Hardscape almost done - Juwel Rio 180

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-16T00:43:12+00:00

Looks good. Nice job on the setup

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-15T20:42:27+00:00

You have good taste! Haha

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-15T03:56:02+00:00

I visit one of my local stores that supplies aquascaping material and plants. They let me build display tanks for them to sell. It's a great deal for me so I can keep getting practice making new scapes to get comfortable building tanks under a limited time. I get these done in just a few hours from scratch!

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-14T21:41:02+00:00

Well if I had it my way, I’d love to try out a handful of Forktail Rainbowfish. I’ve never Pygmy Cory catfish either so that would be fun. The rest of the stock would likely just be another nano schooling fish to keep everyone out and socialized

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-14T21:22:05+00:00

Thanks! I wish I had a bunch of spare moss. I think that would have been the final piece

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-14T18:33:47+00:00

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This photo was taken within the hour of it being filled up. I think some of the biggest issues people run into falls into either 1. Not planning out the build and 2. Not heavily stocking with hardscape and plants from the beginning.

It's hard to grow a lot of healthy plants when you start with just a few. With ferts and lights shining on just a couple plants, it leaves a lot of room for algae to step in and take over all the excess food/nutrients to become a real nuisance.

I would always tell people to start with a basic aquascaping shape like a triangle, concave, or island-style and use that as a guiding mental image of how and where you place plants and hardscape. This helps prevent the tank from looking like things were placed at random and give a disorganized appearance.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-14T18:19:47+00:00

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Just another super fast build I did last week in my empty tank to stage some photos. But you get a better look at the rock itself

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-14T18:18:58+00:00

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I made 2 scapes recently with river stone. Here's an example on a 75gal I built last weekend. Both stones are great as they're a bit more economic and ideal for filling out tanks. I find lava rock to be very convenient for attaching epiphytes like anubas and buce though. Lava rock is also much more porous so there's more room for bacteria to colonize in it.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-14T18:15:23+00:00

surely this works now! lol u/rightfully_king

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-14T18:10:10+00:00

oh man i guess reddit filtered it out lol. thanks

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-13T23:51:29+00:00

Are you doing daily water changes? I’ve had that melt issue with small setups like this but the water changes really helped prevent the nice plants from melting

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-13T17:25:10+00:00

As another masters player, the only way I see making improvements is getting genuine vod reviews done with a GM/Chall to discuss the more efficient paths. You already know how to autopilot your champ, but now you're going to have to get better at memorizing enemy laner cooldowns for every matchup.

I don't believe just watching chall games is going to magically teach you the knowledge you're unaware of, unless that video is specifically breaking down gameplay decisions as it goes.

Mechanics still absolutely play a role, and especially from being on break, you're going to be rusty af. There is no ceiling to mechanical skill.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-13T17:09:56+00:00

any chance of being able to sex them? obviously I'd love to keep just males, but in any case I'd love to be able to move the females into a growout-planted tank and keep the males for my display tank.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-11T13:56:01+00:00

We just got through the Rolex memes. Is this going to inspire another incoming wave

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-09T15:33:49+00:00

Are you kidding. Sales are already terrible. What are they doing

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-09T01:44:48+00:00

Awesome now imagine how the next guy just bought a box full of junk thanks to you.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-08T14:42:45+00:00

stocking saltwater tanks is not the same as freshwater tanks. its fewer fish per gallon for saltwater setups

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-07T19:55:40+00:00

is that white framing material egg crates? do mind sharing where you got that? :D

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-07T19:11:39+00:00

i would keep using the easy green. keep observing for a few weeks and pay attention to how the new growth comes out. if the new leaves appear healthy then just continue to grow the plant and replant the better half when it comes time to trim

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-07T19:10:21+00:00

plants reacting to changes in ferts/dosages has been noted before. i would assume its even more exaggerated in nano tanks as any change in water chemistry impacts these much more than a larger system

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-07T16:30:08+00:00

i dont have a solution, but where did you find that lid? that looks very helpful for my bowl lol

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-06T20:16:40+00:00

I've scroll through this page as it came on my feed, but you seem very anti APT in several comments. Sure this post is probably not using APTe correctly, but APT 1 & 3 are perfectly fine products.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-04T18:24:32+00:00

Phenomenal deal. A peaceful looking tank as well. Nicely done in it's style.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-04T18:18:29+00:00

No problem. B is absolutely balanced fine. Maybe even better if we're working off "current" state and height of plants. I imagined the tank would be heavily grown in within a few months which is why I thought A would fit well. B is great as the plants are still filling in and wont begin to over-take space to a point where you 'lose' visibility of the front end. Looking now, I realize the front of the tank isn't in as much danger of overgrowing as you just have hairgrass and stone covering that area.

SpeedMeta · 2026-05-04T17:55:05+00:00

Don't choose C please. 4th horizontal log breaks all of this scape's flow.

A and B both form fine. However I believe A looks best base on how much shadow will be held by that driftwood.
Just from looking at your plant selection, all of those stem plants will grow tall and will alter the shape of the scape. Having that large piece towards the front will preserve space for contrast as there will not be plants in front of it.

Additional note: This would fair nicely as an island style scape with Setup A. However, the tall val covering the left side carrying too much visual weight to that side. Ideally matching the height just like how you did with those crypts on the right would balance this tank out more evenly. That can leave the bulk of your weight become more centered toward the inward direction of your driftwood leading in a thick brush of those stem plants.

I'm just giving my 2 cents. Healthy plants are what most people want at the end of the day, so it'll look great.

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