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Hello everyone!


I’m starting this journal to document my ADA 90P aquascape and get feedback from the community as it evolves.

This will be a moderately planted, CO2-injected setup with a focus on a natural, balanced look.

I’ve kept planted tanks before, but this build is meant to be my most refined project yet — a clean, rimless layout inspired by ADA-style aquascapes.

I am using the following apps to help me:
— ChatGPT to help with prep work and to draft this journal.
— Amazing Marvin to organize my thoughts during this process.
— Copilot, an iOS-only app, to track my spending. I figure the calculations may help someone else planning to get into the hobby. (Spent $2,500 on the previous tanks.)

I am in the early stages of planning and do not have all my equipment yet.

I will either add updates to this post or pin another one lower down as I go forward with the scape.

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About Myself​

I work in the healthcare field and have a weird schedule with long stretches of time off, so I can devote time to this hobby.

I have two elementary-age kids who have not yet begun showing interest in my hobby, lol.

I have a bad back, so I’m constantly looking for hacks that prevent me from hurting it more.

I had a fish tank growing up stocked with a few guppies and swordtails, which was eventually converted to a turtle tank due to poor maintenance.

My interest in aquascaping started in late 2023 after viewing a bunch of Instagram reels. The hobby helped a lot with my mental health.

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My First Tank​

My first tank was a Waterbox AIO 20, which I bought off Facebook Marketplace.



I learned the basics of lighting, CO2 injection, fertilization techniques, etc. from this tank.

Lessons learned from the experience:

• A 20-gallon was too low of a volume.
• An AIO tank does not really fit the aesthetic of an aquascape like a clear one does.
• Some Amazon swords are too big for nano tanks.
• The tank had a snail problem and inspired me to create a pea puffer species tank.

I decided to go the Walstad route for this next tank. I went down the Father Fish rabbit hole and ended up ordering his substrate mix. I used ADA La Plata sand as a sand cap, and I guess, due to its finer texture, it induced anaerobic conditions.


It is no longer self-sustaining, so I am dosing with ferts intermittently. I’m also using it as a grow-out tank for future plant retrievals.

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Inspiration​

I’m aiming for a balanced nature-style aquascape with a triangle layout — strong hardscape slopes on one side with either an HC Cuba carpet or La Plata sand on the other.


This aquarium by Dave Pierce, owner of Aquarium Gardens in the UK, is my inspiration:



This cinematic is awesome

A detailed descriptive video by George Farmer.

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Residence Layout​

Space is somewhat limited in my house, so the aquarium will be placed in a specific spot beside the fireplace.
Most of the faucets in the house aren’t compatible with standard attachments like those used with the Python water change system.
There is a garden hose outlet a few feet outside which may be compatible and I should look into.
On the bright side, the patio is right next to the tank location, which will make draining water during maintenance much easier.
There is one power outlet at the site, although it’s not GFCI-protected.

I eventually plan to set up a larger tank, possibly a 120P or Waterbox 4820 in the basement. My main concern at this time is protect it from my young kids’ boundless energy. I might install a protective screen or barrier around it to guard against stray soccer ball kicks!

Equipment​

I would be grateful for any feedback or suggestions regarding the equipment list below.
I wonder if I should make a separate thread requesting advice about this stuff. I will see the level of engagement on this thread and then decide.

I have some stuff from the previous iterations but planning on buying a lot of new equipment. Have been sourcing used equipment from Facebook Marketplace. Luckily, I am a couple of hours away from Chicago, so that increases my options.

Tank:
Will be ordering an ADA 90P when it becomes available. I am also waiting for the Waterbox Blue Friday sale to see if the 3620 is discounted. There is a 2 inch overhang with the 3620 on the stand that I have ordered. I was thinking of addressing this with a piece of marine plywood placed over the stand but now second guessing.

Stand:
I have the Archaea Modern Cabinet in Driftwood on the way.
I was looking at ideas regarding undertank organization and could greatly use some advice.

I saw this image on Instagram and was instantly hooked:



This is an old image and the account is not very active.
I wonder if anyone has any idea about what waterproof felt pads are used under the filters and on the door.

This is what I am thinking:

I have a Jebao auto doser with dosing containers that will go on one side inside the cabinet.
Will mount an ATO device to the same side
I plan to attach two power strips to the back, one for the stuff that I can turn off during water change and the other for the rest.
Motion activated rechargeable light pucks go overhead.
One door will have a magnet to hold aquascaping tools on one side.
The other door will hold racks for fish food and chemicals/fertilizers.
Filter, CO2 and RO reservoir on the floor.


Lighting:
I got a good deal off Facebook Marketplace for a WeekAqua L 900 so will be going that route.

Initially, was planning to use an old Chihiros WRGB Pro 45 that i have but fell short lengthwise. Was planning to rim mount but did not like the aesthetic of the black Chihiros one.
I really love the ADA Solar RGB mount but 350$ is too much. I looked into DIY stands and currently researching 8020 T slot builds but it looks like too much work.
For now will use the rim mount that came with the Week Aqua.
If you have any ideas, let me know.

Hardscape:
I had a terrible time with driftwood on my first aquascape. I introduced it later after planting was done. I tried gluing it down on to a piece of slate that I got from Floor & Decor but it would neither stick nor stay down.
This time, I will be gluing Driftwood to black egg crate and place it in the tank before I layer the substrate. I won't glue down the rocks so that I can move them around.

I bought a large piece of Driftwood from Belinda's Driftwood which I will start soaking soon. It is Osage Orange apparently.
Will start foraging for smaller pieces soon. Planning to go to SR Aquaristik and other stores in Chicago.

Also looking for Frodo Stones and Black Lava Rock or Black Basalt.
If you know any deals, let me know!

Filter:
Oase Biomaster Thermo 600. Looking into filter media setup.
Debating between steel vs glass lily pipes. Outflow will have a skimmer.

CO₂:
I have a 5lb CO2 tank with GLA Pro Double Stage regulator, glad I went with this for the previous build.
Planning to get the ARC CO2 Reactor. This needs more research.

Heater:
Integrated in the Biomaster Thermo. I have another smaller Oase heater for redundancy.

Substrate:
ADA Amazonia II with Power Sand Advanced (layered). I will also get the powdered version if I plan to go the HC cuba route.
Base will be washed lava rock in mesh bags at the left hand corner to add height. This will be layered on top of black egg crate.

Fertilization:
Bought a gallon of GLA Nectar AIO after reading up quite a bit on this. I do not have the time to mix my own dry salts.
Will be doing EI dosing.
Using Jebao 2.4 WiFi 4 channel doser for auto dosing. Got it off FB marketplace for cheap.

Maintenance:
Water changes
I think part of the problem for my loss of interest in the previous tank was water changes. I hated carrying the heavy 5 gallon buckets and the mess that I made with them.
Recently, I saw people using eheim canister filter water intakes with strainer to do water changes. Seems like the perfect solution, hose won't fall off the tank and the strainer will filter out shrimp. Refilling should not cause hardscape disruption either with the strainer diffusing water flow. I will use a Python hook to hang the outflow to the bathroom sink or toilet.

ATO:
XP Aqua with an Ikea tote as reservoir.

RO water:
I had an Aquatic Life RO system jerry-rigged to a plank of wood to make it portable:



I will be look into installing a permanent one in the basement.

Tools:
Aquascaping tools from Hygger bought off Amazon.
Python water change system.
I have a power head for water changes.
Will probably get an additional Sicce Syncra 2.0 if I can find a good deal.

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Flora & Fauna​

Plants:
This is the plant list that I came up with:

Foreground: HC cuba

Midground: Staurogyne repens, Cryptocoryne parva and Alternanthera reineckii
Background: Crinum calimistratum, Cryptocoryene spirali, Rotala rotundifolia, Cabomba caroliniana and Hygrophila pinnatifida
Epiphytes: Anubias nana petite, Bucephalandra kedagang, Microsporum pteropus trident
Planned Livestock:

• Small schooling fish (e.g., chili rasboras, and Pearl danios
• Amano shrimp × 10–15
• Nerite snails × 3–4
• Cherry shrimp
• Maybe some Blue dwarf Gouramis.

(Will finalize stocking once tank stabilizes)
Holy wall of text! Thank you for reading till the end! Will keep updating as I go along.

Edited for better formatting. Added ATO

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I was going to use DOH! instead of STOP! in the title, because I can't believe this didn't occur to me earlier.

Three of my 5 active aquariums have black backgrounds. I like the way the black makes colors pop. For my first scape, I went back and forth on leaving it clear, going with frosted, or black. I read lots of pros and cons for the various options and decided to go with clear initially. That only lasted about a week when I decided to switch to black (painted). At the time I hadn't really put much thought into measuring PAR in my tank. Photone was not yet a thing for Android, and even if it were, it would have been very difficult to take readings in that tank. Then my farm tank came along, also with a painted black background. My PAR readings in that tank showed considerable variation with a 90cm Week Aqua M series light. I blamed the light. I then changed to an L series. Same issues, so I blamed Week Aqua again as a design issue or poor manufacturing consistency.

And here we are today and I've measured PAR in my new garden tank which has a Week Aqua 120cm L series. Nice consistent PAR across the front glass, 110 to 115 PAR at the substrate. Measuring the length of the tank down the center where I would expect a little higher, the numbers fall off a bit. But measuring along the back wall (also painted black) the numbers drop way off to 79 to 83. I tried removing the light shades, no difference. That's when it hit me (or should I say the light bulb came on). Could the black background be effecting light levels? Well, duh! The black back glass is absorbing light rather than reflecting it like the clear front. A quick google search confirmed. In fact, BRS has and old video discussing it and providing actual data of the effect. Why didn't I ever see this brought up in all the discussions about choosing tank backgrounds? Interestingly, even white/frosted backgrounds result in slightly lower numbers than clear per BRS testing. Something to think about for the next builds. My apologies to Week Aqua for blaming them when it was actually a physics problem.

Hello Everyone. After a short 2 month wait, I finally received my 6', 235g Planet Aquariums tank. I've decided to document the build here as a way to document it's growth as well as, and maybe more importantly, seek advice as I've already stumbled onto a few 'problems'. So, without further ado, here is what I have so far:

Tank - 235g Planet Aquariums Mega Matrix (72" x 30" x 25")
Sump - 60g Breeder
Lighting - Skylight Hyperspot M (x2)
Mechanical Filtration - RedSea ReefMat 1200
Additional Filtration - Poret Foam (yet to purchase)
Return Pump(s) - Jebao DCP-10000
CO2 Reactor - Yugang from ARC
Dosing - Chihiros 4-Head with Magnetic Stirrer
Heater - 500W Titanium
Controller - Neptune Apex with pH and temp probes
Auto Feeder - Avast Plank
ATO - XP Aqua Duetto using a 35g Brute container filled with RODI water as source water.
Hardscape: UNS Controlsoil - Brown
Pacific Driftwood
Black Sieryu Stone

As a general thought at this point, the Apex will have some basic functions - control the temperature (77-78F), monitor the solenoid on the CO2 regulator should pH venture outside of acceptable ranges, and control the auto feeder. A 'feed mode' will be activated which will turn off the return pump prior to the auto feeder running so that the food is allowed to be eaten rather than washed into the overflow and into the sump filter. Aside from that, not much more is necessary other than simple on/off control for the return pump as the lights are on their own controller.

Controller and board:



ReefMat in sump:



Full shot of rear:


Current Scape - Half Complete:


That's about all I've gotten done so far. Still working on fiddling with the hardscape on the right and then start on the left side. I'm open to any suggestions thus far and thanks for following along!

What do you all recommend feeding Corydoras that doesn’t result in accumulating in the substrate ? I just have 4 of them, and when I place even 1/2 of a sinking wafer they rarely finish it. I also have small pellets but these typically float and I have to push it with a pipette to sink, otherwise my CPDs get them. This is kind of messy since these either disintegrate soon or I think accumalates in the substrate. Any other options?

I'm looking for a new light for either 90cm or 120cm (36 or 48); has any one directly compared the netlea at5s gen 3 vs week aqua l version 3 vs week aqua m M ?
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I am well aware the week aqua m is lower power then the L but not sure if it has another look - none of these lights would be run above 50% so the weaker output is not an issue but am concern about the width coverage as my test auqarium will either be 18 inch wide (standard 40b) or 16 inch wide (custom 48x16).
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I want to test if the spectrum has an impact on plant growth in my blackwater (very low mineral) environment and impact on colours on fishes like these:
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The 40b currently has a chiros b light rather weak and the 65 has a plant 3.0. The chrios b obviously does a poor job of lighting the front.

Tank: Waterbox 20 AIO
Return pump: AI Axis 40
Lighting: (2) AI Blade Fresh 12”
Dosing pump: Ecotech Marine
CO2 injected

The purpose of this tank is to maintain a healthy planted tank for at least 1 year. There is a stipulation that I must be able to do this using my tap water for water changes.

• Nobody likes tossing healthy plant mass

• We grow super interesting plants here

• Everybody has extra tank / filter / heaters around they've been meaning to get around to building into a farm tank...

It's easy!

TRIMMERS

Next time you have a big trim planned, or have just done: post a pic here of the plants!

Include the

• species name
• date cut / uprooted
• expiration / you-will-toss after date
• your zip code

TAKERS

Check cost of FedEx /UPS to your own address, and send the trimmer a PM with the offer to pay shipping

This is the future home for the announcements when someone obtains an achievement badge. Let the games begin!

Same camera settings, with a tiny bit of ambient light.



Under week aqua a430


Couple of close-ups:
Fluval 4.0


Twinstar S V


Although Fluval 4.0 is spectrum tunable, it does not have enough red diodes to balance out its spectrum curves and tends to be red deficient.

Twinstar has spectrum curves similar to Netlea/Chihiros/Week aqua, much easier to tune to a range of attractive visual colors.
In short, while Twinstar has improved in the last couple of generations to match the chinese LEDs, while Fluval has not.

Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @Stendkerfan!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?