Journal Fishyjeff’s 120p

[fishyjeff]

Against my better judgment I thought I would post a pic of my tank. It's an ADA 120p. Lighting is a 90 cm Chihiros WRGB 2 suspended about 10 inches above the tank. Filtration is provided by a GLA infinite Nature Filter with an adjustable DC pump. CO2 equipment is a GLA dual stage reg with a GLA Infinite Nature CO2 reactor.

It had gotten completely overgrown so I pulled all of the plants out about three months ago, left the hardscape as it was and replanted. Speaking of plants, the flora consists of anubias, buce, bolbitis, dwarf trident fern and moss. Fauna is approximately ten black tetras, a dozen pristella tetras that insist on hiding behind the wood on the left side and a horde of cherry shrimp.

What else.....the wood is ADA hornwood, stones are seiryu and sand is ADA LaPlata. I add 2-3 ml of APT 3 daily. The lighting period is 11 hours per day. Lights are at 50% intensity with a 90 minute ramp up/down. Maintenance is a weekly 80% water change, glass cleaning and sand vacuuming. Moss is trimmed every couple of weeks.

 

[techman81]

Against my better judgment I thought I would post a pic of my tank.

?????? No, your better judgement was posting this and letting all of us enjoy your scape.

 

[MrJG]

Hahaha I agree! Super clean and I love the look of the thin layer of sand surrounding the island.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Awesome tank! Do you have photos before you removed the plants?

 

[fishyjeff]

Awesome tank! Do you have photos before you removed the plants?

This was in August 2025.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Love the true nature style. Flowering buce? Awesome.
What PAR do you have from those lights? Are the lights dimmed? With slow growers like that, and lots of white sand, I could imagine GDA being an issue over time with high lighting.

 

[CincyScaper]

Love the scape. I would like to make something like this for my next scape so thanks for the inspiration!

How much effort do you put into cleaning the stones they look really nice?

I love the look of the la plata sand but have been intimidated about using it since many have noted it gets dirty quickly and hard to clean it. But then I see it all the time in YouTube channels which I assumed was just topped off.

 

[fishyjeff]

Love the true nature style. Flowering buce? Awesome.
What PAR do you have from those lights? Are the lights dimmed? With slow growers like that, and lots of white sand, I could imagine GDA being an issue over time with high lighting.

I have not measured PAR. Intensity is set at 50%. The photoperiod is 11 hours per day with a 90 minute ramp/up down. GDA is not much of an issue. If left untouched the rocks will develop GDA but I give them a light brushing as part of weekly maintenance which keeps them clean. In the past I’ve used a Twinstar sterilizer and not had to pay any attention to the rocks. I’m considering putting it back in the tank to see if it makes a difference this time.

 

[fishyjeff]

Love the scape. I would like to make something like this for my next scape so thanks for the inspiration!

How much effort do you put into cleaning the stones they look really nice?

I love the look of the la plata sand but have been intimidated about using it since many have noted it gets dirty quickly and hard to clean it. But then I see it all the time in YouTube channels which I assumed was just topped off.

As I mentioned above I just give the rocks an easy once over with a brush when doing maintenance. It adds another five minutes to the routine.

La Plata doesn’t keep its bright appearance over time. It darkens as biofilm and such stick to it. I do vacuum detritus weekly which always includes a bit of the sand getting siphoned out which I replace as necessary. The small replacements help maintain its appearance to a degree, but I don’t mind the darkening.

 

[fishyjeff]

Here’s a photo from between just being planted and overgrown. This was the sweet spot to me.

 

[fishyjeff]

View attachment 14277



Here are a couple ofphotos from between just being planted and overgrown. This was the sweet spot to me.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Nice to see another nature style on here looks great. To be clear there is no soil right? Hardscape and epiphytes only

 

[fishyjeff]

Nice to see another nature style on here looks great. To be clear there is no soil right? Hardscape and epiphytes only

My initial thought after settling on the hardscape was to plant Crypt balansae along with a few others in the background so I filled the back with Aquasoil. Then I changed my mind and removed as much as I could. There was maybe half a cup still in the tank most of which has been siphoned out over time. So, to answer your question, there is no soil and it is only epiphytes and hardscape.

 

[fishyjeff]

Nice to see another nature style on here looks great. To be clear there is no soil right? Hardscape and epiphytes only

I forgot to ask in my first reply if you have a journal? I'm always happy to see another nature style tank.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I forgot to ask in my first reply if you have a journal? I'm always happy to see another nature style tank.

Yup it’s linked under my name, it’s currently in limbo while I wait for my new tank to arrive and start anew.

 

[techman81]

View attachment 14330My initial thought after settling on the hardscape was to plant Crypt balansae along with a few others in the background so I filled the back with Aquasoil. Then I changed my mind and removed as much as I could. There was maybe half a cup still in the tank most of which has been siphoned out over time. So, to answer your question, there is no soil and it is only epiphytes and hardscape.

I've seen a number of pro scapes that had the driftwood arranged in a similar fan pattern like this and I really like it, so I've been gradually buying pieces to do something similar.

 

[fishyjeff]

I've seen a number of pro scapes that had the driftwood arranged in a similar fan pattern like this and I really like it, so I've been gradually buying pieces to do something similar.

Finding good hardscape for a larger tank can be a job in itself.