Saturday 30 October 2010


Mini M layout tank




Tema Layout               :           “ Freedom Fieldy “
Spesifikasi  Tank :
Ukuran ( PxLxT ) cm  :           36x22x26 cm
Filter                            :           Hang-On Back Waterfall 340 L/h
Pencahayaan              :           23w Leutech 7200 K
Substrat                       :           Nisso Soil for Plant
Tanaman                     :
            Carpetting       :           Utricullaria Graminifolia
            Midground       :           Anubias Nana, Anubias Nana var.Petite, Fissiden Fontanus
            Background    :           Ludwiga Arcuata
Hardscape                  :           Ranting Santigi, batu Andesit
Fauna                          :           Udang Red Cherry, ikan Sundadanio Axelrodi
Informasi Tambahan  :           Nutrisi pupuk cair Wonder-Gro ( Micro & Macro Nutrient )
                                                Nutrisi pupuk tancap Wonder-Gro Tablet
                                                ANS nano Diffuser kaca.dengan Co2 tabung 1 bps
                                                Penyalaan lampu 8 jam/hari

Ukuran aquarium kecil ( nano ) ber volume 20 liter merupakan sebuah tantangan yang sulit di dunia aquarium tanaman. Untuk menghasilkan tampilan seimbang dan mempunyai tema harus di tentukan pilihan material dasar dan juga pemilihan tanaman yang sesuai untuk mendapatkan layout sesuai yang di inginkan.
Dalam setup ini penulis menggunakan pilihan material kayu dan batu, ukuran di sesuaikan dengan aquarium nya. Pilihan cabang-cabang dari kayu santigi untuk membuat kesan alami dan pemilihan tanaman Fissiden Fontanus di kayu tersebut membuat kayu tersebut terlihat lebih alami. Material utama di posisikan di 1/3 panjang aquarium untuk menjadi nilai utama sebuah layout aquascape, tanaman anubias yang di ikat pada kayu dan batu di posisikan di bawah kayu untuk menambah keharmonisan nilai utama layout tersebut.
Penggunaan tanaman untuk bagian depan dan merata hingga kebelakang di pilih Utricularia Graminifolia, tanaman ini dipilih karena tanaman tersebut memiliki struktur yang menyerupai gelombang pada bentuk daun nya. Karena tanaman ini tergolong tanaman berdaun halus dan kecil penanaman nya harus menggunakan pinset agar tanaman bisa di masukkan ke dalam media tanam dengan penempatan yang baik juga.
Kemudian untuk melengkapi tampilan layout yang di pilih untuk aquarium ini di butuhkan satu bagian yang harus di tanam dengan tanaman berstruktur tinggi dan daun yang menyebar untuk membuat kesan alami seperti di hutan. Pilihan tanaman jenis stem Ludwiga Arcuata di pilih untuk mengisi bagian belakang aquarium. Tanaman ini juga di tanam dengan bantuan pinset krn struktur batang yang kecil.
Setelah semua tanaman di tempatkan untuk layout aquarium, kemudian dilakukan pengisian air dan menjalankan filtrasi. Media untuk filter di pilih sebagai tempat berkembangnya bakteri pengurai, media ceramic ring dan bio-sponge di gunakan untuk HOB tersebut. Untuk menghidupkan tanaman secara optimal harus di berikan kebutuhan-kebutuhan tanaman tersebut, salah satu di antaranya adalah Karbon Dioksida ( CO2 ). Penulis memberikan Co2 tersebut bersumber dari tabung yg berisi Co2 dan proses pelarutannya menggunakan alat diffuser kaca ukuran kecil, maka hasil nya Co2 akan terlarut dan berukuran sangat kecil sehingga dapat di manfaatkan tanaman.
Untuk kebutuhan nutrisi di butuhkan dua unsure yaitu Macro dan Micro, penulis menggunakan produk Wonder-Gro yang asli buatan penduduk Indonesia. Dosis pemberian di sesuaikan dengan ukuran aquarium dan tanaman yang ada di dalam  nya. Yang perlu di perhatikan jika setup aquarium tanaman dengan menggunakan Soil pabrikan adalah proses siklus untuk pembentukan bakteri pengurai, dan keseimbangan nutrisi di dalamnya.
Untuk menjaga keseimbangan di dalam aquarium, di lakukan pergantian air sebanyak 30% setiap minggu hingga tercapainya tujuan penyeimbangan tersebut. Setelah tercapainya keseimbangan kemudian di masukkan biota seperti ikan dan udang hias, tetapi jumlahnya tetap di jaga tidak terlalu banyak agar tidak terjadi peningkatan jumlah kotoran.
Layout  “ Freedom Fieldy “ di setup pada bulan September 2009 dan masih di pertahankan perawatan nya untuk mendapatkan “final Scape”. Untuk menambah nilai alamiah dan eksotisme layout, ikan dan biota lain di usakan menjadi satu kesatuan untuk mencapai keharmonisan  layout tersebut.

                        

Golden Ratio, Rule of the Thirds, Focal Point

Layout merupakan tantangan terbesar dalam aquascape, ide dan kreatifitas merupakan hak dari aquarist untuk di utarakan. Tetapi bagaimanakah agar layout tersebut dapat di nikmati masyarakat ramai? Ini beberapa tahapan yang selama ini saya pelajari dan ingin berbagi dengan teman-teman di sini. Dan hal tersebut bukan berarti saya sudah menguasai nya dengan baik, karena forum adalah tempat berdiskusi. Baiklah saya mulai dengan :

Golden Ratio :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio
Adalah pembagian matematika untuk mendapatkan ukuran yang paling baik, dalam hal aquascape penempatan inti dari sebuah layout

Rule of the thirds :

Seperti permainan tic-tac-toe, tank di bagi menjadi 9 kotak dengan ukuran yg sama. Hal tersebut merupakan teknik dalam fotografi dan dapat di gunakan untuk layout yang baik.

Berbicara mengenai layout terlalu luas cakupan nya karena hasil dari sebuah layout adalah implementasi dari ide sesorang. Ada yang memperhatikan nya dan ada yang mengabaikan hal tersebut.

Jika aquarist tersebut menginginkan kreasi dan ide nya dapat di nikmati masyarakat umum, sama seperti mengamati lukisan karena dalam era digital sekarang hasil ahir tersebut di sebar luaskan dalam bentuk gambar, dan tentunya hal tersebut berbeda jika pengamat melihat aquarium secara langsung.

Berdasarkan penelitian, dan seni ( lukis dan fotografi ) pengelihatan berkaitan erat dengan otak kiri dan kanan. Sehingga fokus untuk sebuah pengamatan harus di satu titik. Dalam fotografi ada istilah Focal Point atau Main Focal, yaitu inti tampilan dari sebuah foto dan hal tersebut yang harus di fokus kan dalam menciptakan sebuah layout.

Focal Point :

Erat kaitan nya dengan Golden Ratio / Rule of the Thirds, tempatkan inti dari layout tersebut kira-kira 1:1.68 dari ukuran tank. Focal point bisa berupa Hardscape, Tanaman berwarna, Tanaman Unik, Depth dan kreatifitas.
Hal yang harus di perhitungkan dalam menciptakan sebuah layout :

1. Tema sebuah layout
2. Hardscape
3. Tanaman foreground, midground, background
4. Biota sebagai Point of Interest

Point of Interest di dalam aquascape berupa posisi ikan yang sebagai biota alami sebuat ekosistem, menjadi pendukung dan penambah nilai ke indahan dari keseluruhan layout. Ikan yang berenang secara bergerombol ( schooling ) adalah salah satu POI dalam layout.

Golden Section :

Setelah layout tersebut berjalan dengan baik dan kombinasi dari keseluruhan point di atas, hasil foto harus bisa menampilkan titik utama focal point dan POI dan ini yang di sebut dengan Golden section.

Saya sendiri belum menguasai dan belum mencapai keseluruhan point di atas. Kalau ada kekurangan mohon yang lebih berpengalaman dapat menambahkan dan memperbaiki nya.

Wassalam,
Aldy

my creation









Safe Rock and Wood Aquascaping

kutipan
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/aquascaping.php
An aquarium without decoration seldom looks good and there are numerous ways to decorate or "aquascape" your aquarium. Some prefer to use unnatural decorations using plastic plants and sunken plastic ships, divers and treasure chests, other prefer a more natural feel. This article will focus on the later but everything you learn in this equally true if you choose to decorate an unnatural aquarium. Especially if you don't buy all the decorations in a pet store but also use decorations you found or made yourself.

Before allowing anything to enter your aquarium, it is very important to make sure that it is safe for aquarium use. Never use anything without knowing for sure that it is safe.  There are numerous reasons to why a piece of decoration can be none aquarium safe and that therefore not are to be used in aquascaping and there are some decorations that only are suitable in certain types of aquariums as they affect water values.
To be completely aquarium safe a piece of aquarium decoration should be non toxic and not affect the water chemistry or physics in any way.  If a decoration affects the water chemistry or physics it can still be a good in certain aquariums where the effect they have are positive. Lime stone decorations are as an example beneficial in the aquascaping in an Lake Malawi aquarium as it helps buffer the high pH. The same effect would be very damaging in a discus or other low pH soft water aquarium.

Today there are a lot of ways to very exactly measure the existence of just about any chemical compound. These methods are however only seldom available to the aquarist and aquarists have to make sure that the decoration they use are safe in more primitive ways. There are simple ways to check for certain quality in a piece of decoration such as pouring a drop or two of vinegar on a piece of decoration to test for the present of chalk. It will start to bubble if there are chalk present.  (Chalk raises pH). These easy methods usually only checks for the presence of certain compound and will therefore not guarantee that the tested decoration is safe. The easiest way to test for "all" possible dangers is test using the decoration in an aquarium with "guinea pig" fish.  Make sure to use same type of water that you are going to use in your aquarium in the test aquarium and boil the decoration before putting it in the test setup. If the fish seems healthy and happy after 2-3 weeks in the test setup and the water parameters remain the same during the test period it usually means that the piece of decoration is safe. At least in a setup similar to the test setup. It should however be noted that this method isn't 100% safe unless a considerable longer test period is used.  2-3 weeks are enough to make the findings reasonable reliable.  Be sure not to use a too hardy species in the test as it might survive and thrive in conditions that would kill the fish you plan to have in the aquarium in question.
Early in this article I said that I was going to focus on natural ways to decorate your aquarium and this primarily mean aquscaping the aquarium using roots, rocks and plants even if other things such as leaves sometimes are used. I will not say anything about that as that is an entirely different topic but it can be good to know that some plants are toxic and not suitable to be used in aquariums. Even some plants sold in pet stores are can release toxins if broken and should therefore not be used.
There are 3 main sources of the roots and rocks needed for your aquscaping.
  1. Pet stores
  2. Other stores
  3. In the wild
Many people will tell you that the decorations attained in the pet stores are safe and that the risks raises the further down the list you go. I.e. that the risks of getting toxic or otherwise unsuitable is the largest with roots or stones collected in the wild. The truth is however not that simple. You can not be sure that everything you can buy in the pet store is aquarium safe and you should preferable test every piece of decoration you get regardless of where you get them. There is as an example a lot of decoration that affects the pH of your water in your local pet shop.  It is worth remembering that even if a product have been sealed to make it non reactive with your water the seal might brake and the decoration start leaking toxins or affect your water.
It is true that roots or rocks collected in the wild are more likely to cause you problem than the counterpart from the zoo regardless of how you treat the roots and rocks. You should however despite this take the same precautions regardless of the source of the decoration as the risk is present regardless of source.
Things and especially wood found under water is often referred to as safer as and more suitable for aquariums than things found on land. This might be true but they are still not guaranteed to be safe and should still be tested. I benefit of wood found under water is that it usually is waterlogged and sinks. Dry wood often has lower density and the water and need to be kept in place artificially to prevent it from floating up.
Some roots, rocks or other decorations can be unsuitable for an aquarium even if they are totally no reactive with the water in your aquarium. This is as example the case with very sharp rocks as sharp rocks can hurt your fish.

When you finally have found your aquarium decorations you need to put together you aquascaping and it is than important to remember that the aquarium decoration shouldn't only be beautiful but also offer the fish an environment they thrive in.  The aquascaping should allow the fish the possibility to form territories, to hide and find shelter, to find suitable breeding grounds and to show any other behavior the fish species in question might have.

There are many ways to create a beautiful aquarium but there are some tips that can be good to try and remember. Avoid symmetry. Nature is chaos and a too neatly ordered aquarium will look strange. Try to great a few natural focus points in the aquariums and try to create contrast between areas next to each other in the aquarium, Plant narrow leafed plants next to round leafed plants etc.  Think through the aquascaping before getting started and try to stick to the intended plan and the thought behind it as much as possible.

Friday 29 October 2010

Aquarium Aquascape Design Ideas

Kutipan dari 
http://www.fishlore.com/aquascape_ideas.htm
For many fish tank hobbyists, aquascaping can be one of the most enjoyable parts about setting up a fish tank. Decorating your aquarium can be quite fun, but coming up with a good aquascape is not just about making the tank look nice. You really should take into account the tank's future inhabitants when figuring out what you need to do. This is where you get to exercise both sides of your brain to try and come up with something that is not only nice to look at but something that is functional as well.
Research Fish and Animals First
Ideally, you should research and decide on the fish and any other animals you want to keep before you even buy a tank. Many freshwater hobbyists think the common pleco is a cool fish to have and indeed it is. But, the common pleco really has no place in a tank smaller than 55 gallons as adults.

Many saltwater hobbyists are really taken by many of the tangs (surgeonfish). Without research, they have no clue that tangs really need a large tank for adequate swimming space. Dottybacks are another popular species and one that needs hiding spaces to feel secure. Creating hiding places for your dottyback is an important consideration in your aquarium aquascaping plans.
For the future reef tank keepers out there, some corals need intense aquarium lighting whereas others prefer less lighting. Figuring out which corals you would like to keep may dictate the arrangement of the saltwater live rock in your tank. For instance, if you want to keep some light loving corals you may need to build up the rockwork so that you could place these corals with the intense lighting requirements higher in the tank.
Hopefully you can start to see the importance of figuring out what you want to keep before you buy your first piece of fish tank equipment.
Keep Aquarium Maintenance In Mind
You've got your tank setup and it looks fantastic! Everyone compliments you on how nice it looks and you're feeling really good. However, a week or two goes by and it's time for some routine fish tank maintenance tasks. Namely, scraping the tank glass to get rid of some unsightly algae that is starting to grow on the front viewing panel of the tank. But wait, aah man, I've put the rock too close to the front glass and I can't get the scraper in between the rock and the glass. Doh!
Another favorite task of many aquarists is gravel vacuuming. Yeah! Don't you just love vacuuming the gravel? Just kidding. However, what must be done, must be done. It's time for another - doh! I've grouped too many of these plants together and it's going to be darn near impossible to effectively clean the gravel in that part of the tank. Looks like the beginnings of a small nitrate factory in the making, which may be a big headache down the road.
The point here is that you want to aquascape effectively. Arrange the fish tank so that future tank maintenance tasks remain as easy and efficient as possible.
Freshwater Tank Decorations

Aquarium ornaments
Roman columns, the Parthenon, funny signs, the classic treasure chest or underwater diver that does double duty as a bubbler, small replica bridges, sunken ships, replica battleships, you name it. The amount of available aquarium decor is vast. Kids almost unanimously get that small underwater diver in their first tank. You know the one. It has a red diving suit and the bubble mask that is waving hello. It's almost like a right of passage of some sort. Driftwood
Often seen in live plant setups, a nice piece of driftwood can be a great centerpiece in a freshwater tank. Don't just pick any old piece of wood and place it into your tank. Get some from you local fish store and ask questions about the curing process. To be on the safe side, you really need to monitor any wood in a separate quarantine tank and use your aquarium test kit to test the water parameters in the quarantine tank for several weeks or months before you can assume that it's safe to add to your main tank.
Rock
Just like driftwood, rocks can make nice additions to freshwater tanks. You sometimes see larger flat shaped rocks that can form ledges that provide hiding places for your fish. A lot of African cichlid lovers really like Texas Holey rock because it contains limestone that slowly dissolves in the tank water increasing the buffering capacity. Just like the driftwood, you will want to thoroughly clean any rock and quarantine it for several weeks/months before putting it into a display tank.
Fake Plants
The nice thing about fake plants is the ease of cleaning them. The bad thing about fake plants is that, well, they sometimes look really fake - especially when the base of the artificial plant pokes out of the substrate.
Live Plants
Live aquarium plants provide functionality as well as beauty. Nitrate removal, oxygenation, shelter and breeding sites are just some of the wonderful benefits of keeping live aquarium plants. Live plants kept properly can help create some truly breathtaking, realistic looking aquarium scenes. There are many live aquarium plants available each having differing lighting and supplement requirements. Research any live plants that you're interested in beforehand is the key.
Saltwater Tank Decorations

Fake Coral or Dead Coral
Fake or Dead Coral will look nice (depends on who you ask) for a very short period of time but can be a major pain in the butt to clean and will make you wish you never shelled out the money for it. Try the more natural route and avoid fake corals and dead coral skeletons altogether. Live Corals
The ultimate aquarium decoration that is actually a living animal! Corals are not for the beginner and should be thoroughly researched beforehand because of their often hefty price tag and demanding water, lighting and feeding requirements.
Live Rock
The great part about live rock, aside from the biological importance of using it, is that you can use aquarium silicon sealant to shape the rocks into any type of design you desire. We now have a new term - "rockscaping". You can also use a drill to create small holes in the rock and use pvc pipes to hold them together to make columns or archways. The rockscaping possibilities are endless. Another thing you'll probably need to do is place the rock directly on the tank bottom and not on top of the sand. Sand burrowing species could get injured or worse if you place the rock on top of the sand.

Here are some typical saltwater live rock layouts to help kick-start your creative genius.

Front View of Island Aquascape Design
Live Rock Island

Front View of Slope Aquascape Design
Live Rock Slope

Front View of Cove Aquascape
Live Rock Cove
Aquarium Background
The tank's background can sometimes really set off the aquascaping in a tank. You have many options here. There are tons of ready-made tank backgrounds that are of picturesque nature scenes, coral reefs, etc. Choose one that you like and one that won't clash with what's going to be in the tank. Another option is to paint the outside back glass of the tank a solid color such as black, dark green, deep blue, slate blue, etc. Appliance spray paint sticks to the glass well. Many hobbyists like painting the outside back glass better than using a tank background because you don't have to worry about water getting in between the background and the back glass. Believe me, it will happen and then it can be a pain to clean it. It's not as big a problem for freshwater tanks as it is for saltwater tanks. In marine tanks, salt creep will eventually make its way in between the background and the glass causing unsightly salt creep on the glass.


More Cool Ideas
For more ideas and to get those creative juices flowing, it can be really helpful to check out what other hobbyists are doing. Check out the fish tanks in the FishLore fish and aquarium picture gallery and the Your Fish Tank pages to get some ideas. Once you get your tank set up, show it off by signing up to become a FishLore member (completely FREE) and you can then upload photos of your masterpiece. Have Fun!