I had a spare filter laying around, and I've been itching to try my hand at a more minimalist aquascape, so I figured there's no better reason to go ahead and start tank #3.

After seeing the EXPLOSION of growth my 10g experienced with DIY CO2 and basic ferts, I decided to move on to something higher tech. It's tough to put a lot of light over a 10g, and the 29g houses cichlids, so I needed to start from scratch if I wanted to grow some more demanding plants.


Enter the 20g long!





I originally had a dual T5HO fixture lighting it, but it started buzzing horribly after a few hours. I returned it, and the LFS happened to be out of T5HO setups. After speaking about LED light strips and realizing they were way outside of my budget, we decided to order another T5HO. As I was walking out, the shopkeep said he has one more thing to show me... and here's what I ended up with...





It's a 15x1W LED bulb. The cost ended up being even with the T5HO I returned, but this thing puts out FAR more light. The shimmering effect is pretty great, too. Check out this HC pearling, only a few hours after being planted...



I'm excited to finally grow a nice lush carpet. I don't think I'll be adding much more to the 'scape, aside from some hairgrass in the background perhaps. Maybe some nice thick moss, like xmas moss.The chain sword on the left and the HC on the right should fill in nicely.. I want to keep the water column pretty clear, so trying to stick to carpeting plants.

Stocking-wise, I'm cycling the tank with 13 juvenile convicts I've been dying to get out of my main cichlid tank. They'll be gone and re-homed before they are big enough to damage any plants. Once they are gone I will likely get a school of tetras of some sort, and move some red cherry shrimp over from my 10g breed-o-rama.

Any suggestions for the 'scape? I've never kept tetras or any small schooling fish before... and recommendations on unique schooling fish that would look great under the bright light would be awesome too.

I LOVE YOUR TANK ITS BEAUTIFUL,so cool,why arent there any fish,i think some platy would be nice or some pure black mollies

You can keep two schools of Harlequin Rasboras and Zebra Danios...

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There are fish in this tank, but they blend in with the substrate. I started this one with a seeded filter, but until I settle on the right fish the little convicts are feeding the bacteria.

More pics in a moment, taken with something other than my phone's camera...

Ok, refined the aquascape a bit. My original intention for the design was to follow the iwagumi style. I'm going to stick with that, eventually removing the swords on the right side once I can find someone to take them off my hands. The stem plants on the left side are somewhat in violation of the spirit of iwagumi, but I'd rather have the filter hidden for the most natural look possible. The stone arrangement still stands alone and achieves the balance I was looking for. I planted some bunches of glosso to help fill in the gaps as the HC becomes established.


Still thinking about fish. I love the look of neons in minimalist tanks, but they don't school as tightly as I would like. I'll probably go with a single school of some type of rasbora.

Here's an update, 2 months after starting the tank.

I added another 15x1w LED lamp two weeks ago. The HC all but completely disentigrated a few weeks after planting, but some of the remnants are finally showing new growth since the lamp was added. The glosso is spreading steadily. The old emerged growth is turning yellow and rotting away, but the new growth is looking great, and staying low.

The willow hygro is growing very quickly, and two stalks have emerged about 6" out of the water. Quite a few more are about to break the surface. I added some other plants that had outgrown my 10g, and they have also emerged 10" or so... These were sold as pennywort, but they look a little different than other photos of pennywort I've seen.

The tank is fully stocked. A school of 30 neon tetras, 4 amano shrimp, and a quickly growing colony of red cherry shrimp. I estimate about 20 shrimp so far, but its hard to count all of the shrimplets.

Anyway, here are some photos:

Very nice looking planted aquarium. keep up the good work.

Who makes the light?

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Help those in our hobby to exceed beyond their expectations.
Aquatic Engineer

The lights are unbranded, I found them at my LFS in chinatown. When I tried to look for something similar online I found only Chinese lighting importers accepting bulk orders. They are 6700k bulbs.

Thanks for the info.

__________________
Help those in our hobby to exceed beyond their expectations.
Aquatic Engineer

led aquarium lights are the trend now, they economical. save energy and money,friendly environment.