sera Hard­scape Asia

Setup instruction for sera Hardscape Asia

The sera Hardscape Asia includes everything required for setting up and decorating an “Asia” theme aquarium:

  • 2 x sera Rock Quartz Gray S/M
  • 2 x sera Rock Quartz Gray L
  • 1 x sera Scaper Root S 25 – 30 cm (9.8 – 11.8 in.)
  • 1 x sera floredepot 4.7 kg (10.4 lb.)
  • 2 x sera Gravel Gray 6 l

 

The four rocks allow, for instance, creating a mountain formation interrupted by the root. The following steps are required for setting a Scaper Cube this way:

1. Fill in nutrient soil

sera floredepot bottom ground consists of sand, peat, essential nutrients and trace elements. It supports the plants growing on as well as forming strong roots. For the sera Hardscape Asia, the nutrient soil is distributed in a layer approximately 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in.) thick in the entire Scaper Cube. For not disturbing the final appearance of the underwater landscape, we recommend hiding the nutrient soil behind the ornamental bottom ground along the aquarium glass.

2. Fill in decorative bottom ground

The ornamental bottom ground sera Gravel Gray is gray color gravel, which is CO2 proof and neutral to water. The gravel is poured onto the nutrient soil in a way that it provides a layer of approximately 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in.) at the front side of the tank and 10–12 cm (3.9–4.7 in.) at the back side of the tank. An additional rising slope into the two back corners is also possible.

 

Tip: Keep a small amount of the ornamental bottom ground for filling or smoothening undesired unevenness also after setting up the hardscape, or after planting.

3. Place rocks and roots

First, the small and big sera Rock Quartz Gray rocks are laid out to a mountain formation. The two big rocks are placed on the front left and the back right, the two small rocks in front of the big rock in the left front side of the aquarium. Then the sera Scaper Root S is placed between the four rocks so it is held in place firmly.

 

A) sera Rock Quartz Gray L

B) sera Rock Quartz Gray S/M

C) sera Scaper Root S 25 – 30 cm

4. Add plants

 

All plants are planted into the bottom ground. Gently press a hole into the gravel with the fingers, or push it aside, for the bigger plants. Make sure the nutrient soil does not mix with the bottom ground and gets to the surface while doing so. The roots of the plants can be shortened to 2 cm (0.8 in.) if required, e.g. for planting them more easily. Please use sharp scissors (e.g. sera flore tool S) to do so for avoiding squeezing, which may lead to rot. In case of smaller plants such as bottom covering plants, we recommend cleaving the plant carefully and without damaging single stems, and to plant them in smaller bushes with some distance to each other. This is best done with a pair of tweezers (e.g. sera flore tool P).

Tip: Before adding fish, it is worthwhile with new Cube setups to wait until the plants have grown on and cannot be pulled out by the fish anymore.

The hardscape setup just serves as an inspiration – there are no boundaries to your creativity.

Five plant species are intended for planting:

1. Hemianthus callitrichoides

2. Pogostemon helferi

3. Helanthium bolivianum

4. Cryptocoryne wendtii Tropica

5. Cryptocoryne willisii

This video comprises the single steps:

 

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