Evilgrin's Dirted 55g Journey

[Evilgrin]

I've been away from the hobby for the better part of 8 years and caught the bug again not very long ago. I have been lurking here for nearly 2 months and became an active member almost a month ago in that time I've built my stand , canopy and Led lighting. well after many long weeks of building , planing and waiting for deliveries to arrive today is the big day I finally flooded my tank and placed some plants. Tank Filled 10/24/12

Tank: 55 Gallon
Substrate: MGOPS 1", Flourite black sand 2"
Plants: So far hoping to add more soon.

• creeping jenny
• Lindernia sp. mini
• Luwiga glandulosa
• Ludwiga sp. red
• Hygro sp.??
• Anubias
• Water Wisteria
• Compacta Hygrophila Corymbosa Stricta
• Dwarf Hairgrass Eleocharis parvula
• Cardinal plant
• Banana plant
• Cabomba
• Cabomba furcata

Lighting: 2 55watt 50/50 power compact, 16 3watt leds with 60* optics 8 6500k 8 12000k. May add more Led's as time goes on will let the plants dictate if I need more light right now it's looks to be Mid to High light time will tell.
Heaters: Jager 150watt X 2
Stocking: AS of right now the plan is to have, All stocking is subject to availability.

• 4-6 Bosemani Rainbows
• 3-6 Iranian Red Rainbows
• 10 - 15 neon tetras
• 4 - 6 Cory cat's
• 4 - 6 Dennison Barbs (Rethinking these they get a bit bigger then previously thought)

Co2: None as of yet but may add it at a later date. (may add a DIY CO2 until I can get enough funds for pressurized)

Filtration: SunSun 303B(W/UV) rated at just over 500Gph Filled from top down.

• 3 Fine Filter Pad's (temp. will be replaced with Chemi pur and just 1 fine filter pad)
• 6 plastic pot scrubbers on top of porous glass beads for more bio filtration.
• Ehfi-synth (it was free reminds me of a jumbo sized pot scrubber) over Ceramic noodles to help trap larger debris.

Here are a few pics right after the first flooding it's very cloudy but not as bad as I thought it might be probably going to do 1 WC before going to bed then see what it looks like tomorrow.

Tested for Ph both in the tank and from the tap and both are at 7.5 still need to double check the water parameters for the fish on my list then adjust from there.

And on to the Pics These were taken about 5 min after first fill with water. Pics don't have all the plants that are in the above list.

 

[Evilgrin]

4 Weeks into this build

well it's been 4 weeks since I filled the tank got to spend a week in the dark due to superstorm sandy but no major damage thankfully.

Anyway so far I've added

• 12 neon tetras
• 5 pygmy cory-cats
• 1 S.A.E.
• 11 ghost shrimp
• 1 bushy nose pleco

all fish are happy and doing well so far.

Water Parameters have been stable for the last 2 weeks Am. 0 NO2. 0 NO3 0
Testing water daily just in case of any spikes.

Anyway here are some pics taken on 11/13/12

Still have a long way to go but it's getting there please feel free to comment or leave suggestions.

 

[Rivercats]

The tank and plants are looking good right now! Well done. I did notice you posted that your nitrates are 0 tho. In a planted tank you actually want nitrates at 10-20ppm and phosphates at .5-1ppm. You might want to invest in an API phosphate test kit.

I use dry ferts as they are very economical. I buy mine at GreenLeaf Aquariums. This fert package has all the macro and micro nutrients you need... Micro & Macro | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums. I also dose PPS-Pro and here is a link to explain it... https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer/home/pps-pro, Using dry ferts is a good way to be able to customize them to your tanks needs.

Now I have a question for you... have you noticed your Cabomba furcata shedding leaves alot? Have thought about getting it but heard it's a messy plant. You can view my tank at http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f70/220g-planted-newly-rescaped-231568.html. Hope this info help.

 

[Evilgrin]

was going to get the phosphate and the GH test kit next visit to the LFS.

I had a blip on the nitrate test a few days ago of 5ppm but today it was back to zero. I've only just added most of the fish in the last 24 hours so I'm expecting to see a small spike in the next day or so.

Thanks for the link lots to read up on.

As for the cabomba furcata it shed a bit on the initial planting since then it behaves just like the regular cabomba so far.

 

[vance1013]

Lookin good glad to hear your doin well after the storm

 

[Evilgrin]

Added a few more fish to bring my stocking list closer to completion, currently in the tank are

• 1 SAE
• 12 neon tetras
• 5 Pygmy Corries
• 1 Bushynose Pleco
• 3 Bosemani Rainbows
• 8 Ghost Shrimp

Ok updated pics as of today

full tank shot

Left corner

Center

Right Corner

And several random close ups of both Plants and Fish

 

[vance1013]

Looks real good like the variety of color really stands out

 

[bud29]

Looking good!

On your last post, next to last picture; what is the name of the plant directly to the left of the banana plant? I've seen it a few times but don't know its name

 

[Evilgrin]

That plant is called Lindernia rotundifolia 'Variegated'
here's a close up pic of it I found online

 

[Evilgrin]

Thanks I can't wait for the plants to fill in a lot more so I can trim and make some spots a little denser.
Spent 2 hours watching the fish already today and it looks like my bosemani might spawn at some point in the future lots of posturing going on in there, need to get more so the lone female isn't harassed to much hopefully the LFS will have more come Wednesday.

 

[bud29]

That plant is called Lindernia rotundifolia 'Variegated'
here's a close up pic of it I found online

Awesome. Where did you get yours? I really like it.

 

[Evilgrin]

I got a package deal from another forum from someone selling their trimmings got about 75% of my plants from them the other 25% from various local shops. that plant was in with the trimmings.

 

[vance1013]

I got a package deal from another forum from someone selling their trimmings got about 75% of my plants from them the other 25% from various local shops. that plant was in with the trimmings.

Sounds like a good deal

 

[Evilgrin]

Since the last update I've added a few more fish to the tank, had to trim some plants back to keep everything looking a bit more even. Also added some duckweed and frogbit to help absorb some of the excess nutrients in the water colum, going to have to keep an eye on them so they don't block all the light but so far looks like the rainbows and the platties like snacking on the duckweed so don't think that will get to outta control.
Well here are a bunch more pics since the last update.