Planted tank with Filter removed

full tank shot

close up of riccia

12.02 am yeah been there as well.

looks great. how many bags did you get from greenline. looks like you got a good batch, nice and green.

well done hondour.

edit: updated riccia pic (will do a proper thread later)

Looking better than ever. Good work.

Yeah looking very good, i like the sand though i have to say, but the tank will look very different when you place more riccia in it, not in a bad way by any means, but i guess thats the beauty of putting the riccia on slate, you can just move it around.

great tank will look fab when hair grass fills out as well

Looking great, what camra phone is that by the way, most phones suck mind so does my photography.

12.02 am yeah been there as well.

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sad isn't it?

jimbooo, your riccia looks great.

Yeah looking very good, i like the sand though i have to say, but the tank will look very different when you place more riccia in it, not in a bad way by any means, but i guess thats the beauty of putting the riccia on slate, you can just move it around.

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I like the sand too. I cant really make my mind up on what to do. My original plan was to have the hair grass at the back, but i didnt have the heart to get rid of my lily (tiger lotus) so that's taken it's place. I have lots more hair grass in a bowl, but i just lost patience with it. it takes ages to sort out.

Riccia...I got 3 lots. I'm not sure if it's grown much since. I only had enough to cover 2 small pieces of flat stone. Then I just plonked them in. I have little design and imagination as it is, just not sure where to put them. I love the look of it though, and my boyfriend was very impressed.

Looking great, what camra phone is that by the way, most phones suck mind so does my photography.

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its a sony ericsson k750i. I love the idea of having a decent camera phone for all those photo opportunities when out and about. it comes with a 64 mb card, but i plan to get a bigger one for mp3s and lots of piccies

I really feel like my tank is getting somewhere now. I'm really pleased with it Have seriously black brush algae problem tho

The joys of a newly planted tank, ive a major diatom bloom going on, so your not alone, but i think its par for the course at the stage we are at, once the tank gets more mature and you get your fertiliser regime sorted out, it should be a lot more fun watching the various plants grow and adding new additions.

How is your co2 working out, what levels are you manageing with the diy setup?

And are your plants pearling much and what sort of duration are you giving the lights?

Have a good weekend

The CO2 is a nightmare. I need to get some proper measuring devices to measure the yeast. I think I prefer the sachets that came with it. My plants seem to pearl when I had those. I seemed to get at least 3 weeks at around 18ppm with them and now its less than a week.

As I speak the Co2 levels are prob about 10-15ppm. Need to change it tomoz. (i'm off to be a bridesmaid in a wedding in 15 minutes lol and I still find time to come on here!!)

Light: 55 watts on a 20 gallon. on 5 hours off 2 on 5 hours.

my plants have only just started to pearl this week since i've been adding Iron. I'm adding 1 or 2 drops of Botanica Fe a day. But they still arent pearling much. I think my nitrates are a bit low at 10ppm. They were 8 after a water change but by day 4 they'd gone up to 10. wow. I'm reluctant to add liquid ferts.

I better dash, hair dressers at 9! have a good weekend.

that's a wonderful bubble nest. Your gourami should be very proud.


and the tank looks great too - i like the lily (or whatever it is) on the left.

hi hondour,

just a thought plant the hairgrass on top of the lilly, i have in my 40G, the lillys will tower over the grass anyway so will fill in nicely.

as to the nitrate 10ppm should be fine (mine is 12.5 before water change so probably goes down to 10 with fresh water in). you will also need a multinutrient liquid fert as well to supliment the iron.

try kent botanic "GROW". i use that plus the iron one and nothing else (apart from root ferts that come with the hagen kits)

the pearling should pick up then.

just a thought plant the hairgrass on top of the lilly, i have in my 40G, the lillys will tower over the grass anyway so will fill in nicely.

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Does the hair grass not need good light?

try kent botanic "GROW". i use that plus the iron one and nothing else (apart from root ferts that come with the hagen kits)

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oh, , more money. now who was it that said keeping fish was cheap?!

Does the hair grass not need good light?

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yes but as long as the lillies dont take over and form a canopy it should be fine.

oh, , more money. now who was it that said keeping fish was cheap?!

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definatly not me

yes but as long as the lillies dont take over and form a canopy it should be fine.

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hmm ok. well i may leave it where it is for now. Let it try and grow a bit.

definatly not me

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It's not funny!! I'm skint! I've spent _loads_ on my tank. I only set it up again cos I thought it'd be a cheap hobby as I already had all the stuff! Then I got into planted tanks... now everything has been replaced except the heater and tank! lol