A mid-size aquarium layout featuring Ray of light in the silence, 171 L (45.2 gal.), Aquatic Garden style, by Mykola Palamarchuk. The hardscape focus sits on Dragon stone.
Hardscape (Dragon stone) forms the skeleton — negative space between wood and stone guides the eye from foreground to depth. About 10 plant species are listed — fine for a multi-layer look, but keep a care log so slower species are not shaded out. JBL Manado, Dennerle scaper's soil substrate helps stabilize root-zone nutrition in the early weeks.
80W DIY LED light lighting sits at a moderate-to-high technical level for this mid-size aquarium. CO₂ (DIY CO2 balloon system, running 24/7) — see our CO₂ systems if you want to clone a similar setup. Fluval 305 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.
