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I’m fairly nEw to aquascaping, but have had planted aquariums for about 7 years. I’m moving in a few days. I have four small and one larger aquarium to move, but it’s the heavily planted 75 g that I need some quick advice about. The fluval stratum, in mesh bags and capped with sand, has been in place for about 18 months. I’m not sure what to expect, but our aquarium moving/mntnce guy said it might be a sludge now.
My question is what is the best way to rebuild, without harming my 30 ish nano fish? Do I add fluval stratum and go through all the water changes and monitoring for two weeks until the ammonia issues settle, or use seachem fluorite and add root tabs moving forward? Does fluorite absorb and hold fertilizers and have a cation exchange capacity. I’ve only come across conflicting views.
Advice would be greatly appreciated. Anyone with long term experience and comparisons on each planted tank substrates would be very helpful. We’re moving Wednesday.
My question is what is the best way to rebuild, without harming my 30 ish nano fish? Do I add fluval stratum and go through all the water changes and monitoring for two weeks until the ammonia issues settle, or use seachem fluorite and add root tabs moving forward? Does fluorite absorb and hold fertilizers and have a cation exchange capacity. I’ve only come across conflicting views.
Advice would be greatly appreciated. Anyone with long term experience and comparisons on each planted tank substrates would be very helpful. We’re moving Wednesday.
1 Replies
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50 views
About me:
I've been keeping planted aquariums and shrimp breeding tanks for almost a decade and for the majority of that time aquariums were my primary hobby. In 2021 I had ~30 tanks running simultaneously containing almost 200 types of plants that I had collected over a 5 year period and more than a dozen types of shrimp. In this time, it was harder for me to not setup new tanks than it was to grow any aquatic plant sent my way. Below are some of the tanks I've kept over the years.
At the end of 2021 I moved from Texas to Massachusetts and gave away all of my plants, tanks, and shrimp to friends I had made over the years. It took some time to find a permanent place to live so I didn't have any tanks until I was unexpectedly given an ADA 120P in summer of 2023.
The early days of the 120P:
I went through the typical tank start growing pains with a diatoms phase, green hair algae, and every other issue one would expect from a new tank. Even with the new tank difficulties, it only took me 2 months to get to a healthy tank again. For the next 1.5 years, everything went smoothly and the tank went through many iterations.
Setup on June 28th
Diatoms outbreak on July 19th
Green hair algae outbreak by August 18th
Everything was cleaned up and growing great by September 1st
The start of the disaster:
In February 2025, I started running into issues. BBA started growing in small tufts on the substrate and green hair algae started attacking the old growth on the plants. I'd run into this issue in the past and was usually able to fix it pretty quickly by dialing in the CO2, cleaning the substrate, cleaning filters, and replanting only the most healthy tops of the plants. Even after doing this multiple times, I haven't had any luck fixing the algae. It always comes back
The start of the algae
Multiple trim and replant cycles along with some new plants
Relatively clean after a trim and replant cycle
10 days later
Where I am today:
I'm getting so frustrated by the persistent issues that I'm about ready to shut down this tank. As a last ditch effort, I purchased a pack of healthy plants from Burr740 to see if healthy plants can help me get through the algae phase and get back into a good place.
The tank as of January 2nd 2026. The healthiest plants in the tank were received earlier this week from Burr740.
Really poor color on my plants with a lot of green algae on the lower leaves. The nice looking bacopa is from Burr740. The original stems of Bacopa have barely grown in the last month. If I pull them up, there are very few roots.
Another example of the old growth issues. The Limnophila mini vietnam also has not grown at all in the last month. Lots of algae grows on the substrate as well.
Another comparison of Burr's Ludwigia sp. red vs mine. Very slow growth and poor rooting.
Really weak older growth on Rotala sp. singapore and poor coloration compared to Burr's plants. This plant has always been very easy for me to keep and this is part of why I'm thinking there is something big that I'm missing. Didiplis diandra is another easy plant that keeps melting at the base and its making very little progress because of this.
Below is the key information about the tank.
Tank size: ADA 120P (120 cm x 45 cm x 45 cm)
Lighting: 3x NiloCG Prizms ran at the lowest setting for each channel. Lights are on for 7 hours a day. I want to increase the lighting, but any time I do the algae gets significantly worse
Filtration: Oase Biomaster 600 and a SunSun HW-303B. There's a spraybar on the bottom left that points along the length of the tank at substrate level and the other output is on the top right corner of the tank pushing the opposite direction.
CO2: Vertical reactor on the SunSun filter and a Sera reactor on the Oase. CO2 comes on 4 hours before lights on and turns off 1 hr before lights off. Drop checker is yellow when lights turn on. The pH drop is ~1.4-1.5 at lights on (5.8 at lights on and 7.3 when water is fully degassed). Plants start pearling within 10 minutes of the lights coming on.
Substrate: A mix of ADA aquasoil, Fluval stratum, and Controsoil. A bag of Controsoil was added ~2 months ago to try and give the plants a boost. The remaining substrate is from when I setup the tank and is almost certainly not providing much nutrition or buffering capacity.
Water change schedule: Weekly 70-80% water changes with tap water coming from the MWRA (water report here). KH is ~2. GH is less than 1(3.7 PPM Ca, 0.7 PPM Mg based on the report). Water is treated with sodium carbonate at the water treatment plant to increase the pH to ~9.2, but the pH rapidly decreases after the water comes out of the tap. One potential issue is the tap water is extremely cold. It comes out at ~50F and I add a mix of water from the tap along with heated water. The temperature drops to ~60F for 2-3 hours whenever I water change. I don't keep any livestock so I'm not sure if this is a problem. This was not something I needed to consider back in Texas.
Remineralization: I add 22 PPM calcium and 6 PPM magnesium at water change
Fertilization: 20N-6P-26K is added immediately after water change. A second dose at 10N-3P-13K is added halfway through the week. Micros are Burr740's most recent recipe dosed at 0.15 PPM Fe 3x per week.
Temperature: Tank is heated to 73F during the winter. During the more mild parts of the year I remove the heater and go with whatever the ambient temperature is.
It looks like I'm doing everything right on paper and based on my past experience keeping tanks, but there is clearly some major issue ongoing. Right now I'm thinking its inconsistency in the CO2 that I'm just not seeing (I just started the CO2 2 hours earlier last week because I was noticing the drop checker wasn't always yellow at lights on), not enough light, or too cold of water during water changes. I want to keep some records through this journal to keep myself engaged with the tank and to make sure I'm being consistent with everything. I'm also hoping some additional eyes can help me see where I'm going wrong because I really, really miss having a nice looking tank.
I've been keeping planted aquariums and shrimp breeding tanks for almost a decade and for the majority of that time aquariums were my primary hobby. In 2021 I had ~30 tanks running simultaneously containing almost 200 types of plants that I had collected over a 5 year period and more than a dozen types of shrimp. In this time, it was harder for me to not setup new tanks than it was to grow any aquatic plant sent my way. Below are some of the tanks I've kept over the years.
At the end of 2021 I moved from Texas to Massachusetts and gave away all of my plants, tanks, and shrimp to friends I had made over the years. It took some time to find a permanent place to live so I didn't have any tanks until I was unexpectedly given an ADA 120P in summer of 2023.
The early days of the 120P:
I went through the typical tank start growing pains with a diatoms phase, green hair algae, and every other issue one would expect from a new tank. Even with the new tank difficulties, it only took me 2 months to get to a healthy tank again. For the next 1.5 years, everything went smoothly and the tank went through many iterations.
Setup on June 28th
Diatoms outbreak on July 19th
Green hair algae outbreak by August 18th
Everything was cleaned up and growing great by September 1st
The start of the disaster:
In February 2025, I started running into issues. BBA started growing in small tufts on the substrate and green hair algae started attacking the old growth on the plants. I'd run into this issue in the past and was usually able to fix it pretty quickly by dialing in the CO2, cleaning the substrate, cleaning filters, and replanting only the most healthy tops of the plants. Even after doing this multiple times, I haven't had any luck fixing the algae. It always comes back
The start of the algae
Multiple trim and replant cycles along with some new plants
Relatively clean after a trim and replant cycle
10 days later
Where I am today:
I'm getting so frustrated by the persistent issues that I'm about ready to shut down this tank. As a last ditch effort, I purchased a pack of healthy plants from Burr740 to see if healthy plants can help me get through the algae phase and get back into a good place.
The tank as of January 2nd 2026. The healthiest plants in the tank were received earlier this week from Burr740.
Really poor color on my plants with a lot of green algae on the lower leaves. The nice looking bacopa is from Burr740. The original stems of Bacopa have barely grown in the last month. If I pull them up, there are very few roots.
Another example of the old growth issues. The Limnophila mini vietnam also has not grown at all in the last month. Lots of algae grows on the substrate as well.
Another comparison of Burr's Ludwigia sp. red vs mine. Very slow growth and poor rooting.
Really weak older growth on Rotala sp. singapore and poor coloration compared to Burr's plants. This plant has always been very easy for me to keep and this is part of why I'm thinking there is something big that I'm missing. Didiplis diandra is another easy plant that keeps melting at the base and its making very little progress because of this.
Below is the key information about the tank.
Tank size: ADA 120P (120 cm x 45 cm x 45 cm)
Lighting: 3x NiloCG Prizms ran at the lowest setting for each channel. Lights are on for 7 hours a day. I want to increase the lighting, but any time I do the algae gets significantly worse
Filtration: Oase Biomaster 600 and a SunSun HW-303B. There's a spraybar on the bottom left that points along the length of the tank at substrate level and the other output is on the top right corner of the tank pushing the opposite direction.
CO2: Vertical reactor on the SunSun filter and a Sera reactor on the Oase. CO2 comes on 4 hours before lights on and turns off 1 hr before lights off. Drop checker is yellow when lights turn on. The pH drop is ~1.4-1.5 at lights on (5.8 at lights on and 7.3 when water is fully degassed). Plants start pearling within 10 minutes of the lights coming on.
Substrate: A mix of ADA aquasoil, Fluval stratum, and Controsoil. A bag of Controsoil was added ~2 months ago to try and give the plants a boost. The remaining substrate is from when I setup the tank and is almost certainly not providing much nutrition or buffering capacity.
Water change schedule: Weekly 70-80% water changes with tap water coming from the MWRA (water report here). KH is ~2. GH is less than 1(3.7 PPM Ca, 0.7 PPM Mg based on the report). Water is treated with sodium carbonate at the water treatment plant to increase the pH to ~9.2, but the pH rapidly decreases after the water comes out of the tap. One potential issue is the tap water is extremely cold. It comes out at ~50F and I add a mix of water from the tap along with heated water. The temperature drops to ~60F for 2-3 hours whenever I water change. I don't keep any livestock so I'm not sure if this is a problem. This was not something I needed to consider back in Texas.
Remineralization: I add 22 PPM calcium and 6 PPM magnesium at water change
Fertilization: 20N-6P-26K is added immediately after water change. A second dose at 10N-3P-13K is added halfway through the week. Micros are Burr740's most recent recipe dosed at 0.15 PPM Fe 3x per week.
Temperature: Tank is heated to 73F during the winter. During the more mild parts of the year I remove the heater and go with whatever the ambient temperature is.
It looks like I'm doing everything right on paper and based on my past experience keeping tanks, but there is clearly some major issue ongoing. Right now I'm thinking its inconsistency in the CO2 that I'm just not seeing (I just started the CO2 2 hours earlier last week because I was noticing the drop checker wasn't always yellow at lights on), not enough light, or too cold of water during water changes. I want to keep some records through this journal to keep myself engaged with the tank and to make sure I'm being consistent with everything. I'm also hoping some additional eyes can help me see where I'm going wrong because I really, really miss having a nice looking tank.
121 Replies
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13717 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
AquaGirls
As Art was gracious enough to provide us a place to chat about all things emersed-grown here on the new Planted Paludariums and Terrariums sub-forum, I thought we could kick things off with a place to post our Shizuku's! I know @JayP , @BranchScape, @Noahspapa at least have a Shizuku or more. I started this year in New Jersey by attending the ADA Class at Aquashella. My poor Shizuku had a bumpy ride home courtesy of Jersey TSA, but was reassembled the morning after I got home, September 14th. So this was technically its second incarnation.
I didn't realize how much it had grown already. It has had a few modifications since then. At the class I chose to use Jagure stone, but there wasn't any more driftwood that was small enough to fit, so I skipped it, but I added a couple of nubbins of Mopani a couple of weeks later. Plants at the class were Riccardia, Staurogyne repens, Cryptocoryne axelrodi, what I think is Star Moss (they were handing out small pieces, so I didn't see the label), and Eriocaulon quinquangulare. As I was buying some Bolbitis difformis for another project, I added a small one to this to mostly see how well it would grow, as I have heard this plant prefers an emersed setup, and most terrestrial ferns get quite large. Also had a smidge of Bucephalandra Lamandau mini purple from the Manten Stone scape that found it's way in here as well.
Top down view:
I am going to have pull the Eriocaulon forward, as I realize from this view that the wood and the Bolbitis is creating a bit too much shadow. But I can fix that.
A friend and enabler has been fascinated with my foray back into aquariums, and now this, so I decided to make her a Shizuku of her own as a Christmas present. I planted it a couple of weeks ago, so it has time to root and stabilize before I gift it. I stuck to easy plants for this one. Mostly anubias, a little buce, and the bolbitis, as I want it to succeed for her.
Right now it's on my grow rack, and doing well, but she will also receive the DOOA light stand and magnetic light. I figure she can get RO water refills here, too. The very small-leaved plant on the far right is the buce 'Petite Galaxy', and seems to be doing great, both submerged in my Manten tank, and emersed in the Shizuku. Definitely a new personal favorite for finer detail.
Anyhoo, would love to see others post their Shizuku pots here! Perhaps we can inspire a few others?
I didn't realize how much it had grown already. It has had a few modifications since then. At the class I chose to use Jagure stone, but there wasn't any more driftwood that was small enough to fit, so I skipped it, but I added a couple of nubbins of Mopani a couple of weeks later. Plants at the class were Riccardia, Staurogyne repens, Cryptocoryne axelrodi, what I think is Star Moss (they were handing out small pieces, so I didn't see the label), and Eriocaulon quinquangulare. As I was buying some Bolbitis difformis for another project, I added a small one to this to mostly see how well it would grow, as I have heard this plant prefers an emersed setup, and most terrestrial ferns get quite large. Also had a smidge of Bucephalandra Lamandau mini purple from the Manten Stone scape that found it's way in here as well.
Top down view:
I am going to have pull the Eriocaulon forward, as I realize from this view that the wood and the Bolbitis is creating a bit too much shadow. But I can fix that.
A friend and enabler has been fascinated with my foray back into aquariums, and now this, so I decided to make her a Shizuku of her own as a Christmas present. I planted it a couple of weeks ago, so it has time to root and stabilize before I gift it. I stuck to easy plants for this one. Mostly anubias, a little buce, and the bolbitis, as I want it to succeed for her.
Right now it's on my grow rack, and doing well, but she will also receive the DOOA light stand and magnetic light. I figure she can get RO water refills here, too. The very small-leaved plant on the far right is the buce 'Petite Galaxy', and seems to be doing great, both submerged in my Manten tank, and emersed in the Shizuku. Definitely a new personal favorite for finer detail.
Anyhoo, would love to see others post their Shizuku pots here! Perhaps we can inspire a few others?
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28 views
I'm really hoping to get some advice on a persistent brown algae problem in my tank. I believe it's diatoms, but I'm honestly not sure what's causing it or why it keeps coming back.
I'm a dad with two kids under two, so my free time is limited. I love this hobby, but it's becoming frustrating when no matter how much effort I put into maintaining my tank, this brown gunk returns week after week.
My setup:
For transparency, the photos show 10 days without a water change, which isn't typical for me. However, even after 7 days, the amount of brown buildup seems excessive.
I understand diatoms are common in newer tanks, but mine has been running for nearly six months. I'm really trying to identify the root cause rather than continuously cleaning up the symptoms.
At this point, I'm spending more time fighting algae than enjoying the tank, and with my limited free time, I really need to find a sustainable solution.
Has anyone experienced something similar or have suggestions on what I should investigate?
I genuinely appreciate anyone taking the time to help. Thank you!
I'm a dad with two kids under two, so my free time is limited. I love this hobby, but it's becoming frustrating when no matter how much effort I put into maintaining my tank, this brown gunk returns week after week.
My setup:
- Tank: 125-gallon, heavily planted, running since May 2026
- Substrate: Fluval Stratum aquasoil
- Filtration: Two Fluval FX6 canister filters
- Water changes: 50% every Saturday
- CO₂: Injected and stable
- Fertilization: Joe Harvey Macro/Micro, following recommended dosing
- Lighting: Two Week Aqua 900L fixtures, 7-hour photoperiod at relatively moderate intensity
For transparency, the photos show 10 days without a water change, which isn't typical for me. However, even after 7 days, the amount of brown buildup seems excessive.
I understand diatoms are common in newer tanks, but mine has been running for nearly six months. I'm really trying to identify the root cause rather than continuously cleaning up the symptoms.
At this point, I'm spending more time fighting algae than enjoying the tank, and with my limited free time, I really need to find a sustainable solution.
Has anyone experienced something similar or have suggestions on what I should investigate?
I genuinely appreciate anyone taking the time to help. Thank you!
2 Replies
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26 views
Santa came early this year with a new 75g tank. I've never owned a 4' tank ever been stuck on the normal 30" wide 29g and 20g's forever. I wanted the uns 90u 36x22x22 but 750.00 is nuts to me I don't have that much in all tanks and equip I own so went cheap route.
Saw the 75g at PetSmart the imagitarium brand for 150 on sale. Those cheapos have bad reviews on leaking and I believe it as I actually picked up a free leaky 75g imagitarium at petco last week and sold it for snake terrarium for 40.00. Went to petco they also have the 50% off sale on marineland and aqueon. The tank was 159.00 out the door. Got lucky the manager said take this set of new glass tops for free, were a return they cant sell it.I assume the made in USA marineland is a better tank than the other cheapos and I actually don't mind the black silicone.
Went to Lowes today for some wood 4- 2x4x8 and 2- 2x4x10 and sheet if 1/2 osb for top and bottom shelf and for extra strength. When I get done I'm sure it would hold a 300g tank. Will wrap the tank in either bead board wood paneling or 1/4" plywood with some nice moulding on corners. Def gotta make a lip to hide the bottom plastic rim as well so its not so ugly. probably build a hood to why not hide some rims! Just gotta build or find a pair of doors on something else I can steal and use for this stand. I don't plan on getting it setup for few weeks but want stand base 1/2 done now so I can try some diff dry scapes with wood and rocks in it. This will be replacing my 20long I was scaping in other journal its now a plant farm full of ludwigia and plants for sale.
Still not sure on the name on this tank, Whipple landing is where I took some pics I want to copy for the tank. Its feed by the great pee dee river here so name may change later.
Saw the 75g at PetSmart the imagitarium brand for 150 on sale. Those cheapos have bad reviews on leaking and I believe it as I actually picked up a free leaky 75g imagitarium at petco last week and sold it for snake terrarium for 40.00. Went to petco they also have the 50% off sale on marineland and aqueon. The tank was 159.00 out the door. Got lucky the manager said take this set of new glass tops for free, were a return they cant sell it.I assume the made in USA marineland is a better tank than the other cheapos and I actually don't mind the black silicone.
Went to Lowes today for some wood 4- 2x4x8 and 2- 2x4x10 and sheet if 1/2 osb for top and bottom shelf and for extra strength. When I get done I'm sure it would hold a 300g tank. Will wrap the tank in either bead board wood paneling or 1/4" plywood with some nice moulding on corners. Def gotta make a lip to hide the bottom plastic rim as well so its not so ugly. probably build a hood to why not hide some rims! Just gotta build or find a pair of doors on something else I can steal and use for this stand. I don't plan on getting it setup for few weeks but want stand base 1/2 done now so I can try some diff dry scapes with wood and rocks in it. This will be replacing my 20long I was scaping in other journal its now a plant farm full of ludwigia and plants for sale.
Still not sure on the name on this tank, Whipple landing is where I took some pics I want to copy for the tank. Its feed by the great pee dee river here so name may change later.
18 Replies
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420 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
I took some time to take pics of fish room & tanks this morning and thought I’d share. In the “front room” I’m currently working to get the new 90P (left corner) set up (waiting on new tank). Next will be replacing the 29G (right corner) with a 90P, and then replacing the two 10Gs with a 120P for angels and rainbows. The existing 120P is horribly overgrown, primarily with plants from BurrAqua - but I am loving it and just can’t get myself to thin it out. The leopard Val, red blyxa, lotus, ferns, Buce, Anubias….. love it! The back room has evolved to special purpose tanks for clown killis, alien betta, 3 caridina tanks and several plant farm tanks & bins.
2 Replies
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Supporting
I Donated 2026
Rockstar
I started my first tank as an adult about a year ago, and have posted updates on it in my other journal , the Beginner Scaper Journal. I had intended the other journal to be a journey for this new tank but there were so many variables and many questions about the other set up that i thought it would best to start this new journal.
I am going to hold on to my beginner/amateur flair to the post since I think this is such a great hobby and want newcomers to know that everyone started as an amateur
Tank Inspiration
Dennis Wong's planted tanks. If you guys don't know who this is, I have already served a good purpose by introducing you to the founder of the 2Hr aquarist. He has a scientific horticulturist approach to planted tank that resonates well to my scientific mind. He is one of the few that I have read and listened to who mentions the different schools of thoughts when it comes to managing planted tanks and does not stick with a single approach.
Anyways a long winded rambling to say that everyone should read through the 2hr aquarist website. His products are all called APT (Advanced planted tank), and i think that is what his company was called before. His current display tanks are all planted tanks, which are beautiful mostly without hardscape but with lush plant growth and do not follow the rules of Dutch scaping. To anyone who wants to understand his philosophy more, i would recommend in addition to the website watch some videos where he has been interviewed.
I wanted to re-create this type of tank, but obviously as a beginner/amateur. I am hoping to learn more about growing plants with my ultimate goal to advance to a next scape which might be more nature style where i can take the knowledge from growing plants and now incorporate hardscape to it.
Equipment
Tank
- Waterbox mini 25
Background
Fish List (Preliminary)
Photos
photo 1 - Day 11
Photo 2 - Day 20
Photo 3 - Day 21 - Current - Testing - Ammonia 0, Nitrate about 10 on API kit - Changed filter outlet location to get reduced current
Photo 4 - Day 21 - Side view
Thanks for reading so far!
There has been some good growth, some expected filamentous algae/diatmos and some melting, all expected hopefully this would not get too bad.
The Rotala blood red, Florida and Ludwigea arcuata are doing great. Both the florida and Arcuata seems to do much better on the aquasoil than on my prior intert substrate.
Blyxa melted a little but getting better, the Tulunadensis is struggling. The rest holding stable.
Interesting observation - The Rotala blood red, started putting out lot of roots and side shoots which i think is mainly because the plant was being pushed by the current to almost bend sideways and I believe it is thinking that it close the surface and doing its thing. With the changed filter outlet location I am hoping that it will be more erect and when i cut and replant there will be less roots. 2hr aquarist has written about this as well, but i think the bending sideways leading to rooting is not mentioned.
I am not liking the layout as much as i thought i would. Have been discussing with BurrAqua and have some suggestions but still thinking about this. Thoughts and suggestions welcome. Hopefully lot of people with (@Burr740 , @Dennis Wong @Art @techman81 @Pepere @Unexpected @Naturescapes_Rocco @Jeff Miotke @BenB @DutchMuch ) and without experience will follow and share this tank journey with me.
This is a great forum and i have tagged people that i am familiar with on the forum who have answered my questions and helped.
I am going to hold on to my beginner/amateur flair to the post since I think this is such a great hobby and want newcomers to know that everyone started as an amateur
Tank Inspiration
Dennis Wong's planted tanks. If you guys don't know who this is, I have already served a good purpose by introducing you to the founder of the 2Hr aquarist. He has a scientific horticulturist approach to planted tank that resonates well to my scientific mind. He is one of the few that I have read and listened to who mentions the different schools of thoughts when it comes to managing planted tanks and does not stick with a single approach.
Anyways a long winded rambling to say that everyone should read through the 2hr aquarist website. His products are all called APT (Advanced planted tank), and i think that is what his company was called before. His current display tanks are all planted tanks, which are beautiful mostly without hardscape but with lush plant growth and do not follow the rules of Dutch scaping. To anyone who wants to understand his philosophy more, i would recommend in addition to the website watch some videos where he has been interviewed.
I wanted to re-create this type of tank, but obviously as a beginner/amateur. I am hoping to learn more about growing plants with my ultimate goal to advance to a next scape which might be more nature style where i can take the knowledge from growing plants and now incorporate hardscape to it.
Equipment
Tank
- Waterbox mini 25
- 60 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm
- 90 liters or 24 gallons
- This is a big upgrade from my 29 gallon standard tank. The silicone work is flawless.
- It does come with a leveling mat.
- It is deeper and slightly taller than a 60P or UNS 60U. I thought it would be useful to have more depth.
- Background - Thanks to @Jeff Miotke suggestion
- Waterbox stand - Black
- The main contention is that it does not come with side holes like some of the other expensive stands do.
- It just comes with opening in the back, so getting the tubing out is messy.
- The door attachment is a soft close but it needs to be leveled which can be finicky
- I did add a magnetic holder for tools and will add some light as well at some point.
- It does come with leveling foot holders.
- It is nicely built other wise.
- I wish it came with a pull out like the Oase stands but guess would be very expensive.
- Overall Ok, but nothing to highly recommend about.
- Oase Biomaster 350 thermo
- Replaced the biological media with Seachem Matrix
- Replaced one of the foams with Seachem Matrix as well.
- Steel lily pipes from GLA with extension. I think many of liked this company. But I personally would not buy anything again from them. They had quality control issues with this. One of the holders were metal and other acrylic and they would not send me another metal one. These are not the cheapest especially and you also have to buy extension separately. These are made by a chinese company and not made by GLA.
- I used to have glass lily pipes but got tired of cleaning them.
- I read many people commenting that using a skimmer attached to the inflow or outflow might be a pain to adjust, so ended up getting the Oase Crystal skim
- Fzone Co2 inline diffuser
- These work great and this is the second one that i have gotten. Trouble free but might need to replace parts of it if it gets clogged. Important thing is that it can be opened to clean.
- I have a Fzone dual stage regulator
- Cheapest that i could find and works very well - highly recommend
- I use RO water and remineralize it with APT Sky to a GH of around 4. Use the calculator on APT webpage.
- My goals are to have a low KH, and GH of around 4 - 5.
- APT feast about 12 Liters
- You can read about my experience cycling it here using Dark Start (sort of)
- I did not want Aquasoil in the front of the tank and wanted a thin lining of gravel so used a gravel from Carribsea, and some smooth lava stones to separate them. More about this later but i don't really like the way it turned out.
- Chihiros WRGB II - 10th anniv edition - 60 cm.
Background
- Left - Rotala blood red
- Middle - Rotala Tulunadensis (From Burr Aqua)
- Right - Alteranthera Reineckii Rosaefolia
- Left - Blyxa Joponica
- Middle - Ludwigea Arcuata, Pogostemon Decannensis, Rotala Florida, Staurogyne Repens
- Right - Syngonathus Belem/Macrocaulon(From Burr Aqua)
- Left - Lobelia cardinalis mini
- Middle/Right - S.Repens and Montecarlo
- Still to come - Eleocharis Aricularis mini (in the place where the stones are)
- Clump of Hydrocortyle Tripartita to absorb nitrogen - Trust me you do not want this plant for any other reason, will take over your tank and get everything into a tangled mess.
Fish List (Preliminary)
- 4 Rasbora espei
- 2 Otos
- Will be adding more from my prior tank
- Lighting - 30% - 8 am - 3 pm
- Co2 - 40 ppm by Hanna co2 kit, 5 am - 3 pm
- Fertilizer - APT 1 - Still not settled on a routine but the recommended dose for daily dosing would be about 2.3 ml and i do about 2-3 ml every 3 days.
- Water changes 75% every 3 - 4 days, will make it weekly in the next couple of weeks
Photos
photo 1 - Day 11
Photo 2 - Day 20
Photo 3 - Day 21 - Current - Testing - Ammonia 0, Nitrate about 10 on API kit - Changed filter outlet location to get reduced current
Photo 4 - Day 21 - Side view
Thanks for reading so far!
There has been some good growth, some expected filamentous algae/diatmos and some melting, all expected hopefully this would not get too bad.
The Rotala blood red, Florida and Ludwigea arcuata are doing great. Both the florida and Arcuata seems to do much better on the aquasoil than on my prior intert substrate.
Blyxa melted a little but getting better, the Tulunadensis is struggling. The rest holding stable.
Interesting observation - The Rotala blood red, started putting out lot of roots and side shoots which i think is mainly because the plant was being pushed by the current to almost bend sideways and I believe it is thinking that it close the surface and doing its thing. With the changed filter outlet location I am hoping that it will be more erect and when i cut and replant there will be less roots. 2hr aquarist has written about this as well, but i think the bending sideways leading to rooting is not mentioned.
I am not liking the layout as much as i thought i would. Have been discussing with BurrAqua and have some suggestions but still thinking about this. Thoughts and suggestions welcome. Hopefully lot of people with (@Burr740 , @Dennis Wong @Art @techman81 @Pepere @Unexpected @Naturescapes_Rocco @Jeff Miotke @BenB @DutchMuch ) and without experience will follow and share this tank journey with me.
This is a great forum and i have tagged people that i am familiar with on the forum who have answered my questions and helped.
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Rockstar
I am not as technically inclined as some members on here, but for those who are, answer me this. Could you not attach tubing to the end of this device where the sensor/probe is and run it into the aquarium in a similar fashion in which the drop checker works? Instead of waiting for a color change you could get an actual PPM reading? Please let me know if I am completely off base and why, or if this could possibly be a rudimentary way of getting more accurate co2 concentrations at a fraction of the cost of some high end equipment designed for submerged readings.
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811 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
AquaGirls
I have discovered that planting out aquascapes, especially when one doesn’t yet have a large enough ‘farm tank’, creates a bit of a hot dogs vs. buns problem. Order too many plants, now you need somewhere to put them.
Having recently planted two smaller tanks, I found myself, once again, with an excess of plants left over. I have four choices. Throw them out. Put them in my holding/quarantine tanks (that are already beyond capacity). Start a new tank (but I don’t want to move it later). Or try my hand at some little terrariums?
With the holidays coming up, I figured I would try the latter. I had the plants, and some extra jungle soil after making a friend a Shizuku for Christmas. I found some cute little terrariums with built-in LEDs on Amazon. At least this way I can use up the plants I have, and have decided I will gift these to my employees for the holidays. As they have the light integrated in the lid, which does have an adjustable vent, at least they won’t need to source their own light.
It was fun to play with some stones I haven't used in an aquascape. Jade Stone, Millenium Stone, Dragon Stone, and Dark Seiryu, and I knocked these four out over the weekend. Not complicated, but at least the plants now have a chance to do something other than wither away in their pots and TC cups. My Lindernia started blooming out of its holding tank this week, and I never realized what lovely little blue flowers they have when growing emersed. So a little of that found its way into the jar with the Millenium Stone. Hoping it makes it!
I am curious how many of you also dabble in growing some of our standard aquarium plants in emersed setups? I can totally see myself making more, maybe a Neo Glass Air next. Nobody warned me how much of a slippery slope this hobby was going to morph into when I started back up a year ago. Are there enough of us that would make it worthwhile to set up a ‘Planted Terrariums & Paludariums Discussion’ forum here to share our setups and experiences growing emersed? It’s still scaping, and growing plants, just with a little less water and maintenance. Or would that be outside the scope of this group?
Having recently planted two smaller tanks, I found myself, once again, with an excess of plants left over. I have four choices. Throw them out. Put them in my holding/quarantine tanks (that are already beyond capacity). Start a new tank (but I don’t want to move it later). Or try my hand at some little terrariums?
With the holidays coming up, I figured I would try the latter. I had the plants, and some extra jungle soil after making a friend a Shizuku for Christmas. I found some cute little terrariums with built-in LEDs on Amazon. At least this way I can use up the plants I have, and have decided I will gift these to my employees for the holidays. As they have the light integrated in the lid, which does have an adjustable vent, at least they won’t need to source their own light.
It was fun to play with some stones I haven't used in an aquascape. Jade Stone, Millenium Stone, Dragon Stone, and Dark Seiryu, and I knocked these four out over the weekend. Not complicated, but at least the plants now have a chance to do something other than wither away in their pots and TC cups. My Lindernia started blooming out of its holding tank this week, and I never realized what lovely little blue flowers they have when growing emersed. So a little of that found its way into the jar with the Millenium Stone. Hoping it makes it!
I am curious how many of you also dabble in growing some of our standard aquarium plants in emersed setups? I can totally see myself making more, maybe a Neo Glass Air next. Nobody warned me how much of a slippery slope this hobby was going to morph into when I started back up a year ago. Are there enough of us that would make it worthwhile to set up a ‘Planted Terrariums & Paludariums Discussion’ forum here to share our setups and experiences growing emersed? It’s still scaping, and growing plants, just with a little less water and maintenance. Or would that be outside the scope of this group?
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182 views
Hey all,
Just wondering what your thoughts or experiences are with running some form of moon or dusk lighting.
With my tank only running 8hrs of light per day, I have recently added a 2-3% setting on my Chihiros WRGB II from 18:00 - 21:00.
It's running quite a blue light and is just so that I can still get some enjoyment from my fish when I am at home in the evening.
Does anyone else do this in planted tanks? Do you think it will create algae issues?
Cheers
Chimera
Just wondering what your thoughts or experiences are with running some form of moon or dusk lighting.
With my tank only running 8hrs of light per day, I have recently added a 2-3% setting on my Chihiros WRGB II from 18:00 - 21:00.
It's running quite a blue light and is just so that I can still get some enjoyment from my fish when I am at home in the evening.
Does anyone else do this in planted tanks? Do you think it will create algae issues?
Cheers
Chimera
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281 views
Staff member
I Donated 2026
Founding Member
Hello Welcome, Hydrohabitats
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @Hydrohabitats!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
1 Replies
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20 views