# Planted Fluval Flora + Natural Daylight



## jpenger (Jun 25, 2013)

Sup guys! I'm back with another tank. This is my planted Fluval Flora. It's a few months old now, and it's doing pretty well. 
Here's a breakdown:
- replaced the Fluval Stratum with some Fluorite Black Sand, but before I put it in, I poured in some MiracleGro Shake'N'Feed, after getting the idea from some other forum (I forget exactly where). I guess it's supposed to be an alternative to root tabs. I seem to have gotten some results, and really haven't seen any dangerous effects on the fish. They seem to be just fine (and blue rams are supposed to be pretty sensitive to water parameters). 
- I picked up a big piece of lava rock from a landscaping place and broke it into pieces for the tank
- Most of the plants I used are just trimmings from my 15 gallon
- I plan to add a piece of driftwood once I can find something nice
- This tank gets mostly natural daylight, as I put it right beside a window. The Fluval 13w light is only on for about 5hours a day. When I initially started the tank, I was getting a huge amount of all kinds of algae (green spot, hair algae, etc.). I think it was the mix of getting too much light (I had the Fluval light running for 8 hours and dialed it back), and the overwhelming nutrients from the MiracleGro. But, after the initial month or so of algae, it started to balance out after reducing the light, having the nutrients slowly leach, and constant water changes. Now, the tank is fairly balanced, I'm seeing amazing growth, and algae is minimal. 

Plants
- java fern
- two types of crypt (wendtii and another variety)
- rotala rotundifolia 
- dwarf sag

Fish
- 6 neon/cardinal tetras
- 2 ottocats
- 1 blue ram

Hope you enjoy the pics and leave a comment.


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## Reis (Nov 15, 2011)

Really nice!


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