Seth's 72g, the never ending project.

[Sethjohnson30]

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




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[Sethjohnson30]

the second picture was taken tonight it needs help


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[Sethjohnson30]

What should I do with this empty space it's driving me insane


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[flowerfishs]

nice bowl front tank!

[Sethjohnson30]

Originally Posted by flowerfishs

nice bowl front tank!

Thanks, any ideas on what I should do with my empty space. I'm ok with empty space just not this much


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[Sethjohnson30]

Update:
I pulled out a lot of plants, cleared out a lot of my plants

I've been slowly collecting more
I don't have much but this is pretty much what I started with tonight

My manzanita arrived in the mail today. I pulled all the plants, added the wood and replanted I definetly need more plants. Im thinking about another peice of wood on the left side. I can't decide if I like it or not.


I also noticed most people trim their wood, or just don't get peices with so many small sticks. What do you guys think. This tank will be heavily planted with groups of stems and s few other plants.


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[GMYukonon24s]

I like the driftwood.

[Sethjohnson30]

Originally Posted by GMYukonon24s

I like the driftwood.

Do you think the scape would look Bette with a piece on the other side?


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[Amandas tank]

Found your Journal Yippee! Your Manzanita is gorgeous! I love all the little branches. If you would have trimmed them it would have taken away the uniqueness of it IMO. It's not too often we see branches with so many splitting branches.

It's hard to say if you should put another piece on the other side. Depends on how much swimming room you want for your fish and how many plants you want. If you were going to heavily plant, and used a lot of verticle plants, especially those with red in them and some Vals, you may not want more wood in there. Or, you could choose a smaller (but similar looking piece) to create depth. Put the smaller piece closer to the front far left reaching diagonally towards the back right???? Maybe? I'm just brain storming outloud. Another thing you could do is get two more pieces smaller than the first and the last smaller than the second and place them with smallest being on the opposite end then the largest. Hmmm.

Another nice option would be to find some interesting large rocks to add near the base of the wood and choose varying sizes placing them largest to smallest until they are small at the other end of the tank.

Options...aren't they great!?

[Sethjohnson30]

Yeah it's a lot of options. I think for now I'm just gonna let it grow in and see how it looks


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[Sethjohnson30]

I'm thinking in gonna heavily plant this with stems but I need more here's my plant list so far

Echinodorus Vesuvius
Rotala macrandra
Rotala rotundifolia
Hygrophylia sunset
Ludwigia repens
Diandra(what the Lfs said)
Madagascar lace
Crypt wendti
Lymphnophilla aromatica
Dwarf Anubias

I want more stems, and in still trying to figure out if I wanna go with hc, dhg, or? For my carpet.


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[Sethjohnson30]

Meant to edit ended up quoting

[Amandas tank]

Originally Posted by Sethjohnson30

I'm thinking in gonna heavily plant this with stems but I need more here's my plant list so far

Echinodorus Vesuvius
Rotala macrandra
Rotala rotundifolia
Hygrophylia sunset
Ludwigia repens
Diandra(what the Lfs said)
Madagascar lace
Crypt wendti
Lymphnophilla aromatica
Dwarf Anubias

I want more stems, and in still trying to figure out if I wanna go with hc, dhg, or? For my carpet.


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Oooo, I think the HC would be gorgeous as your carpet in this tank! You have a lot of reds and pinks which will look amazing behind your bright green carpet. I am not very knowledgable about plant care but I did look up each one of your plants on the list, and they all are beautiful and most have the same requirements (from what I researched briefly) The low light lovers will be great for the transition from tall to carpet. Love this! I can't to see what happens!
Didiplis Diandra is a very pretty plant. Never heard of it before and of course had to look it up.

Since you want more stem plants, here are a few to think about:
Cabomba Caroliniana is a nice green, bushy stem plant. Pogostemon stellatus has the greatest leaf structure IMO. Blyxa japonica is a grassy-like stem plant that could be used in transition? Bocopa is pretty nice too. You didn't say anything about moss, but, if you could design it with a spot for Christmas Moss that would be a nice touch. Also, Brazillian Pennwort plant is really cool.

Okay...probably more suggestions than you were looking for. I am great at going overboard!

[Sethjohnson30]

What did you find out about the diandra can you link me. I had blyxa japonica in the tank but I'm not a fan, so I'm using it all for a carpet in my low tech(no journal yet) I've kept many varieties of cabompba. I don't like it, so it's in my low tech. I basically put everything I didn't like on my low tech and together it's starting to look quite nice.


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[Sethjohnson30]

As far as moss goes I will probably add some to the remaining visible wood once my bushes have grown in


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