Hideaway Caves Lush Mountainscape Fish Tank

I made the no filter guppy fish tank a few months ago and left space for another aquarium right under it. This spot will accommodate the 35 gallon cube aquarium I picked up the other day. It measures 21 by 21 by 21 and a quarter inches or 53 by 53 by 54 centimeters equating to 132 liters. This is a suitable footprint for the concept we'll be exploring today. I can't take credit for the idea though. You know those weird rock hole things that you always see at the fish store and never know what they could be good for? Well that's where Nate comes in. He built a tank for a client using these cichlid hideaway caves and said we should make a planted version of it. I saw the potential in the idea and that's exactly what we'll do today. We'll use these basic cichlid caves to transform this aquarium into an incredible aquascape. Before Nate's arrival, I did some prep work. First I frosted the back of the tank with window frost film. This will make everything look a little cleaner. I also made substrate bags to retain topsoil. This is regular old topsoil that's free of twigs and other foreign objects. That's important to mention because otherwise it could unnecessarily pollute the water. Anyway I dropped this onto mesh fabric that I locked up with zip ties to create the substrate bags. These are great because I can simply place them in the aquarium to provide the proper nutrients for the plants without making a mess of the tank. Plus it's a much cheaper option than aquasoil. With that addressed, we added the rest of the foundation. We poured in a generous layer of black gravel. As usual we sloped it up toward the back of the enclosure to create a better sense of depth. Now we're finally ready for the fun part, scaping. Alongside the hideaway caves from earlier, we also have a random assortment of branches from previous projects. Mixing different types of wood typically isn't a good look, but it shouldn't matter much for how we'll design this setup. First I dropped in a large central piece of moopawnee wood that will serve as our key element. We'll build the entirety of the scape around this singular piece. From here we began placing the hideaway caves. We set a few of the larger ones in the back and worked our way to the front, adjusting things as necessary. The challenge here is making it all look random and cohesive simultaneously if that makes sense. There are four different sized caves and each size has a single design. Weaving in additional pieces of wood, mixing up the cave sizes, and adjusting their direction made it possible to achieve the desired effect. However, as we built upward, the structure began looking like a pyramid. Initially I didn't care for this because it looked forced and too artificial. We kept going though and I'm glad we did because it worked out in our favor as you'll see shortly. We were nearly at the top when we realized we had to stop stacking and begin locking the pieces together. It's rare to get a scape right on the first try, but this was one of those times. We tweaked it a lot as we went and bouncing ideas off of each other allowed it to happen much faster. Anyway, I mixed up an aquarium safe two part epoxy that I pressed between the contact points. This cures quickly and is easy to apply, especially if you have someone else to stabilize the pieces as you add it. Working together we were able to strengthen it all with ease. As you see here, adding epoxy in key areas will add rigidity to the structure and keep everything in place. We let it cure for 15 minutes and continued stacking. While the first half was relatively easy, we had more of a difficult time bringing the second half together. We only had a few hideaways left, so we had to maximize everything to its fullest. We worked through countless iterations until we came up with something that looked right. Once we did, we applied more epoxy to the appropriate locations. It looked cool as is and had excellent movement. However, the final details always bring the look full circle. For that, we have ancient rattan accent roots. With minimal effort, the delicate textures of these will add crazy detail to the setup. We simply wove them within the caves and branches in a way that didn't require adhesives. Starting at the top and working down was the easiest way and once we got to the bottom, we buried the tips of the roots to keep them from floating. No proper setup is complete without plants. We first cleaned off the roots of various terrestrial plants that grow well in a riparian environment. We decided well in advance that this setup had to go above the rim, and you saw that with the driftwood, but the plants will play into this as well. To add them, I simply wedged their roots between the hardscape elements. We had an array of aquatic plants as well. Java moss was the best solution for hiding the epoxy and making things appear more seamless. Theoretically, it should also cover the hideaways and create remarkable little moss caves. I placed a giant Bucephalandra in the midground, which looks incredible in this design. Within various spots throughout, we added a plethora of Anubias nonapatite. You can never go wrong with this plant, especially in a tank like this that's primarily centered around the hardscape. Within the substrate, I added foxtail and several bunches of Vallisneria. My vision for this design included a forest of Vallisneria that reaches out from the background and frames in the hardscape. It will take some time to get to that point though, but I think it will look incredible. As is though, the result looks pretty cool, and we loved how it came together. That said, how will it look with water? There's only one way to find out, but we had to move it first. Once in place, I filled it up and let it sit overnight. The following day, I accounted for two LED spotlights. To get them to mount appropriately above the tank, I cut out a piece of wood that I painted black. I secured this to the top of the stand with screws, and attached the lights accordingly. Additionally, I added a hang-on back filter and a heater. Unfortunately though, the tank was a little cloudy. Fritz clarifier should help with that. It binds particles together, allowing the filter to collect them more easily. I also forgot to mention earlier that we added sand in the foreground for additional texture and a tiger lotus. You'll see that things cleared up a little bit, and everything looks good overall. However, I feel like it's missing something. Maybe a few additional plants in the water feature? Luckily I needed to trim this tank, and was able to collect some Rotala Indica in the process. I planted these right in front of the foxtail. The foreground is still lacking though. I figured that Zeus Fossil Tongue would be a great addition. Taking a step back, I think this is an intriguing setup even in its infancy. That said, just like any other new tank, it needs to grow in and mature. The Val is pretty ragged since I just got it, but as it establishes and arches over the hardscape, it will look incredible. The details within the scape already lend themselves to a mysterious jungle vibe that will only be heightened once that occurs. The other plants will play into that as well. Speaking of details, the ancient roots take this to the next level. The way they weave through everything creates excellent movement. The terrestrial plants will send roots down into the tank that should blend with these as well. Of course, they'll also help filter the tank as usual by pulling impurities from the water. Now I know this is going to be a somewhat controversial scape because of how unnatural the hideaway caves look. Stick with me though. Imagine them covered with moss and algae once the setup is established. Plus, even though I typically prefer natural looking designs, wacky setups like this always intrigue me. If done correctly, I should say. I've done it before and I love the challenge of it. The challenge of taking something as goofy as this and using it to make an intriguing looking design is a lot of fun. This one was no exception. At this point though, I really want to see it with fish. I just need to swap out the filter media with some established media and we'll be good to go. Since I'm taking apart the underwater riparian bubbles tank, it only made sense that I should add the glow light danios from that setup into this one. I think they'll do great in here and complement the look of everything. However, what we really designed this for were a pair of blue ram cichlids. In theory, they should readily use the caves and other features of the tank. Oh yeah, no good setup is complete without a colony of snails either. Nate came up with the idea to use the hideaways in a planted tank. I curated the selection of the hardscape elements, plants, and fish and we worked together to craft something awesome. I think it looks great now, but I know it's going to look a million times better in just a few months. I love the fish as well. I think the danios look absolutely incredible in here and the cichlids are beautiful as well. I've already seen them in the caves a little, and I'm excited to see how they use the space. Even so, I would like to add more fish in the future. What else do you think would look good in here and use the caves, and what do you think of this setup itself? Let me know in the comments. Another detail I forgot to mention is that I put color changing lights on the top which can create a totally different feeling. A huge thanks as always to Fritz Aquatics for sponsoring the video and providing products I actually use like the water clarifier. Anyway, that's how we used an undesirable aquarium decoration to create a unique and beautiful setup.