100g Planted Tank Journal

[Avalon]

After much hesitation and planning, I've decided to plant my 100g tank again. Here you will see the progress!

Equipment:

100g AGA tank, 60x18x18, w/ stand & canopy
2x80w T5 High Output DIY lighting (1.6 wpg), 10 hours per day.
ADA Amazonia substrate + Powersand + Tourmaline BC
2x Eheim Pro II cannister filters (2028 & 2026)
2x Ebo-Jager heaters (250w & 200w, back wall & side wall, respectively)
DIY pressurized CO2 system w/ 2 outlets, one for each filter
Coralife 18x UV sterilizer, used occasionally or when needed
APC battery backup system

Plants:

Bacopa sp. "Colorata"
Blyxa japonica
Echinodorus barthii
Ludwigia glandulosa
Ludwigia inclinata v. verticillata "Cuba"
Nesaea sp. "red leaved" (I think), possibly crassicaulis
Pogostemon stellatus
Pogostemon stellatus v. "Broad leaf"
Potamogeton gayi
Ranunculus inundatis
Rotala sp. "Colorata"
Tonina sp. "Belem"
Tonina sp. "Manaus"

Fertilizer Regimine:

Tropica's Master Grow (still using old supply)
Seachem's Flourish + Flourish Iron mix
K2SO4
(I do not dose Nitrogen or Phosphates)



This tank was set up on December 17th, 2006. The following pics are actually the second set taken after the first pruning. The first set are on a harddrive I believe to be failed. If I can recover them, I will post them. Pruning may be kind of funky until the plants are fully settled. This tank directly divides my living room and my kitchen. There is no background, as it can be viewed from both sides.

I found the first photo, taken December 21st:



Full tank shot:


The pic is not crooked. That is the slope of the substrate, although it is taken from a slight angle. Excuse the rock holding the manzanita wood down.

Ludwigia inclinata v. verticulata "Cuba":



Echinodorus barthii /w a Bacopa sp. "colorata" stem poking through:

[jumpfreak26]

THis is goona be so cool Avalon, the 100 g caught my eye, big tank, with plants, woohoo!

[Lotus]

Cool that you set it up again. It looks great!

How hard are you finding it to aquascape so it looks good from both sides?

[Mahamotorworks]

Nice tank. I want a bigger one now.

MAHA

[Avalon]

Originally Posted by Lotus

How hard are you finding it to aquascape so it looks good from both sides?

The current scape is set-up to be viewed mainly from one side until I can get the plants settled & propogated, and the driftwood sunk. After that, I can move the plants more towards the middle of the tank more, but this tends to kill the feeling of depth. The idea is to slope the substrate from the right side to the left (i.e., the wall of my apt. to the open area). It's really tricky, and may take a little tinkering. I could make it much more obvious, but I'm a plant lover, so I can't give them all up for only 5 or so species. I'm tinkering with symmetry. If you would have seen the tank before I pruned, you would get a much better idea. I'm trying to contain lateral (x) space, but expand it on the y & z axis. This may require an eventual room shot to pull off...we shall see.

I'm always up for something new.

Edit: There's also a Feng shui element involved, which further complicates things. But no corners or edges face you when you enter the room. It's really neat how it works...it does "feel" better in a strange way...

[Katie217]

Holy Cow Avalon...I should show my sister haha
But seriously, thats one of the nicest tanks Ive ever seen!

[dogdoc]

Great looking tank AV.

Do you have two reactors for CO2 on it, or are you using diffusers?

[Avalon]

Originally Posted by dogdoc

Do you have two reactors for CO2 on it, or are you using diffusers?

I'm using a Y-valve directly from the CO2 regulator. Each end goes to each intake of the cannister filters. The filters are my reactors. The Eheims are really good at this. I could use a bit more water circulation, but since the tank is viewable from both sides, I hate to add more stuff in the tank.

[JoluvsGuppies]

Looks Georgeous Makes me want to use my empty 100g and make another planted tank..but this hobby costs an arm and a leg!

[Big Vine]

Very nice Avalon. It must look gorgeous in your apartment, based on the way you've got it setup so that it's viewable from both sides.

It really motivates me to work on my planted tanks...even though they're only beginner-level ones.

Thanks for the inspiration!
Big Vine