[Dina-Angel]

Alright, tank has been set up now... That was exciting and exhausting, but i got it done... Unfortunately 2 of the driftwood pieces are floaters right now, destroyed my aquascape but i guess they will sink eventually, if not i gotta work on that...

Details

20 Gallon Standard
Light: (Standard Light, nothing fancy)
Substrate: (about 35 pounds of Black Diamond Blasting Sand 20/40
Filter: TopFin 75 gallon HOB with prefilter sponge to save shrimps and shrimplets

Decoration:
3 pieces of Driftwood (2 mopanis)
several River Stones
2 half Coconut Houses

Flora:
Anubias Nana
Dwarf Hairgrass
Anubias Afzeli
Java Fern attached to wood and coconut house
Christmas Moss (attached to cocnut house
Hornwort (floating atm)

and Bulbs Aponogeton, Water Onion and Water Lily

Added several root tabs and a dose of Flourish Excel as some Prime.

That's about it so far... Of course it looks horrible right now, filter is runnung and we will see when it will start to clear up.

I didnt soak the driftwood prior because i don't plan on adding Shrimps to the tank within the next month, so it has time to cycle and to get rid of tannings...

Here some pictures

If you have any suggestions, tips and so on, let me know

 

[hambone870]

Floating wood isn't fun but you can wait it out or weight it down. Congrats on your new adventure.

I'd break up your dhg into smaller plugs of two or three blades with a root section. It will help it grow and spread

 

[Dina-Angel]

No it's not fun at all... How long may it take to sink by itself? Would it help to drill some holes?

Thank you for the hint with the hair grass, i will do that tomorrow... So what you think, separate the portions i have right now into quarters?

 

[Dina-Angel]

Alright, took a few minutes and separated the hair grass... That should work now... If i make smaller pieces it doesn't stick nice in the sand

 

[Dina-Angel]

How long should I give the wood to sink by itself?

 

[somewhatshocked]

Sometimes boiling the wood will help it become water-logged. Otherwise, it could take days or weeks. One thing you could do is weight it down with a heavy rock.

A tip for Dwarf Hair Grass: If you break it up into tiny clumps - 3-4 strands per clump - and plant it in a checkerboard pattern, it will fill in more quickly.

 

[Dina-Angel]

I will think about that, kinda like the bushy look

 

[Dina-Angel]

Would it help to drill holes into the wood to help it sink? If yes how many and where? Or doesn't matter? I don't really have a chance of boiling it or getting heavy stones

 

[water-kitties]

Sinking wood is a bit of a waiting game honestly. It might have an air pocket that can be drilled but who knows where. I would just boil and try to sink it in a bucket or the tank for a bit. I tied a rock to one in my 10 gal and it still has not sunk after three months! :hihi:

 

[Saxtonhill]

That is some great looking chunky driftwood!

 

[TankYouVeryMuch]

75g hob for 20g? Overkill?

 

[Coldwater King]

My driftwood sank in about 6 days and it was willow. My other piece sank in 3 days it was birch.

 

[Coldwater King]

The funny part is some people wait months and their wood doesn't sink but it took me a week.

 

[Dina-Angel]

Well, I pulled it out the day after I set the tank up, so 4 days ago and have it in a bucket. Keys see how long its gonna take. Yesterday the tank wad much clearer, but white mold everywhere which is normal I guess? Should I just leave it alone? I changed 25% of the water, nothing else. Will upload another picture later when I'm home. And my test kit arrived yesterday so I will have some parameters too

 

[Dina-Angel]

Readings are
Ph 7.6
Ammonia 2 ppm
Nitrite 0-0.25ppm
Nitrate 0
Kh 4 drops
Gh 10 drops

 

[Dina-Angel]

Here more pictures from Day 4, 5 and 6 (day 6 is today)

 

[Dina-Angel]

Picture from day 8. I added a heater 2 days ago, because in my opinion he water was freezing when i was working inside the tank.

How long should i expect the white mold to be around? And since i have 2 more driftwood pieces i will add as soon as they sink or as soon as i get them attached to something heavy, do i have to expect more molding coming from them? Does that happen because it is a new tank? Never had that happening in my 55 gal

And if i want to get Slate Tiles for the wood, where would be a good place to buy them and do i have to soak them first or just rinse them off good enough?

 

[hambone870]

My wood snotted that white fungus for a few weeks. I threw in a few ramshorn snail and Amano shrimp and they helped the process along. Be patient, not sure if it makes a difference as my wood was manzanita.

 

[Dina-Angel]

I have Mopani...

Right now i don't think i should put anything in there to speed it up, doesn't seem safe lol... It has been up for 8 days now, so it is still brand new...

But thanks for the input how long you had been dealing with the fungus, since i had no idea at all how long it might take and if there is anything i can do to get rid of it faster without destroying the cycling process... I rinsed the wood a few days ago, now it is almost all grown back again and i just swiped over it with my hand before doing a water change today so i could get rid of some stuff...

 

[hambone870]

From my understanding it is totally safe and to just let it run its course.

Don't worry about it cause it will go away on its own.

As a side note: I wouldn't be concerned for the snails throwing em in a non cycled tank. I've had good luck with them early on in a tanks "life" and are good for helping develop bb. But, if your trying to maintain snail free, that's a totally different story.

My most recent 3 tanks have all been dirt and have waited weeks or more to added fish, typically after the soil stops leaching.