Riverside Scape
1/24/18
Inspired by the sunken tree roots in rivers, I gathered gravel and stones from the creek and produced a natural landscape of what you'd find in a lake or creek. In addtion, I based the plant selection on the common aquatic vegitation in american rivers.
Dutch Hybrid Scape
1/9/18
Regular dutch style aquariums are where only plants are used. However, in this case I incorporated smooth stones as part of the design, making it into a dutch hybrid tank.
Long Islands Project
1/13/18
Me gathering supplies in pet shops for the Long Islands Project
Mini Mountain
11/20/17 • 12/5/17
Using the dry-start method, I was able to cultivate a strong root foundation with the carpet of small baby tear plants. Using dragon stone with rough texture, I created a mini mountain scape in an aquarium that's barely as wide as my hand.
Red Islands
10/9/17 • 10/13/17 • 11/1/17 • 11/26/17
Using stem plants as foreground carpet plant
Beginning in the first image, I plant different sizes and species of plants into differernt sections of the aquarium. Weeks following, I use the propogation method where I cut the stem and replant it in another spot. This will ulitmately create two of the same growing identical plants.
Through weeks of cultivating various species of plants, I was able to create a lush environment fit for freshwater dwarf shrimp. As seen on the green plate, I drop different nutritional foods for the crustacions so that they may keep rich, vibrant pigmentations.
High Peak
8/17/17 • 9/24/17 • 10/7/17 • 10/13/17 • 12/21/17
Tilting Mountains & Lush Tree Root
Tilting Mountains 7/5/17 • Lush Tree Root 11/11/17
Tilting Mountains
Lush Tree Root 11/11/17
Biotype River
6/18/17
Biotype river; Consists of many low-light aquatic plants (Java fern, anubias, cryptocoryne) in regular sand substrate with smooth stones placed near the mid to background of the tank. Also has semi terrrestial plants growing above water with strong LED light. Aquarium is a female betta sorority tank, meaning that with lush vegitation coverage, a number of at least 3 female bettas will result in no aggression.
Natural Root Scape
6/15/17
Dutch Aquascape
5/15/17
Lush Bridge
4/11/17
1. Bought a 5-gallon aquarium from Petco
2. Bought black sand (Looks like dirt and is easier for plants to grow in with roots)
3. Also bought another piece of driftwood and used extra leftover fragments of Dragonstone
4. In this design, I hoped to create a natural miniature bridge using the wood, I wanted to make it seem like the structure is growing above a small field of grass with plants growing in the back like trees
5. In this effort, I first poured the black sand and spaced the middle to make the substrate concave downwards (for the bridge effect), and placed the piece of wood above the ditch. After, I added the stone fragments around the bases of the wood to make it seem like a natural mound/hill while holding the wood in place.
6. Once the hardscape is finished, I planted the Dwarf Hairgrass like how I did in the previously planted aquarium and added extra trimmings of plants from the other aquariums. ( This is how stem plants propagate)
Date: 4/12/17
1. I didn't enjoy the piece of wood so I decided to take it out and rearrange the rocks to make it look like two mountains.
Jungle Life
3/19/17
1. After being inspired by the growth of my aquatic plants in the riverbed design, I bought many more plants from the shop and planted large stems in the background and smaller plants like dward hairgrass in the front. To help add to the jungle vibe, I also added a large piece of driftwood and everything togther made it seem like a scene from the tropical rainforest.
Riverbed Design
2/20/17
1. After being able to play around with the layouts of items in aquariums, I wanted to create a more natural/complex design
2. On my trip to the Big Island, Hawaii, I collected smooth round rocks and brought them back
3. Also bought aquarium sand and aquatic plants from a shop in SF to help fit the aim for a natural design
4. I took out a piece of driftwood from a previous aquarium and bought a new heater and an external aquarium filter.
5. To begin, I first placed the sand evenly and placed the driftwood in the center
6. Then I added the smooth, round rocks all over the rear side to give it a river-like appearance
7. Lastly, I added small plants around near the hardscape to make the design more natural
8. Studied how to propagate aquarium plants online and started experimenting
