Nature Aquariums & Aquascapes of Samit Roy

'Secret Shore' - A Step-by-step Documentation

2008-05-11T13:30:00.027+05:30

The above image shows one of my creative aquascape project "Secret Shore". This is one of my favourites among the Creative Aquascapes, I have done in recent past. Unlike, Nature Aquascapes, my Creative Aquascapes are much short-lived and being prepared for the final photo session, from the first day.

Please rate this tank here at RateMyFishTank

Below are few photographs taken to document the set up process:

1. Rounded riverbed rocks goes in the form the base of the layout

2. Card board goes in, creating the boundary of the planting area

3. Substrate goes in, forming the base of planting area

4. Fertilizers goes in forming the nutirient layer

5. Planting area ready

6. Fine white river sand goes in, for non-planting area (for decorative purpose)

7. Ready for planting

8. Dry planting started with Ferns and Anubias

9. Dry planting finished and ready for wet planting

10. Planting completed

11. Few hours after planting (right part)

12. Few hours after planting (left part)

13. Full shot after set up is done

14. Two days after set up

14. Close up of the right corner after eight days

15. Close up of Hygro after a week

16. Another close up of Hygro in 2nd week

17. 'Secret Shore' after 12 days

18. Full front after 2 weeks

19. Close up of Hygro after 2 weeks [Notice the change in color]

20. Bacopa close up after 3 weeks

21. Full front after 3 weeks

22. Close up of middle are after 3 weeks

23. Cabomba Close up - 4th week

24. Hygro Close up - 4th week

25. Mid area close up

Planted Tank Tips

2008-05-11T12:46:00.005+05:30

I was looking at this archived image of one of my initial planted set ups. I thought it would be great to share the mistakes I made in my first attempts, with fellow aquarists, especially the ones who are new into this amazing world of planted aquascapes!

1. Choosing the plants: In those initial attempts, I have done a major mistake by picking up plants almost randomly, sometimes depending on the availability and off course by their look. I have never considered their compatibility with each other or their requirements. Choose the plants wisely. Know them before you plant them (or even before you get them). Identify the plants and know their requirements, habitats and nature.

2. Examining the specimens thoroughly: Examine all the specimens you get, very VERY carefully. Algae, snails and other pests and infections can travel smoothly to your tank, using these plants as carrier. Algae and snails are easy to find. Remove the Algae-infected leaves and pick snails with your fingers. But finding snail eggs are difficult, and off course much important, too. A tiny leaf covered by snail eggs can set hundreds snails loose in your tank. And most of the snails are vegetarian and have huge appetites. I'd suggest keep the newly sourced plants (must if the source is unknown or not so reliable) in a quarantine tank for few days and watch them closely, before you introduce them to your main tank.

3. Choosing the fishes: Choosing the right fish for a planted tank is also very important. Avoid compulsive plant-eaters and root-diggers, like gold fishes, Koi carps, Gouramis, African lake Cichlids. Also DO NOT keep large fishes, as the turbulance created by their body movements (also consider the filter flow rate that you need to have if you want to keep a large fish) will tear apart the delicate plants.

Taiwan Moss

2008-04-23T00:57:00.002+05:30

Taiwan Moss [Taxiphyllum alternans]

I was trying out Taiwan moss in my nanoscapes and I am quite satisfied with the outcome. Here are my few initial findings about this beautiful aquatic moss:

1. Taiwan moss or Taxiphyllum alternans grows and spread faster than Java Moss.
2. They do extremely well if dosed with CO2. I have seen the entire group coming up with numerous brighter tip buds once I started adding CO2
3. Being more fragile and thinner than the common Java moss, Taiwan moss tends to be torn away quite often. Even if your filter creates little turbulance, you will find tiny pieces of taiwan moss all over your tank, tangled with other plants and happily growing!

Taboo in twilight

2008-01-25T00:28:00.000+05:30

Temporary light arrangement is one of the key elements of an aquascape. It creates the right ambiance. Pictures taken in actual lightings are usually flat, Though, they are good for technical documentation, but they often fail to create the right impact. When I take photographs of my aquascapes, I switch off the tank lights, room lights and all other sources of lights in the room and then set up the temporary light arrangement.

Bacopa monnieri

2008-01-24T23:53:00.000+05:30

Bacopa monnieri or Brahmi is very common through out India, as a medicinal herb. It increases memory and reported to improve intellect. It is also used to treat asthma, hoarseness, insanity and epilepsy. It is a potent nerve tonic and anti-anxiety agent.

According to Pankaj Oudhia, Society for Parthenium Management (SOPAM), "..it (Bacopa monnieri) is bitter, pungent, heating, emetic, laxative and useful in bad ulcers, tumours, ascites, enlargement of spleen, indigestion, inflammations, leprosy, anaemia, biliousness etc. According to Unani system of medicine, it is bitter, aphrodisiac, good in scabies, leucoderma, syphilis etc. It is promising blood purifier and useful in diarrhea and fevers."

SOURCE: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/CropFactSheets/bramhi.html

Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus)

2008-01-24T23:37:00.000+05:30

Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus) can be grown very easily on a driftwood. This is one of the least demanding plants used in a planted aquarium. This is a low-light plant. Under intense light, the leaves tend to "burn" and develop large black areas around the edges.

EXCLUSIVE TIPS:
If you have Java ferns in your tank, put a net around the inlet of your filter and it check regularly. You will find tiny Java ferns are stuck on the net. Keep them in a bowl or a jar beside your mail tank. Change the water as needed. Drop a dose once in while or when dosing your main tank. Within few weeks you will have enough to exchange or even sale.

Creative Aquascape

2007-10-07T20:40:00.000+05:30

After these dedicated years of Nature Aquariums and Natural Aquascapes, I decided to explore a comparatively new area of this fascinating hobby - Creative Aquascaping!

[Check out one of my previous Natural Aquascapes here]

Apparently, there are not too many differences between Natural Aquascaping and Creative Aquascaping.

In Natural Aquascapes we try to simulate an underwater scenario, sometimes specific to a particular biotope, sometimes a fancy combination of various species! But, every bit of the process is aimed to make the tank look like a natural underwater environment. But Creative Aquascapes are rarely aimed to simulate an underwater scenario. It's like creating any landscape with a glass tank filled with water, live aquatic plants, fishes and props like stones & driftwoods!

Another thing I noticed is, in Creative Aquascaping photographing your tank is also very important. Thematic light settings, translucent backgrounds with vignette, placement of props are also very critical issues, in Creative Aquascaping. It's not only about growing healthy plants or make your tank look like natural river bed! It's a search beyond that! It's about creating an ambiance, a mood or a moment.

The most interesting thing, I noticed, in most cases, Creative Aquascapes are made for much shorter period than Natural Aquascapes.

I decided to go for Nano aquascape, for initial experimentation. Nanos might be difficult but I can keep quite a few to try out different layouts with different plant species.

Click here for few selected images of my Creative Aquascapes

[Re-posted from Samitonline.net]

Taboo Island - More images

2007-08-15T04:10:00.000+05:30

Few more images of another planted nano set up of mine - the "Taboo Island"!

Secret Shore - Updated

2007-08-15T04:06:00.000+05:30

An updated image of my planted nano - "Secret Shore"

Few More Gold Fishes

2007-06-28T18:11:00.000+05:30

Moe images of my gold fishes!

Gold fish # 7

Gold fish # 8

My gold fishes, again

2007-06-28T12:54:00.000+05:30

Few more photographs of my gold fishes.

Gold fish # 5
Gold fish # 6

More Gold Fish Photos

2007-06-25T20:40:00.001+05:30

Few more images of my Gold fishes in outdoor setups. Gold fishes are easy to keep and perfectly suitable for mid-sized and larg outsoor set ups and ponds. Being a cold water fish, they do perfectly fine without heater, even in tropical winter. Unlike most other ornamental fishes, gold fishes look pretty from top view, because of their broad and colorful back (top).

[My apologies for poor quality of the photographs.]

Gold fish # 3

Gold fish # 4

Gold Fish

2007-06-25T20:18:00.000+05:30

Few photographs of my gold fishes in one of my outdoor setups:

[Being a person without any knowledge about photography, my sincere apologies for the poor quality of the images]

Gold fish # 1

Gold fish # 2
Notice the black one at bottom left corner!

Amazon Sword

2007-06-25T18:42:00.000+05:30

A big Amazon Sword plant or Echinodorus amazonicus in one of my outdoor cement tubs for live-bearers. This is a female plant and often comes up with multiple saplings. One sapling can be seen at the upper left corner of the image.

Amazon Sword plant (Echinodorus amazonicus and Echinodorus bleheri - both are known as Amazon Sword plant) is one of the most common rosette plant used by hobbyists. Being a very hardy plant, Amazon Sword is appropriate for the beginners. It is a large plant and mainly used as a center piece in planted aquascapes. It can grow really large, even without fertilization and CO2, provided you have enough space and a nutrient rich substrate.
beginners

Flowering Water Lily

2007-06-25T09:56:00.000+05:30

I was surprised when I noticed this pink bud of the water lily plant (Nymphaea lotus var. pubescens/pubescens/esculenta) in my gold fish tub. I was not expecting it. Just because, I have never put any extra care for these plants - I kept them in my outdoor tubs for goldfishes and live-bearers, with minimum substrate and without any fertilization. Still it's flowering - I am happy, grateful too!
Red (pink) water lily or Nymphaea lotus var. pubescens is one of the most common aquatic plants found through out India. This is another easy-to-keep', to be precisely 'hard-to-kill' plant, but not actually suited for smaller indoor set ups. I haven't seen it flowering under artificial lightings in an indoor set up. But they do very well in outdoor set ups with direct and/or indirect sunlight.

The picture below, shows the lily in my goldfish tub, from top.

Anubias

2007-06-09T12:31:00.000+05:30

Among all broad-leaved aquatic plants, Anubias are my longtime favorites. I just loved their thick, dark green leaves, their growing pattern, the way they create amazing lines and dark zones in your aquascapes. Anubias are easy-to-keep (or should I say, hard-to-kill plants) that need little care and maintenance. This image shows Anubias Nana, Anubias Nana ‘Petite’ and Anubias Barteri, dumped in a temporary tank, as their tank is being shifted to my new place! They look little clueless and confused! Right?

Alone In The Forest: During Planting

2007-06-08T14:41:00.000+05:30

The images below, show Alone In The Forest, in making, before it was fully planted:

See more images of my recet Aquascape Project, Alone In The Forest, here!

Cryptocoryne parva, just after planting:

Flowering Nymphaea

2007-06-08T14:23:00.000+05:30

Flowering Nymphaea spc. in my open cement tub. This plant was collected from a lake near Kolkata, during a collection trip! This perticular variety produces small white flowers if kept under natural light! In my tubs they never produced any submerged leaves. Again, I am not sure, how this will look, if kept in a indoor glass tank with artificial light source!

They do well, if nutrient rich substrate is provided, along with natural light source. This could be planted in sealed pots with a 2-3" layer of garden soil, peat moss, or vermicompost at the bottom and then layers of river sand to restrick the soil to cloud the water, and then the posts could be planted inside the tubs, filled with water!

Alone in the Forest : 2

2007-05-30T07:35:00.000+05:30

Partial view of Alone in the Forest from front.
Could you spot the lonely rasbora?

More Photos:

Alone in the Forest : 1

2007-05-29T23:37:00.000+05:30

My Latest set up! A humble 28 gl (36"x12"x15")!
I named it: Alone in the Forest!

New Plant

2007-05-02T22:46:00.000+05:30

I picked up this plant yesterday from a small local pet shop. As usual, the boy attending the shop could not tell me the name, not even its local name. It had pale green leaves, and a thick stem without any roots. The stem is fibrous, soft and watery. Within a day, the top leaves turned into red, as shown in the picture. Probably, because of high light in my tank. It also has small purple flower buds.

Apparently, it looks like Ammannia gracilis or Nesaea crassicaulis, but weak and stressed due to the unhealthy conditions in the pet shop's dark, dumping tank. But I am not sure. I hope, it shows more of its original characteristics, as it regains its health in my 'test tank'.

It would be great if someone can help me to identify this plant!

The inset picture shows the top view of the same specimen.

Loaches

2007-04-30T15:34:00.000+05:30

Tips for keeping freshwater loaches in your aquarium: Part 2

All loaches are bottom dwellers and love to dig around in the substrate. That is why, substrate plays an important role in setting up a perfect loach set up. Big pebbles, especially the ones with sharp edges, and other sharp-edged substrate materials, like beach sand and coral sand, should be avoided completely.

Loaches are born diggers and prefer softer substrate to dig into it while searching for food or looking for a peaceful hiding place. Because of this particular habit of loaches, fine and calcium-free sands, (free from the broken pieces of shells), like freshwater sand, river sand, Silver (playpit) sand, are ideal substrate for a loach tank The finer is better, as the finer sand won’t cause any damage to their sensitive barbells.

Few loaches have an interesting habit of taking sands in their mouth, eat the microscopic food particles and spit (?) the sand out through their gills. Few loaches, like Horseface loaches and Weather Loaches have a habit of covering themselves, entirely under the sand, except their eyes.

Clown loach

2007-04-02T18:05:00.000+05:30

Tips for keeping freshwater loaches in your aquarium: Part 1

Provide lots of hiding places using clay pots (whole and broken), drift wood and of course, plants! Pile of rocks can be used to form caves but they need to glued to each other firmly, using silicone glue and should be buried under the substrate at least few inches deep, ensuring the loaches cannot dig their way in under the rock structure. This can be proven fatal to the unsuspecting loaches resting under the rocks. Pieces of non-metallic pipes with different diameters, depending on the size of the loaches you have, can provide nice hiding places to them. Again, though pipes are great for the loaches, it might not look nice to you.

I use clay pots, whole, and cut into halves, as well as, broken pieces, too, and tie few java fern cuttings with them. Within few days java ferns root themselves with the clay pots and your "Portable Loach House With Attached Garden" is ready!

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Loaches online - the most comprehesive online resources for all loaches!

Common Mistakes: One

2007-03-27T15:24:00.000+05:30

Common Mistakes: One - Buying tank and fish, together

This is the most common mistake done by the beginners, as well as some times by experienced hobbyists, too. Never put fishes immediately after setting up a new tank. Ideally, you should put the first fish in your tank, at least after week or two after the installation. You should fill the tank with water, add substrate, place the props like stones or drift woods, keep the air pump and filter running (also the heater, in case of winter season or chiller weather), switch on the light and maintain this 'fish-less tank' for a week or more. In hobbyists circle this phase is known as 'Fish-less tank keeping'. Few experienced aquarists also suggest to add little bit of fish food, regularly in the tank, even though there is no fish in the tank.

Though, apparently it looks ridiculous to keep an empty tank with filter, pump running and add fish food in that, but actually this is one the most critical phase of a new set up. This 'Fish-less tank keeping' ensures that the nitrogen cycle of the tank is running perfectly and you have built enough de-nitrifying bacteria in your tank to take care of the ammonia and nitrite to be produced from excreta of the inhabitants of the tank.

After running this fish-less tank for week (more if you have larger tank and have a plan to keep the little crowded), add fishes slowly. Never put a large number of fishes together in a new tank. This might cause a sudden ammonia spike and could be proved fatal for the livestock. I usually add, one or two very hardy fishes like, Sail fin mollies' and juvenile 'Common Plecos' (nice housekeepers for a planted set up) and wait for few more days before adding the central attractions of the tanks.

The image shows lily floaters in my planted set up.

Pakistani Loach

2007-03-26T15:34:00.000+05:30

A juvenile Pakistani Loach or YoYO loach or Botia almorhae from my tank. This beutiful loaches are native inhabitants of the water pool areas of highland streams. Keep driftwoods, rocks and plants in your tank creating lots of hiding places. Finer sand substrate is ideal for this fish, as their habit is to dig into the sand searching for food. Usual feeding habit include, sinking pellets, algae wafers, chopped earthworms, thawed frozen Bloodworm, Mysis Shrimp, chopped cocktail shrimp. Try to avoid over-feeding as these fish are very greedy. This species is an avid consumer of snails, making it essential 'housekeeper fish' for that aquarists having snail infested tanks.

Check out the marks on its body that resemble 'Y' and 'O'. The fish got its name 'YoYo' from the marks that resemble the same on their body. Again, 'Y' & 'O' marks could be found only on the jouvenile specimens of this species. The marks change and bevcome more random as they grow up.

The particular speciment, shown in the picture is little stressed (check its folded dorsal fin) due to the transport. I have taken the picture just after it is released in my 42gl South Asian Loach set up.