[Zefrik]

I decided to start a journal for this tank because, well, I spent a lot of time and money on it. I really don't know what kind of tank this is though. I am aiming for having it as a nice looking display tank, but also I want it to also be somewhere I can "farm" plants and hold extra plants that will be traded later on. I am going to be moving in a few months but I went ahead and set this tank up because I was overflowing with plants. I didn't want to get rid of the plants yet though, because I wanted to continue stocking up on plants.


I have been experimenting lately with growing plants in large amounts. I have 2 emersed setups, a 40 and a 55 gallon tanks. I have a 10 gallon shrimp tank, I 14 gallon low-tech planted, 29 gallon high-tech planted and now a 40 gallon breeder High-tech setup. I am wanting to add to this as I want to start to have more shrimp tanks and I want to try my hand at breeding some more varieties.

But I have put a lot of time and money into this 40 gallon tank. This tank was going to be a lot less fancy than it is now. I was going to have a Aquaclear 70 on it with a couple shop lights over it. I was going to use black diamond sand and root tabs. But it has turned into T5, eco-complete, eheim filtered aquarium.:icon_roll

I will get pictures up later. My camera is not working. I am going to ask my brother if I can borrow his again.

Here is the equipment I currently have:

Filter - Eheim 2217 classic
Heater - All glass aquarium heater ( I am getting a new heater later)
Co2 Regulator - Aquatic Life
Co2 tank - 20oz paintball tank ( I have a five pound that I am going to get filled soon)
Co2 Diffuser - UP aqua glass ceramic diffuser
Light - Aquatic Life T5 HO 36" freshwater fixture
Substrate - 80 pounds of Eco-Complete

*Pictures Later :icon_smil

 

[Zefrik]

Okay it has been too long but I have pictures (bad).

 

[aXio]

Where is the custom stand from? I want it! =) I like the rock/wood section on the left.

 

[Zefrik]

Lol! I don't know where it came from. It was a wooden chest that my parents had for like 20 years. We had to go through furniture because my parents are getting divorced and neither of them wanted it. Yay! Free stand for me!

 

[Zefrik]

I am starting to work on a list of plants that I have. Green are in this tank. Black are in other tanks but might be used later in this tank.Red is Dead. Missing???

- Bacopa (not sure which kind)
- Rotala Rotundifolia/ Indica (Is there a difference?)
- Moneywort
- Egeria Densa
- Dwarf Baby Tears (HC)
- Regular Baby Tears
- Needle Leaf Ludwigia
- Ludwigia Repens
- Ludwigia glandulosa
- Echinodorus 'Oriental'
- Amazon Sword
- Hygrophila defformis
- Hygrophila corymbosa
- Rotala Nanjenshan
- Java Fern Lace Windelov
- Java Fern
- Java moss
- Microsword
- Anubias Barteri
- C. wendetii red
- C. wendetii green
- Glossostigma
- Myriophyllum Pinnatum
- Creeping Jenny
- Brazilian Pennywort
- Cardinalis (can't remeber name)
-Unknown
-Unknown

 

[Zefrik]

More Pics!

 

[2in10]

Beautiful tank, well done

 

[Zefrik]

Beautiful tank, well done

Thanks!

 

[crazydaz]

Hey Zefrik,

It looks pretty good, but almost "uniformly" green. Have you thought about topping and replanting your red stems for a bolder red portion of the tank? Have you thought about getting some Ludwigia sp. "Red" for an accent color, or are you trying to do various shades and leaf textures of green color?

You have some nice, lush growth, for sure! It will be interesting to see what this tank evolves into once you get the rest of the plants in there.

How do you dose your ferts? EI or PPD method?

 

[Zefrik]

Hey Zefrik,

It looks pretty good, but almost "uniformly" green. Have you thought about topping and replanting your red stems for a bolder red portion of the tank? Have you thought about getting some Ludwigia sp. "Red" for an accent color, or are you trying to do various shades and leaf textures of green color?

You have some nice, lush growth, for sure! It will be interesting to see what this tank evolves into once you get the rest of the plants in there.

How do you dose your ferts? EI or PPD method?

About the lack of red, I am getting ready to move this tank. I am planning on replanting everything in a better position after the move is over. For now I have been throwing plants in and "farming" them.

As for the dosing, I have not really done a lot of research about different methods yet so I just kinda dose blindly. I know it is not the best but I am hoping to learn more about dosing soon. I am using aquavitro stuff. I got it really cheap when I worked at a lfs. But I cannot find it anywhere else so I have started to buy some seachem flourish products to replace them. I think I will try Pfertz once I have some money. Or I may try some dry ferts. I just feel a little uneasy using them. Is there a good article on dosing that covers a good amount of it? I would like to find one but I can't seem to find one that I am able to use or comprehend!:icon_redf I feel so stupid. Haha

 

[crazydaz]

I dose EI, though it is a bit modified. You can search "EI dosing" online and it should bring up several articles explaining it, but it does get a bit full of technical jargon.

Tell you what: when you get closer to getting ferts and your CO2 after the move, let me know and I'll explain it to you in easy to understand terms. We could even even Skype, if you like.

 

[Zefrik]

My Brazilian pennywort is really doing well in this tank. I started with just a few small 4-6in pieces and now I have a few that are approaching 24 inches long! Straight from the bottom up to the top and over! I really like the floating plant look. Are there other good floating plants? I want stuff to be able to get enough light though. I think I might have seen a couple pieces of duckweed floating in this tank but I don't think I want that, so I took them out. Now I am hoping there aren't any more.

 

[Zefrik]

Tank is torn down for the move at the moment. I will try to get it set back up this weekend. It is not going to look as nice though.

 

[Zefrik]

Oh yeah, my tank will have to go about a week without co2. Will that be an issue?

 

[Zefrik]

Update after move pics.

The tank is going to have to grow back in but hopefully it will start to get back to normal.

 

[Zefrik]

I am having no luck with the glosso. I think I don't have enough light because they are growing upwards and not really sending out shoots. Should I start thinking about getting another T5ho fixture?

 

[callisto9]

Lovely scaping! Well done. I think your tank is beautiful.

 

[Zefrik]

Lovely scaping! Well done. I think your tank is beautiful.

Thank you!

 

[Zefrik]

Just some updated shots. Got an Iphone 4s since they dropped in price. It takes better pictures than my old cellphone.:redface:

 

[Zefrik]

As you can probably tell I am getting fed up with the glosso. I cannot for the life of me get it to carpet!