Setup
Placement of the (oversized) garden mat
Removal of extra with razor
Adding Power Sand
Adding Tourmaline BC
Adding Bright Sand
Adding first layer of Aquasoil Amazonia
Smoothing out substrates (with $.60 plastic scraper
)
Arranging wood
My excited audience
Adding the Aquasoil to slope
Preliminary wood arrangement
Plumbing (Eheim 2217 – DIY reactor – Hydor 300w)
Added to filtration to remove any remaining tannins
Peacock moss attached to small pieces of African root wood w/ cotton thread
Peacock moss attached to driftwood w/ cotton thread
Echinodorus tenellus – bought from slickwillislim at the SAS. This is the thin stuff
Planting tenellus – I filled the tank with water because moistening plants was beginning to be too much of a pain. The tenellus planted easily enough.
ADA Solar I Light hung from the ceiling; 12 inches from the surface of the tank
Front top view – finished scape. Peacock moss, Echinodorus tenellus, Bolbitis h., Crinum calimistratum.
Right side
Left side
Front with light
Front closeup Halide
Front closeup Backlight
A view from the couch
That’s it for now. The tank is still cycling. There is currently 4 ppm Ammonia! .25 ppm Nitrite. 10ppm Nitrate. And this after three 80% water changes. I’m not sure if it’s coming from the substrates or the wood. Either way, I’m not taking any chances. I do daily water changes, and only run the light for 1-2 hours a day. I also have added floating Hygrophila to the tank.