# My Tanks



## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

I'm finally at the point to show off two of my 20 Long tanks  I have way more planted tanks but most aren't scaped yet. They're more just holding onto/growing my plants.

*Tank 1* Low Light
Substrate: Fluorite mixed with sand. After this I switched to only NPT's.
Houses 4 wild betta ocellata. It needed to give them good cover, so I incorporated three physical hiding spots besides the filter. There's a terra cotta pot tucked into the left corner, a glass mason jar in the middle (see the marimo ball inside it), and an upside down herb planter on the right.
Plants: anubias (various), java fern (various), subswassertang, camboba, amazon swords, cryptocoryne wendtii, dwarf lilies, bolbitis heudelotii, frogbit, duckweed.
Ferts: Flourish & Flourish Excel










Right Side:









Middle:









Left Side:









*Tank 2* Med/Hight Light
Substrate: Organic potting mix capped with play sand. Houses 4 betta albimarginata and contains 3 hiding spots; one mason jar and two terra cotta pots.
Plants: hygrophila pinnatifida, 2 types of unknown stem plants, weeping moss, flame moss, java moss, anacharis, anubias (various), java fern (various), subswassertang, guppy grass, camboba, amazon swords, cryptocoryne wendtii, bolbitis heudelotii, frogbit, duckweed
Ferts: Flourish & Flourish Excel










Right Side:









Middle: (ignore my fish lol)









More Middle:









Left Side:


----------



## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

I love your tanks! I'm hoping to achieve something similar with my 29g. 

I am planning on using Flourish and maybe the root tabs with mine, but do you recommend the Excel too? What types of lighting (bulbs, wattage, I mean) do you use?


----------



## mattoboy (Feb 4, 2012)

Looks good!


----------



## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

carbonxxkidd said:


> I love your tanks! I'm hoping to achieve something similar with my 29g.
> 
> I am planning on using Flourish and maybe the root tabs with mine, but do you recommend the Excel too? What types of lighting (bulbs, wattage, I mean) do you use?


Thanks! Some of the cropped pics aren't showing as cropped so excuse the extra scenery from my room haha. The Excel really does seem to give my plants that extra "oomph" in terms of how vibrant and green they are. I notice if I've forgotten a couple of doses they don't seem as perky. It is also helpful with the higher light plants as a substitute for CO2. Another thing I think it helps accomplish is horizontal growth. I'm amazed at how fat and bushy the camboba in my high light tank has gotten  I haven't had to trim the tops in a month because all of the growth has been focused outward rather than upward.

For the majority of my med/high light tanks I use these T5 setups: http://www.ebay.com/itm/290742775610?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Note: if you want to buy from this seller, keep in mind the lights are so cheap because they have slight defects. Nothing that prevents them from working at full capacity, but things like dings in the fixture or upside down brackets. I think it's a steal to get them at this price even with little issues  A comparable setup from a store would cost you $80+

I believe my low light lamp is just a single bright Marineland LED, around 6500K? It suits the purposes of low-med light plants just fine


----------



## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

babystarz said:


> Thanks! Some of the cropped pics aren't showing as cropped so excuse the extra scenery from my room haha. The Excel really does seem to give my plants that extra "oomph" in terms of how vibrant and green they are. I notice if I've forgotten a couple of doses they don't seem as perky. It is also helpful with the higher light plants as a substitute for CO2. Another thing I think it helps accomplish is horizontal growth. I'm amazed at how fat and bushy the camboba in my high light tank has gotten  I haven't had to trim the tops in a month because all of the growth has been focused outward rather than upward.
> 
> For the majority of my med/high light tanks I use these T5 setups: http://www.ebay.com/itm/290742775610?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
> 
> ...


Thanks! I think I will buy some of the Excel then, along with the complete stuff. I'm shooting for low-medium light, and am hoping my light will be fine. The hood I have fits one T12 bulb, and so I bought one that is 20w at 6500K. It looks bright to me, but not really sure where this puts me at WPG. I'm going to be spending like $60 on plants next week, so hopefully the light works out, lol.


----------



## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

carbonxxkidd said:


> I am planning on using Flourish and maybe the root tabs with mine, but do you recommend the Excel too? What types of lighting (bulbs, wattage, I mean) do you use?


I wouldn't. Have you looked at what exactly that chemical is?

I'll save you the effort of looking it up and just tell you it's glutaraldehyde. That's a dissinfectant, and toxic. It can also be used as a preservative.

It will outright kill some plants, and I wouldn't be so quick to say it's safe for the fish.


----------



## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Geomancer said:


> I wouldn't. Have you looked at what exactly that chemical is?
> 
> I'll save you the effort of looking it up and just tell you it's glutaraldehyde. That's a dissinfectant, and toxic. It can also be used as a preservative.
> 
> It will outright kill some plants, and I wouldn't be so quick to say it's safe for the fish.


I actually just read somewhere that Excel can cause anarchis and vals to melt, both of which I want to try out in my tank...


----------



## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

carbonxxkidd said:


> I actually just read somewhere that Excel can cause anarchis and vals to melt, both of which I want to try out in my tank...


Yep it can do that, I would suggest starting out at 1/4 the recommended dose and slowly build it up from there, watching for signs of plant distress. My anacharis, as you can see, is doing fine at the recommended dose. My vals slowly died away over the course of three months (they're the only plant I've had that I couldn't get to do well!)


----------



## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

Or you just don't use it. Adding Carbon is only necessary if you run bright lighting. Keep your lights at a lower level (which the fish actually greatly prefer) and you can get by perfectly fine on the naturally produced CO2 in the tank.

If you are wanting to go down the high tech route, I would greatly recommend CO2 injection over the use of Excel (or similar) due to its toxic nature.


----------

