My First Attempt With The Right Tools

This is my First attempt, When I started this and added in CO2 I killed most of my fish but now everything is fine, and plants seem to be growing quite fast, most are. Here is a Pic.


The plants I have are Nymphaea Lotus (doing good)
Ultricularia Graminifolia (seem to be doing good)
Eleocharis (lots of new shoots already)
Limnophila sessiliflora (doing very very well) Twice the size I bough it.
Crinum calamistratum. Has about 5-8 new leaves.
Nymphaea lotus, has 6 new leaves, love this plant...

and an unknown stem plant i bought at Ikea (hey it was £1.99 ok look at pic)


It looks bare I know, but giving it some time it should sprout. It's only been two weeks now. I have Co2 gas canister and it is going at 2-3 bubbles per second. Also I have two grow lux 48w with reflectors. they are high in kelvin. Might be looking at getting more lights. Also lights stay on from 8am - 9:30pm, is that too long?

So what are you comments, good and bad please?

Sorry to hear about your fish Glad you have that sorted out.

Your Crinum looks great -- so many leaves on it! Very nice looking wood in there, too. That curvey looking piece would look great laying down in the front so that it was between the crinum and the other plant to the right. (I'm not sure if I described that very well...)

Regarding the lights -- if you add more light, you probably should add more plants, too. Also, 8AM to 9:30PM sounds reasonable. Mine are on from 7:30AM to 9PM.

Nice tank!
-sondra

Looks very promising, nice plants, the crinum looks great, I like the wood and rocks too. The Ikea plant is a Hygrophila probably Corymbosa, an adaptable and fast growing plant. Looks like a nice pretty big tank too.

hi guys, well here is an update, i added more plants, i found hemianthus and i love that little plant, just that it's taking a while to grow... i know i want the whole bottom of the tank to be carpeted green, ho hum, patience i suppose.



i have added that wood in the middle, i think i might have too much "ornaments" i was just thinking of just getting some rocks and glue and making a few caves and leaving the rest of the sand for the plants and plant space. my diffuser broke so i had to glue a pice of tube to the bottom where tha glass bit broke and still works, need to get a new one i think.

fixed diffuser...

here are some pictures i took from left to right...

left side...


centre....


right... (had to make it smaller due to space)


all positive and negative comments accepted....

No Comments, not even critical ones, well here is an update today 09/05/07 Have some algea on the glass, I have scrapped it off and will do so at the next change. I have upped the CO2 and I have also placed some undergravel fert tabs. Not at the moment keen on trying the EI method. First attempt I want to try with just CO2 and the fert tab's. I do a 40% water change.
Does anyone know how long or how quick Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba" takes to spread? I would appreciate some tips on them as they are just sitting there not expanding? I might not have enough lights? Standard 38W GrowLux with reflectors on. What about the Eleocharis parvula, how quick does it spread? I'm trying to get a "carpet" on my sand?

This is the full view


Left View


Right View


Try not to be too quite, you can also be critical, I'm a big boy, or girl, you can choose!!!! lol...

proton said:

Does anyone know how long or how quick Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba" takes to spread? I would appreciate some tips on them as they are just sitting there not expanding?

Click to expand...

I have recently learned that HC is a big nitrate user, which may explain why mine suffered so much when I experimented with a lean water column.

proton said:

What about the Eleocharis parvula, how quick does it spread? I'm trying to get a "carpet" on my sand?

Click to expand...

I have some Eleocharis parvula which is starting to do really well. If it has long, straight leaves you will need to cut these back to around 2cm, as they are the emergent leaves which will die and become algae magnets. The curled leaves and new runners should grow in no time.

Looking forward to seeing this tank maturing.

Dave.

hi all, here is an update of 10 days later, it looks OK plants are GROWING and GROWING... I'm actually not happy with the wat it is at the moment, suprise suprise... isn't that typical

anyways look-see full view


Left View...


and right view...


Polite and non polite comments appreciated...

I have been back into aquarium keeping for about 10 months now after a 12+ year gap. Having only got into the planted side of things ~6 months ago I am only now getting towards a stage where I am happy with my tanks (15-gallon and 5-gallon).

There seems to be two types of people on this forum:

1) Those that go out, buy a tank, never kept fish ever before and create something truely breathtaking
2) Those, like me, who take ages and ages to get anywhere close to a breathtaking aquascape

For number 2's like me (no pun intended!) the number 1's can really stir the green-eyed monster

Keep going, you will get there!

Wow Real nice mate!

Plant growth is great

What kinda wood is that right in the middle? The real red looking one ?

Thanks alot

Richie

try get some more background plants and also maybe some vallisneria to cover ur filter box also maybe some hc for the foreground but i especially really like ur red tiger lous its looks nice and healthy

proton said:

No Comments, not even critical ones

Try not to be too quite, you can also be critical, I'm a big boy, or girl, you can choose!!!! lol...

Click to expand...

Great looking start, Proton. Sometimes, I'll have pages of my journals where it's just me, so don't fret if there are no comments.

For me, the tank is still too new for me to make criticisms except on matters of growth (CO2, lighting, ferts) or matters of algae. If you are growing plants well and have little algae issues, I wont say anything. Serious aquascaping, IMO, shouldn't be happening until the tank is 3-4 months old, when the fert regimen and algae issues are sorted out for the most part. So for now, just enjoy growing plants.

llj

amazing progress already... it takes time... and like many people you'll likely find something that works for you...

Ok so I upgraded a few goodies... like the lights, I got 4x39W at 14000K and I huge diffuser, check the pics on that. I did a water change and chopped a few (a lot) of plant growth. Check out some of my pics... Thanks for the comments, I will just be patient, I want more plants, but I think once the new stuff has settled then I will re-decorate...

Here are pics...
Full view...


Diffuser...


OK I also upgraded to a 6.5kgs CO2 Bottle...

I will take advice from arif_93 to get vallisneria to cover my box... (hehe)... never mind...

CO2 Gas Can...

Here is a pic of a misterious plant from ebay, i placed it and forgot about it and it started to grown out of the rocks there... neat... oh and one angel fush... looks like another lotus type one



Here is a shot on the right hand side...


and one of the left hand side... i don't have a flashy camera like a SLR or something so doing it in bits you get the drill....
the nymphaea lotus