# 29 gallon Anubias/Java fern Tank



## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Hello i been a long term hobbyist keeping tanks for over 10 years. I have been working on this low tech Anubias/Java fern tank for about the last 4 months or so. Its still a work in progress as i have not gathered all the anubias petite i would like for the foreground. I need approximately 25-30 more to fill the foreground in a compact manner. If anyone knows of good places to get some anubias petites please do share. 

Here are a couple of views of the tank.




































Additional Tank details:

*Filtration*- Eheim classic 2215-37 + Aquaclear 30

*Lighting*- Current USA satellite LED plus and Current USA single ramp time (Sunrise begins at 11:30am and sunset begins at 10:30pm)

*Feeding*- Elos sv.B pellet, Elos Spirulina plus pellet, Omega One Super color flakes, Hikari Mini Algae Wafers, Hikari Frozen brine shrimp, Hikari frozen spirulina Brine shrimp, Hikari Frozen bloodworms (twice a week flakes and pellets are supplemented with vita-chem for more vitamins prior to the weeks water change).

*Fertilization*- Flourish excel, Flourish iron, Flourish trace, Flourish Comprehensive supplements, Microbe-lift bloom and grow.

*Water changes*- 30% on Tuesday and 50% on Fridays along with Seachem Prime.


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## Deano85 (Nov 14, 2011)

How is everything planted?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Deano85 said:


> How is everything planted?


Well majority of it is held down by sinkers and the anubias that have rooted strongly have their roots submerged only. I make sure all the rhizomes are not submerged. The petites are the most difficult to plant as they took a while to develop strong roots and i am not aware of sinkers that tiny being sold.


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Why not use small stones? They are free.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

kwheeler91 said:


> Why not use small stones? They are free.


Use small stones in the sense of tying it down to them? I prefer to not use stones and my current petites have strong roots to stay rooted to the foreground. I am receiving approximately 9 more petites in the mail soon along with 13 more nana's.


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## Deano85 (Nov 14, 2011)

Looks nice, good work.


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## LailaSophia (Dec 3, 2013)

Nice tank! I love anubias, they are my favorite plant!


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

go for petite carpet!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

ikuzo said:


> go for petite carpet!


Slowly getting there. It will be a very expensive adventure but a very worthwhile one. I got each petite for 5 dollars. Having 12 of them which are true petites at that, when many sellers usually send you something that is not a true petite. If you know of any respectable sources to buy some at a fair price please pass along the info.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Moved the 3 angelfish to my 75 in order to add amano shrimp without the fear of them picking on them. Will be adding 3 electric blue rams in their place in a couple of weeks. After they have gone quarantine.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Your plants look good in there.


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## ClairemontTropical (Mar 23, 2013)

Looks very nice, maybe just a bit :fish: crowded? I'm sure the extra filtration + frequent water changes more than make up for it though.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

ClairemontTropical said:


> Looks very nice, maybe just a bit :fish: crowded? I'm sure the extra filtration + frequent water changes more than make up for it though.


I have always stocked my tanks fairly high in fish. But all the fishes i have are small. The largest ones does not exceed 3 inches and majority are 1 inch- 1.5 inches. The Electric Blue ram trio that i want to add will be the largest fish in the tank by a long shot in terms of body shape and bioload. Plants do a pretty good job in helping filter stuff out i might add :icon_bigg I test my water prior to every water change and nitrates never exceed 0.5ppm.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Since i am far from getting the petite carpet i would like i decided to spread them out in a straight line in the very front of all the larger anubias. Here is an updated picture.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

How many plants (separate rhizomes) do you have in there?! So much lush plants! I hope my 10 gallon gets that dense some day, I'm too cheap to buy 3x more plants to fill it in so just letting it grow out slowly.
Beautiful simplicity for plant layout btw!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

AquaAurora said:


> How many plants (separate rhizomes) do you have in there?! So much lush plants! I hope my 10 gallon gets that dense some day, I'm too cheap to buy 3x more plants to fill it in so just letting it grow out slowly.
> Beautiful simplicity for plant layout btw!


I have about 15 separate rhizomes. I have divided the 2 anubias at the very back so many times and spread them out in order to get the spread i like. I also have about 30 separate rhizomes i ordered online i will be receiving soon.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Did a water change and moved Anubias around that have sprouted many new leaves in the back and were not well exposed. Looking to get my electric blue rams soon in the tank.


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## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

your tank looks great; love the look of anubias in the gravel. mine are all attached to dw, but i like your perspective and intend to try the same in places too.

thanks,


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

trailsnale said:


> your tank looks great; love the look of anubias in the gravel. mine are all attached to dw, but i like your perspective and intend to try the same in places too.
> 
> thanks,


Why thank you for the compliment. It was a slow process to get the roots to grow to where i would of liked so i could bury things the way i wanteed and keep the anubias packed in an attractive way. I think the most important thing is to provide medium light, dose a lot, and 2 water changes per week!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Small update. I did a little bit of trimming on the larger anubias leaves that were old and starting to not look as good as the new ones. But have a lot of leaves coming along so it will soon fill out. Was able to take a video after the water change today. I recorded on my cell phone and i am not the best person when it comes to recording so bear with me.


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## jmf3460 (Aug 21, 2013)

beautiful, would look cool with some floaters, or a branchy piece of manzanita coming out of the plants.


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## TECKSPEED (Jan 2, 2013)

Hey I would like to know what is on the top of your tank under the light...I Need something like that because of a....cat

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

TECKSPEED said:


> Hey I would like to know what is on the top of your tank under the light...I Need something like that because of a....cat
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


White eggcrate is on top. I cut it down with a hacksaw and made an opening in the center for the light fixture.


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## TECKSPEED (Jan 2, 2013)

Where do you get some if that lol

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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

TECKSPEED said:


> Where do you get some if that lol
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


Home depot sells it. Should be located in the lighting section. Commonly used in light fixtures and the employees there might known them by the name of "light diffuser"


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## TECKSPEED (Jan 2, 2013)

Thank you, I assume its cheap?

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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Was able to get more Anubias petites. Here is an updated picture 









Will post another video soon


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Here is the updated video.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Have you find more anubias petite to add in? if so , update please


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## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

nice additions and update!

as i mentioned earlier, you have inspired me to get some planted in the substrate. got some small ones from petsmart (ie not petites) and the trick has been to keep them planted while not burying the rhizome.....seems overnight they become floaters :eek5:

i'm on to your sinker approach, lol...

educational thread, thanks.


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## pinkman (May 16, 2013)

this looks amazing, good job on this.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

zetvi said:


> Have you find more anubias petite to add in? if so , update please


Yes i have about 27 seperate anubias petite rhizomes in the foreground. Last time i had about 14 in the first video. I still plan to get maybe 10 more or so at a later time. Since the last update i added more golden anubias nana and more java fern.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Picture please!! I'm very interested and i've been showing my local club yours as many of them are new and love to have a low maintain tank
!


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## tdiggs (May 30, 2013)

Great looking tank. Anubias is an awfully pretty plant.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

zetvi said:


> Picture please!! I'm very interested and i've been showing my local club yours as many of them are new and love to have a low maintain tank
> !


Here is a close view of the foreground


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Did a water change today and rearranged things around and removed all the algae on the leaves that i could. Here are a few pictures of the tank.

Upclose of plants from left to right
























All the stuff underneath the cabinet









Side views

















Upward view









Full tank shot


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## honest (Dec 17, 2013)

how do you keep them algae free?? my anubias is full of green spot algae and black spots too...


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

honest said:


> how do you keep them algae free?? my anubias is full of green spot algae and black spots too...


I do water changes twice a week. While doing water changes i scrape with my fingernails the leaves softly to remove any visible algae. It rarely shows up since i have good flow in the system. The petites are the hardest to keep algae free. Removing the algae on them takes a lot longer due to such small leaves. I am glad i found a dosing schedule that has allowed plants to flourish well and stay lush. It took many combinations to see what worked best with the system.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Thanks for the update! Hope to see it filled in soon. i tried to google quickly and couldn't find such unique idea of using anubias! what your dosing routine like now?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

zetvi said:


> Thanks for the update! Hope to see it filled in soon. i tried to google quickly and couldn't find such unique idea of using anubias! what your dosing routine like now?


I dose microbe life bloom and grow and flourish excel the day of water changes. After that i add excel every other day. Flourish trace and comprehensive done twice a week the day after a water change, Flourish iron done once a week, Flourish Potassium twice a week, Flourish Nitrogen once a week, flourish phosphorus once a week. I slightly adjust what gets done less and more every week tampering with different combinations. But that usually would describe the dosing regime. I am currently looking forward to get a thick carpet of petites. Might buy a few more to help speed the process.


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## TonyK (Aug 29, 2012)

This is honestly one of my favorite tanks here. I might have to steal your idea and try this with a 10 gallon that I'm setting up.


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## harilp (Feb 23, 2013)

Good work bro <3 Anbias <3
Clean and spectacular tank


Sent from my Blackberry Playbook using Tapatalk2


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## gerbillo (Dec 5, 2013)

Wow, that's a lot individual rhizomes. My tank became Anubias-dominated too but by accident, and not to the same extent as yours. Great job, gorgeous looking.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Video Update


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## Oto Guy (Jan 3, 2014)

That's really cool!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Considering buying 15 more petites. Then i will have a very packed foregroud.


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## hobo717 (Apr 11, 2013)

It looks amazing. are all those in the foreground Anubias petite?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

hobo717 said:


> It looks amazing. are all those in the foreground Anubias petite?


Yes those are all anubias petites in the foreground. I have recently bundled them up really close together in the center foreground until they grow out more and i spread them out while still keeping the packed appearance. It sucks i still do not have a foreground carpet of them but i been considering packing the left and right of the foreground with flame moss and just keeping this number of petites in the center foreground. Have the flame moss growing out now in a 2.5 gallon. We will see how things change with time.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Did a water change today and took out several of the very large anubias out to cut down on their rhizomes. Moved them around making less room for a foreground so that the petites look better. Here is a picture with the newly added flame moss on the right and left. Will possibly take more pictures tomorrow when the water polishes better and perhaps a video as well with the update.


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## du3ce (Jan 26, 2013)

wow looks great


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Taking out all the anubias to remove all the spotted algae that has been getting on my nerves. Here are some pictures to get an idea of how many i have at this point.


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## 08027045 (Feb 14, 2014)

How many gallons is your tank and what lighting do you use

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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

08027045 said:


> How many gallons is your tank and what lighting do you use
> 
> Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


The aquarium is 29 gallons and the lighting is current usa satellite + LEDs.

Here are pictures of the tank after i finished cleaning off the plants and trying to plant them once more.


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## 08027045 (Feb 14, 2014)

Woah. Your tank looks amazing. 

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## thebuddha (Jul 16, 2012)

beautiful tank! I am considering buying a satellite plus for my 29g. Do you feel it gives a good enough spread (even in the corners?) 
Are there any other lights you think would be better for your tank?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

thebuddha said:


> beautiful tank! I am considering buying a satellite plus for my 29g. Do you feel it gives a good enough spread (even in the corners?)
> Are there any other lights you think would be better for your tank?


Thank you for the compliment. As for the spread of the light on my tank on the corners i feel its fine for what i have. Considering all the plants are fairly low tech its not the best indicator as to if it would work well for more demanding plants. Most members use 2 units for plants requiring more light. I have no particular favoritism for any particular unit. As long as they have the values you are looking for.


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## cjstl (Mar 4, 2013)

Love what you've done there. I have a 10G that is overgrown with java ferns and java moss. I have them growing on two sizable chunks of driftwood - really too big for the tank. I bought a 29G at a $1 per G sale and think I'm going to move everything. Just some advice for your algae problem. Get some nerites. I have three horned and one tracked in my tank, and they keep the algae off the glass and off the leaves of my plants. Ever so often they'll lay some eggs on my glass, but I just scrub those off.

I admire your determination in doing petites for your carpet. I'm going with something easier to carpet, like S. repens.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Do you plant the petites in the substrate or?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

cjstl said:


> Love what you've done there. I have a 10G that is overgrown with java ferns and java moss. I have them growing on two sizable chunks of driftwood - really too big for the tank. I bought a 29G at a $1 per G sale and think I'm going to move everything. Just some advice for your algae problem. Get some nerites. I have three horned and one tracked in my tank, and they keep the algae off the glass and off the leaves of my plants. Ever so often they'll lay some eggs on my glass, but I just scrub those off.
> 
> I admire your determination in doing petites for your carpet. I'm going with something easier to carpet, like S. repens.


I have about 4 nerites in there. Almost impossible to see them but they are there. They do a decent job on algae and the otocinclus are nice to have as well. The petite carpet has been a very expensive journey to complete. Well over 200 dollars in it.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

parrottbay said:


> Do you plant the petites in the substrate or?


All my petites have very long roots below rhizome so i am able to bury that and prevents from floating. The few petites that have over 20 leaves i use sinker on the rhizome instead.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Well after the breakdown and spreading out some of the newly cut down anubias i have received much better growth throughout the tank. Had a small battle with black beard algae which is still slightly present on java fern but with time i will eliminate it all. I know most who see the tank will say its barely present but i am very picky. Do enjoy the video


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## Speed (Dec 18, 2013)

Can you recommend a place to buy the petite???


Thx, your tank looks amazing!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Speed said:


> Can you recommend a place to buy the petite???
> 
> 
> Thx, your tank looks amazing!


A few members on the forum have petites. Just make a thread on the WTB forums and see who has some available right now. I bought all of mines except like 3 petites from members here.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Pictures taken today


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## Ebi (Jun 29, 2011)

Nice anubias collection!!! 


Mike


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## farmhand (Jun 25, 2009)

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
Very nicely done.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

dat anubias though.....


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Some updated pictures. My anubias carpet is finally coming along well. Did a teardown to clean off the java fern which had some bba. Here are the pictures of the ferns and carpet without the larger anubias


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## Speed (Dec 18, 2013)

Looking really good! I got inspired by your tank and gonna build a 10 gallon cube for anubias and ferns only!!!


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## thebuddha (Jul 16, 2012)

your latest fts is beautiful. how many fish do you have in there total? do any of them hide in the jungle, or do they mostly hang out in front?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

thebuddha said:


> your latest fts is beautiful. how many fish do you have in there total? do any of them hide in the jungle, or do they mostly hang out in front?


The cory cats, cherry barbs, and neon blue gouramie are the ones who tend to hide within the plants mostly. Its funny you mention this because about 30 minutes before lights start shutting down, the gouramie always hides in the center bunch of anubias. As for number of fish, i currently have 58. Most of the stocking is made of up several schools of small fish. The largest fish in there is the dwarf gouramie at 2.5 inches. I do water changes twice a week and try to scrape glass for algae every other day.


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## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

I like it! Have you ever considered adding some rare anubias species?

Check out Ebi's rare collection...

One Anubias that I've been on the search for is the 'Coin Leaf'


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Tyrone said:


> I like it! Have you ever considered adding some rare anubias species?
> 
> Check out Ebi's rare collection...
> 
> One Anubias that I've been on the search for is the 'Coin Leaf'


I will make sure to check out his collection. As far as rare anubias, I have had many different varieties throughout the years in larger tanks. I ultimately sold them all and when started off from scratch decided to get common ones. The "rare" one I have are petite, if people even consider that one anymore. I will be on the lookout to acquire different ones in the future.


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## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

Yeah, I think you're right. The petite, well to me, is pretty common now. But I believe there a now variations and morphs of the petite. If I do come across some leads, I'll be happy to share it with you.

You're tank is very pleasing to the eye. I'm subscribed, so I'll keep in tune. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mightymizz (Mar 3, 2014)

Looks great! 

Any tips for a newbie just starting a 29g planted?

58 fish!? That seems like a lot in a 29g (I am also new to the hobby).

THanks for sharing!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

mightymizz said:


> Looks great!
> 
> Any tips for a newbie just starting a 29g planted?
> 
> ...


First tip I can give when planting a 29 gallon, is to get the best light fixture you can for the kind of plants you want to keep. Next is dose on a strict schedule all your supplements. So you can maximize growth. They have apps on smartphones for aquariums so that keeping track is easy. As for my stocking, I use a lot of biological filtration and do water changes twice a week. The eheim canister and modified aquaclear insure all my water values are the best they can be. I test prior to every water change as well. I have had to take out some fish because they were being too competitive for food and it was becoming difficult to feed all the fishes. So my stocking does change on occasion if I run into such issues. Majority of fishes in the tank are small. The plant density also aid in filtering the water.


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## SJInverts (Apr 6, 2009)

Beautiful tank!!!

You mentioned that your lighting fixture is the Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED+ Fixture. Is it the 24"-36" size?

I have a 30" Finnex Fugeray on my 29g tank and always seem to be fighting bba and green spot algae.

It seems that your lighting has provided your tank with the perfect amount of light without need for pressurized co2.

Your doing a great job!!! Keep up the good work.

Also, what color setting are you using? Is it one of the preset colors?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

SJInverts said:


> Beautiful tank!!!
> 
> You mentioned that your lighting fixture is the Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED+ Fixture. Is it the 24"-36" size?
> 
> ...


Yes the size Is 24-36 light fixture. As For color setting I use the yellow button. Which is full spectrum I believe. Algae is a slight issue, but constant water changes help. I will try to post some updated pictures soon.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Here is a video update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPWYSeMeHpY


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

amazing. I love what can be done w/ undemanding plants like these. I know a lot of folks may put down low light, common "beginner", plants like java fern, but it really is attractive here.

I'm planning a riparium and wanted to go with something easier to maintain submerged and thick I'll be borrowing from you and sticking to java fern and anubias.

just fantastic


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

scapegoat said:


> amazing. I love what can be done w/ undemanding plants like these. I know a lot of folks may put down low light, common "beginner", plants like java fern, but it really is attractive here.
> 
> I'm planning a riparium and wanted to go with something easier to maintain submerged and thick I'll be borrowing from you and sticking to java fern and anubias.
> 
> just fantastic


Well i have removed a few fish which were being too competitive with food and digging up the petites very frequently.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Looking really good!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Updates on tank. This is right after a water change today.


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## Briz (Apr 25, 2013)

Wow, very impressive!


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## Crazy4discus (Jan 30, 2014)

Nice setup you have going there!


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Its been a long time since an update. But i have broken down the tank completely and left a few fish in it with some java ferns that were broken down into smaller pieces. Here is a picture so you get an idea.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Well i was bored today and decided to move some of the anubias petite that i orginally trimmed down from the breakdown back in. It amazed me that what i put in was only about 50% of original amount. Here are some pictures of it all set and done.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Someday I'm going to do a tank like this but on a 7g cube scale! Hoping this fall once its cooled down for shipping.
Btw you should show off how long those anubias roots are, that you can plant them without weights


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## LittleMissEmily (Jul 23, 2014)

How do you like your light? I am looking at getting one.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

LittleMissEmily said:


> How do you like your light? I am looking at getting one.


Well with the automatic timer you buy seperately from current it works out great. For low tech plants it has wonderful results. I know forum users who use 2 units on a tank for higher demanding plants.


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## LittleMissEmily (Jul 23, 2014)

I have a brand new tank so I'm going low tech. So that's good! Thanks! Gorgeous tanks by the way.


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Video update: 
http://youtu.be/IHtQ-bHE7rc


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## SJInverts (Apr 6, 2009)

Updates?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

Trying to keep tank as low maintenance as possible at the moment. Maybe later when i have more time for maintenance i will take some java ferns out and add more anubias once more.


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## daveryanis (Jan 16, 2012)

Beautiful Tank! Is that Wisteria on the right side?


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## NYCaqua (Dec 26, 2013)

That plant is a water sprite to the far right. I am trying to cut it to the most attractive shape possible.


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