30g Long High Tech Planted Log

[meegosh]

Hey all,

I finally got my first real planted tank up and running. I figured I could use this as a place to show growth rates, new additions, etc. Now for the pictures...

Old set up:

New Light, sand, and plants:

I also took some videos and posted them on youtube:

YouTube - 30g Long CO2 High Light 1 of 3

YouTube - 30g Long CO2 High Light 2 of 3

YouTube - 30g Long CO2 High Light 3 of 3

Set up:
Tank: 30g Long
Lights: Coralife 36" 96watt Compact Fluorescent
CO2: 2bps - 5lb pressurized diffused through powerhead
Substrate: Playsand with root tabs for Amazon Swords
Fertilizers: KNO3, KH2PO4, Plantex csm+b (EI Dosing)
Fish: 1 Large Angelfish and 1 Upside-down catfish
Plants: Amazon Sword, Cabomba, Red Ludwigia, Moneywort, Water Wisteria, and Frill

 

[JustOneMore20]

Nice! Looks good so far! Do you plan on adding anymore fish?

 

[meegosh]

Eventually I will add some more fish, yes. I have a clown loach in my 10g that I need to catch again and put back in the 30g. I'm sure I'll rip my vals and swords up when I go to catch him so I've been putting it off.

I'm debating about adding a pair of some larger fish (apistos etc) or just going with some type of tetra. My LFS has a nice school of Penguin Tetras that I have been eying up for about a week now. I've heard mixed things on them so I'm watching them to see if any get beat up while in the LFS's tanks.

 

[Aquarium1]

What kind of camera are you using?

 

[meegosh]

The old picture was taken on a LG Dare. New picture was taken on a Droid. Video was shot with a Sony Webbie in 720p, some were taken with macro mode on.

 

[Aquarium1]

Ahh. I noticed the newer pic looked clearer.

 

[meegosh]

Yeah and going from 20 watts to 96 might have something to do with it. You can actually see the corners now. LOL.

 

[Aquarium1]

I know lol.

 

[meegosh]

After a week of EI dosing and fiddling with my co2 I have finally got my plants to pearl! I must be doing something right!

 

[Aquarium1]

Looks fantastic . What exactly is pearling btw lol

 

[meegosh]

It is the plants releasing oxygen. Pearling usually is due to a high rate of photosynthesis, forced by higher intensity lighting, co2, etc.

 

[Aquarium1]

OK, I thought that, just wanted to make sure. Thanks.

 

[happygirl65]

Lookin good!

 

[meegosh]

Big Update

"This thread is more than 401 days old..." I think that means I'm in need of an update! I'll try to keep the text short and get right to the pictures.

A few notes... I swapped the substrate from Playsand to Eco Complete last night. The plants are not - by any means - in their final place. I just wanted to try some in different areas of the tank and see how they looked. I plan on a 'lawn' of blyxa, with stargrass behind it (stargrass coming in this week), to right side and the majority of the stems on the left side. Hardscape (rocks & dw) are in the works just ran out of time last night.

Equipment:
30g Long
40lbs Eco Complete
96 Watt Coralife Compact Fluorescent 6700K
5lb Pressurized CO2
Red Sea 500 CO2 Reactor
DIY PPS Pro Auto Dosers (Build thread: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20/diy-auto-doser-build-143431.html)

Fish:
1 Female Koi Angelfish (Pterophyllum sp.)
1 Upside-down Catfish (Synodontis nigriventris)
5 Von Rio Tetras (Hyphessobrycon flammeus)
3 Otos (Otocinclus affinis)

Plants:
Blyxa Japonica
Ludwigia repens
Limnophila Aromatica
Lindernia Rotundifolia 'Variegated'
Eichhornia Diversifolia
Some others but I forget the names of at the moment...

Plants coming in this week:
Stargrass (Heteranthera zosterifolia)
Mermaid Weed (Proserpinaca palustris)
Myriophyllum mattogrossense
Ammania Senegalensis

Pictures:

Drained and cleaned:

40lbs of Eco Complete added:

Water filled halfway:

Planted:

Left Side:

Right Side:

Close up:

Continued...

 

[meegosh]

Big Update Continued...

Corner Shot:

Other Corner Shot:

FTS:

FTS w/ 20H Light on:

I'll update more as I get things scaped the way I want it. Thanks for looking!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Man, that made a huge improvement... of course, maybe the 401 days of growth had something to do with it too

Very nice!

 

[meegosh]

Haha, yeah. Didn't realize it had been set up that long.

The plants are just basically thrown in there, like I said. It looks pretty horrible, IMHO, right now. Hopefully tonight I can get it straightened out and looking a little more presentable.

I'll have plenty of trimmings here shortly that I plan on offering only on this site. IMO, we need more plant sales in the classifieds area!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Yes... I am going to have some before long too. Maybe we can do some tradin'

Well, regardless of YHO, MHO is that your tank looks fantastic.

 

[meegosh]

I'll probably have some leftovers from my shipments this week. I will probably have extra blyxa and stargrass at this point. I think my hardscape is going to take up more room than I initially thought.

Thanks for the kind words Jonathan!

 

[Coleallensmom]

Very nice tank...Nice plant choices; they look great in the dark substrate.