Walsted + India Biotope

[not-pro]

If you bought an Organic Potting soil or Organic Top Soil and not anything that had "mix" on the end it will be fine. If it will make you feel better go get a ghost shrimp or two and put them in.

Cool! Sorry if I'm asking a lot of dumb questions. How am I doing so far though? Everything look good? Is my work log pleasurable to read?

 

[Rivercats]

If you don't ask you won't know so it's not asking dumb questions. And I'm still following so your okay with your log so far. Are you planning on adding more plants or just rocks?

 

[not-pro]

If you don't ask you won't know so it's not asking dumb questions. And I'm still following so your okay with your log so far. Are you planning on adding more plants or just rocks?

Definitely more plants.. I just can't spare anymore from my existing aquariums, so I'll be going to nebraska aquatic supply tomorrow!

Aquarium Supplies, Aquarium Shop | Nebraska Aquatic Supply, Omaha, NE

That's their URL but they don't really have a web store or anything. Last time I went through there though, they had a great deal of fauna and flora variety so I suspect my trip there tomorrow may yield more than just plants... But well see!

On a related note, I just ordered the heater for this tank as well as some wall outlet taps so I can go from 2 plugs to 6. Plus they'll allow me to better setup a drip loop. Some of my aquariums are hooked into power strips and I don't think they're terribly appropriate.

Anywho, now we wait for amazon to send my fluval 50W heater... and that should give plenty of time for this aquarium to cycle... because sometimes orders get here in 3-5 days, other times 2-3 weeks. It really depends on what amazon feels like it seems. Super saver shipping is pretty lame.

As a thought: a male/female pair of badis badis might be fun.

 

[not-pro]

Update time, guys and gals!

My research shows that the plan prefers to be attached to something rather than planted, but that wasn't really an option on this tank. I don't have enough stuff in the background to tie 'em down and I only wanted a few in the front to make it look semi randomized.

I also got the crypt parva to carpet the front of the tank. The center I expect to setup a clearing of some kind.

More later!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Java ferns? You want to keep the rhizome above the substrate or it will rot and kill the plant.

 

[not-pro]

Java ferns? You want to keep the rhizome above the substrate or it will rot and kill the plant.

I wish plant document was more specific. *sigh* I'll fix it tomorrow. I got the crypt parva planted... tomorrow I'll take pictures and then I'll uproot the java fern and mount it to some of the stones I bought. I'll take pictures and share as soon as I'm able.

EDIT: They've been uprooted and are now free floating, if I can figure out a nice way to do it, I'll have 'em tied down sometime tomorrow!
Thanks Mumma.of.two

Oh, another question: With this aquarium there are no fish. Is there any benefit to going lights out on it, or should I just keep the light going 24/7? I don't know how plants respond to that or if that gets them to grow the fastest...

I also got some java moss. I got it wrapped around the front left rock.

What's the best thing to use to tie down? I assume some kind of string that will bio degrade over time? My understanding is that java ferns that do get tied down to things will eventually root themselves to it.

OH, and my little sister bought me a honey gourami. (female)

she's in with the dwarf and will be a part of this aquarium. I suspect I may be getting a male honey and a female powder blue dwarf if I can help it. That should leave me with 4 very pretty fish.

Or I might just stop with these two. Here's a picture of Elaine:

 

[not-pro]

So the aquarium has cleared up, but I still don't have a heater in it... and I think I want to wait for the plants to grow out a bit before I add fish.

Can anybody think of any good top dwelling plants for an india biotope? Something like hornwort but preferably not prone to completely dissolving?

 

[not-pro]

Sorry to anybody following this for the lack of updates. I've recieved my package from Amazon, and probably sunday I'll be working on this aquarium. Thankfully the Hygro Polysperma and the Water Wisteria are growing well and really veggin' out. I'm having a lot of trouble with the way that the dirt is settling on everything including the plants... it's almost impossible to clean off.

Also, my dwarf gourami has really turned out to be a jerk. i am gonna have to house him alone in one of my 5's I'm thinking, likely putting the betta in the new tank that is the subject of this thread. Whichever way it goes, I have to house him alone because he's grumpy and greedy and aggressive.

In my attempts to make a community tank work I've made him absolutely hate me (I was trying to scold him for being aggressive, and I managed to stop 99% of the aggression towards the lady betta, but he still is really mean to the honey gourami, who seems to really like him because she's always in his shadow). if I touch the glass he reels back and gets into a really defensive and flared up posture... basically he's like "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAA what's that?" and then when I put my finger in the tank he straight up tackled my finger and started biting me. It didn't hurt, but I was pretty shocked. I thought I'd been fair with this one, but now that I know he's a mean little bastard with no love for anybody I definitely can't take him to the store... somebody will kill him... or he'll end up killing other fish.

 

[Rivercats]

If you put a cap on your dirt you shouldn't be getting dirt from the substrate in your tank. Is that the kind of dirt your referring to?

 

[brennae]

My Walstad tank wasn't well capped the on the first go and I got dirt all over my plants too. I recapped and its better but dirt still seems to work its way up through the sand. It probably doesn't help that I have shrimp and frogs that stir up the sand.
Best wishes with your tank!!

 

[Rivercats]

If you have dirt escaping all you need to do is make your cap thicker. I put as thick a cap on my dirt as the dirt layer itself.

 

[Morgie]

I had a ten gallon Indian biotope set up for quite a while. I actually just tore it down this past week in favor of some fire belly toads.
I'll post my plant list here. There is a link in my signature to my build thread if you would like to take a look at my aquascape and stock list.
~Dwarf Hairgrass
~Rotala nanjenshan
~Rotala Indica
~Wisteria
~Cryptocoryne spiralis
~Cryptocoryne retrospiralis
~Cryptocoryne ciliata

 

[not-pro]

Okay, I think I'm done with it. I dropped some kuhli loaches in it, and unfortunately can't take any pictures of them. Could only find one and he's in a wierd spot where he really blends in... so it's pointless to take a picture with this crappy camera.

 

[not-pro]

I believe I need to add a CO2 system. I'l probably just buy the cheapy one that fluval sells. For 30$ it's a nice pretty looking kit that'll be more pleasing to the eye.

If you noticed in the pictures posted above, all the plants are growing considerably better on the right side than the left. I believe this is because the Co2 is stronger on the right side, or at least closer to atmospheric levels over there thanks to the filtration water disruption.

I did add 5 fish and put the tank really close to maximum bio-load though, so the other 5 sets of gills may have an impact on the situation and negate the need for the CO2 system. Maybe... I guess I'll see!

 

[jetajockey]

As corallinealgae mentioned in another co2 thread this morning, you might want to go with a paintball regulator with a solenoid on it so you can set it to a timer.

 

[not-pro]

As corallinealgae mentioned in another co2 thread this morning, you might want to go with a paintball regulator with a solenoid on it so you can set it to a timer.

A timer? What would that do for me?

I'm gonna see if the extra bio load makes the plants grow out first, but if it doesn't, I'm gonna add a co2 kit.

 

[jetajockey]

A solenoid will shut the co2 flow off any time it loses power. Plugged into a timer, it would let you set the times you want the co2 on and off. You don't want to run co2 when the lights are off since the plants aren't utilizing it.

 

[not-pro]

Ah, I see. I don't quite understand what you're suggesting. Is there a guide somewhere?

BTW, a few of my plants displayed a HUGE burst of growth today. I'm thinking I may not need CO2 afterall. I'll watch both tanks and if the plants continue to grow as admirably I'll leave well enough alone.

 

[not-pro]

CO2 kits for the 2 10s are on the way. Anybody know of any good carpetting plants from india?

 

[not-pro]

Last night I tried blowing through the tube to see how much air I could move through it. Those cans are going to be remarkably pressurized. I'm not terribly sure I'm comfortable with turning it's flow off for hours at a time... if it gets too pressurized I'll probably have a blow out of some kind. So I'll just have to test my luck with the kits running full time.

I also cleaned the crap out of this particular tank but it's still very dirty. I'll be working on it some more tomorrow night, and probably friday. Hopefully saturday I can offer up some really nice pictures.