Scmelik
New Member
Hey everyone thought I would finally get around to introducing myself.
I’m Scott, for all practical purposes I am brand new to aquariums and aquascaping. I got started on this journey about two years ago when we were given a 29 gallon setup from a friend of ours. We decided that we would give it to our 11 year old daughter for Christmas and told her that it could be any type of tank she wanted (fresh, salt, planted, non-planted). As expected a 11 year old girl wanted flashy and colorful so she picked a freshwater non planted tank.
Fast forward about 8 months and we decided to do a pretty major remodel of our basement. I had tried to prepare the tank as best as I could prior to starting the basement work. However, because I am as amateur at construction as I am at aquarium keeping the remodel took way longer than expected (still not done but that’s another story) and I realized one night how bad the tank was struggling. Knowing full well I couldn’t give it the attention it needed while the basement was in disarray, I ran to the LFS and grab a small 5 gallon tank some Fluval Stratum, a pot of dwarf hair grass, some stems of Ludgwida Repens, an anubius nana and a piece of driftwood. I slapped the scape together one night and put the tank on my daughters dresser. This was my first foray into the planted tank world. For the most part things went really well and the tank grow like crazy. The stocking of the tank was not good and the inhabitants were not happy with their living conditions.
Fast forward another few months, a long lucrative work trip and what felt like a TON of research I decided that the 5 gallon wasn’t good enough so the plan was in place to redo the 29 gallon into a fully planted high tech semi biotop style tank. Unfortunately my green thumb from the success of the 5 gallon did not transfer over and the addition of C02, high lighting, what I felt was nutrient rich substrate (organic potting soil) and a fertilizer regime that I did not research thoroughly enough, has brought me on the discovery of this group.
So I am happy to be here and hopefully I will be able to learn from y’all and get a tank that is finally looking as beautiful as I intend and something that I can sit in my easy chair and admire for a few years (until I get antsy and want to rescape it.
I’m Scott, for all practical purposes I am brand new to aquariums and aquascaping. I got started on this journey about two years ago when we were given a 29 gallon setup from a friend of ours. We decided that we would give it to our 11 year old daughter for Christmas and told her that it could be any type of tank she wanted (fresh, salt, planted, non-planted). As expected a 11 year old girl wanted flashy and colorful so she picked a freshwater non planted tank.
Fast forward about 8 months and we decided to do a pretty major remodel of our basement. I had tried to prepare the tank as best as I could prior to starting the basement work. However, because I am as amateur at construction as I am at aquarium keeping the remodel took way longer than expected (still not done but that’s another story) and I realized one night how bad the tank was struggling. Knowing full well I couldn’t give it the attention it needed while the basement was in disarray, I ran to the LFS and grab a small 5 gallon tank some Fluval Stratum, a pot of dwarf hair grass, some stems of Ludgwida Repens, an anubius nana and a piece of driftwood. I slapped the scape together one night and put the tank on my daughters dresser. This was my first foray into the planted tank world. For the most part things went really well and the tank grow like crazy. The stocking of the tank was not good and the inhabitants were not happy with their living conditions.
Fast forward another few months, a long lucrative work trip and what felt like a TON of research I decided that the 5 gallon wasn’t good enough so the plan was in place to redo the 29 gallon into a fully planted high tech semi biotop style tank. Unfortunately my green thumb from the success of the 5 gallon did not transfer over and the addition of C02, high lighting, what I felt was nutrient rich substrate (organic potting soil) and a fertilizer regime that I did not research thoroughly enough, has brought me on the discovery of this group.
So I am happy to be here and hopefully I will be able to learn from y’all and get a tank that is finally looking as beautiful as I intend and something that I can sit in my easy chair and admire for a few years (until I get antsy and want to rescape it.
