My new hardscape
- Thread starter nanofish
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Brian_Nano12g
Aquarium Advice Addict
Cool but the water looks discolored by the tannins. Perhaps boil out the tannins in the driftwood and start over? Maybe add some plants here and there? Perhaps some Swords or Java Fern? I like the substrate and how it contrasts with the wood though.
jcolon
Aquarium Advice Addict
A dark background is really going to make the DW, substrate and any plants pop!
Brian_Nano12g
Aquarium Advice Addict
jcolon said:
^^^ yup! I Second that!
That's a bit of a bad pic since the driftwood was in less than an hour. I actually want the tannins though because I always have to be different lol I even planned on a black background. I'm thinking on the sides possibly as well. I wish I could have done a better job of hiding the equipment.
I had amazon frogbit in the tank for a while but managed to kill it sadly. I'm new to plants. I want to check out the swords though. Are they easy to keep? like really, really even i can't screw up easy?
I had amazon frogbit in the tank for a while but managed to kill it sadly. I'm new to plants. I want to check out the swords though. Are they easy to keep? like really, really even i can't screw up easy?
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
I never thought I would like it, but after accidentally staining my water, I'm really liking the 'blackwater' look.
Swords get big, in general. I had an amazon sword that out grew my 40b, then eventually out grew my 125. Is that a T5HO fixture on top? If so, how many watts? What size tank is that? I've got ideas as to what I would do with that scape, but the lighting will determine a lot
Swords get big, in general. I had an amazon sword that out grew my 40b, then eventually out grew my 125. Is that a T5HO fixture on top? If so, how many watts? What size tank is that? I've got ideas as to what I would do with that scape, but the lighting will determine a lot
Brian_Nano12g
Aquarium Advice Addict
Well Swords are considered to be good beginner plants that are low to moderate light and won't require any c02 injecting. Swords do however require a good source of iron in the substrate. You can either get some root tabs or use a layer of laterite below your sand bed. Once they get going though, they look pretty nice! The Java Fern on the other hand are less demanding than the Swords and (I think) you can just get away with dosing with ferts and using low lights. I've seen some striking driftwood with some Anubias species attached to them. I personally like the Anubias Nana and/or Java Fern on the DW. You can tie them on there with some translucent fishing line until the roots grow attached to the wood on their own. Maybe get creative with some Java Moss to cover the roots and fishing line... I dunno, just some suggestions! 
BTW, what are you thinking in terms of stocking for a S. American biotope?
BTW, what are you thinking in terms of stocking for a S. American biotope?
It's a 40b. I figured that it was a good size tank but not too big since everything I'm doing or using is something I've never done before. The light is 2 39w 6700k bulbs and yes it is T5HO.
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
Ahh ok. You've got tons of options then. If you want, there's a link in my sig to my 40b build. Start to finish. And, I've not run across a plant yet that 'needs' co2 injection. None of my tanks have been injected for the last 3 months, nor will they be (i sold my stuff)...
Well Swords are considered to be good beginner plants that are low to moderate light and won't require any c02 injecting. Swords do however require a good source of iron in the substrate. You can either get some root tabs or use a layer of laterite below your sand bed. Once they get going though, they look pretty nice! The Java Fern on the other hand are less demanding than the Swords and (I think) you can just get away with dosing with ferts and using low lights. I've seen some striking driftwood with some Anubias species attached to them. I personally like the Anubias Nana and/or Java Fern on the DW. You can tie them on there with some translucent fishing line until the roots grow attached to the wood on their own. Maybe get creative with some Java Moss to cover the roots and fishing line... I dunno, just some suggestions!
BTW, what are you thinking in terms of stocking for a S. American biotope?
lol I love research so you gave me plenty of good ideas there to look up. To be honest the only plants I had looked into before were Amazon frogbit, dwarf water lettuce, red roat floaters, and x-mas moss. Apparently I have abrown thumb though since that's what my frobit turned into.
As for stocking. I looked at a lot of different tetras and corydoras. I like the smaller sized shoaling fish since the tank isn't very big. I was thinking of seeing about lemon tetras, glowlight tetras, three line corydoras, and possibly a small group of pitbull plecos if I have the room.
Very nice tanks both of them. A nicely planted tank always looks amazing to me even if I'm going in a slightly different direction. I'm glad to know that CO2 isn't a must. I'm having enough trouble figuring out if lighting periods and fertilizers.
I thought about keep a journal of my build but honestly so far it's been everything that can go wrong has.
Brian_Nano12g
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes research is fun! mfdrookie516 gave me good ideas when I needed it too! I'm new to plants myself but so far, my swords, java fern, and anubias has been doing well in my tank. All green and I hardly ever have to prune off dead leaves. I'm using just standard gravel, some root tabs, and the occasional dose of ferts. But my tank is pretty small (12g) and with yours being a larger sized tank and with those nice pieces of DW, you definitely have a lot to play with!
It's just me, but I would definitely dress up some of that DW with some Anubias Nana and Java Fern. Something like this photo (not mine btw):
Or like this with the Java Fern:
With some swords in the background.
Google image some ideas and perhaps you'll get more inspiration.
Your stocking sounds nice. Down the road, I'd throw in some Otos to help with Algae. And once your tank is fully established, I would consider some center piece fish such as German Blue Rams or apistos as the icing on the cake. I'm just biased when it comes to Rams... they're just so nice to look at...LOL
It's just me, but I would definitely dress up some of that DW with some Anubias Nana and Java Fern. Something like this photo (not mine btw):
Or like this with the Java Fern:
With some swords in the background.
Google image some ideas and perhaps you'll get more inspiration.
Your stocking sounds nice. Down the road, I'd throw in some Otos to help with Algae. And once your tank is fully established, I would consider some center piece fish such as German Blue Rams or apistos as the icing on the cake. I'm just biased when it comes to Rams... they're just so nice to look at...LOL
I did a whole bunch of research toight on swords, camboba, and vallisneria. I want to look around and see if I can find any pics or videos of people who've actually used them in a blackwater. Mostly though I got distracted. I haven't even finished setting this tank up and after seeing everyone's pics and tanks I started thinking that my next tank should be this heavily planted Amazon theme.
I have another large piece of driftwood (after my first ebay driftwood failure I bit the bullet and just went with the Malaysian) but I thought adding it would make it look way too crowded. I also bought a lot of Indian almond leaves. I don't have any in right now but when the cycle is farther along I plan to have three or four there in the foreground.
I read somewhere (don't know if it's true since I never kept them) that the dwarf cichlids can get nasty with the corydoras when they are spawning. Since my name's is Cory you know I'm not willing to give up my cats. The ottos make me a bit nervous too with the whole first month mortality rate. That's why I was thinking pitbulls. If I had gotten a big tank I'd also be thinking of bristlenose plecos. My only worry right now with the fish I was thinking of is that I'll have too much going on at the bottom of the tank and not enough in the rest. It's going to be an open tank so I can't even fall back on hatchets for the top.
I have another large piece of driftwood (after my first ebay driftwood failure I bit the bullet and just went with the Malaysian) but I thought adding it would make it look way too crowded. I also bought a lot of Indian almond leaves. I don't have any in right now but when the cycle is farther along I plan to have three or four there in the foreground.
I read somewhere (don't know if it's true since I never kept them) that the dwarf cichlids can get nasty with the corydoras when they are spawning. Since my name's is Cory you know I'm not willing to give up my cats. The ottos make me a bit nervous too with the whole first month mortality rate. That's why I was thinking pitbulls. If I had gotten a big tank I'd also be thinking of bristlenose plecos. My only worry right now with the fish I was thinking of is that I'll have too much going on at the bottom of the tank and not enough in the rest. It's going to be an open tank so I can't even fall back on hatchets for the top.
