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Something in between.

BexM

Member
Joined
4 Jan 2015
Messages
127
Location
Peterborough
HI, I've not been on the forum for a while. My 49 gallon planted tank has been sucking for quite some time now. I've had various problems, some success here and there and to be honest had become very disheartened with this hobby. I have been just running the tank and neglecting the plant side of things.

That was until the other day, I was in my local LFS and I saw this.

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They never have wood this large or impressive and I snapped it up straight away.

This is my tank at the moment. It's tall but it has two 24w t5ho's with added reflector, they dont span the whole length of the tank but they seem to work well. I think it's low-med light but I may be wrong.
http://www.waterzoo.co.uk/Aquatlantis-U49

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It's a bit of a mess, the background is comming away and is all discoloured. The plants are a state and covered with various algae. The soil cap doesn't seem to keep the soil in and the water always looks dirty, it's the wrong soil and cap for my hard water...... etc.

Anyway, my plan is to strip it down and start all over again using this thread as a guide.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-soil-substrate-or-dirted-planted-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/
I hope I can get it right this time and achieve my dream scape.
 
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plants I'm going to keep:
Crypt lucens
Crypt undulata (maybe, they are really big and I'm not sure what to do with them yet)
Anubias barteri
Anubias nana
echinodorus ozelot....maybe.

plants I'm going to add:
Crypt balansae
echinodorus tenellus
bucephalandra deep purple
Microsorum pteropus "narrow leaf"
and some java moss
 
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Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated by they way.
 
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If your doing low tech then removing the reflectors might be a good idea. you may want to dose some liquid carbon because those lights might be a little much for a low tech . You might want to add some floating plants too, to reduce light further too.

Thank you, yes I was wondering about that. I was worried the light wouldn't reach the bottom because it's 29" deep. I will remove them and get some duck weed then. I'm hoping to avoid adding liquid carbon or co2 if I can help it. Been down that road already and I'd like to keep it simple this time.
 
I've got my peat moss, aquatic soil and netting to use as a soil retainer. also found 5 nice slate rocks at my garden centre which should look nice with the new gravel.
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plants have been ordered and the wood is soaking. I'm really taking my time instead of rushing it. I may try to mock up the hardscape outside of the tank so I know where to put everything when it comes especially to it so the fish will have minimal time in the holding tub.
 
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If you are prepared to take your time then perhaps consider a dry start.
I would love to try a dry start but the fish and plants will have to go into a big tub in the living room so the actual task of tearing down the tank and rescaping will need to be done ASAP or my three year old will be trying to get in there with them, but I am planning and researching this time though. I usually I just throw stuff in there and see how it goes.

I thinking about pouring some gravel in a big tray so I can mess around with the rocks and get an idea of where they will look best. I'm a bit nervous of putting them in there in case I drop one and crack the tank has anyone ever done that?
 
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Once swung open the patio door too hard,and door knob broke the glass on aquarium just behind the door in a corner .
I moved the replacement aquarium to better/safer location.
Have also cut cardboard template same size as bottom diameter of the tank and placed the template on a table at eye level.
Can then arrange the rocks /wood and see what it might look like while seated across from the table.
 
The Bucephalandra deep purple came!! it's in vitro grown so it's really tiny! I've glued them to some small pieces of slate so I can arrange then when I get round to rescaping the tank.
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The echinodorus tenellus also came in, it's been separated and popped in the gravel. It will have to be replanted in a few days but I didn't want to leave it in the bag for too long. I thought the in vitro plants would come in their cups so I could leave them in there for a few days.

I've also attached the java moss and narrow leaf java fern to the wood. you can see some white glue here and there :nailbiting: I hope the moss will cover it over.
 
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OK, layout so far. what do you guys think?
do you think the wood needs to move over to the left. will be planting tall plants behind it.
 

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oh man :dead: it's nearly 2:00 am and I'm only just finished. A few bits and bobs need moving around but I'm too tired to do it now. Fish, shrimp and snails are all back home. It looks really sparse! Now to wait for my floaters and see if I have the patience to let grow in slowly.

I've pulled out a ton of big crypt undulate. I might see if my nan would like them for her tank.
 
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All planted, I'm going to order more crypt lucens, C. walkeri and E. tenellus because it's looking very sparse at the the moment.

Please excuse the mass of floating plants. I need to take them to my Nan's. I also need to learn how to take better photos with my phone.
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