Fluval Edge Aquascaping Help

[tiger terror]

Yeah, I like the look a lot so far, though I made a mistake and had the filter turned up to the highest flow rate and it dug a crater an inch into my substrate and covered all of my nice TMS with the flourite that's supposed to be underneath. I'm going to have to go back in there and clean it all up a bit, but that should be ok. The water is crustal clear again at least.

@Austin: Thanks!

Yeah I know about craters,so to combat the high flow of the filter I stood a piece of dw up below the flow output..

 

[MABJ]

I want a fluval edge bad : p

Yours is still looking great. How expensive is TMS? Why not use it 100% as your substrate

And what are root tabs!? Coursair mentions them everywhere but idk what they are! Lol

 

[Coursair]

I want a fluval edge bad : p

Yours is still looking great. How expensive is TMS? Why not use it 100% as your substrate

And what are root tabs!? Coursair mentions them everywhere but idk what they are! Lol

Root Tabs the Official ones are usually sold by Seachem
Seachem. Flourish Tabs

Other brands and makers have their own recipes
Root Medic sells his for 25/$11.99
RootMedic Complete | RootMedic Labs
He has Complete Plus with extra Iron and Peat also.

DIY? Osmocote Plus is what you want:
You can get 00 gel caps off Ebay and try to fill them...hard
You can get Osmocote Plus from hardware or nursery and use an ice cube tray and using tank water fill and freeze Root Cicles. You can roll balls of mud and ferts and freeze. I haven't got a recipe for this.

I got mine VERY Cheap off TPT as a RAOK....Free is cheap, right ????
People sell them on there. I will buy from Rootmedic RootMedic Labsor Aquarium Fertilizer Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , , , , Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , ,
as both were started by Hobbyists for Hobbyists.

I like mine in gel caps...easy to deal with. I don't want to deal with ice cube trays, my roomies may complain. So I'll buy mine, when I need more. They go a long way and last 4-6 months AFAIK.

There now you know

 

[MABJ]

Very cool I just might have to use these thanks for the info as always!

 

[WBAC88]

I want a fluval edge bad : p

Yours is still looking great. How expensive is TMS? Why not use it 100% as your substrate

And what are root tabs!? Coursair mentions them everywhere but idk what they are! Lol

My bag of TMS was $20 for 20 lbs, from Foster and Smith, so not too bad, I guess. Flourite is specially formulated for a planted tank, so it's supposed to work out better for the plants. It's not a terribly attractive gray color, even though it's called "black," and is pretty fine, so the TMS helps to hold it in place and is a really nice, deep black color.

Glad you got filled in on root tabs. I've used them in my bigger planted tank before and the root growth that you get on the root feeders is amazing. My swords, et al. had tremendous roots after just one dose of them. I'll use them in my Edge once I have more planted in there.

 

[MABJ]

Not bad at all.

I can't help but wonder about these substrates that are "good" for plants. Sure, I'm positive they work for a while, but they can't work forever. Their nutrients eventually are gone, so why use them if they aren't pleasing to you?

In other words do the benefits outweigh the trade off in the atheistic pleasure.

 

[WBAC88]

Not bad at all.

I can't help but wonder about these substrates that are "good" for plants. Sure, I'm positive they work for a while, but they can't work forever. Their nutrients eventually are gone, so why use them if they aren't pleasing to you?

In other words do the benefits outweigh the trade off in the atheistic pleasure.

I understand what you mean, but I think about it like using dirt for a substrate, good for plants, more difficult to use and, IMO not great looking without some kind of cap. If something will help my plants get started, I'm willing to give it a try and I've not heard much bad about flourite besides cloudy water in the beginning. I think anything that could help is worth a try once.

 

[Coursair]

Not bad at all.

I can't help but wonder about these substrates that are "good" for plants. Sure, I'm positive they work for a while, but they can't work forever. Their nutrients eventually are gone, so why use them if they aren't pleasing to you?

In other words do the benefits outweigh the trade off in the atheistic pleasure.

They have high CEC. Cation Exchange Capacity.
They hold nutrients for the plants.

 

[MABJ]

Yeah I think you're right

I'll let you try it for me

I've wizened up on substrates, myself. I used to just keep betas and ghost shrimps. Clown puke was sufficient to me lol.

I like the natural look/feel of real gravel/pebbles. Most of the critters I'm keeping are from lakes/rivers where sand isn't part of their life. So I think the most natural way was to go with my current gravel now.

I'll also work on a piece of drift wood and some decent shaped stones. I like the black stones I have now though.

Once I do find a small piece of suitable drift wood, I'll attempt to whittle a tripod type cave out if the middle and prepare several pockets for plants. On the side. Then I can remove the ceramic log. After that, it's about as natural as I can get it

 

[WBAC88]

MABJ, I like the natural look, too, but I just wasn't getting the growth in my plants that I was looking for out of the gravel that I had. I know it's possible to grow plants in more stony substrate, especially with root tabs, but it just wasn't working out. Also, the amount of fish waste that built up in the gravel was astounding!

I like the black, too because it makes the plants and my little CPDs pop so much more. The fish got lost among the multicolored stones and they're so beautiful, it was a shame. Anyway, you can follow along and see how things go!

I fixed the crater, too, and blocked the water flow a bit more, hopefully it won't happen again. The cap of TMS isn't good as new, but it looks a lot better.

 

[MABJ]

I'll definitely be following along.

I think the black sand is beautiful, a lot prettier than the natural gravel I use.

I hope your stuff does grow better.

Once I graduate college and have a more permanent home, I'll certainly be establishing more and different aquariums

I'll be following.

 

[WBAC88]

Alright, so I got my first shipment of plants in today and did the majority of the planting. The only thing that will be added after this will be some moss to the foreground when it gets in. I'm thinking willow, fire or Christmas, but haven't decided yet. Thoughts?

 

[Austin.b]

Alright, so I got my first shipment of plants in today and did the majority of the planting. The only thing that will be added after this will be some moss to the foreground when it gets in. I'm thinking willow, fire or Christmas, but haven't decided yet. Thoughts?

Wow! Awesome scape! Sorry if this was mentioned before, but what plant is directly under the light? It looks like dwarf hairgrass. Flame moss and Christmas moss are pretty awesome! Ive heard that flame moss grows direct up toward the light so if you position it right, it'll look amazing. Christmas moss is another favourite of mine, it's pretty thick and looks awesome as a moss wall

 

[WBAC88]

Wow! Awesome scape! Sorry if this was mentioned before, but what plant is directly under the light? It looks like dwarf hairgrass. Flame moss and Christmas moss are pretty awesome! Ive heard that flame moss grows direct up toward the light so if you position it right, it'll look amazing. Christmas moss is another favourite of mine, it's pretty thick and looks awesome as a moss wall

No, it just got planted, so it hasn't been mentioned. Yes, it is dwarf hairgrass, which I know has pretty high light and CO2 requirements, but I'm not really going for a carpet effect, so I thought that I'd give it a try as one of the obvious choices for such a small tank. I'll be interested to see how it does. And, yes, I can't wait for the moss! Mosses are some of my favorite plants, so I think they're work well with this scape. Also, if I decide to add some RCS, I know they like mosses to hide in, too.

On another note, does anyone have any tips for getting stem plants to stay in the substrate when they're planted? I find that whatever kind they are (bacopa, wisteria, ludwigia, whatever) they always shoot up out of the sand not matter how deep I plant them. Ideas?

 

[tropicalmackdaddy]

How about some fissidans?

 

[Tcal01]

No, it just got planted, so it hasn't been mentioned. Yes, it is dwarf hairgrass, which I know has pretty high light and CO2 requirements, but I'm not really going for a carpet effect, so I thought that I'd give it a try as one of the obvious choices for such a small tank. I'll be interested to see how it does. And, yes, I can't wait for the moss! Mosses are some of my favorite plants, so I think they're work well with this scape. Also, if I decide to add some RCS, I know they like mosses to hide in, too.

On another note, does anyone have any tips for getting stem plants to stay in the substrate when they're planted? I find that whatever kind they are (bacopa, wisteria, ludwigia, whatever) they always shoot up out of the sand not matter how deep I plant them. Ideas?

You might want to separate the haigrass into smaller pieces. It spreads better that way. I have this same plant in my 20 with t5s with no co2 and its spreading but IM not sure what kid of light is in the edge kit. It looks really nice. I would go with either Taiwan or flame moss for a foreground plant as they both grow somewhat upwards. What are you planning for the stock?

 

[Tcal01]

Nvrmind about the stock. It was already stated

 

[WBAC88]

You might want to separate the haigrass into smaller pieces. It spreads better that way. I have this same plant in my 20 with t5s with no co2 and its spreading but IM not sure what kid of light is in the edge kit. It looks really nice. I would go with either Taiwan or flame moss for a foreground plant as they both grow somewhat upwards. What are you planning for the stock?

Sorry, Tcal, I totally missed this reply. Thanks, Next time I do a PWC, I'll break up the grass and spread it out a bit more. The Edge came with halogens, but they were way too hot and not very good for the plants (or so I heard), so I replaced them with LEDs from Amazon that seem to have been working so far. The only problem with them is that they light the spot right under them the brightest and out to the side, it gets a little dimmer. The tank does receive some indirect light from a window, so that helps, but still, I might get a light to set outside of the tank to supplement. I'm going to give it a month or two and see how things are looking.

Thanks for the tips on the moss, I have to get posting on the Planted Tank and see if I can find anyone who will sell me some, since I haven't found any easy place to order online or in my LFS. Would you recommend one over the other? Have you worked with both of them?

My stock of RCS should be coming this week from one of the members here, can't wait! I'll post pics when they come.

 

[Tcal01]

Sorry, Tcal, I totally missed this reply. Thanks, Next time I do a PWC, I'll break up the grass and spread it out a bit more. The Edge came with halogens, but they were way too hot and not very good for the plants (or so I heard), so I replaced them with LEDs from Amazon that seem to have been working so far. The only problem with them is that they light the spot right under them the brightest and out to the side, it gets a little dimmer. The tank does receive some indirect light from a window, so that helps, but still, I might get a light to set outside of the tank to supplement. I'm going to give it a month or two and see how things are looking.

Thanks for the tips on the moss, I have to get posting on the Planted Tank and see if I can find anyone who will sell me some, since I haven't found any easy place to order online or in my LFS. Would you recommend one over the other? Have you worked with both of them?

My stock of RCS should be coming this week from one of the members here, can't wait! I'll post pics when they come.

Almost all mosses are really easy to work with and i know flame moss is really easy but i haven't worked with Taiwan yet. IM planning on ordering some for a foreground plant also. Supplementary light is would definitely be good. Or u could just arrangements your plants according to their light requirement

 

[WBAC88]

Almost all mosses are really easy to work with and i know flame moss is really easy but i haven't worked with Taiwan yet. IM planning on ordering some for a foreground plant also. Supplementary light is would definitely be good. Or u could just arrangements your plants according to their light requirement

I've been trying to organize the plants that way, that's why the dwarf grass is right in the middle, to get the most light, but I think you're right, I'll need something else to help out, we'll see let me know how the Taiwan moss works out, I'd be interested to see.