Carl's 22gal Journal

[ShoC]

Hi everyone this is my first plated tank (had it a while now)
did have a previous thread but asked it to be deleted because It was a mess

My tank is 22Gallons ClearSeal.

Currently Im dosing with FloraBoost 1x a week at 20ml
Co2 is from Germany unsure of the make forgot what it is but I have 30ppm I think

I have 2x 25W lights using an Arcadia Overtank Luminare.
my photoperiod is roughley 12hours but to be honest It fluctuates more than it should.

I have no fish in there atm due to pest snails but they are on their way out
thanks to Underwurlde and his recomendation of Flubenol based products so no Copper poison for me

My plants are as followed

Amazon Sword plant
Dwarf Hair Grass (almost killed off by my Sag and my lack of pruning)
Ludwigia Repens (removed in newer pictures below)
Bacopa Monnieri (removed in newer pictures below)
Reicki (removed in newer pictures below)
Saggitaria
Anubia
hornwort
Crypt
Sorry if many of these are off this is from memory

any way the pictures. hope you like them

These pictures are very old newer onees at the bottom

And this is how it used to look (went through many stages.

( my very first attempt to plant if you can call it that )

( I ended up changing it when I got some more plants in still very bad )

( again another change about didnt seperate the hair grass )

EDIT - Thanks Mod

 

[Themuleous]

Looks good so far keep us posted on progress

Sam

 

[ShoC]

Just had large trim on the plants, Should have done it some time ago actually.
got roughly a bathroom sink full of plants (basin)

not to much of a change really. My hair grass is still strugling
Might have to buy some more soon...

as far as algae goes still have a small amount but seems to be reducing slowly.
I believe it was caused by snails dying in my tank.
I had very small LakeLimpet snails so just wanted them gone, they are very hard to remove when amongst the plants due to their size.

My ammonia was reading aboout 2ppm If memory serves correct.
a few water changes and all back to normal.

I was avoiding water changes to make my Discus wormer more effective at killing off the snails but my trade off was algae


sorry for the bad picture quality as normal they are from my phone.

p.s with the stem plants and their roots that shoot off into the water that dont go into the substrate can they be cut down to about 1 inch with no bad side affect.

 

[ShoC]

Arghh...

I changed my tank again...

I was having trouble with BGA so I decided to skim my sand (worked and BGA is gone)

but My mums partner whilst at work ( dustbing lorry driver ) found this fantastic piece of Mopani wood.
and I wanted it in my tank so I had a slight rescape in my tank, I think its for the better
pictures are as followed.

p.s let me know what you think as this thread is DEAD

sorry for no front facing picture It's to blury and I'm to lazy to do it again =)

I also have bold ideas for my sag.
I have two breeds one on the left and one of the right.
I prefer the one to the right.
So plan to make that take over

 

[rabbut]

Looking good, but a little cloudy in the last round of pics. The outer glass could use a wipedown to clear the watermarks, but other than that, everthing is good. Should grow out well woth time

 

[ShoC]

Looking good, but a little cloudy in the last round of pics. The outer glass could use a wipedown to clear the watermarks, but other than that, everthing is good. Should grow out well woth time

yeh sorry about the water/glass
I had literally just finished moving everything about so it was still suffering slightly

glass/water is clear now

 

[lljdma06]

Looking good, but a little cloudy in the last round of pics. The outer glass could use a wipedown to clear the watermarks, but other than that, everthing is good. Should grow out well woth time

yeh sorry about the water/glass
I had literally just finished moving everything about so it was still suffering slightly

glass/water is clear now

Then put up another picture and let's really see the results. I personally like Mopani, but it leeches tannins, which I like, but others may not. It also needs considerable time to cure, so don't freak out if you see little white fungus or slime growing on it. It is unsightly and pretty stinky, but supposedly it is harmless to fish and plants. I can't stand seeing it, however, and now opt to "cure" my Mopani in a separate bucket for a few weeks. I'm working on a few good pieces right now.

Right now, I think your Mopani is a bit dominant and it is taking away from your anubias, which are looking good in that position (flattered you took my advice). If it were me, I'd keep the hardscape concentrated on one side of the tank, and opt for a right-triangle type of scape, with the taller portion of the triangle on the side of the anubias. That gap in the Mopani is also ideal for attaching more anubias and I personally like orienting Mopani so that the dark, gnarled side, faces front. The lighter, smoother side, just so you know, also tends to be the side that can get the fungus/mold during the curing process.

Still, nice piece of wood.

llj

 

[ShoC]

Thanks for what you wrote Lidjma06

the anubias looks better and better each week with the growth its taking on.
the large piece of Mopani was in my mind as to keep of not.
as I really did intend to have the area is covers all Dwarfhair Grass,

I totally agree with the ridge of it being run up with anubia and think is I can get it all covered with anubias it will look totally stunning.

I dont think the Mopani wood will get any fungus on it as it was in a fish tank prior to mine
basically my Mums partner drives a dustbin truck and happened to come across the wood (im sure a piece that big would cost alot)

and decided to keep it instead of bin it (like the owner did) although his co-workers though his mental for taking it haha

sadly Like you say it's dominating but Can be changed if becoming a house to anubia......
just wish it grew faster... (maybe I'll have to buy some)

Maybe java/Flame moss would like nice.. (but can ruin the wood as far as I know)

Thanks alot for your comment and i'll post a new shot up in the morning.
I also plan to make a time lapse of my plants growing over the course of 1 photoperiod.
my ps3 has nice time lapse option with its cam 1 picture every 5/10/30 second...

and on a side note I love The tanins leached out.
Debating wether or not to change my tank with tetras and Catfish into an amazon by adding some oak leaf litter to encourage spawning and give that lovely black water effect

 

[Ark]

i got a ps3 wats ur online user id

ill add u

my psn id is : arif93
add me

 

[ShoC]

Some cleaner pictures uploaded,
aswell as what im running below.

 

[SuperColey1]

With the expense you've gone to so far I would've thought you'ld get rid of that heater and buy an inline external. Would remove it from the tank.

On the plants front, those crypts are looking great. big fan of crypts.

On the scape front (and I will admit I never seem to agree with the experts. lol) I preferred the earlier scape with the large rock near the centre, smaller to the left and wood to the right.

Keep up the good work.

andy

 

[ShoC]

To be honest, I never really throught about having an inline heater,
Suppose its something I could consider but Don't think I really need it,

There is something nice about the rock layout you mentioned but I find it to restricting if that makes sense.


and thanks for what you said about the crypts I thought they looked healthy aswell,
might have to cut some of the sag back tho as they are starting to smother them.

 

[ShoC]

Okay so Nothing new just one picture with the wood removed and the Wendetii moved to the left,
had some algae issues but nothing to major.. still suffer diatoms on my plants and hard green algae on my wendetii supose just not growing fast enough.
hoped the move will improve it..

 

[rmanpf]

lokking really good, whats your stocking going to look like?

and what kind of plants do you have in there?

 

[fozziebear]

that new scape looks MUCH better, really like it, just let the sag fill out and it will look amazing, i have exactly the same size tank as yours ive seen, ill be doing a journal soon, hope you will look