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Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
Last reply · posted in Planted Aquarium Discussion

Photo-01-The Garden-Full Tank-Front-01 copy.webp​

Tank Title name : The Garden​


Introduction​


Hi – my name is Cheattha Sae-Teaw and I go by Anthony Zhang in English. I'm Thai-Chinese, born in Phuket, Thailand.

I worked in China for 25 years. Now, I’m living in my home town, Phuket island, which is the world's finest beach destination. I love to travel around the world and am fascinated with nature, culture, art and music. I have many hobbies such as collecting paintings, art work, gemstones, jade carvings and, of course, my favorite hobby is aquatic plant tanks.

Anthony Zhang-01.webp

System Profile​

  • Display tank : Azoo 450 L (150 x 60 x50 cm) (119 US gallons)
  • Glass or acrylic : Acrylic
  • Stand : Azoo cabinet aquarium stand set
  • Sump? None
  • Filter : Canister : Crazy Stone CS-1400 1 set (1400 L/Hour) (370 US gal/Hour)
  • CO2 : Pressurized CO2 with Chihiros regulator and diffuser
  • Water circulation : SUNSUN Aquarium surface skimmer SKU074 (3W) - 300L/hour (80 US gal/hour) and SONIC AP-600 (4W)-350L/hour (92 US gal/hour)
  • Lighting : Chihiros WRGB I (120 cm 1 set).
  • Dosing :
    • Fertilizers : Daily dosing Ferka Balance-N, Ferka Balance-K, Ferka Aquatilizers and TARA Ferric+
    • Hormones and Bacterial : Weekly dosing TARA Biostimulants, Biological Growth, Biological Brightening, Biological Magical
  • Auto top off : None
  • Heating/cooling : Chiller Heilea 90A setting at 25C (77F)
  • System control : None

Water circulation and flow summary and objectives​


SUNSUN Aquarium surface skimmer SKU074 (3W) - 300L/hour on the middle of right side with left direction same direction with Crazy Stone CS-1400 water Filter, and SONIC AP-600 (4W)-350L/hour on the left side back top corner with forward direction to circulated the water and spread out the CO2 bubbles

Photo-02-The Garden-Full Tank-Front.webp

Water parameters​

  • Temp : 25C (77F)
  • pH : Not measuring
  • NO3 : Not measuring
  • PO4 : Not measuring
  • Fe : Not measuring
  • Tap or RO/RODI : Natural well water
  • Do you remineralize? : None

What do you dose your tank and how? Fertilizer objectives​


- Daily dosing Ferka Balance-N to put the Nitrogen to perform the superior condition for aquatic plants and prevent the leaves from nitrogen deficiency.

- Daily dosing Ferka Balance-K to put the Potassium to perform the superior condition for aquatic plants and prevent the leaves from withering due to potassium deficiencies.

- Daily dosing Ferka Aquatilizers to put the Magnesium, Sulpher and trace elements to promote aquatic plants to flourish and remain healthy.

and Daily dosing TARA Ferric+ to put the Ferric chelate to support the development of rich and vibrant plants coloration

- Weekly dosing TARA Biostimulants to put the plants Hormones (Auxin, Cytokinin organic potassium, etc.) to speed up the plant’s metabolism, vigorous growth and accelerates the symbiotic between substrate soil microorganism and plants

- Weekly dosing Biological Growth to put the Amino acid polypeptides, vitamins, minerals, active plant Auxin compound and probiotic to decomposed the organic matter, hydrogen sulfide and promote the root growth

- Weekly dosing Biological Brightening to put the Amino acid polypeptides, Trace elements, vitamins, minerals, active plant Auxin compound and probiotic to decomposed the organic matter, promote healthy stem and leaves and promote the plants color

- Weekly dosing Biological Magical to put the live bacteria, pathogenic solitary bacteria, essential photosynthetic bacteria for water environment improvement

- Adding by used the product dispenser pump bottle and measuring and pouring with volume measuring cup

Note : Ferka and TARA is a brand of Best quality aquarium product from Thailand, and Biological is one of most famous aquarium product brand from China

Photo-10-The Garden--Right conner-Formal garden.webp

Substrate​


Crazy Stone Amazon Soil + Raw Base (The substrate have been used 3+years old )

Note : Crazy Stone is a famous aquarium product brand from China and Raw Base is a popular aquarium product from Thailand

Photo-05-The Garden-Full Tank-room.webp

Aquascaping style objective?​


For this Tank the aquascaping style I named it 'The Garden' and this tank layout is divided the main garden into 3 areas :

- The First part of garden is 'The formal' which inspired by formal garden in the Palace of Versailles. This part is on the middle-right side of tank and it's the most difficult to maintain, the green lines, shapes and patterns of Pearl Weed (Hermianthus micranthemoides) need to trimmed every 3 days to maintain the shape

- The Second part of garden is 'The Keukenhof' which inspired by the Keukenhof garden in Netherland, this part garden located on the middle-left side of tank that I intended to make the garden look beautiful and colorful both from top view and front view, by the technique of Classic Dutch style I make the street of plants with contrast of colors and textures

- The Third part of garden is 'The Tropical' it's on the left side, right side and whole back tank with tropical garden style that including the different sizes, shapes, colors and textures of aquatic plants to perform the natural look as tropical forest

Photo-06-The Garden-Street.webp

Lighting summary and objectives​


Chihiros WRGB I (120 cm 1 set). lighting 11 hours per day (6.30 - 17.30) with Full mode (100% in all colors), 30 min ramp up and down

Filtration objectives​


Water circulation and filtering out some organic waste and decomposed

Photo-07-The Garden-Top view.webp

Maintenance routine and export strategy​


1. Daily : clean up the surface skimmer, sieving out the falling and floating leaves, adding fertilizers and feeding fish

2. Weekly : trimming some plants, clean up the tank wall, change the water 30-40% offand adding plants hormones and bacteria

3. Monthly : trimming and replanted some plants, and giving root fertilizer tablets for Cryptocoryne and Nymphaea plants

4. Quarterly : remove and replanted the carpet plants, or re-scaping the layout

Tank inhabitants - fish ​


1. Phenacogrammus interruptus 'Congo Tetra"

2. Melanotaenia boesemani 'Boeseman's rainbow fish'

3. Trichopodus leerii 'Pearl gourami' short body

4. Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi 'Black neon tetra'

5. Hemigrammus rodwayi 'Gold tetra'

6. Aphyocharax rathbuni 'Green fire tetra'

7. Xiphophorus macalatus 'Golden moon platy'

8. Macrotocinclus affinis 'Drawf sucking fish'

9. Carinotetraodon travancoricus 'Dwarf puffer fish'

Photo-14-Boesemani Rainbow fish.webpPhoto-15-Congo Tetra Fish.webp
Photo-16-Congo Tetra Fish.webpPhoto-17-Pearl gourami fish-short body.webp

Tank inhabitants - inverts​


Neocaridina denticulata

Tank inhabitants - plants​


1. Bacopa colorata

2. Lobelia cardinalis ‘Drawf’

3. Ludwegia sphaerocarpa ‘pilosa’

4. Cabomba Furcata ‘piauhyensis’

5. Lidwegia sp. Mini super red

6. Pogostemon erectus

7.Rotala macrandra green

8. Eriocaulon Vietnam

9. Rotala colorata

10. Myriophyllum sp. Guyana

11. Cyperus helferi

12. Hermianthus micranthemoides ‘Pearl Weed'

13. Heteranthera zosterifolia ‘Stargrass’

14. Limnophila hippuridoides

15.Alteranthera Reineckii ‘Rosanervig’

16.Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘Flamingo’

17. Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘Mini brown’

18 .Hyptis lorentziana

19. Blyxa japonica

20. Micranthemum tweediei “Monte Carlo”

21. Juncus repens

22. Bucephalandra sp. ‘Metallica’

23. Nymphaea oxypetala

Photo-10-The Garden--Right conner-Formal garden.webp

How did you decide what to keep in your tank?​


I selected aquatic plants and animals based on their natural compatibility that will survive and be healthy in my tank’s conditions. And design the plant's layout based on their unique characteristics.

Any stocking regrets? ​


No

What do you love most about this hobby?​


Feeling focus and concentrated when I do the tank maintenance, and feeling happy, relaxed and peaceful when watching the tank

What’s your dream tank?​


In this Present : Dutch aqauscaping layout with colorful and healthy aquatic plants

In the Future : My own style aquacaping layout that is unique, stands out and is recognizable and styled in 360L Ultraclear glass tank, steel loft cabinet stand with Chihiros WRGB Pro Light

What was your biggest challenge with this tank and how did you get past it?​


The big challenge is the formal garden maintenance which requires concentration and skill in trimming so I meditate before trimming

Photo-11-The Garden--Bacopa colorata.webp

What is the most valuable piece of equipment for this tank?​


Light and Chiller equipments

Any future plans for this tank?​


January 2023 change new substrate and The Classic Dutch style will be the first layout of this new setup tank for learning the traditional rules of real Dutch style, and the second layout will transform it to Modern Dutch style or colorful Formal garden tank

Photo-12The Garden--Ludwegia Pilosa.webp

Any special tips for success or advice you’d like to share with other hobbyists?​


-Plant Hormones are my secret items to enrichment the aquatic plants health

-Bacteria are important factors in the existence and balance of biological system in planted aquarium, find the right bacteria product for your tank and used it now

-Fertilizer is a basic factors that needs to be understood to used in right proportions, learn to use it properly

-Observe and learn the possibilities of nature in ecosystem of your tank, it's a key to success

Photo-18-Plants Hormones.webp

Any closing thoughts or comments? ​


I hope my tank will give you some useful information

Finally, thank you and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!



Photo-13-The Garden--Cabomba Red.webp
Photo-03-The Garden-Full Tank-Right-02.webp
Photo-03-The Garden-Full Tank-Right.webp
Photo-04-The Garden-Full Tank-Left.webp
Photo-09-The Garden-Street.webp
23 Replies · 7390 views
P
Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Planted Aquarium Discussion
I have read an awful lot of warnings and conjectures by people. And “I used bdbs and a shrimp died so I got rid of it…”…

My personal experience with the product has been uneventful.

I have put rare earth magnets through a quart sample with no hint of any attraction and then washed it with no hint of oil slick or dustiness and then added the rest of the bag to a new aquarium with no treatment, no ill effect…

I have probably employed 7 bags by now with no hint of a problem. Dozens of corys sifting through the stuff as well as khuli loaches and yoyo loaches…. No hint of problems with them…

Other than it self leveling itself and being totally incapable of holding a slopeI love the stuff. The black always looks great. It costs about 1/4 aquarium specific substrates. I really haventexperienced anything negative about it…

I know it is popular here…. Has anybody here had bad experiences with it?
6 Replies · 96 views
Kwyet
Supporting I Donated 2026 Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Journals
This tank was a Dutch-ish tank before we moved 2 months ago. This was one of its last pictures, very overgrown I know.

IMG_5970.webp

This time I want to make it a true Dutch, so anyone can chime in and help me. 🙂

After we moved, it ran low-tech with just a few tissue cultures until this week when I finally had time and materials to finish setting it up. This is what it looks like now:

IMG_6311.webp

I know there’s some bubbles showing in the vinyl cling. I’m having trouble reaching back there to smooth it out. I’ll have to think about how to fix that, although when the plants grow in it may not be visible anyway. I did read that you can have 1 rock in a Dutch scape, so I kept one. I may put Monte Carlo on it again, I haven’t decided.

So, details…

Tank: UNS 90U, 68 gallons

Light: Week Aqua P900 Pro, current settings R 40%, G 51%, B 20%, UV 0, Fan 100, Power 51%.
8 hours of light with 30 min ramp up/down
Par—no idea

Filtration: Fluval Fx4, currently running at 75%. Any higher blows the fish around. I expect to be able to increase it when the plants are grown in.

CO2: Yugang stainless steel reactor, 370 mm long, working really well. I had to turn down the CO2 a bit today because the drop was more than I expected (from degassed 7.4 to 5.9). I’ve already changed the end cap to the medium setting, but I think I’m just going to make further adjustments with the regulator. Call it laziness, but since there aren’t any double taps available for the Fx4 tubing that’s going to be easier for me. Anyway, I really like it. It’s completely silent and does its job well.

Substrate: Aqua Natural Galaxy sand, with a few Aquarium Coop root tabs.

Other: Oase CrystalSkim 350 skimmer, Kactoily 6-in-1 water quality monitor

Fertilizer: Until today I’ve just been using Easy Green. Today I installed the Chihiro’s dosing system with PPS-Pro, 6 ml macros and 3 ml micros daily. On water change day, I’ll add another 2 ml macros. I’m currently changing 20% of the water once a week. I’ll increase if necessary.

Parameters: Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 ppm, gH 6, kH 2, TDS 222, 70-74 F

Plants (mostly from @Burr740 thanks!):

Leopard Val
Echinodorus Aflame
Hydrocotyle Tripartita (coming)
Penthorum Sedioides
Crypt Wendtii Sindoor
Lobelia cardinalis mini
Bacopa colorata
Rotala (? back left corner)
Limnophila wilsonii
Nymphae Peru Puerto Maldonade
Rotala macrandra Kochi
Nymphoides Taiwan

I’m not sure I like the Leopard Val in there. Should I put it in my 125 gallon instead, and move the Limnophila wilsonii to that spot?

Fish:

1 Honey Flame Gourami
4 Ember tetras
8 Otos
2 Pygmy sunfish
4 Red neon blue-eyed rainbowfish
9 Pygmy Cory catfish
9 male Lime Green Endlers
1 Leopard Danio (last of a group)
A few random Amano and Neocaridina shrimp and snails

The fish list will change as I get more tanks set up. I would like to end up with just the gourami, Otos, Rainbowfish (but more of them), and Pygmy Cories.

Well, that’s a start. Thanks for reading!
292 Replies · 30627 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
Last reply · posted in Forum News/Feedback
This is the future home for the announcements when someone obtains an achievement badge. Let the games begin!
2049 Replies · 74965 views
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Reactions: Kwyet
Capraquaria
Supporting I Donated 2026 AquaGirls
Last reply · posted in Specific Plant Discussions
I managed to acquire some Eriocaulon ratnagiricum. It should arrive early next week. I am pulling my 60U out of its extended dark start this weekend, and figured it would be an intriguing addition at the base of the large stones. (Not my image, this was from the seller):

eriocaulonratnagiricum.webp

I did read Dennis Wong's 'how to grow' for this species, which was very helpful, and will add some APT Jazz in the areas that I plant it as it seems it wants a fairly rich soil. Tank is 0KH, remineralized RO with APT Sky initially to dGH 6 when I initiated the dark start.

However, despite being sold as 'inert', the Sensei stone I acquired from AFA is most definitely not proving to be entirely inert. I haven't drained the tank yet, but will this weekend when I start planting, but this morning KH is holding at 0, but dGH is currently sitting at 10! There is a vein of quartz-like crystal running through the largest stone, presumably calcite, as it is driving the GH up, and leaving KH unaffected. Calcite reportedly can run in some Magura/Sensei stone. I am already reconsidering the type of shrimp for this tank based on the higher GH level, but I am wondering if anyone has experience with this plant in a tank with higher GH? This Erio is KH sensitive, and the tank is ok there, but I am wondering if the excess calcium in the water column, pushing that higher GH, might be less than ideal for this Eriocaulon?

I did consider sealing the vein of calcite with cyanoacrylate glue, and covering it in riccardia to maybe slow the leaching/rise in GH, but I think most of the rocks have at least some of this material running through them to varying degree, and I am expecting that the leaching could increase once the CO2 is running, and the pH drops. Regardless, if anyone has experience growing this lovely little spiky Erio, please share!
8 Replies · 228 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
Last reply · posted in Fertilizing and Aquarium Chemistry
An area of confusion for me has been the degassing of CO2 in my aquarium. It's often talked about but we don't seem to have real data except for that done by our friend @Dennis Wong in his article How to measure CO2 levels in an aquarium.

According to this article, standing water sits at .6 ppm of dissolved CO2 and a normal planted aquarium will degass to 2-3 ppm. Therefore, our tanks are never full degassing CO2, especially because we supplement to such a high level. This, in turn, concerned me of an ever increasing CO2 level.

For example, if we started at 2-3 ppm and we went up to 30 ppm on day one, is it possible that on day two you degass only to 3-4 ppm and that is your starting point. Adding the same amount of CO2 would then end up at 31 ppm on day two. This would continue increasing the total high over time.

Curious that I have not created a CO2 disaster in my tanks in the past, I decided to pull up my Apex Fusion log showing my pH drop daily. Here it is:
Screenshot 2025-06-05 at 8.24.20 AM.webp

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my 1.3 - 1.4 pH drop is absolutely consistent day after day. This seems to indicate that I am not on an ever increasing cycle but one that repeats exactly the same day after day.

Does this mean that degassing really isn't an issue to be concerned about or that it's more about oxygenation than decreasing CO2?
20 Replies · 2380 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
Last reply · posted in Meet & Greet Forum
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @Aquafish!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
1 Replies · 27 views
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S
Last reply · posted in Planted Aquarium Discussion
Hey guys, I've made a couple of yugang reactors some horizontal, some vertical (soda bottle with a hole in it).

I've noticed a reoccuring issue constantly in that it will eventually fill up with air (oxygen) from plants pearling.

Once the co2 + oxygen concentration gets high enough, Oxygen from plant pearling will eventually make its way into the reactor. After a few days, this severely reduces its efficiency.

You would think the oxygen just gets pushed out by the co2 coming, but plants pearling will kinda just refill it up extremely fast.

Is yugang better in lower light tanks where you won't get intense pearling? I usually find co2 misting much more consistent in this case and might swap back to just using a ceramic diffuser for consistency. I only have 10 gallon tanks... a ceramic diffuser is fine, its just easy to nuke your tank with too much co2 where yugang limits your co2 ppm based on reactor size.
24 Replies · 1502 views
Mr.Shenanagins
Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Journals
IMG_3320.webp
Well I’m done talking about it, it’s time to get this journal started.

I have been really out of it the last year or so in terms of maintaining my own tank, mainly out of frustration with time constraints and inconsistency with dosing etc. However, I have now acquired a dream tank, rimless and with low iron glass like I’ve always wanted. While I loved having a sump and prided myself on putting it together, I’m past that desire. The AIO allows the same benefits with hiding equipment, and overall easier maintenance without climbing in and out of cabinets. Now onto the details of this build.

Tank: Planet Aquariums Tideline 62 Gallon AIO Lagoon

Filtration: (2) 250gph pumps on either side of the tank with center overflow into socks (I’m going to punch holes in the socks for now and stuff with polyfill, reviews state the socks clog way too quickly and there is no replacement sock as the insert is not the common round style). The baffles will be stuffed with the poret foam I have already from my sump for extra mechanical/biological.

Substrate: The bottom layer will comprise of bagged pond soil/peat/earthworm castings/ STS. This will be a thin layer and will mainly act as filler to raise up the cap of APT Feast. This is similar to a substrate setup I did when I first started back up in 2020, And that tank did very well. While capping with sand and relying on the dirt to feed the stems worked well, it did require a little more effort on my end with dosing. I don’t trust myself to be as diligent as some members on here are with their inert subs, so I’m taking the mulligan and using aquasoil as a cap, hence, “dirty soil.” This will be another island style layout, and the surrounding substrate will be comprised of Caribsea Carolina Creek Sand.

Hardscape: River rock (local hardscape center sourced) and malaysian driftwood. I have recently acquired another large piece of wood and I’m sourcing new stone this week, as what I have just isn’t meshing with my current vision for the tank.

Plants: …. I have not solidified my vision of what this scape will look like just yet as I haven’t been able to setup the hardscape to outline the island. The plan is to use a good amount of colorful stems, epiphytes, and potentially moss.

Lighting: I will be ordering the Week Aqua Z400 this week and am excited to test it out.

That’s all for now, more pictures and details to come. I should hopefully have the hardscape setup by the end of this coming week after acquiring more stone and wood.

CO2: Almost forgot, for Co2 injection I have made a DIY Yugang with a locking food storage container. It will be stored in the cabinet and the hook will feed into the return pump chamber on the right. I initially was bummed that I had to sacrifice storage to fit a 5lb CO2 tank under the stand, which also meant getting rid of of the 20lb tank I’ve only been having to fill twice a year. @GreggZ Will appreciate this, my awesome father in law suggested that I hide the co2 tank in the pantry closet which is directly behind that wall and just drill a hole for the co2 line. Since my father in laws word is pure gold in my wife’s eyes, that suggestion was approved! He’s just as much my dad too so I appreciated him supporting the project 👍🏻IMG_3331.webp
71 Replies · 4981 views
R
Last reply · posted in Journals
Hi guys!

I'm new here, but not entirely new to planted tanks though I've been out of the hobby for the better part of the last decade between kids and moving a couple of times - but finally in a spot where I can do something again. I'm mostly going to be making things up as I go along, but plan on a lot of automation (I want to integrate everything into home assistant) and a lot of DIY as I love the challenge of building things out myself.

The starting point:

I picked up a 90P rimless, low-iron tank on a great deal.

Media (1).webp

I have a rough idea in my head for a stand to be built from plywood - just have a couple other house projects to finish off before starting that built.

Wife says I can only have one aquarium, so for this tank, I want to go all out with a sump to allow for auto top off, and auto water changes, auto fertilizer dosing etc. etc. I have half a plan in my mind.

I've also started on the light fixture which I've modeled up in CAD, and plan on making out of an 8020 extrusion, and some 3D printed bits.
Screenshot 2026-06-01 092809.webp
I'm using bridgelux gen 3 thrive CW (3000k) and WW (5000k) LED strips which have super high CRI at 98+ along with some specific XPE2 wavelengths that I'll solder onto some starboards. Far Red (730nm), Red (654nm), Cyan (495nm), Blue (455nm), Visible UV (415nm). Each segment of the white channels will be on its own driver so I can adjust left to right brightness in thirds, and each colour channel on its own driver so I can vary each channel on a time-based approach.

These will be run from a custom PCB board with Meanwell N-LDD drivers, and will run ESPHome on an ESP32 so it can link up with my Home Assistant installation.
1780321317096.webp

That's it for now, this will probably be a very slow build so be warned if you follow along!
73 Replies · 5245 views
S
· posted in Fertilizing and Aquarium Chemistry
I understand that the process of aquasoil neutralizing kh is basically it turning it into co2 through chemical reactions.

However, in practice it just seems to raise the ph if the soil if the ph buffering capacity is exhausted?
If I pre-acidify RO water with HCL the aquasoil seems to raise the ph back up to around where it normally is after a day or 2.
0 Replies · 58 views
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