# First Scape



## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

I'm Kevin, and here is my first tank.

tank: 5 gallon bowfront (got it for free w/ filter)

filter: i have no idea, it came with the 5 gallon that i got for free

substrate: black gravel and sand- i did some research and found out that shrimp have brighter colors when the gravel is darker but i also wanted contrase between the darker rocks and the light sand so i hid the black gravel and put sand in the front as forground.
plants: i have no idea what their scientific names are

animals: i have 2 feeder guppys in there for cycling, i put them in after the tank was cycled for 1 week to reduce the stress of cycling fish(im on my 4th week and the pictures were taken 1 week ago). i just got my water tested today and the people at ocean aquarium said it was good to go so i got myself a otto cat to clean up the algae that grew after i put the seachem buffer in that contained A LOT of phosphate(the otto is acclimating right now). If this otto is successful and healthy i might be getting another one because i heard they like living in groups but since my tank's bioload is limited, i can only afford to get one more. im also planning on getting some cherries later on after the water in my tank can prove to me it's ready for shrimp.

lighting: 15 watt flourescent

fertilizers: my stem plants were'nt doing very well in the beginning, so i decided to get some fertilizers. I use Do! Aqua. this new string of products made by ADA for fertilizer. i have no idea what it contains because i dont know how to read japanese. i got it from aqua forest in san francisco and they told me it was just a weakened version of all the ADA fertilizers put together for beginners who dont know what fertilizers they need. it has gotten a lot better since i started using excel and the fertilizer shown in the picture below.

fertilizer dosage: .75 ml of the DO! aqua brand fertilizer (Daily) since i added buffer that contains a lot of phosphate to lower the pH, in the past week i only used <.5ml of the DO! AQUA fertilizer and <.5ml of excel (4x-6x) a week)


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## Complexity (Aug 11, 2008)

Welcome to APC. 

Very nice! You have a good eye for positioning things. Keep us updated as it grows in.


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

thanks


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Good start. I agree with Complexity, you have very good artistic skill.

-Dave


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

very nice. What size tank is that?


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

Nice tank, you should join our club.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Your tank really looks nice. I do think your Myro Mattagrosense will outgrow your tank almost overnight.


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

thanks for the complements!

texgal,
which plant were you talking about? i dont know their scientific names. and your shrimp tank is AWESOME. im about to move into a bigger house in a couple months so im planning to get a 20 gallon shrimp tank for crs and rcs, right now i'm just doing more research and as i mentioned before i'm going to get some rcs to start with and get some experience with inverts.


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## Complexity (Aug 11, 2008)

The plant she's referring to is named _Myriophyllum mattogrossense_. Here's some info on the plant which includes pictures so you can see which plant it is.

http://www.plantgeek.net/plant-169.htm


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

yea thats one of the plants that were melting in my tank before i started to use fertilizers and seachem buffer.


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## gravy9 (Aug 28, 2008)

Hi Kevin,

Can't believe that you're just beginning. Excellent tank and a very nice start. Keep up the good work and you're amongst friends.

regards,
Ravi


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

thanks ravi! my boss's name is ravi too i just thought it was kinda cool since the name ravi isnt very common.


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