UNS 3N Nano Aquascape Tutorial – Ryoboku for Beginners

WERBEVIDEO | Watch this Nano Aquascape Tutorial in real time and see how it was made!
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In this Aquascaping Tutorial I show you step by step how to aquascape a Nano Aquarium in just about 30 minutes from beginning till the end – in real time!

UNS 3N 12.2″ x 7.48″ x 7.48″ – 3 GAL = 30.5 x 18.5 x 18.5 cm – 10 Liter
Glass thickness: 5mm
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UNS 3N
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/UNS-Aquarium-Nano-3N?ref=ls *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/UNS-Aquarium-Nano-3N?ref=ls *
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/41ttB9e *

Aquasoil
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/ADA-Aqua-Soil-Amazonia?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/ada-aqua-soil-amazonia/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/ADA-Aqua-Soil-Amazonia?ref=ls *

APT Start
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/2HR-Aquarist-APT-s-Start?ref=ls *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/2HR-Aquarist-APT-s-Start?ref=ls *
🌐 https://www.2hraquarist.com/products/2hr-aquarist-apt-start?ghref=3280%3A618943 *
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Cosmetic Sand
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/ADA-La-Plata-Sand-2-kg?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/ada-la-plata-sand/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/ADA-La-Plata-Sand?ref=ls *

Black Lava Stone
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/WIO-Decor-NanoRocks-Darwin-Black-Lava-Rocks?ref=ls
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/schwarze-lava-je-1kg/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/WIO-Decor-NanoRocks-Darwin-Black-Lava-Rocks?ref=ls
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3Tzovq7 *

Drift Wood
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/kienholz/?ref=6201 *
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3RXl4Zn *

Super Glue (liquid/low viscosity)
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/47Y44rf *
🇩🇪 https://amzn.to/46XbhXq *

Cotton Pads
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3RJiupI *
🇩🇪 https://amzn.to/3GMqekn *

Aquascaping Tweezers
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Tropica-Pinzette-25-cm?ref=ls *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Tropica-Tweezers-25-cm?ref=ls *

Bolbitis heudelotti
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Bolbitis-heudelotii-in-Vitro-XL?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/bolbitis-heudelotii/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Bolbitis-heudelotii-in-Vitro-XL?ref=ls *

Bucephalandra “Needle Leaf”
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Bucephalandra-sp-Mini-Needle-Leaf-in-Vitro?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/bucephalandra-sp-mini-needle-leaf/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Bucephalandra-sp-Mini-Needle-Leaf-in-Vitro?ref=ls *

Marsilea hirsuta
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Marsilea-hirsuta-1-2-GROW?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/marsilea-hirsuta/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Marsilea-hirsuta-1-2-GROW?ref=ls *

Eleicharis pusilla ‘Mini’
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Eleocharis-sp-Mini?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/eleocharis-acicularis-mini/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Eleocharis-sp-Mini?ref=ls *
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3RNy2c5 *

Helanthium tenellum ‘Green’
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Helanthium-tenellum-parvulum-1-2-GROW?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/helanthium-tenellum-green/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Helanthium-tenellum-parvulum-1-2-GROW?ref=ls *

Cyperus helferi
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Cyperus-helferi-Topf?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/cyperus-helferi/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Cyperus-helferi-pot?ref=ls *

Spray Bottle
🇩🇪 https://www.aquasabi.de/Bioloark-Spruehflasche-GY-200?ref=ls *
🇦🇹 https://www.liquidnature.at/produkt/bioloark-spray-bottle-spruehflasche/?ref=6201 *
🇪🇺 https://www.aquasabi.com/Bioloark-Spray-bottle-GY-200?ref=ls *
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3tuXNEt *

Cling Film
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🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/4aqgASc *

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We’re going to scape it with a Ryuboku style, and “Ryuboku” is Japanese and means “driftwood”. So, for this build, I have again a UNS 3N aquarium, and…  Yeah, what should I say? Maybe this is going to be my new favourite aquarium size.

The same mitered corners, very, very thin and minimal silicone work – if you look from, like, 45° angle, almost invisible – comes with the rubber mat. Low-iron glass, super nicely polished,   very little silicone. Just love these tanks. For this scape, I did the exact same thing like for the previous one –

I went to a garden centre, and I just picked up some regular hardscape. You know, nothing super crazy-fancy – very small, little assortment. And here again, I had to break up  the lava stone in smaller pieces,  because the selection was just same size.

And something not so nice about  buying hardscape in a garden centre  is it always comes with stickers and labels attached to it or stapled on it, so I had to remove those first. Anyhow, I managed to get a nice selection of lava stone –

Very nice, black colour, that’s good – and this type of driftwood. Looks gnarly –  very old, lots of cracks and a lot of texture. Oh, by the way, over here, I’ve got also some nice plants   provided by Tropica – thanks for that. Soil substrate and some cosmetic sand.  Beautiful, bright sand over here.

So, which way am I gonna start?  Substrate in? No substrate in?  Gonna start with hardscape first? Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m gonna do, start with hardscape first. And I will definitely have to secure that, you know, with a couple gluing points. So, let’s get started.

So, my idea is to have a triangular composition. And I will start with a biggest stone, here on the left side.  And, yeah, positioning it from the top. You can see in the middle, more towards the front, so I have a very narrow foreground. You can see here, I’m getting quite close to the front.

This way, I have a lot of space in the back for the background planting,  because the front, I want cosmetic sand. Now, let’s continue the outline with more rocks. I have no idea what that looks like. Just literally making, like,  a little chain out of stones here.

In the back, on this side, I’m trying to find a flat side of the rock  to press it against the glass, so that the soil is not coming to the front. And other than that, you can see it from the top, it is a very basic composition.

Literally,  yeah, like, a little half circle. I don’t know, something like that. I’m gonna add one additional stone to the front  to give it just a little bit more texture, a little more depth here, and the front also, to secure the gap.

And basically, at this point, I can, yeah, try positioning the wood inside already, but I’m just wondering whether I should already glue the stones in place,  because once the wood is in here, it will be very difficult to get inside. But to show you an idea what it is going to look like, 

I’m going to position the wood inside. The wood is going to sit behind the rocks. This is the main piece. It is quite large, and everything is wobbling a lot,  and this piece… uh, which side is nicer? Yeah, this one has more texture to it.

This is going to be glued together, just like this, so it looks bigger, and it should be, as well, tilted to the front  so that we get a little bit of shadow underneath the wood – that’s going to create depth, also, while it leans to the front, creates shadow here 

And depth as it takes the eye from the front, driving it deeper into the aquarium and leaving free space in the back so that the background plants  have more space over there. OK, it holds, just magically! Thank you. We’ll definitely secure that with superglue.

And the third piece of wood  is going somewhere here… on that side. Everything tilted in that direction. Let me rotate it really quickly to check from the front.  What does that look like? Yeah, not too bad for a quick position. I think that’s fine, more or less.

I can fine tune it afterwards. And there is one piece of rock missing. I would like to put it somewhere… on top here. The reason why I’m adding  this stone over here, as well,  is to give it a gradual rise of the hardscape,

Starting very low here, on the left side with the rocks,  and then going up to the wood,  pointing out of the water – the triangular composition.  Otherwise, we have, like, a hardscape dip in between, you know? So to avoid that, just placing the stone here, I think it serves the purpose.

So this is the basic composition. Imagine the foreground is gonna be cosmetic sand, and I have some small pieces of lava stone that are left over  from smashing the big stones,  just to decorate the foreground. OK, so this is the composition.  Now I have to secure it.

The way I got here was very simple. You have just seen it. A basic circle of stones, and just placing the wood behind,  all pointing in the same direction…  ..mimicking water flow. And we have a plant here – the Cyperus helferi is going to mimic the flow, as well. 

And by placing the outflow  of the filter strategically – either over here in the back is going to have all the leaves   going in the same direction, or in the front here will be a little bit more gentle. It’s going to rotate and bring the leaves again along the back side 

In the same direction, like the wood. The only downside having the outflow positioned here in the front, it could move too much sand in that front corner because it goes down, as well. We are going to find out.  We can experiment with the filter position afterwards. So, now I have to secure the stones, 

And to maybe give them a little bit more stability, I could literally just pour in a little bit of soil and a little bit of sand  so they don’t move too much. How about that? Just gonna do that. I feel like this is the way to go.

And already, with the cosmetic sand inside, we get a beautiful contrast  between the black lava and the light-coloured sand. If I add the soil first to give the stability to the rocks…  Let me turn it around so you see it from the back.

If I put this soil in first, then I will  not be able to kind of seal the cracks. I have some filter wool over here. I really wanted to use a little bit of filter wool  from the back to seal the gaps. So, you know, the shrimps,  they’re gonna dig around, 

But I’m not too concerned. A small tank like this, not gonna have Amano shrimps. Good cleaners, don’t get me wrong,  but they are digging soil so much. And with dwarf shrimps… So I’m only gonna have dwarf shrimps in here. ..they’re not too bad when it comes to digging.

So, just from the back, I’m going to  squeeze in a little bit of filter wool  in those gaps in between the stones. Just seal them up. At least at the bottom, at the higher locations, I’m gonna have plants sealing those gaps, so I’m not concerned about them.

OK… So, the gaps at the bottom are sealed. To keep the stones more in place,  I’m going to pour in a little bit of aqua soil in the back. So this should prevent the stones from sliding around. And now I’m going to secure them with the tiny little pieces of cotton pad.

Cotton pad is something like this,  that is what some people use to remove cosmetics from the face. To glue the hardscape, I’m inserting this in the back,  just between the stones, to give it some security. All I want is just that the rocks are connected

And don’t wiggle around too much once the driftwood goes in. And then I’m going to secure  the wood to the stones. I really have to, because the wood is not pre-soaked.  So if you are about to replicate this layout,

I would highly encourage you to pre-soak your wood and to check out my dark-start video, because this is going to  make your life a lot easier. So, if you want to check it out from the front, none of the pads is visible. Maybe the one in the front could get visible. 

For that, guys, I have found on Amazon black superglue. That is super cool because, yeah,  same stuff, just black colour.  If you shop superglue online, pay attention. It is Cyanoacrylate-based superglue, and I like the liquid type because it soaks into those cotton pads – paper pieces, whatever – really, really fast, 

And creates a very strong connection within seconds. I can smell the chemical reaction inside,  so be aware, don’t breathe in the smoke  that comes out of the chemical reaction. Another trick to hide those gluing spots is to crush a little bit of soil.

Just take a pinch of soil  with your fingers, crush it,  and then sprinkle the dust on the spot where you have glued. And to prevent the soil dust from going anywhere, just add a little bit of glue on top. I put the driftwood inside, and, yeah, this is what it looks like.

And of course, the driftwood is not pre-soaked, so you have to secure it in place. To do so, always use multiple connection points. I started here, on this side, with a small piece, and I first secure it in two locations. To do so, again, using those cotton pads and superglue.

Now the hardscape is almost finished, I will add some details – you know, the small lava stones in the foreground, but that I will save for the last. Now, let’s address the background and the substrate.  I have the foundation, a thin layer of soil.

Now, I want to add something I like adding to the substrate. In most of my recent scapes, it’s from APT 2Hr Aquarist brand,  and it’s called APT Start. So, let’s open the pouch… and have a look inside. So, here, we have two things – a little mix and a little pouch.

In this pouch, we have bacteria  for the water when this comes in…  Let’s put this aside. And then here in the back,  we have a mixture of minerals  and nutrient additives to the substrate, and this is going to enhance every soil substrate, whatever the brand is. So just adding this to the back.

Also there is beneficial bacteria  already in the substrate, as well,  so we have the substrate already colonised. OK, now it’s empty, but I’m gonna keep it with the little pouch inside so I’m not losing it. Nutrients, bacteria, minerals. It does a lot of things – it stabilises the pH in the substrate, 

Which can otherwise get acidic, like I said, adds more nutrients to it and also adds beneficial bacteria  that kind of kickstarts the process in the substrate. So, we have a nice little layer of AP Start, and now let’s cover it up with more soil and actually build some height, you know?

Look here, the stone going to foreground, so we can fill up to that line. If you see me reaching under the table, I have another bag of soil down there, so… And then this corner… OK, before I add too much soil,  let me actually level out the already existing soil with the brush,

Because I definitely don’t want the soil to then fall over to the foreground. Since the soil is going to be invisible, anyway, I’m not creating any huge slope – maybe just a tiny little bit behind the wood,  but, more or less, it’s more of a even layer over here.

And as you can see, from the side, I’m keeping the rocks just a little bit higher. This way, whatever happens in the back – the fish, the shrimp, the snail, the plants – this is like a little little barrier that the soil is not coming to the front.

But if the soil does come to the front, there is a trick how you can remove it. If you want to know the trick how to remove soil from the cosmetic sand, the most efficient way, drop a comment below, and I will make a pro-tip video.

Anyway, so many people commented previously they want the pro tips to come back, so let me know, and I will make it happen. The substrate is in place,  the cosmetic sand is in there,  and, basically, now we’re ready for planting. Now, before I add plants, I think  I want to finalise the foreground.

I’m going to use just a few stones very strategically  to extend a couple lines in the layout. As you can see here, from the top, I’m extending this stone,  extending this stone, and trying to extend this one, creating a little bit of, like, a pocket here behind.

That kind of looks funny from the top, all the little stones  pointing in the same direction, but if I check it from the front,  it kind of makes sense, more or less. This one is a little bit too long. Let me add here a smaller one.

So, guys, the hardscape is done, and what should I say? I really like it. It turned out just beautiful with, you know, just a few details and this cosmetic sand. Now we can proceed to planting. So, as for planting, like I said, maybe a couple tiny plants in the foreground in the sand.

Bucephalandra ‘Needle Leaf’ between the stones and the driftwood,  and just underneath the driftwood,  gonna go the Bolbitis heudelotii, and Cyperus helferi is gonna sit in the back. So Cyperus definitely goes in there last,  because the biggest is gonna fall over, cover everything up.

And on that side, I’m gonna use Helanthium tenellum ‘Green’.  I have one cup of it over here. I would say,  one plant that is gonna be hidden mostly, I’m gonna do first, and this is the Bolbitis heudelotii. So, let me just move the tank aside for a second.

Here’s the Bolbitis. Let’s take it out. It came in as a Aquadecor, which means it is a mature plant, and it is growing on a piece of wood. And it’s definitely too big for the layout. So what am I gonna do? I’m going to cut off all the leaves.

All of these leaves, I’m going to trim off, because the plant is going to replace them anyway over the following months. If the tank is big, and you don’t mind,  you know, removing them afterwards,  you can plant your Bolbitis, all of your ferns with leaves.

But since it’s a tiny plant, I also want the Bonsai effect I’m going to achieve by cutting off the plants.  I think I even have, like, a pro tip  about this somewhere on the channel. So, what I’m doing, I’m just going in here and cutting off all the leaves along the rhizome.

This takes a lot of time,  so let’s apply some magic. So, there we are! A clean piece. There we have it, in nice… in one piece. So, now I’m gonna give this a little wash in a container with water,  just to get rid of as much dirt as possible,

And especially the loose pieces of rock wool are hopefully going to detach. Here comes the tank back. So with the Bolbitis, where do I want it to go? I think this is one spot, underneath the wood…  Yeah, that describes it the best, underneath the wood.

So, here and here, this is where I want it to be,  so we need two portions –  a small and a larger one. And I think this one can be simply tucked down here in this crack. No glue needed, it sits there so tight.

So let’s take this patch and bring it down here. Bolbitis is in. HE CLICKS TONGUE Nice.  Next, I’m going to add in the Bucephalandras. Over here, we have the Bucephalandra species ‘Needle Leaf’. A beautiful, small Bucephalandra.

So, we have two options with this plant – we can glue it with gel-type superglue, or we can just squeeze it into gaps, if possible. For the gel-type superglue, I’m using  the ARKA Microbe-Lift Plantscaper superglue. Gel-type Cyanoacrylate, tested thousand times with plants. 

And it comes in this gigantic 50g bottle,  so it’s great value for your money. Let me check how the plant is going to sit… This way, so these roots on the side. I’m going to apply a little bit of glue… ..on the roots from the side – 

Close to the rhizome, not too much – and squeeze it into the spot. And those roots should create a connection thanks to the superglue to the stone and keep the plant in place. All the “Bu”s are inside.  I would say let’s proceed with the Helanthium tenellum ‘Green’.

If you look at it from the back,  I’m gonna use… yeah, one half,  with this, a little bit over there. Yeah, might not be necessary. It’s gonna grow there, anywhere with the runners. I feel as if, when you combine two plants,  and they’re sitting very close to each other,

They know, “Oh, there is a neighbour,  so let’s create more runners  “and spread out quickly before the other one does,” while as if you have each one individually, they’re like, “Oh, I have so much space around me, I’m not touching anyone immediately,  “so, yeah, let’s grow taller.”

So, this is also one way to control  the way your plants are growing. OK, so, we have enough of  the Helanthium in the back.  You know what? Let’s go for the initial plan. Let’s go for the initial plan and have the nicely planted foreground.

So, here, I have the Eleocharis.  Here, I have the Marsilea.   And take a tiny, tiny little portion of it. Now I’m gonna use my small pincettes,  because they are most delicate. OK, and now let’s grab a little bit of the Eleocharis. 

So, for this type of delicate planting,  only the inner part can be used. The inner part. Those runners on the outside,  they’re just too big to… and bulky to stay in the sand, so I’m just going to rip it apart,  separate the core and the belt.

That core part is what I’m looking for. The mature plants and those runners on the outside,  they’re good for thick layer of soil, but for the delicate sand planting, you have to use those pieces from the middle. They have less runners. They’re more like little bushes, mature little portions of hair grass.

So, literally every of these little pockets  is getting a little bit of Eleocharis and a little bit of Marsilea. And then we are going to observe  how these plants are going to spread into the sand, if they’re going to do that at all. And now the only remaining plant is the Cyperus helferi.

Oops! My working desk is complete mess. Give it a quick rinse… in the water, and there we have it. If we put it like one bush, then it’s gonna look like one bush,  so I recommend separate it a little bit, and then plant very densely, because this one is not going to spread out.

OK, so it’s quite dense, and the idea is that, with the flow,  all the leaves will go in this direction. And it should kind of curl on the water surface. I hope it looks like something from the front,

Cos now I’m going to mist everything and give the plants a little bit of water. OK, now let’s clean the glass and have a look at the finished result. I’m going to do the big reveal. Clean the glass the way you don’t see it. So, the aquarium is now planted,

And I’m going to bring it to its position in the gallery and very, very slowly fill up with water, gonna attach the hardware and, you know, do all those stuff. So if you want to follow,  make sure you to subscribe to the channel not to miss out.

And if you want to see how I build  a Ryuboku but three times the size,  watch this video next.