My simple 47g FW tank

[CatatonicBug]

This is my simple tank. It's looked like this for about 2 years, and I am just now starting to get interested in actually doing stuff with it. Looking at the other pics on this site really makes me wish I had a bigger tank, with lots of plants and prettier fish, but I have this one, and I want to make it pretty too. I will add more pics as I change the tank!

 

[Karegg]

Cool! I'm sure if you posted some details on what you're considering doing to your tank you'd get a lot of good suggestions and advice. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[CatatonicBug]

my main thoughts are to replace the dorky plastic plants with real ones. I need to find plants that grow tall enough to look natural in my tall tank. I just really like the planted tanks that some of the people here have posted.

 

[Karegg]

You'll also probably have to get some heavier-duty lighting to reach down through the depths of your tank. A thread to check out is the "I've Finally Jumped Over the Planted Tank Fence" one.

 

[MrMalta]

I would also change the substrate. It's too colourful. :S

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Anacharis grows very tall and you don't need much light. It is joked that you could grow it in a toilet tank. Jungle Val also grows very tall and fills out a tank. It grows pretty rapidly. A few stems of it and 4 months later the tank looks like a forrest.

 

[CatatonicBug]

Ok, next question... Where do I get this stuff? I didn't see anything this fancy-sounding at Petsmart.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I have found the Anacharis most comminly at the chain stores like PetsMart or PetCo. Or just post in the Classified's forum on AA and see if anyone has some available.

If you are ever at Watson and Lacleded Station, stop by Pet Market Place or Tropical World Pets to see if they have any in stock. The former usually has more in stock but when they get them, they go FAST.

 

[CatatonicBug]

Update!

I just swapped out the fake stuff for some REAL PLANTS!! Also, thanks to something I saw from mrmalta, I added a black background, just to see what it looks like. I think it's pretty cool. All I did was cut a black plastic trash bag to the right size, and it stuck to the back of the tank with static cling! I found that out by accident

I also changed the light bulb to a new 18,000k.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I am also a huge fan of black backgrounds. I think it makes the fish colors really pop.

 

[neilanh]

Why 18000K? I'll be interested to see what your plants do under that lighting.

 

[CatatonicBug]

Because I have no idea what that number rating means, and when I was shopping, the higher that number was, the higher the price was.
I figured that meant that the number had something to do with quality or brightness. I was told that I needed more intense light to raise plants, so I went with the highest number. Can you tell I'm a bit of an impulse shopper?

What does that number mean anyway? Can anyone tell me the benefits of using a higher or lower number in different environments?

 

[Karegg]

Because I have no idea what that number rating means, and when I was shopping, the higher that number was, the higher the price was.
I figured that meant that the number had something to do with quality or brightness. I was told that I needed more intense light to raise plants, so I went with the highest number. Can you tell I'm a bit of an impulse shopper?

What does that number mean anyway? Can anyone tell me the benefits of using a higher or lower number in different environments?

I don't know much about lighting or planted tanks, but I do know that research is key. Probably wouldn't have been a bad idea to know before buying, but it makes for a cool forum story

 

[Fishyfanatic]

For info on plant requirements, make a post in the Planted Forum. We have many plant guru's that can help you out.

 

[neilanh]

Here's the quick and dirty summary. That K (Kelvin) number represents the color of the light. Some light is yellowish, some is whitish, some is blueish, etc. I imagine that 18000K has a very crisp white with a nice blue tint to it. Higher K numbers are good for SW reef tanks, but I don't know they'd be good on a planted tank. While corals and SW stuff probably would enjoy that color of light (when I say color it's literally the area of the color spectrum the light bulb produces), plants prefer a slightly warmer light, between 5000K and 10000K. Now, that being said, I've never attempted to grow plants higher than 10000K, so I can't speak to what will really happen from personal experience.

 

[melosu58]

Very nice looking tank. I was looking at your tanks in your sig and a sw tank sure would look nice there. LOL

 

[CatatonicBug]

I wish... I have a hard enough time getting the funding I need for this FW tank. I can only imagine how much it would cost to run a SW tank. I see some of the threads on this site talking about people using "extra" 150g tanks in the basement as filtration systems and all sorts of stuff like that. I think I'll stick with this for now.

I do have an extra 20g that I have been thinking about turning into an underwater garden though. Maybe in the next few weeks I'll look into that idea some more.

 

[CatatonicBug]

updated pics

Here are a few new pics of my 47g tank. My Labs sat still long enough for a couple of good ones, and I even got one of a neon. The Moneywort and Cabomba just keep growing taller and taller. I used my 10g as a nursery for the plants until they had roots, so I could plant them without the Sevrum uprooting them.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Hey nice pics!
What fish do you have in there and how many? I know you have yellow labs, just not sure exactly what those are or much about them.

I may be setting up a simple 45G tank here shortly so looking for ideas

 

[CatatonicBug]

At this point, my livestock in this tank is as follows:
1 Turquoise Sevrum (the big guy)
3 Otos
2 Yellow Labs
8 Neon tetras
2 Red Minor tetras
2 Long-finned red minor tetras
1 Honey Sunset Gourami

I have had a few people discourage me from having the yellow labs in this community tank. So far, they have been fine, but I am told that as they get bigger, they might get a bit aggressive. I've been having the most fun with the plants lately. Now that they are growing well, I just keep adding more. I really don't like the castle thing, but my wife likes it. Because it's white, it seems to be an algae magnet. I don't get a lot anymore, but it seems to appear on the castle only a few days after sanitizing it. I clean the glass about once a week, but the algae on the glass is very minimal.

I guess the only thing I wish I could do is completely eliminate algae growth. Is that even possible?