5-gallon plant-only Tank: No Title

[makoy lingaro]

Hello! It's been a long time since I've made a journal and I've been pretty much a lurker for most of my visits here in UKAPS. So, this is my 5 gallon standard, braced tank ( I had to remove the brace so that I can place the intake and outflow of my filter).

Setup:
Tank: 16x8x10 inches
filtration: External Filter UP Aqua EXT120 (It is like and hang-on filter except that it has tube outflow like a canister filter.)
Lighting: DIY Lighting 3x 7 watt Philips Essentials LED ( I won't be posting the lighting build because it does not look good but it worked though. Basically, I assembled the bulb as usual.)
Substrate: Pretty much DIY ( crushed clay pots topped with river sand)
CO2: DIY with UP aqua glass diffuser

Plants:
Rotala rotundifolia, Hemianthus glomeratus, Hemianthus callictrichoides, Eleocharis vivipara, Eleocharis parvula, Staurogyne repens, Ludwigia arcuata x repens, Ludwigia glandulosa, Alternanthera reinickii, Limnophila aromatica, Henteranthera zosterifolia, Anubias nana 'petite', Hydrocotyle tripartita, Bacopa caroliniana, Pogostemon helferi.

Fauna: Ember tetras and a lone guppy and some unwanted snails.

 

[Christos Ioannou]

looks awesome. substrate seems pretty inert, what's your fert regime?

 

[makoy lingaro]

looks awesome. substrate seems pretty inert, what's your fert regime?

Thanks! I'm using microplantas and macroplantas, EI based fertilizer.

 

[Christos Ioannou]

Thanks! I'm using microplantas and macroplantas, EI based fertilizer.

hi is it a diy recipe? can you share this?

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[makoy lingaro]

hi is it a diy recipe? can you share this?

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I bought it from a seller here in Philippines. I guess it is the same recipe as most EI. The label on macro does not say anything about its components but the micro is made of csm+b.

 

[Christos Ioannou]

I bought it from a seller here in Philippines. I guess it is the same recipe as most EI. The label on macro does not say anything about its components but the micro is made of csm+b.

thanks!

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[makoy lingaro]

The previous all-plant setup was changed because I needed/wanted to have a tank with less maintenance and also I get bored quite easily.
I changed the substrate to Aquasoil powder type.

Plants: E. parvula and acicularis, Hydrocotyle tripartita and Pogostemon helferi.

The hardscape came from rocks I picked up from the river.

 

[makoy lingaro]

I've snapped a quick phone photo today after my maintenance.

 

[mathman]

Nice tank!

Your tank looked very nice here:

Very natural look.


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[makoy lingaro]

Thanks mathman! I loved the stems and lots plant growth but I decided to go with an iwagumi because I got busy over the summer. Maybe I'll go back to stems when the schedule eases up.

Nice tank!

Your tank looked very nice here:

Very natural look.


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[makoy lingaro]

Update: Plants look healthy now. Hydrocotyle looks way better than the previous photo and the staurygyne is starting to grow. Excuse the dirty silicone, I can't brush them off.

 

[makoy lingaro]

This will be the nth incarnation of this little tank. I'm going for a more classic iwagumi feel here.
It's really easy maintaining this tank, nothing but water changes, ferts and stone scrubs once a week. Sometimes if the schedules is too tight, this could go for 2 weeks without waterchange without massive algae outbreak.