The Planted Tank Forum banner

Frank's Planted Tank How-To Mini Novel - The Mini S Returns! New Layout

385K views 1K replies 153 participants last post by  skarpy 
#1 · (Edited)
This Journal is dedicated to Khoa Pham. The first person I ever taught Nature Aquarium to - and the first real customer I ever had. May the teachings in this Journal bring the same joy to others as it did to him.

Cryptkeeper54 converted the first half of the thread into an eBook available for download here, the eBook contains the final photo of the Mini M layout which the first half of the thread covers - which has not yet been published anywhere else, so be sure to check out he gorgeous HD photograph!

Follow Me On:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/iaquascape
Facebook: http://facebook.com/fwazeter
Tumblr: http://wazeter.tumblr.com

Instagram: @fwazeter

Communicating with me outside Social Platforms:

Email: fxiv@me.com
TEL: 832-459-5172

Table of Contents:

Opening ACT 1 - New Layout Mayhem!

1. Introduction - Page 1

2. Getting Started - Step 1 - Page 2, Post 19

3. Setting the Substrate - Step 2 - Page 2, Post 25

4. Penac Pearling - Page 5, Post 64

5. Laying out a hardscape - Stone Arrangement: Step 3 - Page 5, Post 73

6. Basic Maintenance - Page 5, Post 74

7. Philosophy - Enjoying the Process - Page 6, Post 83

8. Planting and Planning for a Mixed Carpet: Step 4 - Page 7, Post 91

9. First Month Filter Setup & Day 5 maintenance: Step 5 - Page 8, Post 111

10. Aquarium Data - Equipment Used - Page 10, Post 143

11. How Co2 is distributed by water with a diffuser - Page 11, Post 160

12. Trimming Carpet Plants - Page 13, Post 191

13. End of Week 1 - Page 13, Post 195

14. Modifying the Layout - Removing an unnecessary element - Page 16, Post 231

15. Trimming Riccia - Page 18, Post 269

16. Size: Large vs. Small Aquaria, thoughts - Page 19, Post 280

17. A word on the International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest - Page 19, Post 284

18. End of Week 2 - Page 20, Post 286

19. Introduction to A New Way of Thinking: Why what you may have learned could be wrong - Page 21, Post 312

20. A New Way of Thinking: There is No Such Thing as Multiple Methods - Page 22, Post 325

21. A New Way of Thinking: Invalidating the Theory of "High Tech" - Page 22, Post 328

22. The NO B.S. Introduction to "The Method" - Page 23, Post 334

23. NO B.S. Method - The Most Important Post I've Ever Written - Page 23, Post 345

24. Removing Diatom Algae and Week 3 Tank Update - Page 24, Post 359

25. End of Week 3 - Week 1, 2, 3 Comparison Overview - Page 25, Post 371

26. The Method - Principle One: Malthusian Organisms - Page 25, Post 374

27. THE CHALLENGE! - Page 26, Post 382

28. ADA's 20th Anniversary (Takashi Amano Story) & Making a Small Layout Adjustment - Page 29, Post 431

29. The Method - Principle Two: The Law of Minimums - Page 31, Post 456

30. The Method - Principle Three: The Cyclical Nature of the Aquarium - Page 32, Post 471

31. Week 4/5 Celebration Video Coverage! The Beauty of Riccia Fluitans! - Page 33, Post 486

32. The final published shot of the aquarium before contest entry - Page 35, Post 514

BEGIN INTERMISSION! Fun Stuff in Between Works!

33. Trimming Riccia Video - Page 36, Post 538

34. Removing BBA manually - Page 39, Post 571

35. Aquatic Poetry?! And 720p video of the Layout - Page 39, Post 579

36. Frank Wazeter on Blog Talk Radio! Aquascaping Discussion. - Page 40, Post 588

ACT TWO: Enter LED Lighting Technology and a brand new layout!

37. The Arrival of Nature Aquarium's First Ever LED light: AQUASKY!Page 45, Post 664

38. AQUASKY's Premiere - Solar Mini M retired, AQUASKY on a fresh canvas - Page 45, Post 670

39. The Tear Down of "San Marcos River Summer," and the Creation of the New Layout - Page 46, Post 683

40. Maintenance Regime on the Mini M! - Page 47, Post 692

41. Grow out of the Mini M - Days 1-7 Comparisons between Old and New - Page 47, Post 704

42. The 60-P Developing with it's semi-permanent Cameo Appearance! - Page 47, Post 705

43. What has beautiful inlay designs and optimal functionality? ADA Anniversary Premium Goods! - Page 48, Post 712

44. Getting rid of that bothersome algae on the glass - the easy way. - Page 48, Post 715

45. Pencilfish Hunting in Riccia & the 60-P props back up again! - Page 49, Post 726

46. Autumnal Hues with the Beautiful Rotala Colorata - Page 49, Post 733

47. Sad News - The passing of my first student. Rest in Peace my friend. - Page 50, Post 736

48. When stem plants become brilliant and add dynamism to the layout -60-P - Page 50, Post 746

49. Time Elapse and Algae Killing in three days in the 60-P - Page 51, Post 751

50. Taking down Khoa Pham's aquarium & Mini M update - Page 51, Post 753

51. It's all in the Details - adjustments on the Mini M with Unzan Stone - Page 52, Post 767

52. Coming up next - the beautiful Microrasbora Kubotai! - Page 52, Post 776

53. Microrasbora Kubotai, subtle coloration adds an incredible dynamic to the layout. - Page 53, Post 782

54. Nano Fish Acclimation Guide! How to get 100% survival rates with ease! - Page 53, Post 789

55. Bringing the Layout to life with Fish - going from "cool" to "lost in the aquarium." - Page 54, Post 797

56. Mystic Photograph of the Kubotai + eBook Remastering of Act 1 - Page 55, Post 819

57. Ranking #127 in the IAPLC (international aquatic plant layout contest) and personal critique by Mr. Amano - an epic end to a great layout. - Page 58, Post 865


ACT I Finale Shot - #127 IAPLC 2012


ACT II Finale



"How do I create a beautiful mixed carpet in my planted tank?"

If you've ever wondered how to create a mixed carpet for your planted aquarium or amazed at how Amano does it, through the course of this thread you will learn how to grow just that.

Sometimes, the task can seem impossible or overwhelming. So before I really begin to share these secrets, allow me to bring you along my history and development with planted tanks. You will see how you can create a fantastic layout, even if you are starting from humble origins.

Sit back, relax and read every word carefully, because it all starts with a vision:

My Background History:

At this point, I've thoroughly mastered growing single carpets as can be illustrated here:




Of course, this would also include your foreground and background stuff (for example, HC and hair grass), as you can see a relatively old example here:



That one kind of brings me back. Dollface might hate that photograph.

An older (yet more recent example) of an aquarium I never quite did take a finished photograph of:



That one taught me quite a few lessons about riccia: you see those bald stones? that was from a few pieces of riccia that were "spoiled" when they arrived, Lesson: always use the greenest and freshest riccia!

Something Important to Know: I will always recommend that you master growing one species of plant at a time, for example: an iwagumi that's all hair grass or hc, or microsword etc.

Why? because this will give you the greatest skill in manipulating, shaping the plants growth, while knowing at what speed it grows and what it's nutrient requirements are. Think of it like breaking down a math problem into easy, simple to digest and understand components in order to solve a very complex problem (in this case, the mixed carpet).

Along the way there have also been some mishaps and failures:

How about this blast from the past (2008? 2009? I think):



This was my first ever attempt at a mixed carpet. It went surprisingly well, but I never did try to that extent again. See a close up from Glosso and HC growing together:



Oh, and of course, there was the first iwagumi:



I didn't even remember that somehow I had managed to get Riccia to intertwine with HC in that layout (e.g. it was a Random A$$ Accident) :



Oh boy! Look at that algae! Honestly I think that accidental mixing has been my best attempt yet...3-4 years ago...

And finally, there was my very, very first planted tank:



Man, how embarrassing is that?

There have been some other successes and failures over the course, but honestly? The failures teach you the most. The successes just give you some extra confidence.

Which brings me to some other examples:



I probably should have spent some time polishing that one up a bit. Now that I look back on it, the sparser growth actually creates a nice effect for what I was trying to achieve.



This was the very first layout I had worked on at Aquarium Design Group: and also the first time I had done -anything- with driftwood. I wish I had taken a full shot of this tank then.



With that said, what's the next objective? Mastering the Mixed Carpet.

Before I delve more into How-To and the fun of keeping the journal going, let me preface:

There will be mistakes. There will be frustration. And my intent is to teach you how to master these principles so that you can learn quicker than me. This is why I've had a lot of fun going over some of my past layouts, success, failures, embarrassments and all.

So, without further ado, here is the newest layout I've set up at home:





I promise not to bore you with equipment details: I'll only share them when necessary and when it's valuable and worth your time to know.

Before we go on further, I have a homework assignment for you:

Important Exercise:Visualize your ultimate layout you want for your aquarium. Now, picture yourself successfully planting each individual plant, and then watch the plants grow. Imagine problems coming up and solving the problem. Watch as the aquascape evolves from freshly planted to completed, and imagine how you feel when you've accomplished the task.

Now sit back, subscribe and continue to watch for updates to take the next step, and the next exercise. Make sure you catch me on my next major update where I'll teach you the fundamentals behind setting the substrate, and if you're lucky, the arrangement of the stones!

P.S. if you've found these techniques valuable, help share the information with new comers by linking back here in your own journals when you use my techniques!

Member Highlights! Check out these people and their awesome work:

Here are some of my students who are also members of TPT (message me if you aren't listed and should be, or if you are listed and feel you shouldn't or don't want to be!) :

These people all share a passion for planted aquariums and have had great success moving forward! Cheer them on as they work their way towards being masters of the planted tank universe.

Khoa N. Pham -



http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=122232

fplata -






http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=181063



freph -





http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=181281

mluk27 -





http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=174106&highlight=mluk27

Dave Allen -



http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184547

Dollface -





http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=170180

pejerrey -





http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169143

ozydego -





http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=181009

dantra - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=161640

frrok -



http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=160093

flyinghellfish -



http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/member.php?u=49336

orchidman -



http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=188790

Brian MC - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/member.php?u=51675

2wheelsx2 -



http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/member.php?u=6864

Jeff5614 -





http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=107781

Lludu - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/member.php?u=52328

Zeldar -



http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=186330
 
See less See more
35
#2 ·
Not sure what the purpose of the first 95% of the thread was(was pretty confusing) but they looked good and can't wait to see your tank planted. I would suggest getting rid of the first part of the post and just get straight to the point. Good luck on your mixed carpet.
 
#4 ·
I think the idea was to purposely illustrate the trails of prior carpet/mixed carpet success to give us all incite on what this journal will be about. Not trying to put words in the OP's mouth or anything, but I think it's a very good post.

*****

Frank, very interested in watching this. Not any easy thing to do by any means, I pulled out half my hair trying to trim my mixed carpet recently. I find the mixed styles to appear much more natural, like something that would actually be found in the wild opposed to a placed and "kept" feel.

Watching this for sure! Keep us posted :smile:
 
#5 ·
Frank, very interesting to see how your aquascaping skills have developed.

It's a good reminder for those who try to emulate the beautiful tanks of Mr. Amano and others that everyone had to start somewhere and learn along the way. When I think about this hobby, more and more it strikes me that I'm less drawn to an final destination of a "finished" tank than to the journey of trying to get there.

Can't wait to follow along and learn some new things!
 
#6 ·
Very encouraging thread, thanks for posting it and the pictures of the early tanks, "failures" and works in progress. It's easy for those of us still starting out to get disheartened when we see some of the amazing looking aquascapes and lush planted tanks out there. Now I have to remember I'm aiming to get that good, eventually, but not overnight :)
 
#7 ·
Ah yeah. I've been running my mind over this issue for the last year or so, trying to figure out how I would incorporate a variety of foreground plant into a layout. It's awesome that I can watch to see what happens with your experiences. Do you have a plan of attack in mind? Did you have a style that you are striving for, such as crisp barriers or plants overlaying each other, or are you just wingin' it?

I'm pumped for this.
 
#9 ·
Before going further with post updates, I want to give a little insight into how you can learn how to unlock Amano Magic in your own planted aquariums.

Each new major post will have an easy to follow format designed to teach step by step (and if you already know the basic steps, it will be good review to master them!) so you can begin to fully master the techniques that will lead to you fulfilling your vision.

At the end of every post, there will be a simple and fun homework assignment that you can do to really improve your planted tank skills quickly. Most people who participate in these simple exercises find ways to instantly improve their layouts, whether they are completely new to the hobby or have been in it for years.

Continue to read every word carefully and you will know the secrets of the professionals without having to go through the hassle of learning the hard way.

Until next time, here is the planting formula for this aquarium:

**i**th** c******h******
******s*i**a e*******d*s
r**c** ***it**s
m**r* **o*d
e****od***s t***l**s
e****h***s ***c***ri*
w****w ***s

To get your mind situated right, here is the universal starting point for all of us:



The only difference here on out is skills and knowledge, which you will learn here.

Best Regards,

Frank Wazeter

P.S. Have you done the first homework assignment? If not go back and do it now in the first post!

P.P.S. If you're just starting a new planted tank or thinking of redoing your layout, this is the perfect time to join in and follow along from start to finish!

P.P.P.S. Have you subscribed to and shared this thread yet? If you haven't, what are you waiting for!

P.P.P.P.S. if you've found these techniques valuable, help share the information with new comers by linking back here in your own journals when you use my techniques!
 
#101 ·
P.P.S. If you're just starting a new planted tank or thinking of redoing your layout, this is the perfect time to join in and follow along from start to finish!

P.P.P.S. Have you subscribed to and shared this thread yet? If you haven't, what are you waiting for!

Sub! , good timing as I'm trying to grow a carpet of HC Cuba and would love to follow your progress.
 
#12 ·
Great thread. What happens if you're visualization is more about just being able to grow difficult plants and trying to learn how to really watch them and see what they need? I keep trying to visualize and I find what gives me the best sense of accomplishment is being able to grow new species of plants. Maybe once that's mastered and I learn how to read my plants I'll be ready to design my dream aquascape.
 
#18 ·
Oh geez I'm glad I got here on time(I hope). I started this on monday with some 8month old ada substrate and some new mr aqua. But I could tear it apart and start again if needed.

Subscribed!



Will I be able to grow the hc with pps.pro x 4 and lots of co2?

There is to ramshorns and 4-5 juvenile RCS.
 

Attachments

#20 ·
Don't worry! You are in time! Of course, if you want to restart and follow the journal step by step, you are absolutely welcome to.

For soil that age I recommend investing in Iron Bottom and Multi Bottom: inject these into your substrate and you'll super charge growth as if the soil was new.
 
#19 ·
Have you done the visualization exercise yet? If you haven't, stop reading and immediately refer to post #1 and do it! If you have, then great! you're ready for me to move on to the next step, which starts with an important question:

"How do I start?"

How do you start out your planted aquarium optimally for success?

Most people understand that it is easier to start right the first time, rather than dealing with the problems that occur when you get off to a rocky start. You need to get the aquarium to stability and growth as quickly as possible. Master this skill and you will enjoy beautiful layouts, look over it, or ignore it, and your planted tank will be an emotional battle from day one.

STEPS TO STABILITY:

STEP ONE: Bacteria

The most vulnerable time for your planted tank is when you first set up. We need to cycle the tank with beneficial bacteria, not only for the nitrogen cycle (ammonia), but also for synergistic bacteria which grow and thrive amongst plant roots.

These bacteria form a "micro-filter" in your aquarium that work for you to break down negative elements and create positive ones that help your plants grow with health and vigor and your fish to be healthier.

Action Step: the quicker you can provide this bacteria, the faster your aquarium is stable and the less chance for algae.

STEP TWO: Chemistry

Water balance (pH & kH) is critical. Neutral water has a pH of 7. Alkaline water is above 7, and acidic water is below 7. Too much acid and the plants will fry like an egg on a skillet, too much alkalinity and the plants will bleach out. The healthiest pH ranges for planted tanks is about 6.7-6.8 (slightly acidic).

On a less extreme example, higher kH and pH values (alkaline) makes it harder for plants to grow. Why? Imagine the mineral values in typically really high kH and pH water literally blocking the cells of plants, making it difficult for them to absorb nutrients, anything above 7.6 pH is usually harmful. A pH that is too low leads to plants burning themselves (browning out, etc) on the water. These values are typically between 5.8-6.2 (excepting in certain rarer plant conditions, I'm only talking about averages).

Action Step: the closer you can maintain your standard pH & kH values to a pH of 6.8 and kH of 2, the more effective co2 distribution and nutrient absorption will be!

Pro Secret: ignore pH values taken while co2 is in the aquarium: the lowering of pH from co2 does not have a harmful effect on the "real," pH. Don't worry if your co2 levels push your pH readings down into the "low" acidity ranges.

Health Reference: the human body's healthy pH is 7.35 to 7.45, even tiny variation outside of this requires the body to adjust the pH values (requiring more energy and making you less energetic). Even a minor change outside of this pH would result in death! It's a good thing our body works to regulate that pH just like our body temperature!

Health Tip: Most of the foods we eat are highly acidic. Stress also increases acid levels in the body. Eat more alkaline foods and you'll see a big boon in energy. Which foods are alkaline? Greens! Who knew there was a really good reason behind Mom complaining to make you eat more vegetables?

STEP THREE: Nutrients

It would be silly to think that plant's can't grow without nutrients. Just imagine how long you can live without food. The nutritional aspect for plants is largely covered by nutrient rich substrates such as Aqua Soil, which cover all of the essential macro nutrients required for plants to grow.

Later on, I'll show you what nutrients specifically are being provided, but in the mean time just know that Aqua Soil takes care of this for you without the need for you to worry about it. Of course, if you want to create your own substrate that will require more research.

Action Step: Investing in the best substrate system you can gives you the best advantages for success. Never short-change your substrate, because otherwise you will have long term issues.

Pro Secret: Pro's Cheat. Yes they CHEAT! They never go into a situation with a planted tank without making sure they have rigged the odds in their favor and neither should you.



Substrate system completed in the aquarium.The magic is below the substrate.

Make sure you continue to read every word, and next time I'll go underneath the soil into the setup of the substrate system so you can learn to cheat to win like the pros.

Fun Exercise: Look at an aquarium, now picture yourself shrinking and going deeper and deeper into the aquarium. The fish become larger, the plants become monolithic. You're still getting smaller, so small that you can't be seen without a microscope and visualize what you see: billions and trillions of other organisms the same size as you, working, growing and synergistic-ally processing elements. Imagine them lighting up in concert like electricity and steadily expanding to the exact needs of your planted tank. Watch them as they go through their life cycles: living, multiplying, dying. Recognize that this is the very foundation of your aquarium.

Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out on a single word in this journal to master the steps for your own planted tank success.



P.S. if you've found these techniques valuable, help share the information with new comers by linking back here in your own journals when you use my techniques!
 
#24 ·
Here's a little bonus for today:

For inspiration, I've attached an unexpected photograph. For Nature Aquarium, many people look to pictures like:



While this can of course work for inspiration, it's much better to equate Nature Aquarium to an extremely micro scale, I find my best inspiration in the weeds outside.

P.S. if you've found these techniques valuable, help share the information with new comers by linking back here in your own journals when you use my techniques!
 

Attachments

#25 ·
Getting Started with the Substrate

Earlier I mentioned that professional's "cheat," and the first step towards cheating to stack the odds in your favor is having a killer substrate system.

If you refer to my previous major post, I went over a series of three steps towards starting out right with your planted aquarium. Step one: Bacteria & step two: Chemistry is the area where you will want to focus the most on when setting your substrate.

Of course, Step three: nutrients is wildly covered by Aqua Soil Amazonia, and doesn't need much to talk about: it really just is the work horse of growing plants.

Side Story: Awhile back I had a customer come in and ask about Amazonia, saying he wanted to give it a try. He had been using eco-complete and flourite for years and I told him a simple fact: "if you can grow plants in eco-complete and flourite well, you will be a god with aqua soil." Sure enough he showed me a few photographs of his plantings, and he could indeed grow plants quite well with eco-complete and flourite.

Sure enough he got some aqua soil, and for a while I hadn't heard back from him, and to be honest, had completely forgotten about him. Well, the other day he comes back and shares his enthusiastic results with Amazonia saying that the plants grew so fast that he was able to achieve in 3 months what took him 2 years to grow using the other substrates.

Alternatives to Aqua Soil: Hagen has recently released a new product, Fluval Substrate. Third party testimony says that it grows plants fairly well, however I have not had any first hand experience with this product and cannot honestly give a side by side comparison, though I'm sure others can.

Back to Basics: Starting the Substrate

Aqua Soil leaches a lot of acidity. If you refer to the previous post, you know the effects of excessive acidity: the plants are burned at the root. While aqua soil by itself does not provide enough acid to burn plants out, plants -do- wildly benefit by a way to neutralize the acidity at the root level.

Penac P & Penac W: Add three spoons of each

These two additives come in first, and they do precisely two things: neutralize the over-acidification of soil and rapidly oxygenate the water at the substrate level.

This means two things for you: plant roots grow easier and are more healthy and it means that the initial rapid oxygenation helps spurn bacterial growth immensely.

Adding Penac P (spoon comes included with all ADA additives):


Spread Penac P evenly against the bottom pane of glass:



On top of Penac P, add Penac W in the same way, and you'll have something that looks like this:



Tourmaline BC: add ten spoons

Referring back to Step 1, it's important we foster bacterial growth and longevity as quickly as possible to get the aquarium as stable as possible so we do not have to deal with major algae outbreaks.

The best way to think of Tourmaline BC is to think of it as a high purity carbon (which it's not, but it does a similar task) which purifies water and helps in the break down of toxicity, waste, etc.

Adding Tourmaline BC:


Now your Aquarium should look like this after 10 spoons of Tourmaline:



The importance of tourmaline is that it helps to break down the waste that builds up over time in the substrate and makes it harder for plant roots to grow.

Next up: Adding Power Sand

In Nano-aquaria, Power sand is not necessarily needed due to size, however in this case I want some heavy slope, so using power sand helps to stabilize the soil and slope for build up without break down.

However, normally what Power Sand does is serve as a "home" for the bacteria to thrive in: like biological filter media it provides a highly porous surface area which allows these bacteria to thrive. Meaning that when plant roots reach and attach to power sand their roots essentially become super charged!

Power Sand also contains peat, so it has extra nutritional additives to the aquarium, but again, Amazonia does the bulk of the work on this front.

Spread the Power Sand evenly across the bottom, and leave the front open to prevent power sand from being seen in the viewing panel:



Adding Bacter 100: The Bacteria - 3 spoons minimum, I used 10

Next up, Add Bacter 100. This is the dormant bacteria which will do all of the heavy lifting with promoting healthy roots through synergistic bacteria. It is not possible to over dose this additive.

Spread it evenly so that the Bacter will thrive in the Power Sand.



Bacter 100 spread evenly over power sand (you can also put this underneath power sand on the glass, either or works):



Another use for Bacter 100 is to eliminate cyano-bacteria should it appear in the tank, apply directly on top of it and it will eat it away.

Add Clear Super: 3 spoons, food for bacteria.

Clear Super is simply a food source for the bacteria. Until the aquarium becomes established we have to add a food source for them to grow and thrive, otherwise the bacteria will die off.

Add three spoons of Clear Super over Bacter 100:



The Completed Substrate system:



Last Steps: Adding Aqua Soil

For a nano aquarium we use powder type since it allows smaller plants to spread roots easier as well as to keep the perspective in the Nano aquarium properly in place.



Afterwards, use a tool, such as Sand Flattener to smooth out the substrate and keep the substrate line straight in the front.

Do the Additives really do anything?

The key to long term healthy plants is root health. The additives precisely promote this type of growth and health. For comparison sake here are two examples of two aquariums with and without additives and their roots.

These aquariums have been up for the same amount of time, same dosing, same lighting, same core products (aqua soil), while not an exact one for one, it's a broad illustration that you can evaluate for yourself the differences (it's more about the overall picture here) :

With no additives (please forgive the reflection, lots of light in the room!) :

Take note of the root growth and cyano bacteria in substrate:

glosso:



Blyxa and Rotala Stems:



Now, with additives:

Hair Grass (note, hair grass has pretty insane root growth regardless, pay more attention to the overall substrate 'health') :





Exercise: Read over this post a few times, take notes if you'd like, and share what you're working on or if you're starting an aquarium and would like to follow play-by-play link back here!


P.S. if you've found these techniques valuable, help share the information with new comers by linking back here in your own journals when you use my techniques!
 
#27 ·
What is even the point of this post? It seems like we have this additive drama in almost every single thread that Frank talks about them and it's useless. Frank is detailing here how he sets up a tank with the full ADA substrate system, and how it works for him. If you don't want to Believe In The Heart Of the Penacs, Yugi! you don't have to, just use regular old AS that's been proven to grow plants well over and over. Frank says the full system works better for him, and you know what, I believe him. He's only set up almost a dozen tanks using ADA substrate and presumably has a pretty solid comparison point for with and without additives by this point.
 
#29 ·


i don't know what it is about this lay out, but this REALLY feels like i'm staring at a mountain. something about the slopes, and the flatness of the smaller rocks... perfect
i find it difficult to visualize with the rocks i have.. haha not an easy task
i think this is my 3rd time im going to try to rescape my tank now. looking forward to the rest of the post
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top