Journal Jay's 60cm Brazilian

[techman81]

This will be my 4th aquarium since taking up aquascaping, not quite a year ago (had been researching and studying for at least a year prior to that).

I've spent more than a month trying to decide what style to go with on this new 25 gallon tank and finally settled on a Brazilian style scape using dragon stone which honestly, doesn't seem that common for this style. Also not common, doing it in a 60cm size tank. It seems this style is better suited for larger tanks to get that sense of depth and layers. I've seen a few though including a couple of well ranked AGA competition tanks and one by Tommy at Green Aqua.

I'll be starting the hardscape layout this weekend and hope to get everything set into place and the tank filled to begin a dark start. As time progresses I'll post updates. To get started, here's what I have so far.

Equipment
Waterbox Clear Mini 25 with stand
Oase Biomaster II Thermo 250
Inkbird temp controller
GLA CO2 regulator and DIY Yugang CO2 reactor
Chihiros Doser
Chihiros WRGB II 45cm light

Substate
A base layer of bagged crushed lava rock
APT Start bacteria starter
APT Feast aquasoil
APT Jazz fertilizer caps

Hardscape
Dragon stone

I'm still thinking about the plant and livestock list.



Do you think this is enough rock for a 60cm tank?

 

[BenB]

Good luck with all that rock. I bet it will look great. Might want to hang towels town into the aquarium against the glass while you are placing it all. If something slips, that scratch will be terrible.

Looks like there is enough room against that wall for a few more tanks.

 

[Koan]

bagged crushed lava rock

Very tidy setup!

Go easy with that base layer, crushed lava rock really likes to lock together makes it super hard to plant in. I made that mistake in a tank I'm rebuilding now

You want to have at least a couple inches of aquasoil layered over it any area that you want to plant

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

makes it super hard to plant in.

Ah yes, the brick wall you hit with the tweezers and you watch the plant float to the surface subsequently I now just use a mixture of STS and spent AS as my base.

 

[Koan]

 

[techman81]

Early draft.....negative. I don't think I'll have water in this tank this weekend .

 

[techman81]

Early draft #2...nope. Its really hard to follow the 2/3 rule with this style in a 60cm tank.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I would maybe break apart some of those stones, there is little too much symmetry with their shapes and sizes making it look too crowded.

 

[techman81]

I would maybe break apart some of those stones, there is little too much symmetry with their shapes and sizes making it look too crowded.

I agree. I had all these nice big pieces of dragon stone and hated the idea of breaking them up, but they're just overwhelming for this size tank. Smaller stones will give me better options.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

There are lots of examples of this style so I’d just give a google image search and that should help you chisel down your stones to get the look your going for. I get what you mean though, you have vision with the untouched stone you have.

 

[techman81]

There are lots of examples of this style so I’d just give a google image search and that should help you chisel down your stones to get the look your going for. I get what you mean though, you have vision with the untouched stone you have.

Oh, believe me, I have lots of images and videos of the style saved, even some highly ranked past IAPLC entries. I tend to research things to death.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I tend to research things to death.

Wouldn’t be here if you didn’t beat things to death right lol

 

[techman81]

Draft #3. Better, but still not quite right to my eye. I also have to imagine sand in front and up through the valley with some small detail stones in front and matching gravel. Monte Carlo will be strategically placed in dragon stone holes and allowed to spread and drape over the rocks.

I would do poorly in a live aquascaping competition with limited time.

 

[techman81]

OK, finally getting back to the this scape. As I mentioned in a separate post a couple weeks ago, I'm ditching the dragon stone for some newly purchased fake Seiryu stone. I'm already liking what I see. This is the first draft and I think it only needs a few tweaks, raising the slope a little more, add in a couple more small real seiryu stones, and finish the sand path. I've got some accent stone and gravel to add in as well. I also mixed ADA La Plata sand with Aqua Natural Iwagumi Sand - Colorado and really like the result. Hopefully I get a dark start going on it this weekend.

 

[techman81]

Final layout (other than perhaps some additional cosmetic gravel). Everything is glued in place. There are 3 real seiryu stones in the scape. Can you pick them out? I'll finish setting up the filtration and fill the tank tomorrow. Expect a 3 to 4 week dark start. I plan to be a little more detailed and precise on water monitoring and fert dosing with this tank based on what I'm learning here, but haven't yet arrived at a final plant layout plan. I have a few things in the farm tank that will go in here including some MC to grow on the "rocks", some S. Repens, and perhaps a couple of stem plants recently delivered from Burr Aqua. Will be ordering some more dwarf hairgrass for sure. Ideas are welcome.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Great layout! Can't wait to see how it turns out. For some planting inspiration, check out the 2025 Aquaflora Nano Aquascaping Contest video from MJ Aquascaping:




Lots of amazing competition scapes have brazil style too:


@Jeff Miotke



Dennis wong has a great collection on his website:

Aquascaping ideas

The 2Hr Aquarist's comprehensive guide on aquascaping styles practiced for the advanced planted aquarium. Includes showcase of fellow aquascapers’ works on Iwagumi, Natural style, Dutch style, Natural Biotope and Hardscape Diorama.

www.2hraquarist.com

---

I'd recommend some Rotala Green, mixed with Rotala Indica/rotundifolia/orange juice for orange, and rotala blood red for a mixed pop of color in the background.

A few S repens planted in dense little clumps would be great. I can send you some submerged-growth cuttings for a small cost!

Let me see what I'd do with something like scape-it.io....

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Here's a mockup of one idea!



Would be an easy scape to manage with easy plants.

 

[Sb1415]

@techman81 could you share how you have arranged your cabinet with all the gear. thx

 

[techman81]

@techman81 could you share how you have arranged your cabinet with all the gear. thx

I'll take a new photo this weekend once I have things hooked up, and provide a little more detail then.

 

[techman81]

@techman81 could you share how you have arranged your cabinet with all the gear. thx

Ok, took me to the end of the weekend but dark start has commenced. The cabinet, as you can guess, is crowded, and I might make some changes down the road but for now, photos are below.
I could probably go with a smaller filter than the Biomaster 250, but I just like how easy they are to maintain. I also have a 4 channel doser because I bought 2 of them months ago thinking I might eventually need at least 3 channels. I now feel that I'll likely never use more than 2, so I might swap the 4 out for a 2 and that will make a little room. I have a dual manifold on the CO2 regulator because this tank will eventually be supplying CO2 to the 16 gallon tank that will be next to this one. Lastly, if you are confused by the photos, the CO2 reactor is currently mounted ceiling of the cabinet. I may come up with something else later, but for now it works. Unfortunately, the reactor does have 2 minor drip leaks on the input end so I pulled it out and have it bypassed for now. The leaks should be simple to resolve.