Planted 10 gal

[don]

Okay .. I've been bugging you all with questions so I thought I would show some of the progress.

Here was the setup after removing the UGF and getting some of the stuff back in.



I then made a trip to a local Petco to see what they had for plants. It was pretty bad. None of what they had was labeled, I had forgotten to bring reference material with me and nobody there had a clue what they were. So I grabbed three that I thought might work out .. and we're giving it a shot.

I also added a background and a new heater.



Now .. I'm guessing these are what I got. Let me know if I guessed wrong.

Brazilian Pennywort



Brazilian Micro-Sword



Baby Tears

[Guttboy]

Don!

Beautiful! What are you running for lighting? Are you using CO2?

Where are you at in NH? I grew up in Chelmsford Mass and my folks live in Freeport Maine now.

I just started a 10 gallon today....substrate is on the cheap...peat, kitty litter and playsand. Standard 15watt flourescent....have a retrofit kit from AH supply otw...with two 13 watt pc's in it.

Nice job with the rocks....might do that in mine as well...what filter is that on the back?


Mike

[don]

Thanks!

This tank is slightly on the cheap as well. The lighting are two compact florescent .. the kind that screw into a normal socket. I didn't have the time yet to change the hood to tubes so I figured these would be okay for now. My only concern is that they may not be "daylight" enough. We'll see.

Right now .. I dont have any CO2 but I am trying some of that phosphate free Flora-Pride (I think its called) to get the ball rolling.

I'm actually in a town called Litchfield .. borders Nashua and Hudson.

The filter is a Whisper brand. I bought it when I first got the tank .. if I knew they what I know now I would have gone a different route .. one step at a time I suppose.

I may end up having to pull it all out and start over a bit .. right now the substrate is nothing but gravel and I fear the plants will need more than that. I'm in no rush to get fish in here yet though. I figured I'd see how the plants go.

[Guttboy]

The lights look pretty bright...what are they rated at wattage wise?

I know where litchfield is....my dad used to work for Digital Equipment Corp up there in that area.

Keep reading up here on the site...its full of GREAT information. We all learn from each other here!

Mike

[Perrush]

@ Don :

not to bad at all. I really like the blue-effect of the background, is that a reflection ?
And you picked 3 real waterplants, could have been worse.

Just 2 remarks.
1) If you choose smaller rocks, the tank will look bigger. The large rocks make the tank look smaller than it already is.
2) I could be wrong, but from the picture, I think the gravel you used is a little coarse.

[don]

I actually liked the size of the rocks .. the gravel I agree with though. I'll probably end up remixing.

[Perrush]

@ Don :

If you like them, it's all that counts, just keep them. Never make the mistake of modeling something because 'they' say it's better.

[GulfCoastAquarian]

I really like the look of the pebble substrate and smooth rocks. Very much a river bottom. But the plants won't be able to derive anything from that coarse of a substrate. Try mixing in some play sand. It's too late to do something like laterite without tearing it all down. The sand will help the roots take hold a lot easier. To enrich the substrate, try some root tab fertilizers like Tetra Initial Sticks, Root Tabs with Iron or some Pond Tabs. Start with just a few crumbled up pieces pushed deep into the sand/pebble substrate and I think your plants will do fine.

[don]

My local shop didn't have much other than large grain stuff. (I really have to find a better shop). I must say it wasn't easy trying to plant in that stuff.

[don]

By the way .. do you all think I guessed the plant species right? I'm curious.

[BonesCJ]

Don, If you want better screw in compacts AGA now makes a 10 watt, 6500 K screw in compact specificly for aquariums with planted tanks.