Aren't these things passé or something now...don't see many of 'em...:tongue:
Anyhow, I've set it up and have been fishless cycling it with pure ammonia and Mosura BT-9 for about a week now while waiting for my manzanita to waterlog (still hasn't ). Ordered some easy moss/plants from h4n (thanks!). This is my first real planted tank after years of nano reefs...guess I figure I'd change it up a bit. :thumbsup:
My current stocking plans are some cherry shrimp, maybe some ramshorn snails, and possibly otos...keeping it simple.
Equipment:
Fluval Ebi (duh!)
Fluval Shrimp Stratum
Manzanita driftwood
2x Fluval Mini Power Compact Lamp (13W)
Eheim 2232
Lily pipes w/clear vinyl tubing
Flora:
Anubias Nana 'Petite'
Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Green Gecko'
Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Red'
Narrow Leaf Java Fern
Trident Java Fern
Flame Moss
Peacock Moss
Fauna:
None yet!
Anyway, I just planted her up a little while ago, here she is!
Front
Side
Decent enough for a first scape? Comment/critism/(flaming?) welcome!
My only advice would be to add more small Anubias in front around the base of the wood and put a huge clump of Narrow/Needle Leaf Java Fern behind the wood so it flows through toward the front of the tank.
I think any plants taller than a couple inches should be moved toward the back of the tank.
Yeah I tried to get some more anubias, guess I'll keep looking.
I guess it's sorta hard to tell, but the narrow leaf java fern is tied behind the wood towards the left and the trident is attached to the back towards the right. Not a whole lotta space in the back between them due to the shape of a wood...
As far as the little crypts in the foreground...I may and up moving them to the back...I'd just basically never see them if I did. The wood takes up so much space...
Welp, the nitrite issue is gone...I just did a 100% water change to clear the tank of nitrates (which were somewhre in the neighborhood of 80-160 ppm!). The fishless cycle is done...and the shrimp should be here today!
Update time! 20 RILI SHRIMP arrived yesterday (thanks ryantube)! They're doing great...really active and not one bit shy! They're foraging and zipping around the tank like nobody's business. Really entertaining little guys...hard to photograph the active little buggers though!
Without further ado...a bunch crappy phone pics! Enjoy!
All seems well...I did develop some algae on the glass suddenly over the weekend. I'm not sure if it's green dust algae or a couple different varieties. Most of it is light brownish in color and spotty but there are also patches of a bright green. Not sure if I should hit it with my magnet cleaner or not...
Thanks! They're aqmagic lily pipes from evilbay. The outflow seems to grow a bit of algae on it, but the inflow never has. In fact, my acrylic tubes are what gets dirty the fastest!
I got that from evilbay from a seller named e-shop37. They have 12mm, 14mm, and 16mm prefilters available. It was only around $9 bucks or so shipped, but the downside is it takes a few weeks to get from China.
Fits the above mentioned lily pipes perfect though!
You don't HAVE to spend alot! It's really easy to research and get carried away though...I'm guilty of it myself!
Yeah...I'm getting decent growth out of everything...not sure if I should be dosing anything...but have some root tabs from rootmedic on their way, mostly just for the crypts/pennywort. Hopefully the pennywort carpets the front up over (a long) time.
Not sure if the moss/ferns really need anything...anyone care to chime in on that?
The moss and ferns will grow without any kind of fertilization, but they'll definitely benefit from it if you do choose to add some. They require ferts in the water column though since they don't root in the substrate where they'd be able to use the Rootmedic tabs.
I figure that much...but, I'm leery of adding ferts to the water column in a tank I'm trying to breed shrimp in. If there are no negative side effects...I'd certainly do it, although I have read that those that dose ferts have to do water changes quite more frequently which could stress shrimp, so I'm not sure that'd be for the best.
Maybe just a small dose would work for me, though I have no idea what exactly I should dose for moss/ferns/anubias. Suggestions?
I'm actually the last person here that should be telling you what and how to dose. I'm still trying to figure it out myself and haven't been having much luck.
The only thing I can suggest is to try and adapt something like EI dosing to your needs, but water it down and do it very sparingly. I add maybe 10ml of a macro solution in a week, with some micros every few weeks if I notice some things looking a little off.
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