30 Gallon High Tech Planted

[Rex]

Hey guys! Thought I'd share my tank (and it's history) with you. I recently acquired some plants from forum member charlie here and was inspired to post pictures, to show that a small piece of his now shut down tank will live on!

So, here's the tank when I first got it, almost exactly a year ago:



Pretty crappy, eh? I had been out of the hobby for a number of years before I got this tank, my plant selection and aquascaping skills were nil.

Here it is 2 months later:



I neglected my duties in maintenance and the plants overgrew everything. I did a tear down to add more substrate. Here was the tank then. Again, still lacking in aquascaping tools and skills:



I got a little more serious about the tank at this point and wanted to try out some glossostigma. I also cut back on the hardscape a bit:



Unfortunately I wasn't prepared for the maintenance that glosso required and it ended up literally taking over the whole tank. Also at this point, an awful algae bloom happened. The tank stayed in this condition for a few months while I tried to battle and find the source of the bloom. Turns out, it's because the tank is directly across from a patio window, and although I'd close the curtains every day, the wife would come home and open them, giving the tank hours of direct sunlight. At that point I gave in and bought a UV steriliser. The water cleared up in two days, and I re did the hardscape with a "less is more" idea to put more of the focus on the plants. Here is the tank at this point:



About a month and a half later, too much barren space on the floor so I wanted to try out some dwarf hairgrass:



And now the final shot, taken today. This is with the plants I got from charlie to give off the finishing touches of the aquascape. I know it's not nearly as good as some of your tanks, I'm no expert at this and it's been a huge learning process. But looking back on the pictures and seeing how far the tank has come, I'm quite happy with it:



And for those interested in the equipment, here's a shot of the "plumbing" (please excuse complete lack of cable management):



That's an Eheim Classic 250 outputting into a coralife turbo twist 3x, to a Hydor ETH 200w inline heater, to a green leaf aquariums atomic c02 diffusor. The c02 is a 10 pound tank with a green leaf aquariums GLA PRO-1-SS regulator.

For lights I'm running quad 39 watt T5HO's (I know, I'm insane), two Giesemann Tropica and two Giesemann Aquaflora's.

Thanks for looking, I hope this wasn't too long. Special thanks to everyone here, and charlie, for being a huge help over the years through my various tanks.

[charlie]

Thanks for inviting us to journey with this tank

Things are coming together nicely, good job!
Regards