Nothing's 55g Heavily Planted Journal

[Nothing]

So the wheels have finally been set in motion, my BML Dutch 6300k XB light came in the mail a couple days ago, and so I set up the 55g with a couple friends. My CO2 gear still hasn't come in and I have yet to grab a cylinder, but I'll do that this weekend. My ferts are mixed and I've begun dosing the micros for now, gonna wait for CO2 for the macros I think. For now all I've got in there is the stuff I had in the 37g tank that I upgraded from, so the layout could definitely use some work, but all that will come in time. Here's what it looks like now. the fish are loving the extra room, and I moved my spawning pair of rams from my 90g into this tank. It still looks void of life in there, I need to get my schooling fish this weekend too. I'm thinking about Diamond Tetras.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Nice tank Nothing! I would try to get the tallest plants to hide the heaters and equipment in the back.
What fish do you have in there right now? I like rummynose tetras and they school pretty well too. Have the rams spawned yet?

 

[Nothing]

They've attempted spawning a few times, the eggs have never been properly fertilized though. I added another rock in the back left corner and they are looking like they'll spawn on there. Right now I have the pair of rams, a leopard ctenopoma, 5 Indonesian Glass Fish and a Sailfin Molly. The ctenopoma kinda limits my options for schooling fish, I need bigger tetras. I'd do congos but I have a school in my 90g and I want some variety. And eventually I'll be getting waaaaay more stem plants so it'll all be covered up, I'm ordering plants next week. And I'm gonna do a baby tear carpet I think, but I might do glosso instead not quite sure.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Ah ok. Yeah so your limited on schooling fish. Black skirts can grow to a decent size though they aren't really schooling. How about rainbow fish? They don't exactly school but they add a good variation in color in the tank.

 

[FishCr8zy]

IMO glosso is easier to grow and also grows faster than baby tears. Since you have good light and your gonna have co2, I would go for baby tears though. They look better.
Something about the tank. IMO the pot looks out of place from the driftwood and rocks. Removing it would make things look more natural. Unless your using the pot for breeding of the rams?

 

[Nothing]

Yeah I was looking at black skirts, they're pretty cool. Diamond tetras seem like a good choice too, any idea how well they school? And yeah I thought the baby tears looked nicer too, so I'm gonna give those a shot first. And as for the layout right now, it's all gonna be changing I just threw all the stuff I had in my 37g in there, I upgraded from the 37g to a 55g. Eventually I want the driftwood covered in moss and java ferns and stuff and I'll be removing the pot because it'll interfere with the natural look of all the plants. But I figured the rams would want it, but it's looking like the rock I added is gonna be their favored spot, they've been hanging around it together all day.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Not sure how well diamond tetras school but I do have some black skirt tetras. They usually stick to each other with the occasional one wandering off, then darting back to the group. They look nice, just make sure you get the ones with a black tail. The ones with grey/white tails usually mean they are older or under stress.

 

[Nothing]

Oh okay I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the tip

 

[FishCr8zy]

Yeah if the rams hang around the rock all day and don't need the pot, remove it. Having the driftwood covered in moss and java ferns will make it look good.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Don't use java moss, it tends to be easier to grow but will look......messy. I'd go for either flame, Taiwan, or willow moss.

 

[Nothing]

Oh yeah fer sure it'll look good. I'm gonna start replanting and moss-covering late next week, I'm gonna order things on Tuesday and then everything's gonna get moved around and we will see how things look. That's when the long road really starts. Getting the CO2 right and all that.

 

[FishCr8zy]

The co2 was actually pretty easy to set up for me. But I used the paintball co2 system. Not the large canisters. Getting he right dosage can take a few tweaks and turns of the needle valve but I got mine to the perfect level in a couple days.
Does the regulator your getting have a solenoid?

 

[Nothing]

Yup a cool touch solenoid, no idea what it means though I'm having a tough time understanding what exactly everything does in the system. I'm getting an Aquatek Premium Regulator with Cool Touch Solenoid.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Ah ok. Yeah I had no clue what a solenoid was either when I first got my co2 system. A solenoid is a built in stopper that you plug into a timer so that you can control when your co2 comes on and turns off. Without a solenoid, you would need to manually turn the co2 off and on. Many people can't do that because co2 is best turned on 1 hour after lights come on and turned off 1 hour before the lights go off.

 

[FishCr8zy]

I also got an aquatek regulator. I got the paintball one though.
If you have any other questions or need explanation of anything in the co2 system, just ask

 

[Nothing]

Thanks for the explanation, that is definitely a feature I require, glad I got one! Sounds good thanks

 

[Nothing]

Alright so tomorrow after work I'm going to get my co2 cylinder and spend the rest of the day setting everything up. I've also picked up 8 Odessa Barbs, an Angelfish, a Madagascar Lace Plant, Java Fern, and an Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica' over the last week.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Nice! What co2 tank are you going to get?
Madagascar Lace plants are really hard to grow. They grow well sometimes but they also die off commonly as well. You have everything except the co2 tank?

 

[Nothing]

Yup I've got everything except the cylinder and drop checker, I thought I ordered one but I didn't. I don't have it yet but it's shipped now so probably in about a week I'll have it. Not entirely sure what tank I'm gonna get yet, probably a 5 or 10lb tank. Yeah I've read they can be pretty difficult, I'm just gonna hope for the best. It's still looking fine despite the light only being on 25% power until I get the CO2. And tomorrow it won't have to be low anymore so it will hopefully take off

 

[FishCr8zy]

Cool
Did you get the co2 tank setup and running?