..and All About Me

Hi there. Like Azaezl, I received a message via YouTube asking if I would stop by here and talk about my tank and offer help if anyone needs it.

I'll start with my tank. Here's some photos:

















Tank specs:
15 gallon aquarium
4 x 24w T5 lighting
Eheim 2213 canister filter
Hydor In-line heater
ADA substrates (Powersand & AquaSoil Amazonia II)
ADA System 72 CO2 pressurized system

Flora:
HC
hairgrass
blyxa japonica
ludwigia arcuata
myriophyllum pinnatum

Fauna:
Pseudomogil gertrudae
Iriatherina werneri
Otocinclus sp.
Aphyosemion australe

And who am I? My name is Charles DeVito. This is actually my first planted tank; I'd been keeping saltwater and reef tanks for the past twenty five years, but recently decided to get out of that hobby due to ethical reasons. When I got out of reefing I decided to give planted tanks a try.

My saltwater background is extensive. In the mid nineties I started the reefkeepers@majordomo.net mailing list, was involved with Albert Thiel's website and mailing list and joined the administration at reefs.org as well. In 2002 I co-founded Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine, the spiritual successor to Aquarium Frontiers, with Terry Siegel and Craig Bingman. A few articles of mine have appeared here and there over the years, and I've been a speaker at a few aquarium clubs around the country.

None of which has anything to do with planted freshwater aquariums, of which I only have around six months experience. I'm coming into it from a very different starting point than most, though, looking at it through the eyes of a reefkeeper. It gives me a bit of a different perspective, and I'll freely admit that I think a lot of the conventional wisdom associated with planted tanks is, um, questionable.

That said, if I can help, just ask.