New World 90gal Low Tech- a Pictoral Journey!! 11/13 Replanting Begins

[ColeMan]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

James- Let me run down my expenses so far

90gal tank and glass canopy (used) $125
Stand (new from Dr.F&S) $150
216 watt 48" Solar T5HO light fixture (new off Ebay) $175
175lb mixed substrate (Fluorite, Colorquartz, gravel) $175
Driftwood (Manzanita from the S&S) $40
AquaClear 110 (new from LFS) $70
Rena XP2 and Hydor 300watt inline heater (used- ReefCentral) $120
Spent so far on plants (primarily from the S&S) approx. $100

Only new livestock, 6 Amano shrimp = $12; the rest I already owned.

If I were to do this I think I'd pass out...I've split my receipts into two different files so I don't have to look at them all at once! You really saved some serious cash, you smart lady shopper you!

[lauraleellbp]

Shopping's half the fun!

[SeaSerpant]

She's? so cute. alot better looking than my familys dogs.

[lauraleellbp]

Sea- checked out the pics in the Lounge; I love the hair on Malteses- I think your family's dogs are beautiful! And what faces... hehehe

Actual tank update for Sat. 4/26/08

For the most part, the plants and fish are all doing very well. The RCS are definitely all gone; C'est la vie?

It's not looking good though for the Didiplis diandria; the stems keep rotting off in the substrate instead of rooting and I'm not seeing any new growth. I'm thinking they truly do need a higher tech tank than mine. If they don't make it I will replace them with regular Stargrass. Too bad b/c I really liked the looks of the Didiplis?

Oh I forgot about the Moss issue; turns out the moss that was supposed to be Willow moss when arrived was in fact Java moss... so it's floating around in my 46gal clogging up my filter till I figure out what I want to do with it. I'll get around to getting some real Willow moss for the tank sometime soon...

I still need to put in my root tabs. I may get motivated and get that done tonight...

The only other issue is a few strands of the Bacopa pantanal just refuse to stay planted. Those stems are just so slender that they won't stay down, fish swimming by knock them out, and they get sucked into the filter intakes Most of it is doing great, however. I can't tell if it's already growing or just straightening up to reach towards the light?

[lescarpentier]

LL

Do you have one of these? This makes the job of plunging the root tabs into the substrate very simple.It also has an attachment to prune the leaves off of your plants.It is also good for picking out snails,dead fish,and loose leaves.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCat...Type=0&offset=

[lauraleellbp]

No, I don't have a fancy one like that, a pair of long tweezers with an angled tip that I think will work?

I got this really nifty planting tool kit off of Ebay a while back for about $30 shipped.

[lescarpentier]

That is a nice kit that you have,and I plan to get one.
What I like about mine is that I don't have to get wet every time that I do something to my aquarium.I like to keep my hands out of the water as much as possible.I also use it to place the algae tabs exactly where I want them.I could go on and on,but you get the point.It is my most useful aquarium tool.

[lauraleellbp]

I know what you mean, I do get rather pruny these days LOL With my tank depth even those don't keep me completely out of the water, though- they just let me reach the back of the tank without needing to hold my breath and go swimming I have been procrastinating putting down the root tabs for that reason though (gotta go change and everything...)

[lescarpentier]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

With my tank depth even those don't keep me completely out of the water, though- they just let me reach the back of the tank without needing to hold my breath and go swimming

I have the 27" model,and my tank is 24".What is the depth of yours

[lauraleellbp]

It's 24"H x 18"W and I'm 5'4" so it's a reach to the back bottom of the tank for me, can't do it without getting most of my arm wet

[lauraleellbp]

Mon 4/28/08

Update.

The clown loaches are definitely hard on the tank. They've finally started their digging, and the E. tenellus 'narrow' are suffering; some get uprooted and others get buried The taller ones don't get much traffic so they seem to be OK. A few of the 'vesuvius' are suffering- I think the clowns are sleeping on them at night? I will probably move them tomorrow to a different spot.

I may end up putting the loaches back into the 46gal as soon as I can get some more fish to keep up the bioload in this tank. Looks like some things are coming through that mean I really may get my pond this summer after all? I think they'd love it outside- and I bet their coloration would really brighten like crazy in the sunlight

The Didiplis diandria are definitely faring poorly. None are taking root, and they rot at the base, then float up and get stuck in the filters. At first it was just a few, but today looking carefully at them none of them are doing well. I'm most likely going to try stargrass in that spot.

The rest of the plants seem to be doing pretty well! Still haven't gotten busy with those fert tabs... I need to get on the stick soon though!

[lauraleellbp]

Wed. 4/30/08 update

Made my minor moving around adjustments today. Went to remove all the Didiplis and got a happy surprise- turns out there are about 3 or 4 stems that not only have rooted, but are budding little tiny branches with new leaves! So I left them where they were, removed the stems that were doing poorly, and finally put root tabs underneath all the major plants.

I put whole Wonder Gro tabs underneath all of the big swords, and half or quarter tabs underneath all the rest of the plants, except the E. tenellus 'narrow.' I also saw a few new leaves on the E. africanus, and I'm very happy about that. I haven't seen any new leaves on the 'vesuvius' so far though? Hopefully the root tabs will make a difference.

I'm surprised that the Bacopa 'pantanal' is already almost as tall as the B. caroliniana! I can't tell how much is a result of the plants stems straightening towards the light vs. real growth, however?

I'm not quite sure ATM if I'm going to sell the majority of the 'narrow' I still have left in my 10gal or go ahead and plant it in this tank to really give the carpet a head start? I probably have twice as many plants still left in the 10 as are currently in the 90gal...

[SeaSerpant]

Any pics of your aquarium/tank?

[lauraleellbp]

Ok give me a few min to upload... not much has changed though?

[lauraleellbp]

Ok sideshots (you can see the wood fungus in this first pic):





Around to the front:





The fish love hanging out in the "river" which I guess is kind of appropriate. I'm probably going to rearrange the river some; have the grass extend most of the way across the back of the tank and have the "river" just be in the corner...


And a FTS



It's been a week since the water change, so the tannins are out in force again as you can see. I'm going to end up switching to Prime and throw some Purigen in the XP2 before too much longer... plus get some Giesemann bulbs for the light fixture.