Haven't had tanks in a While. Used to keep Mini Reefs and it was fun but expensive, and eventually came to the point where the stuff I wanted I could never realistically have, So I left the Hobby for a While.
I like the Dirt tanks Ive seen here, So I went with that.
Picked up what you see above, The Petco 6.6g Bookshelf aquarium, Miracle Gro Organic soil, couple bags of natural brown gravel, Lava rock.
Added the dirt, packed and wet.
Topped with gravel
Moss and Black Lava rock added.
Plant was named "Compacta" Hygrophila corymbosa stricta
Filling it up, I had expected far more brown as Ive read other people have had to fill and drain their tanks multiple times before it started to clear up.
And finally
Im sure itll be cloudy for a couple days. The filter is super silent. Im not really happy with the plants/moss placement. seems far too unoriginal.
Thinking of maybe cutting up the board the fern is on into strips, and making a road affect. possibly surrounding the lava rock with the compacta.
Glad to see you got your tank underway. I'll definitely be following your progress. I'm dying to flood my 6.6, but trying to hold out. Do you plan to stay with the stock light and filter?
The round shape of the pebble in river gravel may give you a little grief holding things down. (not a fan)
The tank will shape up as you add more weeds and scapes are always to please the eye of the owner. Welcome to the dirty side of things.
Thanks yea I might of made a mistake with the gravel, I'm already starting to hate it :/ unfortunately the only petshop within 15 miles is a petco, and I live in a decent sized city with NO local pet shops.
Salty yea I plan on keeping the stock light, But If I happen to come across something better I'm always open.
Good move on replacing the gravel with black sand from an aesthetic point of view. The thickness looks like it is around 2". I think that is fine. Do you plan to do any foreground carpets or leave that area open?
Looks like you have mostly stem plants. They love KNO3 (potassium nitrate) and need a carbon replacement.
KNO3 sources are:
Spectricide stump remover is 100% KNO3 at Lowe's in some States Seachem potassium Dry form which needs to be diluted
30 ml (3 tsp or 1 Tbs) into 1 cup of water. 1ml = 1.08 ppm of NO3 in 10 gallons of water.
Metricide or Cidex is 60% stronger per mL. For Excel (1.5% Glut.) versus Metricide (2.5% Glut) Mathically is 1.5/2.5=0.6. is Thus dilluting 6:1. A quart is approx $25 on Ebay. Best to use a mask when diluting in well ventilated area for can be hazardous to respiratory system. I have pleurisy but use it.
Hopefully hitting up a nice LFS tomorrow. One I've seen RCS at in the past. Still unsure on other fauna, including fish.
Camera is pretty limited on lighting settings so I cant really seem to shoot a perfect FTS.
also just noticed if you compare this pic with the one three days ago the plants are already noticeably larger, and the stemmed plants are already near the surface and growing roots half way up. Might have to trim already.
I kept the stock light but did replace the bulb with a Hagen Life-Glo 6500K. I don't know that it makes that much difference, though. Maybe a little. My light falls off too much in the corners.
Yea I have the same problems the sides look dark, making it impossible to take nice looking pictures, and the stem plants at the ends are starting to suffer a bit.
I've thought about adding some LED's under the stock hood, but I don't know that it is worth the time and expense. I will probably upgrade the entire light or maybe just deal with this one for now and learn from it, and then later move to a nicer tank and use this one for growing plants using the DSM.
And yes, it is very hard to take good pics. I've struggled with that. To keep my main stone from blowing out, I have to take the exposure compensation way down, and then I lose detail in the shadow.
Im not too happy with the rocks/plants, I think I may drain the tank tomorrow and find another way to scape it. Maybe leave the right rock alone, move the two smaller rocks to the left, opening the middle.
Redid the rocks, moved/trimmed a couple plants. Picking up some HC/HS soon hopefully to replace the moss and get a mixed carpet/foreground growing..
Id like the shrimp to eventually breed so Ill likely pickup a piece of cholla wood, cover it in the moss and either toss what im not using or give away the rest.
Edit: Picked up some HC, should of bought more. Took out all the moss.
Ive got some trimmings and all the moss in a clear bowl in a window sill for now, Id hate to toss something I just paid for.
Tanks doing well, picked up four forktail rainbow fish. I have ten CRS coming tomorrow. Plants are all growing healthy but I made a mistake with the stem plants, I dont like them.
Tough to see what the plants will look like in tank when you bought them in plastic containers.
I dont care for the aquascape either, I used to scape pretty nice mini reefs, but I just dont have the knack for the freshwater version. I think its missing some type of drift wood.
Im likely going to remove the stem plants all together, Sorry no pictures, my memory card reader disappeared :/
I got rid of the stem plants, I sort of liked them, but I don't really have any room for more tanks so I can grow em out.
I had some green slime algae, turns out my nephew fed the fish daily, and so did a parent or two...... So im doing alot of water changes and looking for the chem to kill the cyanobacteria.
At first the tank was dirt substrate with a sand cap, but the dirt level was too high so I couldn't make the sand very deep, and because of that I ended up getting alot of dirt kicked up on the sand bed, wasn't pretty.
So I went to the LFS today, Picked up some floramax gravel, a couple more bacopa plants and another which slips my mind.
I'm still not very good when it comes to aquascaping, and the waters a bit cloudy, but what do you guys think.
Ive got to pick up a few more of the foxtail rainbows currently in the tank, they really color up, I think the two currently in the tank are m/f
Also not sure if that drift wood is necessary, or if its just placed wrong
One of the plants I took out, the root system is longer then the plant! I wanted to know is that a good thing or were they growing so long because they were starving?
That is an amazon sword, its root system should be longer than the plant its. Swords are known for growing huge with a root system that spreads everywhere often gutting your substrate when you pull it up.
Bought some lace, removed the wood added some smaller plants, I wish I wrote down the types because one of the species is dying quickly(Which is happening for the second time, Why does it keep dying almost instantly, is it because im buying it from petsmarts bagsoplants?)
Also got some Pencilfish
I'm sorry for the terrible photos, I can't take good aquarium pics.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The Planted Tank Forum
3.5M posts
130.6K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Aquatic tank owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more!