Well it's late here but I wanted to thank members of APC for the wealth of info that has inspired me to start my own own planted tank (already have a small 37L tropical freshwater tank but that had plastic plants for the past 2yrs - now converted to NPT).
Anyhow, tonight I set up my new el naturel 130L tank and followed Diana Walstad's advice to beginners regarding planting a lot of cheap species (only a few available locally anyhow) and see what happens- so no aquascaping as yet- it all looks a mess at the moment.
Looking forward to learning from my mistakes, forum's advice and Diana's book - although I embarrassed to admit I'm going to have to reread it a lot to understand what's going on because the first attempt went whoosh straight over my head
but thats what I love about it - the writing style makes me want to learn.
I know I've already made mistakes (whilst waiting for the book from the states I succumbed to LFS advice and bought JBL proflora substrate and lost the receipt- so no refunds- therefore my bigger tank has three layers jbl, topsoil, peagravel plus a semi-floating bogwood - I soaked it for 3 weeks honest! but I'm not stressed in fact I've had a relaxing, enjoyable night despite the nagging feeling there's a shed load of problems coming my way soon!;-)
Best thing? We live in a unit and I finally have a garden to call my own - I may not be able to sit in it and read a book in the sunshine but there's less backbreaking work to do like lawn mowing and digging! Would love to have a garden as well to be honest.
If you've reached this far thank you. Sorry for the long post but the welcoming email I received send provide some details!
Time for sleep
Anyhow, tonight I set up my new el naturel 130L tank and followed Diana Walstad's advice to beginners regarding planting a lot of cheap species (only a few available locally anyhow) and see what happens- so no aquascaping as yet- it all looks a mess at the moment.
Looking forward to learning from my mistakes, forum's advice and Diana's book - although I embarrassed to admit I'm going to have to reread it a lot to understand what's going on because the first attempt went whoosh straight over my head
but thats what I love about it - the writing style makes me want to learn.I know I've already made mistakes (whilst waiting for the book from the states I succumbed to LFS advice and bought JBL proflora substrate and lost the receipt- so no refunds- therefore my bigger tank has three layers jbl, topsoil, peagravel plus a semi-floating bogwood - I soaked it for 3 weeks honest!
but I'm not stressed in fact I've had a relaxing, enjoyable night despite the nagging feeling there's a shed load of problems coming my way soon!;-)Best thing? We live in a unit and I finally have a garden to call my own - I may not be able to sit in it and read a book in the sunshine but there's less backbreaking work to do like lawn mowing and digging! Would love to have a garden as well to be honest.
If you've reached this far thank you. Sorry for the long post but the welcoming email I received send provide some details!
Time for sleep
