# Tank of the Month: May 2004



## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

[IMG=left:f993181723]http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/files/tank2.jpg[/img:f993181723]I am very please to announce that the *May 2004 Tank of the Month* belongs to Oliver Knott (plantella)! =D>

This is Oliver's favorite tank and I think you will all agree it is arguably his masterpiece. The image to the left was taken 75 days after setup. It is amazing to see the healthy, lush plant growth!

*Tank Information*
Size: 130cm x 70cm x 70cm (about 560 Liter) or 4.26ft x 2.29ft x 2.29ft (about 147 gallons)
Lightning: 4 x 54Watt (T5 - tube) and 1 x 39Watt (T5 - tube)
Plants: Limnophila aromatica, Ludwigia spec. "Cuba", Eusteralis stellata, Hemianthus callitrichoides, Riccia fluitans, Vesicularia dubyana
Fishes or others: Puntius(Barbus)denisonii, Otocinclus paulinus (spec. "*****"), Caridina japonica 
pH: 6.8
[img=right:f993181723]http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/files/reflect.jpg[/img:f993181723]The picture to the right is a view at the surface of Vesicularia / Limno.aromatica / Cuba Ludwigia. In this tank Oliver uses the substrate from ADA (Aqua Design Amano) AquaSoil "Malaya". For daily fertilizing he use Dennerle's A1, and for extra iron he uses the iron fertilizer from HAGEN. Lastly, he uses the NPK fertilizer (Nitrate, Phosphorus, Potassium) from HAGEN.

*Design Concept*

Oliver writes, "That not easy to describe. There is not realy a special layout because I don't have much time to think about it when I set up the tank. As decoration I only use a big root and planted them with Vesicularia dubyana. Unfortunately you can't see anything from the root, it is complete overgrown with the moss. "

[img=left:f993181723]http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/files/side.jpg[/img:f993181723]In this tank I use for the first time Ludwigia "Cuba" and Hemianthus callitrichoides. So it was a litte bit of a test tank for these two "new" plants and I was curious to see how they would grow. Also, it was my first experience with this kind of lightning (T5)."

[img=right:f993181723]http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/files/tank1.jpg[/img:f993181723]This is a different angle of the aquarium. Again at 75 days.

[img=left:f993181723]http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/files/flower1.jpg[/img:f993181723]This is a nice shot of Oliver's favorite plant at the moment- Ludwigia "Cuba". 
And a close up of the "heart" of Ludwigia "Cuba".










Finally, Oliver's favorite foreground plant- Hemiant. callitrichoides with Amano shrimp and Punitus and Eustralis stellata.


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## Hanzo (Mar 9, 2004)

Wow, it's absolutt great! I really really like to forground of this tank, it's way better than anything I have seen from glosso. If I gathered it correctly, it's a plant callled Hemianthus callitrichoides, rigth? Never heard of it, care to share your experience with it?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Wow, just beautiful!

I'd like to hear more about the foreground plant as well.


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## ryuken168 (Feb 5, 2004)

*Congratulations*

Congratulations on being TOTM of May.
I hardly say WOW anymore these days, but WOW :shock: ahhhh WOW
I don't mine having that tank in my living room.
What healthy vivid colors and plant growth. I enjoy the texture of the foreground the most.

Thanks
Ken


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

An amazing aquascape! The colors, texture, and lighting work together to create a very warm, comfortable, forest-like feeling.

Congratulations! :mrgreen: 

Carlos


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## Anonymous (Jan 13, 2004)

ok now so is this a non c02 tank, since i saw nothing mentioned about that?

this tank is pissing me off because i know its gonna tank some work to get my tank looking like that. that is the best tank ive seen. i love the forground. like a plush hillish lawn..awesome man.
jAy
a/m/p

now tell us how you upkeep that tank...when you do water changes, filltration, substrate.

now am i right, you dont ever want to siphon clean your substrate? if your tank is 5 years, or ten years...you dont want to do that? there wont be a build up of "something"?
...
thanks man for showing me your tank...high five to you.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Gorgeous! Wonderful tank!


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## Anonymous (Jan 13, 2004)

Henrico , Congratulations for your interviews.

Parabéns !!!!!!


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## Hanzo (Mar 9, 2004)

OK OK, I go down on my knees... Pretty please tell me about the forground plants :shock:


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## waynesham (Apr 26, 2004)

wow........ cool, congratulation !!! 8)


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## shannon (Jan 30, 2004)

*TOTM*

Beatiful tank Oliver 

I'm adding my knees to Hanzo's....Please...PLEASE tell us about the Hemianthus  :wink:


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Stunning! I too am curious about the maintenance of the 'lawn'.


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## Ghazanfar Ghori (Jan 27, 2004)

I don't know how you do it man. That Hemianthus is giving me so
much trouble. First off - it grows SO slow for me! What are the
parameters in this tank? What's the water chemistry? Temps?


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## Freemann (Mar 19, 2004)

I know this tank for almost a year now it is one of my favorites as-well.
I always wondered though on a number of things.
Was this a stable tank that was replanted or was it setup on day one of this setting?
How all this plants started to grow like crazy from day one? no initial lag no algae nothing, I would really like to know how you did this, stelata for me takes weeks and roting of the top before growing new ones this tank of yours went like train, full landscape from day one. I understand you have good access to lots of fresh plants from tropica and others, could that be one of the reasons for this non initial cycle full speed start?


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## chrisl (May 24, 2004)

Stunning! I too love the Hemiant. callitrichoides !
Something to strive for!

Chris


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I'm in awe.... :shock:


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## seed (Jun 23, 2004)

WOW :shock: One of the most beautiful tanks i've EVER seen. How much did it cost you to manage all this? And do tell us how you managed to get the lush green hemianthus callitrichoides.


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