10G Dirt (NPT) "Mezza Luna"

[frrok]

Hi I believe this may be my first thread that I've started here in AA. I just wanted to share my recent project with you all. I've been lurking for sometime and maybe have listed a few times. This isn't my first tank or dirt tank for that matter but I nonetheless feel very new at all this.
Here is a 10 gallon that i converted to a dirt substrate over the weekend. I chose to name it, Mezza Luna (italian for "half moon")
Pics are in this order, the before shot , layout of substrate then final planted. Let me know what you think of the scape, any critiques? Wood is Manzanita As far as equipment goes I am using a zoo med 501 for filtration(which I had to return to one petco cuz it was defective) Archaea 27w cfl fixture. Substrate is MGOCPM and Eco complete as cap. Only black gravel I could find that was the close to the size that needed, black and natural. After I planted I quickly realized how light eco was and some plants kept floating up. Very frustrating. I had better luck with super naturals gravel that I used in my 3.5. It's unfortunate that these companies do not make a fine black natural gravel(thats not sand) in 1-3mm. That would be ideal. Anyway, hope you enjoy. As it was a struggle to re-do it, especially with fish. I'm really happy with the outcome. And it is by no means finished. I want to added a few more species of stem plants and I have knock off lily pipes on order as I don't care for the intake and outflow.l on the zoo med. Dirt is awesome!
Fish:
2 Gold twin bar platies
1 orange glofish
2 ottos
1 Betta(which is quite docile and a non-issue with other fish)
Plants
Jungle Val
Crypt Wendti tropica
Crypt Wendti red
Dwarf hairgrass
Dwarf sag

 

[J as always]

Looks really nice. Very subtle and well thought out. I also like the fish types you have put in as the colours add to the overall feel of the tank. J

 

[frrok]

Looks really nice. Very subtle and well thought out. I also like the fish types you have put in as the colours add to the overall feel of the tank. J

Thank you for the nice comment. Forgot to mention the betta is a blue and black veiltail named Rocco. Hehe...

I still have some finishing touches but I'm happy with how it looks so far. I'll post more when I have it the way I want it.

 

[frrok]

Added mr amano.

 

[adadkins1]

Very nice tank.

 

[tulip55555]

That's a really nice tank! Good job

 

[frrok]

Thanks guys. here is a quick update. I changed out the intake/outake tubes from the zoo med with acrylic lily pipes. I also added some bacopa but I don't have a recent pic of it. This shot was taken last weekend. Going to do 10-20% water change this weekend. (water a bit cloudy) and take some more shots.

 

[frrok]

I added bacopa and some rotala indica in the right side of the tank. I hoping to keep the rotala bushy and low. Sonar everything is slow to settle in but with time it will take off. Lesson learned so far. Patience!

 

[frrok]

Pic of new plants close up. Forgot to
Mention that I also adde a black background. thx for looking.

 

[Atxpunx]

Your tank looks beautiful. It gives inspiration. What type of dirt substrate did you use and did you have trouble when adding the new plants with dirt kicking up or cloudiness?

 

[frrok]

Your tank looks beautiful. It gives inspiration. What type of dirt substrate did you use and did you have trouble when adding the new plants with dirt kicking up or cloudiness?

Thank you! I used miracle grow organic choice potting mix. Not much trouble when planting. I did it pretty quick with tweezers. If a little comes up it just settles down in a little bit anyway. It's important to have a good cap in a dirt tank to keep the dirt down.

 

[frrok]

More updates. Java fern " Philippine" was added to my wood. The dwarf hairgrass is not doing all the great. Thinking if pulling it all up. I started a little emersed setup in a glass bowl that inhale outside I'm daylight. It will probably do better with more c02. It struggling in this tank. Anyway, here's some more pics. Thx for looking.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Awesome tank!

 

[frrok]

Some updates to this tank. Having some issues with plant growth but it's starting to fill in a bit. I think my substrate has gone anaerobic. I see bubbles coming up and it smells like sulfur. Anyway. Hoping it goes away on its own. I really don't want to tear down this tank...

 

[mfdrookie516]

I've found that if you don't soak the dirt for a week or two, it'll do that. It's not a big deal... kinda funny when you hear a bubble burst, then a wave of rotten egg smell comes through the house. It's kind of fun saying 'Honey, the tank farted again... just a heads up'.

 

[frrok]

I've found that if you don't soak the dirt for a week or two, it'll do that. It's not a big deal... kinda funny when you hear a bubble burst, then a wave of rotten egg smell comes through the house. It's kind of fun saying 'Honey, the tank farted again... just a heads up'.

lol!! I didn't really soak it for too long. I did soak and let it dry like 3 times and let it sit for a week. I think some of the gas is being trapped cuz of the Eco complete I have has cap. It has smaller grain sizes that settles underneath the larger ones. And I think that's compacting the soil. That's just my guess. I have a 3.5 gallon dirt capped with Carib sea peace gravel. And that's pretty uniform. Prob around 2mm. And I don't have that issue with that tank. My Val's are still tanking forever to settle. And my crypts kind of have curled leaves. I thought it was a deficiency so I started dosing... But that hasn't really helped much.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I've found that for the first 2-3 months, algae blooms and poor plant health is to be expected with MGOC. Thats just been my experience in 3 different tanks.

 

[frrok]

I've found that for the first 2-3 months, algae blooms and poor plant health is to be expected with MGOC. Thats just been my experience in 3 different tanks.

Wow. Ok. Good to know... Thanks!