Planted tank update - Now with video!

[Nexangelus]

A few weeks back I had spoken to some members about planted tanks and got some awesome advice. Thought I'd throw up a video to show how it was doing. Still needs some rearranging, but I'm thrilled with the growth and quality of the plants. Thanks for the advice Wyvern and PewPew! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNyKj...el_video_title

[Kytkattin]

How did you get your anubias to bloom so quickly?!?! I am super jealous. The tank looks amazing.

[thePWNISHER]

What are all of your plants in the video?

[gummi]

Looks really nice, very natural. I've contemplated switching over to live plants, but I'm concerned about the upkeep. Are you still able to vacuum the gravel without having to uproot your plants?

[Littlebittyfish]

very nice.

[Jessabell]

That's cool. If I were a betta fish, I'd wanna live in there! C:

[newf]

Your tank looks great!

[Kytkattin]

Originally Posted by gummi

Looks really nice, very natural. I've contemplated switching over to live plants, but I'm concerned about the upkeep. Are you still able to vacuum the gravel without having to uproot your plants?

From my understanding, the plants actually use the nutrients left by your fish in the gravel, so stirring it up is not only unnecessary, but a negative for your plants. Because of this, the plants help keep the tank cleaner meaning less frequent water changes. Obviously you still have to do water changes, but you don't have to worry about silt and stuff. Some people even use garden dirt (free of ferts and pesticides, of course), so vacuuming would be impossible.

[gummi]

Thanks for the explanation.

[Nexangelus]

Sorry for not answering these sooner!

Gummi: Gravel-vac'ing isn't as much of a concern in heavily planted tanks. The plants take care of a lot of the waste as do the amano shrimp (must-have, in my opinion). What I usually do during water changes is wave the siphon near the bottom just enough to stir up any waste that may be sitting on top without uprooting any of the plants. It's not completely necessary, but I like to be sure that spikes won't happen.

thePWNISHER: Plants are: Dwarf Hairgrass, Dwarf Baby Tears, Red Wendtii, Bacopa Australis, Hygrophilla (kompact) and Anubias Nana on the Log. If you need help knowing which is which just post and I can walk you through the names based on where they're placed. :)

KyKattin: Thank you! I'm not certain what made it bloom so quickly, but I'm thinking it must have been the 5 watts per gallon and full dosing of Seachem Flourish products. That, and the C02 definitely helped. Got the C02 for 10 dollars at a pet store. The model is 2 years old and I guess the owner couldn't sell it. Even threw in 6 months of refills!

Thank you all for checking it out and for your kind words. Hopefully the bettas I ordered will like it! I'll definitely be giving plants away if this kind of growth keeps up. Some are growing about 1/2 an inch per day! If anyone's interested, all I'm asking is the shipping cost (around 7 dollars US) and I'll include all you want. Additionally, I'm going to be selling anubias logs in the near future and will give priority to those interested on this forum.