Luke's Planted Tank Journal

[Themuleous]

You porbably want between 2" and 3" of substrate in total. Not sure exactly so follow the instructions on the box, but something like 1" laterite and 2" gravel would be fine. Having said that its not a huge aquarium, so you may want just 1" gravel on the top so it doesnt look draft.

Sam

 

[Luke_e]

Cheers Sam.
I realised it gave instructions on the box as i was adding it so i quickly added more lol as i didnt put enough.
I added 1" of gravel to my laterite and mixed it up. I then added an extra 1" ontop and left it.
I've put my fluval 1 in the aquarium to run along side the filter in there to speed up the cycling, i've also added the bio-spira stuff which has 50/50 reviews on if it works or not.
Heres some pics (it looks better than in the pics, as it looks very cloudy, where as in real its not as bad).

 

[Themuleous]

Lokks about right with the gravel

 

[Luke_e]

Sam, just realised in your post before you said 1" laterite and 2" gravel. Well i had no where near 1" of laterite, and it states not that much is needed as the amount i put (see above) gets mixed into 2.5cm of gravel then the remaining is placed ontop.. This shouldnt be a problem should it? As it states that the amount i've put it in actually suitable for a a slightly larger aquarium.

 

[Themuleous]

Hell ignore me! If the box says its fine then its fine! I've never used laterite before, so those amounts were just meant to be an illistration, once again if the box says you've dont it right, you've done it right

I talk alot but I probably know very little

Sam

 

[Luke_e]

Haha, mistake on my part too as i thought you'd used it lol. I was ready to buy another 2 boxes when you said that
You know a lot mate, i've learned from reading your posts etc .

 

[Themuleous]

Haha got there just in time then! Glad Im able to help

 

[Luke_e]

Ok guys, got the plants and planted ..

Plants arived today, 1:30pm.. When i got home, i opened the bag and layed the plants on a bin liner to see what i had:








I pretty much put all the tall ones at the back and put the smaller ones near the front, no real thought went into it as i have no experience on putting things in the right place.. i'm still on the lookout for a piece of bogwood at the moment so the layout will change:





Btw, is this plant aquatic? I've had it for 3months+ in my main tank but doesnt seem to have grown at all, as i think i'd like it at one of the corners in the tank to stand out:




Thanks for looking. Any ideas/comments on how i can lay it out better etc would be apprecited. Ordering my dry ferts tomorrow.. might order some glosso too and try a carpet of that at the front. I repeat its a temp layout i want to let the plants settle in before i go for a deffinant layout.. plus i want some that have more coverage as the ones in the package seem 'stem like'. Oo forgot to add, i am very pleased with the deal i got with these plants i would highly recomend the planted packages (for X" tank size) as its great quality

 

[lljdma06]

Glad to see it finally planted. I would just concern yourself with growing healthy plants right now. You can always tweak the layout later. I didn't really worry about layout in my 15g until much later.

 

[Themuleous]

Blimey! All those plants for 9quid! Bargain!!!! Im def going to get one of those collection next time I need a load of plants!

Layout looks fine, give it time, Im sure you'll tweak and change as time passes. You going to have any other wood/rocks in there?

 

[Luke_e]

Glad to see it finally planted. I would just concern yourself with growing healthy plants right now. You can always tweak the layout later. I didn't really worry about layout in my 15g until much later.

Thanks llj, i'll probably give the plants a week or so to get settled in before i try and get a set layout (which will probably change as time goes on ).

Looking good!

Btw, the last plant isn't aquatic like you suspected. It looks like either a lucky bamboo or dracaena (spelling?) plant to me.

Thanks fishkiller nomore.. Shame it isnt aquatic it doesnt seem to be showing any signs of rotting so i'll leave it in my main tank as my ottos seem to have made it their home.. if it shows any signs of deteriation i'l find them an aquatic plant to play on .

Blimey! All those plants for 9quid! Bargain!!!! Im def going to get one of those collection next time I need a load of plants!

Layout looks fine, give it time, Im sure you'll tweak and change as time passes. You going to have any other wood/rocks in there?

Yea sure is a bargain for £9.00, i couldnt believe how much i got. I remembered you asking me to show home much i got so i took a few snaps of them on the bin liner (looks like there is more on the bin liner than in the tank as i threw some in bin as they were dieing, only 1 or 2 though , and i put some in my other tank).
I'm going to buy some bogwood to have as a center piece which will hopefully aid in 'filling' the space. Also i think i'll take the java moss off the slate and attach it to the wood as i've seen some of the effects and its amazing..
My co2 mix is getting underway now and is giving me 1 bubble every 2 seconds. I'll probably end up changing it every 3 - 4 days depending on how long it lasts at a good bubble rate. I'll keep testing ph gh and kh to get my co2 ppm levels..

Cheers everyone for the help thats got me this far

 

[Luke_e]

Ordered some more plants today:
Glosso, dwarf mini hair grass, riccia and java fern

 

[Luke_e]

I'll probably recieve the plants tue/wed as greenline are closed fri/sat/sun so they havent processed the order yet.
Bought a piece of bogwood for the tank, its currently soaking. I wont add it until i recieve my new plants and sort a final-ish layout.
Pic:






Added some hygro from my main tank, just little cuttings.. hopefully i can have this as a focal point at one side rather than the plant that i thought was aquatic isnt...

 

[Themuleous]

Looks like a lovely pic of wood you got there Luke, should make a great centre piece

 

[Luke_e]

Cheers Sam..
Might put the riccia on a piece of slate i have, and then lean the slate on the bogwood. I'll see how it goes .