5 Gallon Planted Aquarium Log (Attempt Number Two)

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FishCrazyBenBOMB

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Jun 20, 2008
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First of all. About my first attempt, it was a failure because I did not do enough research about planted aquariums and equipment. I rushed into it and I failed lol. Anyways about my secound attempt.

This is a low-tech setup.

Here is my Setup.
Equipment:
-Whisper 20 Powerfilter
-Whisper 5 Airpump (Ran at night only)
-Whisper Heater.
-Light fixture with a 15watt T8 Super UV Sunlight Bulb.
-Sand from local River
-Drift wood from local River
-Rocks from outside :)p)

Plants:
-Hornwort
-Java fern
-(Hoping for more plants soon)

Fish:
-3 Mollies (2 Female, 1 Male)
-3 Neon Tetras
-1 Otti
-(Mollies might get put back into 20 and then i'll get some other species of tetras)

Picture Time!! (Just rearranged everything so little cloudy)










 
i would go with something different then hornwort and mollies get too big for 10 gals. the hard scape looks nice. might even want some more light over it.
 
zomg looks good!! i bet the fishies are enjoying it!

i like ur lil java fern on driftwood, im trying that too!

i would put the mollies in a bigger tank (say maybe ur 10g!!)!

remember to use low light plants with that light (add some java moss to those rocks and wood!!)

nice driftwood from local river, i havnt found any! and urs looks soo good! get me local wood!!! lol

i woulda never thought of using local sand! but i bet its a pain when u move things >.<

nice rocks, try burying then partialy in the sand like they've been there for a long time!
 
zomg looks good!! i bet the fishies are enjoying it!

i like ur lil java fern on driftwood, im trying that too!

i would put the mollies in a bigger tank (say maybe ur 10g!!)!

remember to use low light plants with that light (add some java moss to those rocks and wood!!)

nice driftwood from local river, i havnt found any! and urs looks soo good! get me local wood!!! lol

i woulda never thought of using local sand! but i bet its a pain when u move things >.<

nice rocks, try burying then partialy in the sand like they've been there for a long time!


Yeah I had the mollies in my 20 gallon long and I just threw two of em in there to see if they were happier, they seem to be a lot more active though. Plus it looks like one of em is ready to have babies so I thought I would throw her in there so the babies can hide in the hornwort. It is actually not a pain to move things either. The sand works well. Java moss is one of my favorite plants to tell you the truth, but when i went and go the plants at Petsmart they didn't have any java moss, i'm going to check a local fish store plus petco see if they have any, if not I might have to find somone to buy them from or order a bunch of low light plants. But yeah the mollies are really only in there temp. because I just want like a bunch of little tetras in there. Neons, Cardinal and more.
 
i would go with something different then hornwort and mollies get too big for 10 gals. the hard scape looks nice. might even want some more light over it.



Well I couldn't find a lot of low light plants that I wanted and I got a lot of it for how much I paid. Plus I wanted something bushy like for fry and thats pretty perfect (rather have java moss but they didn't have any)
 
first_planted_aquarium_june_14_2008_thumb.jpg
Hey FishCrazyBenBOMB i looked at some of your photos and i saw this picture. 1st off nice pic. 2nd off i was just curius what kind of fish is in that pic. not the neons. what kind of fish is that grey one on the bottom left. i really like it.
 
first_planted_aquarium_june_14_2008_thumb.jpg
Hey FishCrazyBenBOMB i looked at some of your photos and i saw this picture. 1st off nice pic. 2nd off i was just curius what kind of fish is in that pic. not the neons. what kind of fish is that grey one on the bottom left. i really like it.


Ok first of all i'm not proud of that picture because it reminds me of how bad of a failure a did at my first attempt at planted. Lol anyways though that is a killifish, I don't remember what kind it was because I bought 3 and for some reason they all got killed, I can see the reason why for two of em but the other one shouldn't of gotten killed, but yeah thats a type of killifish. I love them they are cool. But you should pay more attetion to my new pictures haha :D
 
Thanks. Sorry but i like the way you arranged the tank. I'm a starter at plants. What kind of grassy plants are those. And thats a piece of drift wood right? Sorry you dont like it but i do its simple and has pleanty of room. I want to make my 10 gallon like that. And is that sand? Where did you get it? All i can find is gravel.
 
Oh and i saw your other pics. yes they look nicer but i want to start with something a little simpler


Ok well the plants were dwarf hairgrass, but later learned they needed high light and co2 and such which I have none of that, that is drift wood in the center and that is sand. I got both from my local river. We recently had a flood over the summer so I have access to tons and tons of sand a drift would. And to tell you the truth if you want to start with something simple for a 10 gallon do what I did for my 5. Low-tech setup.

If I was you I would get some nice round rocks and some flat wide slabs of rock and stack them in a cool way, then get some nice looking stick like drift wood. Try to get some sand (you can order some online at www.thatfishplace.com) Then get around 30 watts of lighting above the tank. Thats 3wpg and is good for a low-tech setup. For plants. You can go to this link PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide for a list of plants on all types of light. You want to aim for low to low medium plants. Some good ones could be java fern, java moss, and maybe some hornwort to have on the top for cover.


If you have any more questions just ask away.
 
Here are all the fish i want to have in my 10 gallon when i'm finished

3 neons
1 killie
3 cories
3 guppies

Would this be ok with the plants? What is drift wood just a stick thats water logged or what?
 
Oh and do you think a couple of rocks(quartz) would look nice. i live in georgia so the main sand is red clay and the main rock is quartz so those things are pleantiful
 
Oh and do you think a couple of rocks(quartz) would look nice. i live in georgia so the main sand is red clay and the main rock is quartz so those things are pleantiful


Yeah those fish should be fine together, and drift would is basically just dead logs, sticks and small stumps that are water logged. You can basically make anything drift wood. And the rocks should be fine but idk about red clay. Don't know if that would be safe or not.
 
Well I've done some changes a little bit to tha tank. Rearranged a little bit, not much though. Then I have removed the mollies back into the 20 long, and I bought 5 new red-eyed tetras. Then tonight I had a friend come over and take my green terror off my hands so now I can put all my mollies in the 55 gallon with the rest of the community so they grow bigger and happier, and so they get me some more fry :D. Anyways here are some pictures of my aquarium taking on November 3rd, 2008.










If you want to see a bigger and more clear picture of these pictures, just click them. :D
 
nice pics. oh and i wasnt going to put red clay in there. it would be to mushed together. the fish wouldnt like it. thanks
 
yeah. are you sure thats a 5g tank you make it look so much bigger. Good luck to you and your otto in the contest.


Yeah it's a 5 gallon. Yeah I see peoples pictures of there small tanks and they look so big and yet there still just small tanks. Just the way you take the photo makes it like that I guess ha. And thanks you should totally vote for me during the voting time.
 
did you just tell me what to do?! Dont tell me what to do your not my (moderator edit)mom!!!

Just kid... Just kid...

You got my vote :)
 
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