# My 20 gallon



## andy (2 Dec 2007)

30 x 15 x 12 tank
3 x 18 w, 24" triplus T8 tubes
1.5" tetra complete substrate with 1.5" black sand on top
Interpet 3 internal filter (set to low)
25% RO water and 75% tap water....78 F
Manual CO2 although this will go pressurised this week.






This is the glosso growth after 2 days !!!


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## Keith (2 Dec 2007)

Hey,

I love it. Great tank, well done.


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## Tom (2 Dec 2007)

Nice tank. I think it could look even better with a black background though. Are you dosing ferts?

Tom


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## andy (2 Dec 2007)

Tom said:
			
		

> Nice tank. I think it could look even better with a black background though. Are you dosing ferts?
> 
> Tom



My daughter wanted the "printed" background   ....gonna start dosing ferts this week as i've noticed the anubias going a bit pale.  I need some recomendations on good, all round ferts that i can buy in most LFS.

Any suggestions ?

Andy


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## Tom (2 Dec 2007)

You could try the JBL fertilisers in a lot of places now, but so far I prefer Tropica's Plant Nutrition.  Are you going to dose NPK or just trace?


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## andy (2 Dec 2007)

Tom said:
			
		

> You could try the JBL fertilisers in a lot of places now, but so far I prefer Tropica's Plant Nutrition.  Are you going to dose NPK or just trace?



I'm still quite a novice at this Tom so i'll dose whatever you recommend.

However, i'm a gardener and i know that if you just does NP and K, you get defficencies from other trace elements such as magnessium, iron and calcium and that will cause as many probs as NP or K.

So a well balanced fertilizer with NPK and trace elments would be a bonus.

Could i throw a handfull of pelleted chicken s**t in the tank...the stuff i feed my sweet peas on


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## Tom (2 Dec 2007)

You can often get away with just dosing trace elements if you have enough of NPK from food/fish waste (which you can get from Tropica Plant Nutrition, or many of the common liquid ferts such as JBL. )

However, The Estimative Index style is very popular at the moment and involves dosing NPK through powders that you mix into solution before dosing, as well as trace elements, usually in the liquid form (Tropica Plant Nutrition seems most popular). 

Here is a link to a more detailed guide http://www.fishforums.net/content/Plant ... x-Article/

Essentially it involves providing plenty of nutrients to your plants in balanced ratios.

If you want it all in one fertiliser to make it simpler, Tropica do Plant Nutrition+ which includes N and P. I'm not sure if you need the other Plant Nutrition as well though.

Hope that was understandable,

Tom


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## beeky (3 Dec 2007)

Nice looking tank. It's good to see Glosso growing under T8s.


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## andy (28 Jan 2008)

Few more pics....very happy with how it looks.


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## Tom (28 Jan 2008)

I love it, it's filling in very nicely. I think the Harlequins are the perfect choice too. What Crypts are they on the left hand side BTW?

Tom


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## andy (28 Jan 2008)

Tom said:
			
		

> What Crypts are they on the left hand side BTW?
> 
> Tom



I don't know mate....one of our local maidenhead aquatics had about 3 pots of them in so i bought them and they really look nice. Think they were labelled as something like C. bushy...or something silly.


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## andy (28 Jan 2008)

On the far right, i have a small clump of bacopa which really isn't "doing it" for me.

I have a few clumps of hydrocotyle in my fighter tanks....do you yhink that would set the tank off and complete the "jungle" look.

I know they grow like the clappers and require some pruning but i don't mind that too much.

What do you think ?

Andy


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## nickyc (30 Jan 2008)

It looks beautiful!  What's the pale pink plant?


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## andy (30 Jan 2008)

I think it's Hygrophylla polysperma 'Rosanervig'

It only turns pink under good lighting.  One of the nicer things about it is it's not too formal and the pink "stars" really show up against a darker background.


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## nickyc (30 Jan 2008)

Is lovely.  Might treat myself


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