17G/65L Low Tech Soil Planted Tank

[The Sandman]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd post a few pics of my Aquastart 500 planted tank on here, mainly because of the dearth of information on the web regarding these tanks. Specifically, whether a planted setup would indeed be viable given their 'unique' lighting system. These reasons almost put me off from giving it ago, so I thought disseminating my results might help those who may be on the fence like I was. Feedback, critique, questions are of course welcome

Firstly, the specs:

The tank
Aquaone Aquastart 500 - 17G/65L - £30 second hand
Dimensions: 50 W x 49 H x 34cm D
Lights: 2x Biax S 11w G23  - £1.99 each
Filtration: Fluval 2 Plus internal filter
 
Substrate
MiracleGrow peat free compost - £3.99 for a 8litre bag
Inert gravel - £8

Plants
Vallisneria Spiralis
Hydrocotyle Leucocephala (Penny wort)
hygrophila Polysperma
Anubias Barteri
Anubias Barteri var. Nana
Sagittaria Sublata
Cryptocoryne Wendtii var. bronze
Cryptocoryne Wendtii var. brown
Cryptocoryne Parva
Echinodorus Bleheri (Amazon sword)
Bacopa Monnieri
Microsorum pteropus (Java Fern)
Pistia Stratiotes (Dwarf Watter Lettuce)
Lemna Minor (Duckweed)
 
Fish
7x Neon Tetras
5x Penguin Tetras
 
Fertilisation
EasyCarbo: 1ml per day
 
Water Chemistry
PH - 7.6
KH - 124mg/l CaCo3
Maintenance
50% water change every 4 weeks
 
From a fish-health point of view, I could probably stretch water changes out far longer as ammonia and nitrite levels are all 0ppm, and nitrate levels are 5ppm after the 4 weeks. However, after 4 weeks my floating plants show signs of Nitrogen deficiency; so because my tap water contains 20ppm of Nitrate, a water change actually replenishes the aquarium of  Nitrate, beneficial to the plants.
 

And here it is, about 4 months in.

 

[ellena]

Wow, they're all doing brilliantly! Love it and I bet the fish do too

 

[The Sandman]

Thanks, I've since torn this tank down and replaced it with a fluval 90. It's now used as neon breeding tank