Amanda's 55g ~~tons & Tons Of Pics!

ICEEGRL said:

I went to that site, but all I found were links to order stuff. I didn't see a way to get to any real info on that site. Am I missing something?

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Hi Amanda sorry you didnt see anything on that site, try this one this is the euro site www.adaeuro.com/gallery.asp there is lots of links on this site to help you. regards john
here,s another to try www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/

Thanks! I will check them out!

ICEEGRL said:

I have a question about the wood placement though. Should it point to the front, back, center or sides of the tank if one end is higher than the other?

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Hi Amanda!

I would make the highest end points towards the back, in a diagonal way to the right.

Thanks! I will try that first and see how it looks. I really suck when it come to designing a tank. I should be good at this... I am a florist... I have designed things for a living for many years! I can design flowers and houses and yards very well. I don't get why my tanks always come out horrible.

I know which light fixture and co2 kits to get now. I am planning on ordering this evening or tomorrow. I still have one thing to sort out though. The light fixture comes with a 12,000k bulb. That is too much! I want to go ahead and order one that is 6700k so I can save some on shipping.

Q--- 1--They have the ones that are white (sun light) on one side and pink (for plants) on the other... ARE THEY ANY GOOD?
2--Should I get the pink and white one or a plain white one?
3--They said I can use 55 or 65 watt cf bulbs in it... Should I get the 55w so I will be at 2wpg exactly, or get the 65w and be a little over?

I will be adding some co2, but I can only afford one kit right now. I really need 2 for this tank so my levels will be low until I can get another one.

What should I do?

Thanks

Sorry, I can't be of any help with all these technical stuff! I am reading your thread with interest, as I am working on the set-up of a tank as well. Not ripe for a journal yet though, since I only have the tank, and just got the base and hood delivered (locally made).

ICEEGRL said:

Q--- 1--They have the ones that are white (sun light) on one side and pink (for plants) on the other... ARE THEY ANY GOOD?

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Daylight lamps are designed to be pleasing to the human eye, therefore they will have a spike in the green part of the spectrum, which isn`t of a great deal of use to plants. The lamp should still have some value to your plants. The pink lamp will have a bias to the red and green part of the spectrum, which is more beneficial to your plants.

ICEEGRL said:

2--Should I get the pink and white one or a plain white one?

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I think one of each would be best. The colour rendition will be more pleasing to your eye, plus it is always good to have a mix to cover more of the spectrum.

ICEEGRL said:

3--They said I can use 55 or 65 watt cf bulbs in it... Should I get the 55w so I will be at 2wpg exactly, or get the 65w and be a little over?

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2WPG is all you will need, so go for the 2 x 55W.

ICEEGRL said:

I will be adding some co2, but I can only afford one kit right now. I really need 2 for this tank so my levels will be low until I can get another one.
What should I do?

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At 2WPG stable CO2 will be very important. If you have separate starter gear for each lamp, only run one until you have a reliable source of stable CO2.

Dave.

It will be 2 seperate units. one on each side, so I can't just run one at a time.
This is the link to the light fixture...
http/www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...&ProdID=312
This is the pink & white bulb...
http/www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...&ProdID=296
These are my other choices...
http/www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...y=48&Page=2
http/www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...&ProdID=356
http/www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...&ProdID=355

Which one of these will be best for the plants?
Is there another bulb that I should look for that would be a lot better?

Thanks you!

I finally did the pics...
front...

side...
View attachment 45619

other side...
View attachment 45620

This tank is really hard to get decent pics of. Some of the plants seem to be almost invisible in some of the pics. I had to take them in 4 pieces to get it where you can really see what is in there.
The tank was really cloudy when I planted it. Now that I can see everything I am going to go back and add a few things and move a few that are in the wrong place. I also am working on cutting some wood that is going to be added when it gets ready. It will look a lot better once everything is in.
Here are the pieces ...


This starts on the left side and goes all the way across...
View attachment 45621

View attachment 45622

View attachment 45623

You might want to bunch plants of the same type together instead of spacing them out all over the place - it is your tank so you don't have to, but I personally think areas of the same plant look much better than loads of seperate stems/small bunches. Things like the vallis may also be easier to control long term in this manner aswell - once settled they can start to spread like mad - having them all over the place means you could end up with vallis absolutely everywhere!

Progressing well though, I love windelov ferns, mine are slowly starting to show their potential after being in a month or so (for my 5-gallon at least!).

What do you think so far? How thick should I plant it? I didn't want to get them too close so they wouldn't get light, but I think I spaced them out a little too much. How close should I plant them? There is a good bit of micro sword in there, but only a little shows in the pics. A lot of the plants don't show up very well. You have to really look to see some of them.
The path is there. I like it better without the gravel. It will be more defined when the other wood and stuff gets in there. How am I doing so far? What would you change?

Thanks for looking and helping me! It is much appreciated!

Thanks. Which plants would you put where? How close do I put them for them to look right?

I normally plant individual vallis ~1.5-2" apart from each other. Stem plants I usually bunch into 3-4 stems and plant them also 1.5-2" apart, sometimes more for larger leaved types.

Cool. I will do that.
Any ideas on placement? Basically you see what plants I have. I have the path on the right. That will stay there. The rest will be filled with more of what is in there. I am planning on getting more e. tennelus too.

E.T. (phone home) is like vallis, if it settles OK it will spread quickly so you might not need more or as much as you think!

Placement is up to you, if you know how big each plant type gets, try to put them in the relevant position.