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Well...let's spend more money! I had thought about attending Aquashella - Chicago a few months ago but decided to pass this year. When I was thinking about it, they still didn't have the specific VIP guest list posted. Out of curiosity, I checked today and to my surprise, the man himself, Yusuke Homma, will be presenting the masterclass on Saturday. I can't pass that up when it's only an 8 hour drive. Ticket purchased, room booked. Anyone else attending?

Time to start a new thread.

I’ll fill in some details later, but I’m working on the hardscape now. Any and all criticism is appreciated. The vision is nothing more, and nothing less, than something appealing to the eye.

90cm x 30cm x 30cm Lifegard Aquatics ultra clear bookshelf tank. Buce and anubias on the hardscape, stems towards the back and center, mid to front carpet with some changes in shade and texture down to a flat grade on the right side of the tank.

Lily pipe inlet and skimmer will be in the back left corner with the outflow in the front left to hopefully achieve circular flow. I’ll be running an in-line diffuser. Light will be the P600 Pro that I regrettably did not upside to 900. Oh well. I’ll mount it high and hopefully it’ll have enough spread.

I have some dragon stone and red lava rock rubble I’ll use at the base to blend into the substrate, as well as some stratum I may or may not cap with.

So I've somehow used up my gallon of metricide for excel, now I think you need a business license to purchase it on amazon.

I want to go back and try hydrogen peroxide again since its so easy and cheap to buy.

What ratios are you guys using to get rid of algae on plants such as BBA that are still somewhat safe for more delicate mosses?
Or should the mosses just be avoided for this?

1/2 peroxide + 1/2 water into a spray bottle for treating outside the tank?

This is A River... Somewhere, the amazing IAPLC 2025 Grand Prize winning work of Josh Sim. I think this is a wonderful aquascape to use to start the Learning From Series. I hope you would agree.

The Learning From Series

I have no talent when it comes to aquascaping. If I'm honest, this is also true for almost all forms of art.... So, I am in awe of people like Josh, our friend @Jeff Miotke and @Naturescapes_Rocco, along with many others that we are privileged to count among our community. I am also so thankful that they have the talent and choose to share it with the rest of us.

The reality is that all though I can't create these works of art, I can certainly appreciate them. My talents lie more in keen observation, critical thinking and curiosity. You know, stuff that will never make me a millionaire but that do come in handy when you're trying to learn something new.

As I'm in the back nine of life, I've decided that I want to take some time to appreciate and learn from aquascaping artists such as Josh. Thus, the idea for this series was born. I'm calling it the Learning From Series because that's exactly what it is. And, I'll be documenting my thought process and learnings here as a series of articles.

We are a community and sharing is part of the fun. So, I do hope you jump in and participate even if it's to tell me that I've completely missed something important. Maybe we learn together.

Finally, given that I have a day job (unfortunately, it's quite inconvenient when I'm trying to spend most of my time here), these articles will likely come in pieces. My MO is deconstructing the aquascape so that I can understand it. I'm a savor the wine type of guy rather than chug the beer.

Initial impressions of A River... Somewhere

This aquascape is multifaceted. It hits me with a lot of first impressions.

It's so real, almost biotopy. Yet, it is perfect. A lot to digest. For now though, dinner is calling. More tomorrow.

This thread is for the general discussion of the Article Yugang CO2 Reactor - A Guide. Please add to the discussion here.

Ludwigia repens, hairgrass "eleocharis palustris" and ludwigia glandulosa all found locally growing emersed beside water and all growing submerged in water. Nice freebys if they survive the transition theres 20,000 stems in this tiny little pond. all clean no bugs put in tank with no fish to be safe will peroxide dip it before moving into other tank. 1 bunch l repens last pic I picked 8 days ago grown 2" and top turning more red with no melt at all. Well see how it goes. All found beside my local Lincoln dealer parking lot lol.
I've got local emersed plants before I know where theres a storm of lemon bacopa and anacharis is. Seems it always melted badly to mush. These plants are growing emersed for a week then submersed for days when water levels go up. Maybe they are more hardy being grown above and below water over and over? They may all melt to turds in weeks lol.

Bladderwort is notoriously difficult to eradicate because even a tiny fragment can regenerate. It has the same requirements as plants, which makes it harder to selectively attack than algae.

A planted tank can be taken down, cleaned and restarted, but success seems not guaranteed due to the near impossibility of completely removing even the smallest bladderwort fragments.

Is this the final word, or are there any remedies with a reasonable success rate? Anyone could share experience?

I feel i need to do a journal so I have a internet calendar on what's happened or Ill forget lol! This is now 4 months back into the planted tank world and I'm happy to be back yet lost on true aquascapingI I have a current 29g as a farm tank for future builds going. zrdr 4l co2 bought locally full setup for 40.00, 29g free. A 20long I just bought with metal stand, hygger decent new led light.new heater. few foam bubble filters, ar a nice dual air pump. some new stratum about 16lbs , tons of good food, etc etc and 6 live plants crypts, swords, anubis about 30 stems of rotundifolia 12" tall for 85,00 it was a decent deal with what is came with , I thought!
Original plans was a 29 and 20 long. Well 3 weeks forward to 3 days ago picked up a free 36 bow front with stand, foods.heater, some dragon stone, bubbler all working freeby deal of the year for sure! The tanks pretty clean, some light hard water stains lll razor blade off very clean. Did come with about 35lbs stratum and blk rocks mix.

I threw substrate in tank after light rinse. LOL it went to pitch blk even after 2 big filters with filter floss still blk water after 36 hours later its muck now the stratum is crap imo other than deeper substrate to cover up with build. I have no clue on any age of the stratum 2 months or 5 years no info was free on side of road literally. I decided today to dump the stratum its a dam mess! may strain the stratum with my several size buckets to strain out small materials away from the blk gravel and use it with eco!? Just got 2 20lb bags of eco complete for 55 shipped my 2005 go to, easy no breakdown and same cost as bulk gravel from pet stores in the end.
I Would do the blk blasting sand its cheaper but don't want all sand and in end as I still do some gravel clean monthly oops.. The eco complete last imo forever I have 20 year old eco now in tank. Yeah its inert but still whole rocks. I"Ill be posting many pics of the my dry scapes holy hell! And more as it goes. Its been 19 years since I've done a planted tank def not a newbie just don't remember as much as I did and things have changed any help appreciated for sure! Joe burr has been help sure thanks dutchscape god!

Posted few pics of old tanks 19 years ago when I didn't know what an aquascape was lol no co2 just dry ferts, metride 14 and power compacts it worked! algae was very null. Im calling my new tanks the cheap skape 20 and now 36g the freebie. I usually try to go cheapo as I can get Im not rich rather spend 30.00 on steaks at home than 30.00 on stems lol. I'm mr diy I only buy what I cant build usually.

See this post regarding AR Mini trimming/planting, and this post regarding Cyperus helferi trimming and planting!

I have hardly seen this subject talked about enough, but I think that it's one of the biggest reasons contributing to beginner's algae-filled downfalls! If you're buying plants from big stores like Aquarium Plants Factory (really good btw), Buceplant, etc. 90% of the plants you are receiving are terrestrially-grown.

Here's an important fact about terrestrially-grown aquarium plants

100% of all terrestrial leaves, when submerged under water, for any plant, will eventually get algae and die.
Some can take a while (anubias, java fern, cyperus helferi), while others will either melt (Crypts) or quickly get algae (AR Mini, Staurogyne repens, stem plants, etc)

But what about buying submerged-growth plants? From hobbyists, or BurrAqua, for example?

There is still a chance that your tank's conditions are different enough that many, if not most leaves you plant, will melt/die/attract algae.

How do we fix this? By leaving only enough leaves for the plant to continue to absorb light and put out new growth. Usually the top 4-6 leaves for stem plants.



It's a lot of work up front, but you will MAJORLY reduce the amount of waste, DOC 's, and algae-inducing scenarios if you trim your plants before planting.

I've done this in ALL of my tanks in the last 4 years with great success.

The easiest way to do this is with stainless squeeze scissors over your sink:

Here's the ones I recommend.

Yes, it takes a ton of patience. But if it could make a big difference in preventing the 2-3 month algae bloom in your tank, would you do it?

Here are some specific plant examples:​

For most true stem plants, I like to leave 3-4" of stem, trimming roots if necessary, and leaving only 4-6 of the freshest leaves. More than that, they will eventually be algae magnets. Less than that (like 2 leaves only) they might not survive the shock.


Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea', only a few top leaves left, 3" of stem.


Hygrophila corymbosa. Note how I left the leaf nodes on the stem? That's where roots will grow from. Almost all stem plants need nodes to grow roots, even if you've removed the leaves from them.



Terrestrially-grown AR 'Mini' from APF. See how I did the same in this thread for my previous tanks.



This Anubias barteri var. coffeefolia was grown terrestrially (often called 'emersed' or emergent) in a greenhouse. I removed all but the newest 3 leaves, and trimmed the roots too. Terrestrial roots are quite different from submerged with certain plants.



Almost ALL Cryptocoryne species are grown terrestrially. These plants grow as a Rosette, where the inner-most leaves on the "stem" are the freshest, and the outer-most are the oldest. I removed a TON of old terrestrial leaves, leaving just enough for the plant to be able to grow new submerged leaves in my tank as quickly as possible, while leaving as few algae-attracting terrestrial leaves as possible. I also trimmed the roots, which were 5" long upon receiving the plant.



Lobelia cardinalis 'mini'

Penthorum sedoides. Would also look very similar for Staurogyne repens, too.


Did you know that Blyxa japonica is actually a stem plant? It looks like a rosette, but it's actually a squat, wide stem plant. The lowest/outermost leaves are the oldest, and even though this is a true aquatic plant with no terrestrial form in nature, I know that it likes to throw a fit and melt a good portion of it's oldest leaves when transitioning to my tank's conditions. Here's what it looked like when I received it from @Burr740:


Nice and trimmed up. Less problematic at the 1-2 month mark in the tank's development, I know it!

What about delicate/feather plants?
They're super annoying to prep. I still only keep the top 3-4" max.


With Myriophyllum mattogrossense 'Golden', I only keep a few inches and still try to remove some of the lower leaves that would otherwise just rot by being buried in my inert sand.



What about Myriophyllum sp. "Roraima"? F*ck that. Nightmare to trim lower leaves, just trim it to 3" (not pictured) and discard the bottom when planting.

Curious what you guys think! I know I could receive plenty of "I've never done this, my tank has been fine" but I'd recommend trying it first before having a strong opinion of it

By the way, all plants pictured were actually used in my upcoming 120cm Showcase tank:

Trying a true journal format. Let me know if it's too much writing. My natural tendency is to bullet point everything.​

The Mishap That Started It All​

This whole project began at 6:30 a.m., courtesy of my Oase Biomaster Thermo 250 deciding to serenade me with impeller noise while I was trying to work from home. Biofilm on the impeller — nothing dramatic — but the sound was maddening, especially with an 8 a.m. call with our London office looming. So I did what any aquarist does under pressure: a lightning‑fast pre‑filter and impeller clean.

That’s when the universe decided to intervene.

While disconnecting the hoses — the same routine I’ve done countless times — the lock failed. Suddenly a vacuum of water blasted across the floor of my upstairs alcove “office.” I yanked the intake and outflow from my 60U, stopping the torrent, but not before a solid gallon had soaked into the floorboards.

My wife woke up to the sound of chaos and the sight of me standing in a puddle. Understandably, she was not thrilled. The alcove has cathedral ceilings, so every noise echoes, and the massive 8‑foot cabinet we built with her dad years ago makes cleaning underneath nearly impossible. It’s not a space designed for aquariums, humidity, or early‑morning filter geysers.

As we cleaned, she admitted she hated having tanks and equipment out in the open upstairs. Fair enough. When we built the house, the plan was always for my “stuff” to live in the downstairs office while she had the rest of the house. But during COVID she needed privacy for patient calls, so I gave her the office and moved my stuff upstairs. Now her role has changed — two days in the hospital, one day from home — and the need for that arrangement is gone.

So I floated the idea: What if I moved everything back downstairs, consolidated the two smaller tanks into one larger, beautifully executed setup — something like the living room tank she actually likes? Less noise, less humidity upstairs, and I get a proper scaping space again.

To my mild shock, she was completely on board. From a mishap came opportunity.

Choosing the Tank​

Once the idea settled, I had to pick the right aquarium. I landed on the AquaEl Ultrascaper 90 — the dimensions are perfect, and I’d been eyeing it ever since researching the Skylight Hyperspot and AquaEl’s filter lineup. The tank was designed with the scapers at AquaShow in Poland, and their sample layouts are right up there with ADA, ADG, and Green Aqua imo.

Finding one in the U.S. was the next challenge. I reached out to the AquaEl rep, asked about the Hypermax for my living room tank, and inquired about Ultrascaper 90 availability. He pointed me to Fish Tanks Direct — and with a discount code in hand, I placed the order for the snow variant. My only quandy was to go for the cheaper one and get a Netlea AT5S to hang or try their newer attractive but inferior light option (RGB vs WBG). I chose to try their light as it looked interesting and the PAR on paper is more than enough.

Link for reference:https://fishtanksdirect.com/aquael-ultrascape-90-with-ultra-slim-snow-tank-light-cabinet/

Atlanta Weekend & Tank Comparisons​

Right after ordering, we had a weekend trip to Atlanta for one of my wife’s appointments. On Friday we visited the botanical garden, grabbed food, and while she was at her appointment Saturday, I made the rounds to three local fish stores. The Aquarium was an option but a Saturday solo but spending roughly $100 to be around 10 million families sounded less enjoyable than exploring ATL suburbs and seeing the stores and their tanks.

Premiere Aquatics had a beautiful setup UNS 90U and one for sale as well but at nearly $2,000 out the door it wasn't a great deal. Plus the tank is taller than I wanted, it wasn’t the right fit. I did pick up two gorgeous rose swords and a great piece of ghost wood.

I went to one store in Alpharetta but it was out of literally everything, not sure if they are doing poorly or just sell out fast and under order. I did buy a crinum there. Plus I liked driving from Premier to their.

Then I got lucky at Optimum Aquarium — they had an AquaEl Ultrascaper 90 in stock that had arrived that week, priced at a very respectable $1,000 (without the light). If the cabinet had been white, I would’ve bought it on the spot. They also had a wide range of tanks, which let me compare my choice to the Fluval Opti White 90 (a very reasonable $700) and several Aquatlantis rimless tanks I didn’t even know were available in the U.S. Their shallow 80 is especially cool — tank, stand, and light for $830, I would get a different color but I like the concept. They also had a bunch of healthy Dwarf Sag for $3 dollars so I bought a 4 bunches to use as I couldn't find dwarf chain swords easily online and heleiatium tenellum is a little too small.

My takeaways:

• Fluval Opti White 90: Nice tank but a bit small and too tall, the stand feels cheap and lightweight. Attractive for the price, but not my pick.
• Aquatlantis: Surprisingly impressive. I’d choose them over Fluval at similar price points.
• UNS 90U: The stands are unquestionably superior. The tank mitering is spectacular.
• AquaEl Ultrascaper 90:
  
  • Stand: Best flat‑pack stand I’ve seen, though still a flat‑pack.
  • Glass: Equal quality to UNS but no mitering.
  • Dimensions: 90 × 60 × 45 — absolutely perfect.
    
    • Incredible depth
    • Lower height makes it ideal for seated viewing
    • Easier to work in
    • Better top‑down perspective

I left Atlanta feeling completely validated in my choice and excited for delivery day.