Starting 20g. Have wood need plants.

[infiniteblue]

I just got back into the most obsessive hobby there is with a 10g FW and a 20g FW. I'm planning on planting the 20 so I've put down a bed of flourite. I just put in my rock and wood today and thought I'd share what I have so far. I through in a plastic plant just for contrast.
I'm running a Penguin 150 for filtration and it's been cycling for a week now with a large group of Cloud fish we saved from my daughters elementary. I plan on giving away half of the 20 we have, but they are all doing very well so far. Later I'll probably toss in a couple of guppies, a couple of gouramis and some Oto's.
But all of this will wait until I've got all the plants in.

 

[infiniteblue]

Figured out how to post a pic finally

hi

 

[tlkng1]

I have to admit I am envious ...I have never been able to aquascape a FW tank so that it looks "neat" and not like a cluttered and unclean "house." I can do better with SW since the rock formation tends to resemble a reef which of course isn't all neat and tidy I like the tank background.....someone taking a picture...haven't seen that one in the fish stores

Beautiful and will look even better as you fill in the plants.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Welcome Aboard!

Good looking DW you found there, what kind of wood is it?

Here's a link that you'll want to have handy, since you're cycling with fish in your tank: I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

 

[daileene]

nice looking driftwood.....the link above from mr. limpet really will help you what to do now...welcome to AA!

 

[infiniteblue]

Thank you tlkng1, I must have spent an hour looking for this wood, and then another hour arranging it.
Thank you for the link Mr. Limpet. I'll keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrites for sure, and hope those nitrates show up soon!
Thank you daileene, I look forward to being a part of the community.

I believe the wood is Malaysian. The 2 rocks I have in there are granite from Puget Sound. I collected them from the shoreline, boiled them for one hour and baked them at 350 for 1/2 hour. Figured that should kill anything that was living on them.

 

[infiniteblue]

There is a strange thing happening. I seem to have 2 plants growing in the flourite already, and I haven't planted yet. When I prepared the flourite I rinsed the heck out of it, and then baked it dry at 200F. I live in Seattle so putting it out in the sun was not an option.
Where could they have some from?

 

[daileene]

wow that is interesting. that is unmistakenly plants growing. i don't know how that will grow considering all the info you said about rinsing and baking....hmmm.....

 

[Mr. Limpet]

There is a strange thing happening. I seem to have 2 plants growing in the flourite already, and I haven't planted yet. When I prepared the flourite I rinsed the heck out of it, and then baked it dry at 200F. I live in Seattle so putting it out in the sun was not an option.
Where could they have some from?

Maybe from some decco, like the DW? It's odd to say the least.

 

[daileene]

He only have the DW and the plastic plant for now though and he said that he rinsed the DW and the substrate very good and baked them..so how could a plant grew in it? Hmmmm...

 

[Mr. Limpet]

He only have the DW and the plastic plant for now though and he said that he rinsed the DW and the substrate very good and baked them..so how could a plant grew in it? Hmmmm...

I saw that the substrate and rocks got cooked and missed the part about baking the DW.

 

[infiniteblue]

A friend of mine suggested I may have had a piece of plant hiding amongst the cloud fish when I introduced them. Makes sense. I guess I just didn't see it.
For quick cycling I realize I have that green plastic plant up front, which came from my other tank. I'll have to post a picture of that one. It has a big piece of lace rock in it that is turning slowly brown with green spots, plus a large piece of malaysian DW. It's currently home to a very productive female guppy, plus one other female, and 1 male, plus a few other fish. I'd like to transfer them to the new tank once it's cycled and I have some plants growing.

 

[infiniteblue]

Here is a picture of my 10g. I'm not sure if the lace rock is going to be a problem. I used to have 2 lights working in my eclipse hood, which I think was contributing to the brownness of the rock. I've taken one bulb out so maybe that will subdue the growth.

 

[Mogurako]

I live in Seattle so putting it out in the sun was not an option.

Woohooo another Washingtonian! The weather has been a bit of a drag lately. I can't wait to see how your tank turns out.