evolution of a 10 gal.

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scalesojustice

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
155
i figured i would start my own "making of..." i'm completely remodeling my original 10 gal. - my first fish tank. i'm attempting my first planted tank. i'm going slow, and i recently aquired the coralife 28 watt, 6700 k power compact lighting.

last night, i picked up some plant trimmings from a friend to get started. they are mostly low light plants, hornwart, java fern, smaller swords, etc. he also gave me a banana plant bulb that wasn't growing in his tank.

i threw the plants in last night, planted a couple and floated the rest. although i haven't set up a co2 yet and i'm a long way off from dosing fets, i could have sworn that the plants were pearling already. i thought that would be odd and that it was probably air bubbles, but the bubbles were all over the floating plants. pretty awesome regardless if they were or weren't pearling. the inhabitants, two giant mystery snails and three molly fry, love their new habitat.

my next addition will be a new glass hood, as my current hood only lets in a fraction of the light. any advice throughout the process is gladly welcome. and now, the evolution...

Before:
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After:
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img_791198_2_6e6d83c76aa1dee7c534267b001afbad.jpg


i'm going out of town next week, but when i get back a new scape and killer drift wood. very exciting.
 
EDIT: Should this belong in aquascaping sub-forum?

More work has been done. Drift wood added, plants planted, java ferns tied to the drift wood. It will probably take a while for that wood to actually sink, so my girlfriend and i tied it to a rock.

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the happy couple:
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I can move it to Planted Aquascaping if you'd like, since you are focusing on the main layout of the tank now.

That is looking really nice! I like the driftwood! Is there any way you can stand the rock back up again? It looks striking when the color stripes and holes are more visible.

Let me know what you think of that light - I like mine a lot. On the left side, the bulb doesn't quite reach the end of the case, so that side, while it doesn't look dim, seems to make the stem plants stretch too much. I added a java fern on a rock under that area to compensate for the lesser light there.
 
if you wouldn't mind moving it to the aquascape, that would be great. i feel bad blocking this page up when people are trying to get answers.

i plan on moving the rock once the drift wood sinks, right now, the drift wood is tied to the rock and it's almost floating it! hopefully it will sink sooner rather than later. i'm just trying to grow out right now so i can get things organized.

i like the light a lot, but i definately need an all glass hood. my current one blocks half the light.
 
Moved!

I see what you meant about the rock now - it's anchoring the driftwood at the moment!

The All-Glass glass top fits a 10 gallon tank better than the Perfecto brand. The Perfecto brand is all my lfs had, so I tried it, but ended up returning it since the All-Glass top was 1/8 inch longer and just fit a little better. That little bit of a tigher fit helped to hold my canister filter outflows and returns in place better. (yes, I have a canister filter and a supplemental pump on a 10 gallon!)
 
after being out of town for half a week, playing catch up at work, getting a cold and an unhealthy obsession with nwn, i haven't had much time for tanks.

but i finally got around to working on this one today. i got a glass top earlier this week and i trimmed and planted today. i think i might be seeing some growth, but not much. i can't really tell. everything looks good though. my friend gave me a banana plant that was dying under his lights and it's starting to come back slowly in my tank. one "banana" was eaten off by the snails and there is a bud "banana" growing in it's place. that's a good sign.

can't really do too much aquascaping until that wood sinks. i don't see too much of a difference, do you?

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banana plant:
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babies:
img_795618_2_1be8a8b2fdbe4c8debceed384b8d8480.jpg
 
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