# Juwel Lido Aquascape: Edens Gate



## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

So i have been in the hobby for quite a few years and i have been interested in planted hobby. i did two other aquascapes before this but saddly both failed and crashed in different ways. the first scape started well but due to lack of research algae, melting, planeria, more algae and more dying plants lead me to just strip it down.

the second scape was much better. the purpose of that tank was to make it into a self sustaining tank by combining aquaponics, walsted methods and a deep sand bed. it would of worked but i made on dumb mistake and shortly after the plants had major deficiencies and started to die. the worst part was that i couldnt stop the melting and rooting.

now is my third attempt and this time i have applied research, inspiration and imagination to this scape. 

This was inspired by the lake i live next to. it has weeping willow trees that grow alongside the lake so i thought why not recreate it.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

so one day after spending watching aquascape videos and randomly browsing through google images i found a website called Bonsaidriftwood.com. there i saw these really awesome custom made bonsai trees which are all handmade from different driftwood.

i knew i had to get these for the tank. i bought all three sizes (large, meduim and small)


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

now the trick part was getting the hardscape right. after i had drained the water, put the fish and shrimp in buckets and removed the sand i started with the hardscape. it took me a good hour but i finally got what i was looking for.

in the picture you can even make out where the river will be because of the water


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Tank: 61 x 41 x 58 Juwel Lido 30 UK Gallons

Lights: Odyssea Quad T5HO Unit, 2 x 24W 6400K Bulbs, 2 x 24W IQuatics Plant Growth Bulbs. 9 hours per day

Substrate: ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia mixed with ADA Power Sand, White Sand

Hardscape: Lava Rocks, Bonsai Driftwood

Filtration: Tetra Tec EX800 Plus, Pondguru setup with biohome ultimate and ultra mini

CO2: 1.5% Glutaraldehyde Solution in DI water (its the same stuff used in Seachen Excel and EasyCarbo)

Fertilisers: EI Ferts

Plants: Eleocharis parvula, Hydrocotyle Tripantita, Water Lettuce, Weeping Moss, Taiwan Moss, Christmas Moss and some stem plant

Fish: 12 Strawberry Rasbora, 4 Otocinclus sp, 7 Pygmy Cories, 6 Amano Shrimp, 1 Crystal red shrimp (i got it free with the amanos), a ton of Red Cherry Shrimp

and 1 awesome Black Orchid Crowntail Betta. his name is Ryuu (which in Japanese means 'Dragon')

afterwards i started planting. the rocks where covered in a mix of christmas moss and taiwan moss, tree branches where covered in weeping moss, the crack and creaks of the rock and wood is where i put the dwarf pennywort. the rest of the substrate is dwarf hairgrass and at the far back is some randon stem plant.

the bonsai trees obviously represent the willow trees and the sand is suppose to represent the river. i bought nano fish to keep a sense of scale and to make my tank look bigger than it actually is. the rasboras are suppose to be birds and pygmies, shrimp and otos are land animals. Ryuu is actually suppose to be a dragon in the forest.

the water lettuce are supposed to be clouds which the betta (dragon) spends most of its time.

The cherry shrimp and Amano shrimp help clear up excess food with the pygmies and algae with the otos.


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

Subscribing!

It's a very nice scape and a 30 gallon is a good size. I'm working on a 8.6 gallon planted tank at this moment trying make a forest like scape. Well, not easy for sure.

There are many beautiful sceneries in UK. Looking forward to see how these bonsai trees will look when moss grow and get full.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

So I see some minor issues have occurred. One is that the fungus has started to grow. It's not dangerous or anything but it looks ugly and on on branch it almost covered the whole moss.




























Thankfully my trusty shrimps and catfish are on the case. They really like this stuff.





































The other issue is the cloudiness due to a bacteria bloom. I would expect it since I took out a third of the substrate and did a 100% water change. I'm sure it will clear away soon. 

Though it does give the tank a morning misty look with a blue sky


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## BambooTikiBettaGirl84 (Jun 29, 2014)

So this is the most stunning tank I've seen in a very long time! I'm extremely picky but like this is perfect. Because of you, in the spring I'm going to redo my tank but possibly with http://theaquatank.com/Plant/Caloglossa-sp-beccarii-Red-moss instead. 

The bonsai website will be releasing a new product of trees that are on rocks! So I am waiting on seeing what is available then. I have a lot of idea but I do have a question about your trees. You said that they are made up of different driftwoods, did they leave a pamphlet explaining their process or types of driftwood used?

I'm asking only because maybe that is why you have a weird fungus growth happening. Since your shrimp are taking care of it, I wouldn't be worried but just curious how it came to be, ya know? Also before you put your trees in, did you by chance soak them in hot water to cleanse them of tannis or bacteria?


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## Innerbeauty (Jul 31, 2014)

Very, very beautiful! I look forward to seeing this tank grown out!


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

BambooTikiBettaGirl84 said:


> So this is the most stunning tank I've seen in a very long time! I'm extremely picky but like this is perfect. Because of you, in the spring I'm going to redo my tank but possibly with http://theaquatank.com/Plant/Caloglossa-sp-beccarii-Red-moss instead.
> 
> The bonsai website will be releasing a new product of trees that are on rocks! So I am waiting on seeing what is available then. I have a lot of idea but I do have a question about your trees. You said that they are made up of different driftwoods, did they leave a pamphlet explaining their process or types of driftwood used?
> 
> I'm asking only because maybe that is why you have a weird fungus growth happening. Since your shrimp are taking care of it, I wouldn't be worried but just curious how it came to be, ya know? Also before you put your trees in, did you by chance soak them in hot water to cleanse them of tannis or bacteria?


Thanks :-D. i know they used spiderwood but the rest im not sure. its not really a big deal because its aquarium safe. this isnt the first time i have had this fungus issue with driftwood. its a natural thing that happens to all driftwood. boiling the wood doesnt have any effect on the fungus. it will just grow back. my cories, shrimp, otos and snails seem to love so im not complaining.

i didnt soak it. two of the trees just sank in the tank but the biggest tree had to be anchored. it took a few days for it to soak. and i didnt boil it but the wood doesnt release and tannis.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Innerbeauty said:


> Very, very beautiful! I look forward to seeing this tank grown out!


thanks, same i cant wait to see what it becomes


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Really awesome. I didn't see Ryuu in any of the pictures. Was he there? I am on a phone and there are advertisment popups over each picture (not your fault, and does that happen to everyone else?).

The shrimp are adorable. That is a gorgeous lake you live by.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

BettaSplendid said:


> Really awesome. I didn't see Ryuu in any of the pictures. Was he there? I am on a phone and there are advertisment popups over each picture (not your fault, and does that happen to everyone else?).
> 
> The shrimp are adorable. That is a gorgeous lake you live by.


Cheers, I will show more pictures of Ryuu tomorrow since the tank has been growing more


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## dannifluff (Jul 5, 2015)

Subbing, as I said before, a very beautiful tank.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

So big update guys. Edens Gate has been up and running for about a week (actually 6 days) and plant growth is exploding.


















First I should start of with the stem plant. If someone could tell me what it is I would really appreciate it. But besides that it's growing really well and fast. Infact all the plants are growing fast. Even my house plants in the HOB.





















The hydrocotyle sp Japan is growing like weed. Tomorrow, when I do a water change I will push it into the substrate so that it will creep. But this plant is slowly becoming my favorite.





































http://fishlore-fishlorecom.netdna-ssl.com/fishforum/images/imported/2015/10/9.jpg

Another plant which tbh always grows fast with me is moss. All the mosses are growing fast. I'm seeing new, bright green growth on the weeping moss, Christmas moss and Taiwan moss.






















































Female cherry contrasting well with the weeping moss










Next up is the dwarf hairgrass which is finally showing runners and new growth.






































Alongside Ei dosing and 9 hours of 4 t5HO bulbs I also use my own DIY liquid c02 which is the same concentration as excel. The recommended dosage for me is 4ml a day. Whereas, I dose 69ml a day. Mind you guys I have also proven wrong a few myths about liquid carbon. 


1. It doesn't kill shrimp in high dosage or overdose. All my female shrimp have breed normally. The young are growing up normally. I haven't had any shrimp die cause of it or run around my tank trying escape. I'm dosing 23x times the recommended dosage and no ill effects. I even have a crystal red shrimp which isn't effected either.

2. It does not kill moss in high dosage. If anything it's doing the opposite. My moss has been growing faster even since I increased the dosage. Especially the weeping moss, which on some occasions has even pearled.

3.it can he used to grow dwarf hairgrass. My hairgrass is producing runners and spreading at a reasonable rate. It's not growing as fast as it would with diy or pressurised but it's growing.

4. Bettas can live with shrimp (debatable but certainly not impossible). well my betta is living with my shrimp peacefully. it does all come down to the personality of the betta but its not impossible to have a betta with shrimp, or a community tank. my shrimplets are also surviving in the tank with him in there.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Also I haven't seen any algae growth in my tank. No threads, spots or brown. 










Moving on to my stocking. I have added 6 more pygmy cories

http://fishlore-fishlorecom.netdna-ssl.com/fishforum/images/imported/2015/10/25.jpg




































and 6 boraras urophthalmoides 









Sorry for the fuzzy pictures they were taken in my phone and the fish are really fast and hyper


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

The shrimps arw doing awesome. My female cherries have released their eggs and somewhere in my tank are tons of baby shrimps (hiding from Ryuu). Also other females are saddled with yellow eggs this time (the last ones were green eggs). My crystal red shrimp is surprisingly surviving my hardwater tank. It's eating, grazing and acting normal. Thought it would die by now but it's alive and active. Can someone pls explain this.


































































































Over all they are healthy and enjoying the forest 

The rasbora are just everywhere. Always quick to eat. Heck some have resulted to scavenging when all their food has finished 

There was actually a little battle between the rasbora and Cherry shrimp but you can see who won.




























Some quick community pictures














































The Ottos are just chilling. Chill in the day and eat at night. Unfortunately, Im down to 4 now. The second death happen before the scape was made. No idea how why it died.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

It seems the new batch of babies will be coming soon. The overdose of excel doesn't seem to effect them.










And here is a lazy Oto chilling in the trees


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Now for the fish you've all been waiting for. The Black Dragon of Eden. Ryuu the Black Orchid dragon


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

and some more























































I just love this guy. He makes the tank complete.

Here some shots of the aquarium overall


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## BambooTikiBettaGirl84 (Jun 29, 2014)

Absolutely stunning! You are deff an inspiration for me. I'll need to add you as a friend here so we can chat about our tanks and shrimp.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

BambooTikiBettaGirl84 said:


> Absolutely stunning! You are deff an inspiration for me. I'll need to add you as a friend here so we can chat about our tanks and shrimp.


Cheers mate. Yeah sure why not


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

Definitely subbing! Your tank is amazing :O


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Thanks blueridge. Can't wait to see the final product


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

aqua hero said:


> Thanks blueridge. Can't wait to see the final product


Me too!


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

So it's the beginning of week 3

So the tank has grown alot. I did change my bulbs from 6400K to 10000K because I didn't like the yellow tint. The plants have grown exactly the same. No algae not random deaths in plants or fish. The weeping moss on some branches died off either because they were the ones I hot online or the fungus covered it for to long and it died. Luckily my store had weeping moss in stock and I just re attached it.

My HOB filter just died but the Potho plant is still growing so I might just keep it there. I have a huge bottle of a complete fertiliser which I will use for it.

When I get my student card I will buy a DIY CO2 kit so that growth increases but as for the liquid Co2, well my plants are growing fine. Even my DHG is spreading.

Cherry shrimp are breeding like rabbits. Ryuu explores alot more and interacts alot more which is nice. He doesn't flare at his reflection which is interesting too


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## BambooTikiBettaGirl84 (Jun 29, 2014)

Your pictures are super small this time around. Anyway you can make them bigger? I kinda liked having them big to see all the great detail you have put into the tank.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

I just finished reading and know I'm up to date hehe! Wow, I'm very overwhelmed in a good way! This journal is amazing!!! I'll be waiting for more updates!


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

BambooTikiBettaGirl84 said:


> Your pictures are super small this time around. Anyway you can make them bigger? I kinda liked having them big to see all the great detail you have put into the tank.


Honestly I have no idea what happened. My computer was just messing up, I will upload bigger pictures


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

litelboyblu said:


> I just finished reading and know I'm up to date hehe! Wow, I'm very overwhelmed in a good way! This journal is amazing!!! I'll be waiting for more updates!


Thank, I make updates every 1-2 weeks


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

I'd also like to point out. Im very jealous of your fantastic talent!!!


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)




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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

litelboyblu said:


> I'd also like to point out. Im very jealous of your fantastic talent!!!


looool Thank you :-D Research, imagination, and inspiration is all you need


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## IrishWhisky (Aug 25, 2015)

Your tank is amazing. I just started doing research into aquascaping and I cant wait to set up a tank. Thank you for your post about the bonsai driftwood. I have been looking for exactly that. Cant wait to see more pictures.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

new update guys


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Well I'm not sure what week it is lool but here's what the tank looks now.

There is some good news and some bad news 

Good news that all the mosses are growing in nicely on the wood and lava rocks. Also my cheery shrimp population is going out of control and the hydrocotyle sp Japan is exploding with growth.






















The bad news are Snails. Lots and lots of snails. Mostly ramshorn and pond snails. I defeated the ramshorn before but they have seem to come back. It's so bad that they got into my spray bar and blocked the spray holes. Water pressure built up and the tip of my bar came off and now I can't find it . For a week I haven't had much flow in my tank. No algae problems came but that stupid oily film built up. I had to do some DIY to increase the flow. I have to wait for my LFS to have more assassin snails in stock. Right now i only have two.










Another minor is that my hydrocotyle on the right is growing slower than the one on the left. Not sure why but both are healthy. I will give it some more time.










Overall everything seems to he growing in well. And Ryuu is enjoying him self. Soon i will be using diy c02 and i will buy some tiger shrimp to add some diversity to the tank. might re name the tank to Tiger Woods XD


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

sorry for the small sized pictures. i dont know why they are coming out like that


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## dannifluff (Jul 5, 2015)

It's coming on very nicely! How about making a snail trap to do a bit of removal while you wait for more assassins to come in? You can just stick a blanched lettuce leaf in tupperware box, make some holes in the top, and leave it in for a little while.


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

dannifluff said:


> It's coming on very nicely! How about making a snail trap to do a bit of removal while you wait for more assassins to come in? You can just stick a blanched lettuce leaf in tupperware box, make some holes in the top, and leave it in for a little while.


I know all those tricks but I prefer the assassin snail method better because I like the way they look, I enjoy watching them chase the pests and eat them and when they breed I can sell them.

The only downfall is that my beloved MTS will be eaten but then again they to have gotten out of control. My assassins will keep them in check.


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## dannifluff (Jul 5, 2015)

Yeah I tend to find MTS breed fast enough to keep the assassin snails happy, lol. I have baby assassin snails at the moment... they're adorable!


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Well I have very bad news, unfortunately my black crowntail betta was infected by a body fungus and died. I blame myself because I was being lazy I neglected the tank for a while. 

I'm so stupid, dammit . Also the tank took quite the beating as well especially the weeping moss. Luckily I didn't get any thread algae issues. 

Because of this tradegy I am determined to.keep on schedule with my maintenance and bring the tank back. I do need to buy a new betta tomorrow. He will be a pure white crowntail betta. His name will be "Dai Tenshi" which in Japanese means arch angel.

Tomorrow I will show pictures 

R.I.P Ryuu &#55357;&#56866;


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

Okay the Co2 system and new plants are in action.



















My weeping moss has got alot of burns from the liquid carbon I was using so I won't be using that's anymore. I have seem alot of new fronds popping out so hopefully the pressurised co2 will bring it back to life.










New plants I have got are:

Eloecharis Acicularis
Eloecharis sp mini 
Eloecharis paruvlus 
Ammania sp Bonsai 
Dwarf baby tears
Mini pellia 
Phoenix moss

For now Im putting 6 t5HO bulbs but later I will reduce it to 4.










Fine tuning the Co2 rate to 1 bubble per second is a real pain in the ass. I'm still fiddling with it.

There is some bad news though. An old enemy has returned to my aquarium. HYDRA. yep it came with the phoenix moss. Long ago they almost wiped out my shrimp colony.










Fortunately, after my triumphant victory I saved some dewormer left just incase the villain would return to my forest.










Also I have a question, my spiro glass diffuser is working but I'm not seeing the "spiral' effect in it. Why is that?

Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


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## aqua hero (May 13, 2015)

After finding and add on Gumtree for blue carbon rili shrimp I fell for the temptation and bought them. I got 6 shrimp Altogether. Three berried females, one normal female, two males and a baby shrimp which I got for free.

Before I bought them I learnt that they can interbreed with the cherries which is no good. So I made a nice diy trap from a cut out bottle and algae wafers. 










The next problem I had was were would I put them. I have alot of Cherry shrimp so it will take a while to catch them all or even get close. I needed the breeding box for my Blue carbons. Soo, I dug up some old equipment and found a spare aqua zonic 25w heater and my filter pump. It was supposed to be broken but when I plugged it in it just miraculous worked. Anyways, with some suction cups and prefilter and a bucket (as well as quality British engineering) I was able to make a mini quarantine bucket for my shrimp. I have alot of buyers as well so it will be a good place to store them where I can easily pick them up and give away.

Another thing I was trying to do was catch all my mirco rasboras. Catching the smallest of the micro rasbora sp with a net in a forest. What could possibly go wrong...

...Well nothing ￼ 

I took some advice from a guy called ADU Aquascaping on youtube and was able to catch all of them at night so easy. Less than 20 minutes. I am replacing them with green neon tetra for my scape.

They are now in my black bucket along with the cherries ready for sale tomorrow.

As for the aquascape well the plants are pearling and growing fast. Things seem to be going well. I will post pictures tomorrow 

Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


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