First Planted Tank

[Overgrowth]

Hey everyone,
Here's my first planted tank. It's a 20 Gallon Long. Comments and advice are appreciated!


Specs
Tank: 20GL
Filtration: Biowheel 150 and AC20
Substrate: Petco Black Aquarium Sand + Flourish Root Tabs
Fertilization: Flourish Comprehensive
CO2: DIY diffused into the AC20
Lighting: 1x T5HO bulb for 10-12 hrs a day
Flora: Ludwigia arcuata, Eleocharis parvula, Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green', Echinodorus amazonicus, HC (Note: HC is not visible as this picture was taken before planting).
Fauna: Cardinal Tetras, Rummy Nose Tetras, Columbian Tetras, Albino Longfin Bristlenose Pleco, Otocinclus, Blue Ram Cichlid.
Decor: Mopani Driftwood & Lava Rocks

[daphilster08]

Good start! Keep up with pictures on the progress!

[mizu-chan]

20L is one of my all time favorite sizes for a tank. I'm excited to see this progress. (:

[oscarsx]

give it a few months and you'll have a forrest in your living room

[Overgrowth]

Thanks for the comments! This tank is actually snail free. Want to know the secret? The plants are all from the plastic tubes/packages from PetSmart!

[Overgrowth]

I'm getting good planted growth. The ludwigia is certainly growing taller and the hairgrass is getting wider too.I planted the HC yesterday so I don't know how that'll turn out. Would the HC do okay with just 1 bulb or should I use 2? I am really proud of my no-algae tank, except for the stuff that's been growiing on my driftwood. Don't know what that's called though.

[oscarsx]

no one is safe from that green algae sooner or later you'll be next! haha. is the stuff on your driftwood white?

Sent from my DROID X2

[Overgrowth]

@oscarsx nah, it's brown and looks a lot like cotton, only really small. Dunno what it is though.

[ace123]

its probably diatoms or some other new tank/driftwood related fungus. It wont hurt anything but a few good scrubbing's with a tooth brush will clean it up.

[Overgrowth]

okay, thanks.

[Overgrowth]

Update: Got a panda platy for this tank. Also the Ludwigia is growing at an incredibly fast rate! Does anyone know which of my plants (DHG, HC, Ludwigia arcuata, Amazon Swords, Crypt wendtii, and compacta) will pearl? And if so, how can I make them? Thanks.

[mizu-chan]

My HC pearled when I added more CO2 to my tank. I'm not sure about the others though.

[Overgrowth]

Update

Wow. I'm really impressed with the growth I'm getting. The tank looks much more full now.


Now here is the start of the tank.


I added two plants since the start. First is a weird plant called 'compacta'. The second one is:


I'm so happy that I have E. tenellus in my tank!
And I found this at PETCO.

[mcqueenesq]

Great start. Your tank is filling in nicely already. Love the dimensions of the 20L. Let us know if you find any bucephalandra at Petco.

[Overgrowth]

Originally Posted by mcqueenesq

Great start. Your tank is filling in nicely already. Love the dimensions of the 20L. Let us know if you find any bucephalandra at Petco.

I didn't see any, but I did see rotala indica, anubias spp., HC, & various crypts. I think Petco grows them emersed then ships them in the mineral wool to the stores.