# The Evolution of my 25g Tall Planted Tank



## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I set up this tank 2 years ago. It was my first planted tank with Co2 injection. Its come along way. Ive tried so many different plants. Some worked while others didnt. Ive changed the layout 3 times and finally now I have what I set out to have 2 years ago. Ive been trying to mimic the tank at King Eds front door. The problem I found is I pieced my tank layout together over time rather than setting it up the way I wanted right from the start. I have had a hard time filling in the back glass with plants. I decided I wanted a low maintenance tank. I realized having all those plants in there made more work for me. I was trimming the plants all the time.

Here are some pictures of the tank 2 years ago.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

3 months ago the tank looked like this. I liked this layout but my dwarf lotus was planted at the front 2 years ago. It was taking up too much room in the tank so I moved it to the back corner.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Here is what the tank looks like now. I just replanted dwarf hair grass. The last time I planted hair grass it grew well than all the sudden it started melting away so I removed it all. So far it seems to be doing good. Its been in the tank for 1 month. Hopefully the back glass will be fully coverd in plants soon. A buddy welded me up a stand for my light. I know the tank doesnt look as good as it used to but with time hopefully I will achieve the look I want. I just planted a peace lilly half submerged in the back left corner so hopefully it will flower. Also if you look closely at the pictures from 2 years ago. There is a plant growing in the fron that kinda looks like a bean stock. Its grown so big now that I plaved it in the back left corner aswell. I have no idea what it is but it was 2.5ft out of my tank. Its has grown some more side shoots so it should cover the back corner soon.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I especially like how the emmersed plants look at the top of the tank.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Reckon said:


> I especially like how the emmersed plants look at the top of the tank.


The plant growing out of the top on the right side is called Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis 53B'. It flowered once it reached the surface a month ago. It had blue flowers so Im hoping it will flower again soon.

The Plants in the tank are:

Growing up along the glass

Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis 53B'
Microsorium Pteropus 'Windelov'
Bolbitis Heudelotii
Java moss 
Peace Lilly
Random Bean stock plant

In the substrate

Cryptocoryne Undulata
Dwarf Hair Grass
Dwarf Tiger Lotus


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Its been a little while since I posted any pictures of my planted tank and since another member asked if I would post an update here's some pictures. Ive been working on this day for a long time trying to figure out how to grow the back wall. Finally I have success. I added another coralife T5 double strip light. I used to have it on there before but it broke. Its helped make my Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis 53B' flower. I have been dosing is Seachem Flourish and Trace twice a week at the recomended dosage. I moved my co2 diffuser underneath the pick up of my aqua clear. It made a noticeable difference in plant growth especially with the dwarf hair grass. I tried putting it underneath my fluval pick up but I found it was making too many bubbles in the tank and I didnt like how periodically it would blow out alot of bubbles at once. A friend recomended trying this Im glad I listened. I have been slacking on water changes lately thankfully this tank is over filtered because I also have around 40 fish in there and 20 Shrimp. I have a school of 16 various Cory's and 4 Glass Cats. Its pretty fun to watch them all come out from the bushes to feed.


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

I must say...GREAT CHOICE OF FISH!i really like the juli cory at the bottom and also zebra danios. Nice job

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

AdobeOtoCat said:


> I must say...GREAT CHOICE OF FISH!i really like the juli cory at the bottom and also zebra danios. Nice job
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2


Thanks. I pretty much have 2 of all the common Cory's. Here's what I got

2 Sterbai Cory's
2 Skunk Cory's
4 Pepper Cory's
2 Bronze Cory
2 Julii Cory's
2 Agazizii Cory's
2 Virginiae Cory's


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Sick sick sick tank (sick as in awesome  ). I've been waiting for your update. Love the rotalas on the right side  Supposed to look like this emerged:


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Reckon said:


> Sick sick sick tank (sick as in awesome  ). I've been waiting for your update. Love the rotalas on the right side  Supposed to look like this emerged:


Thanks Reckon. I must say it looks way better in person. The pictures dont do it justice. Once the hair grass fills in I will raise the lights a little more so you will see more of the emersed plants. I already had the rotala in the tank so thats not the plant I got from you. All that went into my moms tank but I will pull some out of her tank since I didnt know it would flower like the picture you posted. If I can get it to flower like the picture that would be "SICK" Lol.

See how a lack of loving can sometimes go along way? No EI dosing, No Iron dosing and I still I have red in my plants. Just saying LOL. Your tank looks nice also. Sometimes you just need to let it grow. IMO It just takes time. Patience is a virtue


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Looking good man.. I've seen this tank in person, the pics definitely don't do it justice. It looks like it's improved even more since I last saw it too.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Its been a long time since I updated this journal. This tank has really taken off since I started EI dosing it 1.5 months ago.

Here is an updated video


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