Regular Member cmclien Posted May 6, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) I finally got the guts up to plant my tank! Here is mostly my list of plants I bought from back to front:BacopaLudwigia RepensLudwigia GlandulosaRed CryptsSwordBaby TearsMicroswordsHelferi Edited May 6, 2015 by CindiL 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 6, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 6, 2015 Also, my fish: Mollies Platies Guppies Sterbai Cories A Dwarf Gourami A German Blue Ram A couple ghost shrimp and a couple nerites 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hidr Posted May 6, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 6, 2015 Very nice. Cant wait to see it when it all grows in and looks like a jungle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 6, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 6, 2015 Me too! I will probably buy a few more helferi and dwarf swords to go across the front. So regarding the other post...in your heavily planted tanks you just leave the waste to break down as fertilizer? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helper Arctic Mama Posted May 7, 2015 Helper Share Posted May 7, 2015 Looks sharp! You'll love the way it fills in a week or two from now, when the clumps relax a bit and get more naturally spread. Community tanks are so cheerful 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Looks sharp! You'll love the way it fills in a week or two from now, when the clumps relax a bit and get more naturally spread. Community tanks are so cheerful They are. My goldies broke my heart. I ended up euthanizing 3 in a year due to swim bladder issues and couldn't deal with the sadness of more of them so I switched to a community tank. I love them all but don't feel as sad when or if I lose one. I think my dwarf gourami has the most personality but I am so fond of them all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helper Arctic Mama Posted May 7, 2015 Helper Share Posted May 7, 2015 I had gouramis about ten years ago, I loved them! I hear you on losing goldfish. For some reason they hurt more than my other fish. I love the others, but I just don't grow as attached as my goldies. Losing Yoshi and Mango in February stung 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Josie Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Your tank is looking so good! I have a similar problem with cleaning in my planted tanks. My parameters are always great, but I feel like it is never clean enough LOL 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Your tank is looking so good! I have a similar problem with cleaning in my planted tanks. My parameters are always great, but I feel like it is never clean enough LOL Yeah, I have to get past that. I should ask @tithra what she does in her planted tanks for substrate cleaning. Is that how you tag someone here? I have forgotten. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LisaCGold Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Oh, whoa! It is so beautiful. It will even be more wonderful as it fills out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member goldfishgirl82 Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Sorry to hear about the loss of your goldies. Your community tank looks beautiful. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member CourtneyandThunder Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Wow that is one gorgeous tank, wish I could have a planted tank, have no clue about plants though, have to learn because it looks so pretty. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Mikey Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) Beautiful!! Where is your pH at? I know the German blue Rams, gouramis, and neons like a neutral or a little lower pH while the live bearers prefer it 7.6 or higher. Edited May 7, 2015 by Mikey 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 It looks lovely, Cindi! The glandulosa is a lovely plant by the way, one of my favourite ludwigias. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted May 7, 2015 Admin Share Posted May 7, 2015 WOW indeed your are powerful Very nice tank... Come and do mine now lol 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 It looks lovely, Cindi! The glandulosa is a lovely plant by the way, one of my favourite ludwigias. What I like about that one is I believe it will stay purple, at least so far it is. I moved my Repens closer to the light because the new growth was green. Now I am seeing some red tips which is nice 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) Beautiful!! Where is your pH at? I know the German blue Rams, gouramis, and neons like a neutral or a little lower pH while the live bearers prefer it 7.6 or higher. Ahh, well Mikey, you know ph ranges are over rated lol. Fish will adjust their blood ph level to whatever water they're in. They key is to have a stable ph, just like with goldies. My ph is 8.3, everyone seems very happy. The ram and gourami are my favorites I have to say. My cories too because they topple on top of each other. The mollies mostly because they're pigs like goldfish The gourami is crazy though and jumps when I am getting ready to feed him. He has landed on the lip of the tank three times and to the floor once! That was a week ago and somehow he was not injured. I have to remove the glass to feed him, hope he learns to calm down. Edited May 7, 2015 by CindiL 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 What I like about that one is I believe it will stay purple, at least so far it is. I moved my Repens closer to the light because the new growth was green. Now I am seeing some red tips which is nice The glandulosa can be a bit tricky. It won't stay red without enough light and usually dies off where most stems would turn green. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 What I like about that one is I believe it will stay purple, at least so far it is. I moved my Repens closer to the light because the new growth was green. Now I am seeing some red tips which is nice The glandulosa can be a bit tricky. It won't stay red without enough light and usually dies off where most stems would turn green. I have that one directly under the light so at least so far, all the new growth is purple. Its really beautiful. The 30b is shallow enough I am using three of the Marineland hidden LED lights across the front and back. Its amazing to me how well everything is doing since I finally have a 6500kelvin light and am dosing liquid carbon daily. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 4prettyfish Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) Hi Cindi, Your thread was fun to read and see your large photo's of your tank. (to see everything better. ) Your tank is gorgeous. I love your driftwood pieces. Very nice! In kind of regards to Mikey's comment about the ph....Have you checked your ph since your driftwood has been in your tank? I've heard that driftwood either can or will lower ph. ?? I didn't notice the back of your tank at first but you painted it. It looks awesome. How did you do it because didn't you have fish in the tank already? I'm curious if you just lowered the water and moved the tank to the side to get in the back. I'd do mine but I don't want to do the labor. Maybe when I have more energy. I've never heard of Helferi. Can you tell me what plant that is? When I do wc I syphon up front really good where there are no plants but I don't even worry about the back. I have too many plants to reach back there. I figure the waste is being broken down and giving my plants nutrient. I too think that some tropical fish have some personalities also. Mine all come to the front of the glass when I approach the tank. I swear, first thing in the morning when I turn on my lights and turn off the filter I believe my tropical fish know it's feeding time. They all come out to greet me. Or, is it begging? They know I'm getting their food ready for them. Sorry for all the questions I gave you. Edited May 7, 2015 by 4prettyfish 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Hi Cindi, Your thread was fun to read and see your large photo's of your tank. (to see everything better. ) Your tank is gorgeous. I love your driftwood pieces. Very nice! In kind of regards to Mikey's comment about the ph....Have you checked your ph since your driftwood has been in your tank? I've heard that driftwood either can or will lower ph. ?? I didn't notice the back of your tank at first but you painted it. It looks awesome. How did you do it because didn't you have fish in the tank already? I'm curious if you just lowered the water and moved the tank to the side to get in the back. I'd do mine but I don't want to do the labor. Maybe when I have more energy. I've never heard of Helferi. Can you tell me what plant that is? When I do wc I syphon up front really good where there are no plants but I don't even worry about the back. I have too many plants to reach back there. I figure the waste is being broken down and giving my plants nutrient. I too think that some tropical fish have some personalities also. Mine all come to the front of the glass when I approach the tank. I swear, first thing in the morning when I turn on my lights and turn off the filter I believe my tropical fish know it's feeding time. They all come out to greet me. Or, is it begging? They know I'm getting their food ready for them. Sorry for all the questions I gave you. My driftwood is fake ha ha but it does have a nice look. Everything else in the tank is real, well wait, I have a couple of betta logs in there that the cories and shrimp like to hang out in. I didn't paint my tank I bought a couple pieces of black poster board at Target which I just taped on. I think it has a nice look and you don't see the seam. Also its less black then my stand and sand, almost more of a light black. I tried the cling stuff from the petstore but it was a nightmare and looked awful. This was WAY easier. The helferi is my very front plants but they are grown emmersed so will look very different in a month. There are four clumps of them. Look how different it will look. Its a beautiful plant. http://shop.plantedaquariumscentral.com/POGOSTEMON-HELFERI-Downoi-EMERSED-GROWN-at-this-time_p_201.html Good to know about the waste you don't get to. You're the third person who has said it just becomes fertilizer so I probably won't use liquid fertilizer only root tabs for now. I am using liquid carbon though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 4prettyfish Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Your driftwood looks so real. It really is beautiful. We had an artificial piece of some kind of wood in my daughter's goldfish tank when we first started out (before we found Koko's) that we bought at either Petco or Petsmart and the darn thing started to look blotchy. I remember taking it out one time and the top layer of ?? was coming/peeling off. I didn't know if it was harming the fish or water param. so we ended up taking it out. I'm not sure if your pieces will do something like that but I'm sure you'll notice a difference in appearance if it does. I hope yours don't. Thanks for info on your plant. I read it and how neat that it only gets 2 inches and forms side shoots. I'm really interested in seeing how your plant grows into lots and lots. Please keep us/me updated on the growth. The plant is beautiful. Your background doesn't get wet and ruined from your filter? I glide my filter over to the side of the tank to get media out easier and I think I'd be afraid of ruining it or getting it all wet. You did a great job with your backing and just the overall makeover of your tank, Cindi. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cmclien Posted May 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 Your driftwood looks so real. It really is beautiful. We had an artificial piece of some kind of wood in my daughter's goldfish tank when we first started out (before we found Koko's) that we bought at either Petco or Petsmart and the darn thing started to look blotchy. I remember taking it out one time and the top layer of ?? was coming/peeling off. I didn't know if it was harming the fish or water param. so we ended up taking it out. I'm not sure if your pieces will do something like that but I'm sure you'll notice a difference in appearance if it does. I hope yours don't. Thanks for info on your plant. I read it and how neat that it only gets 2 inches and forms side shoots. I'm really interested in seeing how your plant grows into lots and lots. Please keep us/me updated on the growth. The plant is beautiful. Your background doesn't get wet and ruined from your filter? I glide my filter over to the side of the tank to get media out easier and I think I'd be afraid of ruining it or getting it all wet. You did a great job with your backing and just the overall makeover of your tank, Cindi. I've had the driftwood quite a few months and no changes. I think its a true ceramic vs that other stuff they use which kind of falls apart, I know what you're talking about. I don't think the background should have any issues and I can always buy more posterboard. The only time I take out my filters themselves or move them is once a month when I really clean them out and I try and bring them forward over the water in case they drip. Same with the media that I rinse every week. Thanks for the compliments! I can't wait to see it grow. Hey, go over and see the betta tank too My back riparium plants are arriving today I think. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 4prettyfish Posted May 7, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted May 7, 2015 You have a thread on your betta tank? I'll go find it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.