Bert's 30G Planted adventure.

[Bert2oo1]

Yes. Pillow/cushion stuffing. I bought a $5 bag a year or two and still have some left. I just change it every 2 weeks or so. Just be sure it contains no flame retardant materials.
Polyester, not cotton.

Ah yes! That stuff is on sale at my lfs at the moment for $5 a bag aswell! Might have to get some while it's cheap

 

[Caliban07]

Sponge won't have any benefit to clear the water though will it?

No but with regular water changes and no fish the water should be pretty clear. I'd prefer the flow rate in this case. Suppose a bit of floss won't do any harm.

 

[Bert2oo1]

No but with regular water changes and no fish the water should be pretty clear. I'd prefer the flow rate in this case. Suppose a bit of floss won't do any harm.

It's comes with just a coarse sponge and apparently it puts out 120l and hour so that's almost 14x turn over haha the black tap on the front can reduce the flow though so I'll have to play with it abit. It won't be used for another 1-2 months though while I wait for the HC to grip in.

Ended up getting a full refund due to it being broken so it's cost me nothing

 

[Caliban07]

It's comes with just a coarse sponge and apparently it puts out 120l and hour so that's almost 14x turn over haha the black tap on the front can reduce the flow though so I'll have to play with it abit. It won't be used for another 1-2 months though while I wait for the HC to grip in.

Ended up getting a full refund due to it being broken so it's cost me nothing

What that's an awesome deal and some mean turnover! Hope it does the job. How's the big tank now? Plant by plant breakdown.

 

[Bert2oo1]

What that's an awesome deal and some mean turnover! Hope it does the job. How's the big tank now? Plant by plant breakdown.

Well I did a big trim on the weekend. The ludwigi was growing out the surface and just getting rolled over by the filter.

Got rid of all the old hydroponic leaves on all the s repens and ludwigi.

Ludwigi is staying nice and red but there is abit of curling still. Tends to only be 2 leaves below the tops leaves though. Hoping they will come good.

Baby tears have just been growing like weeds as usual but still refuse to turn pink. (Dam them!)

Java fern growing strong aswell but I removed the biggest one as it was starting to take over.

Removed the crypt from the front. Got sick of looking at a melted mess. Roots were huge so still don't know why it was always melted.(didn't like the strong flow maybe?)

Need to trim the hair grass again soon to get it to spread more as its started but has slowed up abit.

S repens are growing really really well now. Grown more this week than the whole time I've had it.

AR mini is looking really healthy and has reduced some nice big leaves. Bottom leaves still have a few black/Grey cracks from when I didn't dose the micro's for a week.

Overall the tanks in the best shape it's ever been. Everything is looking nice for once haha

I'll post some pictures tomorrow

Stay tuned for the bloom! Haha

 

[Bert2oo1]

Few pictures as promised.

 

[Caliban07]

Looking smart mate. How much macros are you dosing now?

 

[Bert2oo1]

So I'm feeling a little disheartened with the tank at the moment. I still enjoy it but I hate the look of the actual tank itself (curved glass corners and the big ugly hood). Also the colour of the substrate drives me mad every day. I feel when I started this tank I rushed into everything and didn't think about the smaller details.

I do like the plant lay out but the lack of hardscape really lets it down. Also being only 350mm wide it restricts me when it comes to DW etc.

I think I would appreciate a more intricate scape (I have one in mind)

I'm considering upgrading to a 90x50x50cm rimless with a custom made stand.

The only issue I have is cost as I'm ment to be saving for a house deposit.

I have everything I need apart from I'd have to buy new substrate and 2 more lights for my controller.
Glass for the tank and timber for the stand.
I'm thinking it would be about $500 for everything is want.

I don't know maybe I just need to appreciate what I have but its hard seeing what you tank could be and what it currently is.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Looking smart mate. How much macros are you dosing now?

Dosing 1g kno3, 1g phosphate, 0.3g micro.
Macro 4 times a week and micro 3 times.

Everything is still looking clean but as I said above I'm starting to get frustrated with it.

 

[Caliban07]

So I'm feeling a little disheartened with the tank at the moment. I still enjoy it but I hate the look of the actual tank itself (curved glass corners and the big ugly hood). Also the colour of the substrate drives me mad every day. I feel when I started this tank I rushed into everything and didn't think about the smaller details.

I do like the plant lay out but the lack of hardscape really lets it down. Also being only 350mm wide it restricts me when it comes to DW etc.

I think I would appreciate a more intricate scape (I have one in mind)

I'm considering upgrading to a 90x50x50cm rimless with a custom made stand.

The only issue I have is cost as I'm ment to be saving for a house deposit.

I have everything I need apart from I'd have to buy new substrate 2 more lights for my controller.
Glass for the tank and timber for the stand.
I'm thinking it would be about $500 for everything is want.

I don't know maybe I just need to appreciate what I have but its hard seeing what you tank could be and what it currently is.

Are you sure you can't come up with an intricate scape in your current tank? The scape you are happy with may transform your opinion. I do know what you mean though. My new tank is way smarter and the vision was dated in my opinion.

 

[Caliban07]

Dosing 1g kno3, 1g phosphate, 0.3g micro.
Macro 4 times a week and micro 3 times.

Everything is still looking clean but as I said above I'm starting to get frustrated with it.

Thanks. I think I need to boost my macros. I wimped out and cut them down after the whole micros issue.

 

[Caliban07]

Also if you have an idea which plants will be in your future plans it could be an idea to trial then now to see how they behave. Get used to their requirements, propagation etc..

 

[Bert2oo1]

Are you sure you can't come up with an intricate scape in your current tank? The scape you are happy with may transform your opinion. I do know what you mean though. My new tank is way smarter and the vision was dated in my opinion.

Well that's the thing. I really think even if I did tear down the tank and re do the substrate and rescape I feel that the look of the tank itself would impact on the look of the scape.

I don't know maybe I have just been drooling over the ukaps forums too much and it's brang on this crazy idea. It really is an ugly tank though

 

[Bert2oo1]

Also if you have an idea which plants will be in your future plans it could be an idea to trial then now to see how they behave. Get used to their requirements, propagation etc..

Yea that would be my plan. I'd put together the new on and fiddle with the hardscape till I was satisfied and then pull all the plants out of the old one and keep the ones I would use in the new design. Then plant all the plants I would use in the new scape in the old and and grow them out while I was waiting for the new tank to grow out the foreground using dry start. I have a few plants in mind that I would use but I also need to find some appropriate driftwood aswell. I have 2 pictures in my head it's just a matter of deciding and finding the right wood and rocks. If I was to build another I would certainly take my time to find the right items for the hard scape.

 

[Caliban07]

Well that's the thing. I really think even if I did tear down the tank and re do the substrate and rescape I feel that the look of the tank itself would impact on the look of the scape.

I don't know maybe I have just been drooling over the ukaps forums too much and it's brang on this crazy idea. It really is an ugly tank though

Fair enough. Can't say I blame you. I felt the same.

 

[Caliban07]

Yea that would be my plan. I'd put together the new on and fiddle with the hardscape till I was satisfied and then pull all the plants out of the old one and keep the ones I would use in the new design. Then plant all the plants I would use in the new scape in the old and and grow them out while I was waiting for the new tank to grow out the foreground using dry start. I have a few plants in mind that I would use but I also need to find some appropriate driftwood aswell. I have 2 pictures in my head it's just a matter of deciding and finding the right wood and rocks. If I was to build another I would certainly take my time to find the right items for the hard scape.

Good idea. A dry start should be interesting.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Good idea. A dry start should be interesting.

My dreams might be shattered yet haha, got my first quote for the glass and it was $511... Seems very excessive

 

[Delapool]

Ouch! Wasn't expecting that

 

[Bert2oo1]

Ouch! Wasn't expecting that

Yea it's crazy how much just normal glass can cost :s

Oh well maybe I'll just go to the tip shop and get some glass to make some different sized nanos and just play scapes with them and use my big tank as a grow out tank untill I find a tank I like. I've been browsing local classifieds but the tank size I want is pretty custom so I recon I will struggle to find what I'm after. Most are only 350mm wide and I want 500mm.

It's nice to dream sometimes I guess haha

 

[Delapool]

On gumtree some cheap ones come up every so often here. Some look pretty good (not a fan of metal stands so a bit fussy here since I'm just window shopping anyways). I wish we had dollar per gallon sales!