# My Planted Tank!



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

This was discussed a bit in the Wish List thread but didn't want to hijack so I made a thread.

29 Gallon (30"x12"x19")
Coralife Aqualight Dual T5 (Great lights for a great price)
30.8 pounds of Flourite Dark
3 spoons of ADA Bacter 100
Some white play sand
Marineland Visitherm 100
Aquaclear 50
Eheim 2211 with Lily Pipe outflow

Plants:
Java Moss
Marimo Moss Balls

Hoping to add:
CO2 system
Dwarf Baby Tears
Dwarf Hairgrass

Pictures!

The light


















Play sand in









Bacter 100 in









Lily pipe (for cichlid_gal)









Flourite in


















Very cloudy









Driftwood and java moss in









Marimo and more driftwood, less cloudy


----------



## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

metricliman said:


> This was discussed a bit in the Wish List thread but didn't want to hijack so I made a thread.
> 
> 29 Gallon (30"x12"x19")
> Coralife Aqualight Dual T5 (Great lights for a great price)
> ...


So cool..what bulbs do you have that dual T5? Love the lily pipe...I read they need periodic cleaning but what doesn't. And you last pic...looking good. Did the driftwood come with the moss?


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

cichlid-gal said:


> So cool..what bulbs do you have that dual T5? Love the lily pipe...I read they need periodic cleaning but what doesn't. And you last pic...looking good. Did the driftwood come with the moss?


I think I have 1 colormax bulb and 1 6700 K bulb... just the stock ones. The driftwood did not come with the moss, I tied it on with some thread.


----------



## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

Whats the play sand for and whats a lily pipe


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

I just had the play sand in there already so I just put it under the flourite, and a lily pipe is a glass outflow.


----------



## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Nice job so far...keep us up to date as things are added and grow out...I'm interested to see how things go and work


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

It's clearing up a bit now. I also tore apart two marimo balls and stuck them on the smaller pieces of driftwood. Today I also picked up a GIANT marimo ball (at least 4" in diameter) for 8.99!


----------



## ngrubich (Jun 3, 2012)

looks good so far. What do you plan on stocking it with? Do you have any ideas for a layout? I think that putting the dwarf baby tears in the front middle (the inlet created by the driftwood) with some of the DHG on the front left and maybe some stem plants to fill in the back and right side would look pretty cool.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

ngrubich said:



> looks good so far. What do you plan on stocking it with? Do you have any ideas for a layout? I think that putting the dwarf baby tears in the front middle (the inlet created by the driftwood) with some of the DHG on the front left and maybe some stem plants to fill in the back and right side would look pretty cool.


That is exactly what I was planning on doing! I'll probably be stocking a large school of either harlequin rasboras or some pretty tetras.


----------



## ngrubich (Jun 3, 2012)

metricliman said:


> ngrubich said:
> 
> 
> > looks good so far. What do you plan on stocking it with? Do you have any ideas for a layout? I think that putting the dwarf baby tears in the front middle (the inlet created by the driftwood) with some of the DHG on the front left and maybe some stem plants to fill in the back and right side would look pretty cool.
> ...


Nice! I used to have rasboras in my last planted tank, but swapped them out for tetras: they got pretty skiddish when I got anywhere near that tank ... plus IME tetras tend to school tighter but the rasboras have nicer colors. I've got some bloodfin tetras in my discus tank and they form a nice, compact school, but that could be due to the discus keeping them in check lol.


----------



## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

I like it, the drift wood looks great on the left side of the tank, but the right side could use a smaller piece that fills up some of the open space there. Are you putting any background in? I saw one on ebay with dark brown rock and a tree root imbedded into it but they seem to all be 46 inches


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

I think I'm getting ahead of myself here- still haven't gotten the CO2 set up. I'll burn that bridge when I get there.

No background, I'm hoping the plants will fill in that left space, but I'm trying to imitate an Amano-style tank, something like this:










(Not the wood and plants and stuff, but the way it slopes down.)


----------



## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

These tanks are just beautiful - is it possible to keep dwarf cichlids in a tank like that - well maybe one with more clear sand, but with the mosses and background plants?

So far my labs ignore the plants. The Rustys have a tendency to nibble on some but not badly.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Yael said:


> These tanks are just beautiful - is it possible to keep dwarf cichlids in a tank like that - well maybe one with more clear sand, but with the mosses and background plants?
> 
> So far my labs ignore the plants. The Rustys have a tendency to nibble on some but not badly.


You could do rams. Or Apistos. But I would doubt Mbuna.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

The regulator came today. Nothing else to report.


----------



## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Well after the arrival of my online plant order today and some back breaking work (it's hard planting plants without partially emptying a tank), here's my 30 gal. We'll see what it looks like in a month and what survives. There are 8 fish in that tank and two large snails. 5 labs, a pair of Rustys (looking to add two females) and a cat.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Looks good!


----------



## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

You might be interested to know that the baby tears were bought as a plantable matt - it's got some sort of growth matrix fiber and a piece of screen that weights it. I cut my piece into two sections (you can see one to the left and one that is behind the driftwood. The other 3 sections on the right was a potted version that also came in a matrix which I divided. A bunch of little offshoots came off as I was planting it and they are now floating in the tank. I might try scooping them out and put them in a shallow container with some sort of fiber and see if they'll root although they seem happy enough to just float around.

So far the only damage by the fish is some tearing at the small broad leaf swords.

I'm happy with this online vendor except for one thing - some of the plants did not come with labels so it was/is a pita to match them up with what I ordered.


----------



## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

How is the planted tank doing? I was wondering about the moss ball after being torn apart...is it taking to your wood ok and attaching? Update pics update pics


----------



## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

I didn't buy a moss ball - maybe what you mean is the baby tears? They are hanging in there but not looking wonderful. Everything else is growing pretty well. I did get some java moss for my brackish water tank. It's being weird. The original was a matt that looked nice and compact but it's growing out very filmy and fluffy.

Oops, just realized that you were talking to the OP - sorry


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

cichlid-gal said:


> How is the planted tank doing? I was wondering about the moss ball after being torn apart...is it taking to your wood ok and attaching? Update pics update pics


Doing just fine. I think the tannins are almost done leaching. The moss ball is fine, I don't know if it's attached since I tied it on with thread. I'm really hoping to get the CO2 tank this weekend, but I might wait until the tannins have all leached.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Updates: got 6 otos and added some more plants! Really digging it.


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Enjoyed reading through the thread. Nice setup.


----------



## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

whys the water so cloudy???


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

raydawg said:


> whys the water so cloudy???


It's just the tannins under the light.


----------



## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Have any plans for the foreground or background?


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> Have any plans for the foreground or background?


Yes, I'm planning on putting dwarf baby tears in the foreground.


----------



## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Mine (baby tears) are hanging in there but not thriving. I'm not sure they tolerate hard water very well.


----------



## sagarbhadury (Nov 23, 2011)

how is this possible without a CO2 setup.... the plant setups look amazing


----------



## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

sagarbhadury said:


> how is this possible without a CO2 setup.... the plant setups look amazing


Fairly easy, but i think he bought his co2 setup already. Tons of "low tech" setups not needing co2 out there :wink:


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> sagarbhadury said:
> 
> 
> > how is this possible without a CO2 setup.... the plant setups look amazing
> ...


Not yet... surprisingly hard to find places that sell CO2 in NYC and most of them are closed on weekends. Thanks for the compliments!

A little update: I think the plants have grown maybe 1/2" since I bought them... really happy with the growth.


----------



## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

have you tried welding suppliers? They seem to be the cheapest on refills too.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> have you tried welding suppliers? They seem to be the cheapest on refills too.


I know of a few places, and some are welding suppliers, it's just that I pretty much only have time on weekends and most are closed on weekends.


----------



## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Considering a moss wall at all? I think it would look really good with your tank. Maybe like willow moss.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> Considering a moss wall at all? I think it would look really good with your tank. Maybe like willow moss.


No, I'm planning on getting some anubias to add to the left and I think that that should fill in nicely.


----------



## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Update: I'm seeing some amazing growth from the plants. At least 2 inches since last Sunday!

Last Week:


















This week:


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

:thumb:


----------

