# Nat's 29 Gallon



## natx (Jun 10, 2007)

Hey everyone, wanted to share my little tank. Its been running for about 14 months now.
• 29 Gallon
• 60lbs Eco-Complete substrate
• 130 watt Coralife compact fluorescent, dual 10,000k bulbs
• Aquaclear 70 filter
• DIY CO2
• Dosing a full Seachem line of ferts

Last month some new plants I had ordered arrived in poor condition and melted away immediately, which is why there is a big open space on the right side of the tank:










Some hatchet fish I purchased today, acclimating to their new home:










Looking down on the Rotala indica in the center:










A side view:










One of the cleaning ladies:










Rotala:


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## guppyramkrib (Sep 5, 2007)

Nice! Great start!


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Beautiful tank! Those little platies really compliment the textures of your plants. Make sure you keep the tank sealed shut! Those hatchets are little kama-kazis.


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## natx (Jun 10, 2007)

Thanks guys. There are a lot more of those little platties now than there were six months ago, if you know what I mean.  Here are few more pics from earlier on in the tank's history:

Four ottos emerge from the green water I had about a year ago (took me a month to break down and get a UV filter, which of course cleared it up in 36 hours):










Right before I removed the plants on the right side to make room for my ill-fated new acquisitions:










My favorite photo of the tank, taken last winter:


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

haha! I know what you mean - I started with three sunset platies in my tank. ...... =20

Luckily, many of them will be finding their very own new home with a friend of mine.


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## cynkatt (Nov 10, 2007)

i like the way that rotola looks that is a really full lush looking plant very nice! did u get that from an online source by any chance?


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## natx (Jun 10, 2007)

Yes, I got that from liveaquaria.com, about which I cannot say enough good things. Their plants are very healthy and packaged very well for shipping. I got my Amano shrimp from them as well.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I really like your tank! The platies look great against the dark green lush growth of the plants. The rotala bush is awesome. I specially like the shot where the Ludwigia is peaking through, giving the scape a splash of red.


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## natx (Jun 10, 2007)

Here are some new snaps I took last night. The rotala was pearling more than usual.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Everything looks so pretty and green. I'm sure it's just so much more lush and vibrant in person. (Wish we could get the camera's to take exactly what we see.) I love the tall skinny plant on the left. Is it Lindernia Dubia? It's a neat contrast with all the lush bush types.


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## natx (Jun 10, 2007)

I think my photos tend to look better than the tank itself. Nothing like some decisive cropping to drop out the nasty areas.  Tall plants on the left are _Bacopa monnieri_ (Moneywort).


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

What is your lighting schedule? Im upgrading from a 1x65w to a 2x65w fixture on my 29g.


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## natx (Jun 10, 2007)

I do 9 hours, 4pm to 1am to match up with the time when I'm at home and awake. It also has moonlights at night but I don't think that does anything other than make the tank look interesting if I'm up later.


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

natx said:


> I do 9 hours, 4pm to 1am to match up with the time when I'm at home and awake. It also has moonlights at night but I don't think that does anything other than make the tank look interesting if I'm up later.


Thanks for the info.

One more question, are you blasting 130w all day? I was thinking about running 65w all day with a 130w blast for 3-4 hours during the middle of the lighting period. I have heard/sen others success doing this with mh bulbs.


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## natx (Jun 10, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> Thanks for the info.
> 
> One more question, are you blasting 130w all day? I was thinking about running 65w all day with a 130w blast for 3-4 hours during the middle of the lighting period. I have heard/sen others success doing this with mh bulbs.


Yes, I run the full 130 watts all day. On the weekend sometimes I turn the tank lights on manually at an earlier time. A lot of times I'll turn on just one bulb for that. I think the problem with trying to emulate how reef keeper's simulate the noon day sun is that 130 watts of light isn't all that much to begin with. Usually with a reef they have an additional metal halide specifically for that 3-4 hour window, that operates to supplement other metal halides and tube fixtures.

With my specific lighting fixture, each bulb is sort of offset to the side, so one tends to light half the aquarium more than the other. If I regularly only ran one of the bulbs, the left side of the tank would be denied a lot of light. It makes the tank seem dim.


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

Okay, thanks for the info!


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## wrkucera (Jan 6, 2008)

Excellent pics!


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