Eli's Planted Journal

Ok here goes...

I began my foray into live plants in my aquariums one month ago today. I tried several things along the way, and have finally settled on a good beginning setup. First my stats:

10 US Gal Freshwater, DIY co2, 2x12watt full spectrum flourescents.
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0
Ph 7.0-7.2
Kh 80ppm
Gh 75ppm
Co2 15ppm

In this tank I began with Micro Sword, Amazon Sword (a runner plantling), Hornwort, and a purple plant (Hemigraphis colorata). These are "guarded" by two cory cats, two dwarf gouramis, and a rams horn snail.




After a week of nightly browsing the internet for articles relating to planted tanks, I tried some things different. I purchased a bundle of moneywort, and a piece of java fern with driftwood. I also bought a packet of bulbs from a local superstore, figuring the 2 dollars was worth a try (these are the brown spots by the micro sword). Heres week two:



Week 3 brought few changes, I really tried to let my plants settle and was watching my bulbs as they sprouted. It was just after this picture that I found out that the purple plant was NON aquatic, and so I removed it just after taking this picture:



With the purple plant gone, I was left with a gap that I didnt like in the tank, I replaced it with a 6" Amazon sword from a LFS. At the same time as this, I began my DIY co2 in the tank, and planted the Aponogeton Bulbs that had sprouted. The co2 had amazing results, within 10 days my 6" amazon sword has grown out of the water (its now about 12 inches tall) Ive taken the original runner amazon that i had and put it in my 5gal and my aponogetons now have 6-8 inch leaves, and my moneywort is probably two inches taller. My hornwort has really taken off and the only thing that hasnt really grown outrageously fast is my microsword, but it keeps chugging along, as well as my java fern. I really am impressed with the difference that co2 brought to my tank, and once my larger 29gal tank is ready I will co2 that one as well.

(okay i know my pics are kinda blurry - crappy 3mp digital vidcam pix) - so heres a guide:

left top - hornwort (helps hide my airlines and DIY co2)
left rear - Moneywort
center - amazon sword
right front - java fern on driftwood
right rear (behind the java fern) - 3 aponogetons
across front - micro sword
also a water lilly bulb - in front of my micro



Now I know this tank is mightily outclassed by some of the tanks on here, but I am mostly proud that I havent turned all my plants to mush or killed off all my fish.

I plan on getting a black background because i have heard that it really makes your plants "pop" when looking at them in the tank, I also would like to get some java moss to help cover some of the spaces and add some depth to the bottom of this tank. Also thinking about crypts in front of my moneywort or possibly in my midground somewhere.

Well try to get through the blurriness of my pics, feel free to add any contructive criticism, I have only up to go from here.

Looks like a good start.

Welcome to the planted gand, there's no going back now

Looks good from where I'm sat, keep it up

Sam

I really appreciate all the feedback, true, i am kinda impartial to the shipwreck, my son picked it out and I figured id leave it till my tank starts to grow in a little more. I have been looking for vals all over, but there arent any LFS that carry them. I will probably just wait and get a big lot of it when i change my 29 gallon over to a planted tank. shipping from online is killer.

thanks again, i will keep this updated,

eli

Hey all, I wanted to update quick, I took your advice and went with a black background, boy did that make a difference, I also read that to battle algae one should get plenty of stemmed plants, so i picked up a radeon sword and a small melon sword a couple days ago. The next day i stumbled upon an anubias frazeri that came with a piece of driftwood. With the change in light, my radeon grew three inches in the last three days, and my melon has really taken off as well. My aponogetons have filled out nicely, leaving very little unused space in my background. I will do the vals thing when I have my 29 gal ready to plant, (will take them out of the package deal I plan to get) but for now I think things are coming along nicely.

Also, I sucked it up and got rid of the shipwreck....it was so corny I had to keep it so its in my 29 gal for now.

Ok heres the tank

The black background was a smart move, it really makes your plants stand out. Keep up the good work, you seem to off to a good start. How old is this tank, is it only a month old, or did you have it set up with just fish before that?

Looking good!

I would agree, tanks looking good You going to have anything in front of the piece of wood?

the tank was my first tank and its been going for about 6 months, I had all plastic for a while, but soon after browsing the net, i fell in love with the natural look of planted tanks. I am a recent veteran of the war in Iraq, and since I have spent the last six years in the Marines, only lately has my life allowed a hobby, so fishkeeping I quickly fell in love with.

As for the bogwood question, It didnt turn out in the picture, but I have a DIY mesh "lawn grower" that covers that slope. I saw a site explaining this and thought it was worth a try. My microsword was really looking awful before i did that, hopefully it will hold together now. More pics as they come!

Oh right cool I see gald you decided to take up fishkeeping its a great hobby

Sam

Elifishlover said:

the tank was my first tank and its been going for about 6 months, I had all plastic for a while, but soon after browsing the net, i fell in love with the natural look of planted tanks. I am a recent veteran of the war in Iraq, and since I have spent the last six years in the Marines, only lately has my life allowed a hobby, so fishkeeping I quickly fell in love with.

As for the bogwood question, It didnt turn out in the picture, but I have a DIY mesh "lawn grower" that covers that slope. I saw a site explaining this and thought it was worth a try. My microsword was really looking awful before i did that, hopefully it will hold together now. More pics as they come!

Click to expand...

The tank is looking great. What kind of substrate are you using below the 'lawn grower'?

the substrate below my microsword is the same, I used gravel because I heard quite a bit of bad things about sand at first, but now I am thinking that my next project (29gal) will have sorta a half sand, half gravel look. Its still in the planning phase for now, but should be pretty fun once i get going with it.