# 58 gallon first real planted tank journal



## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

This journal has been started a little late, but due to the tank dying while on vacation I am replanting it and upgrading some equipment. I have a 192 watt light system, but virtually no soil nutrients other than some laterite clay, and no co2 other than a small tube letting out over the out put of the filter from a DIY setup. I do small dosing (3 drops every other day) of a fertilizer called Flora 24. I will try to post pictures of what the tank looks like now after a couple months of cycling. In the tank now is about 9 Green Cory Cats, 10 Amano shrimp, and 15 cardinal tetras. The plants already in the tank are an Amazon sword, some small Java ferns, wisteria, creeping mint (MC), green crypts and red crypts (pretty sure these are wenditi), Rotala Indica, compact sword. I am slowly getting all the parts for a pressurised co2 system. I just won a bag of fertilizer (Greg Watson) from a raffle at a local club of aquarium enthusiasts (NASH) and strongly considering switching to it instead of flora 24. I will try to post pictures tomorrow if I can figure out how to host them online. Any advice along the way would be greatly appreciated. I can submit any other details too.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

*new pics*

I figured out how to upload pics I think









Is the drift wood too big? To me its a little overpowering.










close up with cardinals









current co2

Note: the wall behing the tank is a blue green color and these are 2 week old photos, I'll try to update.


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## Tankman (Feb 19, 2006)

I like your crypts very much but I do feel that the Amazon Sword(s?) will soon outgrow the tank... Btw, hv you tried filling in the foreground with some glosso or hairgrass? I think it'll add a really nice touch to the scape 

Just my 2-cent worth, that's all  Looking forward to the update


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Good start! I don't think the driftwood is really too big. Once the plants get growing a lot of it will be hidden and that will soften the effect. I like the mix of leaf color and shape. It will be nice to see how it fills in.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

*Update*










moved some stuff



















moved the creeping mint


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Ok i took all the fish and shrimp out, removed all the gravel, plants, and driftwood, and added powesand special and Aqua Soil Amazonia. The fish were not easy to catch, especially the cory cats. I was almost finished removing the gravel when I saw a cory cat still in the tank. What they would do is find a depression in the gravel, and remain motionless. This made things really hard because while taking the plants out the tank got really cloudy. When I pulled the shrimp out with a net they would start walking on it and jump back into the water. They also hid in some of the holes in the drift wood. So when I took the driftwood out I placed it in water, and two that were in it, jumped into the water and were saved. In the course of catching the fish and shrimp I never lost one, they are all in my dads tank, he now has a school of 25-30 cardinals, 18 cory cats (Not very shy at all in large groups) and a ton of amano shrimp. I put the plants on a towel with newspaper and placed another towel over them. I than put the whole thing in my bathtub. Every so often I would turn the faucet on and wet them a little.










I couldnt get any good photos because I had no light while adding the driftwood and plants.









Finished putting plants back in. A very crude job of planting, lots of roots exposed, I need some tweesers.


















A side view of the layering
















Everything is very cloudy.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Setup the co2 system. For now im just using a diffuser and silicone tubing. I'm almost finished building a reactor and am wating for it to dry. I tried using the macro function, but the photos are red. Better detail I think, but I need to find a way to make it less red.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

I have the co2 working reasonably well and I got new fish. 15 Harlequin Rasboras (I think I got the gold variety) and 10 Otos (9 right now because one went belly up,but still alive, because I think the Ph was too low, its now in another tank). The co2 really made a difference in some plants in just a day or so. The rotala and wisteria grew about half an inch in one day. I havent noticed an algae spike yet.

Overall








Some growth








Rasbora








School exploring the tank


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Its been a week or two now. I added a double flourescent I found in my attic that I had used a couple of years ago. Which now gives me almost 4.5 watts per gallon. I think it was around 4.38 or something.

The tank









Ludwigia Repens "Ruben"









I really like this part of the tank

















Not sure wat this plant is but I got it free at a lfs








The harlequins








co2 reactor







Lighting


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## tripico (Jan 22, 2007)

do you run a DIY CO2 to the Reactor or is it pressurized?


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Sweet a comment! Its pressurised. I had DIY for a while but this is much much better.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

I've been looking at your thread for a while now and haven't posted (sorry!), but I have to say how much I like it! Big fan of swords and really like your choice of wood too!

I'd try to get the stem plants at the back into a bit more solid clumps by planting them a bit closer when you prune. Make a better contrast to the ohter areas of the tank. Know what I mean?


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

*Glad people are commenting*

I used a timer, tripod, and think I got the camera decently setup when I took these photos. There should be more contrast when the wisteria grows taller(its in the back). Right now there are 4 swords and the regular amazons have grown into giants. I think I'm going to take out 2 of them just to give 1 more breathing room and give more light to the HC carpet I planted. I trimmed yesterday so the rotala is a bit short (I had about 10-20 strands very close to the surface.

Full tank








Different angle


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

i get that sword thank you or ill fight you for it :boxing:


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## Tiapan (Jun 14, 2006)

nice lookin tank very cool scape.


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## fredyk (Jun 21, 2004)

Very nice. you must like the swords. look like you figured how to do the color balance. In no time at all, you've got a jungle.


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

i really like the "wild" looking aquascapes. i liked your progress. great job.


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

I gotta admit...I wowed when I saw what happened to your tank in those last pictures. Stunning. Congrats!


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Wow lots of comments, thank you.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

The difference from when you first planted is striking. The driftwood works well with your large swords and crypts. It's a good foil for the bright boldness of their leaves.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

*Update*

I took out one of the amazon swords because it was choking the light to my HC. I plan to take out the other and just let one grow into the space. I might consider taking out the amazon compactica in the front left corner and make that space all HM that slops up to the ludwigia and slopes to the right to the HC. Right now I have way too many different species of plant in the tank and am just getting a feel for what works and grows well. The tank needs some more trimming and cleaning. I have a slight problem with what I think is bba. Its fuzzy. I really dont have anything that will eat it so I might get some amanos to eat it. I was thinking of trying SAEs again but I heard that once they get old they stop eating algae and just eat the food that the other fish eat.

Overall-kind of dark. About 10-11 different plants in this picture beleive it or not. Points to you if you can name 10 of them.








This plant (moneywort) came out of my dads tank. It algae on the leaves. I put it in and left for a minute and came back to find a couple otos munching on the algae.








HC growth. You can kind of see where the leaves of the sword blocked out the light from the CF. 








Good and bad HC growth
















Left side of the tank and something coming out of the sword. When I bought it it had one of these and thats how I got 3 for one. I guess this is how it reproduces. So soon I should have more swords.
















Oto









I intentionally cut the ludwigia lower so that I could get thicker growth lower down. Now I'm going to have multiple stems.








Bubbling


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Right now I'm confused whether I have Ludwigia repens "Rubin" or just normal repens. I miss my swords but am glad they are not choking the HC I think I'm going to try to get some more swords, but of a species that does not over grow my tank by like 4 inches. My harlequins are very scared now. I think I need to do more water changes (I added a little more AS) and do a parasite treatment because I took 3 cory cats from my dads tank and he had a parasite problem with some of his fish and I think it transferred tanks somehow. I got some ghost shrimp my freind found in a local lake. The are really small. I want to go to that lake and get about 100 more of them. The amazon's runner thing has put out 4 places at which leaves are sprouting. I need to get algae under control and order the other ferts I need from greg watson while they are on sale in the near future.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

*56k stay away*

The tank really needs a trim and I'm thinking of moving some stuff around. The left side really needs work. It has the carpet to wall look going on and I have like 5 different stem plants in that corner that Im thinking of using. I need to get some excel and some other ferts other than just plantex. I hope the pygmy sunfish survive. They have a tendancy to lounge around on the HC and sword leaf plants.

Overall









Pygmy sunfish
















Killifish
















Ghost shrimp 
















HC








HM








Ruben


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Can you tell which photos I used a tripod and a timer for?


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

Is the tank this dark in person? Now your scape looks like a jungle, which lacks a midground. Well it really depends on whether you like it this way. However, you've got your way with plants, they are growing very well. the HC is a joy to look at when it grows well :-D


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

No I do not like it this way. I need a midground now. Im thinking of moving hte HM to the right side and putting something in its place. The tank is kind of dark because of the camera and the frogbit and plants cutting out light. It really needs a trim which I should do tonight if I have time.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

*need input*

This weekend I plan on doing a major trim/ aquascaping. I was thinking of putting the HM next to the HC but thought the leaf shapes were to similair. Instead I plan moving almost everything out of the back right corner and putting the Ruben (which is getting starved out of space) there. In front of it I was thinking of using dwarf hairgrass or of keeping the crypts. I also plan on doing a mowing of the HM in the left corner and taking out the Amazon compactica. I also need to cut the flowering stem thing off the mother amazon because it is creating to many new plants. It has about 5 baby amazons on it.

I used MS paint to draw out the basic idea. I want to give each stem plant a wide area to grow so it dosnt look like there starving for light.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

I love your journal. It is fun to live vicariously through someone else who has a big tank. 

Keep up the good work.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)




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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

That last photo is somewhat old. One of my timers went out over spring break and I didnt notice it so I had no co2 for a week which browned the HC. Since then the cories and the crayfish have uprooted about half of the HC and I am missing a good third of it now. Im atm trying to catch the last cory and put him in another tank. I made a trap out of a 2 liter soda bottle by cutting the top off andswitching its directions. I also put an algae wafer inside as bait.








This is my new plan for the tank. I plan to put micro sword where the amazon compactica and HM is right now. The sword didnt do much for me and the HM's leaf shape was too similair to the HC. I have since cleaned up the jungle of the left so now it only has about 4-5 different plants in it. But I plan to simplify it by taking out the crypts (and using them in my new shrimp tanks!!!) and replacing them with dwarf sagitaria or micro sword. Im thinking of totally taking out the Indica partly because I want more balancing color in the left and partly because I dont like the leaf shape. Im going to replace it with either rotala walacii or ludwigia arcuta. At a NASH meeting I got some type of sword that is currently in my right midground. I also am thinking about swaping the giant amazon sword in the center for something more manageable because it is currently HUGE and blocking out a lot of light.

Plansfor next week:
Buy ferts
remove crayfish
swap hm/sword for microsword
Look into AH supply for foreground lighting
find a source of live brine shrimp for pygmy sunfish


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

I guess the tank looks quite a bit different now without that big sword huh? Your tank has definitely evolved quite a bit over the past few months! If you're still looking for brine shrimp, most of the aquarium stores around here carry them. Just buy a bag full, and keep them in a big cup with an airstone going. They'll last a few weeks that way.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

The HC is pretty much decimated. The co2 went out for a week and I didnt notice it and the crayfish uprooted most of it. Hopefully I can have better luck with timers. Ive gone through 3 timers now.

Overall-The crayfish is in the net for now.








Whats left of the HC
























Rotala Indica








Random shot








Dont mind the glare


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Last post was with a couple week old photos. I really need to change the reactor, its not mixing co2 well enough and im worried it will push the piping off of the barb and than the floor will get soaked. I gave away the sword because it was dominating the tank and cutting out all the light. It was also getting brown at the top. I replaced the area with HM. I finally got the tank fully automated which means I dont have to keep turning the co2 and lights on and off manually. 
Overall








Rotala Indica 








I got some ludwigia arcuta from a NASH meeting, but I also got some clippings of another plant in the bag. The clippings are too small to plant where I would eventually put them, so for now I am growing them in the front. I got a small packet of HC too which should do well now that the system is automated and the scavengers removed.

























I kind of want to replace the compact amazon on the left with a form of anubias because the sword dosnt really block the leafless stems of the Rotala


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

*re-doing*

Since everything died while on vacation I have to start over again. This would be the second time I have had a major die-off while on vacation and it is kind of disheartening. Whenever I leave now I am scared what will happen to my tank. But I have taken a couple things out and added a few things. I want to stock the tank with a couple otos, a pleco, and a large school of rasboras. I have learned so much through this tank, I hope this time I can make something spectacular. This is the start. Pictures were taken a day after replanting and another cleaning. I still have to take out a lot of silt that has collected ontop of the AS.

The giant sword in the center is supposed to be amazon compactica, but I dont think it is, wondering what would go well there if I was to take it out, it really takes all the attention away from the rest of the tank. 








Microsword narrow leaf








Ruben, crypts, and unidentified plant on the very left








Ruben


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)




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