# Planted Tanks > Aquascaping >  Gareth's 2ft Tank Journal

## Reth

Hellloooo AQ'ers! This shall be my journal for my 2ft tank set up on 15 Feb 2009 (: 

It's currently receiving 4 hours of light full blast from 6-10pm. No fauna and fert dosing yet. Cycling aided with AquaPro Bio-Bacteria. Currently the crypts are melting, not sure why. Also, can anyone advice on when I should start dosing my ferts?



Details
Size: 2ft / 65 Litres / 17 US Gallons
Lights: 3x24W T5HO 10000K (N.A. says its actually 8000K)
Filter: Eheim Ecco 2231
Substrate: GEX (dark green packet)
Ferts: Tetra InitialSticks (base) / Wonder-gro Macro & Micro
Others: CO2 @ 2bps
Flora: Jap hairgrass, HC, Marsilea hirsuta, Java / Windelov fern, Crypts, (stems need some ID-ing)
Fauna: To house my 12 celestial pearl danios (aka galaxy rasbora), Cherry and Tiger shrimp


Just to share, this is my other just-short-of-1ft tank that currently houses 12 galaxies and cherries. Will transfer all the fauna to my new tank and tear it down since I've upgraded and also due to space constraints. You can read the long long journey of this tank at http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=313190  :Smile: 





Thanks for viewing and do feel free to comment!  :Grin:

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## Kac_r

i love galaxy rasbora .. looks sooo amazing.

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## Viper007

Very impressive start!

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## aquascaping1982

Once the tank mature it will be very nice.

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## Reth

*Kac_r;* Indeed! I'm keeping the tank species-ony, hopefully they'll breed if i provide the right conditions!

Thanks Viper and Aq1982! 

Right now most of the crypts are melting very badly! I replanted them once before settling on the current scape - could that be the problem? I heard it's best not to touch planted crypts at all. Or could it be too strong lighting? I've got 72W (3x24w) in total of T5HO, perhaps i should just turn on 2 tubes only? The lighting fixture has the option to use either 2 tubes, 1 tube or all.

Any advice would be much appreciated!  :Smile:

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## Xianghao

wow.. i like your pictures of your galaxy rasbora.. how do manage to capture them all in the picture? Mine are very shy and hide alot, and also they swim so fast, faster than my camera shutter speed.. :S

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## Reth

Thanks (: I think i took that picture when i first released them into the tank, so they were still swimming at the front. Haha it wasn't easy to get a clear shot, I had to increase the ISO and shutter speed a lot - you can see that the picture is very grainy.

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## juggler

Reth:
You can start fertilising once you set up. I do that for my tanks.
BTW - your 1ft cube is nice. I like the layout.

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## Reth

Thanks Juggler! I shall start dosing the wonder-gro. 

Haha that tank is not even 1ft! Fortunately choosing plants was easy cause the ferns filled it up fast  :Smile:

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## ethan2008

Looking good bro.. just give it some time, do remember to remove those plant that's melted though...  :Smile:

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## blue33

Looking good.  :Well done:

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## Reth

Thanks a lot Ethan and Blue!

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## aquascaping1982

> Thanks a lot Ethan and Blue!


Any updates or new pics? :Smile:

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## Reth

Here's a update on my tank as of today!



Removed and added a few stem plants to the background and did a trim. Added java fern too. Melted crypts have sprouted new shoots! Now to wait for everything to grow out  :Smile: 

I plan to breed galaxies and shrimp so I bought a sponge filter intake sponge thingy.. It's HUGE. Will look around for smaller alternatives.

Thanks for viewing and do leave some comments!  :Grin:

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## Reth

> Any updates or new pics?


Wow that's a fast reply! Just updated  :Grin:

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## Reth

A few more pics (:


Right side. I really like that stem plant in the middle! Not sure what it's called..


Full view! Ugh.. I really find the filter intake a big eyesore!  :Knockout:

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## JadeIceGreen

Hey Bro, I have followed your journal on AF, nice to see you here too. Looking forward to this scape and more great pictures to come!

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## ethan2008

> Ugh.. I really find the filter intake a big eyesore!


May be you want to consider getting a smaller one and hide the intake behind your scape instead?

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## Reth

> Hey Bro, I have followed your journal on AF, nice to see you here too. Looking forward to this scape and more great pictures to come!


Glad to see you here too  :Smile:  This tank will definitely be a bigger challenge than my previous cube!

ethan; Thanks for the suggestion, will move my inlet to the back!

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## Reth

Here's a quick update on my tank!

March 5:




Today (March 10)


I've been playing around with the positioning of the filter in/outlet and CO2 diffuser. I still don't find the CO2 diffusion efficient though - due to the positioning and the disk getting clogged with algae. Might try out the grey plastic Dymax one in the future.. 

Oh, I've added my fauna already  :Smile:  10 galaxies, 2 otos, cherry and tiger shrimp! About my tiger shrimp.. The first batch I added - 3 died on the same day they were introduced.. The rest can't find, maybe hiding. So I purchased another 6, this time I dripped-acclimatised them even longer and left them in a quarantine box overnight in the tank. This time they are doing much better and didn't turn white!

Soo yeah. I'm gonna trim the stem plants tomorrow and try to make them bushier! Thanks for viewing again! Feel free to leave any questions/ comments (:

P.S. Sorry but the colours are a bit off because ImageShack messed with it :/

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## Jervis

Remember to trim them low, at the point where you want them to split new shoots. Have fun  :Smile:

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## Reth

Great advice! Will be enjoying it  :Very Happy:

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## Jervis

For your reading pleasure  :Smile: 

http://www.aquascapingworld.com/maga...em-Plants.html

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## Reth

Thanks Jervis! Very useful! Followed that article while trimming today, will post pics soon  :Smile:

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## Reth

Here's a pic after the first round of trimming yesterday! I'm quite happy with it  :Smile:

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## Jervis

It looks very neat and your trim is just at the right height... you have been doing your research?  :Smile:

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## sophisto

> A few more pics (:
> 
> 
> Right side. I really like that stem plant in the middle! Not sure what it's called..
> 
> 
> Full view! Ugh.. I really find the filter intake a big eyesore!


 
the plant in the middle that u like will grow tall, unsuitable to be infront. mine grew too almost 1 feet, and they started as small as yours, the leaves just keeps getting bigger.

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## Reth

> It looks very neat and your trim is just at the right height... you have been doing your research?


Thanks! Yeah, I just followed that article you linked! Very helpful indeed  :Grin: 

*sophisto;* Thanks for the heads up! Are you referring to the green or red crypt in the middle?

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## Reth

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I updated this journal  :Smile: 

Nothing much has changed in terms of the scape. Been trimming every 2 weeks or so because the stemmed plants grow like crazy. Though a bit overgrown, I think the tank is looking it's best now! Still having a slight case of BBA on my foreground lawn but it's generally okay.



Right now the inhabitants are:
10 celestial pearl danios (galaxy)
2 otos
a confusing mix of shrimps (tigers, cherries, malayans(?), 1 yamato)

Although I've seen the tigers berried a few times, I've never spotted any tiger juveniles.. There are many shrimplets & juveniles but I can't tell what are they. Will take some pics for ID soon! I was only intending to keep tigers and cherries, but the other species came mis-bagged with them :S

Foreground lawn includes dwarf jap hairgrass and Marsilea Hirsuta, which came a long way from individualy planted snips to covering the whole ground! Stays short too, with high lighting.

Thanks for reading!  :Smile:

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## ranmasatome

Wow!! you have a serious case of plant explosion!! hahaha..  :Grin: 

Wonderful growth i must say! so much difference!

Physically remove the little bit of BBA in the front?

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## Reth

^ Thanks! A few months can really do a lot to one's tank  :Very Happy: 

I've tried manually trimming the affected leaves off before. Super tiring!! Will do that again some day haha.


BTW, I've created a new thread on my mystery shrimps! Do have a look if anyone can ID them  :Smile: 
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...345#post471345

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## Reth

Hi all! 

It's been awhile since I've updated this thread! Nothing much has changed, so I shall just post a few pictures  :Smile:  Thanks to many of you AQ'ers who have helped me along the way! By the way, I'll be moving house soon and I've got a quick question. I've created a new thread, do check it out if possible! http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...296#post499296

Here's it looking its best recently IMO 


Here's a fat male galaxy


And here's the tank NOW. Crypts are way overgrown hahaha.

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