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I had recently bought an Up Aqua Pro Z Led light which will now be used to it's potential. (Though considering the new Kessil now!!) I had the eheim 2213 that had been running on the tank previously hooked up to another tank to keep it running. I connected it all back up. I have some lily pipes on order, due later this week. To try and make it look the part. So after three days this is how it has come up.... Top View I know it's just stems and not a scape, but I am really pleased with it! Once it has been running for a month and I get a good handle on its water parameters, I might decide to add some shrimp. Depending on algae growth, the ottos may have to move in first!!! Though I am only running the CO2 unit for four hours a day. Probably not ideal but has to be better than nothing I think!! What do you think, not bad for a newbie???

So I was lucky enough o have a few days off last week and had made a decision to attempt a planted tank setup. I had a beautiful 24x18x18 tank setup that I won in a raffle in 2013 going to waste as a BBA Jungle. It needed a makeover!!! I had a half hearted attempt with plants a year or so back so managed to dig out an old basic CO2 system. In my usual impulsive way, when I bought it I bought two spare refills, which have finally come in handy!! And I had, for the first time in my life really, planned ahead. The following plants were delivered on the planting day!!

Ease up, I have needs, just watching The Girl Who Played With Fire on SBS2, Noomi Rapace, smokin' hot!

hahahah much <3

nice tip - rotate your phone when your take videos :P

Lol! Tiger in a tank!! Where's Serkans picture when you need it!!!

No more new tanks this week!! Promise!!

Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait... You kept Tigers? As in "ROAR" Tigers? HAHA.

I find these really easy to use, the hardest part is remembering to manually turn it on and off each day. Thank god for alarms on phones!! I will list the plants later in week, as I cant remember them all now!!

looks like its gonna be awesome

Great forum site. I have 7 nano tanks all low tech planted (& a 120 litre to grow out plants). Just did a lovely 4 hours snorkelling along a freshly rain flushed creek. Wonderful to see the shrimp, macrobrachium, freshw crabs, rainbows, gudgeons, blyxa & stoneworts in their natural habitat. The day was just too short.

How do you find the Co2 kits? Are they alright? What plants have you got and where from?

I used to have one of those tanks then the glass broke! i wish lol. Some minor changes been made to my tank. 3 of my dual sponge filters went in the bin due to BBA. Replaced with 1 new dual and 1 single. New Air hosing courtesy of The Tech Den. Bubble bar running behind my plants giving bubble curtain. Forgive the moisture on the tank, its been so humid here today my tank keeps fogging up with condensation.

Sweet looking tank! Wouldn't want to be trying to catch anything out though!! The shrimp would absolutely love it!!

For all you newbies, get in on the action, minimum post requirements have been removed.

Flame moss would be perfect for this

Thanks Jamie. I have these in a plant only tank . They are in a strainer inside a net with an air stone in between the two layers. I will just leave them and see what happens. If they hatch I might just buy a proper tumbler for next time !

Hey Ineke, I have had to hatch a couple of batches recently, luckily mine were in last few days. Not from death but they got trapped in a moult. The fact they are changing colour could be good. I noticed with TB that they go blue in the last week usually before dropping. I think you only need be concerned if they go the opaque white (fungus) look. If they are getting darker, give them a bit more time. I hope they hatch for you!! I was lucky to get 8 from last 11. Have 12 with airstone at moment, hopefully hatched by Thursday!!!

Side note, Jayc, these Biospon can filter up to 58l tanks. They are amaze balls!! I have purchased some for my new rack and have just set two up in a new cherry/tiger/snowball tank?? The sponge and media canister are held onto the unit by magnets, so once in place, it is really easy to remove the sponge and canister to clean, then just click back into place. You dont have to remove the whole unit each time. I had been waiting on GC to get back to me about them, but a keeper in Melbourne bought heaps into Australia. They are available at the moment over here for around $38 each, plus postage. (Depending on availability)

Ok JayC, I'll give it a go. Salts other than Ca and Mg are constantly added to the aquarium through various sources including food and possibly leachate from rock, substrate etc. You can't measure these with GH tests and they're probably at levels too low to notice with a hygrometer or refractometer. You'll get them with an EC meter though. Various salts and organics are constantly being excreted by all the life forms in your closed system (aquarium), most especially by the invisible microbes in your biofilter - but also from the fish, shrimp, snails, plants or whatever else you keep. Some of these can be tested for, eg NH4, NO2 etc, but not all. You'll get these with an EC meter too. In short, the EC in your closed system will rise over time, independently of your known additions of minerals. You will see this as a constantly rising EC level, and manage it by changing water regularly. EC and TDS are effectively interchangeable terms. In the interests of clarity for readers, you measure EC and your device may convert that measurement to TDS - there is already excellent information regarding this right here on SKF. I choose to think in EC as it represents a direct measurement and not a variable approximation. Steffiev, don't get me wrong. Just as JayC says, changing water regularly is super important - it's everything. But so is stability... In a small tank like yours the replacement water for your changes should probably be added very slowly, like by drip feed. As you've already noted, the shrimp like to feed on biofilms in the tank, and depending on population density, may not need any other food at all. I think it's impossible to advise people on how much food to add. You need to see the tank, the population density, note the rate of accumulation of nitrogenous wastes, drop of pH and other factors. You get a feel for it over time. Cold-blooded animals like what we keep in tanks need so much less (size for size) than us warm-blooded creatures, and that may be the root of the difficulty. Your shrimp won't die of starvation if fed a bit less for a few days, but you'll see if their digestive tract is still full. I hope that all makes sense.

Just in case anyone would like to know about how these photos were taken, below are the list of my gears, setup and configuration. Equipment List Camera: Fujifilm X-T1 Lens: Carl Zeiss Touit 2.8/50M Tripod/ Ballhead: Gitzo Traveler Series 1 6x Carbon tripod and Really Right Stuff BH-40 ballhead Remote Shutter Release: None. Using camera built-in shutter release. Flash Light: 2 x Fujifilm EF-42 Flashlight Remote Flash Release: 2 x wireless flash release receiver and 1 x wireless flash transmitter Flash Clamp: 2 x Manfrotto clamp + Joby Flash clamp combo Equipment Configuration Camera/ Lens: ISO: 200 Shutter Speed: 1/125s Aperture: F3.6 to 5.0 Flash: Power: 1/32 Diffuser: Double diffuser (built in diffuser and small bounce diffuser). This will minimise hotspot and light piercing through the shell of shrimp. Equipment Setup Camera Placement: 50 to 70cm from camera sensor to subject (to achieve DoF that could cover half to whole shrimp) Flash Placement: Have a nice weekend. ^^ Shrimpy Daddy