[dudebro]

Equipment
Eheim Aquastyle 9 with Stock Light
Fluval 106 Filter
Glass Inflow & Outflow Lily Pipe 13mm (Poppy Style)

Livestock
2 Ottos
1 Blue Dwarf Gouramis
3 Amano shrimp

Plants
Marsilea minuta
Fissidens fontanus
Steam*

Week 39

Week 37

Week 36

Week 35

Week 34

Week 28

Week 26

Week 19

Week 17

Week 15

Week 8

Week 6

Week 3 - Redo

Week 1 - First Try

 

[jeremyTR]

Neat set up. You're cycling with fish? Aww poor guys.

Sent from my HTC Evo 4G

 

[dudebro]

Thanks and yea, eager noob move... the local fish store said these guys are troopers, they wanted to sell them to me to get the cycle going... how could I say no.

 

[jeremyTR]

You should get some plants!

 

[dudebro]

I plan to create a dense carpet of hair grass and dwarf baby tears in different areas. I also want to add a fern of some sort and maybe some moss.

I would like to plant these as soon as possible but I am waiting for the tank to get established. I know I will need more light and co2 for it to grow in like I want.

I am very new to aquariums and cycling. Just taking it slow until I understand more.

 

[Knotyoureality]

I plan to create a dense carpet of hair grass and dwarf baby tears in different areas. I also want to add a fern of some sort and maybe some moss.

I would like to plant these as soon as possible but I am waiting for the tank to get established. I know I will need more light and co2 for it to grow in like I want.

I am very new to aquariums and cycling. Just taking it slow until I understand more.

Plants can go in right away, no need to wait for cycling the tank. They'll even help buffer your tank chemistry from the inevitable spikes in nitrites/trates. Much easier to get your plants in and started, and do all your fiddling around getting the layout right, before adding your fish.

 

[dudebro]

After doing some research I realized I would need more light to keep my plants healthy. I do want fish too.. and the tank is ready for fish but not for all the plants I want.

A DIY light upgrade, CO2 and plant food is in the mail. Once I get the light tested and settled I will get my plants. (providing that its ok for the fish)

Err, I may be in a tough situation now. Will the fish be ok if I add all the plants at once? Any insights.

A lot of Dwarf Baby Tears
An Anubis Nana
A small amount of Dwarf Hairgrass
Maybe one other small plant.

 

[dudebro]

Super bummed.

Went on vacation and everything fell apart. I set up a Automatic fish feeder and left my light on. The fish died; poor fellas were overfed and I was left with a ton of green algae.

Apparently too much light and too much fish food is a recipe for disaster. Now I know what too much is.

Its been cleaned and I did a partial water change. Right now I have a blanket over the tank to kill off the remaining algae.

Redo coming soon... with plants this time.

 

[wtkerr]

Love it! Good luck!

 

[dudebro]

Thanks wtkerr!

Week 3 - Redo

Full size image of just planted tank

Well its cleaned up now.

I removed the water and added 3 pots of Dwarf Baby Tears and one Anubias Nana. The Anubias Nana fit right into the whole on my stump. I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to glue it in or tie it down.

I am using Eco Complete substrate. I have heard mixed reviews on this holding new plants in. Only one Dwarf Baby Tear floated up which was also one that I planted sloppy and tried to adjust after filling the tank with water.

I strongly suggesting taking all the water out. Planting. Laying paper towels and slowly filling back up. These little buggers do float easy. I could see how it would be frustrating trying to add them to a full tank.

I have a DIY co2, DIY LED upgrade coming soon. Its nice to have the plants in, the color does pop against the black substrate - I hope they last longer than my fish...

 

[dudebro]

Updates:

• Started a DIY Co2 last night: running at 2Bps this morning. A little faster that I would like but its my first go at it.
• Heater stabilizing the temp around 74-75. This will help with plants and future fish.
• Dosing with Flourish and Flourish Excel. Now that I have Co2 running I may half lower the doses.

The plants look the same as they did after planting.

 

[dudebro]

A few days after planting:

Its still alive!

 

[dudebro]

The Baby Dwarf Tears are growing. Here is a similar pick to the one above.

Its getting dirty in there. I have decided to hold off on water changes to see if it will affect cycling. My water tests have never registered a spike but I do have a small trace of ammonia that registers at .25 ppm and has been there for a while.

My water tests are here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Av5FJ0W9LrJldEdka0RKeENhM3FRNjlBR1RJZkpITGc&output=html
Thanks to google docs.

 

[FORREST3320]

Looks great cant wait to see it fill in

 

[dudebro]

Week 6

Week 6 Update
The Baby Dwarf Tears are growing in nice.
DIY CO2 is doing its thing.
New Otto Cats
New plants! Thanks to DFWAPC which I am now a member of. I dont even recall what they all are but one for sure is Riccia.

I had a pretty big die off on the grass plant but it looks like most of the stems made it and are rooting.

Algae took over on my vacation. I just finished a tank clean out with some plant reorganizing and added the otto's. Based on what these guys just did in 5 mins I have a feeling this tank will be clean as a whistle in a week tops.

My Anubias have little spots on them. Not sure what this is exactly.

Its starting to look bright green. I like it.

Dwarf Tears forming a carpet.

Mystery Spots on the Anubias and also my new plant stem behind it.

New plant

Notice the clean spots on the rock - no more toothbrush:

 

[Callyft]

Looks awesome! I love the look of baby tears ... its filled in very nicely!

 

[fishyjoe24]

looking good I bet that steam is out of todd's(basic's) or drinda(texgal) tank..

 

[fishyjoe24]

looking good I bet that steam is out of todd's(basic's) or drinda(texgal) tank..

 

[dudebro]

Crossing fingers that's mobile photo uploads work. Attachments...

Got some new plants. Not sure if I want to use Valls now. Seams like people frown on their invasive-ness.

 

[dudebro]

Added a 2.5 lb co2 to replace my diy bottle. Wanted it to be small since its sits in the open.

My regulator from UP aqua doesn't quite have the same connection. It fits and doesn't leak though.

Based on my estimates I should get about 6 months from it at 1 bps while lights are on.

Having only Ottos in the tank is nice. The only thing I feed is the plants and I could go weeks without doing that. Nitrates are getting lower over time as well.

I am thinking of getting some easy bright colored shrimp and keeping the tank as maintenance free as possible.