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CBRO's First attempt at a planted tank.

Thanks for the comments BAE and MattA1. It's been ages since my last post, sorry about that. In the interim I've been been away and managed to break my collar bone which has been a bit of distraction-but the fish are fine :)

Ive put some black card behind the tank which I think really helps. The H.cuboidis is spreading across the foreground which i want. The moss got a bit out of control- think i need to more trimming in the back left- it's lost its definition a bit there.

We experimenting with different heating systems as well, trying to use a smaller heater thats less visible- but during those cold Feburary nights the tank wasnt keeping warm enough (i've taken the usual heater out to show what it looks like anyway).

Bit of algae on the close up- didnt see it when taken the photos :(


The shrimps have gone a bit shy and fewer in number...we will try and bolster their numbers and see if they become a bit braver and stop hiding in the back.

(sorry about the huge size of the first photo-had a glitch with imageshack)....

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For comparision here is a photo from about 3 months ago (save you going back through the previous posts!
Any comments welcome as always...and ill try and up-date more often too :)

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cheers.
 
Sorry to hear about your collar bone. Hope you make a full recovery :)

The tank is looking really good! It has grown in nicely, everything is still in balance. I see you have a smidge of GSA on the glass. If after scraping it off it comes back quickly then upping your phosphate dosing will help keep it at bay IME :thumbup:
 
It looks fantastic, if you're having issues with heating is it worth adding an external filter and a Hydor inline? I know it's a very expensive option but it gives you a lot more security and you have no need to worry about it dipping, also it gives you the option of inline diffusers. ( you are using co2 aren't you?)
 
Your shrimps may appear fewer in number cos they are hiding in all the lush plant growth - probably
keep looking :crazy:
 
thanks for the comments!

re: the CO2. im adding 1ml of EasyCarb everyday. Thats the only source of CO2 at the moment.

I've been fiddling around with the filter recently (i think i accidentally had it running on half power for a bit) hopefully the algae on the glass will shift with more water flowing past (i've done some trimming around the filter to try and encourage more water flow through the whole tank...not sure if this is a bit naive thinking of me but it may help. thanks for the advice of the phosphate....following advice from TBRO i've recently been adding some 'Tropica plant fertiliser with N and P' which seems to help- the Hemi. Cuboidis was starting to turn yellow but has made a good recovery since adding this stuff. Currently adding 1ml a day of this as well.

Is it worth looking at some fish that will clean up the algae? or is this avoiding the actual source of the problem and just treating the symptoms :)
 
also im really pleased with the black background...think it makes a massive difference. Makes the tank look deeper and highlights the greens.
 
That looks awesome C, the black background makes a huge difference.Reminds me of Viktor Lantos's nano tank. Plants look really healthy, good effort with the maintenance. As Matt says you could may be increase the TPN (only just realised the little medical connection with that abbreviation) a bit, how much are you dosing currently? I've got more shrimp for you to help with clean up....
 
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