Pics of My Tank!!!!

[mackdaddy81]

I have some pics of my 29 gallon planted tank that I want some opinions on. I just replaced the gravel and after several PWC the water is finallyclearing up. For my DIY lights I built a box and put a groove in the bottom with a table saw. I then put acrylic in the groove to protect the lights from water. I bought two lamp holders and a double light adapter and attached those to the lid of the box. I then wired it up and put my lights in. I have two daylight bulbs in there and two soft white bulbs. I think the soft white bulbs are too yellow and they only have a rating of 3000K so I hope I don't get an algae problem. The other two have 6500K so they should be fine. As for the plants, any opinions on how to arrange them and any other natural decorations that I could put in to make it look better would be greatly apprectiated. A lot of the plants are new and haven't grown out yet, so it should look better in a couple months.











PS

I plan on taking out the roman pillars, but the dinosaur is staying because he was a gift from my little brother (LOL)

 

[Purrbox]

Unfortunately it looks like you've got some non aquatics in your aquarium. I'd recommend removing them before for they start dying off and make a mess of things.

 

[fort384]

Mack, I made the same mistake when I started a few months ago. Purr must have that response tied to a macro so she doesn't have to retype it every time us n00bs break into the hobby. I had the exact same non-aquatics... let me guess... petsmart or petco? You can try and take them back. They give me store credit when I brought them back, but only after I showed them the plantgeek website showing they were non aquatics.

 

[mackdaddy81]

Ya, I got them at Petsmart. Unfortunately I bought them a couple of months ago so I don't know if they will let me return them. I'll call and see. That makes me kinda angry. They advertise them as aquatic plants, and they looked so cool. Oh well! Thanks for the heads-up guys!

Also, is argentine sword aquatic. I got it from Petsmart about 4 moths ago and all but 2 plants have died. They seem to be growing, but they didn't look aquatic and I can't find any info on them so I'm not sure.

 

[fort384]

Not sure on the swords. The experts will be able to help you. Mine were over a month old and I had no receipt when I brought them back. But, you may have some luck if you show them some proof they are non-aquatic. I was really hot about it too- they say "for aquarium or terrarium" right on the package. After that experience, I have steered clear of petsmart. I found a great LFS specializing in aquatic plants... things are a little more expensive, but the expertise and customer service are invaluable. Kind of like one of those Visa commercials... priceless.

 

[mackdaddy81]

Well crud! I was looking through that link which Purrbox gave me (which was an awesome site, Thx) and I found a plant that looks exactly like the Argentine sword plant that I got from Petsmart. It is called Brazillian sword and it says it's not aquatic. This would explain why the other plants that I had died, and why algae tends to only grow on this plant and on the white ribbon plant. It really makes me angry that Petsmart falsely advertises like this. I am definately going to have to find a new fish store to shop at that actually knows what they are talking about.

Thanks!

 

[fort384]

Mack, I think the other issue you may run into is trying to grow plants with the incandescent bulbs. You may want to consider some CF screw in type bulbs or something - you may get better results. Again though, I imagine some of the experts on here will be able to shed some light on that (I crack myself up).

 

[mackdaddy81]

Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention this. Those are screw in CF's. Two are just soft white 3000K and the other two are daylight 6500K.

 

[fort384]

ahh ok, my bad. Couldn't tell from the pic.

 

[mackdaddy81]

That's cool, I didn't think anything of it!

 

[875mill]

I love gold fish so relaxing watching them waddle slow through the water.

 

[daveydoodle]

I apologize in advance for this question, but what specifically do you mean by "non-aquatic"? They grow under water, however are they not specifically intended for such? I have several tanks, all med-heavily planted and most plants purchased at the two mentioned pet stores, and all seem to be doing well. I have no fish loss (so they must not be toxic), and minimal plant loss (most due to my fish eating them). so..."non-aquatic"?
Thanks!

 

[fort384]

Dave,

non-aquatic will last for awhile, but they will not grow. They will eventually rot, and die. The plantgeek website shows the most common plants mistaken for aquatic. Also, not all the plants they sell are non-aquatic. Some are meant to grow immersed, and some are even true aquatic.

When I had the non-aquatics in my tank, I thought the same thing... "they seem to be fine... they are green, appear to be living, etc.."

However, when I got rid of them and stocked up on true aquatics, the difference was obvious--my plants actually grew (like crazy)! Those non-aquatics pretty much just sit there and die a slow death. This can create potential problems, like extra nitrates, etc.

Purrbox will chime in if I am wrong, but I don't think it will hurt to leave them sitting in there, so long as you keep an eye on them, and take them out at first sight of rotting, dying, etc. I just was so pissed when I found out they sold them to me, that I yanked them out and got rid of them on the spot.

Check out the difference:

That is my tank with a bunch of nonaquatics from Petsmart. First couple of weeks, my plants just sat there, all sparse looking, not growing, etc.

Now, with all true aquatics (and some additional tweaking thanks to this forum), my plants are ALIVE. So much so, I can notice changes every single day.

 

[Purrbox]

Fort has done an excellant job of explaining non aquatics. Here's a little additional information to further help clarify.

There are basically three types of plants: aquatics, bog, and terrestrial. Aquatic plants are plants that must be underwater to survive. An example is Vals. Bog plants can grow both submersed and emersed. Generally they grow on the edges of water ways where the water levels change seasonally. These comprise the majority of the plants in our aquariums. Most will do just fine in our aquariums submersed long term, but there are a few that require some time emersed and will eventually die off without it. Then there are terrestrial plants which simply can not survive submersed long term and were never meant to. They can survive in the aquarium short term much like a plant in nature can survive for awhile in flood conditions, but if left underwater long term it will die. It is the bog plants that need a period of emersed growth and terestrial plants that we generally refer to as non aquatics, since they can't survive in our aquariums long term.

Unfortunately many LFS sell them for aquariums unknowingly because they are available from their supplier. Since they can survive a short time under water and often look much better than the aquatics that have been mistreated, they remain popular with the unsuspecting. You can keep them in your aquarium if you like as long as you make sure to remove them once you see signs that they are beginning to die off.

 

[daveydoodle]

When I came across the term "non-aquatics" in one of the posts, I went to plantgeek.com and checked their glossary, however they did not have the term defined. Thanks you for the information. I'm sure that is the case with my tanks; the plants are there, and apperar to be doing well, but actually are slowly dying. I'll have to look a little harder and purchase more carefully as I really enjoy the looks of my planted tanks. The primary purpose of mine are fish tanks (I have kids) but I really like the aquascaping. Thanks again for the info, much appreciated.

 

[jrp1588]

yeah, I think we've all been there. A while back I saw a plant at the LFS called "purple waffle," awesome looking plant with a nice purple coloration. Unfortunately it rotted within about 2 weeks.

My local petsmart really disappointed a while back. They used to keep 4 ~40gal tanks devoted to aquarium plants. They had a way better selection than anywhere else in town, and their plants were in great shape. I also don't remember seeing any non aquatics. Last summer they got rid of these tanks. Now all they sell are prepackaged plants in plastic vials. 9/10 of which are non-aquatics. Good thing I have forum members to feed my addiction. haha

 

[mackdaddy81]

Well I just went out and got some driftwood. I went to a pet store dedicated to just fish. I also stopped by petco and they had some of what I thought was java moss. I really wanted some, but it only said moss and I wanted to make sure it was java moss. I talked with the lady working aquatics and she gave me a couple of clippings of it for free. WOW!! I am stoked and really hope its java moss because I want it to grow fast and I am going to plant it on my new driftwood. I am going to post some pics soon of what my new tank looks like after I set it up. Also, does anyone have any suggestions on foreground plants. I want a carpet effect and non of the stores that I've looked at seem to have anything that will work. They are all big plants. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[fort384]

a lot of the "carpet effect" plants are pretty high light I think. You can buy plants online, or find some members who may be willing to trade or sell you some plants. I have heard good and bad reviews of "aquaticmagic" on ebay. I just ordered some fissdens and christmas moss from them, I will let you know how it arrives. They say they have a guarantee, but we will see. Pretty reasonable prices I think. Probably won't be here until next week or so.

Just beware before purchasing any plants online, check around and make sure they are true aquatics. A lot of mosses, clover, etc are often sold as aquatics, but are not.

 

[mackdaddy81]

New PICS!!!!

Just got some driftwood yesterday and I boiled it and put it in my aquarium today!!! It looks awesome!!! I am having trouble with one of the logs not sinking. I boiled it for about an hour and it still won't sink. For right now I am just letting it float at the top, but if you have any suggestions on how to make it sink faster I would love to hear them. Also I would like some input on good foreground plants. Right now I have anachris, wisteria, amazon sword, and some java moss. Opinions?


Also, I got some gravel fertilizer and an Iron supplement, so lets hope my plants keep growing. Enjoy the pics!