gypsyhoops

I've recently become more motivated to delve into this hobby and have been doing a lot of perusing on these forums, and others, trying to accumulate a good foundation before setting up this new tank and I think it's time to get started.

Tank: 20g ( roughly 24 L x 16 H x 13 W)
Filter: Marineland Emperor 280 Power Filter
Heater: Marineland 100w Stealth
CO2: CO2 Natural Plant System
Substrate: Flourite
Lighting: 24" Nova Extreme T5HO 2x 24w(in the mail)

Since everyone likes pictures, tank sans substrate:


For plants I intend to go with a simple plant pack from Drs. Foster and Smith's Live Aquaria website which includes:

Micro Sword or Dwarf Hairgrass
Anubias Nana or Anubias Barteri Round Leaf
ChainSword - Narrow Leaf
Java Fern
Red or Green Cryptocoryne
Water Sprite
Ludwigia - Broad
Anacharis
Cabomba
Amazon Sword Plant

I just got the equipment in today and wanted to put his question out there, while I'm waiting for the plants to arrive would there be anything wrong with setting up substrate and getting some water in there? Mostly because i want to get everything going and put boxes that all the items came in put away or thrown out.

Also, if anyone knows a good place to get some manzanita dw I'd greatly appreciate it. I had PM'd Fishandturtlejunkie but so far no response. I'm trying to find something resembling his photos 1 and 2 in post #454 in this thread that would fit my tank (kind of planning a left-to-right looking setup.

Tex Gal

Manzanita.com has great DW at good prices. They ship quickly.

How long before your plants arrive? Is it just 2 or 3 days? If you've already ordered them then I'd go ahead and fill. Do you have any mulm from another tank to use? If you did that would give you a big jump ahead.

gypsyhoops

thanks for the tip on the manzanita! and i plan to put the plant order in today and i'll probably overnight it.

Bunnie1978

Yeah, get it filled up! The flourite rinsing is a project!

gypsyhoops

So it's filled and you were right, rinsing the flourite was quite a project and it still took overnight to clear up. The filter was also pretty loud at first but after some tinkering I got it to settle down to a tolerable hum. My plants should arrive today so I'll put up some pictures of the tank empty and planted together, but even that one remain the same for long as my dw should be here Friday or Monday . I have to say I'm getting pretty excited!

Bunnie1978

Can't wait to see how you put it together!

gypsyhoops

well i left the nana and the java fern floating until my dw gets here, but the tank is pretty cloudy at the moment (i guess i didnt do as good a job of rinsing as i thought). i added some seachem clarify so i'll take pictures after i get home from work and trivia. but i must say those stem plants were much more of a nuisance than i anticipated, especially the ludwigia. i just had the hardest time keeping it in the substrate! so if anyone has some planting techniques/tips or links to threads about them i'd really appreciate it for when i rescape with the dw.

Tex Gal

Leave some leaves on the bottom of the stems. The leaves will act as a baffle to help hold the stem in place. Use tweezers!

Bunnie1978

Don't worry about the cloudiness. Your filter will take care of it in a day or so even without clarifier. You can expect your water to get a little cloudy every time you disturb the gravel. Mine still does and it's is over a year old.

gypsyhoops

here's how the tank looks until the dw comes:



thanks for the planting tips too, i wish the ludwigia had any leaves left when i opened it there's just very few at the tops of them right now, but other than that i'm pretty happy with how it turned out so far.

i'm planning for the dw to go on the left side so i didnt bother putting anything there, also my camera work is awful they always come out blurry :<