My attempt at a planted tank...

[SunnyHouTX]

So this tank started off as a home for SA fish but it turned out the way it did and I think I like it.

Gear:

AGA 40B
Moving bed sump with Mag 5 return
6500K LED (8 hrs/day)
250W titanium heater
2x Rena 400 air pumps to run the moving bed

Fauna:

Emperor Tetras
Lake Inle Danios
Otocinclus
Zebra Nerites
Tire Track Nerites
L168 Pleco

Flora:

Crypt. Parva
Crypt. Cilliata
Blyxa Japonica

Dosing periodically with Flourish and Flourish Excel. Just gonna let everything grow out over time.

05/25/2013, a couple of days after setup and only with emperor tetras and crypt parva...

07/03/2013

[mistahoo]

Looks very nice. Plants and livestock probably love it. Great job. It will look a quite different once the plants fill in. Can't wait to see how it'll turn out.

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

Edit: Would also like to add that your tank actually looks better than most veteran planted tank hobbyists.

[Chester]

Nice Sunny... a bit of a small tank for you though! I really like that driftwood... get more crypt parva if you can they are pretty sweet...you can't really see the ones I have as my 12 long is heavily planted and they are sitting in a corner of it...

[Ballinxalex]

Is ur LEDs hanging ? Looks great

[myjohnson]

When you gonna use real aqua soil?

[mnemenoi]

Ehh, our sand grows some terrific plants. Root tabs will do everything you need if anything gets to be an issue. These tanks can get very addictive, especially due to the fact you can impulse buy plants without worrying about whether they'll work with the fish you have (though nano fish/shrimp are impulse buyable as well, lol). Tank looks great Sunny!!!

[SunnyHouTX]

Looks very nice. Plants and livestock probably love it. Great job. It will look a quite different once the plants fill in. Can't wait to see how it'll turn out.

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

Edit: Would also like to add that your tank actually looks better than most veteran planted tank hobbyists.

Thanks man! Just putting it together the way I like it, clean and simple. So far, it's been pretty fun. Sparse water changes, top offs, etc.

Now that the parva is filling out nicely, I think it's time to take them out if the pots and stick them in the sand, maybe put them in a couple more spots.

[SunnyHouTX]

Nice Sunny... a bit of a small tank for you though! I really like that driftwood... get more crypt parva if you can they are pretty sweet...you can't really see the ones I have as my 12 long is heavily planted and they are sitting in a corner of it...

Thanks Chester. I like parva, I'm thinking of split them up into a couple of more clumps.

[SunnyHouTX]

Is ur LEDs hanging ? Looks great

Thanks, yes

[SunnyHouTX]

When you gonna use real aqua soil?

Probably never. You couldn't catch me dead with anything from Amano Just a personal thing about not jumping on THAT bandwagon.

[SunnyHouTX]

Ehh, our sand grows some terrific plants. Root tabs will do everything you need if anything gets to be an issue. These tanks can get very addictive, especially due to the fact you can impulse buy plants without worrying about whether they'll work with the fish you have (though nano fish/shrimp are impulse buyable as well, lol). Tank looks great Sunny!!!

Thanks Roy. I have root tabs that I got from Steven, just need to add a little more sand to start using these tabs. Who needs aqua soil anyway?

[LordBarron7692]

Nice looking setup Sunny

[mnemenoi]

Right? I use all sorts of stuff, but have never actually used Aqua Soil. Just be crazy baller and only use Brightwell, they stopped making it so it has to be the best stuff, cuz its crazy rare.

[suicune]

more plants sunny!!!! and welcome to the green world

[SunnyHouTX]

No way, this is the look I want so I'll be careful about how many plants I have in there and where I place them