Jbrady33's 36 Gal bow (or how many random species can you cram in)

[jbrady33]

Ok all, here is my first planted tank. This top post will be the most current pic. Comments welcomed!

March, 2013

After latest trim (the long stems start to bend and shade everything on the substrate - cut them down and jam the tops in the ground every few weeks)



11/6/2012

Did you ever do a trimming and think "Ok, went to far, what the hell was I thinking?" I know it will grow back, but it just feels naked right now!

After trim:



Before trim:



Big cleaning & trim time - tank and canister!



================



9-5-2012, moved some plants around, trimmed melted leaves, opened up the front a bit. Ended up looking great, but did a large WC (40%) and learned a very hard lesson about my well water - it is Co2 rich and oxygen deficient. Lost about half my fish stock and all the RCS due to Co2 poisoning. Very disappointing as I purposely went low tech to avoid ever having Co2 equipment fail and gas the tank.



The wall of Anubias See the leaves climbing up the tank on the left side of the pic above? They are actually several little anubias plants from Petsmart - the rhizomes are clipped into suction cup airline clips have been there for months, seem to like it ok and are growing fine

from the side:

[jbrady33]

So, here is the journey!:

The tank:

Petsmart special, 36 gallon bow with stand. My wife likes the way it looks, and I get to have a tank in the livingroom, win-win!

The other stuff:
Fluval 406 canister - on sale at Amazon, have to keep the flow reduced to about 2/3's but lots of room for media! Using everything they sent stock plus a bunch of plastic pot scrubbies and a Purigen packet. There is plenty on empty space if you only use the stock media - and I swear I could hear the ceramics clunking around in there (put them in bags and stuff a scrubbie in each compartment to hold them in place) Replaced the intake tube with black plastic to make as inconspicuous as possible against the black background. Haven't come up with anything for the outflow yet.

Jager 125 watt heater from Drs Foster & Smith - on sale and everyone seemed to think are reliable and built like a tank.

Finnex Fugeray 30 inch LED light - which I promptly hacked down to 28" so it can fit under the stock hood, details here

Sponge pre-filter to protect the shrimp I plan on keeping.


Eco-Complete for the substrate - seems safe for a beginner and it's black. Considered dirt with blasting sand cap, maybe another time.

No Co2, but dosing with Metricide about 2ml every 3 days (less than half the Excel dosage of 3.6ml every day or every other day)

some root tabs and very basic ferts (tetra FloraPride) at water change (so far)

[jbrady33]

Ok, so spend several weeks responding to every ROAK for plants, do some fill ins with package deals in the for sale room - wasn't picky about types, just wanted green . As packages come in, jam them into substrate in bunches or hold down with rocks, ended up with this:



Looking nice and green! I did lose a large African Water fern and several java fern that were the very first residents, when it looked like this:



Here what it looked like when I took everything out to do my first attempt at a scape:


Found this wood on a scrap/garbage pile, seems to be ether dogwood or crepe myrtle - I have no idea but it is very hard and had no smell. Cut, trim, debark, mount, roast a bit (should have been much longer) soak for several weeks until no tannins!





Put it all in the tank (first plant - careful planning and 'it should go here', quickly degrades into 'there's another patch of substrate I can shove this into). The one thing that was thought out was the Anubias nana , coffeefolia, and narrow leaf Anubias super glued to the driftwood. Hope they do well, I really like Anubias and hope to have more examples someday.

The big gap in the back left actually has a bunch of short penny/money wort stems - I'm hoping they take off and fill in.

So did I improve it or make a mess?

[EntoCraig]

I really like the tank! Looks very natural.

[amirk7]

nice tank where do you get the plants from?

[Lowe]

Filling in nicely I see!

[jbrady33]

all the plants came from here. - in for sale or Raok rooms.

[menoseloso]

haha the planted tank bug bites again...haha

[syzygy9]

I have to ask about the tank placement. You have a nice little wall jutting out with a picture centered on the wall and then the tank is not only not centered on the wall it appears to even extend past on the left by a few inches. What the heck??

Just giving you a hard time. Your set-up looks nice. I'm totally redoing my 36 Bow in a few weeks...I hope it comes out half as nice.

[jbrady33]

Hard times accepted, no problem!

It is off center on purpose, the pic below shows it in the room a little better. WIth it centered on the wall the right side with the TV looked too 'heavy' and the space on either side was wasted. With it off center it seems a little more balanced and that plant can sit to the right of the tank. Doesn't cover the window though, just an illusion from the angle!

[Lowe]

Originally Posted by jbrady33

Looks great! My fiance wanted my tank in a certain position in the room but I had to man up and tell her NO. I wanted it right next to the couch so when I was watching TV I could turn my head and gaze in to my tank lol

[Dave6265]

Hi Jbrady, nice tank! May I ask how long you have had it set up for? What are your thoughts on the Fugeray?

I would really like to try out LEDs, but I've been hoping Finnex comes out with the Fugeray II in 30", as I was not sure the Fugeray threw enough light for a tank of this depth.

[jbrady33]

The Fugeray comes in 30", and the Ray II comes in 36".

So far so good with the Fugeray, chart says is give low to mid light at the substrate, don't have a PAR meter. The plants seem ok so far, time will tell as it has only been about a month.

the Ray 2 s supposed to be high light, Co2 a must.

[DvanK]

Originally Posted by jbrady33

Ok all, here is my first planted tank. This top post will be the most current pic. Comments welcomed!

Latest pic, moved some plants around, trimmed melted leaves, opened up the front a bit. Ended up looking great, but did a large WC (40%) and learned a very hard lesson about my well water - it is Co2 rich and oxygen deficient. Lost about half my fish stock and all the RCS due to Co2 poisoning. Very disappointing as I purposely went low tech to avoid ever having Co2 equipment fail and gas the tank.

Your tank and your living room looks very nice and clean. What happened to the fish once you changed the water? Were they gasping for air? It seems a little strange that co2 in the well would kill your fish.

[jbrady33]

Originally Posted by DvanK

Your tank and your living room looks very nice and clean. What happened to the fish once you changed the water? Were they gasping for air? It seems a little strange that co2 in the well would kill your fish.

It was very strange, but the only thing that seemed to make sense (more discussion here http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=189554)

Put a cup of tap (well) water on the counter, after 12 hours the Ph had risen substantially.

Some fish were hanging at the top - and the ones that died were hanging motionless, like they were stunned, swimming/moving a bit before becoming still again.