Updated 63gal planted

[Nutter]

Thought I'd post a pic of my 4ft tank now that it's planted out & stocked. Just added Alternanthera ReineckiI & Ludwigia Ovalis today. The Echinodorus Tenellus var 'Tenellus' was only added last week as an experiment. I want to see if I can get it to spread out even with the coarse gravel up the top. (there's eco-complete & laterite under the gravel)

 

[midthought]

Beautiful setup, Nutter. I like the smallish red and green rosette-ish about 20% in from the right for some reason. Just catches my eye. And the taller pink plants behind it! What are those?

I take it the Echinodorus tenellus are the small sparse plantings in the center by the flat stones?

 

[LyndaB]

Absolutely gorgeous!!!

 

[Nutter]

The rosette plant is Echinodorus 'Rubin', The taller red plant behind it & scattered around a few other places is Alternanthera ReineckiI (not sure of variant). The tall plants across the back are Hygophila Salicifolia. The Echinodorus Tenellus var 'Tenellus' is the small stuff scattered through the foreground.

Full list of plants: Echinodorus 'Rubin', Echinodorus Tenellus var 'Tenellus', Echinodorus Uruguayensis, Hygrophila Salicifolia, Hygrophila Polysperma 'Sunset', Alternanthera Reineckii, Aponogeton Boivinianus, Ludwigia Palustris (EDIT: was sold to me as L. Ovalis but research revealed otherwise), Red Tiger Lotus, Anubius Nana var 'Petite, Cryptocoryne WendtiI sp 'Tropica' & Java Moss.

You can't see the Red Tiger Lotus as it is only about 1" high at the moment & is behind the rock on the right side of the tank.

Fish: 10 x Lemon Tetra, 10 x Harlequin Rasbora, 10 x Rummynose Tetra, 6 x Otocinclus, 4 x Yoyo Loach, 2 x SAE, 1 x Kribensis, 1 x DG.

 

[bolivianbaby]

That looks absolutely fabulous!!! I'm hoping when I plant my tropical community tanks, they turn out like that!

 

[Gamer]

Nutter, your tank truly is a thing of beauty. I'm jealous! You just did such a superb job.

 

[Nutter]

Thanks everyone. The advantages of over 200w of light.

I'll be sure to post pics in a couple of months when the new plants have grown out a bit & hopefully the Tenellus will have worked it's way through the coarse gravel to cover the foreground fairly well.

 

[Jrobber]

Wow that looks great!

 

[btate617]

Excellent Nutter!

 

[Nutter]

Thanks Jrobber & Brian.

 

[chren]

love the set up looks awsome

 

[catsma_97504]

Beautiful tank.

 

[mr.fishy]

very nice tank

 

[Nutter]

Thank you.

 

[Cody6511]

This is gorgeous! What substrate do you use? and do you use Co2

 

[ccb04]

Wow. Nutter, your tank is stunning.

 

[Nutter]

Thank you Cody & ccb04.

The substrate is in several layers. Top layer is 1" mixed grade natural black gravel. Under that is 1 1/2" Eco-Complete. Under that is 1/2" playsand & under that is 1/4" raw laterite.
I use API & Flourish root tablets, Flourish Comprehensive & K2SO4 (potassium sulphate) for fertilizers. There is a DIY co2 rig, 2 x 5lt yeast generators diffused through a 400lt/hr powerhead. I've just hooked up another 2 x 2lt yeast generators yesterday that are running through a 200lt/hr powerhead. Giving me a total of 4 yeast generators & a co2 concentration of about 25ppm. There is near enough 200w of T8 fluorescent light over the tank.

 

[brokenwing]

beautiful tank nutter I love it. I just planted my first tank. What kind of light you using to get 200 watts. that is really powerful. do you have any problems with algea. again looks beautiful.

 

[Nutter]

Thanks Wing. Just 5 x 4ft T8 shop fittings. The stand & hood are a diy job & there's stacks of room for lights in there. If I switch to dual tube fittings I could comfortably add another 120w to it. I use the T8's because I don't have to pay for the fittings. T5HO equivelant would set me back $400+ in LFS's & I hate ordering stuff online even though it would be heaps cheaper. I also like having more choice of tubes than I can have with T5HO. Maybe I'll upgrade the fixtures one day though. I use 2 x Sylvania Gro-Lux, 1 x Hagen Aqua-Glo & 2 x Phillips Aquarelle tubes.

 

[brokenwing]

thanks nutter, I don't want to hijack your thread the reason why I was asking, was because you helped me pick a bulb for my 15 gallon tanks, and that is only 15 watts for my plants so I was trying to figure what I was missing.

 

[Nutter]

No problem. I'd say your missing about 50gal & 185w.
Seriously though there are some plants in there that need really intense lighting as well as the low light stuff. Hence the co2 & fertiliser regime I stick to. Without the right balance of stong lighting, co2 & ferts the high demand plants wouldn't survive very long & I would be probably get over run with algae problems. There is a tiny bit of green algae on the side & back glass but there's hardly any of it & what is there tha Otos soon take care of.

 

[midthought]

Thank you Cody & ccb04.

The substrate is in several layers. Top layer is 1" mixed grade natural black gravel. Under that is 1 1/2" Eco-Complete. Under that is 1/2" playsand & under that is 1/4" raw laterite.
I use API & Flourish root tablets, Flourish Comprehensive & K2SO4 (potassium sulphate) for fertilizers. There is a DIY co2 rig, 2 x 5lt yeast generators diffused through a 400lt/hr powerhead. I've just hooked up another 2 x 2lt yeast generators yesterday that are running through a 200lt/hr powerhead. Giving me a total of 4 yeast generators & a co2 concentration of about 25ppm. There is near enough 200w of T8 fluorescent light over the tank.

Can you just explain a little about the different substrates, why you chose 4 and in that order? And with 4 like that, can you avoid mixing up all those when you replant? Do you keep anything like Malaysian Trumpet Snails to burrow around the substrate?

 

[Nutter]

The laterite is right down the bottom because laterite turns to mush & makes one heck of a mess if it gets out from under the other substrates. I used the laterite because I already had it & it is very high in Iron. The sand is there to help keep the laterite where it is supposed to be (already had that to). The Eco-Complete is there because of it's ability to absorb & store nutrients, (chose Eco because it's cheaper than Flourite). The gravel is there because it is 1/4 the price of Eco-Complete. It is a limestone based gravel which raises my KH from 6 up to 8, giving me a little extra buffereing capacity against PH swings due to the co2 & I like the look of the gravel. If I were to replant the tank then a certain amount of substrate mixing would be unavoidable but I try not to move any plants after I have put them in so that doesn't happen. There are no trumpet snails or other substrate turners in the tank at all.

 

[Aquarist]

Hello Nutter

You've done a wonderful job with your tank! Beautiful!

Ken

 

[Nutter]

HI Ken. Thank you.

 

[ryanr]

limestone based gravel which raises my KH from 6 up to 8

Have you had an increase in pH too ? or is the concentration only enough to affect KH?

Only curious cos this might help me ???

 

[Nutter]

Yes the PH has gone up along with the KH. When this tank was running with a quartz substrate & the same amount of co2 diffused the same way, the PH used to swing between 6.6 & 7.0. Now it holds steady at 7.4.

 

[ryanr]

hmmm, thanks.

I love the setup, but why is it every plant you've got I'm too scared to buy for fear of it being too 'needy'

 

[Nate McFin]

Looking great Nutter! I love the anubias sp. petite, what a beautiful and delicate little plant. Once the E. Tenellus grows in it will compliment things nicely. If it doesn't fill in as fast as you would like Dwarf Sag would grow a little faster and have the same look.
Keep up the nice work,
Nate

 

[Nutter]

Thanks Nate. I just have the Tenellus as an experiment really. With how coarse the gravel is I'm not expecting it to do that well. I was going to do ordinary Tenellus but couldn't get any. The Tenellus var 'Tenellus' grows as individual rosette plants rather than individual stems like ordinary Tenellus does. It also stays much smaller topping out at 2" high.

If the variant I have doesn't work out I'm going to go with DownoI (Pogostemon Heiferi) if I can get it. Dwarf Sag has always been the standby that I know I can get to work if nothing else I feel like trying does. I love the Anubius Petite to but I have trouble with it in this tank as I have it in a brighter than ideal spot. I think I'll be moving it to the other side of the tank when the Red Tiger Lotus is big enough to offer some shade.

 

[brokenwing]

nutter that was to funny I'm missing about 50 gallons but I have a empty 75 gallon tank that has been sitting here next to me for 3 months, I need to get started. But I loved that comment made me laugh.

 

[Butterfly]

Your tank is truly beautiful. I'm looking forward to progression pics
Carol

 

[Broq15]

One of my favorite tanks. Fine taste!

 

[Nutter]

Thanks Broq15.

 

[swervo513]

Do you dose co2? I am looking into co2 tablets. any experience with those?

Beautiful set up.

 

[Nutter]

Do you dose co2? I am looking into co2 tablets. any experience with those?

Beautiful set up.

Yes I use DIY co2. I've never used the tablets. I just don't like the idea of them & the yeast/sugar is cheaper. There are details of the tank, lights, co2 & substrate scattered right through this thread. You can also check out these two threads for more info on diy co2: