10 Gallon Planted Log

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

If you are that concerned about it, stick a gravel vac about 1" off the bottom, and stir gently as you vacuum, this will remove most of the fine particulate, since your tank hasn't cycled yet you could take it almost all the way down (until the syphon breaks) stirring all teh way, then fill it back up with a plate at the bottom, and see how long it takes to settle, if it's still unsatasfactory, then try again, still no joy, consider a heavier sand.

Kuhli's are fun, when you can see them

 

[azn_fishy55]

I used soil on the bottom and sand on top and it led to a bacterial bloom in my planted tank.But I heard from Diana Walstad to use gravel on top of soil to prevent the soil from becoming too anaerobic.But a soil substrate provides alot of nutrients for plants.HTH

 

[czcz]

Better to not use terrestrial soil on your first planted tank, or until reading Walstads Ecology of the Planted Aquarium, imo. If you are set on using soil, topsoil is much better than the too rich potting soil. Leeched ammonia and gw (not to mention its harm to fish) is of greater concern than bacterial bloom.

For low cost and effective substrate check out what has been said about Schultz in the substrate sticky, and Soilmaster and Turface by Simpte.

 

[Holokai]

Yeah, czcz, I wan't actually considering that option, I was just suprised when I heard about that.

Anyhow, I just ordered 20lbs of Eco-Complete, Seachem Flourish, some food, a Python (25 foot) and a medium sized piece of Swahala Driftwood from drsfostersmith.com with free shipping.

Kinda excited

- Chris

 

[mattrox]

It seems things are progressing well so far. Keep us posted and have some kudos.

 

[Holokai]

Hehe, thanks

 

[Holokai]

Ok, well, I just cleaned off a MJ 400 to add some flow. I am concerned with the amount of debris collection on my Anubias nana. Is this normal? I also have some of those spider web things, I Saw a thread about that earlier, so I'll go reread it.

Other than that, I think I have a stocking plan, so I'm going to run it by you -

Dwarf Gourami - 1

Opaline Gourami - 2 (may be subbed out for another variety, I'm looking for the
most color I can get)

Coolie Loaches - 3-4

YoYo Loaches - 3

I would love to replace the Opaline Gouramis with 2 German Blue Rams, but Until I finish reading that 58 page thread about them, I'm a little worried about their longevity. I also have not actually researched their tank requirements or anything else about them yet either Hey, I've been busy.

I don't plan to add all the fish at once, of course, I'd like to find the Coolie loaches first, perhaps the opaline gouramis as well. I'll wait for some plant growth because I hear that dwarf gouramis may be a bit aggressive or territorial, so hiding places may be necessary, and it will give the rest of the fish a chance to establish themselves with out an aggressor in the tank. Once that happens, I'll add the dwarf, and finally the YoYo Loaches if I am happy with how things are going.

*whew*

Oh CRAP I just blew a whole stem off of the anubias. The powerjet isn't even aming anywhere CLOSE to the plants.

I guess I'll try to place the stem in the substrate, maybe I'll have four of them now

- Chris

 

[Holokai]

Oh, I may need to nix the YoYo loaches, as I forgot that I might ned an Algae eater. I was thinking an ABN.

 

[czcz]

If the stuff on Anubias is brown and fluffy, it is diatoms and totally normal. If its sand settling or something, thats normal, too. Ozz gives great advice on Anubias. As Tiffi and Ernie said, get a lot more plants and CO2 to keep that other algae away.

I think you have to give up the Opalines and YoYos due to size and potential agression issues, for what its worth. Having a densely planted tank should let you get away with adding a school of rasboras or tetras or something, but (again fwiw) until I get the tank's dosing down I find it is easiest to do high light with a modest bioload. Maybe five Kuhliis -- if you give them driftwood and low cover they will bunch up anyway (and if you position it well you can see them all day). They will also be more likely to explore and spaz when lights are on. You can really increase the bottom area by sloping the substrate high in the back and/or building a mound at a corner. This will help with aquascaping as well.

If you like floating plants, your Gourami should appreciate it. Phyllantus fluitans (aka Red root floater) is nice and flowers if you keep humidity high with a glass cover. Riccia is cool too but messy.

Nightlights are really cool with Kuhliis fwiw. I completely agree: they are great fish.

azgardens.com might be a good place to get plants.

Hope this helps.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I havea MJ1200 pointed directly at some anubias nana and barterii, both are quite content with it, one of them has shot up as many as 3 leaves at once, I just trimmed another to find 4-5 new leaves coming up (plus another flower).. if your leaf (with stem) came off, then it shouldn't have been there, anubias is not a frail plant, shrimp can break the leaves off in small chunks, clown loaches (I assume kuhli aswell) can break them up if they are trying to eat some algae off them, but they aren't deliberate and shouldn't deter you from keeping kuhli's.

Consider adding a piece of malaysian or Mopani wood at the center, something that has some height like an arch, but not a stick in the mud, it will help with providing light cover for the anubias until your other plants (when you decide) grow in.

I don't know the first thing about gouramis, aside from them requiring different meds because of a labrynth organ. Most smaller tanks I try to recommend tetras, they are pretty low polluters and seem to have a natural affinity with plants.

Oh, that sword has made an amazing recovery, going from the 5 leaves I had left to 10 now, in less the a week. Plec can't seem to get at the rotala now and I see some new chutes coming up, but I don't want to trim off the old ones since they are the only way for light to get absorbed.. it'll be interesting to see if it will make a full recovery.

 

[Holokai]

Ok, The Opalines and YoYos were more just to get more movement than anything. I do love the dwarf gouramis though. Is it possible to have more than one of them? I read that they are aggressive towards eachother (males) and that females are hard to find.

I just ordered some decent sized driftwood, and I'm hoping to use Downoi in the tank. that should provide the low cover and driftwood you mentioned, czcz.

What benefits do gouramis get from Floating plants? Do they just like the added cover?

And a night light is in the works, I just have to find all the parts cheaply, and then borrow the right drill bit to put a switch on my tank.

Wizzard, Thanks for the info on Anubias. I'm still wondering if I should return it, since I have high light, but I bought the driftwood that I did in hopes of providing some temporary cover for the plants. The cover on them looks mostly like greyish diatoms, along with some debris. The MJ400 is clearing that up somewhat, though.

Glad to hear about your sword, that seems like an incredible growth rate, to double leaves in a week. You must be doing something right.

- Chris

 

[czcz]

I think all labryinth fish appreciate floating cover. I know my Betta does It will also help shade areas of your tank -- the plants will collect in the areas with the least turbulation, and you can get your anubias section going under there per Ozzs advice if you wanted.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Actually I was reading another thread and figured out my tank is out of potassium, I just added some flourish potasium to see if it changes anything, but that sword has been doing amazing, each leaf is getting about 1" per day, it's directly below a 50/50 10k/actinic T6 bulb (4') .. Not sure if the actinic is what is helping it, but I'm gonna keep it in mind for my next tank.

as for the anubias, I hope you stick with it, it will look wonderful when it grows in.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

a new leaf is shooting up now, I'm growing @ 1 leaf every 1.5days.. at this rate I'll be playing football on my tank's surface.. remarkable growth for a "medium" grower.. I know there are some you can almost see grow. (take a picture, go make a coffee, come back, take another piture and it's a bit taller)

 

[Holokai]

That's huge growth. You're gonna be spending an hour a day trimming it down soon

So, my package from Foster Smith is sitting in Phoenix, which is Four hours away. It will be sitting there for three more days, too according to the fed ex site... Lame!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Seems that happens everytime you want something to come in.. I take it that was some driftwood?

 

[Holokai]

Ecolite, driftwood, flourish, python, and some food. Maybe something else too, I forget. It'll be like getting a surprise.

 

[Holokai]

Well, I'm startign my CO2 generator tonight.

2 Liter Fresca Bottle
20 oz. Dr. Pepper Bottle
Fleischmans Active Dry Yeast
Lots of Airline Tubing
Model Airplane Bulkhead Fittings

I'm waiting for the yeast to activate now, I give it another 7 minutes. I have the output from the 2 Liter (generator) going into the Dr. Pepper botlle (makeshift bubble counter, and resevoir for any gunk that comes out of the generator). The output from that goes into the intake on my AC200 filter, so the bubble will get busted up nicely, then go through the filter floss, so it should dissolve nicely.

Kinda psyched

Tuesday the Package gets here, so that will be a busy night. I'm going to save roughly 3 gallons of my current water, with the plants in it while I work. I'm swapping out all the crap sand I have, cleaning the tank out, then adding the eco-complete and fresh water. After planting the plants, I'll dose a bit of Flourish, and call it a night.

Oh, and I'll be starting the boiling / soaking process on the driftwood. Busy Busy.

- Chris

**Edit - One thing I'm unsure of, I have about three feet of airline between teh generator and bubble counter, so I Think this kind of defeats the purpose of having a place for chunks to get out, to relieve pressure, doesn't it. It's so I can take the little bottle down when I need to count the bubbles, or check the generator. Thoughts?

 

[Holokai]

I don't know how long a generator takes to start making bubbles, but it's been 8 hours since I set mine up, and still no bubbles. Hope I didn't screw something up.

 

[Holokai]

Shoot! I forgot to add more water than just the water I activated the Yeast in. I just dumped in more water, and a bit more yeast so it is now 3 inches from the top, instead of halfway down (where the Jello ends) When I opened the container, it smelled like Lime Vodka... so I think I know what happened to the first batch of yeast!

- Chris