A large aquarium layout featuring Mediocris silva, 180 L, by Piero Ballarini. The hardscape focus sits on Lava stone, wood.
The hardscape with Lava stone sets the rhythm; planting should support those lines without burying them. The plant list (Rotala Blood Red, Rotala Green, Eleocharis acicularis, Micranthemum montecarlo) favors background stem plants; packing the foreground too dense can make the tank feel heavy. Tropica soil substrate helps stabilize root-zone nutrition in the early weeks.
Twinstar 900SM lighting sits at a moderate-to-high technical level for this large aquarium. OASE BIOMASTER 600 filtration needs enough turnovers without blasting the hardscape; browse matching filters.
Lighting, filtration, substrate, and plant details sit in the specs table below, or browse more layouts in 162–220L.
