# 30 Gallon Heavily planted



## Yann (Feb 16, 2013)

Started my first tank with this hard-scape this past September. When December rolled around, I took everything out, then replanted with the plants I had going and a few more.

The first two photos are of the hard-scape and first planting. The remainder of the photos are from yesterday (a week or so shy of three months after re-scaping).

Some things still have to grow in some more and I think I might adjust a couple things to try and give the layout some more depth, but am generally happy with how it turned out.











*Plants*​
Alternanthera reineckii Rosaefolia
Anubias barteri 'Coffeefolia'
Anubias nana
Aponegeton boivinianus
Aponegeton madagacariensis
Bacopa caroliniana
Cabomba caroliniana 
Crptocoryne balansae
Crptocoryne becketti
Crptocoryne petchii
Echinodorus barthii
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Lobelia cardinialis 'small form'
Microsorum pteropus
Microsorum pteropus 'Windeløv'
Nymphaea zenkeri

*Inhabitants*​
1 Rhinohorn Goby
1 Electric Blue Ram
2 Bumble Bee Gobys
4 Cherry Barbs
6 Zebra Nerite Snails
9 White Cloud Mountain Minnows (Gold)
7 Otto Cats
2 Zebra Otto Cats

*Getting 8 more Zebra Ottos and a friend will take my other 7 non zebras


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

I like it. The driftwood placement is really something. its a natural beaut.


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

i like the scape  Are you dosing anything? do you run co2?


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## Yann (Feb 16, 2013)

Thanks for the interest 

I'm dosing with Seachem liquid ferts... 3 times the daily recommended dose on their liquid co2 bottle (Flourish Excel) when the lights come on and I dose just under or on par with the recommended doses of 'Flourish Trace' and their 'Comprehensive supplement for the planted aquarium' (Macros) split into two half doses a week. 

Lights are Aquatic life t5ho w the provided bulbs running 8 hours a day. I had them on for 12 hours a day and was dosing the recommended liquid co2 when I first set this up, but I had to remove algae daily. since upping co2 and reducing illumination, I now barely have any algae to remove when I top up the water once a week/water change every other week.

I did just pick up a pressurized co2 system, but it's going to go on my 16 Gallon Starfire rimless tank in another room. (I would put it on the 30G but i don't want to mess with it now that it's running so nicely)


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

you should think about making your own fertz. i think its going to save you money in the long run  keep us posted!


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## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

Tank really looks nice!! I wish I can also make a nice tank scape that would look natural

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## Yann (Feb 16, 2013)

xriddler said:


> you should think about making your own fertz. i think its going to save you money in the long run  keep us posted!


This is something I'd be interested in learning how to do since I'll be dosing two tanks very soon. Could you point me in the right direction as to accomplishing such a task? It's been a while since I hit the Chemistry books


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## Yann (Feb 16, 2013)

Who can spot the miniature turtle in the 3rd pic? (it's not a living turtle)


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Yann said:


> This is something I'd be interested in learning how to do since I'll be dosing two tanks very soon. Could you point me in the right direction as to accomplishing such a task? It's been a while since I hit the Chemistry books


I use Seachem Iron and Comprehensive for micros, however to save tons of money I make my own macro. You can buy potassium nitrate at hyrdroponics stores. I buy mine at Second Nature Hydroponics. Then you mix with distilled water to create your own fertilizer. Some add the powder directly to their tanks. I prefer a liquid solution.

First decide how much potassium nitrate you want to add per week. There's lots of info. online about EI dosing to help you decide. Lets say you pick 1/2 tsp 3 times per week as a random example.

Second decide how much of the mixed liquid fertilizer you want to add each time. Lets say you decide 20 ml.

Finally decide how many weeks of fertilizer you want to make in one batch. Lets say 10 weeks.

So you need 10 x 3 x 0.5 tsp of KNO3 (potassium nitrate) or 15 tsp. 
10 x 3 x 20ml of finished fertilizer or 600ml

I would warm up 500ml of distilled water and then add the KNO3 and shake it until dissolved. Warming up the water helps dissolve it. Then I would top it up with enough distilled water until you are at the 600ml mark.

Now you've got your own Potassium Nitrate fertilizer solution which will likely cost you less than $5.00 per year. Big savings.

You can also do this with the micros, however the savings are not that significant since you don't use as much of them.

Greg


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

xriddler said:


> you should think about making your own fertz. i think its going to save you money in the long run  keep us posted!


I have 2 guniea pigs that would be helpful for that  Free of course lol


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