decided to jump in to the planted tank thing, i had a 20g with dirt and a couple plants in it earlier but this is my first attempt at doing it well. the journal is an after thought so i don't have any before pics but i'll document how i go. started this all a month ago now, just uploading now.
substrate:
soil base with a sand cap, sand was taken from a local sand quarry/pit. we will see how that goes.
lighting:
2x 20w t8 (i think but not entirely sure i'm doing this from work)
diy yeast co2
i'm using flourish for ferts right now, i don't really know anything about ferts but i figure it's what plants crave
plants:
amazon sword
moneywort
jungle val
anubias minimas
anubias nana
flame moss
livestock:
neon tetra x 15
pond snails
assassin snails
so i got it all planted. i had the jungle val in my other tank and had trimmed it down so i put that up from with the idea that i could trim it and keep it as a shaggy carpet i put the moneywart in the back with the swords and the anubias taking up the middle. i definately should have washed my sand (hahah) it was sooooo murky at first after planting, but it settled soon enough. here is the first look.
as i have been doing this i've also discovered that hex tanks suck at being photographed. there is always part that is either cut off, distorted, or has a corner ruining the shot. not that i'm a pro or anything but so far thats been my experience.
here are some clearer shots
i didn't really like how that was set up so i moved the bacopa from in the middle to the sides
that pic is terrible i know, but i thought i'd throw it in there because i have since take the bacopa out completely. a couple of the neons had neon tetra disease so fishing them out from the tank in between all the bacopa got annoying, so i moved it out into my 20 g for now, i plan to move it back in later. i really wish it would grow straighter for me, i've heard they grow straight up when out of water but they are super curly in the tank and get all tangled.
i also went and got some narrow leaf chain sword and some giant val. the chain sword is great so far, it's throwing runners all over the place so i'm pretty stoked. i also added another peice of driftwood and moved the wood to the edges trying to create sort of a clearing type scene.
here is the tank without the bacopa, it's a bit empty looking in the pictures, it doesn't look so bad in person. again sorry for the bad pictures
i taped some black poster board to the back sides of the tank hoping to give better contrast to the neons. i'm still undecided on that. i'd rather just have a thick wall of tall plants but not yet i guess.
looking at the pictures it really looks empty up top. i am still waiting for everything to really grow in. i think i need to stop tampering with it too and just let it go for a while. if you have any suggestions or see anything i'm doing wrong let me know. should i move some of the bacopa back in?
substrate:
soil base with a sand cap, sand was taken from a local sand quarry/pit. we will see how that goes.
lighting:
2x 20w t8 (i think but not entirely sure i'm doing this from work)
diy yeast co2
i'm using flourish for ferts right now, i don't really know anything about ferts but i figure it's what plants crave
plants:
amazon sword
moneywort
jungle val
anubias minimas
anubias nana
flame moss
livestock:
neon tetra x 15
pond snails
assassin snails
so i got it all planted. i had the jungle val in my other tank and had trimmed it down so i put that up from with the idea that i could trim it and keep it as a shaggy carpet i put the moneywart in the back with the swords and the anubias taking up the middle. i definately should have washed my sand (hahah) it was sooooo murky at first after planting, but it settled soon enough. here is the first look.
as i have been doing this i've also discovered that hex tanks suck at being photographed. there is always part that is either cut off, distorted, or has a corner ruining the shot. not that i'm a pro or anything but so far thats been my experience.
here are some clearer shots
i didn't really like how that was set up so i moved the bacopa from in the middle to the sides
that pic is terrible i know, but i thought i'd throw it in there because i have since take the bacopa out completely. a couple of the neons had neon tetra disease so fishing them out from the tank in between all the bacopa got annoying, so i moved it out into my 20 g for now, i plan to move it back in later. i really wish it would grow straighter for me, i've heard they grow straight up when out of water but they are super curly in the tank and get all tangled.
i also went and got some narrow leaf chain sword and some giant val. the chain sword is great so far, it's throwing runners all over the place so i'm pretty stoked. i also added another peice of driftwood and moved the wood to the edges trying to create sort of a clearing type scene.
here is the tank without the bacopa, it's a bit empty looking in the pictures, it doesn't look so bad in person. again sorry for the bad pictures
i taped some black poster board to the back sides of the tank hoping to give better contrast to the neons. i'm still undecided on that. i'd rather just have a thick wall of tall plants but not yet i guess.
looking at the pictures it really looks empty up top. i am still waiting for everything to really grow in. i think i need to stop tampering with it too and just let it go for a while. if you have any suggestions or see anything i'm doing wrong let me know. should i move some of the bacopa back in?