29g blackwater biotope- acuario de rio negro

[orchidman]

So, my dad came home the other day with a 29 gallon tank! it came with a t12 light and hood, a whisper filter, and clown puke gravel.

so the tank is technically my younger brother's tank, he'll be buying the stuff, but ill be maintaining and scaping it so im claiming it as mine. since he is paying for the stuff, we are just going to keep the hood, even though its not the most attractive thing ever.

it is going to be very lightly planted, with tea-colored water. this is my inspiration http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...0&tx=128&ty=34 i found a nice stump and some smaller sticks of driftwood at the creek, they have been soaking and are just about ready to go into the tank. and i'll have some leaf litter around the wood.

i'm thinking indian almond leaves, because i cant think of any others.

for substrate im going to use PFS

im getting a hydor theo 150W heater.

the light is a t12 light. new plant and fishtank bulb.

the filter is a whisper filter

for plants i have a few small amazon sword plantlets. i might add floaters along the lines somewhere

the stocking is as of now is
-1 pair of angelfish
-6 cardinal tetras
-6 otos
-1 albino BN pleco

i threw the driftwood, before soaking, in the tank with the clown puke, just to get a hardscape in mind before soaking the wood. the green leaves are there to show where the leaf litter will be.

this picture is terrible. excuse the glare

[orchidman]

im going right now to wash the sand!

[2in10]

Scape looks very nice

[orchidman]

thanks i just hope i can do the same thing again after i switch substrates

[2in10]

I know, I have the same problem. I think you will come up with something pretty close. Use the photo as a guide.

[BradH]

I think it's going to look good!

[orchidman]

thanks brad me too

[BradH]

I'm almost tempted to do something similar in my 29. I have the correct fish for an amazon biotope. I just don't want to get rid of my plants. lol

[orchidman]

you should

[BradH]

I probably will end up doing it, but it will be a while. All the driftwood I see is expensive and I'm sort of low on funds at the moment.

[orchidman]

justgo to the local creek. i found mine

[BradH]

Originally Posted by orchidman

justgo to the local creek. i found mine

Do you have to do anything to the wood first? I thought about going to the lake and getting some driftwood locally, but I think I read your supposed to boil it and I don't have a way to boil anything that big. lol

[RipariumGuy]

Hardscape = Amazing


You're entering this into the AGA contest, right?

[orchidman]

you got that right jake! this one will be easy to make look great! * knock on wood* i dont have to worry about plants. i cant wait.

[orchidman]

i soak it, then empty, soak with bleach, scrub, soak again. then its safe, but floating can be a problem sometimes. but this time most of them are already water soaked