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2 Posts
Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum and to planted tanks in general. I wanted to show off and document the project that I've been working on for the last few weeks.
Having been interested in planted tanks for a little while, I just couldn't resist when I saw the 50g on craigslist for only $25.
It did end up needing to be resealed, as some of the silicone was looking pretty worn (I didn't do the most beautiful job, but at least it's 100% watertight). I was then able to rig up the CFL lighting with stuff from Home Depot for about $40 and I was ready to start scaping!
As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of saving money and doing as much DIY work as possible, but I didn't want to skimp on the substrate so I ended up going with aquasoil. I was able to find all the hardscape near my house!
After a lot of research I decided to try a dry start for a few reasons. I most likely will not be starting out with CO2, although I may add a system later if the tank needs it (I may dose excel in the mean time). Because of this, I wanted to give my HC a good chance to get established before I deprive it of CO2. Also, doing a dry start will give me some more time to save up for, and decide on, a good collection of plants for the final planting.
So without further ado, here are the pics:
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I'll update the thread weekly with progress. Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome.
-Harry
Having been interested in planted tanks for a little while, I just couldn't resist when I saw the 50g on craigslist for only $25.
It did end up needing to be resealed, as some of the silicone was looking pretty worn (I didn't do the most beautiful job, but at least it's 100% watertight). I was then able to rig up the CFL lighting with stuff from Home Depot for about $40 and I was ready to start scaping!As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of saving money and doing as much DIY work as possible, but I didn't want to skimp on the substrate so I ended up going with aquasoil. I was able to find all the hardscape near my house!
After a lot of research I decided to try a dry start for a few reasons. I most likely will not be starting out with CO2, although I may add a system later if the tank needs it (I may dose excel in the mean time). Because of this, I wanted to give my HC a good chance to get established before I deprive it of CO2. Also, doing a dry start will give me some more time to save up for, and decide on, a good collection of plants for the final planting.
So without further ado, here are the pics:
I'll update the thread weekly with progress. Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome.
-Harry
