# ADA 60P tank journal - first planted tank



## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Support equipment*

Milwaukee regulator, Hydor in-line heater, Eheim ecco filter. I found that the instructions on this site for adjusting the regulator didn't work for me. After talking to my LFS, I got it to work very consistently (I needed to have pressure showing on the second gauge).











This is how the arm mounts to the stand:




















Solar II PC lights, two 36-watt "10k"


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Adding substrate*

Based on what I read on this forum and LFS recommendations, I used all ADA branded substrate:


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Aquascaping*

I didn't have any experience with "aquascaping", so I just used examples from the ADA picture books and tried to copy their style with a combo of driftwood and rocks:


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*First planting*

I wasn't completely satisfied with the scape I chose, but I decided to just go ahead and start planting. Maybe it would turn out OK?


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Add water!*

This was really time consuming as I had the sand running everywhere. In hindsight I should have not put so much water...


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Growth journal - April 12, 2009*


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Growth journal - May 14th, 2009*


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Growth journal - June 4th, 2009*


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

*Growth journal - June 14th, 2009*

Roughly 2 months from first planting:










Livestock: 5 amano shrimp, 2 siamese algae eaters, 14 neon tetras, and a lot of snails.


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

Dude, just unreal man! That tank is spot on for sure. I am so stoked on this tank. What size is 60P, in gallons?


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Beautiful! It looks like you tamed that Glosso pretty well. What species is the red Rotala in the middle?


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## spikeit (Nov 24, 2008)

Where did you get the stand?


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

dude, it would appear that you're a natural. nice tank!


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## finfan (Jun 16, 2008)

are you sure this is your first planted tank? this seems like a pros work, anyway, i love the setup but i have to say i liked the first rock/wood setup more than the one you finally decided, +1 on where you got the stand?


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

Thanks for feedback! It is indeed my first tank, I just followed what everyone else was doing on this forum :thumbsup:

finfan and spikeit - I got the stand from Aqua Forest Aquarium in San Francisco, CA (www.adana-usa.com). They have a lot of ADA/Doaqua stuff that they don't list on their website. The Doaqua stand is significantly less expensive than the ADA stands, but they're made in China as opposed to Japan for ADA. 

legomaniac89 - I have to admit that I don't know the species of the red rotala in the middle. One of the workers at AFA brings it in from his home tank and they sell it at the store. It grows -really- fast and has a nice red color assuming you supplement with lots of iron.

searunsimpson - I think the 60P is around 16 - 17 gallons. With sand it takes about 15 gallons of water for me to fill it up close to the top.


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## thief (Jan 12, 2008)

Very nice journal!!! I believe that red plant in the middle: Rotala Colorata


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## JadeIceGreen (May 20, 2009)

For a first timer, its very impressive that you turned out such a nice scape!
What is your fert regime like? Any algae problems?


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow it looks great! You should work at AFA and set up a new tank for them

Have you been to Ocean Aquarium in SF? They have really great choices for fish. Have you ever considered Micro Rasboras?


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## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

I am super impressed!!!!!!!!!! 

That is outstanding! 

Yasmin


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Dec 6, 2007)

wow! you definitely nailed the artistic part! and it looks healthy too...

+1 super impressed


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## Francis Xavier (Oct 8, 2008)

You've got good plant growth and color. Just a few tips: next time you plant glosso bury it deeeeeep, so that it's almost completely covered in the soil, this will make it grow in lower to the ground, and be much tighter and compact.

It's a good scape for your first scape, although most of the hardscape is lost in the flora, and obscures the impact of the aquascape. Which is fine, if that's the effect you want.


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

JadeIceGreen said:


> For a first timer, its very impressive that you turned out such a nice scape!
> What is your fert regime like? Any algae problems?


Right now I dose 5 pumps of "Brighty K" daily, and 1 pump of "Step 1" per week. 

I had a cyano algae outbreak around week 4, and increasing amounts of film algae on rocks and glass around week 5. A couple large water changes got rid of most of the cyana by week6, while Amano shrims and Siamese algae eaters take care of 90% of the film algae.


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Wow it looks great! You should work at AFA and set up a new tank for them
> 
> Have you been to Ocean Aquarium in SF? They have really great choices for fish. Have you ever considered Micro Rasboras?


I haven't been there but I remember reading about them a while ago. Parking seems like it might be a pain there no? I'll try to check it out next weekend :thumbsup:

Re: Micro Rasboras, I've never seen those before. Found a couple pictures via google, they look pretty cool! They have those at Ocean Aquarium?


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## motionless (Apr 16, 2009)

Francis Xavier said:


> You've got good plant growth and color. Just a few tips: next time you plant glosso bury it deeeeeep, so that it's almost completely covered in the soil, this will make it grow in lower to the ground, and be much tighter and compact.
> 
> It's a good scape for your first scape, although most of the hardscape is lost in the flora, and obscures the impact of the aquascape. Which is fine, if that's the effect you want.



Yes next time I'll have to be a lot more aggressive about it. Initially I was a bit worried that it would "suffocate" the plants, but obviously I didn't know what I was doing. Do you think it's possible to get the current plantings to do that by trimming them? Or do I have to completely re-plant them? 

Re: Aquascape, I totally agree. I still don't really know how to trim properly, especially since the rotalas seem to "split" and grow offshoots where you trim them, resulting in a forest like I've got! Additionally I suspect that I should have placed the hardscape differently. The driftwood in the back is now completely obscured, which was a bit dissapointing. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all the comments!


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## Francis Xavier (Oct 8, 2008)

My forte isn't driftwood layouts (I pretty much do Iwagumi exclusively), but there are some cross-over concepts. First you're going to want to plan your layout bigger than it needs to be - as you can see hardscapes tend to lose impact over time to plant density. 

The main focal point pieces should be the largest and most characteristic of your hardscape material, and inspire some kind of impression among the viewers - does it express dominance? stability? etc. "serene" isn't really an impression per se, since at the end of the day regardless if it's a dominant or gentle scape it should bring about a certain aspect of serenity. In driftwood scapes a common thing to do is to have the focal point piece kept bare, where the other pieces tend to have mosses or some such growing on it. Also the focal point should be in accordance to the golden ratio (at the 2/3rd marker, not center), although you don't have to follow this to a strict tee.

As for the glosso, you'd probably have to replant or seriously trim it at this point to get it to grow in the same way it does when planted really deep, since it'll keep trying to do what it's doing - notice how the glosso seems to be 'floating' on the top anchored by a few roots as opposed to being deeply rooted in the ground?

You can shoot me a pm if you want some more in-depth descriptions and advice.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

motionless said:


> I haven't been there but I remember reading about them a while ago. Parking seems like it might be a pain there no? I'll try to check it out next weekend :thumbsup:
> 
> Re: Micro Rasboras, I've never seen those before. Found a couple pictures via google, they look pretty cool! They have those at Ocean Aquarium?


Yeah parking is pretty hard...if you're lucky you can get a spot at the very corner about a block away:hihi:

Yeah Ocean Aquarium _and _AFA have Micro Rasboras...they're really cool fish.


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## hyphination (Sep 25, 2008)

Cool layout, your tank filled in really well!


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## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

motionless said:


> Milwaukee regulator, Hydor in-line heater, Eheim ecco filter. I found that the instructions on this site for adjusting the regulator didn't work for me. After talking to my LFS, I got it to work very consistently (I needed to have pressure showing on the second gauge).
> 
> 
> 
> This is how the arm mounts to the stand:


 where did you buy the part that hols the pole?


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