my planted tanks...part 1

[ari]

after reading thru much of the posting here , i just could help but feel jealous of the type of equipments you guys used. i wish i could afford them and they could be avaible here ....i believe with those equipments i could truly improve my tanks. presently i have to work with the bare minium,the old fashion handcrank Co2 refillable. .
but good fortune smiles on the less fortunate....living in the far east does has its advantages when it comes to a planted tank....u could spend time in the rain forest looking for for your favourite plants. not only that ...u could collect gravel, and other items from the mountain streams and most of all ,observe how those plants grow in the wild.
i have several planted tanks ...i start off with showing u the photos of my favourite. its the best in terms of equipments..but surely couldnt compared with the stuff u guys have. overall i spend about ThaiBhat9000 (abt 200USD) on this tank.

TANK: 48L X 36H X 24W. this is a second hand tank which i bought along with the cabinet and cover from the local ADA store that went bust. with some varnish , its good as new , well almost . but for TB4000, its a steal.

FILERATION: one Resun external filter.4500lph. i choose this model for its slow water flow.

FILTERATION MEDIA: ceramic bio rings and wool

LIGHTINGS: Sliver Sunlight 11,000K x 4

CO2: 250grams refillable canister, ADA bubble counter and Resun defuser.

GRAVEL BED: mixture of red clay, humus, volcanic ash,riverbed debris and river gravel. a rough mesh net is used to cover this mixture before i top them off with river gravel. this mixture saved me the cost of buying fertilizers.

my aim in this setup is to let the plants grow wild, no trimming, no nothing. it does look untidy, but then its only natural they look that way. this tank is 7 months old

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

looks great ari i must say!

 

[George Farmer]

You have the wild, natural look down to a tee. I admire your ability at letting your tanks just develop into such an untamed layout - personally I wouldn't be able to resist constant pruning.

Quite inspirational. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ari]

You have the wild, natural look down to a tee. I admire your ability at letting your tanks just develop into such an untamed layout - personally I wouldn't be able to resist constant pruning.

Quite inspirational. Thanks for sharing.

hahaha, yea i know what u mean ..when i first got myself into plants , i just have to put my hands into tank almost everyday. trim here , trim there , move this plant over here or there.
its not easy to resist not getting your hands wet...but then...i paste a note on the tank "Hands Off" . it works

 

[jimboliana]

Well done,

It does look quite amazing, very natural

Keep up the good work

 

[gaya]

Wow ari. your tank is just beautiful.

 

[Nospherith]

u could spend time in the rain forest looking for for your favourite plants... u could collect gravel, and other items from the mountain streams... the local ADA store

That is just awesome! You're jealousy may be misguided.

I like the layout of it. Although it's a wild tank and a bit vauge, there's a curious stem plant grove at right back corner, and a nice driftwood moss thing on the left with a lush, three-dimensional carpet at the center foreground. Very wild, yet still well pronounced. Kindof reminds me of a biology experiment or something. Very nice.

 

[Seb R]

Now that is Beeaauutiful... sweet tank

how long did it take to do alla that?!?