SWEET TANK TUESDAY

I don't keep these fish. I have made videos about how I don't like these fish. BUT I LOVE THIS TANK WITH DISCUS.

One word comes to mind here for me. BALANCE. 

This hobbyist and tank has figured out BALANCE in this setup.

Again- I don't keep these fish... but from what I have HEARD- Not First hand knowledge-- Discus like higher temps.

I can tell you FIRST HAND however that many plant DO NOT LIKE HIGH TEMPERATURES.

I have "heard" Discus like a lower PH.  I KNOW first hand that almost ALL PLANTS DO NOT like a Low PH!

(To be completely fair- I am also aware that MANY Discus are tank raised and can handle both lower temps and a higher ph....but still)

This aquarium is rocking at all levels. The use of foreground plants is great- there is a nice mix of Lilaeopsis (a plant we pot in house)  and what look to be Hygrophila Compacta.

The middle of the tank has some great Rotalas as well as some as some super heavy nitrate absorbing water wisteria.

The background has a cool Hygro I can't sell called Hygrophila Angustifolia as well as some Ludwigia Repens that is flowing to the top.

Clearly the plants are healthy. I would like to point out this looks like some sort of a fluorite (decent) substrate- BUT Also....and this is often missed....

Notice the RED GLARE at the top? While it might not be the greatest look for the photo- THAT RED GLARE IS KEY.  I have no idea what the light fixture is, but I can pretty safely tell you that the light is putting off the proper RED SPECTRUM of light- which is typically lacking in most light fixtures. (The plant growth also tells us they are happy as well.

The BIG WOW Discus speak for themselves... but look closely and you'll see some tetras rolling around as well.

TANK ON!

But what if someone could successfully pull off the "Gimmick" tank?

I know someone who has been doing it for years.

The man needs no introduction, but I am going to anyways.

He trained under the late "Godfather of Aquascaping" Takashi Amano.  (And immediately had "Amano Sensei"  tattooed on his neck when he found out Amano had passed.)

This is Oliver Knott. (and in German- you pronounce the K so "Ka- Not")

Check out the use of these decorations.  The plant composition and growth is also awesome.  I was lucky enough to watch him scape a private 150 gallon one time and learned more in 3 hours that I had previously about aquascaping....

Look- I know this isn't for everyone... but sometimes "All the tanks look the same"

.....KNOTT with Oliver.  TRY STUFF!     TANK ON!  (Danke Oliver!)

Why?

An aquascaping concept called "Tension"  

There is that ONE perfectly placed rock right in the center of the tank pointing to the sky.  This is the steep mountain- the jagged cliff. It looks like an impassable mountain you see in a movie fly over.  There are also some thin red stems like some lingering, last remaining trees to the right. You can see some Mayaca flowing in the back right as well as a nice accent.  There is good use of negative space with that strategically placed piece of dragon stone. The light coloration of the back overflow helps make this pop more.

Off to the left there is another bigger mountain that doesn't get as much attention but even with the algae on it, it still shows you we have a big old mountain range behind this scene.  

... but this mountain is different- This mountain range is covered in rampantly growing anubias.... but the anubias is NOT on the solo barren mountain in the center. 

The foreground of this aquarium works but could be stronger. The dark driftwood and the lighter rounder pebbles and rocks kind of clash in my book but the caos between the big mountains and the little rocks is workable. I would suggest getting an ugly piece of the same color and rock as the "sheer cliff" and smashing that with a hammer and using golfball to marble sized pieces of that as the rocks in the foreground. (One could also use those jagged type rocks with the same type of tension as the cliff I love only on a smaller scale)

One last thing.  This tank has TWO Neon Tetras in it.... IT NEEDS 20 (or more in my book)

Remember the work "Tension" folks and try to work it into your scapes.   Sweet Tank Summer! TANK ON!

"Insane Growth! Ordered this along with a few other plants (Jungle Val and Madagascar Lace). This was the first to take off. Extremely cool plant! I trim this beast almost weekly."
-Josh C. wrote a  review

What's Up Fish Tank People?! Dustin here! 

This weeks tank is a fun one for me as I am "Rah Rah for Rainbow Fish" :)

You can see the yellow one that is a Herbert Axelrodi. (and that photo doesn't do that fish justice)  There is also another Rainbow down low and what looks to be a Ram of some kind.

My guess is this is a 40 breeder which is 36 inches across.  It looks like the tank is dirted or has something under the light colored sand. 

I will say I like the wide open foreground with just sand and a Ram running the show down there.

Starting at the left side I love the simple LOW LIGHT Java Fern and Java Moss Combo rolling. 

Moving to the right a tiny bit we see some Anubias.

In front of these plants in the foreground are some wide, nice growing crypts....

The very middle of the tank has what looks to be Ludwigia of some kind and to the right of that a HUGE bush of what looks like a Hygrophila of some kind.

In front of the Hygro (I think it's a Hygro)  is a MASSIVE POP OF A RED TIGER LOTUS!!!!!  You can see this plant is at it's perfect growth stage. I would like to point out that it does have ONE lilly pad hitting the surface of the water. If you want to keep your lotus putting out big round leaves as they are doing here- you will want to avoid letting it hit the surface.  ONCE a plant hits the surface it immediately starts sending all of its energy and effort there, because it can breath CO2 from the surface easier from the air than the water column. 

All the way to the right, you can see a sweet curly Aponoten Ulvaceus.  This is a SUPER FAST grower and nicely rounds out that side of the aquarium.

Last but certainly not least. We have some pretty awesome Giant Val rolling along the back.

I love the open-ness of this tank while still being pretty decently planted. It's a great combo for the Rainbows and the Ram down low I am sure has personality.

Nice tank! 

TANK ON

My guess is this is a 55 gallon based on the photo.   From the back the first thing that I love is the commitment to the "Lucky Bamboo"  This plant is often sold in chain stores as a fully aquatic plant.  Let me be very clear- Bamboo is NOT a fully aquatic plant. It can survive a while under water, but it needs to come up out of the top of the water.  This tank does that.  I love how I can count 12 of them!  You can see they are placed behind the light but look cool twisting out of the top.  Well done.  (I would add that I'd like to see them more staggered like a forest, but this presumably can't be done as this is limited by the light fixture.)

Off to the left the first thing you see is a THE BUDDHA!  Yes!  There is something about the Buddha sitting in that corner of the tank with the bamboo behind him... but it gets better and HARDER. The Buddha is sitting on a carpet of plants!  (I can't tell from the photos but it looks like a carpet of dwarf hair grass!)  We can tell from both the big light fixture, the carpeting plants and the CO2 checker in the corner, this tank has HIGH LIGHT and CO2, thus the carpet is thriving. 

In the center (But not in the dead center) just slightly off to the right is a bright blue stream!  Not only that, there is a bridge that fits perfectly over it! 

The left side is also super fun like you just got done visiting the Buddha and have to cross the bridge to the red forest!   The "Red Forest" is made up of Red Myrio and Ludwigia Triple Red.  I also see some green myrio, a crypt of some kind a sword.

If I could make just two little suggestions. One would be to ditch the in tank filter for a canister which would take up way less space and give the Buddha more room to spread out.  The second would be to pop some more foreground plants over to the "Red Forest"  (I was going to suggest more of the dwarf hair grass, but I think the contrast is cool and would do hygro compacts, which would also probably stay red under those conditions!

I picked this tank out because I really want people to, "DO YOU."  Too many people worry about what other people will think looks good.  If pink gravel, a treasure chest and a mermaid is your style "DO YOU"  

Do you, Do YOUR tanks. TANK ON 

(Great Tank E. Kelly- If you hit me up I'll throw you a coupon from some plants! NICE WORK!)

Here is your Tank of the week.

It doesn't have to be hard to be great. 

I love the simple look of this aquarium.

The classics are classics for a reason.  This tank has TWO Classics. ONE PLANT, One Fish.

Start with the fish- The Angel Fish. Regal and posing for the photo.  (It also looks well fed!)  Obviously this is the "Fish of the Tank" and certainly greats its owner begging for food. (My guess is that the Black Molly probably spends a good deal of time hiding.)

and the classic plant.... JUNGLE VAL.   How far back does this tank go? You know but you don't know. The forest of Val could go on and on.....  I also like how the right side is ALL VAL, a clearly defined forest.

One the left is a nice contrast of a plant with the Wisteria. Val is long and flowing, the Wisteria is dense and bushy. It also is a wonderful hiding place for other fish as well. Both the Val and the Wisteri are BIG at this point.   These are fast growing- Nitrate absorbing plants.  I doubt the Angel would let it fly- BUT- IMO- You could DOUBLE or Tripple the fish load with this many plants at this size.

The Crypt on the log is a nice eye catcher and breaks up the design with good contrast of both shape and color.

A note about the hardscape with the lone driftwood.  In the first photo it looks long out of place and awkward. In the second photo it looks like a welcoming transition to the forest of val.

You can get as fancy as ya want or you can keep it simple :) 

Nice Tank!  Tank on!

What's up FishTank People, Dustin here! 

Often times people try to over complicate their aquariums. 

This is an EASY ONE.

These are all EASY plants.   In the top photo you can barely make out the little stems of Dwarf Sagataria.  In the second picture you can see that it has clearly TAKEN OFF.  While I don't know the time table of how far apart these photos are taken, you can see that Dwarf Sag and I believe the Baby Tears have taken off.

In the background of the second photo you can see they Myrio.

Again- this is an EASY to grow plant.  (So easy to grow that it is invasive and illegal in a few states)  If you take a second to look just in front of the Myrio you will see the RED Alteranthera. 

Notice how in the first photo it is rather skinny and obviously was just planted, in the second photo it is THICK and FULL.

There is also another yellow plant off to the left in the first photo.  This is Mayaca Vandelli.  This is a MEGA easy plant, but if you look in the "After" photo you can see that it has hardly grown at all.

Why? I'm not sure, but I point this out as sometimes it just happens. It might be a "Slow eating" plant. In other words, all of the other plants consume all of the available nutrients before it can.  Or it simply might be lacking something from the water that it needs that other plants don't and there for is thriving.

 

Regardless, I point this random, not growing fast plant out as sometimes, it happens.  (There is a lighter look to the Myrio which leads me to think this is a slight nutrient deficiency.)

The customer doesn't provide details as to what brand of lighting we are dealing with or how long it is on but clearly we have decent lights.

The customer DOES however mention how much they love the "Dirt Packs".  Look. Yes we would be happy to sell you some of our own "Dustin's Dirt Packs"  but regardless, this aquarium is a clear example of good light AND good substrate and the results you can achieve.   (You aren't going to get a nice full mound of dwarf sag like this with root tabs.)  

Plants need to Eat. Feed them where they Eat. Feed them WHAT they Eat.

Tank on!

5/3/22