. If you reduce any of these factors, you significantly reduce the rate of algae growth, keeping your water clean.
• The element that adds the greatest amount of nutrition is fish. Limiting the number of fish will limit the algae.
• A balanced eco-system is vital when setting up a successful aquascape.
• To create a balance, set up a siphon by immersing a plastic tube in water.
• This technique is called 'cycling'.
• Cycling involves reducing the water in the tank by about 50% and replacing it with water directly from the tap. I recommend doing this every day for the first two weeks of setting up a tank, to slow down the growth rate of the algae. Afterwards, a 50% change in water is recommended once a week or once every other week.
• You can use a toothbrush to clean algae that might develop on the glass.
• I uses a daylight table lamp to control the level of light. I set a timer on his lamp for eight hours. Any longer and the algae will grow, any shorter and there won't be enough light for the aquatic plants.