drift wood in plastic's out

[flushingfish]

Finally got the driftwood to sink and all the bizarre plastic plants are out. The castle that my wife loves is staying though. My only regret so far is that this tank is still cycling, thanks to some old outdated advice from my LFS, with fish. I should have read more before I jumped in but the Goldie in the tank (who I know doesn't belong in here. He'll be moved) needed a home. He start4ed the whole thing anyway being won by my daughter at the San Gennaro Festival in NY. Anyway this is my first tank and I'm hooked. I have added my driftwood and will soon be adding my first plants and if all goes well I will be truning this into a nice planted community tank.

 

[rich311k]

Looks nice. The castle is cool. You can make it look quite nice by arranging your plants around it. Maybe a castle in the forest kind of look. I am looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[flushingfish]

I was kind of thinking of tying some Java Fern to itand some Anubias in the foreground could look ok.

 

[LandGhoti]

I like the castle too! I've been debating whether to get something like that for my tank. My lfs has those fake sunken ships in all sizes (half the ship, just the stern, etc.) and I think my fish would love one of those.

Can't wait to see the tank with plants.

 

[mr funktastic]

i actually like the castle. maybe try filling some levels of the castle and planting on it. u could get a very interesting scape using it. i like the driftwood aswell. nice shape and size for that tank. once it is surrounded by plants it will look even better. cant wait for updates. is there a reason u are waiting to plant it or u just cant get plants right now?

 

[flushingfish]

Actually I have been in touch with another member Lowcoaster regarding plants and his next shipment is due on 11/19. Hopefully he will be able to put together a suitable package of plants for me. He is known on this board for providing high quality plants. Also with any luck the tank will be finished cycling by then as well.

Once I get going I will post pics of my progress. You know what the more I look at that castle the more I think it will work out just fine.

 

[mr funktastic]

u can plant during the cycle. it will actually be better for the fish u have in there casue the plants will use the excess ammonia and nitrites in the tank. what kind of light do u have?

 

[flushingfish]

I'm going low light..Anubias, crypts, java Fern, Java Moss. Right now it's at about 1WPG. I've been told that this will be fine for these types of plants. Actually I'm off to the LFS right now to pick up some Prime and hopefully some used filter medium to speed the cycle along. I still haven't seen nitrites form yet and I'm doing PWC's every other day to keep the ammonia down.

 

[newfound77951]

I'm not usually one for the "fake" decorations but that is one awesome castle...I like rich311k's idea of a castle in the forest. That could be very cool.

Oh, and Lowcoaster is great...he'll help you out in any way possible!

 

[sherry]

I agree lowcoasters plants are terrific

 

[flushingfish]

So the need to plant ssomething overtook me. I will still be getting my plants from Lowcoaster but I was at the LFS today and they had Java Fern and Anubia Nana. I couldn't resist. Of course they tried to sell me upgraded lights and a CO2 system. I put them off and left wiith my 4 little plants. Obviously not fully scaped yet or even in their preferred spot but just the fact that I have some live plants in there makes me feel better. Now here's the question. I plan on keeping Anubias, Crypts, Java Fernnabd Java Moss. Just the plants that I keep hearing do great in low light. No experiments no extravagances yet (LOL) My question is do I have to invest in a CO2 system of some type either DIY or purchased and also any recomendations for Ferts? And just form fun a new photo of my very sparsely planted tank.

 

[rich311k]

No need for anything right now. If your plants start showing signs of deficiencies or algae starts to grow, then you can address dosing or co2 needs. For right now you should not have to do much of anything.

 

[flushingfish]

Thanks Rich much appreciated as always.

 

[rkilling1]

FWIW, it looks like you planted the rhizome in the substrate on both of those. They need to stay above it.

 

[mr funktastic]

ya i agree with rkilling it looks like u put the rhizome under the substarte. it needs to remain above for the plant to thrive. why not try tieng one of them to the driftwood? might make the scape a little nicer untill u do get all your plants.

 

[flushingfish]

Thanks, anyone have any pics on the proper way to plant them? I don't want to kill them after all.

 

[mr funktastic]

well all u need to do is leave the part where the leave come out of above the substrate. all the roots can go into the gravel but not the actual plant. or what u can do it place it on your driftwood and tie it down then the roots wil wrap around the wood and it will achor itself. u could then put moss on the wood and it would cover up the roots and thwe plant would looks really cool. it would just looks like a tree coming out of the grass. i dont have a pic or i would put one.

 

[7Enigma]

Glad you decided on the plants during your cycle. They will help remove some of the ammonia and nitrIte (not a lot since these are slow growers with low light/no ferts), but some. More importantly is they are covered in the beneficial bacteria you need so they will help to speed along your cycle.

That castle looks INCREDIBLE. I'm also generally not a fan of "decorations" but yours looks excellent.

What size tank btw? I'm trying to judge how big that castle is...

EDIT: I see your profile has that its a 20gallon. That is a BIG castle!

 

[flushingfish]

Thanks for the info...guess I'll make some changes tonight when I get home.

 

[flushingfish]

I took everyones advice I have moved one fern and one anubia to the driftwood and I have raised the other 2 so that the rhizome is above the substrate. It does look much better. I can hardly wait to get my new plants and really go to town. i will post pics later today. I guess this is turning into a tank in progress thread.