Nigel's Forest Scape 128l

I'm actually inspired enough by your scape to start experimenting a bit myself and am growing out a couple different mosses to at some point rescape a shrimp tank I just basically threw together here in a few months. Nothing as amazing or as wonderful as yours, far from it lol but the idea stemmed from what you have. it'll go together in bits and pieces and hopefully eventually I'll have a nice little brook feeling with mosses and driftwood.

I feel honored. Just do a lot of research and practice the hardscape in a cardboard box and you are good to go! Never rush it. Good luck. Looking forward to your tank!

It's beautiful Nigel! I hope I can do something similar someday. Thank you so much for sharing.

Do you find it difficult to clean? I would love to hear about the maintenance routine.

Thank you very much stella. I am sure you can! Research and practice!

So far I have a lot of RCS and snails as a clean up crew. Beside that the maintenance has been easy so far. Weekly water changes and no trimming so far. But when I have to trim the moss it will be a PITA. I have a turkey baster to clean waste but I didn't use it yet. Some people say just let do nature it work and that the turkey baster isn't needed.

Compared to my IwagumI it's harder to clean the windows especially the back. So I can't reach all points very well but snails come in handy here

So every week I clean the windows with a dennerle cleanator sponge and big water changes ~75%. That's all

 

Looking amazing!

 

This is amazing! So glad to see aquascapers on fishlore! I'm trying to work my way up to aquascaping with the big cats... getting a handle on aquatic plants first... mostly it's just dealing with them inside a glass box lol! But I am trying to soak up as much info as I can. Can't wait to follow more of your builds... tag me if you can remember! I love stuff like this

 

This is amazing! So glad to see aquascapers on fishlore! I'm trying to work my way up to aquascaping with the big cats... getting a handle on aquatic plants first... mostly it's just dealing with them inside a glass box lol! But I am trying to soak up as much info as I can. Can't wait to follow more of your builds... tag me if you can remember! I love stuff like this

Thanks
It is always good to do your research! Another tip is using a cardboard box with some sand to practice with the hardscape. This way you cannot damage the glass walls and don't crush aqua soil (if you use it). Take a box with the same dimensions as your aquarium. Make pictures and look critical to it (or post here on forum for feedback). Looking to a photo gives you more opportunities to be critical than looking at it IRL. Also good to look for inspiration and try to copy it. It will still look different because you have different hardscape.

And good luck!

 

This is amazing! So glad to see aquascapers on fishlore! I'm trying to work my way up to aquascaping with the big cats... getting a handle on aquatic plants first... mostly it's just dealing with them inside a glass box lol! But I am trying to soak up as much info as I can. Can't wait to follow more of your builds... tag me if you can remember! I love stuff like this

Being a newbie. ..I couldn't agree more. Just trying to soak up as much info and knowledge as I can. I love seeing the process of other's tanks

 

Day 95
More details

day 95 forest aquascape by nigel aquascaping

 

Your tank looks INCREDIBLE!!!

 

Your tank looks INCREDIBLE!!!

Thank you very much!

 

Day 95
More details
View attachment 372792day 95 forest aquascape by nigel aquascaping

It’s really come along great the mosses on the bottom are looking great

 

It’s really come along great the mosses on the bottom are looking great

Yeah I like the moss to by yoghurt method. It's really funny at day 36 everyone was saying where are all the plants?? It needed some time to grow in.

 

Yeah I like the moss to by yoghurt method. It's really funny at day 36 everyone was saying where are all the plants?? It needed some time to grow in.

I actually really liked before all the moss grew in also it had that real desolate feel which I thought was interesting

 

I actually really liked before all the moss grew in also it had that real desolate feel which I thought was interesting

I'm the opposite! Haha! Totally love the moss all over, but then moss is one of my favorite types of greenery in aquariums. There's an incredible diversity in visual structure from one to the next, and the list of application and where they might work is near endless.

Nigel95
Looks great, Nigel! What are your thoughts on the Chihiros RGB so far? And how are you liking the S.S. Inflow/outflow you have? I was just looking the other day for a different tank and I came across what looks similar to those - kind of an open-ended "p", right? - and was trying to figure out if the ends are adjustable so flow can be directed easier, if it was a feature that was utilized and useful. My S.S. Outflow is just a solid piece, and direction of flow is directed by simply turning the pipe in the acrylic mount they came with. I'm happy with it, but sometimes wish the outflow could be directed lower or higher in the water column depending on how much surface agitation I want.

My real beef with the ones I own are how large the S.S. Inflow/outflow are in terms of how tall they are and how much room they require in the tank. On my 18" tall tank the end of the pipe is just about 1" from the bottom of the tank, so they are extremely tall. On said tank it works, but on the shorter tank I was looking at the inflow/outflows for they may be a tad too tall to have the hose connect neatly through the opening in my stand.

 

FINALLY A GIANT NEOCARIDIAN SHRIMP COLONY!!!!!!!!!

 

but then moss is one of my favorite types of greenery in aquariums.

I love moss to since this tank

Looks great, Nigel

Thanks!

What are your thoughts on the Chihiros RGB so far?

Great lamp. For this price it's probably the best bang for the buck. I was worried that it would be a little bit to blue or to low light for my 80x40x40 but I really like the view and the plants grow great! On my ada 45p I have a daytime led unit which is considered good quality in my country and so far I don't like it more than the chihiros rgb. Little note: the moss is still not grown in in the ada 45p which makes the view less attractive. So little bit hard to compare.

And how are you liking the S.S. Inflow/outflow you have?

I like it, it can't break and the tank is large enough that it doesn't bother my view. Maybe in my ada 45p it would bother me because the tank is smaller. This shape doesn't really break the surface like my glass pipe in the ada 45p so make sure to run a skimmer. So far I have not changed the outflow direction just straight forward. I am using this SS pipes because I got them very cheap when I bought the tank second hand. So far so happy

On my 18" tall tank the end of the pipe is just about 1" from the bottom of the tank,

This one are not so tall it is pretty high above the substrate. Not sure how much exactly but more than 1" for sure.

FINALLY A GIANT NEOCARIDIAN SHRIMP !!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately they are not breeding

Currently struggling with high co2 = shrimp deaths, lower co2 = green thread algae.

 

I'm the opposite! Haha! Totally love the moss all over, but then moss is one of my favorite types of greenery in aquariums. There's an incredible diversity in visual structure from one to the next, and the list of application and where they might work is near endless.
.

I love the moss as well I should have phrased it differently I think it looks amazing with or without the moss. I liked the post apocalyptic look that it had with out the moss I found it interesting but the moss adds that colour and hint of life it looks amazing

 

What amazing work. Please keep the pictures coming.

 

The fissidens looks amazing (one of my favs!)... love the touch of flame back center towards right a touch...

So... lighting... you have only tried the RGB, not the a series? I have the 5color a series and didn't like it, much prefer the all white, but curious how the different models compare...
you could start a new tank white the a series and let us know,..

 

you could start a new tank white the a series and let us know,..

I will not buy the a series because I have seen pictures of it washing out colors. So far no more space for more tanks in my chamber haha.

The fissidens looks amazing (one of my favs!).

I love fissidens to. Great looks and very strong moss.

Made a wooden box of 80x40x40 cm to practice with hardscaping. Very fun to do. Here a new try of a forest scape. Feel free to give critique.
hardscape 1 by nigel aquascaping forest

 

I will not buy the a series because I have seen pictures of it washing out colors. So far no more space for more tanks in my chamber hah

There's definitely a level of drab the A-Series has with it's light being 8,000k-9,000k (can't positively remember where between those it falls). When I bought my Chihiros A-Series I read all the posts about the washed out colors, so when I first turned it on I immediately saw it as garbage in comparison with a RGB+W LED, which I had on a tank sitting right next to the one with the Chihiros. A few weeks later I barely noticed the difference as the plants adapted to the newer light.

Now I still have RGB+W lights run right next to the Chihiros. Green plants look very similar, and in some tanks with dark green plants and mosses [only] I actually prefer the colder lighting the A-series provides. The only time I ever see a noticeable difference in comparison is when red, yellow, or orange plants are shown in the lighting - the most noticeable being red and orange.

Don't get me wrong! There's a difference, but I've either grown used to it or it's not very noticeable in person since no one has ever mentioned it in person.

I think a lot of those washed out pictures were when someone just received the lighting, ran and plopped it on to, flipped it on expecting the lovely warm shades and color tones of a metal Halides fixture competitors use (and pay handsomely for) and were immediately turned off to the light before giving the plants time to adapt to the new light source, which definitely helps.

I think most people find them such a steal that the slight visual difference becomes a mute point when you can get 2x led fixtures on small tanks for 60-$80 when you'd spend closer to a hundred for RGB+W LEDs - single fixture.

 

Honestly nigel? I personally think this one looks better then the other. The other is very interesting and good looking, but this one... it just has so many points of interest. Really good sense of depth too. The roots look very realistic. If you have the opportunity to set up another tank.... I love this one.

 

Honestly nigel? I personally think this one looks better then the other. The other is very interesting and good looking, but this one... it just has so many points of interest. Really good sense of depth too. The roots look very realistic. If you have the opportunity to set up another tank.... I love this one.

Yup I am with you it is much better. I have learned from my current forest scapes how to do it better and that is applied in the new hardscape. The problem is I don't have any more space in my chamber and I can't do a rescape every time I learn something. I want to enter IAPLC 2018 with my current scape. I don't expect any high results top 500 would be great but we will see. For now I just make some hardscapes in my wooden box and when it is time to rescape (in like 10 months) I pick the one I like the most and build it

 

Day 115
Testing out my new DSLR and lenses. Still learning , here a new video with also some macro shots.

 

Such a gorgeous video!

 

Such a gorgeous video!

Thanks

 

Red cherry shrimp on bucephalandra leaf (kedagang mini).


rcs with buce 2.0

 

Red cherry shrimp on bucephalandra leaf (kedagang mini).

View attachment 386088rcs with buce 2.0

Wow, the detail in the picture is awesome!

 

Red cherry shrimp on bucephalandra leaf (kedagang mini).

View attachment 386088rcs with buce 2.0

Beautiful!! I LOVE the detail in that pic!! Doesn't hurt that I also love buces LOL

 

I am still learning with my new macro lens. Hope to give you guys even more details in future!

 

Quick scape today. Forest again 80x40x40 cm. Feel free to give critique




hardscape 2 forest aquascape 2.0 by nigel aquascaping

 

My scapes

ada 45p and 80 cm forests

 

My scapes
View attachment 388984ada 45p and 80 cm forests

Looking great

 

Looking great

Thanks Mak

 

looks awesome!

 

Looks awesome!

 

Bucephalandra kedagang minI in my tank

buces kedagang mini

 

Vacation, so plenty of time to practice. what do you think?


hardscape 7 forest aquascape by nigel aquascaping

 

Tried my macro lens again not the best shots but good enough for sharing I think!

They are not the most beautiful shrimp but very effective in cleaning the tank!


amano shrimp by nigel aquascaping

red cherry shrimp by nigel aquascaping

 

Love my Amanos and cherries. Great pics!

 

I am still learning with my new macro lens. Hope to give you guys even more details in future!

Thought about getting one for my phone.

The price are great!

The price are great!

Pics.....lol!!!

 

Thought about getting one for my phone.

It will help but is not the same as a real macro lens.

 

Almost ready for the final shot!

detail shot forest scape by nigel aquascaping