Dear Folks,
I thought you might all like to see the "redo" of my 50 gal tank. After 15 years I decided to try something different! Its like moving furniture around.
Pictures were taken during setup, at 2 days, and then two views at 4 weeks. You'll see a front sandy, unplanted area surrounded by quartz rocks I found out in the yard. Its an "aquascaping thingy".
For substrate I used 5 gal of Home Depot's "Top Soil" ($1.29/40 lb bag) into which I mixed 2/3 cup of Vigoro Bone Meal (1-11-0) [the phosphates in the bone meal should stimulate root growth]. After adding the plants (see pic), I spooned in enough sand to just cover the soil and keep the turbidity down. Still, I had to change the water twice before it was acceptably clear.
The Ludwigia died out and started decomposing, so I had to remove it. However, the other plants are doing fine, especially the two swordplants and the C. cordata. The substrate has bubbled quite a bit, and the MTS have been happily digging, so the sand and soil layer have sort of mixed together now.
I haven't measured any nitrites or ammonia and the baby Rainbowfish I added last week are doing fine.
Tank get 60 watts of fluorescent light (one cool-white and one "Flora Glo" bulb) plus strong window light (Western exposure with 1-2 hr late afternoon sun). Lights go on at 7:30 AM and then off at noon for a 4 hr "siesta". Lights go back on at 4:00 PM until 9:30PM. With the siesta, I save electricity, and the water doesn't heat up as much. [Siesta was a great idea, thanks to our own CS-Gardener!]
Plant species are:
Anubias barteri var. nana
Bacopa monnieri
Cryptocoryne balansae
Cryptocoryne cordata var blasii
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Echinodorus "Ozelot" green?
Echinodorus bleheri
Echinodorus radicans (dwarf, spotted)
Echinodorus major
Echinodorus tenellus
Ludwigia arcuata
Rotalia macrandra
Sagittaria subulata
Vesicularia dubyana
I thought you might all like to see the "redo" of my 50 gal tank. After 15 years I decided to try something different! Its like moving furniture around.
Pictures were taken during setup, at 2 days, and then two views at 4 weeks. You'll see a front sandy, unplanted area surrounded by quartz rocks I found out in the yard. Its an "aquascaping thingy".
For substrate I used 5 gal of Home Depot's "Top Soil" ($1.29/40 lb bag) into which I mixed 2/3 cup of Vigoro Bone Meal (1-11-0) [the phosphates in the bone meal should stimulate root growth]. After adding the plants (see pic), I spooned in enough sand to just cover the soil and keep the turbidity down. Still, I had to change the water twice before it was acceptably clear.
The Ludwigia died out and started decomposing, so I had to remove it. However, the other plants are doing fine, especially the two swordplants and the C. cordata. The substrate has bubbled quite a bit, and the MTS have been happily digging, so the sand and soil layer have sort of mixed together now.
I haven't measured any nitrites or ammonia and the baby Rainbowfish I added last week are doing fine.
Tank get 60 watts of fluorescent light (one cool-white and one "Flora Glo" bulb) plus strong window light (Western exposure with 1-2 hr late afternoon sun). Lights go on at 7:30 AM and then off at noon for a 4 hr "siesta". Lights go back on at 4:00 PM until 9:30PM. With the siesta, I save electricity, and the water doesn't heat up as much. [Siesta was a great idea, thanks to our own CS-Gardener!]
Plant species are:
Anubias barteri var. nana
Bacopa monnieri
Cryptocoryne balansae
Cryptocoryne cordata var blasii
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Echinodorus "Ozelot" green?
Echinodorus bleheri
Echinodorus radicans (dwarf, spotted)
Echinodorus major
Echinodorus tenellus
Ludwigia arcuata
Rotalia macrandra
Sagittaria subulata
Vesicularia dubyana
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