# Newbie first planted tank =)



## murdocmason (Aug 17, 2009)

Hey hey all just wanted to throw my first pics of my 20 tall semi planted I'm in serious need of aquascaping talent lol but with practice makes perfect =) pH 6.5 nitrites and nitrates are off the chart due to feeding heavily and heavy bioload 4x54 T5HO only two bulbs on most of the time agromax 6500k spectrum I use flourish tabs no substrate other then sand the two pots/containers have a mixture of soil the red rocks are natural river rocks negative on the acid test,driftwood is unknown origin DIY Co2 about 2 bps whisper 40= to the 400 or something on the back with minimal carbon replaced monthly let it ferment a bit lol luckily ive already seen lots of pearling but i have a feeling im going to have to start adding ferts soon =( i liked my easy tank lol Fauna =13 tetras,4 Amano shrimp 3 otos 1 freshwater flounder 6 khuli loaches 1 trinidad pleco going into a 60 gallon in about a month Flora = Wisteria,D.hair grass,4 leaf clover,broad and narrow leaf sag,micro swords,Rotala rotundifolia,money wart,cryptocoryne walkeri, anyways tell me what you think please and remember im a newbie any advice gladly welcomed http://www.imagehosting.com/]







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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Looks good, though I'd be concerned with '...nitrites off the chart...' Usually with lots of plants, and you seem to have a fair amount of them, nitrites don't build that much. Be careful with that.


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

The concave setup (high on either side and low in the middle)










The convex setup (the opposite of the one above,so low on either side and high in the middle)

"convexity" doesn't need to be produced by plants only, as you can see.









The triangular setup (high on one side, getting lower on the other side)









I would also not have all different types of rocks. It destracts the viewer. I would only have one type of rock. I use to have that mistake before I joined APC. Once you pick one of the pictures above/ design of aquascaping, I can try to help you futher more.
-Ian


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## Vadimshevchuk (Jul 5, 2009)

fish aquatics.... thanks for the pictures...i really never noticed that in tanks before. :faint2:


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## murdocmason (Aug 17, 2009)

ok so i replanted everything lol my design is gonna be after the triangle one also got a powerhead for the DIY Co2 still no ferts but my nitrites are lowering now i think they were really high cause i took the test right after the plants were panted not thinking about whats in my substrate so im gonna let everything calm down then take the tests again this evening also i took out all the rocks i could there is still one holding the driftwood down atm but it will be gone in about 3 weeks when the wood can stay there by its self, thx again for the advice i already feel it made my fish happier there zooming all over the place since they have alot more room without all the rocks in there =) anyways ill put up another pic as soon as i can , thx again u guys =) 
xXDocXx


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

You could still have rocks in your aquascape, just try to stay away from all different colors. Another thing I just learned is that you should have smaller leaved plants in the back and larger leaved plants in the front. Also remember, all that matters is how you like it. So its up to you on how you want to design your aquascape. Going back to inproving your aquascape, I am looking forward to see the outcome. 

-Ian


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## murdocmason (Aug 17, 2009)

kinda an update well more like a total rescape and overall design =) but now im having issues with a murky water anyways heres the parameters as of monday, also after measuring the tank i figured out it is actually a 25 gal either standard or tall cant really tell,

Tank size 25 gal

Nitrate/NO3==0-5 ppm

Nitrite/NO2==.3

Ammonia/NH3 & NH4==0

pH==7.0

kH==5 degrees

gH==180

Carbon source ==DIY cO2 1 gallon jug @ 1bblps @ 15 ppm

Phosphate/PO4==0

Iron/Fe==0-0.1

Ave Temp.==79F

Filtration==HOB whisper 400 series filter no carbon

Light==Coralife 65w 50/50,10k bulb on for about 12 hours a day also recieves some natural sunlight early morning approx. 6-8 am

No special substrate,river sand

Ferts==Seachem flourish, flourish tabs

about 20 in of fish

Feeding is light about a pinch of flake food and about 3ml worth of tubifex worms 'live' with once a week treat of frozen mysis shrimp but since the cloudyness i've stopped serving frozen food and am sticking to flake or live, also if any hits the substrate the khuli loaches snatch it up quick like,the amano shrimp take care of alot of floating debris or food so i dont really have a leftover food problem, also no dead fish, water parameters are in the good range not out of control high or anything, the tank is about 6 months old as a planted but as a fw fish tank i had it up and running for about a year and a half so its more then cycled it basically has its own ecosystem lol j/k but heres the winger when i wake up at about 530 am the tank water is about 90% crystal clear by about 3-5 pm the water is a murky cloudy color not green and not really brown kinda of a mix between but its only like that after the morning even if the light is off lol although it does recieve minimal amounts of natural light throughout the day due to a window being near so ill put up a curtain and try to get rid of the daytime light all together also I'm going to try some willow branches, generally i can diagnose and cure my own tank problems but this one baffles me #-o so i figured id share it  any thoughts or cures or just advice would be greatly appreaciated thx 
again Doc Mason



another photo a little while later in the week with the willow branches in, i also changed my CO2 diffusion method now its hooked up to the powerhead flow side not the intake i didnt like the sound it made


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

WOW  amazing job! I really don't know enough about how to treat murkey water, but water changes more often may help.
-Ian


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## murdocmason (Aug 17, 2009)

thx ian although im a complete newb lol im definately learning from reading through these forum posts and watching others tanks, as for the water well hopefully the willow branches work other then the water being cloudy its finally starting to fill in =) ill update again soon


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## murdocmason (Aug 17, 2009)

so no one else to chime in huh??


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

murdocmason said:


> ok so i replanted everything lol my design is gonna be after the triangle one also got a powerhead for the DIY Co2 still no ferts but my nitrites are lowering now i think they were really high cause i took the test right after the plants were panted not thinking about whats in my substrate so im gonna let everything calm down then take the tests again this evening also i took out all the rocks i could there is still one holding the driftwood down atm but it will be gone in about 3 weeks when the wood can stay there by its self, thx again for the advice i already feel it made my fish happier there zooming all over the place since they have alot more room without all the rocks in there =) anyways ill put up another pic as soon as i can , thx again u guys =)
> xXDocXx


Any angle line created dynamics, basic art was applied to all layout design. Got any pics of your new layout?


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

murdocmason said:


> kinda an update well more like a total rescape and overall design =) but now im having issues with a murky water anyways heres the parameters as of monday, also after measuring the tank i figured out it is actually a 25 gal either standard or tall cant really tell,
> 
> Tank size 25 gal
> 
> ...


all the numbers looks pretty good. But that branches does not looks so nature like that... where you get those? they do not looks like dirftwood kind...


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## murdocmason (Aug 17, 2009)

those were branches from a willow tree i was trying something to clear up the water a bit it kinda worked but i figured I could rule other things out before i start adding new things into my already established system and throw it out of whack by adding new stuff also ill get new pics asap


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## WARMACHINE (Sep 15, 2009)

Hello all

I can use your wisdom to help my process along, I got two Fire Belly toads for my little girl and I wanted to add live plants along with a waterfall. 

I have a 10 gallon tank and I wanted to do 50% water. So plants for both land and water.

What do you recommend I do for filter?

What plants should I plant?

How many?

What about making a home made water fountain?

Thank you for your expertise!


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