Planted Amano Aquarium: From Start to Finish

I stumbled upon this really useful article today that details the development of one of Takashi Amano's planted aquariums from start to finish with pictures. It's called "A Path to the Finished Aquarium." Although it doesn't start from the very beginning (including the setup of the tank), it shows how to trim stem plants to encourage bushy growth and how an aquascape grows and matures over the course of two months. Also helpful, it includes all information about the aquarium, including lighting type, strength, and duration and fertilization strategies. Here are the first few entries.

May
31^st, 2005 (7^th day)

A week from planting. Although half of the tank water was changed daily, the water still looked somewhat cloudy. The growth of stem plants was still sparse.

June
8^th, 2005 (15^th day)

15 days has passed since planting. The water has become clear. Glossostigma and Echinodorus tenellus have developed runners and Willow Moss on driftwood is growing steadily.

June
15^th, 2005 (22^nd day)

The first trimming on the 22^nd day from planting. The stem plants planted at the same time to the same height were beginning to show a difference in their growth depending on their types. Trimming became necessary to keep their growth in balance.

Check out the rest of the entries and the detailed aquarium specifications in the article.

Nano Aquarium Update

I figured I'd give a quick update on the nano aquarium I started a few months ago. I've since decided to add some fish, and along with them a nano filter. I went with one from RedSea and it's perfect for a nano sized aquarium. For fish, I went with Boraras maculatus, a type of microrasbora, also known as the dwarf rasbora. I have one male and two females. These fish are tiny and three fit comfortably in this one gallon aquarium. They like soft, acidic water, so I've added some peat to the filter (which has plenty of room for adding your own media) which is why the water is tinged brown. The moss has grown the fastest of any of the plants in there, and I've actually taken out quite a bit to keep it looking somewhat neat. Everything else is growing very slowly in the low light.

A word of warning about these fish though, they are so small (less than a centimeter in length) that I nearly lost one within minutes of putting it into the tank. I nearly had a heart attack as I saw it struggling inside the filter intake tube trying not to get sucked into the impeller. I ripped the filter's plug from the wall as fast as I could and luckily the little guy swam out unharmed. After that, I cut up a filter media bag and wrapped it around the strainer filter intake to prevent further accidents.

Underwater Aquarium Waterfall Video

For everyone looking for a video of the underwater waterfall concept in motion, here it is! It comes from Derk of Aquatic Quotient who said it took him 3 failed tries to get it to work, but work it does. Congrats Derk!