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Just sharing my three nano tanks. An ADA 30c, an aquamaxx 22 Long, and an ADA 45p. All are relatively low maintenance tanks despite being relatively high tech. The SPS nano reef will be interesting to do as a "low maintenance" system. I have a dosing pump ready to do my auto top offs (but only for ~ half the evaporated water to prevent overfill risk) and a very small amount of Alk/Ca dosing. The rest I will accomplish with water changes to limit my headache of balancing dosing in ~6g of water. It has been set up for about 1 week with some cheap test corals now. The black cage is the prison I put my hermit crabs in....they get fed when they seem hungry.
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The ADA 45p is my wife's desktop aquarium and is filled with algae to sustain the two otocinclus and amano shrimp. Although they seem quite happy munching on the nymphoides. I will have to replant the carpet soon. But it always grows back quickly with CO2 despite being heavily shaded. I do water changes every other week despite dosing full EI with Thrive +. Nitrates are almost always 0. The nymphoides is a huge sponge for nutrients and the monte carlo is probably living off of osmocote buried underneath it every other month or so.
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The 22 long is where I grow my favorite plants. I realized after doing several "aquascapes" I was always happiest when I just let the plants do their thing and not worry about shapes or placement. Trimmings are straightforward mow downs of everything to make my life easier (trimmed last week). Dosing this tank is a little complex though as there is a mix of difficult and easy plants that need to be kept happy but is essentially full EI with less macros and a custom GH/KH blend for the tap water. I put worm castings and osmocote under the aquasoil every once in awhile when my nitrates start bottoming out despite dosing 12-20ppm each week and feeding heavily. Again, nymphaea and other lily-type plants will completely deplete the water of nutrients when they get big enough.
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Plant list (some designations are dubious):
Nymphaea gardeneria 'santeram'
Nymphaea micrantha 'tricolor'
Glosso
Hydrocotyle tripartita 'japan mini'
Anubias nana
Java fern sp. 'india'
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Eleocharis parvula
Helanthium tenellum
Rotala macrandra 'yellow narrow'
Rotala macrandra 'mini red' <-stays annoyingly green
Rotala h'ra <-always orange
Rotala 'pink' <- stays yellow-green despite being bought in an ADA TC cup
Limnophila aromatica 'mini'
Ludwigia palustris 'mini red' <-not very mini and looks like normal palustris in high light anyways
Blyxa alternifolia
Vallisneria nana <-grows very slowly in my tank, water is probably too soft.
The ADA 45p is my wife's desktop aquarium and is filled with algae to sustain the two otocinclus and amano shrimp. Although they seem quite happy munching on the nymphoides. I will have to replant the carpet soon. But it always grows back quickly with CO2 despite being heavily shaded. I do water changes every other week despite dosing full EI with Thrive +. Nitrates are almost always 0. The nymphoides is a huge sponge for nutrients and the monte carlo is probably living off of osmocote buried underneath it every other month or so.
The 22 long is where I grow my favorite plants. I realized after doing several "aquascapes" I was always happiest when I just let the plants do their thing and not worry about shapes or placement. Trimmings are straightforward mow downs of everything to make my life easier (trimmed last week). Dosing this tank is a little complex though as there is a mix of difficult and easy plants that need to be kept happy but is essentially full EI with less macros and a custom GH/KH blend for the tap water. I put worm castings and osmocote under the aquasoil every once in awhile when my nitrates start bottoming out despite dosing 12-20ppm each week and feeding heavily. Again, nymphaea and other lily-type plants will completely deplete the water of nutrients when they get big enough.
Plant list (some designations are dubious):
Nymphaea gardeneria 'santeram'
Nymphaea micrantha 'tricolor'
Glosso
Hydrocotyle tripartita 'japan mini'
Anubias nana
Java fern sp. 'india'
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Eleocharis parvula
Helanthium tenellum
Rotala macrandra 'yellow narrow'
Rotala macrandra 'mini red' <-stays annoyingly green
Rotala h'ra <-always orange
Rotala 'pink' <- stays yellow-green despite being bought in an ADA TC cup
Limnophila aromatica 'mini'
Ludwigia palustris 'mini red' <-not very mini and looks like normal palustris in high light anyways
Blyxa alternifolia
Vallisneria nana <-grows very slowly in my tank, water is probably too soft.
