Buddha Inspired Aquarium...

Hi, I thought I'd try my luck here and see if anyone had any ideas.

I don't normally use aquarium ornaments in my tanks anymore, if it can't be found in nature I tend not to use it. However I was looking at the pet store the other day and I found a few buddha statues pretty cool. I also dig those stone faces or whatever they are called.

But I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on Buddha themed set ups. Say I want to use a buddha as a centerpiece or as the main focus of my next tank. What goes with it? I mean what plants and other hardscape would compliment it well. I'm wanting it to be ummm...a "peaceful" zen sorta planted tank.

I had a thought to do an IwagumI tank only instead of 3 rocks...you got it! THREE buddha's! But one is probably all that's needed and I doubt I could pull off an IwagumI now LOLOL!

Anyway, ideas welcomed.

Tank will be a 40B btw.

 

You could do one big Buddha and than two small ones on either side and have Anubis and moss balls and white and black sand swirled together.

 

I love Buddha in my tanks! I usually put Buddha in the middle and then something on either side of him, like temples or natural looking trees, something like that.

BonsaI Tree

lantern

Petsmarts "Buddha-type" decorations.

Hope this helps!

 

Not sure how well white and black and would mix together but it could be neat. I was thinking blue gravel would contrast the typical. Buddah gold. If only you could pull off a sand garden look with the Buddahs as center points. Fish would never leave it be lol.

 

You could do one big Buddha and than two small ones on either side and have Anubis and moss balls and white and black sand swirled together.

Not sure how well white and black and would mix together but it could be neat. I was thinking blue gravel would contrast the typical. Buddah gold. If only you could pull off a sand garden look with the Buddahs as center points. Fish would never leave it be lol.

Attached is what white and black sand mixed together looks like It's a saltwater tank, but it will give you a general idea

 

Yeah I think he meant more of a ying Yang swirl which wouldn't last long lol.

 

Yeah I think he meant more of a ying Yang swirl which wouldn't last long lol.

Are you talking about me?

Yeah I think he meant more of a ying Yang swirl which wouldn't last long lol.

If so I am a SHE not HE cuz I think I would be a zillioner due the fact I am 21.5 weeks pregnant

Attached is what white and black sand mixed together looks like It's a saltwater tank, but it will give you a general idea

Yes that is what I was saying

 

I love Buddha in my tanks! I usually put Buddha in the middle and then something on either side of him, like temples or natural looking trees, something like that. BonsaI Tree lantern Petsmarts "Buddha-type" decorations.Hope this helps!

Thanks! Pretty cool.

If so I am a SHE not HE cuz I think I would be a zillioner due the fact I am 21.5 weeks pregnant

LOL!

If only you could pull off a sand garden look with the Buddahs as center points. Fish would never leave it be lol.

I think I could do that....am up for the challenge. Could surrounding the Buddha/s with stones be neat? I am thinking I do like the bansaI tree idea, but what if I took a small stump or two and created a java moss tree, or an anubias coffeefolia tree? I will use moss balls in this, too. For sure. And sand. If you want to look in the Freshwater Videos section, my 47 gallon has white sand mixed with black. So I'm aware how that looks and would be down for mixing the two in this scape. Would it really look good compared to simply white or simply black sand for a buddha set up?

 

Are you talking about me?



If so I am a SHE not HE cuz I think I would be a zillioner due the fact I am 21.5 weeks pregnant

Yes, I was talking about you! And I don't have to feel bad for it because I got called a she yesterday lol. I wonder who's gender you'll mistake, cause you're next!

It would certainly create a nice contrast. I'm not sure a sand garden effect could be completely achieved, though. I meant like....

 

Ohhhh that...well yeah that, that would be more of a challenge for sure. One could rake the sand daily....eliminate the need for snails crawling through it. I don't know, but those are very interesting. I'm probabyly gonna study many of them today now. Thanks.

 

Welcome! I definitely want pictures of this tank lol.

 

One question for you. Do you think this would look nice with a sand floor and the main hardscape, a Buddha, and riccia stones? Or stones with some kind of moss on them? For this, we'd demand peaceful fish! Maybe glass cats.

 

xD Riccia stones could work. I think moss balls will be enough moss.

 

Brilliant!!!!!! You sir are a better man than I for this idea and your other ones in this thread...assuming you ARE a he and not a she who's pregnant to boot! Moss balls, probably would be simpler.

 

I am in fact a guy lol. And thanks for the praise lol. I still want pictures when it's done!

 

Hello!

A bit late to this thread, but I did a zen tank a while back. Fully grown in now with a lot of moss and pygmy chain sword engulfing a little thaI buddha statue. Looks quite neat. I alsoput in a sake cup on its side and popped a bit of java moss inside it. Black substrate and some dark stones here and there, a lot of plants (nice and leafy like watersprite and hornwort) and voila - a lush planted zen tank which is easy to maintain .



I've always thought another cool idea for a zen tank would be to have an open top tank and plant a forest of lucky bamboo. It doesn't care about substrate, and as long as you leave the leaves above water it will thrive. I recokon putting a bit of java moss and java fern around the base of the stems would make for a nice little 'forest' too - esp with some panda cories to hop about in there

 

lea yours nothing short of a thing of beauty. Thanks for the tips and inspiration!

I'm currently assessing which plants can do well in it, it's a 40B with a 1x96 compact fluorescent fixture... in the planning stages at this moment! Hopefully done soon but I tend to take awhile sometimes lol.

 

Like this? Youtube has tons of ideas, search w/ "zen budda aquarium".

 

That one's cool. Those buddha statues are nice. The ones that inspired me however were the fat buddhas.

 

That one's cool. Those buddha statues are nice. The ones that inspired me however were the fat buddhas.

I know nothing of them. An idea comes to mind of those huts they use for betta tanks, you know, Tibet style. One on each side, small fat budda, rocks, a blue marble river, with tall plants around the border of tank. Draconea on the back wall. That would look cool in a 40b.

 

gotta get that lucky bamboo in there!

 

I bought this sitting buddha from PETCO back in January. I'm not using it now, but got lots of compliments on it.

 

Lol thanks - I just posted it as it's full of easy plants which require a bit of trimming, a dose of liquid fert and Excel and that's it. I'm all about doing things the easy way . Any of the plants in mine should suit yours very well. My light is low and not a great spectrum, just from a light store - not even a proper planted aquarium light as I have a funny shaped fixture which won't take normal aquarium light sizes.

Check out dollar stores or plant nurseries - usually some good stone buddha statues there to use. You can clear coat them to be safe if need be and they are usually cheap.

Yes i've seen that buddha and bamboo before, a very neat idea! I saw this epic escalation of that theme recently on advancedaquarist, check it out - so impressive!

 

Lol thanks - I just posted it as it's full of easy plants which require a bit of trimming, a dose of liquid fert and Excel and that's it. I'm all about doing things the easy way . Any of the plants in mine should suit yours very well. My light is low and not a great spectrum, just from a light store - not even a proper planted aquarium light as I have a funny shaped fixture which won't take normal aquarium light sizes.

Check out dollar stores or plant nurseries - usually some good stone buddha statues there to use. You can clear coat them to be safe if need be and they are usually cheap.

Yes i've seen that buddha and bamboo before, a very neat idea! I saw this epic escalation of that theme recently on advancedaquarist, check it out - so impressive!

Nice tank. I have a small scall tank w/ draconea. Love the look coming out of tank.

 

Just want to thank everyone for their ideas, I like many of them.

And wanted to add I got my buddha's today. 3 of them actually. They are made by Penn Plax so I'm assuming they're pretty common decorations. Except for one, which is by Exotic Environments.

So I've started getting to work on this today. I got my buddha's, and my driftwood and rocks picked out. Still finalizing the plant list before I order. I like the idea of a blue marbel river, so I may try to work that into the scape somehow using a blue gravel. Maybe put a nice bridge over it? We'll see.

Thanks again everybody!

 

I used to have a little minI buddha in my shrimp tank. It looked good. I had green plants and black substrate, rcs

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So I'm working on this today and toying with ideas for a river, and while trying to find ways to make a barrier for it, it hit me: PONDS

Yes, a buddha garden with ponds in them. Some small rocks and grassy plants directly surrounding these ponds.

I will be using blue gravel to fill them in, although I know ponds are usually brown water. But I hope you guys will overlook and ignore that when I am done.

Pretty excited about this as I work on it.

 

Sounds cute!

An idea - but the blue gravel in a small plastic container so it doesn't spread everywhere, and so that any surrounding plants don't grow into it via runners. Then you can firndge it with larger rocks and dwarf sag or pygmy chainsword like reeds at a ponds edge .

Any maybe a small ceramic crane or ducks lol.

 

gotta get that lucky bamboo in there!

Would you believe that you can't get it here in the UK?!

 

Ohh, like the ponds idea.