March 2008 Tank of the Month: Andrew Yaros - Library

March 2008 Tank of the Month
Mountain Meadow
by Andrew Yaros

Introduction and Background
My name is Andrew Yaros. I am 28 years old, and I live in San Francisco, California. I got my first aquarium when I was about 10, and its been downhill ever since. I'm in love with aquariums, but my main interest is growing plants. I grow all kinds of native and exotic plants in a wide range of settings. I studied botany in college, and these days living in an apartment in the inner city. I focus the majority of my gardening efforts on my aquariums.
Although I had kept plants in my aquariums sporadically for years, it wasn't until I came across "The Krib" website my senior year of highschool that I found any real success in the hobby.

About the Tank
This aquarium has featured many layouts since its creation. The iwaguni layout featured in this scape is one of the layouts. The HC covers the foreground and pairs with a blyxa in the background very naturally. These plants surround a large rock, which is a dominate focus piece. Because of this, I called the tank "Mountain Meadow". Currently the tank features a Wabi-Kusa inspired layout. Sometime soon I will show the new layout.

Blyxa blowing in the current

Tank Specifications

Tank Dimensions/Volume: ADA 60cm cube garden
Lighting: Coralife 2x55W CF and 1 DIY 70W MH each. (2) supplemental fixtures; (1) 96 watt 6700k, (1) 72 watt 10,000K.
Filtration System: Eheim Ecco and Rena Filstar xp1 with Seachem Purigen
C02 supplementation: DIY ball reactor and 2bps pressurized co2
Substrate: Powersand Special, capped with Aquasoil

Plants and Fauna
As mentioned before it contains HC and blyxa. Initially after setup I had some white little inverts in there taking over the tank. I added a female endler and 4 corydoras, in a few days they were gone. Since then I have removed the last endler, and now it is just shrimp breeding well, and undisturbed by the corydoras.

Tank Maintenance, Fertilizer System and Water Chemisty
Here's my fertilization routine:

1/8tsp KNO3 weekly
1tsp Seachem Equilibrium & Alkaline Buffer weekly
1 pump TMG or ADA Step 1 4-5x week

My maintenance involves 50% water change once a month.
My latest water parameters are: KH:2-4, GH:2-4

March 2008 Tank of the Month - "Mountain Meadow"

Final Thoughts
I wanted to thank Aquatic Plant Central, and all the members of the boards who keep this website and hobby so interesting. As a member of the international community to which we all belong we should feel proud, and simply enjoy the art and science of aquatic plant keeping and aquascaping to its fullest.