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.

Holy crap!!!! Stunning set ups bud!!! Your tanks are really nice but I'll bet your friend is cuter Thanks for sharing, and look forward to learning from you guys!!! Any plans for a flowerhorn???

WOW!!!

I am going to start my 10g project here soon as my shrimps are growing fast and will need a bigger home so will have to hit you up with questions.

Very cool setup and interesting background :) Ken needs to PM you and sign you up for a project :)

Welcome and thanks for your assistance!

Charles, this tank is spectacular! I love the look of a 'lawn'. Just by looking at your tank I can see you are pro in aquascaping as well If it had some rock formations in there and I might have confused it for an Amano tank

wow that tank is amazing

Extremely beautiful for your very first tank.
Do keep a journal on this tank to share.
Thaks for sharing.

Thank you, you're all too kind.



This was my "learning" tank. It's actually in the midst of being completely rescaped, but the new scape isn't yet ready to show off. Once it grows in a bit I'll throw up photos of it, along with photos of the entire set up and grow-in period. I just dislike to put up early set up photos before I have grown-in ones to share as well. By comparison, the tank above looked like this when it was first planted....



That's what the tank looked like when first planted in october of 2007. The photos in the first post were taken in early january of 2008. Two months makes a world of difference :D

In case anyone's interested in checking it out, this tank just appeared as the Featured Aquarium in the May issue of Advanced Aquarist online magazine. You can read the article at http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/5/aquarium if you like.

these are the coolest planted aquas iv seen niceeeeeeeeeeeeee

Great looking setup bro. makes me want to start a planted tank now.

Just cusious, how much would a 15g planted tank cost? including eqpuipments, plants, etc?

This post has been edited by eagle1: May 16 2008, 05:15 PM

If memory serves I've got about $650 in this tank, but it doesn't have to cost that much. A good chunk of that amount is on unneccessary items like ADA bubble counters, diffusers, drop checker, etc... all of which are available at a fraction of the price from other companies. The eheim canister is a bit of overkill, as are the 4x24w t5 lights and the inline heater. I'd figure you could probably do a high light, pressurized CO2 15g tank with less expensive components and shave a good $200-$300 off the total price if you really shopped around.