60cm ada cube garden aquarium & shrimp

[DasEmpress]

Hi..great pix!

Interested to know what the plant is covering your substrate? I have all sorts of plants growing (I don't use co2, just not alot of water movement) and I'd be interested in that plant!

Thanks!!

[Tindomul]

You have a beautiful setup! Shrimp never looked so cool.

[Marty]

Andrew, you're really making me want a planted tank !!!

[aquanut415]

Originally Posted by DasEmpress

[FONT="Century Gothic"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Hi..great pix!

Interested to know what the plant is covering your substrate? I have all sorts of plants growing (I don't use co2, just not alot of water movement) and I'd be interested in that plant!

the ground cover is Hemianthus calichtrichoides.... one of the hardest to grow aquatic plants ever! will almost surely not grow without extra co2, either by co2 injection or excel.

Originally Posted by Marty

Andrew, you're really making me want a planted tank !!!

hahhaa... thanks. i hate to admit it, but the slow growth of orchids and the environments we create to house them can be boring at times, setups are more or less static. i love orchids, and the flowers are fantastic, but they don't move. one of the neatest things about fishtanks are the fact they are filled with water. they are truly dynamic!
the thing i enjoy so much about maintaining these little enclosures (both aquatic and terrestrial) is the challenge in making the plants grow, but also to keep the tank looking natural.. or one better "idealistic". its not hard to grow plants messily, in cluttered setups with no real aesthetic sense, or in rows down a greenhouse bech.... infact thats what my setups looked like years ago, healthy plants, but who cares? anyone can grow nice looking healthy plants in an automated greenhouse or enclosure, there is no challenge there.

[DasEmpress]

Originally Posted by aquanut415

the ground cover is Hemianthus calichtrichoides.... one of the hardest to grow aquatic plants ever! will almost surely not grow without extra co2, either by co2 injection or excel.

Thanks for the info! I will almost surely let you know how it goes!

[Paul]

Very cool plant the shrimp is on! Neat shrimp too.

[dave b]

Very nice. I was just recently reading up on planted tanks and T. Amano. How long has this tank been up and running? What kind of substrate are you using?

[aquanut415]

this tank with the current substrate has been up for about 3 months, it will need to be broken down in about 1.5-2yrs from now. the substrate is Aquasoil 'amazonia', sold by Aqua Design Amano (ADA). this is the BEST aquarium substrate in the world. unless you have tried the rest, its hard to understand why this stuff is soo much better, but it is.

aqua forest aquarium

is the website for the flagship store, and foremost distributor of the ADA line of products in the US. The store opened 2 years ago in San Francisco, and is run by my friends Steven and George Lo. The store is also conveniently only blocks from my house! (which is good for me and very bad for my wallet). all the products made by ADA are very expensive, they are not designed for your average aquarium keeper on a budget. this stuff is like the Ferrari of aquarium equipment, no expense is spared. the cost of the merchandise reflects the attention to form and function that has been put into every piece sold by ADA. the very best stuff period, nothing even comes close.

after having said that, i would add it might not be the best soil for your first planted tank... aquasoil works best in conjunction with a few pieces of fairly $$$ equipment... if you don't use all the required pieces, it probably isn't worth doing at all.

aquarium keeping is a daily challenge, and requires constant! maintenance. if this sounds like a lot of work, its cause it is, and a whole lot more.

but yeah... Takashi Amano is the dopest aquascaper ive ever met, an incredibly savvy business man, an absolute visionary, and a very cool guy to boot.

[Tindomul]

So why do you need to break it down in a few years? Loss of nutrients?

[aquanut415]

yeah.. the soil loses is nutrition. there are ways to "recharge" the soil, but the aquasoil works better new.