[mboley]

Just found this thread. Heres my 7 month old 50 gallon low tech w/ Excel Amazonia light tank. Frankly, I can hardly believe how well this tank is doing; no algae whatsoever and much better growth than I expected.
View attachment 891307
View attachment 891309
View attachment 891313


Lighting is two current USA planted pro plus 22" units in this configuration, which allows me to mix higher lights plants on the left and lower light on the right. Right now they're running at 100 % on RGB colors, and 65% on white.


I do dose the tank with 4 ml Excel daily, 3 ml macros and 2.1 micros with a stock PPSPro
Mix.

This tank is amazing. Those plants are going for it! Do you have an updated pic?

Thanks, I can hardly believe it myself. Its really not slow growing either. Im guessing, but I assume the combo of ADA substrate and Excel along with daily dosing has something to do with it.

Here's a pic I just took. Made some changes, mainly the big Buce log added on the right, which I moved from my high tech tank. Moved some Anubis to the left front and back. Also trying to train the Willow moss tree to drape more,hence the zip ties around it.

 

[Discusluv]

Thanks, I can hardly believe it myself. Its really not slow growing either. Im guessing, but I assume the combo of ADA substrate and Excel along with daily dosing has something to do with it.

Here's a pic I just took. Made some changes, mainly the big Buce log added on the right, which I moved from my high tech tank. Moved some Anubis to the left front and back. Also trying to train the Willow moss tree to drape more,hence the zip ties around it.

You are my low-tech hero-- that is as gorgeous as any Co2 tank!

 

[Quint]

Interesting! I have to much phosphates in my water.

Which Gh buffer are you using? Had read that chemicals to adjust parameters can cause Ph swings. Thus many use coral in the filter. No experience with that?

Pretty much salts so I guess you could call them chemicals. It works for my situation. KH is at I think I said 5 or so which helps hold PH to a stable parameter. PH can swing anyways regardless of what you do. Problem with coral is you need a low PH for it to do its job. My PH once degassed is at 8.0 or more so its not gonna do much with the coral besides grow bacteria from my understanding. I put some of that bird chew stuff in once in a while but that literally takes 6-10months for a small piece to dissolve. A GH booster works in a day or two, pre mix my water, hard to go wrong with that IMHO.

 

[chrisg]

Hi everyone, first post here on the forums. I'm new to the hobby and 3 months in on a 20g community betta tank so I thought I'd share its progress so far - still learning and making mistakes, but these forums have helped a lot since starting and I hope I can contribute back to the community as I learn more. Very open to any feedback/suggestions.

Livestock:
1 Betta
8 Glowlight tetras
2 Otos
6 RCS
2 Ghost shrimp
2 Amanos
2 Assassin snails
??? Bladder snails

Plants:
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Rotala wallichii
Hydrocotyle tripartita
Red ludwigia
Salvinia Minima
Hornwort
Amazon Sword
Anubias
Aponogetons
Java Fern
Microsword (has not grown much)
Anacharis (melted - tank may have been too hot)
Giant hairgrass (got rid of it, didn't really like the look)

Tank: 20g Topfin kit
Eco-complete
Flourish root tabs
Aluminum foil on lid undercarraige to boost the cheap lighting
12-hour photo period
25% water change 2x a week

 

[Capsaicin_MFK]

No tech, except for the light which is just a daylight bulb in a desk lamp.

 

[Doc7]

Tank is 12 days old. No Bio media in filter which is a first for me! Fish - ember and cardinal tetras, Corydoras, and amano shrimp have been in 5 days and all numbers are 0/0/5-10.

I have done 4-5 50% water changes and plan to do them twice a week for a couple more weeks then probably weekly until tank is 3 months old and consider slowing down.

So far I have not seen any new stuff to scrape off glass. My low tech/DIY CO2 tank I was scraping all the time so this has been nice.

I did buy 3 Nerites and have since accidentally stepped on two of them. I guess I might need a lid, which I’ve never had, to keep them. Not really a fan of that although I read amazing things about nerite snails.

 

[Quint]

@Doc7 the algae wont come till later. Expect to go thru a few spells of different types as the tank ages. Once everything gets settled in its nice though. Nerites do ok but they cant get on plants unless they are very sturdy but are nice to have. Otos are much better at cleaning certain algaes and I personally really like them but wait till your tank is more settled and mature before adding any if you do. Tank looks real nice.

 

[roshannatasha2188]

Really neat set up

 

[Doc7]

Update

 

[Sam the Slayer]

Update

Looks nice


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chrisg]

@Doc7 Looks good! That's a lot of new growth in 2 weeks.

I may need to find a new place to post updates, added Co2 to the tank last week. Also got rid of the fake rock and replaced it with some new plants, I was trying to make a more low light environment for the fish and had a little bit of a die off as plants adjusted after adding floaters, but they seem to have adapted pretty well overall.

 

[Jacaranda]

The "aquarium wall" in my bedroom.



The 20gal long has been running for about 8 years and is probably the most low maintenance of the three. That might change since I recently switched the old fluorescent fixture for a cheap LED one, but... we'll see, haha.


The weirdly-shaped 2.5 (upper left) and the 5.5 (lower left) were set up a few months ago and I'm still trying to work out the lighting/maintenance schedule on them. Currently battling gha on the christmas moss in both, ugh. The c. mioya looked pretty sad when it came in, but really took off once it got settled. The s. repens also filled in nicely; I HATE constantly replanting trimmings until their roots come in, but the payoff has been worth it. Still trying to figure out what to do with the space in the back left of the tank.

 

[StankTank]

2 months going strong! It’s dirted and I dose excel but not sure I actually see a difference in plants growth from before I started dosing. Having to be patient with the DHG but it is spreading.

 

[Bomanz]

My first tank since I was a kid! It's less than a month old and looking fabulous

 

[knm<><]

A week old, most everything in this came out of my 75gal I'll be retiring soon.

To the left, that's Paisley 😁
To the right is a UNS 60s pond style in the hard scape stage. Waiting on cooler weather to order plants.

 

[Sean09]

9.6 gallon shrimp tank, only piece of equipment is a light!

 

[Lammergeier]

I just spent the last few days browsing this thread for inspiration. Everyone has such great looking tanks!

I guess I'll share my 10 gallon poorly scaped tank even though I think it looks like a mess right now. I've got java ferns, amazon swords, anubias, buce, and a couple unknowns (maybe crypts) from a big box pet store. Two cories, one three spot gourami, and a mystery snail call the tank home. Within the next couple of weeks, I should be changing out the Flourite substrate for some sand. Hopefully, by then I'll have come up with some better scaping ideas.

 

[Bunsen Honeydew]

I guess my setup is beginning to border on lush.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[sudhirr]

I guess my setup is beginning to border on lush.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Amazing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bunsen Honeydew]

Amazing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk