Reach - the 29g shoplight tank

triazole · 04-21-2009, 03:49 PM

i tried to get out of the planted tank part of the hobby by selling my 30g tank that was flourishing under low light for about half a year. the next thing was supposed to be breeding killies. but as i was retouching my 29g for putting it up on craigslist (the last "big" tank after i sold off the 75g), somehow i didn't want to part with it (Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in...). hence i ordered some plants on aquabid, and some cheap driftwood on ebay, and thought i'd start this as a lowtech tank. and that's how the ball started rolling.
i wanted to keep the lighting simple, so shoplights and GE daylight T12's from walmart seemed to be a good choice. substrate was about one and a half bags of fluorite, and the rest pool filter sand. rocks were already collected from the university's grounds....hehe...and since i'd already painted the back of the tank with spray paint that resembled the rock's texture, i kept it as it was.
i had a pressurised co2 setup beforehand, so i refilled it and fed it into the fangs of a rio600. the driftwood needed some pursuation, but finally sank. the plants are mainly from kind people on the forum. tall sag and taiwan moss from imeridian, anubia nana 'eyes' courtsey agutt, some echinodorous quadricostatus from eleontie...there are also some fast growers in there that i took out from the pic...and i will definitely take out the filter the next time...(many thanks to my photographer buddy for his kaboom-ic photographic skills...

)

so here's the tank after three weeks...the christmas moss on the driftwood came in a sorry state, and is recovering slowly...there's an empty spot behind the driftwood on the right that needs something in it...the tall sag needs to grow in a bit...and the list goes on an on...:-D...

organic sideburns · 04-21-2009, 06:59 PM

this tank is AWESOME. i love how natural it looks. great plant choice imo and i love the light substrate,rocks, and background. glad u didnt sell it!

triazole · 04-22-2009, 03:17 AM

thanks organic...the background seemed a bit strange at first, but it's growing on me...i even feel as if it's imparting some sort of pristine glow to the scape!!...heh heh...

about inhabitants - about three nerite snails (i can't seem to see all three at the same time most of the while, so i'm perpetually perplexed...), about 30 or so cherry shrimp...all on algae duty. i plan on adding some ottos later for a more complete cleanup crew.

fertilization is the awesome barr-method (seemed to be the best one out there). i just don't use the full amounts due to the still low plant load. and a small question at that. the fast-growing mexican oakleaf is showing yellow veins. could anybody shed some light on any nutrient deficiency?

and that's about it for about two weeks. i will update the journal then.

**AzFishKid** · 04-22-2009, 03:39 AM

Very nice! Love those big rocks.

Hilde · 04-23-2009, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by triazole

i tried to get out of the planted tank part of the hobby by selling my 30g tank. As i was retouching my 29g for putting it up on craigslist, somehow i didn't want to part with it. Hence i ordered some plants on aquabid, and some cheap driftwood on ebay, and thought i'd start this as a lowtech tank. and that's how the ball started rolling. I wanted to keep the lighting simple, so shoplights and GE daylight T12's from walmart seemed to be a good choice.

I think the plants would do better with T8 bulbs. If your tank is 30 in long as mine is you can get 2 undercounter light systems, which house 20 watt T8 bulbs. Then replace them with a daylight bulb and super daylight bulb by zoo med in. For a reflector a metal gutter can be used. This is what I did. The T12 bulbs don't get as much light to the bottom as the T8s. Also daylight bulbs have mostly white and green photons.

triazole · 06-04-2009, 08:28 PM

i apologise for not updating the thread after the two-week period...:-D...
Here's how the tank looked after a month. It has since been given to my LFS.

another view (a bit darker...or lighter...:-D)

AzFishKid and Hilde, thanks for the kind words and advice. I regret a few things about the layout after it matured...especially the use of larger anubias near the focal point. Unfortunately, it was too big of a hassle to take out and replace. So, I let it be. And Taiwan moss seemed to grow best for me, instead of the peacock moss, which was tied to the driftwood.
I won't be updating this thread anymore.

Hilde · 06-05-2009, 12:05 AM

Gorgeous tank!!

I find that boulder on the right interesting. Did you get that out of your yard?

So you got rid of the tank. What is next?

hydrophyte · 06-05-2009, 12:12 AM

nice! i never would have imagined such a large stone looking so right in such a small tank.

triazole · 06-05-2009, 07:49 PM

Thanks guys.
Umm, I hate to say this, but I mooched the stones from the university grounds

...it was too much of a hassle finding a landscaper...
Hilde, I've started with 2 10g's and another 29g...:-)...this is fun...
hydrophyte, I was looking through one of your tanks, and saw the use of smaller stones to offset the effect of that larger ones...I'd thought about it for quite a while, even spent about ten minutes at walmart standing in front of pea gravel, and different sizes of river pebbles...but ultimately I wanted that rock to dominate the scape, and left it as it was...maybe next time...:-)

04-21-2009, 03:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
triazole Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (17/100%) Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: State College, PA Posts: 72	Reach - the 29g shoplight tank i tried to get out of the planted tank part of the hobby by selling my 30g tank that was flourishing under low light for about half a year. the next thing was supposed to be breeding killies. but as i was retouching my 29g for putting it up on craigslist (the last "big" tank after i sold off the 75g), somehow i didn't want to part with it (Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in...). hence i ordered some plants on aquabid, and some cheap driftwood on ebay, and thought i'd start this as a lowtech tank. and that's how the ball started rolling. i wanted to keep the lighting simple, so shoplights and GE daylight T12's from walmart seemed to be a good choice. substrate was about one and a half bags of fluorite, and the rest pool filter sand. rocks were already collected from the university's grounds....hehe...and since i'd already painted the back of the tank with spray paint that resembled the rock's texture, i kept it as it was. i had a pressurised co2 setup beforehand, so i refilled it and fed it into the fangs of a rio600. the driftwood needed some pursuation, but finally sank. the plants are mainly from kind people on the forum. tall sag and taiwan moss from imeridian, anubia nana 'eyes' courtsey agutt, some echinodorous quadricostatus from eleontie...there are also some fast growers in there that i took out from the pic...and i will definitely take out the filter the next time...(many thanks to my photographer buddy for his kaboom-ic photographic skills...) so here's the tank after three weeks...the christmas moss on the driftwood came in a sorry state, and is recovering slowly...there's an empty spot behind the driftwood on the right that needs something in it...the tall sag needs to grow in a bit...and the list goes on an on...:-D...

04-21-2009, 06:59 PM	#2 (permalink)
organic sideburns Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 691	this tank is AWESOME. i love how natural it looks. great plant choice imo and i love the light substrate,rocks, and background. glad u didnt sell it! __________________ *My 46 gallon Bowfront Journal ((please comment)):* http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ta...ewer-pics.html

04-22-2009, 03:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
AzFishKid Aquariums are my life. (View User Tanks) PTrader: (24/100%) Join Date: May 2008 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 1,230	Very nice! Love those big rocks. __________________ 85 Gallon Planted • New!2,500 Gallon Koi Pond • New!500 Gallon Turtle Pond

06-05-2009, 12:12 AM	#8 (permalink)
hydrophyte Sponsor (View User Tanks) PTrader: (5/100%) Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Madison, Wisconsin Posts: 1,745	nice! i never would have imagined such a large stone looking so right in such a small tank. __________________ Hydrophyte

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04-22-2009, 03:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
triazole Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (17/100%) Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: State College, PA Posts: 72	thanks organic...the background seemed a bit strange at first, but it's growing on me...i even feel as if it's imparting some sort of pristine glow to the scape!!...heh heh... about inhabitants - about three nerite snails (i can't seem to see all three at the same time most of the while, so i'm perpetually perplexed...), about 30 or so cherry shrimp...all on algae duty. i plan on adding some ottos later for a more complete cleanup crew. fertilization is the awesome barr-method (seemed to be the best one out there). i just don't use the full amounts due to the still low plant load. and a small question at that. the fast-growing mexican oakleaf is showing yellow veins. could anybody shed some light on any nutrient deficiency? and that's about it for about two weeks. i will update the journal then.

06-04-2009, 08:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
triazole Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (17/100%) Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: State College, PA Posts: 72	i apologise for not updating the thread after the two-week period...:-D... Here's how the tank looked after a month. It has since been given to my LFS. another view (a bit darker...or lighter...:-D) AzFishKid and Hilde, thanks for the kind words and advice. I regret a few things about the layout after it matured...especially the use of larger anubias near the focal point. Unfortunately, it was too big of a hassle to take out and replace. So, I let it be. And Taiwan moss seemed to grow best for me, instead of the peacock moss, which was tied to the driftwood. I won't be updating this thread anymore.

06-05-2009, 12:05 AM	#7 (permalink)
Hilde Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mableton, GA Posts: 1,114	Gorgeous tank!! I find that boulder on the right interesting. Did you get that out of your yard? So you got rid of the tank. What is next?

06-05-2009, 07:49 PM	#9 (permalink)
triazole Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (17/100%) Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: State College, PA Posts: 72	Thanks guys. Umm, I hate to say this, but I mooched the stones from the university grounds ...it was too much of a hassle finding a landscaper... Hilde, I've started with 2 10g's and another 29g...:-)...this is fun... hydrophyte, I was looking through one of your tanks, and saw the use of smaller stones to offset the effect of that larger ones...I'd thought about it for quite a while, even spent about ten minutes at walmart standing in front of pea gravel, and different sizes of river pebbles...but ultimately I wanted that rock to dominate the scape, and left it as it was...maybe next time...:-)

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