I figure I will start a journal where I can catch the eye of a few people. This is my first planted aquarium. I actually find it more challenging than my saltwater reef. I am hoping that I can use this thread as a way to have my questions answered instead of always starting new threads.
Tank specs. 37 gallon used aquarium bought off craigslist.
Started as a community tank.
Lighting 4x24w (6500k and 1000k) Catalina....amazing light...highly recomended
Filtration c-220 marineland cannister filter. does its job and is growing on me.
co2. diy co2
substrate eco-complete plant substrate black. as this is my first planted couldnt tell you if this stuff is the best or not. But it did raise my kh from 3 to 7. It is supposed to go neutral after 3-6 weeks.
plants.
2 anubias nana on driftwood
1 anubias congenis (becoming a favorite)
3 seperate bunches of ludwigia repens ( gone nuts with the new lighting)
2 seperate bunches of ludwigia narrow leaf ( they grow bba on their leaves...that about it)
1 amazon sword (started with 2 leafs and quickly becoming a strong plant)
7 dwarf onion plants ( not sure about these bad boys)
2 bulbs apongeton crispis (had a week and notice quick growth)
1 bunch moneywart? unsure of what exactly this is but a very quick grower
2 pots micro sword ( ummm nothing yet)
2 pots hc....pearling like mad..but not much growth
Starting today i will be doing the ei dosing method with ferts. My ferts just came in today so we shall see how this goes.
You can see the progression of my tank over the course of 3 months. As you can see the obsession with plants hit me with hard...and I am now addicted! There are only 2 bn plecos in the tank now with 15 baby rcs and 2 zebra nerita snail...and some dang pond snails lol
Focus on the last picture. This is my current setup and basically what I want to stick with. The plant in the back right corner the tall one...what is that? moneywart? How would you improve this tank. I am up to suggestions.
What I dont like...the ludwigia narrow leaf. Next to the supposed moneywart. It doesnt want to grow anything but bba on it...and it is the only plant that is doing it. Also How about the layout? The ludwigia repens has grown like a weed this week after the addition of the t-5 lighting....I LOVE IT!!!! I think it will quickly overtake the driftwood and will be my cash crop at the lfs:thm: This sat when I do my water change I will be pulling the driftwood with the 2 nana attached to it. I want to boil some hydra off of it and better attach the nanas with some cotton string
Also I do diy co2. And the first time i did it I had no problems with anything getting in the tank. The last 2 times for the first couple days I get a coat of something on the top of he tank...like a yeast film. I have the setup going from my 2liter solution bottle to a 1 liter bottle that acts as a bubble counter and what I would have thought kept the yeast out of my tank. it doesnt. Then it goes to an air stone where it gets sucked up into the intake of the cannister filter. I dont think this is the best thing for my cannister filter impeller since it is always getting a collection of co2 bubbles then spitting it out. Id like to get one of those green leaf ceramic glass diffusers then let my powerhead spread those bubbles in my tank...but I hate the look of bublles in the aquarium. BUt I wonder if the bubbles would be tiny enough that I wouldnt notice it? How about the output diffuser that connects to the output of a cannister filter by grean leaf that is like 120 bucks???anyone use one of those?
Well hopefully I can get some help and comments on this and everyone will like the read.
Thanks guys
Tank specs. 37 gallon used aquarium bought off craigslist.
Started as a community tank.
Lighting 4x24w (6500k and 1000k) Catalina....amazing light...highly recomended
Filtration c-220 marineland cannister filter. does its job and is growing on me.
co2. diy co2
substrate eco-complete plant substrate black. as this is my first planted couldnt tell you if this stuff is the best or not. But it did raise my kh from 3 to 7. It is supposed to go neutral after 3-6 weeks.
plants.
2 anubias nana on driftwood
1 anubias congenis (becoming a favorite)
3 seperate bunches of ludwigia repens ( gone nuts with the new lighting)
2 seperate bunches of ludwigia narrow leaf ( they grow bba on their leaves...that about it)
1 amazon sword (started with 2 leafs and quickly becoming a strong plant)
7 dwarf onion plants ( not sure about these bad boys)
2 bulbs apongeton crispis (had a week and notice quick growth)
1 bunch moneywart? unsure of what exactly this is but a very quick grower
2 pots micro sword ( ummm nothing yet)
2 pots hc....pearling like mad..but not much growth
Starting today i will be doing the ei dosing method with ferts. My ferts just came in today so we shall see how this goes.
You can see the progression of my tank over the course of 3 months. As you can see the obsession with plants hit me with hard...and I am now addicted! There are only 2 bn plecos in the tank now with 15 baby rcs and 2 zebra nerita snail...and some dang pond snails lol
Focus on the last picture. This is my current setup and basically what I want to stick with. The plant in the back right corner the tall one...what is that? moneywart? How would you improve this tank. I am up to suggestions.
What I dont like...the ludwigia narrow leaf. Next to the supposed moneywart. It doesnt want to grow anything but bba on it...and it is the only plant that is doing it. Also How about the layout? The ludwigia repens has grown like a weed this week after the addition of the t-5 lighting....I LOVE IT!!!! I think it will quickly overtake the driftwood and will be my cash crop at the lfs:thm: This sat when I do my water change I will be pulling the driftwood with the 2 nana attached to it. I want to boil some hydra off of it and better attach the nanas with some cotton string
Also I do diy co2. And the first time i did it I had no problems with anything getting in the tank. The last 2 times for the first couple days I get a coat of something on the top of he tank...like a yeast film. I have the setup going from my 2liter solution bottle to a 1 liter bottle that acts as a bubble counter and what I would have thought kept the yeast out of my tank. it doesnt. Then it goes to an air stone where it gets sucked up into the intake of the cannister filter. I dont think this is the best thing for my cannister filter impeller since it is always getting a collection of co2 bubbles then spitting it out. Id like to get one of those green leaf ceramic glass diffusers then let my powerhead spread those bubbles in my tank...but I hate the look of bublles in the aquarium. BUt I wonder if the bubbles would be tiny enough that I wouldnt notice it? How about the output diffuser that connects to the output of a cannister filter by grean leaf that is like 120 bucks???anyone use one of those?
Well hopefully I can get some help and comments on this and everyone will like the read.
Thanks guys