33G: New Tank, New Aquascape
August 31st, 2010A few weeks ago, I posted some pictures of the new aquarium stand I had built for my GLA 33G rimless aquarium. Well, I finally got around to actually setting up and aquascaping this tank. One of my goals was to keep this aquascape fairly minimalistic. Therefore, I originally planted the entire tank with only one plant, Ranalisma rostrata. Then, after looking at it a few days, I decided to add Staurogyne repens around the base of the rock.
After another few days, I thought the background needed some taller grass sloping up to the large rock, so I added some Blyxa japonica. Then, I went too far, and planted some Myriophyllum mattogrossense to the right of the rock. I’m going to pull out this plant, as I think the aquascape will be more striking with clean rock lines there. I may stick a little bit of Blyxa japonica there so that just a few grassy tips are visible, but I will need to experiment with how that looks.
Now, I’m just waiting for all of the plants to fill in and bush out. I really like the dimensions (25″x18″x18″) of this particular aquarium, as it’s basically like aquascaping half of a 75G. I have always complained how it’s easy to get one side of a larger tank looking great, but it’s hard to design an equally awesome second half to complement the first. Well, with this tank, I can simply worry about one side. What do you think of the aquascape so far? Comments/critiques welcome!
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:18 pm
What rocks do you use? Looking good!
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Thanks Clas! These rocks were found in a California rockyard as “porous mossy rock.” I believe they are basalt, however.
April 25th, 2012 at 9:29 am
how do you stick plants to the rock?
April 25th, 2012 at 9:33 am
I don’t think that I did attach any plants to rocks in this aquascape. They just grew up around the rocks naturally. The Ranalisma rostrata will send runners up and over rocks by themselves. For aquascapes where I do attach plants to rocks, I use cotton thread for plants that will adhere after awhile. The except is Anubias, which I use green florist wire. For something like Riccia, I use polyester thread that won’t dissolve like the cotton thread.