New. Need advice, opinions, Comments!

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Aquasteel

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Feb 7, 2012
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Caitlin


Just an updated pic of the tank with the two moss balls and bog wood with moss and the two goldfish on loan... Cloudiness has settled since pic was taken.

I have been reading and I have gathered I should change the lighting. I only have a 15w light now, the cheap standard light which came with the tank... I'm thinking of changing to a special light for plants but not too high for the plants so they don't grow viciously? I have no idea what type I need... Suggestions?




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stephcps

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Jun 2, 2009
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So far, the plants you have are low light and will actually do fine with the light you have. If you put too much light, you will just grow algae!
I suggest you read up on the plants you are interested in. Tank is looking good!
 

user_name

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So far, the plants you have are low light and will actually do fine with the light you have. If you put too much light, you will just grow algae!
I suggest you read up on the plants you are interested in. Tank is looking good!
+1

That cloudiness sounded like the beggining of your tank's cycle.

If you're looking to add more plants which will do fine witht the lighting you have, you should check anubias and java fern. These plants have worked awesome for me, and they look really nice too. Just make sure to not plant them in the substrate, as they prefer to be tied to decorations in the tank. Fishing line should work fine for attaching them. Amazon Swords are another great low light plant, they are very nice looking and have been bulletproof in my tanks.
 

Aquasteel

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Thanks for the feedback. My LFS guy said he will have a plant stock list on Saturday. Once I research my chosen plants, I can choose them on the list, orderd fresh for me. Should I take precautions with these?
I'm planning a conversion of the filter to accommodate a bubble wall at the back of the tank.
Has anybody ever done this? Or is it nonsensical?
Also we would like a tall grass type plant just in front of the ascending bubbles, in a curtain style but very thin blades so bubbles will make them ripple? Apologies for the bad description.


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stephcps

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Well, bubble walls are usually not great for plants. They gas-off the co2 in the tank, which the plants use. Anything that causes a lot of surface agitation will do this. Most of the tall grass like plants that I know of have a higher light requirement. So, you would be working against yourself in that scenario....gassing off co2 and having low light. am not a plant guru...can only grow a few low light plants myself! But, I will tell you it is a balancing act between light, plants and fertilizers. Which is why I stick with stock lighing, low light plants and fish poo!! LOL.....do yourself a favor though....this I learned the hard way....read, read, read.

P.S. Is that your puppy in your avatar?
 

Aquasteel

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It sure is! :) he is 7 months now. His name is jefe, he has taken a shine to sitting on the arm rest and watching the tank after only a few days. Fascinated lol.

So I have done a bit of researching and I would like to create a background accent with Vallisneria Americana,
Or
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balanse

Good choices or no?

For the middle ground at the sides cryptocoryne becketti ? These are supposed to be ok in beginner tank settings like my own?

I guess I shall re-think the bubble wall idea.


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stephcps

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Well, Jefe is very handsome! He looks like a handful though!! LOL

All of the crypts are great low light plants. They have a root ball and are heavy bottom feeders. Root tabs that you just stick underneath, work really well. They tend to melt with changes. So, don't be surprised if you place them in your tank and the leaves just melt off after a couple of days...they will come back. So, don't worry about buying the biggest, prettyist one...chances are it will be nothing but a root ball in a few days!! LOL....but crypts are very pretty. I like all the varieties.

The val....I have NEVER had luck with this plant. Once I got it to live...but it never thrived. It tends to need more light I think than what I have on any of my tanks. Looks great in a tank though!
 

Aquasteel

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Just a bit of an update, I have decided to scrap the planted tank idea, until the future when I have a bit more knowledge and € to spend on proper plant set ups.

So since I last posted we have done a re-arrange and added our first fish who all seem really happy and active. Took my goldfish out and returned him to his own tank. The white cloud has stayed in the tank though.

So far we have 3 platies but I think we will return them because the LFS attendant gave us pretty plain ones! They must chase each other non stop! They were only just to see was the tank ready.
We got 8 neon tetras, the white cloud minnow thinks he is one of them.. Lol! The neons don't seem to school they are spread all over the tank just hovering about.. .? Is this normal?
And 1 dwarf gourami, he wasn't very bright colours in the shop but he was the nicest one, since he's been home his colours are really standing out. He's also getting braver and braver everyday. We did some research after and it says we should get him a girlfriend because he will get bored?

We also made the bubble wall because now were sticking with plastic plants the aerated water won't matter too much.?
Added a background because the wall behind the tank wasn't too pretty lol.


Although since I added the two moss balls and java moss is has turned a much much darker green? Is this a good or bad thing?


So here's some pics.. What do Ye think? Were going to try and get another tall silk plant like the one we have for the front right corner.

This shows the pipe I have running from the filter creating the bubble wall... The other end is left open so the filtered water can escape and cut only 4 holes to release the bubbles. The current seems to be better in the tank this way as the filtered water is released at the opposite corner now.


Here's Garry the gourami sorry pic quality is bad I used the iPad and it has a pretty poor camera.


Our platies the spotty one is in the background too.


Few of the tetras with Garry, this was the day we got him and wasn't as colourful as he is now.



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