JRMott's 30 Gallon Planted Journal

[JRMott]

I've been in the planning stages of a planted tank for a while now, and finally received all of the equipment I needed to start a planted tank. Currently waiting for driftwood from the Unique Driftwood thread in the S&S forum. I don't have a place to soak it besides the tank itsself, so I will prob wait for it to sink before adding plants, a few weeks I imagine.

Full Tank Shot, 9/9/10


Full Tank Shot, 9/23/10


Full Tank Shot, 9/25/10


Full Tank Shot, 10/7/10


Full Tank Shot, 6/4/11


Full Tank Shot, 6/16/11


Full Tank Shot, 7/7/11 (pre replant)


Full Tank Shot, 7/7/11 (post replant)


Full Tank Shot, 7/19/11 (pre-trim)


Full Tank Shot, 7/19/11 (post-trim)


Full Tank Shot, 7/25/11


Full Tank Shot, 9/24/11


Full Tank Shot, 1/5/12


Full Tank Shot, 12/20/12


30 gallon tank
96w 6700K PC light
Marineland C220 filter
Ebo Jager 150W heater
Drop Checker
Pressurized CO2
Eco Complete

I have an extra bag of Eco Complete, the calculator on this site said I'd need 3.5 bags to fill my tank. So far I've used 3 and it seems deep enough but may add the extra 1/2 bag later.

[JRMott]

Went to the LFS today and picked up a bunch of plants. Couldn't find an African Fern, which I really wanted, so am still on the lookout for a plant(s) to hide my CO2 diffuser.

Will give these a while to grow in, and possibly add more plants.

[snausage]

Looks awesome for the initial stage. By african fern, do you mean bolbitis? I ordered some about a week ago and i've had tons of difficulty placing it in a good spot, since its leaves are so different from most aquatic plants. You may want to choose something else to cover the co2 diffuser. In your setup, I'd go crazy with some limnophila hippuroides and/or aromatica.

[problemman]

Usually a small leaved or frilly plant works easy with the bobitis. As well as anubias.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[JRMott]

Made it to another LFS this am and picked up a few random plants for the background. The CO2 diffuser is now hidden, and hopefully once the plants grow in they will hide the blue air tubing.

I also bought a few tiger barbs, will get more next week once the LFS gets a new shipment.

First Inhabitants, 9/25/10

[JRMott]

Update:

On 10/7/10 I increased the lighting to 2x96w PC bulbs. One is a 10000K which will run 4 hours a day (will soon change to a 6700k bulb). Hopefully this helps the cabomba furcata grow in denser.

I trimmed some DHG to see if it helps speed up the runners. Also trimmed all other plants to allow light to better reach the bottom.

About a week ago I got more tiger barbs and now have nine. Next fish will be a opaline gourami or a three spot gourami.

More updates to come.

[JRMott]

Update:

Looking at the pics from June 2011, you're probably wondering what the heck happened. Well, I had quite a problem with algae in Nov/Dec and then I was in the midst of changing jobs. Some plants died and the DHG never took off. This resulted in a combination of discouragement and neglect.

I (finally) decided to get back on this tank, after several months of neglect which led it from an algae farm to what you see above on 6/4/11. I spent about 2 hours cleaning the tank last night, you can see the results in the photo from 6/16/11.

CO2 tank is getting refilled tomorrow, plants are being ordered online, and some more fish will be picked up soon.

This is my plan for the plants:

Lilaeopsis Mauritiana in the foreground
Bacopa Australis and Ludwigia Repens in the midground
Rotala Indica, Bacopa Monnieri, Water Wisteria, and corkscrew vals in the background

More updates to come.

[shrimpNewbie]

Can't wait to see how this turns out also can't wait till my plants get in gotta get more soil though haha

[JRMott]

Update (new pics in first post):

I received my plants today from Sweet Aquatics and spent over an hour planting everything tonight. I ended up going with Lilaeopsis Mauritiana, Bacopa Australis, Ludwigia Repens, Rotala Indica, and Water Wisteria. I yanked out my Corkscrew Vals and Anubias but left the Java Fern hidden in there.

The plan is to run pressurized CO2 and 96w of 6700k PC bulbs 8 hours a day, dose w/ RootMedic liquid ferts 3-4x as week.

Current inhabitants are a Three Spot Gourami and 4 Tiger Barbs. Will be getting more Tiger Barbs asap.

More photos to come soon as things start growing more.

[JRMott]

Update (new pics in first post):

Things are starting to grow in more, though I am having some problems. The ludwigia and rotala have lost much of their red hues. I am planning to a 2 hour burst of 96w 10000K PC lighting to see if the extra light helps them out. Also, the bacopa australis hasn't done well, most didn't root and some died.

I think I need to adjust the positioning of the light a bit as well to more evenly light the tank.

I picked up a bunch more tiger barbs as well, here's some photos:









I need to give the plants a trim, tonight if I can. I'll post another photo of the tank post trim soon.

[JRMott]

Decided to do the trim...see first post for updated photo.

Took out most of the remaining bacopa australis and a java fern I had hidden in the tank. Chopped off a lot of the ludwigia, left the bottoms in the midground and replanted the tops in the back. I did a little sculpting on the Wisteria and had enough trimmings to fill in the co2 diffuser area more. I also did a hackjob on the rotalas, but trashed what I cut. I also added some rootmedic complete tabs under the Lilaeopsis Mauritiana.

Lets see how this grows in...

[Jeffww]

...That is some seriously uniform planting lol. At first I thought you photoshopped in some plants and then I realized how neat your rows and trimming are. Nice work. I wish I could plant neatly. I just end up cramming them all in the dirt randomly.

[JRMott]

I bumped up the burst to 10000K for 3 hours (while continuing the 6700K for 8 hours) towards the end of last week. I wasn't home this weekend, so am curious what the tank is going to look like tonight.

I'll be posting some new pics sometime within the next few days, depending on whether or not it's due for another trim.

[JRMott]

Originally Posted by Jeffww

...That is some seriously uniform planting lol. At first I thought you photoshopped in some plants and then I realized how neat your rows and trimming are. Nice work. I wish I could plant neatly. I just end up cramming them all in the dirt randomly.

lol, thanks. No photoshop involved, just organized planting. When I planted everything I did so in bunches, basically split the back of the tank in 1/3's and put one type of plant in each section. As everything in the back is stem plants, I think it will be easy to maintain.

I'm sure there's a lot more work to be had with plants that propagate through runners since you can't control where they grow.

[WaveSurfer]

Nice densely planted tank!

Originally Posted by JRMott

Update:

Looking at the pics from June 2011, you're probably wondering what the heck happened. Well, I had quite a problem with algae in Nov/Dec and then I was in the midst of changing jobs. Some plants died and the DHG never took off. This resulted in a combination of discouragement and neglect.

I (finally) decided to get back on this tank, after several months of neglect which led it from an algae farm to what you see above on 6/4/11. I spent about 2 hours cleaning the tank last night, you can see the results in the photo from 6/16/11.

CO2 tank is getting refilled tomorrow, plants are being ordered online, and some more fish will be picked up soon.

Guess it's hard to completely drop our hobby with the tank and fishes in our possession. Welcome back to the planted tank hobby!