Feeding fish: less than you think
Most fish problems in home tanks start at feeding time. A simple routine that keeps water clear.
Driftwood and stone: building a layout that lasts
How we choose, prepare and place hardscape, and why it decides how the tank looks for years.
Plants grow and get trimmed, fish come and go, but the wood and stone you place on the first day stay for the life of the tank. That is why we spend more time on hardscape than on anything else during a setup visit.
We buy driftwood in bulk and prepare every piece the same way. It soaks in a drum for a week, is boiled in a large vessel to drive out air and tannins, and cures for another two weeks. A piece that skips this floats for days and turns the water the colour of tea.
Stone is chosen for colour and grain. Dragon stone is brown and deeply grooved; seiryu stone is grey with white veins. We never mix the two in one tank, because the layout looks confused. Pick one kind and use one large piece with two or three smaller ones.
For the arrangement we follow a few simple habits. Keep the tallest piece off-centre, about a third of the way across. Let the lines of the wood or the grain of the stone lean the same way, like trees bent by one wind. Leave open sand in front so the eye has somewhere to rest.
Finally, place everything before the water goes in and step back to the sofa. If it looks good bare, it will look much better once the plants grow in.
