modaz
Getting old, but nowhere near knackered, i just lo
now that my fry are growing i need to put them into a larger tank so i thought i would spend the day setting up my 60L again and by the time they are ready to move the tank will be ready for them. ANYWAY.
i went to LFS to get a new cabinet so BOSS my betta could live in the base of the stand, and he fits perfectly. i wanted this time to create the most perfect live planted tank that i would be proud of and could show it off
.
i had on several occasions been watching the setup of a tank in the LFS and the finished set up is AMAZING its a fshless tank and the plants are awesome, during these several visits i asked plenty of questions about the lighting, water hardness, CO2 and substrate but i now wish i asked or should i say made myself a little bit clearer on the substrate issue
well today i went and got the cabinet then went to LFS and brought bogwood and lovely rock.....excellent all i needed now was substrate.......so i went to the counter and asked someone about this tank of theirs and where i could find this particular substrate, i was directed to the back of the shop and was asked what i wanted......i said ive decided on sand as an inch base covered with high fertilizer plant substrate then fine gravel and so on to create thin layers, finished with a gravel and plant fertilizer mix. yes i had it all planned and i was gunna win this endless battle with my plants
.
heres the crunch!..........LFS attendant told me that i wouldnt need to use fine gravel as the plant fertilizer substrate was a substitute for gravel and that i was wasting my money on gravel and as all the staff had what i thought good knowledge of how the AMAZING tank was set up, as foolish as i am i believed every word of it . WHOOPS!
went home found the time and started to do the set up. and this is what happened.
1 the sand as usual was great
2 i layered sand then plant substrate again and again, creating lovely looking layers
3 the plant substrate was like gravel
4 added some water that i took from one of my other tanks and a little tap water
it was murky as expected, then i put my hand in to move the substrate back a bit as it was too high at the front of the tank and to my surprise it felt like sludge. picked some up and YUK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the blasted stuff had turned into a filthy mess that looked awful.
I DID NEED THE GRAVEL as a final layer atleast 2 inches of it. look at these pics of the bloody mess that the LFS and myself created together... had to laugh as no harm done but just gunna take even longer to sort now.....what a PLONKER i am.
this is the sludge i ended up with
this is the tank
and the top of the water
i went to LFS to get a new cabinet so BOSS my betta could live in the base of the stand, and he fits perfectly. i wanted this time to create the most perfect live planted tank that i would be proud of and could show it off
.i had on several occasions been watching the setup of a tank in the LFS and the finished set up is AMAZING its a fshless tank and the plants are awesome, during these several visits i asked plenty of questions about the lighting, water hardness, CO2 and substrate but i now wish i asked or should i say made myself a little bit clearer on the substrate issue
well today i went and got the cabinet then went to LFS and brought bogwood and lovely rock.....excellent all i needed now was substrate.......so i went to the counter and asked someone about this tank of theirs and where i could find this particular substrate, i was directed to the back of the shop and was asked what i wanted......i said ive decided on sand as an inch base covered with high fertilizer plant substrate then fine gravel and so on to create thin layers, finished with a gravel and plant fertilizer mix. yes i had it all planned and i was gunna win this endless battle with my plants
.heres the crunch!..........LFS attendant told me that i wouldnt need to use fine gravel as the plant fertilizer substrate was a substitute for gravel and that i was wasting my money on gravel and as all the staff had what i thought good knowledge of how the AMAZING tank was set up, as foolish as i am i believed every word of it
. WHOOPS!went home found the time and started to do the set up. and this is what happened.
1 the sand as usual was great
2 i layered sand then plant substrate again and again, creating lovely looking layers
3 the plant substrate was like gravel
4 added some water that i took from one of my other tanks and a little tap water
it was murky as expected, then i put my hand in to move the substrate back a bit as it was too high at the front of the tank and to my surprise it felt like sludge. picked some up and YUK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the blasted stuff had turned into a filthy mess that looked awful.
I DID NEED THE GRAVEL as a final layer atleast 2 inches of it. look at these pics of the bloody mess that the LFS and myself created together...
had to laugh as no harm done but just gunna take even longer to sort now.....what a PLONKER i am.this is the sludge i ended up with
this is the tank
and the top of the water
