My previous tanks

[Cheddar254]

all the same colour background :P

[igorKanshyn]

Wow, you dwarf hairgrass looks amazing! I'm also growing it and understand how much time do this take.

Thank you!

[brandothebarbarian]

nice!

[everybodyswim1]

Nice song for a nice Vid

[adventuristcan]

how do you clean/vacuum the tanks that are covered with grass?

[ancientpimp]

you can but most people don't.

[jedimasterarmi]

youve got talent!

[s0ltek08]

AMAZING !!!

[RonaldoGod]

nice aquariums i see that you like Cyperus helferi ! Is cyperus a hard plant to grow ?

[ancientpimp]

I tried 110 watts in my 30 gallons and it didnt grow too well, when i added another 110 watts (which is overkill) thats when it started growing fast and lush but i upped the co2 and fertilizer as well, plus root tabs. So yeah its a bit on the hard to grow side IMHE that is.

[supertasticasian]

@RonaldoGod i like micro sword :P lol. no co2 for me XD

[ancientpimp]

Marsilea hirsuta, Cryptocoryne parva, Echinodorus tenellus, '....keep in mind tho, in a low light set up they grow very slow too. Try the crypt first......

[fantaildove]

plz help me..i want to put some foreground plant in my fish tank... my tank contain only some cardinal , green neon tetra & angel fish. and i need a low light foreground plant ..plz tell me which plant i have to choose

[DerekDandy]

I love your tanks! They seem very natural but artistic at the same time.

[ancientpimp]

Glad you love it....

[accy87]

wow you're like the master of growing dwarf hairgrass! i didn't have much luck with it. my substrate, which are pebbles and tiny rocks, probably wasn't good enough for it. how much light would you suggest for a 20 gallon tank? i'm having some trouble understanding the "lighting" aspect for plants and stuff

[ancientpimp]

It kinda needs small substrate to make it cover the entire aquarium much faster, around 2-3mm max not bigger or smaller, smaller and its hard to plant it, bigger and there will be too much gap to fill and will make the tank look like it has malnourished hairgrass lol. 55-65 watts is around 3 watts per gallon and should be good for hairgrass. Also depends on what lighting you have

[ancientpimp]

Standard Fluorescent, T-5 HO, VHO, Compact Fluorescent or Metal Halide/HQI system will vary in its strength and will depend on its reflector too. Kelvin rating is also important, a full spectrum is around 5,500 Kelvin but up to 6,500K is fine. I mix it though, one bulb is 6,500K the other is 10,00K (10,00K is usually for reef applications) just make sure its for plants not reef. Try aquaticplantcentral or other planted tank forums, good luck

[PSNjizzcake]

Whats your substrate? Your grass looks great.

[ancientpimp]

Mixture of Fluorite red with Big Al's natural gravel

[nirvanafan2737]

big al lol very nice tanks im curious when your planning out your aquiriums do you plan the seeding or just randomly place it where ever

[ancientpimp]

i have an idea as to how i'm going to approach it but since i'm no pro, i usually end up re-aquascaping it or moving one piece of rock/plant or driftwood here and there til i'm satisfied-which usually takes days for me heh!

[spydaX3]

hey i was wondering if i could use live plants in sand? really nice tanks!

[ancientpimp]

depends, what do you have in mind?

[spydaX3]

Dwarf Hairgrass i put them in my other tank. What kind of that grass plants did you put in to look like that? and any care tips on live plants. thanks

[ancientpimp]

might be hard to keep the hairgrass planted in sand, better use gravel thats about half a centimeter or 2 to 5millimeter max. Sand is usually used as decorative foreground.

check out tropica(dot)com and aquabotanicdotcom or search planted tank forums.

you need fluorescent lighting and co2/fertilizer for most plants especially hairgrass.

whats your tank specs? light, filter, tanksize, type of fish, substrate, co2? fertilizer?

[spydaX3]

ok am replacing the sand with eco-complete plant substrate and gravel in my 29g. am picking up a fluorescent light and cO2, i have a aqueon filter. is keeping gold fish in a planted tank a good idea?

[ancientpimp]

Goldfish is doable but they usually crap a lot....

Stay with small schooling fish, a few otocinclus and about 5-10 algae eating shrimps should be fine but you dont have to buy them all at once or depends on your plans of course

[spydaX3]

hey what are some plants that are easy to take care of? all live plants need cO2? am thinking about doing hairgrass.

[ancientpimp]

anubias barterii var. na na or any anubias, java fern, java moss, any cryptocorines, hygrophila corymbosa.Basic rule is if it's green its usually easy to medium in its requirements, if its red, orange or any hue other than green, its usually high light, high requirements kind of plant. Some plants stay green in medium lighting, but will turn red in high light tanks.

[ancientpimp]

Easy plants will grow albeit slowly with no co2. Dwarf hairgrass is a high light plant, fertilizer is needed and co2. Around 96-110 watts should do it in a 29gallon. I have 220 watts power compact fluorescent in my 30 gallon in the pictures here, but i only recommend it if you have time to balance everything using daily regime of fertilizers/co2 and waterchanges.

[ancientpimp]

It also depends how high your tank is and how efficient your light reflector, the higher it is, the less light penetrates down into your hairgrass.

[spydaX3]

ok thanks for the info that really helped. you got some amazing tanks!

[spydaX3]

ok am going with your advice thanks again

[spydaX3]

what are other fishes i can get besides otocincles and algae earing shrimps?

[ancientpimp]

schooling fish like tetras usually look good in a planted tank, but buy just a couple per week if your tank hasn't matured yet....this is just my own personal preference for fish in planted tanks though...

[ancientpimp]

best bet is to go to your local fish store, see what you like then research its requirements and if it matches your tank then go for it.

[Grak70]

Beautiful tanks. Do you dose? If so, what system/regimen? I am just starting PPS-Pro.

[ancientpimp]

used to PMDD, my tank is currently bare but will replant with really slow growing plants, hopefully soon.

[ancientpimp]

I dont even know the terminologies or dosing regimen nowadays, the last time i followed a regimen was from Tom Barr, sort of overdosing everyday then 75% waterchange per week. Supposed to reduce algae although it sounds counterproductive (seem to work fine) but got tired of dosing everyday so iswitched back to dosing PMDD once a week.

[Redman8102]

Yea i know.....im just trying to get some pointers because i've tryed many times with planted aquariums and never once have i succeeded..........im going to try again soon tho. Again nice tank man!

[Redman8102]

Yo bro, nice tanks....you really have a talent......ever keep any arrowana??? Another question do u use under gravel heaters????

[ancientpimp]

ty and no, never had arrowana but i like them tho, just dont have a big ass tank for a beautiful and really agressive fish.

[ancientpimp]

Believe me i will use undergravel heaters if i ever get the extra cash one day, but, lots of planted tank enthusiasts have beautiful aquariums and never use undergravel heaters so its up to you.

[netweit3]

hey I have a question, how do you clean the fish poop with the gravel vacume?

[ancientpimp]

you dont with planted tanks.

[netweit3]

wont it get built up ??

[ancientpimp]

it becomes fetilizer for plants, you can try but if you have a tank chock full of stem plants, the only part you can vacuum is the foreground. Are you worried about phosphates/nitrites/nitrates build up? It wouldnt matter since your supposed to change at least half tank water per week in a fully planted tank.

[netweit3]

i was wondering that because i never cleaned my gravel with a vacuum and then when i rearranged the tank, the poop was everywhere and I was thinking that it would be the same for a planted tank. If i move a plant or something, will poop will be everywhere in the water?

[ancientpimp]

I dont really notice that much poop swirling around everytime i rearrange or re'scape, i just change half tank water after rescaping and in a few hours its crystal clear. What kind of fish do you have though, i'm curios since i just have really small fish like tetras and stuff so their poop aint that noticeable in a planted tank.

[netweit3]

I have Rasboras, Tetras, otocinclus fish, and some male guppies I've bred. I do have more but the ones listed are the ones I am thinking of putting in the tank I am thinking of doing. I asked the fish poop question because I sometimes rearrange things and I don't like so much crap floating in my tank.

[ancientpimp]

if your foreground or the gravel isnt covered by plants then that's when i notice fish crap floating around when i rearrange things. How big is your tank and what is your filter, too many crap means add a bigger filter or add more sponge/floss in your filter that traps large particles floating around.

[netweit3]

I have a 29 gallon with An Aquaclear 30 filter

[ancientpimp]

You should be good, i have the same thing AC 300 on a 30 gallon. Althoug i have an AC 150 with sponges in it that i run sometimes along with the 300 when i re-scape the tank to clear the water faster.

[dariolilgangster]

i heard you need like a specieal light for planted aquariums? idk if thats true or not... and youre tanks look real good your gras grows realy fast.

[ancientpimp]

yup, power compact fluorescent/T5 high output fluorescent or metal halides if you wish. Some plants will grow slowly with less light but most will need special lights

[abi7611]

The tanks are amazing

=]

[ancientpimp]

Thanks..

[abi7611]

Your welcome

I love how they are so green

=]

[lyrmar]

They're all so beautiful! Totally 5stars! WOw so you're in planted aqua for long, huh? I wish I could get my aquarium to be just like those =)

How's your shrimp now?

[ancientpimp]

Ha ha ty, yeah quite a while now, maybe nows an excuse to get a bigger fish tank,lol! The algae-eating shrimps are fine.....