# My planted nano.



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

Hello everyone. I havn't kept fish for a while so here we go.. Again. I have an aquael classic 40. I have upgraded to a boyu 3x8w light, tmc heater and an internal filter rated at 300lph with spray bar. Substrate is fluval stratum. Hardscape is mini landscape rock. The plants, which are on there way are hairgrass as a foreground carpet, blyxa, rotala roundifolia and cyperus helferi. Hope to have this running by the end of next week. Thoughts?










Keen to go green


----------



## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Looking good!


----------



## radioman (Oct 29, 2007)

Those rocks are nice.


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

Thanks. I bought a 20kg box for £40, picked out the best ones then sold the rest on. So they were technically free 


Keen to go green


----------



## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

The seriyu stone looks great. Can't wait to see how this turns out


----------



## Basil (Jul 11, 2011)

I'm really liking the light. Isn't it 3 8 watt T5 bulbs? Looks like its a good fit for your tank and is in the right color spectrum. Looks like an awesome start to me!


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

Yeah it's 3x8w t5, well 2x8w right now. Need to order a pack of 4x 6500k bulbs and swap out the blue bulb. Thanks 


Keen to go green


----------



## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Perfect stone placement. Spot on.


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

Thanks!! That's made me smile.


Keen to go green


----------



## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

You get those stones from the green machine over there in England?


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

No I bought them from another supplier. £40 for 20kg with postage.


----------



## AquaStudent (Jan 4, 2011)

the hardscape looks great! nice job!


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

Thank you. The first of the plants arrive on Sunday so there will be an update then  its only the hairgrass but it should keep you lot happy


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

Update


----------



## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

I am satisfied......for now


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

I'm not  I wanna pour a tub of miracle grow on the lawn to get that carpet grown in. I'm a little concerned that I've cut the roots too short and also when flooding the tank and turning on the filter , all my grass could be blown away. :O


----------



## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

That's why you let it root in first 
you don't NEED a filter right away which would give time for the DHG to root in (if you're not doing a dry start).


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It's a nice looking tank but........I tried the Fluval Stratum and was not impressed, after 3 months or so I trashed it and used AS, the difference is night and day. 

I'm curious to see how it works for you, good luck.


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

I've solved both these by capping it with tmc soil. The hairgrass is held in place better and it should hopefully be a better substrate. Tbh I'm not too concerned about the substrate. Aslong as the water column is dosed well I feel it shouldnt matter.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

That's my beef, nano tanks are so easy to get the water parameters off just enough to get nasty so a good substrate means no dosing and make life easier IMO. I have only had a nano for 6 months or so and it's not forgiving like a larger tank.

BTW what is tmc?

I see you are from the UK, have you ever been to this store http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/ his build videos are awsome.


----------



## poppyseed (Feb 23, 2010)

Looks good! My only concern is how much you're going to have to trim the hairgrass to keep it from blocking the rocks. The stuff grows like crazy!


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

I know. But if it does get to that stage I can always slowly swap it out for something lower. But I reckon some will still remain. Just dont think I could bring myself to rip the whole carpet out once it's filled in  I'm not sure I'll mind getting in there and mowing it down every few days/ week depending on the growth rate.


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

150EH said:


> That's my beef, nano tanks are so easy to get the water parameters off just enough to get nasty so a good substrate means no dosing and make life easier IMO. I have only had a nano for 6 months or so and it's not forgiving like a larger tank.
> 
> BTW what is tmc?
> 
> I see you are from the UK, have you ever been to this store http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/ his build videos are awsome.


Tmc is the tropical marine centre. It's a uk company. No I've never been to TGM it's only at most 300miles away from me. I look at the soil as more of a safety net. If I forget to dose then the soil will save my lazy ass. Im expecting to run into problems, but I'm prepared for them.


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

Update


----------



## phaptran (May 30, 2012)

Look great..^^ Which size is it?


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)

It's 40x25x25cm. It should be nice once the plants recover from shipping and get rooted. Just bought a 600lph hang on as the flow wasn't to my liking. And I'll be injecting co2 rather than using liquid soon. Thanks!!


----------



## stanzzzz (Jun 27, 2010)

Hypostamus said:


> Update
> View attachment 48746
> View attachment 48747


looks really nice, i like the plants behind your rocks it looks nice and green


----------



## Hypostamus (Dec 22, 2010)




----------



## ItsSeb (Mar 31, 2012)

When you trim your hairgrass, trim it to 1cm. When I did this, I got amazing new growth and runners everywhere !


----------

