# 70 g planted tank..new at this



## nikitanain (Sep 6, 2007)

hi 

i have been reading the El Natural section since some time... i am so happy that there is a natural and inexpensive way to grow plants 

i came to know about this method only after i added the plants to my tank....

the substrate is golden sand and it is about 2 inches deep....
i have added some hornwart (i think) , baby tears (thats what they call it here) and a type of hygrophila (Siamensis??) and straight vals, and an unknown aquatic plant.....the tank gets about 4-5 hours of diffused sunlight and 4 hours of artificial light..

i have 2x 20 watts CFLs
and 1x 28 watts (2700kelvin) tube light

the plants are adjusting quite well to the tank (they wernt looking great when i got them) and the severums in the tank have nipped off a few extra leaves....

i am planning to use potting soil in my 3.5 gallon betta tank first and, if it works then i shall do the same for the 70g (the nursery guy's arnt sure if there r fertilizers in the soil, and i think it has a good amount of organic content)

here is a pic of the setup.....























































thanks everyone!


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

should be very interesting to see what happens with the fish and plants i love the birhir you know that lizard thing lol


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## nikitanain (Sep 6, 2007)

the bichir has been with me since 6 months....

any suggestions about the plants?


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## nikitanain (Sep 6, 2007)

the severums ripped out and uprooted most of the plants... i got frustrated, and transfered the plants to a 15 gallon tank with female bettas and apple snails.....

here are some pics....


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

say good by to the plants the apple snails are going to eat them all up


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I liked how the plants looked in your big tank. It's too bad the fish didn't cooperate. Your small tank looks like a great jungle for your bettas. My betta females love having plants to explore and use for resting spots.

If the snails are brigs you shouldn't have any problems with them and your plants. If they are one of the other snail species called "apple" or "mystery" snail, they may indeed eat your plants. Check out http://www.applesnail.net/ to tell the difference between them, I can't tell what you have by the pictures you've posted.


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## nikitanain (Sep 6, 2007)

the apple snails dont do anything to the plants..... they are Pomacea bridgesii .......


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## brewce (Dec 12, 2007)

nikitanain said:


> they are Pomacea bridgesii .......


Yea for bridgesii snails! I love mine always cleaning up the mess.  So what's going to happen to your 70g, fish only?

brewce


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## nikitanain (Sep 6, 2007)

the 70g will be fish only i guess, with silk and plastic plants.....


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## ChrisGray (Feb 23, 2006)

looks great, i love to see agressive fish in planted tanks!!!!!!


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## Jareardy (Feb 14, 2008)

Doesn't that fish get humongous?


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## nikitanain (Sep 6, 2007)

the bichir (senagle) gets to about 10-12 inches at the max.. he is about 5 inches now......

i would be happy if the plants were in the 70g tank, but guess that wasnt possible


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