Forest Dream by Olivier Ly

Jul 19th, 2011 by Blueaquarium

Forest Dream by Olivier Ly get Aquascape of the Month on June 2011. This thank inspired by forest then he try to control the shape and growth of the plants to balance with the hardscape. The mix of all the little plants growing together also made the tank appear more natural. Hardscape Arrangement, For this layout, he focused the design of the layout around the wood hardscape to create an illusion of trees. Placed the wood pieces on large mounds of substrate to make the wood stand taller than the rest of the aquatic landscape. Separate pieces of wood were placed at the base of the stumps to form the root of the trees.

The most important element of this hardscape is the mix of Eleocharis and Lilaeopsis with some other plants like Rannunculus or Marsilea. This combination created a more balanced feel by bring the hardscape, substrate and the other plants together in unity. He also planted in small touches of Hygrophila pinnatifida to mimic younger trees growing near the main trees.

The tank : 160*60*60, 576 liters. Pouzzolane, Aquasoil Amazonia 1, Clear super, Tourmaline bc, Bacter 100.
3*150W hqi, 8000K.
Industrial CO2 (2kg bottle).
Many pieces of wood for hardscape.

Plants : Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, eleocharis parvula, echinodorus tennelus, staurogyne, rannunculus inundatus, microsorum pteropus narrow, bolbitis, weeping moss, difformis, mayaca, ceratopteris thalictroides, hygrophila pinnatifida.

Fauna : hyphessobricons eos and bentosi, cardinalis, maroniis, farlowellas, caridina japonica.