[nojke]

So I guess I should start a journal of my 1st tank ever.

Equipment:
40G Breeder
36" Current Satellite+
Aqua Soil
Black lava rock
Marineland 350 HOB
150W Heater

No CO2 or Ferts... "yet".. this may change later.

Aquascaping:

 

[nojke]

Day 1

Dry Starting my tank: 2/27

Day 01 Added:

Micrantherum umbrosum "monte carlo". Trying to carpet this through out my tank up and down my slopes. Even added some in the lava rock holes just to see what happens.

Marsilea minuta. picked up a few nodes and added them in the upper right corner and a few other random spots. Also added a node or two in the lava rock.

Will be having my light on for a 12hr cycle. Misting 1x or 2x daily.

Let's see how long it will take to carpet, and how long my patience will hold out.:icon_smil

 

[omgwhiskey]

Looking good! Dry start and everything for a first timer? Wow

 

[BeastMaster]

Wow, that quite a slope on the right rear corner. Hopefully the minuta root system can hold the AS in place when you flood. I like. Good luck! :bounce:

 

[zetvi]

For a first tank, this scape looks sick! Subbed!

 

[skoram]

This is seriously your first tank *ever*? You must have done a ton of research before starting.

 

[nojke]

Yea, this is my first tank "ever". Not even a goldfish fishbowl when I was a kid. LOL.

I was planning on doing a Mbuna style cichlid tank but have since changed my mind and decided to go the planted route. It has been alot of researching, reading, youtube videos, fourms, visiting LFS, everything, but I finally gave in and just started my tank. I'm sure there will be some surprises along the way, but hopefully I can figure them out. And if I can't. I'm sure this community could definitely help.

Still deciding about the co2. Do I really want to deal with it? Can I just use excel? ETC. Always questioning myself on which route I wanna take. But given that this is my first tank I wanted to go lowtech before spending more money into this new hobby.

I'll update along my journey.

 

[zetvi]

That's the way to go. I went through no co2 tank and now i still have a couple no co2 but my main tank is with co2 now. By going through those, i was able to observe how plants are different in such situation and what i really like. Some plants i like them the way they are in no co2, stay shaper leaves and smaller. Most of my plants in the co2 tank tend to have bigger leaves. Anyway, keep us update as you go!

 

[skoram]

CO2 is definitely not needed for most plants - there are plenty successful of low-tech and even no-tech tanks that prove this point. Although some plants like HC do not do well without it. It will, however, significantly accelerate your plant growth given matching quantities of light and nutrients.

 

[nojke]

3/04

Day 05

Pretty excited, I'm starting to see things grow. Still on a 12 hour on and 12 hour off. Misting 1x a day usually in the middle of the on period. Starting to see the MC grab hold of the substrate. Hoping to see more MC growth soon.

MM and their little offsprings:

MC and new growth