# 38 gallon planted tank journal - a noob's first attempt.



## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Hi. I came across a planted tank web site some time ago and was blown away. I've been interested in plants all my life and have owned various aquariums for the past 10 years. It was only natural that sooner or later the 2 interest would melt into one. After much reading and research I decided to settle on the following configuration. Mind you, the biggest aquarium I have ever owned up to this point was a Mini Bow 5 gallon so this is a big jump for me.

*EQUIPMENT*

All Glass 38G tank.

Fluval 205 canister filter with Fluval surface skimmer.

200 watt heater.

Coralife Aqualight 2x96W, 6700K bulb for a total of 192W. That's over 5W/gallon. Too much light I know. I am only using 1 bulb until I get a pressurized CO2 system and a fert regiment going

DIY CO2 yeast mixture with home made PVC CO2 reactor.

Seachem Flourite substrate.

*WATER PARAMETERS*

GH - 11

KH - 5

pH - 7.0

No measureable levels of ammonia or nitrite.

*INHABITANTS (All holdovers from the Mini Bow 5)*

3 White Clouds

1 Pleco

Numerous, 2 1/2 week old Platy fry. Unfortunately, mom died 2 weeks ago

*APRIL 3rd, 2007* - Here's a picture of the tank taken about 2 weeks after it was filled for the first time (leak check fill does not count). I built the wall using a reddish colored slate to match the overall color of the Flourite. It is glued together using black aquarium silicon. I built a cave into the side of the wall for my Pleco.









*APRIL 6th,2007* - I received my plant order from Arizona Aquatic Gardens and spent the better part of the night planting everything. Here's the initial result. Please mind the floating Nana and Rotala in the foreground.









*APRIL 9th, 2007* - Today I re-arranged some of the plants around. The Nana is now tied to the driftwood. The Coffeefolia is not on top of the slate wall (it was underneath the driftwood and I was afraid it would not get enough light). The 2 Java Ferns were moved to the other side of the driftwood.









The planting diagram looks like this. I spend weeks looking at tanks online and it took me a couple of hours to come up with something I liked. Background plants specimens are currently shorter than the mid ground. I plan on trimming the mid once the background grows taller to give it a nice tiered look.









Here's a shot of the cave entrance.









Left side of tank. Can't wait for the glasso to fill in...









Right side of tank.









One of the Platy fry...









Now I wait for my Milwaukee regulator which should be in on Wednesday. It was a pain to try to regulate the pH with the output of the DIY CO2 mixture being so irratic. I want to be able to set a bubble count and forget it.

I'd like to start a fert regiment. I bought some Flourish Trace today. I know I still need to get the big 3 macro nutrients, NPK. Can someone suggest a good fert regiment assuming I will settle with 15ppm of CO2 and use the total 192W of light available to me?

I plan on adding pictures on a regular basis to show the tank filling in and growing up. Thanks for looking and please share your remarks/critism/comments with me.


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## pomby27 (May 2, 2004)

good start. one recommendation although i'm not pro, but glosso planting that i've seen in the past, people usually break up the bunches, and put probably 2 or 3 stems in a grouping and plant them like that(correct me if i'm wrong). i like the layering effect you have going here.


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## ranmasatome (Aug 5, 2005)

This is a noob attempt?? don't think so...
Nice going there and its good that you've started out the tank planting it so densely, that would help you greatly in your future endevours against algae in this tank.
looking forward to more pictures when the tank matures and seeing how you change the scape.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Great start! I really like the wall and how you've incorporated it into the scape. I can't wait to see how the plants fill in.


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## vtchica (Jun 8, 2005)

Nice tank! I especially like the slate wall and the type of wood. what kind is that?


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

pomby27 said:


> good start. one recommendation although i'm not pro, but glosso planting that i've seen in the past, people usually break up the bunches, and put probably 2 or 3 stems in a grouping and plant them like that(correct me if i'm wrong). i like the layering effect you have going here.


Thanks! I've seen it done both ways - in clumps and in stems of 2 or 3 which is a lot of work. As it is, the bunches you see are halves of thw actual size bunches you get from Arizona Aquatic.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

vtchica said:


> Nice tank! I especially like the slate wall and the type of wood. what kind is that?


It's actually vine which has been sand blasted. I got it at my local Petco.


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## MrHarris (Mar 19, 2005)

Looks good. Keep us posted on the plant growth progression  I'm currently in the process of making my first ultra planted tank which is 29 gallons. Same dimensions as your tank though. What program did you use to make that diagram of your tank?


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## bristles (Mar 7, 2006)

Nice set up ! I second pomby27, split up the stem plants for faster results.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

MrHarris said:


> What program did you use to make that diagram of your tank?


Good old Photoshop.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

bristles said:


> Nice set up ! I second pomby27, split up the stem plants for faster results.


I agree. I'll do that this week.

On another note, I just got my Milwaukee MA957 regulator in the mail. I'll have a pressurized system set up tonight!!


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Okay. The Milwaukee regulator is installed. Took all of 5 minutes. Here's a picture of it hooked up to the Gomer style DIY reactor I built.










Before installation, I measured my pH at 7.0. I want to see the affect a 2bps rate has on pH in the morning and adjust it accordingly from there.

On another note, the attack of the green dust algae has begun. It's on all the glass and on the slate wall. I read here not to scrape it off and let it run it's course. Man, that's hard to do!  At least the Pleco is happy.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Wow! One week and I've got some pretty good growth!

Sunday, April 8th, 2007.









Sunday, April 15th, 2007.









I waiting for my ferts to come in so in the meantime I had some Tetra FloraPride laying around. I use that for the K. Fleet for P and Flourish Trace for trace elements. I ordered Seachem liquid chemicals but will probably switch to dry ferts in a hurry as the Seachem stuff is hard to come buy in the LFS. As it is it will take a week to shipped 3 bottles of fert which I purchased from Doctor Foster and Smith from MN to MA. I'm all set thanks!

I also learned, from reading this forum, that the Japanese Fan (Acorus pussilus) is not a true aquatic plant. That begs the question why does Arizona Aquatic Garden sell it as such? Anyway, I'm going to tear it out and replace it with some Blyxa Japonica.


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## Ownager2004 (Apr 18, 2006)

I know its already been mentioned, but i would really consider replanting that glosso. If your going for the foreground type growth IMO it would be much less of a hassle to replant now. Its just not going to go into a groundcover the way its currently planted and its blocking off the nice rock work on the terrace. Other than that I think this tank looks awesome. Much better than anything I could pull off.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Ownager2004 said:


> I know its already been mentioned, but i would really consider replanting that glosso.


*Sigh* I know. It's a real pain in the you know what to do that after the fact though. You're right, it does hide the rock wall. I'll do it this weekend during my water change.


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## John McIII (Apr 17, 2007)

I really like your composition, I can't wait till you expose that wall again, it's one of my favorite features and an idea I may adapt (okay, steal) with smooth river rock...  

I'm currently doing a conversion from a plastic/some planted to a full planted tank, I like seeing other people's firsts- especially ones that look that cool!


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Looks good! 

I agree the glosso needs to be replanted and it would help it spread low and even too.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. Well, I did it! I replanted the glosso last night. What a pain that was. Any idea on how fast this stuff will fill in based on good CO2 (30-35ppm), 5 wpg, EI fert regiment? Bare Flourite is not very attractive.


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## whitetiger61 (Aug 12, 2006)

it will take it a little while for it to take ahold in the substrate.. after that it should take off pretty quick..if you want it to stay low, once it fills in you will need to crop it almost to the substrate level..dont worry it will grow back in pretty fast and it will stay low for you..i use glosso in my bigger tanks..my nano i use HC.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Wow! What a difference a week makes when you're on a fert regiment:

21ml Seachem Nitrogen/week
21ml Seachem Potassium/week
15ml Seachem Phosphurous/week
10ml Seachem Flourish/week
5 wpg
4 bps CO2 for ~40ppm CO2. CO2 shut off at night.

April 15th,2007.









April 22nd,2007.









I also replanted the glosso and severely trimmed and replanted Wysteria, Nesea and Rotala Indica on the slate wall. The Japanese Fans were also removed. 9 Amano shrimp and 2 Otocinclus were introduced for algae cleanup.

I have a lot of smal floating particles in my water - probably from the Flourite which is getting constantly stirred up by the Pleco. Repeated gravel cleanings are taking care of the problem....albeit it very slowly.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Another week has gone by and the growth is really impressive. The Glosso is filling in nicely. Rotala Wallichi and Rotala Rotundifolia on the left received their first trim on Thursday and they had broken the surface of the water. The water has also cleared up considerably as I added some diatom power to my canister filter.

As far as aquascaping is concerned. I was thinking of creating some diagonal lines for the background using:

1) Rotundifolia sloping down from left to right.
2) Using the branch of the vine that slopes up and to the right and continuing that line all the way to the right of the tank using the Rotala Indica on the slate wall.

Midground plants would be the Wallichi on the left and Wysteria and Nesea on the slate wall. I was planning to make them look like bushes.

April 22th,2007.









April 29th,2007. I realized I have been using "Flash" White Balance when opening up my Nikon D200 RAW files in Photoshop. Selecting Fluorescent yields a more accurate representation of the color. Please excuse the water inlet! Anyone have a good solution to tieying down my Java Fern? They keep getting "blown" over by the current inside my tank.









I have a case of ICH which I first noticed on one of the Rummy Nosed Tetras on Tuesday. I increased temperature to 88 and have added 1 teaspoon of salt/gallon. Spots have since dissapeared so I believe the protazoa is either in it's cyst stage or already in it's free swiming phase. Let's hope the salt does the trick. I plan on leaving the temparatures elavated for at least another week and a half and checking the fish out closely. Surprizingly, the 2 White Cloud Mountain Minnows I have in my tank are handling the temperature just fine. I've learned my lesson....there's a small 5 gallon quarantine tank in my future.

Some fauna and flora...

Hemigrammus Bleheri:









Amano shrimp:









Wallichi pearling:


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

GREAT JOB! 

I think it took me over a year to get even close to the point you're at now. I really like the rummy nose tetras in the tank. How many do you have? I think you could build up their group to at least nine (or maybe fifteen  ) and it would look stunning.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Mud Pie Mama said:


> I really like the rummy nose tetras in the tank. How many do you have?


I currently have 8. I plan on doubling that number. They are the nicest looking fish IMO and they school really close to each other. My daughters love them too.


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## Genin (Jan 28, 2007)

so cool. your aquascape is amazing, i love it.


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## rich311k (Jun 24, 2006)

Nice looking tank. Very well done.


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

2 weeks since the last update. I've gotten rid of the Rotalla Indica. It kept growing sideways and putting out a lot of roots and looked unsightly. I will replace it with either Ludwigia Repens or Micranthemum Micranthemoides. I also bought some Blyxa Japonica from someone here at APC to fill in the voids around the vine, sides and middle of the tank and make a smooth transition from the glosso to the stem plants.

Glosso is almost there...I also did my first trimming; replanting the Rotundifolia around the base of the heater to eventually hide it.

April 29th, 2007:









May 13th,2007:


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

If this is your first attempt, then I can't wait to see what you come up with in the future!

Usually, I am wary of hard horizontal walls like the stone terrace you have, but you've pulled it off really well and it doesn't look "intentional."

Way to go!!!


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Well, it's been over 2 months since my last update and I must say I've learned a lot about this hobby. Most important, I've learned to become patient.  This hobby forces you to do that you know. The glosso has filled in nicely but it's a constant battle to keep it trimmed as it keeps growing on top of itself.

The tank has been through some changes:

1) Rotalla Wallichi is out. I didn't like the way it deteriorated after I trimmed it. It turned all brown on me. I have replaced it with a few stems of L. Aromatica and will be planting the end after trimming so that it fills up the space the Rotalla Wallichi once took.

2) Rotalla Indica is out - too boring and looks too much like Rotundifolia. Replaced with Lysimachia Nummularia. I really like the color and shape of the leaves on this plant.

3) Japanese ferns are out. Blyxa on the way in. I should have it tomorow. Thanks John!

4) Taiwan moss added to vine. I love it.

5) Nesea Crassicaulis out - I couldn't get it to establish itself and it became an algae magnet. Ludwigia Repens v. Palustris in. I love the way this plant grows side shoots when trimmed. I'm trying to get this plant along with the Wysteria to look like bushes.

6) Slate wall now has 2 rows of plants instead of 3 which makes it look less crowded.

Here's the layouts before and after.

BEFORE









AFTER









Here's a couple of shots of the tank dated July 17th, 2007 before another major trim of the Rotalla Rotundifolia and glosso. Please forgive the floating Blyxa.









Looking up...









Closeups of Ludwigia Palustris and Wysteria respectively. Trying to get that bush affect going.


















Thanks for looking.


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

i realy like this tank man. looks different than most tanks out there, and not in that "bad" way either. really creative wall doesnt look un-natural in fact the way your plants grew in make it look very neat to me. good job on the plants too i wish i was that skilled a n00b


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## JustOneMore21 (Mar 19, 2007)

Your tank is really beautiful! The plants look very healthy.


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## BlackTop_Kings (Jan 17, 2007)

Nice set up ....great job i cant wait to see the next up date


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Look forward to the final photo session with all the equipments removed from the tank and perhaps background changed to either black or white. I think the "wood on one side and rock on the other" approach is bold and different. Good job


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## FelixAvery (Mar 29, 2007)

first time ive seen a slate wall done well!
looks great love the glosso, however not to fond of the walichi
still great tank keep it coming


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

Great job! Your tank is looking awesome, the growth since you've adding the CO2 and ferts is amazing. With 5 wpg of light over this tank, I thought for sure you'd be dealing with algea problems by now but obviously your doing everything right.

I look forward to the next photograph!


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## vicpinto (Mar 27, 2007)

Here's an update 2 1/2 months after the last.

July 17th, 2007









October 2nd, 2007:









1) I realized that with a 12 inch wide tank if was virtually impossible to make 3 rows of plants look good. I therefore have only 1 row of stem plants on the left and 2 rows on the right on the slate wall.

2) Lysimachia Nummularia is gone - replaced with the L. Aromatica which was on the left. This moved worked out great as I needed to get the L. Aromatica of from under the shade of the Rotala. Shade that is being provide for the nana which has lot's of GSA on it because of the direct light it gets. It also provides a safe haven for the fish. They love to hang out under there just below the surface.

3) Blyxa now fills in the whole left side of the tank and provides the foreground. I wanted to break up the foreground instead of having a solid glosso carpet.

4) Added 13 more Rummy nose tetras for a total of 21. Wow! They are breathtaking to watch - especially a school this big.

5) Opted for the black background instead of the blue. I also fixed it to the glass by rubbing it with a light coat of cooking oil. That really helps to bring out the black.

All I have to do now is wait for the L. Aromatica, glosso and Wysteria to fill in at the same time. I can't count how many times I trimmed, retimmed, pulled glosso. It's hard getting everything to fill in right at the same time. I'm trying and once I succeed I will then take some serious photographs minus the tank equipment. Who know, may a Tank Of The Month nomination. What do you guys think?


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