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Drews' 29gal planted

10K views 73 replies 11 participants last post by  Drewet88 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, this isn't my first aquarium but it will be my 1st planted tank :laugh2: Also I'll apologize now because I will have a lot of questions so I don't have to tear my tank up in the future.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this posting because it will be a journal but I'm also looking for lots of feedback. We're at the beginning of the journey (cycling is so close to being done I can taste it).

I'm using the drag & drop feature for pictures, if there is a better way could someone let me know? Photobucket maybe? Sorry about the pics I used my cell phone and I made the water cloudy messing with the driftwood.

Substrate is just black aquarium sand covered with a thin layer of black gravel. The seashell and rock are from my other tank, I put them in there to help seed some BB. So is the heater in the background, it will be replaced with a 200w submersible heater when I move my fish over. The HOB filter will also be replaced when I move my fish over (the 20 gallon will be turned into a sump for this tank).

The first 3 pics are me just trying to figure out how I want to place my driftwood. (1st time using real wood its been soaking in the tank while it cycled, most of the tannin leaching has stopped and the white growth is almost done). Any suggestions on placement? I like them all equally.

The 4th pic is my current 20 gallon the only fish I have so far are guppies, 2 nerite snails, MTS, and pond snails. I will be putting everything but the pond snails in the new tank. I'm also thinking about adding RCS (the main reason I picked black substrate).

The 5th pic is just a fake log that I can also use. I thought about trying to cover it in Java Moss if mine ever starts growing. (My Java Moss is that brown clump behind the Marimo moss ball in pic 4).

The lighting will be a 30" Finnex Planted+ 24/7 currently in the mail so hopefully it is here before the tank finishes cycling.
CO2 MIGHT happen in the future but not anytime soon. Going to make sure I can grow plants regularly before I start adding on more expenses.

TL: DR
Suggestions on DW placement?
*Can I add any fish besides RCS?
*I was thinking about some Willow Moss or something similar that I can put on the DW that will drape over is, any suggestions?
*I only dose with API CO2 booster, API Leaf Zone, and API Root tabs. I plan on getting dry ferts, I just have to pick someone to order from, any suggestions?
*My guppy fry love that plastic fake grass on the right side of pic #4, is there any plant I can grow a nice carpet with that doesn't require CO2 or an insane amount of moss?
*I'm open to all suggestions. Also let me know if you need better pics or different angles.

Thanks in advanced
~Drew~
P.S. my current plant list is in my signature.
 

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#2 ·
I ended up going with pic #1 for the DW setup. That way I (hopefully) can put some Willow Moss on the top and it might droop over the top. I don't know that's how I picture it. If Willow Moss won't work is there another plant that will droop over the top?

I also included a pic of the stand I'm using. It holds a 29 gallon at the top and my 20 gallon fits on the bottom. Does anyone think its a bad idea to keep a sump on the bottom bracing of the stand?

My light will be here Friday then I will start planting.
I'm thinking about using S. Repens for some type of ground cover but I'm unsure if that will work.
 
#3 · (Edited)
This will be the layout i choose until I get my plants in the tank on Friday. I'm sure once I start placing plants things will get moved around.

On another note while testing my water today I had O ammonia but nitrites and nitrates were off the charts. I did a 50% water change since I read I want those numbers less but even after the water changes they were still off of the charts. I didn't touch the gravel or filter when changing the water.

To test my kit I then checked my tap water and my established aquariums both read 0 for ammonia and nitrites. Ammonia in the cycling tank has been 0 for a while I've been bumping it up to about 2 ppm daily with pure ammonia from Ace hardware. I was really hoping this cycle would be over Friday but I guess I'll just add my plants on Friday and my fish will have to hangout in the 20 gallon for a little while longer.

Tomorrow I will do another water change if the nitrites are still off the charts. I would calibrate my test kits but all of the steps I found online require having KNO3 on hand and I haven't purchased any dry ferts yet, and I haven't found a local shop that carries them so I'll have to order online and wait.

I also will be going to Home Depot tomorrow for buckets so I'll check and see if they have some kind of fertilizer possibly in the pond section? :confused:
I was looking at GLA ferts and I'm confused between E.I. and PPS. I just want some ferts that I can dose once a week after water changes.
 

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#4 ·
Alright got my light on Friday and moved the few plants that I had in my 20 gallon over. Then I filled my 20 gallon with a great bunch of duckweed, salvania, and dwarf water lettuce that I won on an amazing ROAK on here earlier in the week. I put some in the 29 gallon as well but I FILLED the 20 gallon.

Anyways this is what I've come up with so far for my tank. I'm going to replace that ugly in tank filter that's wrapped to protect my guppy fry with a sponge filter I'm jus trying to decide on if I should get 1 big one or 2 small ones to put in the corners. I'll also look at some plants to grab when I go to Petco/PetSmart now that I have my light.

The Anubis isn't tied to the DW I just have it wedged in an opening. The Amazon Sword is the little plant in the back left corner, I cut a lot of leaves off and some brown roots so I hope I didn't shock it too much.

Now I just have to figure out what other plants I should buy. I already know I want to find some Willow moss, Phoenix moss, and Flame moss For the DW. Any other suggestions?
 

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#6 ·
Thanks for the tip!
Does that mean I should just slide it over? Or is there more to it? I was wondering why everyone else 29 gallon on here looks so much roomier than mine but I just thought I bought a piece of DW that was too big.
 
#8 ·
Yea 30in. Thanks, I couldn't pass up the wood when I saw it, but I do kinda wish it was 2 separate pieces. I'll play around with it tomorrow, I'm going to grab some more stuff to add to the tank in the afternoon.

Thanks for the tip. Hopefully I can find a better angle for the DW.
 
#9 ·
Sorry about the cloudiness I disturbed a root tab when I decided to move my Amazon Sword and kinda rearrange the DW. I'll take a better pic tomorrow when it clears up a bit.

I added 3 plants of Downoi in front of the DW and planted a few of my Egeria that I had floating around while I wait for other plants to arrive. I ordered a bubble foam filter to replace the in tank filter that I have covered with that blue thing. I'm also thinking about adding a background, either black or mirror, I'll probably get both and decide which one I like from there.

I'm also adding flame moss and phoenix moss in a couple of weeks when I have some more extra money. Then I just need to find some weeping willow moss. After that I'm all out of ideas for plants to add. But, I would like to find something that can break up all of the green I'll have going.
 

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#11 ·
That's just the filter for now. My other filter is in the mail and hopefully will be a lot more discreet. It's black and I'll be putting on a black background to try and camouflage it.

You're still right though I need something bushy back there but I have no idea what to get.
 
#12 ·
Here's a new pic now that the dust has settled.

I'm thinking of trying Rotala rotundifolia, Red Tiger Lotus, or Cabomba Purple (Red) for some color and possibly Cryptocoryne Beckettii or Green Tiger Lotus. I just want to pick one from both groups, I don't know how many plants I can fit in there and take care of. Any suggestions out of those choices? Will they still look good in a tank without CO2 or high lighting?

O yeah please ignore the dirtiness of the tank. I'm going to start doing water changes now that I know my cycle is done, everytime I wipe off the stuff on the DW it comes back but its starting to be less and less.
Also any suggestions on a nice low profile powerhead for a 29 gallon?
 

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#13 ·
A couple suggestions...

1. Plants will need CO2 in order to thrive and also some fertilizer or root tabs or both. Look up how to do DIY CO2 and also dosing fertilizers in your tank here on TPT. A lot of good info out there
2. I would remove the air stone and look at getting a canister filter instead of a HOB.
3. Get a piece of 1/2" thick styrofoam insulation, cut it to the dimensions of the back of your tank and paint one side black. Attach it to the back of the tank. This will show off your fish and plants much better.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the tips.
I currently use api root tabs, leaf zone, and co2 booster. I am going to order some dry ferts soon though.
My new filters are in the mail hopefully they're here soon. They will just be temporary, I'm hoping to add a sump so i can hide my equipment.
Thanks for the tips on the insulation, I'll be doing this one instead of the mirror background.

Any suggestions for canister filters in case I change my mind on doing a sump?
 
#24 ·
Added my black background, its just black cardstock from the $1 store it ended up being the perfect size no cutting required.
The duckweed, dwarf water lettuce, and salvinia are doing such a great job in this tank my whole tank looks green in the pic. The water isn't green it is normally pretty clear (this is right after a water change and 30% gravel vacuum so I kicked up some stuff).

Its also hard to tell from the pics but I got some detritus worms :/ hence the reason I gravel vacuumed. They come from poor tank maintenance but I didn't see them until I added a few plants so I don't know if they are hitch hikers or not but I did my research and they are detritus worms not planeria or nematodes. I cleaned up as much as I felt comfortable doing (didn't want to hurt my cycle) and I'm sure when I add my fish they'll just become food, until then they can be the cleanup crew.

I'm still waiting on my new filters so I can ditch the blue one in the corner.
I also ordered a couple of floating plant guards so I can try and contain the floaters to one side of the tank and not have the whole thing looking green in every pic. (It doesn't look green in person).
 

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#25 ·
@ Hilde I was going to buy dry ferts today and I was looking at the place you posted. Does the dry ferts come in individual bottles, mainly the one that says Macro micro nutrient mix. If its all of the nutrients premixed I'll probably just get individual packages from GLA.

Also is there anything you would recommend me buying besides just that package?
I also want to order some of the glut to make my own liquid CO2 until I can afford a real CO2 system.

I started moving some of my fish to the new tank, I'm tired of waiting for this package for my new filters. Part of me wants to keep waiting in case the product comes damaged or something but patience has never been my strongest attribute.
 
#26 · (Edited)
@ Hilde I was going to buy dry ferts today and I was looking at the place you posted. Does the dry ferts come in individual bottles, mainly the one that says Macro micro nutrient mix. If its all of the nutrients premixed I'll probably just get individual packages from GLA.
Macro micro nutrient mix I didn't see. I like that product. I might get that 1 instead of buying individual bags of the minerals. Last I checked GLA prices were more. CSM+B is $16 per lb.

Micro Nutrient Mix instructions: Mix with a ratio of 1/4 cup of Macro Micro Nutrient Mix to 2 cups water (or 60g to 500 ml). Dose 1-4 drops per gallon per day.
 
#27 ·
Alright cool I'll order now. This will be my first attempt at ferts but I don't think it will be to hard.
Could I use it more E.I. style instead of dosing per day?

On other news my floating aquarium plant guards came today. I used them to open up the middle of my tank so my floaters wouldn't take over completely. So far I like what they do but they might make water changes a little difficult since the guards are useless if the water level goes below them. I guess I'll just have to change a little at a time until I go through 10 gallons or something. I might order another one that goes the length of the tank and see how it looks split that way.

I also included a pic of the floaters in action lol. With my new circulation pump that I picked up today. Now I see how dirty my tank really was with everything floating around.
Is there something I could put on the circulation pump so I can still add shrimp in the future? Its okay if it slows down the flow a little it seems to be almost too powerful.
 

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#28 ·
1.Could I use it more E.I. style instead of dosing per day?

2.On other news my floating aquarium plant guards came today.

3.Is there something I could put on the circulation pump so I can still add shrimp in the future?
1.You have to ask the company about that

2.Got a link to where you bought them?

3.You could trying putting a pantihose over it with a rubberband
 
#29 · (Edited)
I'll try emailing the company to see if they have some weekly dosing instructions I can follow. A quick search through their website shows that I can probably use the E.I. method but I'll email them to double check.

I got the guards here Floating Plant Guard - Han Aquatics
They charge .50 cent an inch, I order 2 12 inch ones the suction cup added another inch to it so I could've did 11 inch if I wanted to save a $1. I think I'll order a 29 or 30 inch one and see how I like it going lengthwise even though I am happy with my current results.
I think they will be perfect when I have my sump going since my water level shouldn't change at that point.

I'll try the pantyhose as a backup. 1st I'm going to check HD to see what foam prefilters they have in the pond section. I'm hoping to find a little bowl shaped one that will just fit over the pump, then I can just grab 2 for easy swap outs when one is clogged.

The tank looks a lot better now after the pump ran all night and gave the filter time to catch everything. I can't wait until I see how clear it looks when my filter finally comes in. I'll post pics when I get back from HD, gonna rush now so I don't miss kickoff.

UPDATE: I made it back for kickoff so that's a plus, but I didn't find a prefilter. Instead I bought some foam and wrapped it the best I could.

I tried some pantyhose we had at the house but it just turned into a giant balloon animal and slowed down like 95% of the flow so I had to start cutting foam.

I liked the look of the black foam but it was to coarse and let everything pass through. So I used the blue foam, its perfect except I only have white zip ties (gonna get some black ones) and its bright blue so it stands out a little.
If I can find a nice looking stainless steel pre-filter that fits over an Aqueon Circulation Pump 500. If not I'll just use black foam.

I put a few of my smaller guppies in the tank to see if the flow would be too much for them and I think they'll be fine. Bonus they're eating the stuff that was growing on the DW.

I think the Downoi I had died. Its gone now and I don't really know why I guess it didnt' acclimate to my tank. I'm going to go with my original idea of flame moss for ground cover, I think that will be much harder to kill lol.
 

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#30 · (Edited)
Sorry about the glare from the game didn't realize it was there until I uploaded the pic.

I slowly started moving more guppies over, I've been moving 3-6 guppies at a time then checking water parameters the next day, as long as my parameters remain at 0 all of the fish should be switched over by the weekend minus the fry that I'll let grow out a little more. I also added 1 of my 2 nerites into the other tank and it is being very active exploring the DW. I'm also taking my time since I'm waiting for my foam bubble filter in the mail still.

Putting the foam over the circulation pump has made it the perfect amount of flow for the tank (and also turned it into a mini filter). I'm still going to replace it with a adjustable powerhead when my foam filter comes in. Then I'm going to use my air pump to run the other bubble filter I have coming. After the new foam is properly saturated with bacteria I'll be able to take out the filter in the back left corner, the airline hanging down the middle, and the circulation pump on the right. The new items should blend into the tank much better.

The floating plant guards are doing a great job so far. The duckweed grows so fast that I've been having to thin out both sides every few days my turtles love it. They've been getting a cup every other day and originally I was hoping I'd be able to do it at least once a week now it looks like I might be able to give them some 3-4 times a week.

The guppies have been eating all of the growth on the DW, and its pretty cool watching them explore through the holes in the DW and the plants. Its hard to tell from the pic but the Amazon Swords' new growth is very dark green in the middle, I was going to cut off the old yellow leaves today but didn't, I'll clean it up some when my scissors come in (I don't want to uproot it again). [STRIKE]Also going to hit submit on my flame moss and Phoenix moss order when I am done with this posting.[/STRIKE] (Forgot I didn't order my ferts yet, I ordered those instead, I'll have to get the moss later in the month, gonna order some Glut soon too so I can make my own liquid CO2, I'll wait for now I have enough API CO2 to last into the next month). Also might pick up a jungle val and/or a red ludwigia on my way home from work tomorrow if I remember (I went yesterday but after standing by the plants for 15mins at my now only local pet store I got no help and left).

Now my current problem, I already want to rescape my tank. I like the Egeria and will probably keep most of it but I feel like its to many of them bunched in that corner. I want to put the Val in the back right corner, the red ludwigia in the middle, and then I'll squeeze the Egeria in wherever I can.

Alright that's my quick update.
Any tips/tricks I should look into?

EDIT: After looking at the pic I just took and the last pic on the post above the only visual difference in the pictures in what sport is reflecting off of the glass. Just wanted to post that, it made me chuckle lol. (There are more fish in the new pic but most of them are busy enjoying the feast on the backside of the DW).
 

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#31 · (Edited)
My filters came in the mail the other day and I added them to the tank. I left the other in tank filter in since it has all of the BB in it. I guess I leave it in for a couple of weeks?
I also took out the circulation pump and hooked the second foam filter to a powerhead. The problem is the foam filter pipe is small so I had to make it fit with a homemade grommet using Teflon tape. I'll probably replace it with one that fits the powerhead better, I think the tape is restricting some flow from the powerhead. What is the air diffuser used for on a powerhead? I didn't attach mine, should I?

I also changed my layout a little bit after I picked up some red ludwigia, moneywort, and Mondo grass. I didn't put any root tabs under them, should I wait and let them acclimate or do it now? I tried to plant one of the plants in front of the foam filter that's hooked up to the air pump but the flow from the temporary filter kept uprooting them so I moved them all to the other side for now. I'm not sure what I'll put over there, any suggestions?

The nerite I switched to the new tank ended up being female. She didn't lay any egg in the other tank but started laying in the new tank within a week, I'm guessing its the real DW and the warmer temp. I moved her back to the old take and switched in the other, I'm hoping there isn't any new eggs. On another note I might try and hatch the eggs in a smaller tank salt water tank, maybe I'll grab a 5 gallon and see what I can do.

Now that my filters came I will go ahead and start ordering the rest of my list, by the time everything shows up the should be well saturated with BB. Hopefully I'll be able to add my shrimp by March.

My scaping tools came in right after I finished adding my plants and doing a small water change, I'll play with them next time. The ferts are in the mail and should be here sometime next week. Next I'm going to get the stuff for DIY root tabs, order another foam filter that will attach to the powerhead correctly, order Glut for DIY liquid CO2, finally place my flame moss and phoenix moss order, then finally RCS.

Edit: after looking online I see that Mondo Grass shouldn't be in an aquarium? Is that true? Should I take it out ASAP? I was hoping to use its height to hide some equipment once I finished changing things around.
 

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#33 ·
Mondo grass is NONaquaic. It does well marginal/riparium style-roots in water but leaves above water, but will die underwater. It (and several otehr non aquatics) are mis-sold simply because they don't die/melt quickly underwater but last one/few week(s).
 
#36 ·
Haha the funny thing is I was debating between the vals and the mondo grass when I was at petsmart. Looks like I made the wrong choice.

I'll go back up there tomorrow or Monday and get some. Then I'll figure something to do with the mondo grass. I also ordered a different sponge filter that will hopefully fit into the powerhead correctly.
 
#37 ·
So I threw the Mondo grass into my 20 gallon for now, i plan on turning the 20 into a sump for the 29 so it should be ok in there once it is all setup. If the Mondo grass starts to melt before I get around to turning it into a sump I'll put it in a pot and let it grow emmersed. Or maybe I could try and turn the 20 into a riparium (I have no idea where to start though so that would require lots of research).

I'm on my way to look at some vals right now. I also put root tabs underneath the red ludwigia and moneywort. Since adding it to my tank the red ludwigia has started getting more red at the top, so I figured root tabs could only help, please correct me if I'm wrong.

On a downside I think both of my nerites might be females. I think more eggs are popping up but I'm not sure if the other female made it there 1st and I just didn't notice. I took more notes now of the location of all known eggs and if more popup I'll need to think of a new cleanup crew or get more nerites and try again. Hopefully PetSmart will let me trade them, if now I guess they'll live in the 20 gallon with the Mondo Grass.
 
#38 ·
Confirmed both nerites are females, I actually got to see my other nerite lay an egg. So now both of my nerites are in my other tank that I plan on shutting down soon so I'll have to figure out something to do with them.
I think they'll get their own tank, any word on if I can raise them with sea monkeys?

I'll have to get a couple of more nerites and hope for at least one male. With my luck I'll have 4 females.

My ferts will be here by the end of day tomorrow so I'll be looking up what I should do for my first dosing. I'm also looking to order some dwarf sag for midground cover.

This week I'll be finally ordering my mosses, looking for dwarf sag, a couple more nerite snails and possibly ordering shrimp tunnels. Once I have that done I'll be ordering the RCS, I'm saving the RCS for last since theres a few more things I want to do before ordering them like getting a copper test kit.
Also gotta order that Glut.
 
#39 · (Edited)
Well today on my day off I did some research and found a nice little LFS about 20 minutes away from my house. I drove down to check them out and was amazed, its not that big but they had everything I ordered online for good pricing. Its now my fish store. The owner will even order stuff they don't have for their customers so they can get almost anything you're looking for.

I jumped the gun and bought 10 blue dream shrimp, same genus as red cherry shrimp so I guess I can't add the red ones anymore or I'll end up with brown shrimp. I also picked up a big bundle of pearlweed, java moss, and 2 more nerites (hoping for males).

My ferts arrived but I haven't used them yet since I have no idea what I'm doing lol. Here's a link to my fert question thread if anyone's interested http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...-fert-dosing-29gal-no-co2-planted-24-7-a.html

I changed my tank around now that my other foam filter arrived (its a lot bigger than expected, I should've ordered 1 size smaller but it'll work). I also have the other 2 arm one that the powerhead was originally attached too, should I hook it up to my air pump (it has 2 outlets but I'm only using 1) and put it in the tank? Or would that just be to many foam filters for no reason?

So far besides moving filters around all I've done is a little rescaping, I just stuffed the java moss in the hold in my DW. I split the pearlweed in half and planted the bundles together but now I'm thinking I should've thinned them out more. I didn't trim it or anything before adding it to my tank and they just had it floating. I think I'll take it out thin it out some more and maybe trim the bottom ends.
Also since I spent a lot more than I planned (I was just going to look at the store, wasn't supposed to buy anything) I'm going to postpone buying my other mosses and dwarf sag. The LFS occasionally gets flame moss but instead of asking them to order it for me I'll order that online with a few other things I was looking at since shipping will be free.
 

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#42 ·
I think the wood is alright, but I would move it to a corner or wall to make it look like more natural, or REALLY fill out the space behind it in the tank.
I like the wood too, but I agree it is a little too big for this tank.
I do plan on filling out the space a lot, I have plans for it that's why I left it open but I agree I should fill it with something in the meantime.
What do you mean by move it to a corner? I have the wood in the front left corner angled towards the middle of the back glass.

If I could cut the wood in 2 and make the cut look natural I would do it in a heartbeat.
 
#43 ·
Alright I tried rescaping to fill the void until I get the rest of my plants. I wanted to trim some plants anyway so it seemed like a good time.

I feel like I trimmed the ludwigia a little to short but hopefully it will get to good background height soon. I also mixed my ferts, didn't add any yet since I don't know if I mixed good numbers. Details in the link to my ferts question a few posts ago.
 

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