# Advice on my ADA planted tank - what to do next?



## Matt & Larissa (Sep 1, 2011)

Had a good BCA reunion last night at Fantasy with a few boys from the forum. Good to meet & catch up with you guys! Obviously whenever you bump into anyone from the forum the peer pressure kicks in to get pics of tanks up on the forum so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some feedback, advice and plant suggestions on where to go next with my 1st ADA planted tank.

Goal: Hit up the BCA members and experts on plant suggestions, pruning and direction on where to go with an established ADA project.

Set up:
ADA Cube Garden 60L
ADA Substrate laying on a Gravel substrate base (no initial additives)
CO2 (6 bubbles/sec)
Aqua Nova Dual T5 Lighting
Eheim Ecco Filter

Parameters:
pH 7.0
GH 100ppm
KH 60ppm

Hardscape:
Petrified Wood Pillars (almost completely buried by the Java Fern)
Driftwood structure

Plants:
Java Fern (Going for that trademark ADA explosion look)
Dwarf Hair Grass
Glosso to fill in the rest of the foreground
Java Moss (I think) on some of the hardscape in the back
Marimo Moss Balls x 2

Residents:
Mixed group of Murcata & Mosquito Rasboras
Long Finned BNP
A couple Ebi-Ken Amano Shrimp
Future Crystal Red/Black Colony

Dosing:
Equilibrium 
Co2 
No other Ferts (but I still have a few on hand from Jobber)

Here's some pics (My concerns/issues/questions come after):





































Here's what I'm seeing when I look at the tank:

1) Fern is growing obv very well, but how should I prune it?
2) Dwarf Hair Grass is established, Picking up more Glosso this weekend to help fill it in (Hoping for the foreground to be majority Glosso)
3) There needs to be some smaller plants around the base of the hardscape - Any Suggestions?
4) Should I fill in of leave the left side "40%" background (Was originally attempting to follow the golden aqua scape rule)
5) Only Pruning I've been doing is to the Glosso. Co2 addition is only 2 months old and plants are reacting very well.
5) Any other advice or suggestions?

Thanks!


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## vdub (Apr 22, 2010)

From my first glance I noticed that you have an unnecessarily thick layer of substrate. Looks like it's taking up about 1/4 of the tank space. Foreground plants don't really need that thick of a substrate. Why did you decide to use that much substrate?


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## Matt & Larissa (Sep 1, 2011)

The substrate isnt at thick as it looks, its sitting on a bed of gravel for the roots to penetrate without crushing them. Advice from Miyabi Joseph and Aq West based on their show tank there.


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## vdub (Apr 22, 2010)

Advice? Sounds more like a marketing scheme to get you to buy more stuff. Definitely not the type of advice I would expect from people who are suppose to help hobbyist but more from entrepreneurs trying to get your money. Why would the roots need a protective layer of gravel when the ADA is much softer. I fail to understand how the roots would get crushed when they should grow into the substrate. Gravel is a waste of space when you already have ADA, it serves no purpose other than filler since it's inert and possess no nutrients.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Matt & Larissa said:


> 1) Fern is growing obv very well, but how should I prune it?
> You should thin it by removing the entire leaf plus stem. If you leave part of the stem is dies and starts to decay making a mess eventually.
> 2) Dwarf Hair Grass is established, Picking up more Glosso this weekend to help fill it in (Hoping for the foreground to be majority Glosso)
> The Glosso will choke out the DHG eventually, leaving you nothing but Glosso, which is great if that's what you want. If not, you'll have to keep them separated.
> ...


It would have been nice if the ADA was steeply sloped to the back, giving the tank more of a sense of depth, but you have a pretty nice start. Only thing I don't like is the lighting. Not sure if it's your camera or the bulbs, but the pictures all look too blue.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Good to meet you yesterday Matt. I was just talking to TomC a few days ago that since switching from modifying cars as a hobby to aquariums I find there's great camaraderie when it comes to sharing about our aquatic hobby. We get excited to see each other's set ups and often we help each other out whenever we can, whether with giving advice or equipment. With cars, often there's an element of ego and competition that sometimes doesn't lend to truly enjoying the hobby.

I don't have a ton of experience with pruning, I'm often doing it just to keep plants from growing out of the tank. With Java fern I would suggest pruning it like rotala? According to the shape you want it to grow into. 
How tall do you want your midground plant (next to the hardscape) to be? if its 3-4 inches tall (more like a foreground plant but with different texture), I'd say try Staurogyne repens; if you are thinking of something a bit taller try Ranunculus inundatas or downoi. If you are hoping to cover nearly 1/3 of the height of the tank then perhaps consider rotala for a stem plant, or blyxa japonica as a grassy plant. 

In my mind's eye I always envisioned a grassy scape using, dwarf hairgrass, blyxa japonica, narrow leaf java fern, and perhaps cyperus helferi. Or for something stemmier in the back, ludwigia arcuata or ludwigia brevipes; these two add a little color as well.

I say its ok to leave the far left clear of anything but foreground plant, but perhaps consider a plant or two, or even a moss covered rock or two to help with the transition from the big java fern.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Nice seeing you again Matt. Boy this tank is looking good and tons of potential. Don't forget to cut and paste your tank details to the ahow and tell thread. This is a good tank to be included with alk those other planted tanks.

Your tank is reminiscent of fenster58's ada style. If any suggestions, I would make it slope up from front to back to you can see a wide view. 

Like seeing thia work in progress and updates.

Your tank will inspire others.

Sent from my mobile phone


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## Matt & Larissa (Sep 1, 2011)

Thanks for all the comments! 

Exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks. I'll start hacking and repost a few pics. The light has 4 tubes and two of them are blue. Was thinking of swapping them out as I'm not a fan of the blue either. The price was right for the budget without sacrificing too much. I don't mind the glosso taking over, and will research the suggestions. Will also keep the left side open. 

I'll attempt to slope it out a bit more. It was actually sloped more when I started (but obv not enough), and settled since I set it up 8 months ago. Will get some more pics up next week.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I run Giesemann Daylight and Aquaflora. The combination gives a nice colour and will highlight any reds/orange should you go that route.


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## Bien Lim (Apr 21, 2010)

1) yes, the fern is growing great but its out grown its tank. Its very nice piece but I think it would look better in a bigger tank. You can prune it by taking them off from the driftwood and take the smallest ones and re attached it and sell the big ones. 

2)Hairgrass looks great but I would put them in groups then put the glosso...say far back to the left..
3)some hg in there would be great too
4)back to #2...I was never aware of the rule..forgive me
5)was no question on #5

6) if you do take out the NLF, you will have open space for Stem plants which will look great on this scape...something red. the easiest is Rotala indica red or colorata. but sometimes colorata stays green in lower light

hope u dont mind all this...thanks


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