• 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

Budget Nature Box

Henry

Henry

Member
Joined
20 Mar 2013
Messages
899
Location
Salford
Having spent a while messing around with different configurations of CO2, lights, ferts etc, I thought I'd have a go at trying things by the book. With so little money to spare (student), I have used whatever plants I had knocking around in other tanks, even if it meant using unhealthy specimens.

Specs are;

Tank: Arcadia Arc 35.
Lights: Boyu 3 x 8w T5 (8hrs/day).
CO2: 5kg Fire Extinguisher to Fluval ceramic diffuser.
Substrate: AquaSoil (pond stuff), Fine moler clay, Miracle Gro Slow Release Fertiliser
Ferts: EI dosing.

Plants: Hygrophila polysperma
Hygrophila corymbosa "Compact"
Hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"
Myriophyllum mattogrossense
Hydrocotyl verticillata
Hydrocotyl "Japan"
Hydocotyl leucocephala
Blyxa japonica
Alternanthera reineckii
Ranunculus inundatus
Cryptocoryne wendtii "green"
Cryptocoryne balensae
Cryptocoryne parva
Glossostigma elatenoides

A lot of those plants aren't currently showing, as they were just floating bits that were added to my bag from the shop, but I'm hoping they'll grow and fill out. Looks a little sparse at the moment, but everything is cranked, so fingers crossed!

Phone pics, sorry guys:

20131119_150844_zpsa6a17774.jpg
 
Thanks :) I'm slowly learning how to construct a good scape. Just want it to fill out and see how it matures.

nanocube, I'll get some more pics as soon as I can borrow my housemates DSLR. Proper snaps coming soon...
 
Thanks so much guys :)

I've been wondering about stock; currently the only occupants are stowaway snails. I considered some Sparkling Gouramis, but I'm not sure how they'd feel about the strong flow. I'd much rather have a pair or small harem of something than a school of Rasboras etc, though. Some cherries to help with clean-up will be first in, but for now, it's CO2 blitzkrieg!
 
Michael W said:
Screaming Scarlet Badis!
Click to expand...


I'd love some, but I'm paranoid about them. I was mis-sold some in the past; the male got to 4" and ate everything it could fit in it's mouth. Eventually, it took on a shrimp so large I had to get the tweezers out :confused: God knows who it's terrorising now.
 
Henry said:
I'd love some, but I'm paranoid about them. I was mis-sold some in the past; the male got to 4" and ate everything it could fit in it's mouth. Eventually, it took on a shrimp so large I had to get the tweezers out :confused: God knows who it's terrorising now.
Click to expand...
Could have been Badis Assamensis?
Very nice looking setup.
 
Hi, thats a nice looking litlle skape. Go for micro rasboras and dwarf corys or ottos. They will fit into those forest skape, I think. And also to the tank size as well.:thumbup:
 
OllieNZ said:
Could have been Badis Assamensis?
Very nice looking setup.
Click to expand...

I think it was. Here's the bugger

20130613_221501_zpsbec3f726.jpg

clone said:
Hi, thats a nice looking litlle skape. Go for micro rasboras and dwarf corys or ottos. They will fit into those forest skape, I think. And also to the tank size as well.:thumbup:
Click to expand...


I was thinking I might get Microrasboras, but I like the idea of a breeding pair of something. I wish there was a cichlid small enough for this size tank.
 
You could try Neolamprologus Brevis. They recommend a pair for a 10 usgal and you're only just shy of that Neolamprologus brevis
 
Dario or any of the boraras will not like high flow. microrabora rubescens is a contender though- but not in acidic water
 
They're fans of hard water though, and shell dwellers. I had a massive harem of N. multifasciatus and they were excellent fish, but not really suited to this tank.
 
I kept and bred them in my tap water which admittedly is pretty hard. Behaviorly they are very different to multies and ideal for a planted tank. They also make great tankmates to anything non cichlid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top