Just like this one

Well I have started thinking out, and diving in to get things ready for my new 75 ltr Oase Scaperline 60 tank. I was truly inspired on a recent visit to my absolute favourite aquascape shop, Horizon Aquatics in Newton Aycliffe.
I don't have room for a tank any larger than the 60,35,35 of the one I chose. In fact I really don't have room for that one either but I'm "making changes" to bits and pieces in the tank room to accomodate it. I have a small tank and a printer on a piece of furniture I recently bought from the Sue Ryder charity shop in Peterlee. I am having to "extend" the width so I can take off the small tank and put the new one on it.



The inspiration for the new tank came from a fully aquascaped one at Horizon. The full professional build I'll be trying to copy is on one of their Youtube videos carried out by Luis Navarro who came across from Texas, I believe.
So, I bought the tank, I am in the process of extending the width of the furniture and yesterday I went back to Horizon as they had just received a delivery of wood. Amazing choice.
They have a DIY table with sand and measurements placed along it so that you can more or less pick up likely bits of wood, rock etc, and see how they look in a setup.



I have taken a really nice selection of Mojo Barico Wood, a bag of Tropica Soil Powder and a 5ltr tub of AF Lava Soil.

I'm finishing the table today and will take the small tank to another room where it'll sit until I finish the task ahead. When that's done I'll be taking another tank of the same width from my other ones, to put on the Sue Ryder table (actually it's a shoe storage unit) so that I can then use the space to put my new tank in as it's at a better height and not directly under the window.

So there's the start, folk.
I'm in no rush though. I want to do this to give the best result possible and as near to the tank I love by Luis Navarro.

As soon as I get the basic architecture right and in place, I'll be off again for plants. Loads of them.

Phew......
I'm into this now. I have the tank in the position I want it so I don't have to EVER move it and inch.
I have placed the wood, less 1 bit that I thought was going to be too much, in the correct location in the tank.
First of all though, a synopsis of how that went.
I had dropped a tub full of lava soil into the tank, piled higher at the back then sloping down to the front.
Then I shuffled the wood around to find where it should go. I had it set up nicely when I tried it out for size in the shop but couldn't figure it out at home so I went with a different layout.
After that I had to find a means of having it stay on the bottom rather than float when the water's added later. So I broke up a clumpy piece of rock from another tank that had about as flat a bottom as I could find. I then superglued them together with the gel rather than the drippy liquid. I had to place a couple of cigarette filters soaked in glue in the occasional place where there was too much gap between rock and wood. Then to prevent it all falling apart while the glue dried I held them together tightly with elastic bands. That worked nicely.

Then onto placement when they had dried. I didn't know I had as much patience as I needed. It's difficult placing anything on lava soil as it moves so easily. Gravel or sand is much easier as anything you want to place on it just has to be shuffled down into it. But not on lava soil. The merest touch sent the last piece of wood that was placed falling over into another then having to restart all over again. It ain't easy.

I managed it after some considerable time though. I have a short youtube clip showing it.
All the time I was placing the wood, I was thinking ahead. I knew that placement of the wood would more than likely be destroyed when I came to putting the Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder in and moving it around as well as actually planting into it. I decided to give some stability of each individual piece of wood by temporarily gluing them together with thin sticks. You could perhaps even use the wooden sticks you stir your coffee with in any of the coffee shops. I wouldn't care but I hated Meccano and Lego.



So, for now it's a sit and wait period until the glue sets. Maybe even make a Sunday lunch in the meantime.

The soil is now added. It was really easy and steady with the wood glued together.
Plants to be added next week sometime.

Planted. Hopefully all the plants are in the right place: front, middle or back.
Next thing is adding the water and there lies my biggest worry, that I haven't put enough weight on the bottom of the wood.
I'll leave the "scaffolding" in place until I'm certain that it's all going to remain in place, and then allow a bit of time for the plants to start growing.
From here on in, it's all patience and daily water changes.

Water's in and no floating wood. Neither are there many bits of free plants floating around. I see this as a minor success so far.
I reckon this'll be going on to Tank of the Month when it's completed the cycle and has fish in it.

And here it is on Twitch - running with a heater and filter.
I have a new external canister filter on the way which I'm going to use. Then the inlet/outlet pipes will be glass. My old AquaOne Oscellaris 850 would have been fine but I just couldn't get the sealing ring for the filter head, or the primer. Bloody criminal as far as I'm concerned.
The filter in the tank now is just a small one taken from another tank to give water flow more than anything but it will have beneficial bacteria in it that may help things a bit.
I am also going to add CO2 from my homemade two bottle generator. It doesn't look nice but I'll hide the bottles in the cabinet below.