# Planted Tanks > Beginners' Corner >  60cm beginner's journal. (Finally set up my tank)

## erwinx

Thanks to everyone in AQ for the advice (Urban, David and many more....) given in the past few months. I finally set up my 60cm tank which was delivered in August.




1. Paste Oyama paper (in August!)



2. Start putting in soil. Gex Plant Soil and Ocean Free Bio Gravel ($6 for 5kg, how to complain  :Smile:  ), various rocks to support the slope




3. 9pm, still building up the slope, now with Ocean Free Bio Gravel at the rear now with more rocks. The elevation at rear left of the tank is about 25cm high and slopes down to rear right at 17cm high. The front of the tank has about 7cm of substrate



4. rock arrangement. Then I left it alone for 2 weeks as no time to go to Teo's Aquatic Farm to buy plants. Note how bluish the photo is as this was with the Up-Aqua light which is rather blueish.



5. Finally got time to go to Teo's to buy plants. Up-Aqua LED at the rear, Evo 24 6500k 3w LED in front so not so blueish anymore (I like 6500k much more, one of my earlier hobbies was photography and all my monitors are calibrated to 6500k because thats the recomendation, at first, also thought 6500k was yellowish, but now find it more 'natural')

Now it the wait and see what grows, what doesn't grow, get something else and replant...


Photography note: I'm new to aquarium photography and I can't get rid of reflections. I used a piece of black cloth to remove some reflections, but I can't cover the camera, so you can see the words "Canon" reflected on the tank.
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Tank and cabinet: 60x45x45 (Green Chapter)

Substrate: Gex Plant soil (powder type), with 5kg Ocean Free Bio Gravel ($6 to fill up space, hosting of beneficial bacteria), and black lava rocks to help build up the slope.

Filter: Eheim Ecco Pro 300 with Seachem Matrix

Fertilisation: JBL Root fertiliser balls, Eiho liquid fertiliser. Seachem Iron.

CO2: 1bps, external reactor. Not sure worthwhile to increase bps because i look at the reactor there are always undissolved bubbles? Got Ocean Free Solenoid, one of the washers was tied to the power cord (!?), didn't notice and installed the Co2 without that washer, heard gas hissing sound on turn on, found the washer, and reinstalled.

Lighting: UP-Aqua LED rear, Green Element Evo 3w LEDs on low power at front (3w LED for penetration, not enough plants for justify turn on all the bulbs).

Plants: All from Teo's Aquatic Farm. Eleocharis, E. Tenellus, 3 types of C. Wendtii, Tiger Lotus and other plants, didn't catch what Mr Teo called them.

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## flick

beautiful rocks! i'm following your thread :Smile: 

some black electrical (gaffer) tape on your "Canon" will solve your problem. Or just masking tape, and colour it black with a black marker.

and probably you need a card to cut off the light spill from your tank lighting, before you take photos. if you have space to stand further back from your tank, maybe you can use a longer lens. maybe underexpose by 1/2 stop to get the black oyama to look black?

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## Xanavi

Photoshop will do the trick too  :Smile:

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

Hi bro,

If you got the time, break your hairgrss into smaller stalks, and plant them close together. They will grow better.


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## limz_777

dont let any light spill out to front and take it during night , room lights off

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

As you can see, if you split the hairgrass, it actually grows runner that will spread throughout the substrate:

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## David

Gosh...I really admire aquarists like you who actually take time to setup tank and find nice rocks and wood....I am super duper lazy and impatient....hahaha.

Watch your hair grass to tennulus ratio. If they are growing side by side, it's 3/4 to 1/4. If not, your hair grass will be choked out over time.

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## erwinx

Setup time: I spread out my setup time over 1 month, so not so tiring. Tank came in August and then took 1 month to slowly find stuff, then put soil, wait 1 week, put rocks, wait another week, then finally water...  :Smile: 

Eleocharis: . I split them up a little bit more.

Tennellus: I've read the threads about the dangers of too much tennellus, so i've only planted a few, just to see how they grow. (Mr Teo gave me way too much Tennellus). The threads I've read recommend replacing tennellus with Blyxa Japonica, but I'm not sure how to find and identify Blyxa at local fish stores... any advice? 

Crypts: The green crypts (C. Parva?) are doing ok. The red crypts are melting, guess have to be patient to see if they revive.

Anubias: Following Urban's example, I bought a pot of Anubias Petite (not cheap) and a pot of Anubias Barteri (cheapest), some 3cm black pebbles and put them in shaded areas. Maybe I'll use them to carpet instead of Tennellus.

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## Urban Aquaria

> Tennellus: I've read the threads about the dangers of too much tennellus, so i've only planted a few, just to see how they grow. (Mr Teo gave me way too much Tennellus). The threads I've read recommend replacing tennellus with Blyxa Japonica, but I'm not sure how to find and identify Blyxa at local fish stores... any advice?


From what i've seen at the various LFS so far, _Echinodorus Tenellus_ is usually sold in harvested emersed form in plastic cartons... while _Blyxa Japonica_ is usually sold in submerged form in pots within plant sales display tanks.

You can tell them apart most easily by looking at their base/root structure, _Echinodorus Tenellus_ leaves are connected by runners (like hairgrass), while _Blyxa Japonica_ leaves grow on individual thick stems with roots (they are actually stem plants).

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## David

You were at Teo's and you didn't as for Blyxa Japonica?.....He has TONS of it.....

As for Tennellus...even with few stalks....if left unchecked they will spread really fast. The difference is because the Tennellus runners are surface runners while, I think most species of Hair Grass are bottom runners. Tennellus runners are commandoes....thy will climb over, under and sideways any obstacle they come in contact. They trick to it is to clip the runners that you don't want them to go to early.

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## erwinx

Hi David, ok I'll visit Teo's again for Blyxa Japonica when i'm in the neighbourhood. If you are going, maybe can coincide my visit so you can give me advice... am interested in the crypts you got from Teo's that you have in your tank thread  :Smile: 

Finally could you tell me what is the red stem plant in middle rear of my tank photo? (sorry if not so clear), I don't think Mr Teo told me the name. 

On the extreme right rear, the Zenkeri lotus is not doing well. When I got the plant it wasn't in that fantastic a shape (i think it was the last straggler in a near empty concrete tank). I might need to get a healthier sample or change to something else.

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## David

Hi Erwinx

The next time I will be at Teo's place will probably be end October.

You need to take a close up picture for me to try to ID the plant as well as your Lotus.

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## Xatriaz

Nice rock bro, waiting for the pic when the grass already carpeting 


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## erwinx

*Day 8 Update*

Here are some photos on day 8. Hope members can assists in confirming the ID of some of the plants. 
I added small Yamato Shrimp (The ones at Seaview are smaller/ juvenile? compared to other LFS), and cherry shrimp, 1 horned Nerite snail, and transferred 3 of my otos from my 45cm test/quarantine tank.
The Zenkeri Lotus couldn't make it (was not in fantastic shape when I got it from Teo's either) so replaced with a new one.
Also underexposed the photo slightly so the oyama paper looks better and tried to tweak the colour balance. I am using 6500k Green Element Evo and the more blue-ish Up-Aqua Z-series LED which looks fine in real life, but probably confuses the camera.

The Eleocharis/hairgrass, I did separate some of them but some of them didn't touch because scared to cause a mess of floating hairgrass... not doing so well compared to the Tennellus... but I'll try and spread them a little more and wait and see....

Ammonia 0.5ppm / Nitrite 0.5ppm before weekly water change.




Overall view of the tank at Day 8




Plants for ID (I surfed the net to try to match photos, so the names are my best guess)

From left to right
(1) Some sort of sword plant from Teo's
(2) Red stem plant: Alternanthera?
(3) Stringy stem plant with red tips: unsure?
(4) Green stem plant with green leaves that seem slightly variegated with yellow lines: unsure?
(5) Stringy stem plant with pinkish tips: Rotala Wallichi?




Crypts Left to right
(1) C. Parva - long and green, some leaves melted but doing well
(2) One solitary C. Wendtii Brown somewhere in the middle from my test tank
(3) On the right side- C. Wendtii Tropica? Brown/red stem with green leaves? A lot more melting compared to the C.Parva but I think they have stabilised.



Anubias Nana Petite on pebbles!  :Smile:

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

Are your Anubias Nana Petite on pebbles being shaded by the sword plant? They might not turn out well, if they do not receive sufficient light.

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## David

The Echinodorus looks like a Ozelot Green. Did you asked Teo? Ozelot green is going to grow big unless its the Echinodorus Leopard.

The stemmed plant in the center looks like a Rotala Macrandra broad leave. Just beside it to the right rear looks like a Rotala Indica. The crypto that you are asking looks either a Wendtii Green or the Gecko. this two species look identical just that the Gecko has darken vein patterns all over the leaves.

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## erwinx

Day 15 update:

(1) Rotala Macandra doing quite well. Sprouting deep red leaflets at the base on the stem near the bottom. Trimming soon...
(2) Rotal Wallichi, growth not as fast, but tips are pink so I think they're healthy
(3) Hairgrass: no progress so far
(4) Crypts, new leaves coming out.
(5) E.Tenellus, some of the bunches are sending out runners, need to cut/trim

Ordered some stuff from amazon (free global shipping) and notice that 100ml Purigen qualifies for free shipping, so added that to the order to try out....

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## felix_fx2

FYI,




> From left to right
> (3) Stringy stem plant with red tips: unsure?



Comparing leaf lengths to what i have it might not be a 

Might be LUDWIGIA BREVIPES
Google Image search - LINK
APC's plant finder - LINK

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

Give the hairgrass a little more time. Mine took around 28days to really dense out. The initial growth could really bring the impatience out of us. Haha...


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## sfk7

Your c. Parva is too tall to be parva. My opinion is that it could be c. Willisii

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## erwinx

skf7: yes thanks for the clarification. David also pointed it out. Realised, there are 2 different green Crypts in the tank, most of them are the thicker stem type but there were some bunch with very thin stems. So possibly a mix of C. Willisi and C. Wendtii Green (as suggested by David).

Thanks for all the help in ID. I am new to planted aquarium and find it interesting to learn more about the different species.

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## erwinx

*Day 22 Update*




*Rotala Macandra.* Reached the top of the tank and I think has stopped growing and sprouting new red leaves instead.

*Ludwigia Brevipe:* Nice orange coloured leaves. Looks very nice against the Black Oyama. I had 2 long straight stems that hit the top of the tank and started bending since no more room to grow upwards. I trimmed and replanted and unfortunately because I was too late in trimming, the stems are 'bent'. Hope they straighten up soon. The stems are very fragile sometimes merely by yanking a leaf, I can break the stem, so must be more careful....

*Hygrophila Polysperma (*tenative ID?): It was growing fast but the new leaves were so much larger than the originals. Did a major trim off the tops and I think they were in shock... have since seen new growth so they are ok and still very green.

*Rotala Wallichi:* Tips are nice and pink and I like it how they open and close during day/night respectively. The latest pic above they are in the 'closed position'

*Various Crypts:* Seem to be doing ok. Added C.Wendtii 'Tropica' on extreme right side and removed some *Tennellus

E. Tennellus:* have to keep on cutting back the side shoots. 
Zenkeri Red: Slow but steady progress. Will have to post close up and ask forummers to advise if I have to cut any of the leaves (i.e. at what point can we ID the floating leave and cut it before its too late)

*Eleocharis:* Above surface no progress but roots are spreading below surface.... i'm not in a hurry....  :Smile: 


Fauna:
After checking Ammonia levels ok, added Guppies which seem to be doing well. They are super efficient bottom scavengers... no need Corydoras. I try to give the Yamato shrimp algae wafer in a discrete heavily planted corner of the tank, the Guppies can still find it and fight the Yamato shrimp for the wafer. After that added rummy nose tetras for the schooling effect.

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## Jonneh

Thanks for sharing! What an awesome set up!

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## erwinx

*Day 28 aka 1 month anniversary


*


(1) *Hairgrass* has started sending out new shoots. Finally, but still long way to go.
(2) *Red stemmed plant.* I think the plant I've been called Rotala Macandra is Alternanthera rosaefolia. I let one stem breach the water surface and the bright pink leaves are so pretty outside the water. I'm pretty sure the bright pink leaves are the emersed leaves but... the new leaves coming out at the top are also bright pink. New leaves on side shoots are 'wine red' (i.e. dark red like red wine). So if i trim off the top, I will get a stem with much darker leaves versus cutting and replanting the top
(3) *Brown/Reddish Crypts* are doing well. My educated guess is that they are C.Wendtii Tropica. For some reason, there are a lot of bubbles coming out from the leaves, more than the bubbles from the Green Crypts. (Always thought red plants rate of photosynthesis lower than green plants)
(4) *E.Ozelot* At least its surrounded by rocks, otherwise it is going to take over the tank. I planted it with one of those black plastic pots with holes that most plants at LFS come with in the hope it was restrict its growth but no such luck. Many new leaves with lots of distinctive red dots/streaks. Got to learn how to trim this. 
(5) *E.Hadi Red Pearl*  - growing sideways instead of growing upwards. New leaves come out red but turn green with browh streaks. 
(6) *C. Parva*  - there has been speculation that C.parva at LFS is actually C X Willisi. I bought a pot to test and planted it right in front of my C X Willisi and will see if they are the same....
(7) *Marsilea -*I have a lot of space around the E. Ozelot that I wanted to fill with something. I have Anubias Nana Petite on superglued pebbles and they are doing ok (growth is mostly upward because they are in shade i guess), so when C328 brought in *Marsilea* this week, I just had to try since its reputed to be ok with lower light.... 

*Algae Update:* Green Spot Algae on sides of tank. I bought what amounted to a rough sponge on stick from LFS. But I should do more research on the best tools from algae on glass. I don't know how to use credit card... i tried a credit card and it doesn't seem to scrape anything...
*
Fauna Upate:*  I have been waiting so long for regular Rams to appears as I don't like the Balloon Type. Finally C328 has brought them in, and cheaper than Balloon Rams too  :Smile:

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## erwinx

Week 6 nothing much to report. Got myself Canon 50mm f/2.5 lens from amazon for US$269 free shipping (much cheaper than SG price). Have to slowly learn how to take fish photographs and how to position the flashes, but her are some luckier attempts...

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## erwinx



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## bennyc

Nice Picture, color rich picture, expected of a DSLR. 

GSA can be remove easily by Credit card. Just tilt it 45 degree, press against the glass and scrape. Becareful not to be too violent or you will create wave in tank. If one scrape is not sufficient, repeat a few times will do.

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## tuktuk

nice photo shot

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## pattermelon

Hi may I know what fish is that with the faint black bands across its body 


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## creech

I use those white magic sponge to clear the algae, you can get them in different sizes from Daiso. I usually get the 30 pieces bag for $2.


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## erwinx

The fish with the black band is the Rummy-nose Tetra, one of the "best" schooling fish.
Thanks for the info about the sponges. I am using a "Tom" brand metal scraper from C328. Very effective, but the algae after scraping still remains in the aquarium (just drops off the glass). So a sponge that picks up the algae may be useful...

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## pattermelon

> The fish with the black band is the Rummy-nose Tetra, one of the "best" schooling fish.
> Thanks for the info about the sponges. I am using a "Tom" brand metal scraper from C328. Very effective, but the algae after scraping still remains in the aquarium (just drops off the glass). So a sponge that picks up the algae may be useful...


I meant the cichlid! Is it a dwarf cichlid? 


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## erwinx

The Cichlid is the German Blue Ram. Many LFS sell the mutated Balloon Version, but I like the shape of the original. http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/cich...manblueram.php

In terms of behaviour, it harasses the Yamato Shrimp but not the tetras or guppies, so the shrimp don't come to the front that much. Maybe when the hairgrass grows longer, the shrimp will be more brave....

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## CPONovice

German ram?

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## CPONovice

Going to C328 now.Hope can buy some stem plants like yours haha

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## erwinx

Here's a more recent photo. Need to trim the stem plants. Bought a few more crypts from Teos to put in front while waiting for the hairgrass to slowly spread. On the extreme right of the tank is the E.Tennellus. As the edges were the dimmest part of the tank, thought no chance to grow hairgrass so put Tennellus and Tennellus has no problems creeping.

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## saintdevilz

very nice tank you have there!

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## erwinx

Current status of the tank. 
Trimming and re-trimming the Ludwigia Brevipes & Rotala Wallichi to make them into a denser clump, but what happens is that there are always 2 or 3 stalks that shoot up to the surface at a superfast rate. Some hair algae on the Ludwigia Brevipes leaves... trying spot does Excel on selected leaves as an experiment. 
Alternanthera Roseafolia, stalks have breached the surface the tallest is 5cm above the water line. 
Other than that, algae is generally the green spot kind and using scraper to remove from the glass.

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## CPONovice

Hi! Is the brown crypt at the left side crypt wendtii brown or tropica and what is the name of the echinodorus with red spots at midground ?thanks

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## erwinx

Hi,

On the left side there is C.Wendtii Tropica and C.Wendtii Green (I think). The Wendtii Green has wrinkled green leaves and brown stems. The Wendtii brown has smooth leaves

The C Wendtii brown is in the centre right of the photo but obscured by the C. Wendtii Tropica. The C.Wendtii brown is a much smaller and slower growing plant...


The Enchindorous in midground is E.Hadi Red Pearl: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...odorus-hybrids

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## CPONovice

Alright thanks going to get crypts for my tank and I was just researching on echinodorus hadi pearl lol

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## erwinx

This week decided to zoom out to get an overview of the whole tank and showing the 45cm "testing/quarantine" low-tech tank on the left of the 60cm tank. Just for reference, these are the plants that are growing pretty well in my 45cm.

Enchindorous Rose - very healthy leaves and moderate size. New leaves are reddish but turn fully green when fully grown.
Saggitaria Subulata - Easy low-height midground plant (If you find Blyxa too messy, consider this?)
Vallisneria - the stem broke the surface with white flowers which I guess is a good sign.
Hygrophilia Polysperma - Even in lowtech, most of the leaves have the pretty white veins.


+++++++++++++++++++++

Back to the main 60cm tank:

Getting some hair algae on leaves, possibly a sign of weak water circulation Alternative explanation is that 2 guppies seem to have died and I didn't find the bodies, probably the decomposing bodies may have affected the chemical balance of the water and encouraged algae growth...?

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## Urban Aquaria

The tanks look great, plants really filling in nicely!  :Smile: 

Good info on the plant growth in your low-tech, i might also try out _Saggitaria Sabulata_ too, sounds like an ideal midgeound plant.




> Back to the main 60cm tank:
> 
> Getting some hair algae on leaves, possibly a sign of weak water circulation Alternative explanation is that 2 guppies seem to have died and I didn't find the bodies, probably the decomposing bodies may have affected the chemical balance of the water and encouraged algae growth...?


If you have a good population of hungry shrimps in the tank, they will usually clear up small fish corpses within a few hours, so it probably wouldn't pollute the tank as much.

I experienced it a few times too, especially with tanks where the plant mass is too dense to pick through. Sometimes i don't see a particular fish for days, then one day spot 2 shrimps fighting over that fish's head.  :Knockout: 

With easy access to meaty food source, the shrimps probably slack on eating algae and produce more waste, which might contribute to the increase in algae. Once they are hungry again they should resume algae clearing duties.

What i usually do in such situations is greatly reduce the feeding in the tank for a week, and also do more frequent water changes, to account for the extra "bonus" food in the tank.  :Grin:

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## erwinx

I removed the Alternanthera 'Rosafolia' as they did not respond well to trimming the tops off. They developed some side shoots but these hardly grew for some reason. I also started getting some hair algae on the Ludwigia Brevipes and I suspected that there was lack of water flow at the back of the tank due to the density of the Alternanthera. Sure enough, after removing the Alternanthera (coupled with spot excel injection), the hair algae disappeared from the Ludwigia Brevipes.

Other than that, nothing to report. I am happy with slow and steady progress, no disasters, and low maintenance  :Smile: 



I planted a single row of Ludwigia Brevipes at the back of the tank, and in front of them, I planted Alternanthera Reinickii 'Mini' which should be much shorter and hopefully I will get a front/back layout with Alternanthera in front of the Ludwigia Brevipes.

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## sammajor

Nice one. The height of the 60cm tank looks rather high. Height is 45cm? Care to share what light set you are using and temperature of the water?

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## erwinx

Hi Sammajor, its a 60x45x45cm tank.

The lights are 2 x Up-Aqua LED 8000k at the rear, 1x Beamswork 3w LED 6500k in the front. In real life, the lights look fine, but when I take photos, the colours always seem a bit off. People are saying that the Maxpsect Razr had better colour rendition, so I'm always tempted to upgrade as well...  :Smile: 

The tank is in the living room so it should be room temperature (I don't monitor the temps).

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## erwinx

Nothing to report, just posting a sharper photo.

I am now thinking about replacing the E.Ozelot. I thought I could contain it by planting it with the small black plastic container that plants usually come in but the leaves are still huge. The soil around the plant is also (deliberately) surrounded by rocks so the spread of the roots should not be so great.

Anyone have recommendations for smaller Enchindorus. I bought my E.Hadi Red Pearl from GC so I could go there for a different fancy smaller Enchindorus, but wonder if there are other sources and which species. I don't need super tiny, anything smaller than the ozelot will do  :Smile:

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## cherabin

From GC, you will be able to get ozelot dwarf, aquartica and opacus, all of which all considered 'small size' by Echinodorus standard.


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## erwinx

My E.Hadi Red Pearl suddenly exploded in growth. The spot it is planted on has actually very little soil as there is a large rock right behind it and below there are plastic egg crates which I used to build up the slope. So surprised that it can grow so much.

Cherabin, planning to go to GC to get a smaller enchindorous. Thanks for the info on aquartica and opacus as well.

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