• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Asian Jungle

Joined
9 Jun 2008
Messages
1,126
okay so i decided to stop lurking on the forum and start posting more. what a great time to start my first ever journal and planted tank!

i was going to wait until i got everything sorted like the filter and stuff but i couldn't resist. as i said, this is my first planted tank and it's going to be used for guppy breeding - i'm saving my 72l for when i get the hang of things. i'm aiming for this to be low maintenance as well.

let's have some stats:

tank: 35l (50cm long)
filter: fluval 105 (once i can be bothered to work out how to get it set up)
heater: 50w
lighting: 14w t8
substrate: ada aquasoil malaya on the right for planting and an open area of bright sand on the left
stocking: will be initially three of four guppies and eventually i would like to try my hand at breeding cherry shrimp in this tank aswell
plants: i'm aiming for a sort of 'forest' look, so quite grassy and bushy. i was thinking of rotala green back right, anumbias, moss, narrow fern and bolbitis attatched to the wood and crypts (parva and wendtii towards the back foreground). i would also like to get some hairgrass in somewhere.

anyway, here's what i've come up with:

DSCF0610.jpg


what do you think? as always i'm open to comments, suggestions or just a good chat :D
 
Re: Forest

Hi Thomas,

Looks like the basis for a nice little aquascape. I like the substrate arrangement and the space that will be created on the left. That over hanging branch will look nice covered with dark green moss over the bright substrate, Nice contrast.

Will you add Co2? If not it may be worth considering Flourish Excel or easy carbo. Is the tank an elite style 35?

Nice start to your first journal, do keep us posted :D
 
Re: Forest

Thanks for the comments guys! The tank is indeed an Elite Style 35.

Forgot to say, there won't be any CO2 injection because I don't feel confident enough yet to do so and it wouldn't be too low maintenance. Also, the plants that I have chosen don't really need it I dont think? I am going to use Excel and TPN+ though.

I'm also thinking of getting some floating plants which will protect fry a little more. I know Slavinia Natans and Hydrocotyle Verticilata are both options, but I'm not sure which would be a better choice. Any advice on that would be great.

Thanks again and as always, I'd love to hear what you think!
 
Re: Forest

Nice layout. Should be good :D

I could be talking rubbish, but I think that floating plants with dense roots will be the best choice for the fry to hide in.
I haven't had Salvinia myself, but that looks like it will do the job.

I have Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) for fry to hide in..Looks similar to the salvinia from what I can tell.
Moss is good for harboring microorganisms for the fry to feed off. If there is enough of it they can hide in it as well.
I have some hydrocotle as well. (not for the fry but just to look at!)

I'll happily send you a small amount of each of the above plants. PM me if your interested and we can take if from there. If I don't reply tonight it is becasue I am off to bed any minute soon!
 
Re: Forest

Thanks Matt, I'll keep you in mind. It will be a week or so before I'm ready for any plants anyway.
 
Re: Forest

its gonna be great i threw out a load of java fern narrow about 7-8 rhizoes of it when i rescaped just 2 weeks ago
i would sent for free if i knew earlier
 
Re: Forest

Ark said:
its gonna be great i threw out a load of java fern narrow about 7-8 rhizoes of it when i rescaped just 2 weeks ago
i would sent for free if i knew earlier

ah no, not to worry. i'm sure someone will sort me out with some moss or something.
 
Re: Forest

My order from Aqua Essentials should be here tomorrow with the sand.

I fitted the background earlier and it looks really good. All I've got to do now is get the filter fitted, the sand in and then I'll be ordering some plants!

I'll post some photos tomorrow when the sand is in.
 
Re: Forest

The order just arrived and the sand is already in.

I changed the Fluval 105 for this internal heater/filter combo that i got from AE ages ago. It takes up less space than the fluval intake/outakes do! It just seemed way too big for the tank to be honest.

The only thing to do now is get the plants in! I'll be doing that next week probably from aqua essentials or the green machine (haven't ordered from them before).

Here's what i'm gonna get:

1 Narrow Java Fern
2 Rotala green
3 Crypt. parva

I know it isn't alot but I think it's enough for now. I'll also be looking for some moss for the branches.

I'll post some photos later today.
 
Re: Forest

Hey nice work, loving the design, im actually doing a very similar rescape on my rio 180 which has been delayed by about 2 months. I would maybe put some more plants in there. Lets see some more pics with the sand in. Cheers.
 
Re: Forest

Yeah, I know it's not really enough. I'll probably end up getting another fern, some anubias and god knows what else!

Anyway, heres the photo as primised. It's not great but you get the idea. :D

DSCF0611.jpg


I'm really pleased with the Bright Sand actually, it's got just the look I was after. I've added a small rock to the front too since last time.

I was thinking of having a small sand foreground round the front of the wood and rocks but i think it would too over the top and not allow enough planting space.

I know the filter/heater looks pretty big but in the long run it isn't that bad - it gives me more planting space round the back where the heater and inlet/outlet was. Plus there will be a black background so it will blend in and also some floating plants around that area. You won't be able to notice it that much.

Comments and critics are more than welcome as you know :D
 
Re: Forest

How big is the tank, i've got a Ehiem 2224 that would fit the bill ;)
Selling aside, lovely tank, I'd stagger the join between the sand and the soil though, so you have a more diagonal split between the sand and soil.
 
Re: Forest

Tanks 35l. Thanks for the offer, but I've had enough of chopping and changing filters for now! I'll see how this one goes for now.

Regarding the sand, I was thinking that too. It sort of goes around in a semi circle which you can't really see from the photo, but I didn't bother making it too neat because I can always make different shapes and borders when planting.

Thanks again
 
Re: Forest

Just thought I'd give an update. I did take a photo but then my camer run out of battery and I'm too lazy to charge it for now.

I've added the background again because last time I rushed it, didn't do it properly and it looked crap. So now that's looking good.

I've also finally gone mad and have covered the redmoor wood in rocks tied on with string to prevent it from floating when the tank is full but I'm not convinced it will stay in place... I'll just have to hope (keep your fingers crossed!). It would be such a disaster if it floated. I would literally cry! :D

I might also be a naughty boy and order plants tomorrow. I've decided on the final planting ideas.

Here goes:

2 pots Rotala Green (to be planted back right)
2 pots Narrow Java Fern (to be attatched to the main structure of wood.
2 pots Crypt Wendtii (for the back midground, just in front of the rotala and where the ferns will be attatched)
2 pots echinodourus tennelus (to mingle with the wendtii)
3 pots crypt parva (for the very front midground)
1 pot anubias (for the front of the redmoor)

that's it. i might not get the parva or tennelus because AE don't sell parva and they are out of tennelus. I'll probably get that fron TGM next week sometine.

I need to get a plant sorted for behind the wood. I might just get some more totala and wendtii/tenellus for there but not sure as yet. Suggestions welcome. I've also posted in the swap shop for moss but nobody seems to have any going?

Just a question too: I know to plant first, then fill the tank and I guess it will go a little bit cloudy? is it a good idea to run the filter when it's cloudy or will it just muck it up?

If you've got any advice, whatnot then that'd be great! :D
 
Re: Forest

I was indeed very naughty and ordered the plants from AE late yester day eventing so they should be here tomorrow (express delivery rules)! This is what I got:

2 Rotala Green
2 Narrow Java Fern
2 Crypt Wendtii Green

I know it isn't really enough but I'll be ordering this from TGM next week sometime:

1 Bolbitis
1 Anubias
3 Crypt Parva
2 E. Tennelus

Expect photos tomorrow evening! :D I just hope the redmoor doesn't start misbehaving.
 
Re: Forest

I could have given you 4 of the plants on your list for postage if you'd have said you wanted them this time last week lol.
 
Re: Forest

Garuf said:
I could have given you 4 of the plants on your list for postage if you'd have said you wanted them this time last week lol.

Ah that's a bummer. I did think to post in the shop section but I don't really see many planted advertised there nowadays so I just thought nobody had anything to give. :D Oh well, there's always next time.
 
Re: Forest

Thomas McMillan said:
Just a question too: I know to plant first, then fill the tank and I guess it will go a little bit cloudy? is it a good idea to run the filter when it's cloudy or will it just muck it up?

If you've got any advice, whatnot then that'd be great! :D

I don't know what the recommended best practice is, but I do know that I would definitely just leave the filter running whenever I can. It should help clear the cloudiness thay little bit quicker :) The fine particles won;t do much in terms of blocking the filter, and even if they do it justs means you'll need to clean it out a little bit quicker :)
 
Re: Forest

Woo! The plants came and I've had a fun filled afternoon of planting.

I split the Rotala up and planted that a bit. It was so short! It's only about 5cm or something and there wasn't that much of it so I think I'll have to get a bit more of that, but I'll let what I've got settle first. The Wendtii was a lot bigger than I anticipated, but not to worry. I split that up and there was loads of it. In fact, some is floating in a breeding net because I don't really know where to put it for now (well I do, but it's just a bit of a fiddle getting there). It was so stressful using the tweesers to plant it! There must be something to it because whenever I pulled the tweesers out the bloody plant came with them but I sort of got the hang of it by the end. I don't know how you cope with stuff like HC and Glosso! The Narrow Ferns were perfect, it was quite large so I split it into two.

Next week I'll be getting some C Parva for the foreground, about three pots should be more than enough I think. I'd rather have some to spare than not enough. I'll probably get another two pots of Rotala as well and a pot of Anubias, there's some nice nooks and crannies that I formed to stick that in. Then I'll just let it grow a bit, and look for a background plant in the meantine (someting to go in the massive gap right behind the wood - the Rotala will fill some of it but there will still be a lot of space left).

Luckily the wood didn't float either! I was so nervous while filling the tank, but it's fine. I even took some of the rocks off that I tied to it to prevent it from floating because it was so sturdy.

Thanks for the reply matt. I've kept the filter on because the water is just slightly cloudy rather than dirty which is what I thought. It's clearing a little but I might do a water change tomorrow to help it on it's way and get the cycle going a bit.

Anyway, I don't think I've done too bad so far for my first planted tank and the tank itself isn't looking abd at all IMO. I don't know what the experts will make of it but there'll be photos tomorrow as I said so you can see for yourself. :D

Nots to self: cut down on rambling (sorry for all of the long posts!)
 
Back
Top