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First Attempt At A Planted Tank


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#1 Voodoo

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 01:34 PM

So I decided a little while ago that I wanted to see how well I would go with a planted tank. I always found them to be quite calming and as this tank would be in my bedroom thought I would just go for it. Sold a few of my fish to fund the effort and free up a couple of tanks to move the remaining fish into and with some time off over Christmas made a start.

 

I think I worked it out that this tank is now on its 6th iteration since i got it a couple of years ago so it will be interesting to see whether this holds my interest. :)

 

I didn't really have any sort of idea on how the hardscape would end up looking - I figured I had a heap of materials laying around and I had started to stockpile my plants that I wanted to use.

 

My least favourite part of a rescape is changing the substrate - I always make a mess and end up cursing my decision about half way through. I kept most of the sand though in case I needed it to cap the more "plant friendly" substrate that I was going to use.

 

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So with an empty glass box I used a bag of Fluval Stratum that my brother had laying around spare (so free for me :)) as the substrate just incase down the line I decide that I want to put some stem plants that require a bit better substrate than just river sand and capped it with said river sand. After half filling the tank I decided it needed a cap as the stratum is very light and plants were more difficult to plant.

The hardscape was made up of rocks and wood that I had laying around from previous efforts to get the "right look" for this tank.

 

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Cloudy water as per usual but realised that my rock/wood pile looked pretty nice and it was all starting to take shape in my head.

 

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Time to plant the Vallis, Crypt and couple of sword plants that I had and a couple of stem plants (no idea what type of plant it was but it was floating around in another attempted planted tank from a while back) and check on a couple of the very nice pieces of anubius I got off Terry (Thanks mate!!).

 

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The water started to clear up surprisingly quick. And judging by this picture I took 1 shoe off (such a weird slant).

 

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From here I added the other anubius that wasnt going to be tied or glued into place ie. its just been shoved into cracks in the rocks.

 

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So I left it from there overnight a) because I wanted the sand to settle a bit more and B) it had taken me almost a full day to get to this point.


Edited by Voodoo, 12 January 2017 - 01:35 PM.


#2 Voodoo

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 01:50 PM

So the next day was time to add the remaining plants that needed to be "attached" to the hardscape.

Most of this anubius is from Jules (Thanks buddy)

 

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I can see why I am a desk jockey as using super glue is more than a challange for me - I think I got more on my fingers than on the surfaces that I wanted them to be on.

 

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Hopefully this buce takes hold to the log before the cotton dissolves. Ideally I want to cover that entire piece of wood with different types of buce so hit me up if you have any that you want to get rid of :)

 

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More anubius

 

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Another nice piece from Terry

 

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More anubius

 

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The finished rock/wood pile

 

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That crypt is really starting to take off

 

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The finished (for now :)) product

 

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My photography really doesn't do this justice. This was completed on New Year's Eve and I've since added Co2 to the tank in hopes that it will help the plants grow well.

 

I'm so happy with the tank now and can't wait to put my Altums in the tank tonight. I'm thinking altums and smaller oddballs and perhaps some L numbers and corys too. Not sure on which ones though so feel free to make suggestions and any feedback is definitely welcome :)


Edited by Voodoo, 12 January 2017 - 01:57 PM.


#3 Jules

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 02:42 PM

Looks really good - when the plants start to establish and grow I think it will look quite well with still plenty of swimming space.

You gotta change the background to a solid black or blue though, its distracting me haha 



#4 Voodoo

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 02:45 PM

haha yeah that background been on that tank for so long now that i don't even notice it



#5 Westie

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 03:18 PM

You have heaps of snails in the tank. Is that intentional? Or are they uninvited guests?

They'll do a good job of keeping the substrate from having any anaerobic gas pockets in them.

 

I have found that the seachem plant glue (similar to super glue, but more expensive) was really good with rhizome plants. I think the layout is nice.

 

As jules said though, change that background. Nice work!



#6 Voodoo

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 03:21 PM

definitely not intentional! bane of my existence comes to mind haha



#7 Jules

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 04:13 PM

MTS probably came from some plants you got off me :unsure:

Horrible creatures the MTS, weekly scooping through the sand then on the lawn they go seems to keep them at bay for me



#8 Voodoo

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 04:15 PM

nah they were a bonus when I got the tank I think



#9 Jules

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 04:58 PM

Phew, that makes me feel better haha.......



#10 Terry

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 07:38 PM

Looks great, I still have some anubius and bulbitis that I need to get rid of and I can guarantee new snails to beef up the gene pool.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the altums



#11 Delapool

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Posted 12 January 2017 - 09:46 PM

Looking good! I like the lay out.


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#12 ice

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Posted 13 January 2017 - 06:59 AM

I've learned to love my MTS now, they keep the gravel turned over and eat algae off of everything in the tank all whilst not damaging foliage, its a win win really when you think about it :)


Edited by ice, 13 January 2017 - 07:02 AM.


#13 Voodoo

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Posted 13 January 2017 - 08:38 AM

im hoping that will be the case with the snails - at least pay your way if you want to live in my tank ^_^



#14 Westie

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Posted 13 January 2017 - 10:40 AM

I had MTS in a tank, and to keep them to a manageable level, I got these long plastic aquarium tongs from Aquotix which worked a treat:

 

1PC-50-70-90CM-for-choices-Top-Quality-l

The trick is to have these tongs ready for when the lights turn on. Snails will come out when the lights are off. So as soon as the lights go on, use the tongs and remove as many as you can see. There will be another 100 hiding in the substrate, so you won't be able to get rid of them all, but at least they will look after the substrate and won't look unsightly if you remove as many as you see on a weekly basis. It keeps their population in check.



#15 Delapool

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Posted 13 January 2017 - 10:55 AM

I found CO2 injection and the lower ph (I assume as shells got pitting) isn't ideal for them so that may help. Also if glut dosing I noticed in a smaller tank this seemed to reduce pond snails over time.


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#16 Voodoo

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Posted 20 January 2017 - 09:23 AM

well i have a couple of pics of the altums but for some reason it wont let me upload them :(



#17 Westie

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Posted 20 January 2017 - 10:47 AM

Have you tried photobucket?






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