[pittiepride]

I'm no journalist so here's a minimal breakdown of my tank set up.

45g All Glass Aquarium corner bowfront tank ~$300
Custom made pine stand $200
100w and 50 w heater (freebie)
Fluval 303 canister filter (freebie)
2 pieces of driftwood - $40 ebay purchase
Coralife aqualight 2 x 65 watt fixture $200 BigAls Online
Substrate is Shultz Aqua Soil 3.5 bags at $7 each

Not yet set up and using the regulator and LPR from Rexx for the CO2, bubble counter from ebay and ceramic diffuser from ebay ($200+$20) but plans for them to be up and running within 3 weeks.

Grand total so far is pushing $1000+.

So here's some pictures
Just dumped in the soil and filled the tank to saturate the gravel. Then siphoned out all the mucky water..

Filled the tank again.

Water was cloudy and so plugged in the little Regent Aqua 200 with polishing filter. Great little work horse this filter is. Love the ease of use.

One hour after being filled

The next morning running the Regent all night.
Also the java fern tied to the driftwood.

I'm spending the day today trimming plants from my other tank and will post more pictures as they are taken.

Thanks for looking.
Kara, cheers

 

[Wasserpest]

Hi Kara, very promising start, reminds me a lot of when I set up my 36gal corner tank (although that one turned out much cheaper).

Do you like the Schultz stuff? I find it a bit too light for planting, and the color too orangy for my taste (although yours looks almost cream color). I used something very similar for 1/10 the price, and covered it with Flourite.

I am a big supporter of "you don't need to rinse rinse rinse your substrate", and you are showing that this works just great!

Happy planting... this is the best part.

 

[pittiepride]

Yes, I agree that the aqua soil is a bit light for planting and requires a soft touch and smooth movements to keep the plants in place. I suspect that it may become heavier and more compact over time; there is still a lot of air trapped in the gravel right now. The color is a bit orangey but is highlighted well with the light pine of the stand, yellow walls and pine tng panelling; all help to make the hue a bit easier on the eyes and less orangey looking.

I tried rinsing one bag and decided it was a waste of time. Two days of cloudy water is manageable and the plants don't seem to be minding.

kara

 

[pittiepride]

These pictures aren't the best; the glare didn't show up when taking the photos. I'm still a novice with my camera. The tank is still a bit cloudy today but looking better.

Planted the tank with wisteria, giant hygro, alternanthera reineki, sunset hygro, java fern and windelev fern (this thing got huge and I didn't even know it was growing in the other tank; it's as big as my hand).

I'd like to do some more with the slope of the gravel but will have to wait and let the dust settle.

Photobucket is acting up so I can't upload more images. Will do so later.

Kara

 

[James From Cali]

That is going to be a beautiful tank when it fills out.

 

[pittiepride]

Tested the tank and it has a pH of 6.9, a KH of <1 and a GH of about 3. Hopefully this won't cause too much of a problem down the road with the co2.

Decided that the inhabitants will be white clouds and zebra danios, a fair size school of each. Also plan on do some shrimp in the future.

kara

 

[Wasserpest]

Wow, that's soft water. You could always add a bit of baking soda to bring up the kH when you add CO2.

 

[pittiepride]

Day 4. Some growth. Seeing some diatom and hair and thread algae growth but not too bad.

 

[PeteyPob]

Geez, that java fern is huge!

 

[knuggs]

Geez, that java fern is huge!

I wish mine looked like that. I would suggest a black background to minimize the reflection of the drywall and wood.

 

[pittiepride]

It's been a month, here are some updated pictures. No CO2 yet, but dosing with excel, macros and micros. The algae has slowed down, growth has picked up but I don't think it will be controlled until the CO2 is on and that won't be until after the wedding in august.

I know, I desperately need a background...Not the best shots either but you get the point.

Thanks for looking, Kara

 

[Pooky125]

It looks good. My best advice for improving the pictures... Turn off the flash and use a tripod. It will help immensely!

 

[Haeun]

Loved the tank at 6/5. Give the wisteria and the hygro(?) a trimming!!!

And yes, turn the flash off. Flash = baaaad.

 

[pittiepride]

I should add that I have upgraded the filter to an XP3 giving me tons of flow.

Here are some updated photos. I gave the tank a good overhaul and yanked a lot of wisteria and giant hygro and replaced with some vals and cabomba.

Turning off the flash definitely helped! Thanks for the tip. I can barely do the camera justice, I'm sure it is a lot better than I will ever be with it.