# newbie Philippines



## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Dear Everyone,

Mabuhay!

I hope that everyone is in A-1 condition as well as their planted aquariums. I've read almost everyday, ok i wont go to sleep unless i've read articles about planted aquariums eventhough i still have work the next day , this is one addiction i will never try to rehab. Ooop! before i forget i live in the Philippines. :mrgreen:

Actually, i am planning to set up by late December a 75 gallon planted aquarium. And little by little i am collecting/accumulating the materials/gadgets i will be using for this major project of mine. And since i am quite an avid fun of organic veggies, organic shampoos and feeding my plants organic-based fertilizers i opted for a more realistic, practical and natural type of planted aquariums. :bathbaby:

As a preamble to the 75 gallon, i tried my hand on my very old 25 gallon aquarium. And at the same time, i am putting all that i've read over the internet and the books which i read from bookstores :-D :-D about planted aquariums. (yes, i'll buy a book one of these days) Since, this kind of planted aquarium hobby is not popular here i have limited resources that will give me that things that i need for this hobby not to mention my limited budget  . I am giving more emphasis on the soil substrate which i usually put in my land-based plants, that i will be using in my aquarium. I purchased this sterilized soil called PLANTASTIC www.greenhearts.com in the supermarket, this is the best i could find since soils made for aquariums are not available here.

Anyway, here's a pic of my 25 gallon tank which i just set up last September 18, 2007. The composition of the substrate are 3/4's plantastic (bottom), 1/2" very fine sand (middle), 1" beach sand (top). And as for plants i have swords, java moss, azola, the others i dont know their names but i bought this plants at my LFS. Source of my water is from a deep-well. As you can see, i put it outside my house where it is positioned to receive full-sun from around 9am-3pm. i just dont have the luxury to buy the lights and additional electrical expense as of the moment. I don't even have a filter or an air pump, i dont know if i could squeezed in a home-made CO2. i've searched the whole place and im looking for seachem liquified CO2 but i guess its unheard of on these part of the globe.

Yes, based on my readings, i am positioning myself to accept the challenges along the way like algae outbreak, tank overheating?, nutrient problems?, plants dying, God-forbid oxygen deficiency and what have you. As of now, i only have tetraPride as iron fertilizer for the tank. i am keeping my fingers crossed that somehow everything fall into places as i geared toward building a 75 gallon planted aquarium. If this one works then i have no reason to give up. And i will accept with an open heart, mind, body and soul all your suggestions/critiquing/advises about my set-up but please be gentle  As for starters the aquascaping is terrible but i know i'll improve later. I'll be recording everyday advancements on these peculiar aquarium set up and posting it here.

wish me luck.

Godbless everyone.


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

:boxing: is azola a good thing to a planted aquarium? i have it as a floater in my aquarium

thanks for any response


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

hi there everyone,

this is just an update on my newly set up 25 gallon planted aquarium. Some of the plants are showing signs of life unfortunately i dont know their names but most of these plants were purchased from a reputable LFS called BIO-RESEARCH here in our country. Again, i am trying to experiment if i could do it without shelling a lot of dough because i don't have lots of it. Also, i am trying to see if the soil-less potting mix where i put in my land-based plants would work in planted aquariums. Most of these plants were purchased at a very reasonable price. I just setup this aquarium last September 18 and the aquarium i used is around 7 years old.

hardware:
3/4" soil-less potting mix
1/2" fine sand
1" beach sand
and a little bit of the usual aquarium pebbles
filters - none
lights- the ever faithful SUNSHINE

software
ferts-Tetra plant flora pride
food-dried bloodworms (i just feed 1x a day)

fishes
angel fish - 1
swordtails - 3
zebra danios - 4
fighting fish - 1
glass fish - 1
SAE - soon (3)
corydora - soon (2)

plants (i guess)
java moss
penny worth
jave fern
azola (floater) "actually i have another floater i just cant seem to remember the name

Just this morning i changed around 30% of the water and scrape some of the BGA starting to build up on the sides of the aquarium glass and im starting to notice some kind of brown algae on plants. One of the most fascinating to look especially when the sun is shining on my aquarium the plants seems to be pretty much pearling a lot especially the java moss, its so cute . I've also noticed that the fishes are mostly at the bottom of the tank so maybe that suggests i dont have a problem yet with oxygen?

take care now you all and Godbless


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi,

Your 25 gallon tank looks pretty healthy. I would be a little concerned about the "PLANTASTIC" substrate. I suspect that it contains a lot of organics and maybe some fertilizers and, if so, you might have an algae problem later.

You don't need a special aquarium substrate. The cheapest topsoil covered with fine gravel would be fine.

Direct sunlight is stronger than just about all aquarium lights. That means that you will have to control it in some way or experience an algae outbreak.
Floating plants is one way.

I suggest that you do not add any chemicals or nutrients to that aquarium unless it really needs it, and then I'd double check.

Good luck, and please keep posting as things develop.

Bill


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## Endler Guy (Aug 19, 2007)

Kamusta na?

Good luck on your tank! How is your 25 gallon tank doing in full sun? I agree with Bill about the floating plants. You could have a carpet of duckweed in there and still get enough light.


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine.

@aquabillpers
thank you so much remark  and for the added information. hey, can i take a peek of your tank?

@endler guy
mabuti naman po at saka ikaw din po  do you have any pics of your tanks?

With regards to floating plants, one fellow aquarium afficionado :bathbaby: gave me some valuable information about AZOLA because this is the one i use to extract extra nutrients from my aquarium but according to the information that it has a symbiotic relationship with BGA, so i am afraid that it might encourage the growth of BGA in my aquarium. What do you think folks?

then i went yesterday to my LFS called BIO-RESEARCH and purchased this following plants, i am not confident by what the attendant has told me about the name of the plants but maybe you guys are familiar on these
























tonight i bought an aerator and an airstone and i will only turn it on in the evening because i guess whenever i will check the fishes in the morning they're always near the water surface i just don't know if they're having problem with O2 and i've read somewhere that some water plants have the tendency to reverse the process of instead of taking in CO2 they take in O2 during night time. so whats your thought on these? 

hoping to hear from you all Godbless


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi,



> @aquabillpers
> thank you so much remark  and for the added information. hey, can i take a peek of your tank?


Thanks for the compliment. One of these I am going to post a picture.



> With regards to floating plants, one fellow aquarium afficionado :bathbaby: gave me some valuable information about AZOLA because this is the one i use to extract extra nutrients from my aquarium but according to the information that it has a symbiotic relationship with BGA, so i am afraid that it might encourage the growth of BGA in my aquarium. What do you think folks?


There are thousands of species of cyanobacteria (BGA) and most are not harmful. I've never heard of Azolla causing an algae problem in an aquarium, even though algae is usually found with it.



> then i went yesterday to my LFS called BIO-RESEARCH and purchased this following plants, i am not confident by what the attendant has told me about the name of the plants but maybe you guys are familiar on these


You will be better off when you can decide in advance which plants that you want to purchase, based on your environment, and then identify them when you see them. Here, sales people in LFS's are not considered to be experts on anything except selling things. Of course, there are many exceptions to that generalization.



> tonight i bought an aerator and an airstone and i will only turn it on in the evening because i guess whenever i will check the fishes in the morning they're always near the water surface i just don't know if they're having problem with O2 and i've read somewhere that some water plants have the tendency to reverse the process of instead of taking in CO2 they take in O2 during night time. so whats your thought on these?


Aquatic plans do use oxygen at night, but not enough to have much impact on fish. However, if most of the oxygen in an aquarium comes from the photosynthesis of the plants during the day, when they reduce that at night, that could have an impact on a crowded aquarium. To avoid that and other problems, don't try to keep too many fish.

Bill


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

this is just an update, i took some photos at how intense the sun can get from around 9am to 3pm, what do you my friend?


















Well, yesterday, i saw in a store a CO2 tablet by Sera, can i use this to dose my 25 gallon tank? it says there the the tablets could last for more than 1 month.

thank you so much for any response 
Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine. and thank you all so much for viewing, posting and giving suggestions/advises to my queries for that i will be forever grateful.

Here's an update of my 25 gallon planted aquarium. Though, im quite sad because my fighting fish is missing but i cant find any of his remains on the gravel or in the water.  Just a recap, i have the following things in my aquarium:

Set-up
September 18, 2007

TANK
25 gallon-a 7 year old tank

PLANTS 
indian fern
stellata
echinodorum bleheri
ludwigia repens
sagittaria subulata
echinodorus cordifolius
thai stricta
pennyworth
azola and zalvinia (as floaters)
anubias
cabomba (i thought it wilted away but it was growing slowly beside my india fern)

FERTS
tetra florapride
Aqua-VITA

WC
3x a week

SUBSTRATE (this is just a guess, im not good with measuring things)
3/4" PLANTASTIC "soil-less potting mix"
1/4" very fine sand
1" beach sand
--a little bit of the usual aquarium pebble just to hold the plants in place

HARDWARE
lighting-the ever faithful sunshine
filter-none
UV sterilizer-none
aerator w/ airstone-only in the evening

FISHES (overstocked)
pink zebra danios-4
swordtail-3
panda corydora-1
SAE (ordinary) - 3
otocinclus-2
fighting fish-1 (missing)
goldfish-1
angelfish-1
neon tetra-3 (1 missing)
rosy barb-2
otocinclus-3

I took these shots a couple of nights ago when i decided to buy an 18 watt flourescent to light up my aquarium in the evening because i am having a hardtime looking at my aquarium at night using only a flashlight imagine that  

























Here's a shot of my soon to have 75 gallon planted aquarium. 









Ever since the aquarium was set up, i started noticing algaes on the glass, on the edges of my plants, on the substrate but everything seems to be in good condition. Today, September 29 i scraped the glass with the use of my fingers just to know if there's a build up of algae suprisingly somehow i only got a few maybe the otos and the SAEs are doing their jobs. I am keeping my fingers crossed though, that somehow somewhere there will be a major battle between me and the algaes and i hope i'll be the winner in the end. 

open for any thoughts, suggestions, and advises.

Godbless everyone.


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

update:

i just took a picture and show you guys how thick my azola primarily and the salvinia is starting to dominate. what do you thnk guys?









Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

hi there everyone!

Mabuhay!

Just an update of my aquarium. I took these shots this morning although its been raining intermittently and cloudy most of the time.









Originally, i just want these to be a super low-tech tank but it seems that its not going that way. Because im starting to perform WC 3x a week, adding ferts like flora pride (though my substrate is soil-less potting mix) and i have way to much fish occupants.

take care now and Godbless


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## Endler Guy (Aug 19, 2007)

mujacko2002 said:


> Hi everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine.
> 
> @aquabillpers
> thank you so much remark  and for the added information. hey, can i take a peek of your tank?
> ...


I can't really tell what that plant is but I highly suspect it's a type of sword plant; genus _Echinodorus_. It resembles the submerged growth on my ozelot sword.

I don't speak Tagalog but I do have some friends from the Philippines (Manilla). Was that the English translation after the Tagalog? I'll post some pics one day. Only two of my four tanks look good right now, the 55 and a 10. I have two 10s with green water but that's because I have too much light in them.

I've only heard of people needing to add airstones, or some sort of surface agitation at night, when they have added CO2 and don't turn it off at night. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think it applies to non-co2 tanks. If you do see your fish gasping for...oxygenated water:sing: at the surface, do take measures to help them.

All floating plants will extract excess nutrients from the tank. They have nowhere else to get nutrients. They are in direct competition with algae for every nutrient but CO2. That's where the aerial advantage comes in. This is doubly so when rooted plants are allowed to grow emergent. They can get CO2 from the air AND nutrients from the substrate - thus, starving algae.


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## Endler Guy (Aug 19, 2007)

mujacko2002 said:


> update:
> 
> i just took a picture and show you guys how thick my azola primarily and the salvinia is starting to dominate. what do you thnk guys?
> 
> ...


I just did some research on azola. I was originally looking for reassurance but this is what I found: Azola
and Anabaena



> _Anabaena is a genus of filamentous cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, found as plankton. It is known for its nitrogen fixing abilities, and they form symbiotic relationships with certain plants, such as the mosquito fern. They are one of four genera of cyanobacteria that produce neurotoxins, which are harmful to local wildlife, as well as farm animals and pets._


I'd caution against any vegetarian fish in the tank. My livebearers only eat algae but goldfish and some others will eat duckweed and probably anything else. The plant and cyanobacteria have a symbiotic relationship which probably developed to keep the both from being eaten.


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

hi everyone! i hope everyone is doing fine.

I've been thinking about these lately and im quite hesitant to ask it but how else would i be able to know it. My question is can i use the liquid ferts for my orchids to fertilize my planted aquaria?  

thank you in advance for any response 

Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Hello! just an update of my 25gallon tank. Its barely a month now and im quite lucky because my plants are starting really show signs of life. I hope you enjoy the pics.

















I am so happy to find out that most of my plants are beginning to really show signs of life. my indian fern is growing like crazy and its starting to come out of the water. My thai stricta seems to be also coming out of the water. My pennyworth has 3 new leaves at present. My stem plants are growing nicely and i guess i need to trim some and put it somewhere in the aquarium. My water lotus has already attached itself to the substrate.

















although this part is growing, there's some trimming and replacing to do. My angelfish is the boss even the new fighting fish is afraid of him/her.









so here's the last of pics. Most of the inhabitants were ready for the photofinish.
I'll keep you updated folks. I am open for any suggestion/advises.

Current maintenance:
ferts-tetraflora pride 
aquavital for fishes 
water change-at the most 3x a week

i have a question, i bought this sera-C02 tabs but there was no instruction inside the bottle, i dont know how to use it. My instinct tells me to just drop in the aquarium and thats it......is that how it is?

thank you for any response in advance.

Godbless


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## Carissa1 (Aug 25, 2007)

mujacko2002 said:


> hi everyone! i hope everyone is doing fine.
> 
> I've been thinking about these lately and im quite hesitant to ask it but how else would i be able to know it. My question is can i use the liquid ferts for my orchids to fertilize my planted aquaria?
> 
> ...


Most non-aquatic plant fertilizers contain ammonia (urea). This is a bad idea for aquariums, for not only does it kill fish but it stimulates algae growth. The only way to find out for sure is read all the ingredients on your fertilizer and decide whether you want each ingredient going into your tank. I wouldn't just throw it in until you're sure you know what you're putting in there.


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## Endler Guy (Aug 19, 2007)

mujacko2002 said:


> i have a question, i bought this sera-C02 tabs but there was no instruction inside the bottle, i dont know how to use it. My instinct tells me to just drop in the aquarium and thats it......is that how it is?
> 
> thank you for any response in advance.
> 
> Godbless


I've read that the CO2 tabs are not good for aquariums but that they are made for ponds and contain organic matter, which is supposed to decompose gradually into nitrate and CO2.


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of us!!!

I am back to back to back  

i'll be renovating my 25g planted aquarium soon. And i am on the brink of using pebbles or lake sand (which is popular among hobbyists here in the Philippines) for a substrate. Since i've done tons of research and i feel this "nickname" is all over planted websites i've read somewhere that one can boil soil before using it as a substrate to demineralize it. so what do you guys and gals think about boiling soil? 

And my second question, has anyone here used an undergravel filter with soil as substrate top with black pebbles? 


Thank you in advance for any response.


Godbless

anda:


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

mujacko2002 said:


> Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of us!!!
> 
> I am back to back to back
> 
> ...


You should not boil soil before you use it. It will get rid of much of the beneficial bacteria that makes a soil-based substrate so useful. Also, a UGF will probably be a disaster as the soil would be sucked right through the plates and create a mess in your tank. I would stick with a simple power head.

-ricardo


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

happy new year to all!!
Whoa!!! its been a long-time since i visited this thread. and i hope those kind folks are still here to help me out with my overhauled 20g.

this is my overhauled 20g. 








materials:
UGF
powerhead
black sand
18 watt flourescent lighting by toshiba

my DIY-CO2









current inhabitants
1- rosy barb 
1-angelfish
2-swordtails
1-zebra danios
8-snails

plants
echinodorus
red crinkle
valisneria

I am planning to add another lighting fixture, 55 watts. And planning to add more substrate. My idea as background are tall/vertical growing plants and the front will be planted with carpet plants.

open for any suggestion/ideas/recommendations

thanks :mrgreen:


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## mxyap (May 9, 2008)

your aquarium looks really good!!!
visit my site for exchange opinion thanks.
www.meraquarium.bravehost.com


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## mxyap (May 9, 2008)

i would be very much happy to learn more on aquatic plants. i hope i could learn from you as i could give back in return with my expertise in setting up aquariums. visit my site
www.meraquarium.bravehost.com


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

*Re: newbie Philippines (low-tech hybrid)*

Sun-Fed 75g tank

Mabuhay!

Its been a long, long time and its time for an update.

I just want to share my "works" in progress....and criticisms/suggestions/appreciations/advises will always be of utmost importance to me. Please bear with me, since i'll be posting 25 pics all in all..i want you all to see my tanks in its raw form...hehehehe. Just to remind the group, i really feel that i have very little aquascaping skills (or none at all) and as of now my goal is how to keep the plants alive.

I took a picture of the tank before i added the "river-sand" .... maybe next time i'll use pure soil as my substrate. Again, i mineralized it..according to the website i've read on how to mineralize your soil. I used river-sand because thats the only thing my money can buy right now. hehehe


  

I've noticed that when you soak your soil for a long period of time, the texture changes its kinda smooth and more compact in a good way. I can't help it i am a big fan of K.R. and i really love the idea of using soil as substrate because i like working with soil, i love to get my hands "dirty" actually, i really dont use gloves when i work in the garden. Since its a soil substrate, the snails seems to be just gliding from one end to another, i guess they're really loving it and seeing them doing it gives me a very good feeling especially when i see their trails.


I bought the following plants below in a place called "cartimar" here in Manila. Its really a big place full of aquariums and other pet-related stuffs. I said to myself, i'll try growing again the red bacopa and the reineckki since these plants always dies on my 25g setup. But it had a twist, i put them in caps filled with vermi-soil, mineralized soil and river-sand and it looks very promising. i've never seen the plants grow roots so fast.
 

another example of plants in plastic cups. As you can see in the very first picture, most of the plants are in pots, i did it because back then i was still saving money to buy river-sand. Anyway, i removed some of the plants from their pots since keeping them in it only eats up space but i left a number of plants in the pots to control their growth such as dwarf lotus, vallis, horse-tail and echis.


Unfortunately, the river-sand i bought kinda look like cement sand hehehe. since i still have some white-sand and volcanic dust left i mixed it with my river-sand.


The start of my grueling experience. I have a peace lily hanging in the aquarium many believed that its a good nitrate absorber.
 I still have my peace lily para nitrate absorber.

look ma, containersssssssssssssss!!!!

Whenever i would do a WC, i always use the water from my aquarium to water my land-based plants so as not to waste anything.

As you can see the aquarium is filled with floating plants such as najas grass, water lettuce, and many more. I did not throw away my excess plants just yet because i will need it to hasten the cycling process and establish colonies of good organisms.









The (un)finished product. hehehehe


Actually, i only have a small idea on how this aquarium should look like but for now i need to master how to grow plants first. As you can see in the (un)finished product, there are no directions where the aquascape is going..hehehehe

Again, thanks for viewing please feel free to share your views.

25g tank
Mabuhay!

this one is with me for more than a year now. A lot of things have happened with this aquarium, i removed some of the plants that are just too big or too long. So i just decided to make it a low light/low-tech tank. And i just love echis... 


i have this long and narrow java fern, a new addition to my tank. And i recently bough a "pelia", the one in a square metal thingy, its not doing good.




I am open to any suggestions/appreciations/criticisms.

DIY-CO2 - 2 bottles
river-sand (sometimes i topped it off with soil)
1 55w PL and 1 CFL
lighting period is from 6pm-2am

inhabitants
danios
neon tetra
betta
molly
lots of shrims and snails.

Godbless everyone.


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Mabuhay!

@myxap
sorry for the delayed response. I am just a newbie in the realm but i am very much willing to share what i've experienced and learned from other gurus of the planted aquarium world.

I am on-leave from office work so got nothing else to do so i tinkered my planted tank. I put the floating plants on the left side to give way to the red-colored plants for it to receive long and full power of the sun. Some of the plants have become lethargic because its still adjusting with its new spot in the aquarium...i am hoping that it will get back up soon.



















top view


























I am trying a number of plants as foreground or cover plant. Actually, i got this idea from another forumer, he used wisteria as foreground, so i said to myself, there's nothing wrong with trying it. I am really having difficulty growing HCs or Glossos since most my tanks belong on low-medi










i transferred my long and narrow fern here. Actually the fern was given to me by a friend...thank you so much friend.









my simple DIY-CO2 









I am open to suggestions/critiques whatever...hehehhee

Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

*updates updates updates*

Mabuhay!

Thank you all for the replies/comments/suggestions/advises/compliments, thankyou thank you thank you.

Finally, i was able to find the batteries of my digicam and i was so excited i took some pictures of my planted tanks eventhough its already very very dark. :twitch:

I swear, i was never successful rearing the so-called "red bacopa", reinecki and green/red

cabombas in my 25g but here in my 75g it looks like survivors and the red bacopa is now sporting

big leaves but more compact and an orange color. My problem is how to trim the red bacopa, i am really scared anyone who would like to share their experiences with this plant? TIA










These is the other half of my 75g, its filled with low-light plants. And i am really awed by the power of the sun although this side its not always hit directly i can see that they are pearling Is it a good sign?










My 25g after a little pruning, i added a tenellus (is it correct?) 

















Challenge/s:
My 75g is sun-fed and i've noticed that the plants are in their "sleep" state when night time comes because most the leaves are "closed". is it harmful to plants if i turn the lights on at night? i do this because i want to look at it after i get home from work.

TIA for any response.

Pictures i took these morning





































my 10g experiment, my substrate is a secret for now. 









Enjoy!

Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

*Re: newbie Philippines....UPDATES!!!*

Mabuhay!

After finishing the chores around the house, i planted my remaining plants temporarily placed in cups and i am so really amazed by the amount of roots developed using different types of soil. Since the plants have roots already i just hope that it will not have a hard-time acclimating in its new spot. The changes are so minimal, i only re-planted 2 plants, cut some stem plants here and there, thats it. 




I'll be adding soon a 2x T5HO so that i can view it at night and as supplementary lights.

Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Again thank you friends, Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

*updates*

Mabuhay!

A Bountiful, Peaceful and Happy New Year to all! Its nice to be back.

Just a little update of my 75g sun-fed aquarium-pond. :cheers: Took some shots of plants which have

emersed growths and flowers.

Echinodorus horemanii in bloom









its a mess...









the reineckii in bloom and emersed growth of water wisteria









plantlets of my Echinodorus 'Ozelot' 









Limnophilia sessiflora (Ambulia) in bloom. The leaves also changes in emerse growth.









emersed growth of r. macandra









my peace lily, its a bog plant actually but can also be successfully grown in soil which is always the

case.









actually, its carti moss and i put some HCs in there. But the original plant was a pitcher plant. 









my aponogeton from pet city









my gift to myself this Christmas a crinum calamistratum









my long and winding fern 
img]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc47/mujacko2002/DSC02749.jpg[/img]

my faithful lotus with some emersed growth of mexican oak









remnants of excess plants









current look









I have no idea as to how i want the inside to look-like but maybe just maybe i'll put in more

hard-to-find echis plants.

Any inputs?

*MY CURRENT BABY*

Just a simple update of my 10g experiment. Just set this up a couple of months ago but was resetup last

month. The aquarium is temporarily placed in my room and with the following specs:

10g 
external filter
33watts PL 
soil substrate
cork-board for the anubias, mosses and soon to have plants.
timer for lighting (9pm-4am)

inhabitants
4 unknown fish-folks ----i dont know how it got there
1 shrimp

top view
since it was neglected for awhile.....definitely an overgrowth









removed the many floating plants









external filter








---i'll just drill a hole in one of the tubes of the EF so that i can inject CO2 into the tank.

golden nana









mosses


































(UN) finished product


























---glosso. or what i remained of it.

till next time...

Happy New Year!!!!

Godbless


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Mabuhay!

Whoa! Its been awhile since the last time i posted my tanks. I've already dismantled my 25g and 10g to make way for something bigger? hehehehe (wishful thinking) So, what i have right now is just my 75g aquarium-pond. I 
have placed all my plants from the tanks i dismantled in these tank so as you can see its almost filled to the brim. hehehehe. Then, I am also placing some bog plants (plants that can live between water and land something like it) on top of my aquarium to completely have the "pond feeling" to it. I want to have a pond (ponds actually) someday, i can't resist the beauty of a lotus 
plant coming out of the water its just orgasmic (hehehehe)

Here it is now : (the setup is almost 6 months old)









As bog plants, I have some peace lily, some philodendrons, anthuriums, HCs, mosses. The peace lily has a very extensive root system below..its just so nice to look at. 









I have quite a growth of cryptos, i guess they really like the soil substrate 

















This part of the aquarium receives a lot of sunlight so what i put here are easy to grow stem plants and a number of echinodorus species 









Some of my underwater ferns and anubias are tied to a tree-fern stick, i guess they like it there.









My lotus plant somewhere









Emerged HCs









My white anthurium 









Don't mind the scape kasi as of now i just don't have the skills yet for those jaw-dropping na aquarium designs. As of now, i am happy with my setup, the plants are somehow thriving and hoping to have more in the future. But of course, i am open to questions,suggestions, advises, criticisms or whatever you want to air-out about my setup.

take care now everyone.

Godbless


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I'm quite surprised that your water in every tank seems to be reasonably clear. Being in a tropical country like yourself, my outdoor tank is often hit by the infamous green water every now and then. I have access to all the high tech stuff but I prefer have a natural one in my balcony. I have other higher tech tanks but I got bored and decide to try something different  As an outdoor tank, I think you don't have to worry about CO2 at all. Just let the nature takes over. You seem to have a lot of plants I have never seen before. With limited technology to support your hobby in your country, I think you're doing pretty well. I think many people still cannot achieve what you have done with various high technology equipments/fertiliser supporting them.

Good job!


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I think I see some Cryptocoryne in your tank. They look lovely...better than the ones in my tanks supplied with CO2 and all kinds of fertiliser.


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## ERL (Apr 16, 2011)

Sir ,
Im new here . Anyone here can share where to buy plants.. Im from Cagayan de oro Thanks


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

Mabuhay!

Whoa! it's been a very very long time since i updated this thread. The 25g and 75g tanks were all torn down. The 75g was torn down due to my stupidity because i was trying to insert a tube so that the aerator will have a straight blowing path but the force of my action made the bottom of the tank cracked and i don't need to explain what happened afterwards. So after the incident, i need to "hibernate" i concentrated on my orchids, ferns and garden plants.

As you can see, its been maybe 3 years that every plants i was able to salvage, i put it all in my 25g and put the tank on the fartherst part of my garden. The tank below received a lot of sunlight, it doesn't have an aerator, i only add water to it when im watering garden or when i see that it needs to be filled up. I swear, i just let things be there, come rain or typhoons or sunshine, its just there, sitting there all by itself. i trim sometimes. hehehehhehe









But nature is really resilient, the magic is there, the plants are thriving and you will not believe it, it has fishes in it. Maybe around 10 fishes, they only come up when i feed them which is rarely. If you look closely, you'll see a lot of "animals" in there maybe that's what the fishes are eating but i swear to you, i only add water straight from the faucet. Anyway, i'll be fixing my 75g soon when finances are more stable.









God bless everyone. wish me luck!!!


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Holly cow! How do your fishes swim?


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## mujacko2002 (Aug 17, 2007)

totziens said:


> Holly cow! How do your fishes swim?


Mabuhay!

i have no idea, but there are just little fishies like tetras, zebra danios, swordtail, a fighting fish, i'll get a picture when i feed them. hehehehehehe


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