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.

This is Octopus’s nano scape from January 2011 – 33 cm x 23 cm x 23 cm

Tank size 75 gallon Aqueon
300 watt heater
Lights= 4×54 watt T5HO 10 hrs on
Filtration= Cascade 1000 setup as spray bar across the back I believe 295 GPH
2 powerheads for water movement 1 Koralia and another is a brand i cant read
Inert sandblasting sand w/root tabs
Pressurized Co2 @ 2.8 BPS per sec through a glass diffuser under a powerhead intake
50% waterchange weekly on sunday with 80% RO and 20% tap for micro minerals
Ph=6.5-6.8
Temp=78-80F
No3= 25-35 ppm
Co2 is about 30 ppm as I understand. The drop checker is light green so I would presume its close to good

Feed= spirulina and tubiflex worms
Flora=
Cryptocoryne undulata
Taxiphyllum barbieri
Lemna minor
Nesaea sp. ‘Red Leaved’
Hygrophila corymbosa ‘angustifolia’
Hygrophilia Kompacta
and a few others I cant find the names to

Fauna=
2 Tiretrack eels
3 Clown Loaches
3 neon tetra
7 cardinal tetra saved from a friends failing tank
10 rummynose tetra
2 bushey nose plecos
5 albino cats
1 Freshwater Flounder about the size of a dollar bill
and a few misc fish small like hastatas cats and otos
Fert schedule= was PPS pro – CSM but it’s currently in the process of shifting over to EI dosing schedule starting 5/2/11
micro nutes= flourish comp

Tank has been running for about 1.5 yrs maybe a little longer

Tank Volume (liters): 125Lit
Tank size: 80x40x39cm

Plants:
MAIN SETUP: Microsorum sp., Ceratopteris thalictroides, Anubias nana + petite, Limnophila sesiliflora, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Glossostigma elatinoides, Echinodorus tenellus, Najas guadalupensis, Cardamine Lyrata, Shinnersia rivularis,
SETUP DETAILS: Bolbitis heudelotii, Hemianthus callitrichoides, Eleocharis parvula, Riccia fluitans, Marsilea hirsuta, Monosolenium tenerum, Taxiphylum sp. (Java, Flame, Spiky Mosses),
Cryptocoryne wendtii “brown” , Cryptocoryne parva, Cladophora sp., Vallisneria nana, Ceratophyllum demersum, Sagittaria subulata Dwarf

Fish & Invertebrates:
Neocaridina denticulata, Prionobrama filigera, Aphyocharax rathbuni, Gasteropelecus sp., Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi, Iriatherina werneri, Corydoras Panda & Paleatus, Ancistrus dolichopterus

Fertilization: PPS-pro DIY fert.
Easy-life Profito 12ml/week
Easy-life EasyCarbo 3ml/day
No CO2 adding
Substrate: Peat 1cm + TetraPlant CompleteSubstrate 0,5cm + Local gravel 2-7cm

Lightning: (2+2)x24w T5
(Sylvania Grolux + Philips Master HO 840), 14 hours
(2x SunSun 14000K), 7 hours (middle of foto period)

Water change: 30% weekly