Hello from Surrey

[ianmianmianm]

Hi all, joining the forum today as I currently have 2 small planted tanks (lo-tech) and a third in planning and progress.

Tank 1 - 35cm cube, planted with spiderwood, lots of moss, some stems and floaters. It's shockingly well balanced and home to Ember Tetras, Endler males, some Amanos and Nerites.
Pothos growing hydroponically out of the top, filtered on an internal Fluval. Nasties always at zero, pH 7. On gravel with bagged aquasoil under the stems.

Tank2 - 25cm cube, effective litres after displacement is 11, planted with Glosso, Hemianthus, Moss balls, Ludwigia, Anubias and something random I can't remember the name of
Lidded, with a cheap Ebay HOB that has had ceramic media attached. Hardscape is mainly Driftwood with cobblesand it sits on aquasoil. pH sits from 6.5-7. I'll monitor the parameters for a bit before adding some cherry shrimp.

Tank 3 - 30cm cube. It'll be bagged aquasoil capped with sand, rock and 1 piece of spiderwood with some stems. Probably going to be a Betta living in there.

I prefer the natural and controlled jungle look so only do trimming when it's needed to free up space or allow light to the base plants.

I'm tank keeping again after a gap of about 8 years while moving around a lot, have previously had a couple of reefs and a few bigger biotopes.

Pics to follow when

 

[hypnogogia]

Hello , welcome to UKAPS.

 

[tacy k]

Welcome!

 

[bazz]

Welcome,

Pics to follow

look forward!

 

[valevelo]

Welcome from a fellow newb! Looking forward to seeing some pics of your tanks

 

[sparkyweasel]

Welcome! 🙂

 

[ianmianmianm]

These are my 3 at the moment. A bit different from the original post.....

L: 30/30/30 litre low iron - strong light but short photoperiod - mostly fast growing plants - the Hydrocotyle will be coming out of there into a planted vase project. I think that will also give a better rule-of-thirds balance too.
This just has 6 endler males in of varying types from wild to scarlet to snakeskin, with a nerite. It's red lava rock which is not something I've tried before, if I did it again I'd go for the grey instead. The original centrepiece rock kept semi-floating and repositioning itself but because the stuff is so light and thus cheap, it was easier for me to just buy a new piece. There's aquasoil under all that gravel capping and so far so good.
This will look a lot more grown in soon when the Limno and Rotala grow a bit. I've never had Endlers before and they are truly stunning under good light.

Centre: 15 litre cube with about 2 litres displaced and a litre gained back from the HOB at the back. Temporarily home to a young female Betta and a couple of Amanos while I sort out another tank. Plants are Ludwigia, Java fern, moss balls, various resurrected Hemianthus and Glosso and frogbit which were at deaths door in the shop, and substrate is aquasoil, cobbles and a gravel scattering. I'm not too sure what to do with this one long term - either just swap the contents into another 30cm low iron cube (as I have never had one before and I am smitten) or turn this into a cherry shrimp tank as it currently is. Mrs Betta is also a lot happier in this one than she was in the LH tank when I tried her in there before the endlers went in (and with lower light) so, bearing in mind the parameters are all fantastic in this one, I might let her grow a bit in this as it is before deciding what to do for her.

R: 35/35/35 planted. It was 15 quid tank only as a second hand bargain. It's basically spider wood, moss, more moss, an anubias, and lots of surface cover from salvinia, mini lettuce etc. There are currently 9 embers, 4 dwarf raspboras and Amanos in there. The Embers are probably going to move home soon and I may just add a lot more chilli and pygmy rasboras into this one.

Just to add - I do minimal pruning and trimming - I like the naturalistic look and lots of hidden areas.

Credits for stock, service and good advice: Aquarium Gardens, Aquatic Design Centre.