Jamie
09-09-2003, 10:28 PM
Well, maybe not...I did think before I acted....I went all out and densely planted my 150 Gallon tank and fully stocked it with fish. I couldn't resist, The prices at the LFS were like 65% off!!! Here's what I got:
PLANTS
Background : Water Sprite, Rotalla Indica, Tropical Sunset Hyrgo, Scarlet Temple, Bacopa Carolina
Mid-Ground : Compacta Swords, Mellon Swords, Java Ferns on my Driftwood
Foreground : Bronze Wendeti, Anubias Nana, Banana Plants, Java Fern
I know the banana plants dont really belong in the foreground, but they fill the void for the time being - until I get some pigmy chains. I was dumbfounded at the quality vs. the price. I stumbled across this sale at my LFS and saved well over $200 by comparison to internet/other pet store prices(that's the including fish). I honestly need to get back to my books - the potted wendeties took a long time to unpot- the root system was /is crazy. I got two big plants for $4 ea with about 10 freebee progaters. Pretty much the same deal with the nanas but not so many babies. The rotalla was a pain in the butt to plant - very thin, I ended up planting a couple of bunched stems together to get them to stay planted. I bought a tweezer-like tool but it wasn't very useful when it got down to the nitty gritty. I ended up using my fingers mostly. I still need to add my first amounts of fertilizers. I already added Flourish - but that's it - I didn't want to mess too much witht the chemistry with a new load of fish.
FISH
16 Marble Hatchets, 24 Cardinals, 22 Harlequin Rasbs, 2 Farlowellas, 6 Zebra Loaches, 4 Gold Rams
I supplemented the fish load with bio-spira. I tested my water after a few hours and the ammonia and nitrites are still 0. I will monitor closely over the next few days/weeks. My water is still pretty cloudy, from the flourite particles I'm assuming though it has been cloudy since I first filled it, and I hope it will clear through cycling soon so that I can have a better view of how well I aquascaped and how the fish are doing. I couldn't pass up on buying the fish - hatchets, cardinals, rasboras were all .75 ea, the Loaches, Farlowellas and Rams were $2 ea. Amazing!! I'm hoping that the tank cycles, I'm not too sure how the plants will affect it, I really want the water to clear up - so I need to get bacteria in there - but the plants are absorbing the food that the bacteria eats - HMMMMMMM - I hope everything works out.
PLANTS
Background : Water Sprite, Rotalla Indica, Tropical Sunset Hyrgo, Scarlet Temple, Bacopa Carolina
Mid-Ground : Compacta Swords, Mellon Swords, Java Ferns on my Driftwood
Foreground : Bronze Wendeti, Anubias Nana, Banana Plants, Java Fern
I know the banana plants dont really belong in the foreground, but they fill the void for the time being - until I get some pigmy chains. I was dumbfounded at the quality vs. the price. I stumbled across this sale at my LFS and saved well over $200 by comparison to internet/other pet store prices(that's the including fish). I honestly need to get back to my books - the potted wendeties took a long time to unpot- the root system was /is crazy. I got two big plants for $4 ea with about 10 freebee progaters. Pretty much the same deal with the nanas but not so many babies. The rotalla was a pain in the butt to plant - very thin, I ended up planting a couple of bunched stems together to get them to stay planted. I bought a tweezer-like tool but it wasn't very useful when it got down to the nitty gritty. I ended up using my fingers mostly. I still need to add my first amounts of fertilizers. I already added Flourish - but that's it - I didn't want to mess too much witht the chemistry with a new load of fish.
FISH
16 Marble Hatchets, 24 Cardinals, 22 Harlequin Rasbs, 2 Farlowellas, 6 Zebra Loaches, 4 Gold Rams
I supplemented the fish load with bio-spira. I tested my water after a few hours and the ammonia and nitrites are still 0. I will monitor closely over the next few days/weeks. My water is still pretty cloudy, from the flourite particles I'm assuming though it has been cloudy since I first filled it, and I hope it will clear through cycling soon so that I can have a better view of how well I aquascaped and how the fish are doing. I couldn't pass up on buying the fish - hatchets, cardinals, rasboras were all .75 ea, the Loaches, Farlowellas and Rams were $2 ea. Amazing!! I'm hoping that the tank cycles, I'm not too sure how the plants will affect it, I really want the water to clear up - so I need to get bacteria in there - but the plants are absorbing the food that the bacteria eats - HMMMMMMM - I hope everything works out.