The Making of a ADA Nature Aquarium for a Monster Fish

[Hendre]

Yeah it is not a really a monster tank but ADA nature aquariums for a big fish is unheard of and highly protested apparently . My rep was cool with the idea till it was built hahaha They are all about small fish in a beautiful scape.... I have had few guys from ADA just flat out refuse to even look at it due to the fish selection. I guess i wont be winning the IAPLC but it would be cool to see the judges faces with a big fish in the tank.

Better enter whilst my polys are still small

Main thing is, sense of scale. Small fish, small leaved plants work that out to make the tank look larger than it is. That's the common concept

I am an absolute cheapskate, of my 19 plant types in my tanks I only paid for 9. I scavenge and people here are super duper kind

No it is rare to see a larger tank 100 gallons plus turned into a scape like that , i agree most of planted scaped out there are 20 gallons or less for the simple reason plants and soil are expensive lol i have over $500 of just plants in my tank. about another $200 plus in soil not including the stone. Once you add the co2 system and the new filters thatis like another $700 bucks and not even including the lighting... Most people wont chance a big fish in the tank like that either after spending that kind of money.

I've spent maybe 20 on wood, 5 on substrate, maybe 20 on plants, 35 lights, someone sent me osmocote and no co2 yet. I'm a cheapskate to the max

Oh yeah and thats the thing man, there is no limit to how stupid you can go with it. I didnt really add that expensive of plants in there,. That number could have doubled in a hurry if i ordered more exotic plants. We wanted to stay with easier plants that anyone could keep.

Plants are so expensive there! We have an online store with great prices, I got 8 anubias sp "small" plants for $3.5 roughly

 

[Hendre]

his guy gave me some ludwigia, 220 gallon with no ADA at all

 

[Hendre]

Better enter whilst my polys are still small

Main thing is, sense of scale. Small fish, small leaved plants work that out to make the tank look larger than it is. That's the common concept

I am an absolute cheapskate, of my 19 plant types in my tanks I only paid for 9. I scavenge and people here are super duper kind


I've spent maybe 20 on wood, 5 on substrate, maybe 20 on plants, 35 lights, someone sent me osmocote and no co2 yet. I'm a cheapskate to the max


Plants are so expensive there! We have an online store with great prices, I got 8 anubias sp "small" plants for $3.5 roughly

Just a photo of my cheapskate scape, gonn start ferts this weekend

 

[Aqua Nut]

Better enter whilst my polys are still small

Main thing is, sense of scale. Small fish, small leaved plants work that out to make the tank look larger than it is. That's the common concept

I am an absolute cheapskate, of my 19 plant types in my tanks I only paid for 9. I scavenge and people here are super duper kind


I've spent maybe 20 on wood, 5 on substrate, maybe 20 on plants, 35 lights, someone sent me osmocote and no co2 yet. I'm a cheapskate to the max


Plants are so expensive there! We have an online store with great prices, I got 8 anubias sp "small" plants for $3.5 roughly

my bags of soil were like $75 a piece i used about 2 bags and a 3/4 of a bag of Colorado sand by ADA at $54... just soil and sand lol To be fair most of this stuff was sponsored but for someone buying all of these products it would not be cheap. I am a cheapskate too Hendre lol I find that most planted people give away plants quite often. I have a lot of plants in stock now that were given to me.

 

[Aqua Nut]

Just a photo of my cheapskate scape, gonn start ferts this weekend
View attachment 1276088

Hey that looks great man, what did you say you were adding in there again?

 

[Hendre]

Hey that looks great man, what did you say you were adding in there again?

Haven't dosed a thing for a while.

Lucky on sponsor, fresh aquasoil isn't available here. Powersand sometimes

 

[Aqua Nut]

Haven't dosed a thing for a while.

Lucky on sponsor, fresh aquasoil isn't available here. Powersand sometimes

Yeah Sponsors do help no doubt. We are also really lucky and have a ADA store in my small town, so i can get everything i need here. We are the Recruiters for ADA here in Canada (We find retailer locations).

 

[Hendre]

Yeah Sponsors do help no doubt. We are also really lucky and have a ADA store in my small town, so i can get everything i need here. We are the Recruiters for ADA here in Canada (We find retailer locations).

Really lucky! Nobody wants to import here because of minimum costs, so we're stuck. We make a plan, I have flourite in one tank and use osmocote for both that and my 70

 

[Fat Homer]

Doesnt matter if you go the cheap route or expensive route, the only thing that matters end of the day is the outcome of the tank...

If plants are healthy and thriving they dont care if we threw on T5 shop lights or ADA priced lighting systems lol...

I've personally spent way too much on my planted tanks in general but i look at them as one of the few healthier hobbies i still enjoy...

So definitely no discriminating of systems from me... im not that much of a snob

 

[Aqua Nut]

Really lucky! Nobody wants to import here because of minimum costs, so we're stuck. We make a plan, I have flourite in one tank and use osmocote for both that and my 70

Yeah importing is super costly i agree. I use flourite in my one planted tank and my plants are doing fine, i will say its not as easy to plant in though compared to ADA soils. You don't need to use expensive stuff to get great results.