using homemade soil for substrate

[huapala]

its not really wood. it is a type of fruiting palm and this section was taken from the dried leftovers of the fruit bundle. I dont think that this material is readily avaliable except in the Pacific Islands.

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[78Jimmy]

Excellent looking tank.. I'm envious of your options.. We're pretty limited to plant selection out in the middle of Canada.. lol

 

[huapala]

Excellent looking tank.. I'm envious of your options.. We're pretty limited to plant selection out in the middle of Canada.. lol

thank you I am pretty lucky here on Oahu, we have access to a lot of flora.

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[huapala]

Added the new Danio rerio from the QT/growout tank to the 20 gallon long. They acclimated very well and within minutes the adults and juveniles were schooling together.

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[plantbrain]

Note, you can use dried old guava leaves also for soil make up. Similar to Indian almond leaves that have been the rage.
If you search up some of the stream beds at higher elevations, guava makes good driftwood. Not bad for smoking meat either.
May as well, it's an invasive species.

I found some on the North side in several streams. No one really looks for stuff locally sometimes. The lava rock also, can be used and there's plenty to pick from.
Nice colors, texture. Not taking any off the islands though.

 

[huapala]

yeah all my decor comes from around my house. I primarly use strawberry guava for a quick food source and the dried wood is great for burning down into K2O for my terrestrial plants.

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[huapala]

Leaving the original substrate intact, I finally started the rescaping of my 20 gallon long. I call this work in progress "The Grotto"

I will be adding compressed CO2 as well as some dwarf hair grass and ludwigia broad leaf.


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[huapala]

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[ktrom13]

I dont know where your inspiration comes from but it looks good I think i see moss trees in the making, am i right? I want to make a moss tree for my 10 gal but i still havent found that perfect piece of driftwood yet. Btw i finally got my 40B stocked last Sunday anyways back on topic, good work and hope to see this sucker fill up

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[huapala]

I dont know where your inspiration comes from but it looks good

I love looking at large natural spaces (such as river beds, mountain ranges, forests, beaches, cliffs)and after looking I start deconstructing the most aesthetic properties and rearranging them in my mind. Then its out to the field to collect the decor. While out searching for decor I am often inspired by my findings; the different pieces of nature that find me help in completing the picture I construct in my mind. And since I am new to this whole game, I am consistently learning and gaining different perspective by reading valuable information posted by the members (including you Kyle) of this forum and others.

I think i see moss trees in the making, am i right? I want to make a moss tree for my 10 gal but i still havent found that perfect piece of driftwood yet.

He pololei no oe! You are correct! I am setting up my CO2 (DIY) tonight and hope to see some good growth from the Xmas moss soon (Its winter so only fitting for the branches to be scarce of foliage LOL). The material used to recreate the tree frame is some scrap material found while on a walk after a very windy day. After inspecting the piece thoroughly I realized that it was part of a fruiting palm (the piece where the fruits cling) the genus name is Pritchardia. Its better than any drift wood i have seen, it has a really cool bonsai tree look to it.

Btw i finally got my 40B stocked last Sunday anyways back on topic, good work and hope to see this sucker fill up

Sweet man! 40 gallons give you a lot more options and bigger tanks just look better IMO. Thank you for all of your kind words and comments I hope to see some pictures of your 40 gallon soon!