2ft Tank (Aquatic Garden)

[Phillipians]

Updates on my 2 year old tank. Very stable and algae problems have been fixed. A few pictures of the evolution
1st scape

2nd scape

After a minor rescape: 3rd version



Pardon the steel pipes. Really too lazy to remove before taking a photos
Some data:
Tank/Cabinet: Custom made 2 x 1.5 x 1.5ft tank (4 side low iron glass, bottom normal glass)
Lights: Maxspect 8000k 120W with wide angle lens to increase coverage
CO2: Pressurized 5L tank with ANS solenoid + Sera Reactor
Substrate: ADA amazonia
Filter: Eheim 2217 with Biohome plus + Seachem Matrix + Eheim Substrat Pro (Mixture) Borneo wild Steel Inlet and Outlet
Plants: S. Repens, H.Pinnatifida, Monte Carlo (not doing too well but recovering from BBA), Alternanthera Reineckii Sp mini, Philippine fern, Bolbitis (newly added still acclimatising), Limnophilia Sp Vietnam (just trimmed so not bushy enough), Downoi (pogostemon helferi), Mini fissidens on wood
Temp: 27 to 28degrees with 2 fans. Evaporates real fast
Fauna: 10+ Corydoras Pygameus, 2 small cories (forgot name), 12 - 14 Kubotai, 1 White cloud mountain (remnant), 50+ to 100 fire shrimps, 10 yamatos, 4 otos

Please feel free to comment

[stressed]

Looks good...

[Dscheng]

Pal, your lily pipe super dirty , hahah. BTW nice look ! You fan look powerful, is the water evaporate fast?

[Phillipians]

The lily pipe has been replaced with a metal one from borneo wild.
The dirty look was exactly the reason for me changing to metal ones. Less unsightly. The fans i have are available at Aquatic avenue and greenchapter. Think its TOP brand. Very silent. And power enough. The fan in the first picture was even more powerful but too unsightly. At this point since my plants can grow, everything is about aesthetics hahah.

[het]

very nice looking

[wongce]

Nice scape...thanks for sharing

[Vernonplim]

Absolutely love the layout

[HeMan]

the 1st scape is Awesome

[Phillipians]

That's interesting. I did not think it was particularly nice. Was just trying to get the plants to grow.

[caRoland]

#3,#4 and #5 very nice with the sloping up effect.

[Jimmy]

That's interesting. I did not think it was particularly nice. Was just trying to get the plants to grow.

nice!

actually many already have problems making the plants grow well, don't even want to talk about scraping

[tetrakid]

nice!
actually many already have problems making the plants grow well, don't even want to talk about scraping

Yes you are right. Growing plants can be a nightmare for many people too, especially if the plants are expensive ones.
Growing water plants is actually a more difficult hobby than gardening.

[Emperios]

I feel doing scapping is just a tidy part too =D
Making plants able to grow, that is a real challenge.
What kind of tubing do you use? =X
Is borneowild steel inlet and outlet good? =D

[Phillipians]

I use Eheim tubing and Borneo wild steel inlet/outlet. I find them more durable than the glass ones. Also, I just need to scrape the outside clean. The inside is not visible.

Actually scaping is the real challenge. After a while, you realise that you will find your magic formula of - lights/co2/ferts/substrate combo then you will start thinking about how the plants will grow in.

Also, many of us will have our 'pet' plant. Haha. I love ferns (philippine or narrow leaf), downoi and alt. reineckii mini. These plants I try to use in most my scapes.
Now another favourite is pinnatifida but it is a hard plant to upkeep.... potassium monster hahah.

[Phillipians]

Another thing i cannot stress enough is - ensure you buy more than enough rocks and more than enough DW. Also, dont be afraid of the apparent size. You really need that one exceptional piece of rock or dw to be really huge. But of course, not so big that it cannot fit your tank! heh

[tetrakid]

Another thing i cannot stress enough is - ensure you buy more than enough rocks and more than enough DW. Also, dont be afraid of the apparent size. You really need that one exceptional piece of rock or dw to be really huge. But of course, not so big that it cannot fit your tank! heh

You are right.
Also, too much this and that stuff in a smallish tank will occupy a lot of volume in the tank, thus displacing and making the actual volume of water very much reduced. Maintaining a bigger volume of water in a stable condition is easier than making a small volume of water stable. The end result is sub-optimal environmental conditions for the fish, leading to disease and short lifespan and a host of other headaches.

[BIGBIRD68]

nice

[teinsports]

Love your 2nd pic but the lower rocks seem to be 'consumed' by the plants from the 3rd pic onwards. Personally, I would prefer those smaller rocks to stand out just a little bit more from the creepers..........but overall still very nice

[joshthebest]

Great tank ! (:

[Cardinal Tetra]

I think the first pic is still the nicest of them all.