[Picture] what should I do with my 30cm nano tank now?

**cookiez** · 9th May 2013, 20:43

No Co2.
Need some inspiration from you guys, went to the fish shop so many times but came back empty handed. Im thinking of a suitable plant for a "carpet", is it even possible to grow HC with my current set up without the Dry start method?

Here's a video of my shrimps

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**Shifty** · 9th May 2013, 22:12

Rescape? You could always rescape reusing all your current hardscape, soil and plants (maybe a few more plants wouldn't hurt). There are a lot of skilled aquascaping bros on here who wouldn't mind sharing a few tips?
I know bro Urban Aquaria grew a beautiful HC carpet with no CO2. But i think he's the exception. For the rest of us with thumbs not as green as his, we would need the assistance of high lights, injected CO2, a fertilizing regimen and most importantly, a balance of all three in order to achieve that lush, thick and low growth you see on all the aquascaping websites and videos. If you don't want the hassle, I guess there are other options such as a moss carpet or a riccia carpet.

On a side note, I like your Downoi (Pogostemon Helferi). May I ask where you got it from and how much?

**cookiez** · 10th May 2013, 10:20

Originally Posted by Shifty

Rescape? You could always rescape reusing all your current hardscape, soil and plants (maybe a few more plants wouldn't hurt). There are a lot of skilled aquascaping bros on here who wouldn't mind sharing a few tips?
I know bro Urban Aquaria grew a beautiful HC carpet with no CO2. But i think he's the exception. For the rest of us with thumbs not as green as his, we would need the assistance of high lights, injected CO2, a fertilizing regimen and most importantly, a balance of all three in order to achieve that lush, thick and low growth you see on all the aquascaping websites and videos. If you don't want the hassle, I guess there are other options such as a moss carpet or a riccia carpet.

On a side note, I like your Downoi (Pogostemon Helferi). May I ask where you got it from and how much?

I bought it from Y618, if i remember correctly it should be $1.5~$2 for a bunch.
I initially bought 2 bunch of it, then it grew bigger and seemed to have new "sprouts", so I took one of it out and split it into 3 smaller bunches

**cookiez** · 10th May 2013, 10:22

Here's better picture, will the big NANA plant take up too much nutrients and deprive the other plants from it?

**Shadow** · 10th May 2013, 10:51

there are plenty of inspiration from the net, just google "nano aquascaping"

**Shifty** · 10th May 2013, 21:02

Thanks for the info. been meaning to get downoi for a while now. can never seem to find it.

Don't worry about the Anubia. It's a fairly slow grower and you have very little plants. So there should be more than enough nutrients for all. Like bro Shadow said, browse the internet for inspiration. You can learn the basics of aquascaping like ratios and arrangement from the man Takashi Amano. I'm sure you've seen his creations.

If I were to comment, Id say;
-Add more plants. Not more species, but more of the same species you already have.
-More hardscape. Add more rocks and driftwood. Same mistake I made with my nano when I started is to only have a few pieces of hardscape because I thought "small tank can't contain much hardscape". But in fact, most of the beautiful nano scapes you see are chock full of hardscape and plants with very little negative space.
-Slope your soil to create illusion of depth.

Apart from that, it's up to your creativity. your plats seem to be healthy, so whatever you're doing seems to be working.

**benjidog** · 10th May 2013, 23:37

How about adding some rocks, create rockscape? On right hand side to cover HOF?

Or add more nana petite tied on wood?

**AQMS** · 10th May 2013, 23:42

i like the downoi....it will be interesting to see how it will grow....

**cookiez** · 11th May 2013, 10:12

Originally Posted by zerofighterx101

i like the downoi....it will be interesting to see how it will grow....

Thanks man!
I was also very surprised by the way the downoi was able to grow in my tank.
All I did was to put a lil excel everyday and give the tank roughly 6~8 hours of light.

Was doing some further reading and found out that ADA soil is so much better than the GEX soil I am using now, would it be OK if I were to buy some ADA soil and just layer it on top of my existing substrate?

And another thing to ask if I may, has anyone ever tried maintaining a glosso carpet without trimming?