First Planted Tank (pics)

[morleyz]

Here's some pics of my 28G now that it's planted. Hopefully it won't take too long to fill out. Everyone seems to be growing well after the first week.

http://www.foydl.com/hobby/images/misc/planted-wide.jpg

http://www.foydl.com/hobby/images/misc/planted-narrow.jpg

And just for reference, here's what it looked like before:

http://www.foydl.com/hobby/images/tank-zoom.jpg

Opinions are always welcome...

[Dangerdoll]

looks like you're off to a nice start Morley....
good luck, can't wait to see it when it's well
established! ;)

[NJ Devils Fan]

NICE!

What kind of filter do you have in there?

[FuzMugly]

What kind of fish do you have in there?

[morleyz]

Filter: AC300 - Working on talking my wife into letting me buy another canister though...would like to cut down on agitation.

Fish: Fancy Guppies, Lemon Tetras, a couple of swordtails...and I think there's a platy running around. I'm waiting on my SAE's to arrive...and a few otos to be added shortly.

[Stephen]

Nice job. Great looking tank.

Seeing all these nice planted tanks has peaked my interest in having my own. I'm considering picking up a book this weekend and educating myself before I give it a go in my 90 gallon. Any recommendations?

[morleyz]

I just winged it...I originally dropped a couple of those walmart bulbs into my tank (for fun mostly)...and I realized that the real plants were sooooo much nicer looking...I had to get rid of all of those gross plastic ones...so I swapped out my substrate for something a little more attractive and plant friendly (flourite), build myself a light fixture and went out an bought a bunch of plants...stuck them all in...and whalla...

So my recommendation is to skim over the basics in the plant forum and just go for it...books take too long :D

[125gJoe]

Doesn't that look better??! I like how you varied the rocks and plants. Looks great!

[Faramir]

There's no comparison really, is there? I can't imagine going unplanted unless there is a good reason to - water conditions, incompatible fish etc.

[Hunter2001]

looks great!

Hope you have lots of fun with it.

[Botch]

Is that a CO2 line feeding into the AC intake? How does it work? Isn't it noisy?

A good book to try is Aquarium Plants Manual by Ines Scheurmann
(published by Barron). Scheurmann has another book, Water Plants in the Aquarium (also published by Barron), but this one is not as useful. I have both, but only use APM.

http://ez2www.com/go.php3?site=book&go=0812016874

[Sumpin'fishy]

I see you are making use of the same fake slate rock decoration as I had in my first tank. My crawfish loved it, but it got dyed blue from Quick Cure, and doesn't look as good anymore. It's pretty good looking for a fake cave, though!

BTW, plants look great. Wish the best for the overall turnout.

[morleyz]

Originally posted by Botch
Is that a CO2 line feeding into the AC intake? How does it work? Isn't it noisy?



Yes it's CO2...isn't really all that noisy. CO2 is around 13...so it seems to be working pretty well. I'm currently trying to come up with something aesthetically pleasing but more efficient at dissovling my CO2...oh yeah...and relatively cheap.

[kveeti]

The difference is amazing (not that it wasn't a nice looking tank before). Beautiful! I love the different textures in your selection. (What is the long skinny stuff? I'm hoping it's a low light plant; I want some!) Please post updated pictures as the plants grow.

[morleyz]

The long skinny grassy stuff is Acorus (or at least that's what they called it). Don't know much about it...I thought I recalled it needing high light.

[Faramir]

Acorus is not a true aquatic plant - you may find it's OK, or you may find it dies after a few months to a year.

Which is a shame, because it's a very nice tall plant.

[morleyz]

Oh sure...now you tell me.