Turn this into a more natural looking aquarium

[AC-X2]

I dunno if you like this.. but my tank has blue rocks... although I wish I could change them to black... I've had this blue for like 14 years lol..

But here is my 27g tank

The blue rocks actually look ok in that tank. Nice!

 

[AC-X2]

EcoComplete and FloraMax are only crushed lava rock. The reason people use it for plants is because of how porous it is. It doesn't have any fertilizers in it as far as I know. When you add ferts to the tank (either through the water or the substrate) it eventually makes it a little easier for the plants to access the ferts because it can kinda 'hold' the ferts in the substrate. But honestly you would be just fine with black blasting sand. Or if you want, you could get Miracle Grow ORGANIC Potting MIX and cap it with a layer of sand. Cheap and good for the plants. Just a thought.

Good to know, I'll do some more research on blasting sand.

 

[AC-X2]

Eco Complete is $20~ for 20lbs - free shipping with certain amount $$ of purchase on certain sites like Petco and Amazon. No rinsing which is great!

I was prob gonna get it on Drfostersmith.com

 

[AC-X2]

PFS with root tabs is just as good as .Ecocomplete with root tabs...

I've decided against PFS, I want black substrate. I'm either getting EcoComplete or black blasting sand.

 

[AC-X2]

On Drfostersmith.com the Malaysian DW comes in four sizes: Small, Medium, Medium/Large, and Large. Which would be best for my 20 gal? I was thinking Medium/Large.

 

[Dubs1281]

On Drfostersmith.com the Malaysian DW comes in four sizes: Small, Medium, Medium/Large, and Large. Which would be best for my 20 gal? I was thinking Medium/Large.

Depends. If you want it as a centerpiece. Than yes. If not than two small pieces would be great.

 

[AC-X2]

Depends. If you want it as a centerpiece. Than yes. If not than two small pieces would be great.

Yes, I want it as a centerpiece. I will get the Medium/Large. I just ordered 2 bags of EcoComplete The plants I'm definitely gonna get are Anubias, Java fern, Java moss, Amazon sword, and micro sword. There are SOO many different plants!. It's confusing knowing what I want, what I can have, etc. More plants are welcome but I'm not sure what I should get.

 

[ArtistGardener]

There are some incredible books out there that will help you learn about a planted tank. There is much to learn! Good luck with your new tank. I switched over from plastic plants and black gravel to black Eco-Complete and live plants, but that also meant a change in lighting. I do not have CO2 injection, but do use Flourish Excel every day. Here is my 20 gallon with all natural materials. It is about four months old now.

 

[AC-X2]

There are some incredible books out there that will help you learn about a planted tank. There is much to learn! Good luck with your new tank. I switched over from plastic plants and black gravel to black Eco-Complete and live plants, but that also meant a change in lighting. I do not have CO2 injection, but do use Flourish Excel every day. Here is my 20 gallon with all natural materials. It is about four months old now.

Thanks for that info, I'll check out my library sometime for any books like that.

 

[AC-X2]

I just bought Amazon Sword, Anubias congesis, and a type of Java fern. I want to get more but I'm on a budget right now :/

 

[AC-X2]

I just received my DW from drsfostersmith! I'm now waiting on my EcoComplete to arrive and once I get that I'll start on the redo process I plan to get more plants and change the background later once I get some more money.

Here's a pic of the DW

 

[Autumnsky]

Are you going to boil it and soak in a bucket to help leech out the tannins?

It doesn't hurt the fish at all to have tannins, but makes the water yellow/brown tinted.

It will float too if it doesn't get water logged!

 

[AC-X2]

Are you going to boil it and soak in a bucket to help leech out the tannins?

It doesn't hurt the fish at all to have tannins, but makes the water yellow/brown tinted.

It will float too if it doesn't get water logged!

Yes, it's just now finishing boiling and I'm gonna soak it in a bucket until my EcoComplete arrives and then I'll start redoing everything.

 

[Autumnsky]

Good! My last tank build start up, completely forgot to soak my DW and it was, and still is a nuisance (tannins/yellowish water)! Too much excitement!

 

[AC-X2]

I've been tracking my EcoComplete package status and it's gonna arrive this morning! I'm gonna start the redo process as soon as I can this afternoon. I plan to let the tank sit with the fish still in buckets and the filter running for about 24 hours after I'm done just to be sure everything is safe. I'll post some pictures as soon as I'm done! too exciting!!!

 

[AC-X2]

Well here it is!!!



I plan to add more plants later, and I'll post more pics tomorrow when I put the fish back in. I actually this my background looks good here. What do you guys think?

 

[AC-X2]

Well here it is!!!





I plan to add more plants when I get more money. I'll post more pics tomorrow when I put the fish back in. I actually think my background looks good with this. What do you guys think?

Edit-Sorry I double posted, I got network timeout error and thought it didn't post the first time.

 

[Fresh2o]

Nice setup. Hope you did not mug the delivery person "I want my EcoComplete now!"

What are you planning on stocking in this tank?

You'll probably hear folks suggest "black background".

Are those rubber bands around the DW? If you are tying down plants, try black or brown thread or very lightweight fishing line (none of the neon stuff!).

 

[AC-X2]

Nice setup. Hope you did not mug the delivery person "I want my EcoComplete now!"

What are you planning on stocking in this tank?

You'll probably hear folks suggest "black background".

Are those rubber bands around the DW? If you are tying down plants, try black or brown thread or very lightweight fishing line (none of the neon stuff!).

Lol, fortunately for the delivery guy I know him and I wouldn't do that, now if it was someone else...

This is an already stocked tank and all I did was a decor redo, I have a gold gourami, three guppies, six neon tetras, and three Cory cats. They are all in buckets at the moment and I'm waiting 24 hrs before I put them back in.

I've heard a lot about black backgrounds being good after I bought this one, and came close to replacing it. I spent five hours applying the current background with ClearView and decided to see how it looked in the "new" tank before I took it off. I actually like it and don't think I'll waste the time and money I spent on the current one by replacing it with black.

At first I tried brown thread but it was just way too difficult to get it to hold the plants right, so I just used the rubber bands and will remove them once the plants take root on the DW.

You can look at early posts in this thread to see pics of how it used to look, I really like it a LOT better now than before.

I'm glad you like it

 

[Fresh2o]

Oh, I forgot about the fish being in the buckets. And now I remember the background and how long it took to apply it. Hopefully all settling of dust will be done by tomorrow if not already (my water turned slate gray for a few hours). With very fine fishing line you might get away with wrapping it around several times. Just saying.
Look forward to the pics when the fish move back in.