Hardscape UNS 90u final drafts--critiques

[tsmith_old_guard]

I have been sitting with hardscaping this UNS 90u tank (35.43”L x 22.”W x 22”H) for about 5 weeks. It's tall and deep and I have a perfect view of it from my office desk at the perfect height! The plan is for a high tech, heavily planted tank. I have a big load of different varieties of bucephalandra and anubias arriving in a few weeks that should go great on this hardscape and I am building my plan for the other plants. Here are my final 3 drafts on the hardscape. I am afraid the upper middle quadrant of the tank may have too much empty space being held with leggy stem plants growing towards the light. #1 and #3 seem to be the best choices, with #3 seeming the best. I need to finalize and get this tank filled with water! Any critiques from this experienced bunch?

Substrate: Gravel with root tabs
CO2: Yes
Light: Chirios WRGB2 Pro 90
Hardscapre: Dragon Stone and Driftwood
Filter: Oase Biomaster 2 600 (already fishless cycling on 20 gallon tub from home depot)


I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Kwyet]

I like #3 best.

 

[NC AL]

Definitely #1!

 

[GreggZ]

LOL I like them all but will say #2 to confuse the issue more!

Then I am sure someone will chime in and say #4 to cover all the bases.

But seriously they all work, and most likely which ever one you pick is going to be in constant change anyway. That's just the way it usually works.

 

[JayP]

I 2nd #3. If concerned about tall leggy plants in the middle open space, perhaps a val or similat tall grassy plant woulld work well there. My one concern would be the Biomaster 600 on that size tank. I now have good experience with the biomasters and I would say my 49g tank is the largest I would go with the 600. Some here would even say the 850 flow is too little for yours.

 

[BranchScape]

I 2nd #3. If concerned about tall leggy plants in the middle open space, perhaps a val or similat tall grassy plant woulld work well there. My one concern would be the Biomaster 600 on that size tank. I now have good experience with the biomasters and I would say my 49g tank is the largest I would go with the 600. Some here would even say the 850 flow is too little for yours.

Agree on all points.

 

[Koan]

Another vote for #1, I think the open space does more for you than adding the extra wood in between the two pieces

 

[Long Sun Aquascaping]

I like #3 the best. Is there a way you can extend the fallen wood to the top left front corner of the tank? It would give it quite a bit of depth and interesting shadow.

 

[bizo]

I'm for #1.

The central wood in #3 looks like a dog peeking out from behind.

 

[Capraquaria]

My vote is for 3.

1) For my eye, the gap is too central, and too wide, and draws the eye down.

2) While I like that the central log moves the negative space in the hardscape off center, that element is too vertical and straight, and is a stark contrast to the dragon wood/stone to the left. I do appreciate this contrast would diminish if either structure were planted.

3) The angle of the wood in the center is more natural in overall appearance, and lifts the eye slightly upward, and to the right of midline compared with 1. It also appears as a more natural extension of the wood structure to the right side.

To force an open space where you would like it, a large flat embedded rock, where the top of the rock is just above the substrate, can limit encroachment by plants in that area.

 

[tsmith_old_guard]

I like #3 the best. Is there a way you can extend the fallen wood to the top left front corner of the tank? It would give it quite a bit of depth and interesting shadow.

I really like this idea. Hmmmmm.....I will have to run to the fish store and see is they have piece of wood that will fit. This style of wood is more "old school", it's not the manzanita wood or other branchy type, only one LFS in town carries this type. Okay, off to the LSF just to see.

 

[Long Sun Aquascaping]

Best of luck! If you can't, you can always glue a few smaller pieces of wood together. If you haven't seen the liquid super glue + toilet paper/cotton pad trick, it's worth referencing on YouTube.

 

[tsmith_old_guard]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It was the boost I needed to pull the trigger and get the aquarium filled with water. I went with option #3. @Long Sun Aquascaping I grabbed couple of pieces of wood from my LFS and they were all too big scale wise. I think I will fill in that upper left corner with an epiphyte growing from the back of the stone over the top. We will see. Thanks again for the input, it was much appreciated.

 

[tsmith_old_guard]

Agree on all points.

@JayP & @BranchScape, I have been wondering if the Oase 600 was going to be enough. I filled the aquarium with water last night. It took 50 gallons exactly to fill the aquarium (10 5-gallon buckets). Given that fact, would that meet your matching an Oase 600 to a 49 gallon aquarium? It's close. This will be heavily planted with shrimp and a few nano fish, so from a bioload standpoint, I think the Oase 600 should be enough for 50 gallons of actual water volume. I am concerned about flow though. I have thought about a second canister filter, which seems like overkill for filtering, but realistic for flow. What about a powerhead/wave maker "catty corner" to the filter outflow. That would increase flow. I was planning to put a surface skimmer cattycorner to the outflow to aid in flow and aeration. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF4S4KQK. If you think a surface skimmer or wavemaker would work, then I was already planning on that. If not, then I guess a second filter. Thanks again for the input.

 

[JayP]

50 gallons really surprises me, as that's a 70+ gallon tank, then the filter holds a couple more gallons. Biological filtration wise, yes, I think the Biomaster (for 50 gallons) is fine, but the flow is the question. Can it circulate the water well enough to push nutrients and CO2 around the tank well, especially a deep tank. I think a skimmer like an Oase 350/600 on an opposite corner from the outflow would definitely help in that regard. Another idea is just putting your CO2 on a separate circuit with only a circulation pump on an opposite corner, rather than adding another complete filter, but I know there are some that will have other opinions. I don't yet have any tanks over 50g set up so I can only speak to my current setups, and I wouldn't mind a little extra flow from the 600 on my 49g tank. Because it has considerable hardscape and is heavily planted, getting good flow around everything is a challenge.

 

[BranchScape]

I have an Aquael Ultrascaper 90 in my office. It’s wider but shorter than the UNS 90U, which was the other tank I considered. In terms of overall shape and volume, the two are close enough that I view them as near‑perfect proxies.

I run an Aquael Ultramax 2000 on the Ultrascaper 90. In practice, the flow is ideal for nutrient and CO₂ transport at an actual throughput of roughly 350 GPH, or about 6x turnover. That’s meaningfully lower than the advertised 500+ GPH pump rating, which is measured in isolation without media, head height, or plumbing.

Because of that, I would not be comfortable cutting the flow almost in half to approximate the real‑world flow of the Oase, which is closer to ~175 GPH. At that level, you will introduce dead spots. food and detritus will not fully circulate.

Those dead spots can absolutely be managed—either with a wavemaker, a skimmer, or similar flow augmentation. I did exactly that on my 120P when I previously ran this same Aquael filter on that tank. Other viable options include running a second filter or stepping up to a higher‑flow primary filter. All of those paths work.

Also how bad of a dead spot is debatable and how much detritus that can cause algae build up is also debatable based on your maintenance, planting levels/types and the hardscapes impact on flow patterns.

That said, the simplest solution is adding a s small wavemaker or skimmer to supplement flow. If you set it up and find a few dead spots.