Llj's 15g Journal

Well, I thought it was about time I posted a planted journal thread for my 15 gallon aquarium.

I only have pictures from the last 2 months or so, when I got my camera phone, so I'll just describe what the tank was like before.

In a nutshell. I've had this tank for almost 3 years. The only fish that have stayed with me for the entire time have been my little bridget rasboras. My tank has been trashed twice by a friend who didn't know how to take care of it over Winter breaks and it was further trashed when her kids dropped an entire container of fish food, killing my prize neons that I had for over a year. After that fiasco, which happened in June, 2005, the tank became a divided betta community that looked like this, but with fake plants. Then it occured to me to add my growlight from my office and I just bought a glass hood and stuck the growlight on top. This happened soon after I discovered TFF and began posting. Lovely, here's the picture.


Of course, no CO2, no ferts, but plenty of light and I get a healthy dose of algae. Yummy. So I start putting the tank on a siesta and purchased some fast growers, hygro, wisteria, anacharis, etc, in addition to some slow growing anubias and little crypts. I also removed that cheesy background. Well, of course, I'm not satisfied, so I browsed the internet and stumbled upon Aquariumplants.com. I made a hefty purchase. Of course, after I plant the plants, Fafner, one of the bettas, died, and so the divider went.


In this tank, I had ambulia, wisteria, a wall of anacharis in the back and more crypts, in addition to my anubias. It began to take shape and I thoroughly enjoyed watching most of the algae die. But I was still not satisfied. I got serious and purchased a much better T5 light to work with the original lightstrip and I was up to 2.86 WPG. The plants grew like mad and here's the tank after about 2 weeks. I didn't prune on purpose.


I finally did my first prune on the 19th of September. It was very hard work and I still had to combat quite a bit of algae. I knew why of course, no CO2, but I had to save up for a CO2 system, so I had to make due with what I had. Here is the tank after the pruning on the 19th.


In the nearly three months covered by this first post, I decided to house my bettas with other fish. Risky, but I had a similar community in Florida. I slowly built a school of Harlequin rasboras. Before the plants, they just looked normal, but after the addition of the plants, they began to change. Their colors became brighter, some of them becoming nearly orange. They also began to breed on a semi-weekly basis. As their numbers increased to the present 9, their schooling patterns became well-established and they became a joy to watch.

Stay tuned for the next post, where I undergo a CO2 conversion!

The CO2 Conversion!​

Of course, I was pretty darn happy at first with my planted tanks, but I started to worry. My plants were doing very well, but I didn't want my good fortune to go bust. I reread many of the pinned topics at TFF, thank you zig and gf, and I decided that CO2 was the way to go. So I ordered 2 units, one for the 15g and one for my 10g betta tank. I also removed my ambulia and put it in my 10g, which has 3WPG. It was a good move, they are actually pinkish in that tank. I replaced the ambulia with wisteria. I digress, back to the CO2. I didn't feel like installing it right away, because the tank looked crazy! In desparate need of another prune, and I was too tired. You can understand why when you look at the picture below.


I mustered some energy and courage and performed a heavy tank maintenance on the 26th of September. I removed all the algae, and installed the CO2 units in both tanks. I pruned a lot, probably too much, but you get really tired of pruning once a week. I also put a plain black background.


I made a chart to input all of my test results. In the 15g, I test for nitrates, pH, KH, gH, CO2, Fe, and Phospate. I started out testing weekly, but now I test for CO2, Fe, kH, pH, and phosphates twice a week. The pH has dropped, but it was not a very large crash, though it did affect my betta Fasolt in an unusual way. For the curious, please search in the betta thread. He is fine now, though no longer in the 15g. He was replaced by a stronger betta, a plakat named Hunding. I digress again! I noticed a change in my plants within a week. Before, the bottom of my anacharis would turn brown. It no longer does this, and roots are growing into the substrate. In fact, I've noticed improvement in all my plants, and so far I'm very pleased. The plants are more vibrant, and I look forward to their continued growth. I'm pretty satisfied with the results, and though I should probably buy something to dose ferts, since it's recommended here, I can't at this time. I will definitely consider this, however, when I setup larger planted aquariums in the future. Right now, I have to dose the old fashioned way, which requires more vigilance on my part. I dose twice a week, and I will fiddle with things depending on the results of my water tests tomorrow.

Here is the last picture I took after my weekly maintenance on October 3rd. Thank goodness I didn't have to prune that week, though I will tomorrow. That anacharis grows like a weed! Algae is also much more subdued since I installed CO2.


Boy, that was a long, long thread. I appreciate your help regarding this planted tank. I really couldn't have done it without the contributions of the great minds in this forum. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. As of now, I have 9 harlequins, 5 corydora habrosus, the three tiny bridget rasboras, and Hunding. I haven't added any fish for quite some time and don't really plan to. Tomorrow, you'll get a picture of the tank before the maitenance and afterwards. I'm excited and hope this can be an ongoing thread. Again, thank you for making this possible.

Warmest regards to my fellow aqua gardeners!

lljdma06

that is so amazing....i wish my 10g was like that.....*grumble*

Very nice.

The progression looks very positive - another testiment to the effectiveness of CO2 injection.

Always great to see another "evolution" thread too.

WoW that's a pretty amazing evolution in a relatively short period of time. Well done
These threads are great and serves as inspiration (and hope!) for others

I can't wait to be able to do some pruning myself

bloozoo2 said:

WoW that's a pretty amazing evolution in a relatively short period of time. Well done
These threads are great and serves as inspiration (and hope!) for others

I can't wait to be able to do some pruning myself

Click to expand...

Oh, you can wait! I prune about every two weeks and that's a good week. Usually it's once a week. But it's worth it. For me it's just like regular gardening. I get the same joy out of watching my planted aquarium as I do from looking at roses I cut from my own garden.

I agree, if I can do it, anybody can.

Well, here is a picture of my tank after its weekly maintenance. I only pruned the anacharis, and moved back the wisteria a bit. The wisteria will have to be pruned next week. I also added two more black backgrounds on either side, so now three sides are covered with black.


Though I'm pleased with the plant growth, and really really enjoy the lack of algae, I'm really not satisfied with the anacharis. I like it, but it doesn't provide enough contrast with the black background. I will probably search online for a plant that I like better. Afterall it is my B-day, and a present is always nice. I will also consider looking into a small foreground plant and removing the obsidian stones to make room. As I only have 2.86 WPG, I'm not looking into something that a lawn cover, just something small. In addition I will probably move the crypts around, they won't like this, I know, and perhaps try to get a better line going. I may only need to swith the large anubia with the crypt to the right. We'll see, I guess this is why it is called an evolution thread. Anybody have any suggestions? Only thing I can't change is the substrate. To me, the tank is taking on more of a Dutch look to it, though it is a poor example of the type, compared to what I've seen here, but cut me some slack.

Here is the tank after its weekly maintenance on October 17th. I have made a few changes which I will illustrate below.


I ended up keeping the anacharis. I have just resigned myself to trimming it once a week. I also took the liberty of switching the large anubia with the cryptocrynes and I like the overall look better. I have also removed my Plakat Hunding (putting him in a lovely home next to me on my desk), and placed two b. imbellis from my quaranteen tank into the aquarium. I think they like their new home. Here is a picture of one.


My only major concern for my tank now is my Christmas break, which is 6 weeks long and I spend it out of town. This tank is used to a high level of maintenance, and I'm a little worried about what 6 weeks of no pruning, less CO2, possibly no water changes, and no ferts will do. I believe the thank should be alright if I take a few precautions. I am open to suggestions. All my bettas are coming home with me for Winter Break, so technically the 10g will also be open to spread my stock between two tanks.

Looks really nice!

I'm struggling with either the flu or a bad chest cold, so I almost didn't do the tank today, but I mustered some strength. I changed a few things. I'm happy to report that algae was really not an issue this week. I wiped the glass out of habit rather than because I needed to. I rearranged the anacharis so it covered my equipment, and placed the wisteria in the middle. Only one of the crypts that were moved last week suffered, and it is already growing new shoots. After the new arrangement, there was a little bit of empty space, so rather than buy a new plant, there was a hygro polysperma that I liked from my 10g. So I moved it to this tank. I think it looks kind of cute. There it is on the right. Probably another anubia should go there, but oh well. Here's a picture. It's a little less symmetrical, but I kind of like the arrangement. The space in the front will fill in as soon as that crypt grows more.


One thing I will note is the improvement of my crypts since I started dosing iron twice a week. They really are starting to get a really lovely color, especially evident on the leave's underside.

Yesterday, I purchased so h. polysperma and some more crypts, so there's going to be some rearranging tomorrow.

I also purchased some Seachem exel to supplement my CO2 injection. I just can't get the CO2 to 30ppm. Algae is not a big issue for my tanks, just the green kind on the glass, that can wipe off easy.

I also think I lost my otto . I can't find him anywhere. It's been two days, and my two b. imbellis look curiously well-fed. I'm sure they didn't kill him, but I'm sure they disposed of the evidence. I wasn't confident about the poor guy anyway. I never saw him poop once since I got him and perhaps he was damaged in transit. They so often are. They are great fish, but it's hard to find one that'll live past that crucial first month. I'll try them again when I return to Miami, FL, or perhaps consider amano shrimp.

The bad news. I lost my oto. I did not find him anywhere. This is quite sad, as I really liked the poor guy.

The good news. I planted my H. polysperma and added an additional C. wendtii and divided a C. lutea to put in the foreground. I also added a dose of the Seachem excel, and I think that until I perhaps go pressurized or develop a better DIY mix for my generator, this will get me to the elusive 25-30ppm that I have been seeking. Though I am close. My test indicated 20ppm today, so I'm getting there slowly but surely. I'll see what Thursday's tests reveal.

Some pieces of h. polysperma broke off, so they are sitting in my betta bowls to get better root development. I will plant them in the 10g for the holidays. For the curious I have the red varigated cultivar of H. polysperma.

Here is a picture of the tank, and one of the foreground showing the c. lutea. My b. imbellis also decided to pose, cheeky fellow. Bubbles are appearing, so I'm happy!

11/07/05 Tank Maintenance​

I am going back to Miami, FL for the Thanksgiving holidays, so I'll be away from my tanks for two weeks. We'll see what happens. I reduced the photo period by quite a bit, left detailed instructions, and left pre-measure portions of food to cut on overfeeding. I pruned quite a bit, to see if it won't be a jungle when I get back.


I will have internet access when I'm gone, but it'll be dial-up, which is not so hot.

I'm back. I had fun in Miami, but I am literally freezing my butt off, now that I'm in IL! It has algae, quite a bit of it, really, so I don't even want to look at it until Monday. The good news is that the fish are fine, snails are making little trails in the glass, the filter's still running, and nothing exploded.

Here's a pic. All in all, I think I've been very successful growing algae, so if anyone wants tips, feel free to contact me. Yes, if you look really hard, you can see fish.

Good to see you back!