Aquarium projects: planted and bare

The majority of the projects I have done over the past year and a half have been terrestrially-focused planted terraria.  Some years ago, back when I was living in North Carolina, I became interested in keeping some wild type guppies in a planted aquarium.  I enjoyed them for some time and then began playing more with growing plants in aquariums.  The previous post has some images of those first aquariums.

I had a 20 gallon long aquarium sitting around the 'man cave' that deserved to serve a higher purpose.  After watching a short clip from the Aquarium Design Group of their hardscape-only aquarium, I got motivated to work on this new project. 

I thought about what may be fun to put in this aquarium and as I often do, I started thinking about Apistogramma.  The inspiration for this aquarium came from the natural habitat of these South American dwarf cichlids.

Because of the flooding of the Mississippi River, all my normal driftwood locations were covered by 10 feet of water or more.  I always maintain a small supply in my back yard though, just for a rainy day occasion such as this.  What I wanted to create was the look of a heavily oxidized clay river bank with a sandy bottom.  I sprayed the back of the aquarium with spray foam and placed the driftwood pieces together to create some depth and dimension. 

It was a bit of a struggle as the positioning the wood in a non resting position but I liked the way it sat after several permutations.  The background I made out of a concrete patch kit and some concrete dye.  I sculpted the foam to make some overhangs and texture to it and smoothed on the concrete. 

 The background is much more dynamic in person than in the photographs and I'm happy with the result.  It was a quick, cheap and fun project to work on for the weekend.  I didn't anticipate the concrete raising the pH quite as much as it did, but after several water changes (including just before these photos...) it is back to neutral.

I then added a few Magnolia leaves from the yard and a few stones.  When the water lowers more I'll collect a few more stones and maybe some more leaves, but overall the layout is complete.  

I didn't think with all my planted projects I'd keep an aquarium so bare, but I think it's an interesting and fun concept and take on an aquarium.

Just to keep with my theme and the name of the blog, I've also been developing this 'high tech' planted aquarium for the past month or so.  I had some severe battles with diatoms, and some brushes with algae, but it's coming along.  I just gave the plants a haircut in an attempt to last and not be too leggy while I'm gone, so it's a little less lush than normal.

I also lost many of the ground cover plants with the diatom issue, but I'll keep plugging away at it and get this baby sorted out.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be back in Panama next week doing research. 

I'll leave you with an in situ photo of Dendrobates pumilio that I took last summer.