Journal Dutch Garden UNS 45

[skopje_aquascaping]

Hello everyone
I started small aquarium, here are the details

Aquarium : UNS 45U 9 45/28/28
Concept: Pure Dutch ( no hardscape )

Equipement / Technical Specs
Soil: 2HR Aquariust APT Feast+APT Start
Filtration: Eheim Classic 250 ( Main ) / Ehem Skim350 ( Surface )
Light: Chihiros WRRGB 2 30cm
Water: RO ( pure )
Co2: Co2Art Dual stage regulator

Plants
Front: Pogostemon helferi, Rotala Indica, Staurogyne repens
Midground: Ludwigia repens x arcuata, Rotala Macranda mini type 4, Alternanthera Reineckii mini
Background: Rotala rotundifolia Green, Rotala Wallichi, Rotala Orange Juice


This project was started on 01/01/2026 and the main idea was small Dutch tank just to be able to play around with something until I wait the hardscape for mine bigger tank to be delivered...
Even i know that Dutch in small space like this will get tricky I decided to give it a go.

The soil is 4cm at the front with 9cm at the back.
Eheim Classic 250 filled with Eheim Mech ( 1L ) , blue coarse sponge, Seachem matrix , extra blue sponge and Eheim fine pads at the top ( in that order ).
This time I was smart enough to use double taps in order not to cry when I clean the canister.
On day one i did mistake, I used the APT Start even tho on the instruction manual it says DO NOT PLANT IN THE NEXT 2 WEEKS...yeah who read instructional manuals...never mind wasted but ok. I guess I learned

Co2 starts at 14:00 and turns off at 21:00, light starts at 16:00 and turns off at 22:00.
Co2 is set up for 2.5-2.7 bubbles per sec if that is some info
Chihiros WRGB 2 is set up on reds 80%, green 35% and blue on 55%
Light period is 6 hours at the moment.

Water is pure RO at the moment just to wash out the extra of everything.
On the last measurements KH was 0 and GH was 4
This is something I need to do in the next few days cos I'm not 100% did i measured it right.
In the first week I do water change 50% everyday, second week once on two days, third week , once on three days, forth week and on i plan to change 50% once per week.
The current TDS before water change is 140-50 and after water change is 70-80
Once this gets lower I will do remineralization with Salty Shrimp kh/gh+ or I might do just gh+ with Masterline.
Water temperature is 24C

I don't plan to add any livestock at the given moment, most likely I'll wait 2-3 months.

 

[Koan]

Great!

Welcome from North Macedonia!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Not gonna lie, I thought it was Ben Kenobi aquascaping in your avatar.

Good luck with the start!

 

[Burr740]

Two things are missing if youre aiming for a pure Dutch. One of the most important things in any style of scape is a clearly defined focal point in the right spot, which is 1/3 the distance from either end. This can be a single specimen plant or a standout colorful group that catches the eye first. Google 'golden ratio' or 'rule of thirds' for more on positioning the focal point

Second thing a Dutch needs is one good 'street' that runs all the way front to back. The streets purpose is to create depth. Ideally most plants on either side will be taller than the street

Bonus critique:



Your layout is too symmetrical. In any Dutch scape each plant group is essentially a specific shape in a specific color. Thats what youre working with - shapes of color. Youre "shapes" are all basically the same shape, the same size, and stacked directly one in front of the other. At a minimum you want to stack the groups like bricks, and you want to use different "shapes" in different sizes. Symmetry is the enemy

Another thing that will help is to have the 'shapes' running more back to front instead of all side to side. Think short/partial 'streets'. Depth is created from contrasts in height. As the plants grow in you want to stagger the heights of groups that are beside each other

Finally notice how most of your color runs across the midground. All the groups have pretty good contrast with whats beside them, but it would be better to spread your color groups out more. In your case having one group a color in each of the mid, fore, and background areas, and never put a color in front of another color

Your plant selection is good, everything contrasts very well with whats beside it. Good space between groups. There's a lot right with your layout, and its perfectly fine just the way it is! But the honest truth is right now its more of a 'Garden' than an actual 'Dutch'. This is all meant as constructive criticism if the goal is to make a real Dutch

 

[skopje_aquascaping]

Thanks for the welcome guys
@Mr.Shenanagins its me this was "take a picture of me but make it look random" at Vivarium this year
@Burr740 you are right, this is more of a Garden than actual Dutch, I've could do much more of planning and preparation in order to suit it up properly.
I guess low experience plays major role here but hey that's why I'm here, next one will be much better!
From planting plan I'm not sure is it right presented on the photo but the main idea was to get something like this

Again, I'm not sure did I achieve this but I believe with trimming it can look okeyish.
Mine plan was to trim them narrow in order to be more wide and tall at the back and kinda create those streets, not solidly as you explained them..but you know, okeyish
At the end of the day, I'll be most happy If I manage to produce colorful tank with some fancy tail fishes and remind/learn the water chemistry on how to grow healthy planted tank.


The thing that concerns me most at the given moment is water chemistry.
I'm using RO water which I decided not to remineralize at the given moment.
As mentioned next to me I have Salty Shrimp kh/gh + and I can do it...but I would use advice on this before doing anything.

So here is what happend

Day two on the water change ( remineralized RO with salty shrimp kh/gh + 2gr on 10 liters ) i got really high TDS , around 400.
I believe that I panicked a bit and I decided not to remineralize it any more since the APT Feast is leaching a lot.
So from then till today ( day 7 ) I use only pure RO.
Somewhere day 3-4 I measured KH ( 0 ) and GH ( 4 ) with JBL Liquid tests.
Ph before co2 is 6.5 and ph after co2 is 5.9
Co2 runs with 2.5-7 bubbles per sec.
Drop checker is more on the dark side of green.
Maybe I should increase the co2,feels like maybe I should go double since I use surface skimmer eheim 350 on such small tank?
Maybe I should start with remineralization, or stay like this for a while?
What kh and gh should I aim for?
I believe I have solid growth for the day, all this plants were invitro cups and they look solid now...
Lucky for me I do not have any shrimps/fish at the given moment so any dramatic ph swings wont kill anything but would be great If I find the
right direction and follow it.
I can do new measurments of kh and gh later today.
TDS on the last measurments ( yesterday ) was 80 after water change and it usualy goes up to 100-140 till the next day.

​

 

[Sb1415]

The plan looks great! I did a somewhat similar thing in my current tank which is in my journal. But I prefer this over the traditional dutch style and I think it is going to be great. Not sure what to call this style.

My 2 cents for your tank is that going by TDS might not be the right move.

As you said the apt feast is quite rich and in my journal and another posted documented that it leached significant amounts of ammonia and needed a long dark start time. You are approaching it by doing a different method of planting early and I think your goal would need to be to give everything that the plant needs. I am not sure what the calcium magnesium ratio is in your water and I would not trust your tds on it and go by gh and kh. I think shooting for a gh of 5-6 and kh of 0-2 seems good. I would remineralize to get to this at all times and not worry about your tds. Since the tds might reflect factors other than your ca and mag.

I am not sure where you are in your aquarist journey and if you have lot of experience ignore this part. Although the apt feast is quite rich, if you are planting this early without cycling you would need to outcompete algae at an insane speed. The plants are probably not rooted yet and are going to rely on water column ferts so you might need to think about that. Overall with high light, wc ferts and non cycled tank there is a high risk for algae and would do as frequent water changes as possible and keep parameters consistent.

For co2 get a Hanna co2 kit, removes all guess work.

Forgot to add this great resource that i had bookmarked from none other than the APT founder - Speed running setups. Settling in a planted tank fast.

 

[skopje_aquascaping]

I think i will continue with the daily water change for one week more, ill just remineralize it based on your advice @Sb1415
Salty Shrimp is what I have next to me, I have to go Gh and sadly Kh boost...soon Masterline will arrive and I can be picky and boost only Gh
I expect KH 3 and GH 6 but of course I'll do testing before and after the actions