# Tank of the Month October 2008: Shay Fertig



## AaronT

*Introduction and Background*

I have been in the ornamental fish hobby for more than 20 Years now (since I was 18 ) and have gone through Cichlids, Discus, saltwater (marine + reef) and more. My introduction to planted tanks goes back 15 years ago with my first low-tech, low-light, yeast CO2 system. Since then, a lot of water and fertilizers has flown. I find this hobby and particularly aquascaping as part of me and my day-to-day life and I totally enjoy attending to my aquariums (and paludariums) for at least two hours every day. I am glad to introduce everyone to one of my tanks which was established in the end of December 2007. This tank is installed in my home office and is my largest planted tank.

*About the Layout*

The picture I had in mind was a combination of Dutch and nature style tank packed with green and red plants. I have chosen quartz rocks (you can barely see them today) as decoration and arranged them as high mountains with the golden ratio in mind.










*Specifications:*

*Tank:* Rena 1.5 meter - 450 liter (330 liter net)
*Lighting:* light 1.25 WPL (6 X 54W T5 + 5 X 18W Osram Mini Twist at the sides)
*Chiller:* Teco TR-15 Chiller
*Carbon:* CO2 + PH controller + 2 outside reactors
*Filtration:* 2 X Eheim pro 3 2028
*Ultraviolet Sterilization:* 36W UV
*Substrate Heating:* Under substrate Heating cable - Rena 15m 100W
*Substrate:* 1st layer Pumice 2cm, 2nd layer Pumice+peat+humus 3cm, 3rd layer JBL Aquabasis 2cm, 4th layer crushed quartz 5cm.
*Water Parameters:* pH-5.9, KH-1Gdh, GH-3Gdh, CO2-40ppm, NO3-15ppm, PO4-1.5ppm, 275ms, Temp.-25.5c.

*Flora:*




























*Fauna:*

Discus, Neon Tetra, Cherry and Amano Shrimp, Otocinclus, Ancistrus, Florida flag, other tetras, and few more&#8230;










*Tank maintenance:*

Besides aquascaping, the tank is fully automated, including:
Automatic water change (100% RO), 100% a week.
Automatic DIY fertilization with peristaltic pumps - KNO3, KH2PO4, KCL, MgSO4, CaCl2, Iron gluconate, Iron EDTA, CSM+B, Flourish Excel.

*Technique:*

The aquarium is trimmed at least twice a week. Parts of the plants are trimmed from their upper part and part from their lower, all the time trying to maintain a nice flow of colors and density.

*Final Thoughts:*

The tank is constantly changing in plants species and arrangement and I will try to continue and update it on the forum.


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## gravy9

Awesome tank. 

Ravi


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## Newt

Well, if you dont have a name for your tank yet it should be BLOWN AWAY.
I absolutely love the layout and colors.
Fine work.


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## xavierj123

Thanks for numbering the plants, however the printed names are hard to read on my computer screen---for some strange reason. I would love to see the list typed out in another numbered form---if you don't mind----so I can "adore" your work-of-art. It's awesome.


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## jazzlvr123

wow how beautiful this is definitely my favorite tank or the month in a very long while AMAZNG job I love dutch tanks with discus


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## NeonFlux

Fantastic! I want to try that! Thank you for letting us know what you are made of! Great job!!!


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## Tex Gal

Your tank is REALLY beautiful! It's so soft and peaceful looking. I love the colors! The HC on the rock is so amazing. How did you get this to do this? There must be soil up there....


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## Newt

What I would like to know is how people control roots forming on stem plants above the soil. Some call these aerial shoots.


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## ShayF

Thank you everyone!



xavierj123 said:


> Thanks for numbering the plants, however the printed names are hard to read on my computer screen---for some strange reason. I would love to see the list typed out in another numbered form---if you don't mind----so I can "adore" your work-of-art. It's awesome.


xavier, specially for you:












Tex Gal said:


> Your tank is REALLY beautiful! It's so soft and peaceful looking. I love the colors! The HC on the rock is so amazing. How did you get this to do this? There must be soil up there....


Tex Gal, the HC is just tied with sewing thread to the rock, no need for soil.


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## Eyal

*Amazing Tank , The colors are breath-taking* :first:


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## hooha

great tank! I'm a fan of dutch-style layouts....


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## jmhart

I'm curious about your dosing, what kind of technique do you follow?


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## ShayF

jmhart said:


> I'm curious about your dosing, what kind of technique do you follow?


Actually, it is changing very frequent (every month or so) according to the plant mass and fauna.
This was the daily dosage I used in September:
CMS+B (26g in 1l H2O + 1.6ml HCL + 50mg Vitamin C)- 5.5ml 
Flourish Excel - 15.13ml 
Iron gluconate 42g + Iron EDTA 34g + MgSO4 90g + HCL 5ml + Vitamin C 500mg + H2O 1l - 3.3ml 
KH2PO4 (138g in 1l H2O) - 1.32ml 
KCL (400g in 1l H2O) - 7.7ml 
KNO3 (333g in 1l H2O) - 7.46ml

It is all pre-prepared in monthly quantities and placed inside two containers (micro+macro) that are attached to two perasteltic pumps.

Container No. 1 (Pumped quantity - 25.42ml a day):
KH2PO4 - 34.41ml 
KCL - 200.75ml 
KNO3 - 194.44ml 
Fertilizers - 429.60ml 
Added water - 233.04ml 
Total - 662.65ml

Container No. 2 (Pumped quantity - 32.50ml a day):
CSM+B - 143.39ml 
Flourish Excel - 394.33ml 
Iron - 86.04ml 
Fertilizers - 623.76ml 
Added water - 223.56ml 
Total - 847.32ml

Hope it helped 
Shay.


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## ofer elijah

Shai,
you have an Amazing Tank!


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## JoluR

Beautiful tank!!! but i cant see full image


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