# First timer 4 ft tank



## choosk (Oct 27, 2007)

hi everyone. just started in this hobby so need some guides from you all. below is my tank pic. one look at it and the word newbie will come into your mind.hope that you guys can give me suggestions on how i can improve.










there are a few non aquatic plants in there so they'll be out of this tank soon.in the foreground i have hc as well as dwarf hg. equipments for my tanks are as follows:
ada soils (powersand, africana,elements)
hydor cannister filter
pressurized co2 around 4-5 bps 
lights 2x30 watt white light & 2x30 watt red light(need to upgrade suggestions?)
hydor diffusor.

comments comments please.be harsh if you have to. i'm here to learn :mrgreen:


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Welcome to APC :mrgreen: 

Your tank doesn't look bad. I would spread the hairgrass out across the foreground by breaking up the clumps into smaller places. The way you have the rocks arranged looks un-natural. I would remove a few and/or re-arrange them so they are not in a straight line across the front.


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## choosk (Oct 27, 2007)

thanks for the reply.spent a back breaking 8 hours today rescaping the whole thing. will upload pic as soon as possible. something is preventing me from uploading to photobucket.

edit:
here's the latest scape.


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

Cannot comment yet... water cloudy
P.S. those large rocks looks too standard sized.(wheres the IWAGUMI in that?)

Drew


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## choosk (Oct 27, 2007)

ok chuppy. the tank cleared up alot. here's the latest pic....dun mind the floating stuff. they're cucumbers and a juvenile plant that i have just sent to incarceration haha


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Chuppy said:


> Cannot comment yet... water cloudy
> P.S. those large rocks looks too standard sized.(wheres the IWAGUMI in that?)
> 
> Drew


Hehe, the rocks do look pretty weird, but does everything have to be iwagumi?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Much better than the first layout. The one rock that really bothers me is the large rock on the right, its shape is rather cylindrical and it keeps grabbing and holding my attention. It was about my 3rd look before I noticed the blue-green rocks (are those rocks with moss or something attached?), because that 1 rock kept pulling me back. Right now all the rocks are really prominent, but once the plants grow and fill in around them I think you'll have quite a nice tank.


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## choosk (Oct 27, 2007)

cs_gardener said:


> Much better than the first layout. The one rock that really bothers me is the large rock on the right, its shape is rather cylindrical and it keeps grabbing and holding my attention. It was about my 3rd look before I noticed the blue-green rocks (are those rocks with moss or something attached?), because that 1 rock kept pulling me back. Right now all the rocks are really prominent, but once the plants grow and fill in around them I think you'll have quite a nice tank.


thank you for the comments. the cylindrical rock believe it or not is natural. found it at a waterfall.it is not completey cylindrical.squarish with round edges and the base which is buried in the soil larger than the top.and yes those blue green rocks are actually rocks covered with nettings with riccia in it. i hope the plants will grow soon. i'll wait until the plants are established before messing with the rock placement again.


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

gotcheaprice said:


> Hehe, the rocks do look pretty weird, but does everything have to be iwagumi?


woops my bad.. i thought it was an iwagumi set-up and he's going for mostly low plants... Woops again!

lol though there is something veery distracting about those rocks.

drew


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## choosk (Oct 27, 2007)

a little bit of update on my tank. hmm i have 36watt x4 lights 6500k.is that enough or do i need more lights?


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## choosk (Oct 27, 2007)

having some problems with my tank so wondering if you guys can help me out. my hairgrass is propagating but the problem is majority of them are turning brownish and having bba infestation.......also on top of that my hc is not propagating. my tank parameters and fertilizing routine are as follows:

4 ft tank (255 liter)
temp 27~28
co2 around 4bps
lights 4x 36 watt 6500k
africana soil.

fert dosing:
6 squirts of brighty k daily
6 squirts of step 1 daily
5 drops eca alternate day

i started adding eca after i noticed that some of my plants don't look healthy especially hg thinking that lack of iron might be the cause.


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

i agree with the earlier post... IMO just take the big cylindrical rock out and replace it with the rock from the far left rear... then move the the rocks on the left into a bunch and make it unsymetrical...


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

also... is that an ADA rimless tank? if so, fill it higher, wipe the water spots off the top. also... in terms of co2, if you are using diy, you will probably have algae issues simply due to the fluctuation in production levels. if you are using diy, my suggestion to you is to make two or three bottles and alternate. set your photoperiod to 8 hours and make sure that the hair grass gets plenty of circulation. also make sure your phosphates and nitrates are in check... check the fert regimes posted either here or on plantedtank.net and dose accordingly for your tank
(by the way is it 48"x12", or 48"x18", or 48"x24"?)


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## choosk (Oct 27, 2007)

my 4 ft tank dimension is 48 x 18. 4 feet x 1.5 feet. its not an ada rimless tank.normal glass tank.i'm using pressurized co2.


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