James Squires 10 Gallon Planted

[James Squire]

Hi all,

Thought I'd share with you my second tank. It's only just been setup and to me it's just not looking right. I know it needs to fill out and the plants just need to do their thing for now but the layout is not the best and Im keen for some suggestions...

The tank is low light (at the mo) with only 1.6WPG. It has a DIY yeast based C02 supply and a bag of JBL nutrient enriched substrate under the gravel. Im currently dosing the tank with a basic nutrient mix from the LFS called "Daily-Gro." The tank has about 25 platie and guppy fry getting about in it for now too.

I know I need to up the lighting at some stage but I need approval from the finance minister first! How will the Wisteria, Java Moss, Rotala and Ludwigia go in this sort of level?

Here's the pic's. Any suggestions other than let it grow?

 

[Andrew Tan]

I'm not sure what you could add, but the front left of the tank seems a bit empty. Apart from that let it grow out a bit and then see if you need to make any futher changes.

 

[James Squire]

I'm not sure what you could add, but the front left of the tank seems a bit empty. Apart from that let it grow out a bit and then see if you need to make any futher changes.

Hi Andrew,

I thought the same about the emptiness of the front left so today I picked up some Lilaeopsis (micro sword) from the lfs. I planted a bunch in the front left and a small bunch in the front right. I'll post pics soon.

Cheers.

 

[Dave Spencer]

I like the right hand side, but I am not a fan of feathery leafed plants, so the Wisteria on the left is not for me. Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis probably won`t grow too well in 1.2WPG.

What size tank is it?

Dave.

 

[James Squire]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the comments. The initial 1.2WPG should actually be 1.6WPG (not much of a diff) as it's a 10Gallon tank with 16W of light under the hood. I realise that the Lilaeopsis won't go great guns in these conditions but will it survive ok? Or is it totally unkeepable at such low light? A lighting upgrade will happen eventually...

Thanks for looking,

JS

 

[RadaR]

I wouldnt hold up hope with the Lilaeopsis.
I think dwarf sag would look nice in the left.

 

[James Squire]

Just updated my other tank thread so here's an update for this one too...

Original tank-full of fry were moved into the bigger tank to make way for the next couple of spawnings who now live in this tank. Some of the plants started (came from supplier) with a little BBA problem and so a clean-up crew was required also for this tank. In went a few oto's to sort it out, these little guys are great! Good to watch and very effective at munching on all the algae!

As mentioned earlier, there is now a couple of clumps of Lilaeopsis in this tank. Not sure how they'll go with low light but at the moment they look much the same as when I added them, I guess I'll just play the waiting game. Still not 100% sure where I'm going with this tank but for now the plants are growing and it makes a nice lush 'green' addition to the loungeroom. Here's the pics.

Initial planting:

After 1 week:

After 2 weeks:

Cheers for looking,

JS

 

[fishboy619]

wow, big improvement as the weeks pregress.
whats the plants name in the back lefthand corner in the 2 pic?

 

[James Squire]

Hi fishboy619,

Thanks for the comments. The fast growing plant in the back left corner is called Hygrophila Difformis or "Water Wisteria."

Cheers,

JS

 

[n3ont3tra]

My only suggestion is to move the micro sword int he front middle to te right more, it blocks out the plant with the red. Or better yet, move the moss all the way to the right and put all the micro swords on the left, cause the wisteria will grow above it.

 

[Themuleous]

Tank looks nice certainly an improvement since you started.

Sam

 

[wei0204]

A good start