20 gal planted tank update

[somecallmedaniel16]

Hello all!

Well when I got back from a week-long trip my plant order had already arrived and my dad had placed the plants in my tank in any random way. So when I got back I rearranged them and replanted what I could of the mess. I've attached a java fern and some moss to a small log of grapewood (which, by the way, is doing fine; the fungus has cleared up). I now have my DIY Co2 generator up and running. I'm not sure if all my plants will live but I just wanted to see before I rearrange them again into a more aesthetically pleasing way. Oh! And I should mention I have a new light fixture. It's a Coralife 28w T5 fixture. Some pics of the tank are below. Feel free to give any criticism, comments, or advice.

-Daniel

 

[mom2reds]

looks pretty good just wait for it to grow in now.

 

[timwag2001]

looks good. you must have been wicked excited to get your light! i was. i almost called out of work the day that my order came in. i was the same way when my co2 system came in. what sucked about it all was that i got my co2 setup on thursday and my paintball shop was closed till wednesday. i couldnt find anyone else to fill my tank and i had to look at my equipment for a full week before i could set it up.

any how. any other plans for the tank? substrate? plants? pressurized co2?

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

Yes! I am so excited about my new setup and I am always tempted to mess around with it, change it up, go run to the store and buy a bunch of new plants and fish and all. I need to learn to be patient with this haha. Anyways I will dose liquid ferts once or twice a week. I may do root tabs every once in a while but I haven't really looked around for some good prices. I just have normal gravel, about 8 mm wide on average I would guess. not sure about getting more plants; I need to see how well it grows in and all. I want the tank to have some depth look in it and I'm not sure how tall these plants will get.. If I do get more plants though I think I'll look for some swords, anubias, or other broad-leafed plants, or some thicker, bunched plants, since most of mine now are just single stem plants (the term for which I don't know). Doubt I'll be getting pressurized CO2.

 

[thominil]

If you could get some java moss on some of the rocks that would look neat IMO. Also you could try getting something that would stay small and grow in like a carpet for the front that could be neat too. JMO.

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

Almost bought some dwarf hairgrass the other day.. I have seen some great-looking tanks with a nice carpet of it. Not sure about those requirements though.. Do you have any suggestions for a carpet-like plant that you mentioned? Once my java moss starts growing I'll break off some and attach it to the stones. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[thominil]

I think micro swords would form to be a "carpet" they look like dwarf hairgrass though, so not much difference.

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

I just did a little bit of research on micro swords. I know where I can find some hair grass but not the micro swords.

 

[thominil]

hmmmm..... Then I'd get the hair grass. I think
Live Aquaria said it needs 2 wpg. You're almost at 1.5 wpg If, and if I'm still thinking correctly this late, It should be fine but it might not grow very fast. I'd wait for someone else to chime in as I really haven't done anything with aquatic plants in the last couple of months. Well.....I'm off to bed now.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Look for Dwarf Sagittaria or Echinodorus tenellus for foreground. They are both grassy, but don't need as much light as hairgrass and other carpets. If you can't find them, you could give the dwarf hairgrass a try, but don't expect it to grow very fast. It will grow though.

 

[thominil]

Any update?

 

[mgamer20o0]

microswords are a slow grower.

Look for Dwarf Sagittaria or Echinodorus tenellus for foreground. They are both grassy, but don't need as much light as hairgrass and other carpets.

both are great foreground plants.

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

yep, got some hairgrass yesterday in a pot. Just thought I'd try it out. If all fails I will look for the plants JustOneMore mentioned.

 

[thominil]

Cool! Good luck with it!

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

Well most of the hairgrass is staying in the substrate, but some of my pesky fish or snails seem to be uprooting it a bit. Frustrating. And I just came up with the brilliance to lift my hood and put my old stock lighting over the spot where my hood usually covers, getting me an extra 15w of lighting! I may use the light that way but there are a couple downturns: it puts morelighting in the foreground and it's a little unbalanced, not giving it quite the sense of depth I would normally like. It's a minimal downturn, and it's bearable. Nevertheless, the top of the tank is cluttered with wires and equipment, and it may be a hassle to remove the light for feeding, cleaning/pruning, water changes, etc..

 

[runninwoof]

ahhh you sound like me a while ago. i was obsessed with adding more and more light to my tank. i started with my 10g with 15 watts over it, then grew to 30 watts, and then to 45 watts using multaple lighting fixtures. after a short time i had more algae than you can shake a stick at.

so that means:

1.you have a very nice light. DONT ADD MORE LIGHT! many people get cought up in something that says a plant needs 3 watts of light, and then getting thier 3 watts and forget that all other aspects have to be raised as well, co2, ferts, and plant load.


2. stem plants suck!!!! actually they can be very visually pleasing, but only if planted in LARGE bunches, and they are a pain to trim and propigate. crypts, and anubias are very easy to get and are my personal favorites.
also if your hairgrass doesnt do well or you decide you want a faster growing forground, then definitly go with saggitaria, i had it in my 40 without co2 with same wpg (1.5 watts of t-5) and it grew like butter.

3. if you put root tabs in the gravel, then your gravel is just as good as eco- and flourite. (but not aquasoil cuz aquasoil lowers ph, and according to the plant experts, having a low ph helps plants another 0.001%)

questions!!

1. what are you dosing?

2. are you going to add more light?

3. post a pic we wanna see the tank foo!

4. what part of ga are ya in?

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

I have tried organizing the equipment above my tank and it's so cluttered and difficult to move around that I think I have to take your advice and not use my stock lighting.

Yeah, these stem plants are somewhat annoying because they do not have as large of a root system and there's a lot of re-planting and re-organizing going on. When I see how the plants do and they begin to grow a bit more, I may get some larger, more broad-leafed plants.

Never heard the expression "grows like butter" but I assume that means quickly?

Root tabs are expensive : ( Like 10$ for a pack of 8. How long do they last anyways? I am dosing 10mL of API Pro series Leaf Zone (liquid) twice a week. Foo, I'll have a pic up soon. And last question already answered on your profile. : )

 

[thominil]

I think the seachem root tabs that I get last about 3-4 months.

 

[timwag2001]

you can make diy root tabs. i think like $20 will make you over 200 root tabs.

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

woah! I'll look into it.