#66: 484L Aquatic Garden Northern Lights

Sanna Kare-Mäkiaho Tampere, Finland

Comments

Lovely natural looking aquascape! The plants are slightly overgrown and rigid in their plantings. I like the choice of the stump as a focal point it works very well coming out of the Cryptocoryne. No doubt the Corydoras appreciate the open area in front.
— Phil Edwards
The use of the sand in the foreground was very nice. It could have looked better if the bottom of the stemmed plants were covered by driftwood or stones.
— Takashi Amano
I like your tank very much! It is lush and well-grown and a testament to what can be done without CO2 if you are able to balance it properly. You made a very good decision leaving the unplanted area in the front of the tank... An important part of aquascaping is learning when enough is enough. Nicely done!
— Karen Randall

Aquascape Details

Dimensions 160 × 55 × 55 cm
Title Northern Lights
Volume 484L
Background Black adhesive plastic foil
Lighting 4x58W fluorescent tubes (10000K, 2x6500K and 2700K)
Filtration External filters Eheim Professionel II 2028 and Eheim Professionel II 2026
Internal filter Eheim 2048
Plants Alternanthera reineckii 'lilacina'
Anubias barteri var. nana
Cryptocoryne affinis
Didiplis diandra
Echinodorus sp.
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Hygrophila corymbosa 'angustifolia'
Ludwigia glandiosa 'variegatus'
Microsorum pteropus
Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
Rotala macrandra
Rotala sp. 'Nanjenshan'
Animals 1 Angelfish Pterophyllum scalare,
13 Lemon Tetras Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis,
4 Siamese Algae Eaters Crossocheilus siamensis,
1 Big Spot Hypostomus L124 Ancistomus sp.,
5 Ancistrus sp.,
5 Corydoras leucomelas,
15 Corydoras panda,
8 Corydoras duplicareus,
4 Corydoras davidsandsi,
6 Corydoras melanistius,
16 Corydoras paleatus,
7 Corydoras sp. "black venezuela",
14 Otocinclus sp.,
1 Farlowella sp.
Materials The substrate is very fine sand (0,1-0,6mm).
The huge driftwood that dominates the aquascape is almost 150cm long. There is also another piece of wood in the other end of the tank.
Additional Information I found the big driftwood in a lake here in Tampere this spring, when I was looking for some wood for my new aquarium. I had to cut off some of the roots because they were so long, but luckily most of it fit to the aquarium just like it was in the lake. I have many Corydoras and other bottom dwellers in this tank, and they simply love it!

I used Tetra Initial sticks under the sand when setting up this aquarium (in April 2004). I use PMDD once a week, when I change approximately 1/3 of the water.

There is no CO2 system in this tank.

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