# my planted tank



## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

How is everybody doing? I have my tank done from scratch. From a recycled half inch table top glass(91x41x34 cm dimension)which I cut myself with a very good asahi glass cutter. Lighting is 96watts kit and made the hood from recycled pieces of wood.Although I bought a piece of cornice wood from home depot for it to look better. Im using compressed co2 from 9oz paintball tank which I bought from a local store. I used copper tubes to hang my fixture on top of an existing cabinet. Filtering is with an aqueon hangon filter. 
Plants includes Anubias Nana (Anubias barteri v. 'Nana') Moneywort (Bacopa Monnieri),Ludwigia Peruensis (Ludwigia peruensis), Diandra (Didiplis diandra), Ludwigia, Needle Leaf (Ludwigia arcuata) Ludwigia, Broad Leaf (Ludwigia repens), Rotala Magenta (Rotala macrandra v. 'narrow leaf'), Rotala Indica (Rotala roundifolia), Bolbitus (Bolbitus heudelotii), Dwarf Hairgrass (Eleocharis acicularis) , Bacopa (Bacopa carolina) Aponogeton Madagascar Lace (Aponogeton madagascariensis), Petite Nana (Anubias Pygmy Nana),Dwarf Baby Tears (Hemianthus callitrichoides) Pelia (Monosolenium Tenerum).Echinodorus tenelus,and java fern lace. Initially I have 2 fighting fish, 3 otos and 1 tiger shirmp .I am looking for some red cherries, amano shrimp or other exotic shrimp varieties to further populate my tank. Sorry for the poor pictures: have anice day!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EaN2bZu0ZMnHA


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

The tank and light fixture look very nice and the cornice wood adds a nice finishing touch. Can you change the height of the light if you want? I don't quite understand how the light is fixed to the pipe.

The plants all look healthy and you've got a nice mix of color and size. I'm looking forward to seeing how it fills in.


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## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

hello catherine... nice observation... So far I can only increase the hood's height by only a few centimeters since I have no means of hanging it from the ceiling. The brass tubes are designed to hold my wooden lighting canopy since Im worried about its weight. The brass tubings on the sides are bored through the wood on the sides of my cabinet with only a few millimeters to spare on both sides. Do you think it will affect the plants greatly if its that close? Will lessening the time my lights kept on help? But if it will be a big factor, I will have to find a way to do that. Still hoping good results for my plants since they just arrived last july 24. Will keep you posted with new pictures. I got few shrimps today, blue, red and tigers and im very excited. I only have amano shrimps before and this is my first time with colored ones. Thanks


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Your light looks to be about the height that I keep mine with the manufactured fixtures. You might need to experiment with how long you have the lights on. Keep an eye on how the plants are growing to see it's working. Do you have CO2 and a fertilization schedule? What substrate did you use?

I have cherry shrimp and they're a lot of fun and excellent breeders. I've thought about getting another variety that won't interbreed for added interest. I only have one tank where I know the shrimp will do well.  All my other tanks have fish that look at them as dinner.


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## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

Me ... I have only one tank but I have removed the fighting fish I initially purchased since i suspect them of eating the 1st and only shrimp I got first. From the 15 shirmp last week, I supposed its down to 9 or 10. i am hoping it will flourish this time. 
i turn on my lights 10 hours a day with timer goes off a few hours during the afternoon. As soon as I see them over growing it will be time to decrease it. Yes, I have a Paintball tank (9oz) purchased and I used my old regulator but no solenoid switch. Its 1-2 bps according to my calculations. Im not sure if I purchase a solenoid switch that it will work with my regulator(made in china no brand). I used florapride for fertilization , usually during water change but sometimes I forget:-\". About my substrate, I only got it from petco, its a black shiny gravel(looks painted), a mixture of ordinary sand and ordinary garden soil and some peat. About your shirmps, If their a lot, it doesnt matter anymore, at least your fav fish gets a treat once in a while(thats what i do before).
I saw some interesting colors from arizona inverts (golden bee and the yellow) but kinda expensive for me right now. maybe soon if I have more space here.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Sounds like you've got everything covered. I've had good luck with a soil underlayer and it should work well for you. The gravel should be fine as it's just for keeping the plants and soil where they're supposed to be. I had some trouble with shrimp at first. I think it was because my tank was still young and hadn't settled down completely when I added the shrimp. After a couple months the surviving shrimp started breeding and the population boomed.

I just switched from a 10 gallon tank to a 20 long for my cherry shrimp this weekend. In order to hedge my bets and make sure I don't lose my shrimp to a new tank settling in, I put some of the shrimp in 2 other tanks. The angel and lemon tetra in one tank just about turned backflips trying to get them (with no luck) and the angel persists in eying the dense plant growth where the shrimp have camped out. So far the shrimp seem to be fairing quite well. The other tank isn't as shrimp friendly as the female bettas will wiggle through the densest plant growth in pursuit.


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## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

just came from a week of vacation from san diego. I got another mortality of my blue shrimp but the rest seems to be doing fine. I saw a handful for baby shrimps on my driftwood. Even with an RO filter,my water remains very hard and gives a high PH rating. The pelia on my rocks seems to be doing well bec they are growing denser. I think I need some finer substrate specially for my dwarf hairgrass bec they do not scatter. Maybe my gravels is too big for them. Only the tenelus is unstoppable.What do you think? I have already transferred my bettas to my big vase so as not to loose my precious shrimps. Good luck on your new 20 gal tank:cheer2: and im sure your shrimps will thrive as long as they have a pretty dense ground cover


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Your gravel does seem to be a bit large to allow dwarf hairgrass to grow easily. A substrate with particles averaging 2-3mm in diameter works well for carpeting plants. You can divide your hairgrass into smaller clumps to get it to spread faster and I've also had good luck trimming it short to get it to spread more.


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## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

thanks Ill do that or if i get a chance id buy the aqua soil this time and put some or a little on my tank for my hairgrass.


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## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

im having hair algae infestation .My pelia and java moss are the ones affected. I have been changing my water every other day (1/4 only) and shortened lighting to 8 hours only. Any tips from the experts.


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## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

here are some more of my tanks latest update


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## 4f1hmi (Mar 29, 2008)

algae has been taken cared of. I used the flourish excel and overdosed my 35 gal tank. Shirmps and ottos were fine.The hair algaes turned red and white.


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