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This freshwater aquascape features a bonsai-style centerpiece covered with lush green plants, surrounded by natural stone and clean white sand. The open layout gives the fish plenty of swimming space, while the tree’s branches and roots create shelter and visual depth. A small school of neon tetras adds bright color and movement to the peaceful, minimalist design.

The tank itself is a UNS 90L, with a chihiros wrgb slim on top. Filter is a UNS delta 60 and I also have a co2 reactor installed for diffusion. The story of this tank starts with the end goal. I wanted something that would be eye catching in my living room, but also worthy of an IAPLC submission. I ordered hardscape from Aquaforest Aquarium, sight unseen, and began playing with the batch of Sansui stones I received. Knowing the hardscape design was going to be critical, I set up a dojo and continuously played with it for weeks. Tweaks here and there, complete teardowns and restarts, more tweaks, until I was finally happy with the result. The amount of time I spent was critical for me as I really needed breaks from scaping to be able to see flaws or things I really didn't like. When it came to plant selection, my initial inspiration was for a Brazilian style setup, but the hardscape setup really seemed like an iwagumi style would be more fitting and thats the route I ended up going. I wanted to illustrate a strong right to left flow with plants, a strong counter to the stones structure pushing in the opposite direction. Given this, I opted for Eleocharis montevidensis on the right side so that it could drape across the tank in the direction I wanted. I also added eleocharis acicularis on the left that I could trim along the shape of the hardscape (since you can't trim montevidensis). The foreground and midground was a mis of eleocharis parvula, monte carlo, marsilea minuta, and hydrocotyle tripartita mini. In the end, the marsilea basically disappeared with the other 3 plants taking over. For the foreground substrate, I added ADA la plata sand so that there would be a strong contrast between the sand and rocks. Aside from the front inch or two, I planted everything else in Controsoil. There was also initially a sand path that felt too unnatural, so I let that get overgrown with the foreground plants.

My freshwater Panther crab tank features a natural aquascape with a soft sand substrate, layered stone caves, and large branching driftwood. The rocks and wood create plenty of hiding spots and climbing areas, while moss and live plants add a touch of greenery. The open sandy areas provide room for the crabs to explore and forage, creating a comfortable habitat where their natural colors and behaviors can stand out.

This world was my first true foray into the aquarium/aquascape hobby. My first residents were bladder snail hitchhikers (common) from all the plants I got to place in the tank. From there added Panda Corydoras, Amano Shrimp, Black mollies, a Marble Balloon Molly, Red Wag Platies, Creamsicle Salifin Balloon Mollies (they were transferred to a 20 gallon for being bullies), Black Venezuelan Corydoras, Yo-Yo loaches to take care of the Bladder Snail Problem (Worked out real well), and most recently Blue Wag Platies and fancy guppies. All in all has been awesome to see this ecosystem evolve and grow. Had successful fish fry from the mollies, red wag Platies, and 1 hardy juvenile Panda Corydoras survive the whole egg to juvenile process! Cannot wait for what’s next.

A peaceful freshwater planted tank featuring lush Anubias, natural rocks, driftwood, and a dark substrate. The low, open layout creates a clean and balanced aquascape, with plenty of greenery and hiding spaces for its inhabitants.

I think "Fallen Ghost" is going to look incredible once that moss fills in! I can't wait to see the mini Anubias fill in the gaps, creating a really nice contrast against the rugged gray Seiryu stones."

This tank was started and built to grow out the juvenile Fish that were in the 36 Gallon Tank. Juveniles are ready for new homes and have been trading with other local People in the Hobby, going to my local Fish Society to auction them, or give to folks and LFS for store credit if able to.

No story to tell, just plant and let it grow. Jebao EP6500-M: Left outflow Jebao EP10000-M: Right outflow and maintenance manifold Jebao EP1000-M: for CO2 Reactor, separate loop DIY Ferts dosed daily via Hydros Minnow auto doser CO2 Injection: - PH Drop: ~1.1 - Time: 11 AM ~ 7 PM - Rate: 60 cc/min - 20lb CO2 tank, swap every 175~195 days Light Schedule: - Ramp up: 1 PM ~ 2 PM - Full Power: 2 PM ~ 8 PM - Ramp down to off: 8 PM ~ 9 PM

Really wanted to set to set up a huge tank with a army of gobies inside of it, the tank was initially meant to be a hillstream inspired river bed. I quickly ended up getting carried away with driftwood and plants though. All sorts of fish have come and gone in the tank, but the gobies have been constant and I plan on keeping them for their whole life spans. Currently the main permeant stocking is, serpent loaches, panda loaches, green lizard loaches, stiphodon annieae, stiphodon ornatus, stiphodon semoni, Stiphodon atropurpureus, and stiphodon percnopterygionus. Other fish include pseudomugil gertrudae, danio tinwini, orange/snowball/yellow amanos, red neos, and a single blue fin killifish that magically appeared. Substrate is soil with a sand cap, four kessil A80's, a small amount of CO2. Filtration is sump that houses the CO2 reactor and some bio media. Tank is unheated year round.

Started as neocaridina shrimp tank, colony crashed a couple times, added >40 species of plants, added Aphyosemion australe killifish after colony crashed second time

New five gallon with buce, schismatoglottis prietois, rotala blood red, hygrophila pinnatifida, and some swords and java ferns and rrf

I was given a 10 gallon tank, with plans to house a pet tarantula. However, I had been watching many fish keeping videos on YouTube, and I felt inspired to create a nano aquascape. I had tried keeping pet fish a few times as a child, with little success, and had lost interest for the past 20 years. For some reason, I felt deeply drawn to try keeping a fish again. So, I studied the care requirements and decided to attempt a simple, freshwater, planted setup - just a betta fish! After I began, I realized I didn’t want to stop. What started as a very minimalistic and simple set up, rapidly developed into a proper community tank. Now, my precious Betta has a flourishing dark water aquarium, consciously rescaped, with a small school of Cory cats, Cherry shrimps, and Nerite snails! I look forward to growing in my knowledge and experience. My future plans include adding more substrate and hard scape elements, lots of new plants, a school of compatible, mid-level fish, and then… enjoying my tiny new world!

I got this tank from my cousin a while back and I’m trying to change it up a little now it’s all designed by me and I’m trying to add more plant and cover the bottom.

This little world started off as a Guppy Planted Tank and now is just a planted Tank. Guppies are happy in 36 gallon tank I have. This tank will be converted into a shrimp tank/snail tank. Stay tuned for the future!

This tank right here was created by my Son and I as a bonding experience and cannot be happier how it turned out. It’s a jungle and is awesome!

Called it Dutch Lagoon for the planting style, rows of crypts and java fern with the apistos holding territory underneath. Blue bolts everywhere in the moss.

Barely any maintenance some weeks, just top offs and a water change when I remember. The anthias and chromis school around the rock while the watchman gobies dig their usual holes. Acro and the hammer are both growing which feels like a win since I had no idea what I was doing back in December

This one sits along the wall in the office, the spot that gets afternoon sun through the blinds so the stone throws stripes across the glass sometimes. Seiryu and spiderwood make up most of the layout, kept pretty open since the acei need room to move and dig around like cichlids do. Ten of them in there now, colors have really come up as they've settled into the rockwork.

Cat sits and watches the endlers for way longer than she should, seiryu stone and moss carpet, cherry shrimp everywhere.

Two pieces of Malaysian driftwood set the whole layout before anything green went in, and the hairgrass and monte carlo grew in around them instead of the other way around. Moss has thickened up nicely on the wood. Cardinals and neons school through it, corys work the bottom, shrimp pick at the moss.

Barely touch this one. Top off, dose alk, done. Gordon and the wrasse handle the rest, apparently.

funny enough the dragon stone did more for the water hardness than my scaping skills did. apistos rule this one now.

just a low tech freshwater tank with sand and a chunk of malaysian driftwood taking up most of the space. celestial pearl danios move through the vals in a loose group, blue bolt shrimp pick through the java moss without much concern for anything else happening around them. cooling fan runs most of the summer to keep temps sane. it's been a steady one, no real drama, just sand, wood, and everybody doing their own thing in it.

Wanted african cichlids after seeing them at a buddy's house, now it's acei and labs everywhere lol.

Wanted a bigger planted tank after running smaller ones for years, something with room for a real hardscape. Spiderwood and malaysian driftwood anchor it, dwarf hairgrass and monte carlo carpeting in. Neon tetras and crystal red shrimp fill out the rest, ph steady around 6.8.

Got into this after seeing a friend's low tech setup and thinking I could do a moodier version with dark wood. Danios and amano shrimp ended up being the easy part, the moss took way longer to fill in than the driftwood did lol.

Rock caves and spiderwood leaning just right, going for that African rift lake look without it feeling too stiff or symmetrical. The Johanni and peacock have completely taken over the space now, chasing each other through the caves all day. Running the AquaClear 70 to keep up with them, and the Kessil A360X really brings out the peacock's color. Still tweaking little things here and there.

Calling the Jungle because it looks like one, the stone still looks lopsided no matter how many times I shuffle it round - left it anyway. White clouds and blue bolts get on with it fine.

Barely touch this one besides a weekly top off and the occasional trim. Cherry shrimp and danios seem fine being left alone.

Tucked into the little alcove by the bookshelf, it gets just enough light from the window to make the Chihiros almost unnecessary some afternoons. Amazon swords anchor the back with buce and anubias tied onto driftwood up front, hairgrass filling the open ground. CPDs and endlers move through the top and mid water while the cherry shrimp, a good 38 of them now, clean up everywhere else.

Just a rasbora and apisto tank with a cave carved into the hardscape. Endlers fill the open water, jade shrimp work the Amazonia. Simple, no bigger point to it.

A friend once swore this looked years old, not months. The otos still don't have names.

The assassin snails are the real workers in here, cleaning up while the Bucephalandra slowly wraps itself around the seiryu stone. Vallisneria's finally sending out runners and the hairgrass took its sweet time but it's spreading now. Small cube, easy to ignore some weeks, hard to ignore others.

This one replaced a bowl setup that never really worked out, no filtration to speak of and the plants just melted... The 60P has been a different story, the vals and monte carlo actually hold on and the shrimp seem happier for it.

Chili rasboras and cardinals doing most of the swimming, with a pretty large bristlenose crew keeping the sword leaves clean.

Cardinal tetras are the ones I watch most, ten of them schooling tight over the hairgrass with the rasboras cutting through. Jade shrimp graze the seiryu stone all day. Carpet's patchy in one corner still, moss filled in nicer than expected.

Wanted an iwagumi, ended up with a jungle because I can't say no to plants at the store. Two seiryu stones basically vanished under Monte Carlo and hairgrass now. Fifteen apistos in a tank this small was probably a mistake but the chili rasboras don't seem to mind.

Betta's fins under that dragon stone ledge get me every time. Blue Bolts (24 of them) cleaning up after him nonstop.

What gets me is how the ember tetras disappear against the driftwood until they don't, then it's just this cloud of orange moving through the vals. Monte carlo and hairgrass carpet most of the front, moss on the wood doing its own slow thing.

Been running a while now and it's changed a lot since the dry start... Dragon stone's mostly buried under moss and buce, embers school tight in the open water, otos graze the glass. Way more shrimp than I planned on.

The harlequin rasboras are the ones I actually sit and watch, they school loose near the moss most evenings and never really stop moving. Chili rasboras stick lower, closer to the substrate, easy to miss unless you're looking for them. Blue rili shrimp have multiplied more than I expected, I keep finding tiny ones on the glass in the morning. Hardscape is old pond rock from my parents' place, been sitting in my garage for years before this cube gave it a job. Monte carlo filled in between the rocks after a slow start, java fern and moss holding steady on the wood. My kid still checks on the shrimp before school most days.

been running since last summer, and the wood's darker now, moss finally thick enough to hide the anubias threads underneath. sword leaves get trimmed back every few weeks or they shade everything out. rummynose and harlequins school together most of the day, white clouds keep to the upper corners. dosing flourish light, nitrates hover around 15ppm - ramshorns showed up on their own and i've stopped trying to remove them.

Just a planted community tank, tetras and rasbora weaving through rotala and a couple chunks of driftwood, shrimp cleaning up whatever's left.

Nothing says relaxing hobby like apistos staring you down at feeding time

soft golden light through wood and stone, kinda going for that warm blackwater feel. neons school around the rotala most days.

Favorite part is the multies ducking into the seiryu stacks... Labs and johanni just hold their color so well in there

Seiryu stone and the Malaysian driftwood took a while to get right, no plants touching rock. Amazon Sword's throwing new leaves weekly, Java Moss filling the wood grain. Guppies and cardinals mix well, 35 Crystal Reds picking through it all day.

should have gone bigger on flow from day one, kept fighting dead spots behind the rockwork until i finally added the wavemaker.

Celestial pearl danios spend most of their time picking around the seiryu stone, with jade shrimp working the moss and wood in between. It's a quiet little setup - the sword anchors one side, moss has crept over the driftwood, and the assassin snails handle themselves without much input from me.

First attempt at the hardscape here was wrong in every way — wood too big, soil too shallow, and the whole thing looked cramped before I even added water. Redid it with Controsoil and smaller pieces, much happier now. Celestial pearl danios crowd the vallisneria most evenings, blue rilis picking through the bucephalandra. Small tank (3 gallons), keeps the Inkbird busy holding temp steady.

Sits on a shelf by the window where the afternoon light hits it just right. Bronze corys dig through the sand, shrimp are everywhere on the driftwood, and the crypts finally stopped melting.

wanted that dry rockscape look before any fish went in

Spiderwood scape built around chili rasboras, Notch included, plus pygmy corys.

hairgrass and buce over stone and wood, that's the whole idea here. the buce has properly settled onto the wood now, hairgrass still has a few gaps but it's filling. white clouds ended up in instead of the rummynose i originally wanted, worked out fine, they shoal nicely against the green. amano shrimp keep the glass tidy between algae scrapes. kessil's on a shorter photoperiod these days after it got away from me a bit.

Been running a good while now and it's changed a ton from those early bare rock days. Anthias school together most of the time, firefish scatter the second anything moves too fast, chromis just kind of float around ignoring everyone. Montipora and acro have both colored up nicely, goniopora sways whenever the pump kicks on. Small tank but it fills up fast once the coral gets going lol.

What I like most is watching him claim the dragon stone like he owns the place, which, fine, he does. The shrimp colony has taken off too, twenty-some Crystal Reds picking through the hairgrass all day. What bugs me is the Monte Carlo, it just sits there refusing to carpet no matter what I do. Six gallons, dual sponge filters, otherwise no complaints.

A mixed reef built around a rock arch that never quite worked out, so it ended up as a more open scape than planned, and honestly it looks better for it. Two firefish gobies hover near their little caves most of the day, darting back in if anything moves too fast near the glass. The lyretail anthias school together over the rockwork, always in motion, which makes the whole tank feel busier than it is. Rock was bare white for a while but it's filled out with coralline and a few frags glued in odd gaps. Running an Oase BioMaster Thermo for filtration and an Eheim Compact pump for flow, swapped in a while back. It's got a different hum than the old one, still notice it sometimes in a quiet room. Salinity gets checked with a refractometer more often than it probably needs to be, old habit from the early cycling days. Sand near the base rock shifts a little differently now with the new flow pattern, small thing but I notice it every time I look.

Sits by the window where the light hits it in the afternoon... Johannis love it

Rock's got that brown film still but the six lines make it feel alive lol

First attempt at this scape had way too much hardscape and nowhere for the amano shrimp to actually roam... Redid it simpler and they clearly approve now.