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Seth's 72g, the never ending project.

7K views 68 replies 8 participants last post by  Sethjohnson30 
#1 ·
I am about a year late in starting this tank journal. The longer I wait the longer this is goin to take me. Since the beginning I have been taking pictures. It's hard for me to date them but I will post them. This tank has gone through many changes and this will probably take multiple post

Ok well I'm sorry I'm lazy I tried writing things after each photo and with tapatalk it's not easy. I'm doin this all with my phone.

I started out with 4 t5ho bulbs
5000k
6700k x 2
10,000k

It was beautiful until the algae explosion
I learned a few things and dropped m lighting down to two bulbs. After trying multiple combinations I went with a 6700k and a 5000k

I had a Rena filstar xp2 with lily pipes, a hydor 300w inline heater and an up aqua co2 atomizer

I have added a fluval fx5


I also have an airstone that runs at night when the c02 is off

I think this covers equipment

The tank is currently 1 bulb low light because I have a leak in my c02 system and I'm upgrading everything. In the mean time I have no co2 and low light

Most of the pictures have a a rock structure, I pulled that out because I don't like it and it's only in there for my bgk. I have reused the rock in my 72g low tech tank I am cycling for my bgk he is a nuisance.

I will also be taking the xp2 off of this tank. This means I need to find a 1" inline heater and I will be building an rg style reactor

Those tubes will be gone soon they
Are temporary hiding
Places for the bgk until his tank is ready
My big question is; what do i do with this open space, I want to change things up but not majorly Analog television Television set Gas Television Display device
Pet supply Water Gas Fish Fish supply
Water Pet supply Fluid Organism Aquatic plant
Water Vertebrate Pet supply Organism Fish supply
Water Plant Pet supply Fish supply Organism
Plant Nature Green Botany Organism
Water Plant Green Pet supply Fish supply
Water Plant Plant community Green Pet supply
Plant Water Pet supply Flowerpot Aquatic plant
Plant Rectangle Pet supply Organism Grass
Water Plant Flowerpot Pet supply Fish supply
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Water Plant Light Purple Pet supply
Plant Water Purple Organism Pet supply





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#35 ·
I stood back quite a few times before I purchased the wood.....all I could think was "I need another branch" I'm gonna try to make this one work, i f it doesn't pan out I may start searching for a different piece.

As for the java fern I'm going for mainly stems in this tank. I have the crypts and I will probably be getting more Madagascar lace( or patiently waiting for mine to grow out) I also have a lot of java fern in my other 72g 4ft away. All my tanks have all different species of plants, no tanks share the same plant.
 
#36 ·
I see. Good to have different plants in your tanks. Nice way to build up the plant species. For me that wood works quite well in that tank. I was also looking for a piece of wood for a long time before I started my tank. Turned out I had the exact piece I was looking for in the back yard. Here in SA the new Craze is spider wood, but I think its far too expensive for what you get. I like big chunky wood that has some branches. I absolutely love Mopani wood, but very difficult to get branchy Mopani. So I ended up using Grapevine to get that branchy look. Sometimes you get quite good looking grapevine, so maybe you can look into that possibility also?
 
#38 ·
I am sure you already have, but in the off chance you haven't, try moving the base of the smaller brach to the far left front corner and angling the larger piece with it's base in the far right corner. This should create depth...at least in my mind it does. Hard to know without seeing it. Another thing I would try is turning the base up, placing the base in the upper corners in a way they are "out of view" if possible. This good give a neat effect also with the branches giving the illusion of hanging in the water from a tree on "the bank above".

Anyway...just some thoughts to try and help you achieve depth. It took me awhile to get my wood just right. Seemes I was tweeking it every time I walked by the tank. Finally I'm happy with it. Just keep playing with it until you find "it" :)

I love both pieces! Your tank will be so cool when your plants finish up the last touches!
 
#41 ·
Yeah it seems like the hardest duff to plant also happens to be the stuff that keeps floating up. Now I just have a lot of floating plants everyday.

I also can not get my glosso to stay planted I'm starting to consider going another route, but I tend to have that problem with most ground covers
 
#42 ·
I got some free plants today that we're thrown in with my 10 baby abn plecos I won on a raok

Hygrophylia sp tiger
Pogestemon stellatus narrow leaf
Staurogyne sp porta vello

They are floating right now but hopefully I will get them planted tonight when I get off work.

Any suggestions on placement?
 
#46 ·
Okay...if it were me, I'd plant some of the Hygro on either corner covering a triangle area with the corner being the tip of the triangle. Then Id add the pogostemon stellata narrow leaf infront of the hygro starting at the center of the bottom of the triangles. Make sense? Then continue until they reach the back wall. Don't plant them in straight lines but in a pattern with one infront of the other than another in back. I hope I'm making sense. ??? Space them out so that they will fill in faster (I just got mine planted and am only telling you what I was told about spacing)

The other is a ground cover right?

So not to have everything uniform you should pick out a few green varieties of different plants and put them here and there leaving the center open to create an illusion of depth. Ya know, I am new at this, so only telling you what I would do. :redface: I would use an Amazon Sword or a Crypt to put off center just behind mid-tank to aid in the illusion of depth.

What do you think? :smile: It's a lot...but hey! You did ask :)
 
#58 ·
Thanks, the pictures don't do it any justice I'm a horrible photographer and all I have is an iPhone. I wish people could see it how I do. My roselines are definetly growing well. I've started feeding them a lot more lately. I've always worried about over feeding so my fish never grow. Now that I feed 2-3 times a day these guys are growing fast! An there color just keeps getting deeper and deeper. Ussually when I see older/larger roselines I feel sorry for them they always look so terrible at larger sizes but mine seem to be looking quite nice.
 
#59 ·
We are on the same boat far as pictures go. I don't have a camera either and my cell is only good with outdoor pictures.

They eat so fast, that it's rare any food drops to the bottom. I'm glad they are looking so good for you! What all do you feed them?

I fed mine 4 times a day. I varied the food at each feeding. They were very bright and colorful. They got a new home pretty fast! They were very impressive in the tank next to the juveniles. The largest was about 5".
 
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