Yoder's 29 Gallon Bow Front (56k Warning)

4461 Views 15 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Yoder808, Dec 7, 2010

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · Nov 8, 2010 (Edited)

Current Setup

Equipment:
29 Gallon Bowfront
DIY CO2 With a Powerhead DIY Reactor (pressurized system on the way)
MTS Substrate with Tahitian Moon Sand cap
Dosing EI
A 24Wx2 T5HO on mounting legs (~20" from substrate)
Aquaclear 70 HOB Filter

Floura: (Subject to change after redo)
2 small Amazon Swords
A lot of Anachris
Some "Really tall grass" (grew from bulb, not sure what it is...)
Peacock Moss (on the way)
H.C. (on the way)

Fauna:
1 Blue Dwarf Gourami
[STRIKE]3[/STRIKE]2 Zebra Danios
4 Red Wag Platys
6 Neon Tetras
[STRIKE]6[/STRIKE]5 Peppered Corydora Catfish

Hello everyone, this is my first planted tank! I have kept fish-only tanks for a few years off and on, but never a planted tank. For me, it all started when I went to the store, and said "Hey, maybe I could try a LIVE plant..." If my wife only knew what that one plant started!

Anyway, here is my OLD setup...

It had regular aquarium gravel, and a fake plant background, and some fake caves with fake corals on them.

See less See more

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #2 · Nov 8, 2010

This worked for a while, but after seeing the proper way of doing a tank, I had to change it up! I have been working on mineralized top soil for a few weeks now, and I think it's ready, so that means it's redo time!

Fish and plants in their temporary home... (It's all I had!)

See less See more

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 8, 2010

Cleaned out tank with Tahitian Moon Sand border, and Dolomite and Potassium Chloride dusted, ready for MTS.

See less See more

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 8, 2010

MTS added (no pic oops!) and capped with T.M.S.

See less See more

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 8, 2010

Added rock (too much?) and ready for water...

P.S. - If anyone knows how to get rid of that stain, I'm open to ideas! I tried vinegar, lemon juice, razor blades, KaBoom Cleaner, nothing...

See less See more

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 8, 2010

Water and plants added... So far so good, although I still think my rocks are maybe too big...

See less See more

2

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #7 · Nov 8, 2010

My neons, corys, and a zebra danio...

My gourami...

See less See more

2

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 8, 2010

On the left, you can see my DIY CO2 Reactor (it's ugly, and killed a Cory

but it gets the job done). After it sucked a Cory into the impeller, I decided to put a screen on the intake.

I'm ready for my HC and Peacock Moss to arrive (should be tomorrow), and fill in some of this empty space! Should I put moss on ALL my rocks, or just my small ones? Should I get a piece of driftwood? I'm such a newb...

Thanks for looking at my tank!

See less See more

Klivian

· #9 · Nov 8, 2010

Looking good, Yoder.

Yeah your new plants should help you fill in the foreground.

I think your rocks are big enough to be the focal point of the tank by themselves without needing drift wood. If you got any, I think you'd want a tall thin piece way in the background.

Moss on the big rocks sounds better. I don't have much experience with moss, but I imagine it would cover the small ones quickly and you'd be left wondering what was under the lump of moss =)

gringostar9

· #10 · Nov 8, 2010

Looks good. I like your rock placement a lot.

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 8, 2010

Thanks, I'd like to get one of those large rocks out, maybe even break up the remaining one, and add some driftwood eventually.

JCoxRocks

· #12 · Nov 8, 2010

Looking good! Its getting there. A foregound carpet of some sort would go a long way toward breaking up the look of those big rocks. Just my 2 cents. Otherwise, its really a great start!

J

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #13 · Nov 8, 2010

JCoxRocks said:
Looking good! Its getting there. A foregound carpet of some sort would go a long way toward breaking up the look of those big rocks. Just my 2 cents. Otherwise, its really a great start!

J

Thanks! I'm ready for my HC to get here and fill in that space.

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #14 · Nov 9, 2010

My Peacock moss came today (from Herns)! Tied it down with a loofah my wife was kind enough to sacrifice.

Is it tied too tight? Do I need to adjust it periodically?

My Gourami again

See less See more

4

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #15 · Dec 6, 2010

Ok, time for an overdue update...

I added a few more neon tetras, and an LFS near me had a bristlenose pleco, so I grabbed him up. I also added two new plants (feel free to ID them

) Everything seems to be growing in well. The Cory's tear up the HC, but it's growing slightly faster than they can wreck it, so I think I should be good there. I am considering removing the anacharis, it grows SO fast.

Also, I posted a video on Youtube.

See less See more

3

Yoder808

Discussion Starter · #16 · Dec 7, 2010

I'm currently redoing my CO2 reactor, or trying to rethink a new method for CO2 injection. My powerhead needs very frequent cleaning, or the performance quickly deteriorates.I've seen people run the CO2 into the priming hole of the Aquaclear filter, I might try that.

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.