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40 breeder tank renovation-(new pics 05/01/12, pg 5)

12K views 75 replies 18 participants last post by  2in10 
#1 · (Edited)
My husband and I have had a planted tank for three years. Well, it's mostly been his tank, I've just been playing the role of backseat aquascaper, CO2 delivery person, and algae critic. Lately, I've grown more interested in the details of running a planted tank. I just started Grad School, so I'm home staring at the tank a lot more now. I'm really interested in learning more about the art and science of the planted tank. To that end I'm in the process of trying some new ideas out on the tank because, like all wives everywhere, I'm sure my way is better.

Our Current Specs are:

40 gallon breeder tank
Lights: 2x 39 T5HO 7hr/day
CO2: pressurized CO2, gla atomic inline diffuser, on 3 hr before the lights & off 2 hr before the lights go off, drop checker
Filter: Eheim 2217 and 2 powerheards. Airstone at night
Fertilizer: EI dosing 50% water changes per week, flourish excel 10ml/day
Heater: hydor inline heater 78 degrees
Substrate: ecocomplete

Over the last few years, we've played around with different plants, equipment, and techniques. Now that we are finally feeling like we are starting to get a grip on the basics, we are ready to try to execute a real Aquascape. I've spent a lot of time looking at different scapes on the internet. In the end, I decided that I want to attempt to evoke something reminiscent of a rocky hillside here in the lush Pacific Northwest.

Our Tank before the renovation (and before we ditched 1/2 the plants due to a BBA attack):


Building my first aquascape:


Step 1: remove all the plants that don’t fit into the plan and give them away. This was hard because my husband was attached to many of our plants. We left some stem plants that don’t really fit with the end vision in to fill in the gaps until we get more plants.

Step 2: find some rocks—We went to the local landscape supply store and picked through their left-overs. They charged us $1.60 for the rocks.

Step 3: find some plants—My main goal was to go for small plants that would be in keeping with the scale of my hillside.

Ordered online from a commercial vender:

-Dwarf Hair grass—regular hairgrass grows well in our tank, so why not scale down
-HC cuba --I’ve bee lusting after a carpet of HC for years!
-Glossostima elatinoides- nice and small
-Hygrophila pinnatifida (this was not part of the plan, my husband snuck it in!)

Bought from the LFS:
-Downoi (reminds me of the native sword ferns that grow here in the PNW)

Step 4: Build that hill and plant those plants!

Step 5: Enjoy!



To be continued...

EDIT: Swapped incorrect pictures for the correct ones...
 
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#74 ·
We are getting a little algae bloom since we got the new light. Fortunately, we got a shipment of shrimp today. We are hoping that they will live long enough to clean up the place. The part that is bothering me is the green spot on the anubias on the hill. I suppose we will have to raise the light. Having low light plants up high isn't optimal. Oh well. I read someplace that bumping some of your ferts can actually help with green spot. I'll have to look into it.

Have a good day. Please give us aquascaping feedback. We need an outside perspective!
 
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