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Getting somwhere? pic updates

Re: mossed it up!

jalexst said:
Looking good :thumbup: Really like the 360 degree idea too!

I have best results when the moss peices are quite small (as apposed to sheets) and tied on with lots of thread, round and round. When it is in small bits i find it grows more evenly.

Your wood looks great, looking forward to seeing the moss!

thanks bud :)
Most of the bits i put in were very small cause of the way i attached them ... with any luck it sounds like that could work to my advantage. will put a couple of pics up this weekend. My biggest problem now is wanting to change something every five seconds :lol:
 
mossed it up!

Im new to planted tanks as well and have found a tip on here useful, very fine mesh hair netting works really well with moss if your tying long strips of it on. £1.00 for 2 nets at boots, you literally can't see it in the tank and it holds it all in place. Just cut a strip off, stretch it over the moss and tie with cotton, works on stones as well.
 
Re: mossed it up!

johnjo said:
Im new to planted tanks as well and have found a tip on here useful, very fine mesh hair netting works really well with moss if your tying long strips of it on. £1.00 for 2 nets at boots, you literally can't see it in the tank and it holds it all in place. Just cut a strip off, stretch it over the moss and tie with cotton, works on stones as well.
cool thanks for that ... gonna see how what i have put in gets on, then add some more.
 
Re: Back to day one!!

After doing some much needed research ... maybe 2 months to late :)
and with some help from some kind people on here, i have come to realise my desire to run a low tech tank was being hampered by my lack of no how.
No more weekly 50% water changes for a start .. plus if im relying on my fish waiste and food to keep my plants going then maybe i need some more fish?

currently i have
2 clown loaches
2 ancistrus
10 banded barbs
1 angel
1 bush fish
4 sterbai corys

does this sound like enough fish for a med to heavy planted 300ltre tank?
If not? any suggestions for a nice shoaling fish would be welcome

thanks dave (the slightly better educated and definately more confused newb)
 
Back to day one!!

If you've got good enough filtration, enough oxygen and keep on top of maintenance reckon you could get a lot more fish in 300litres no problem. If it was me I'd look to get more Corys (min 6, pref more), probably a decent school of small dither fish to contrast the barbs (not sure how big they are mind you). And possibly more angels, though am not experienced with angels in terms of how easy it is to add new ones to a solo etc etc...
 
Re: Back to day one!!

Calzone said:
If you've got good enough filtration, enough oxygen and keep on top of maintenance reckon you could get a lot more fish in 300litres no problem. If it was me I'd look to get more Corys (min 6, pref more), probably a decent school of small dither fish to contrast the barbs (not sure how big they are mind you). And possibly more angels, though am not experienced with angels in terms of how easy it is to add new ones to a solo etc etc...

sounds good the tank does look pretty empty fish wise as all my current fish stay at the bottom. except the angel which is going to a friend as im hoping to have shrimp soon.
the corys are such entertaining fish and i will definately be getting some more, as to the dither fish i really cant make my mind up :?

hopefully have all the plants in this week and my fish soon, when i can make my mind up!
 
Re: Back to day one!!

Hi :) . This is a very nice journal. I am not sure if I have this right (maybe someone with much better experience could correct me if I am wrong) but I think we should heavily plant our non co2 set ups if we are planning to go the no water change way. I think heavily planted means that if we see our substrate level straight from the top, we should only be able to see 10-15% of the bare substrate area, the rest should be covered with plants.

Somethingfishy, this is only just in case if you had not known this piece of information, Tom Barr also advises a pattern of dosing where you dose very simple ferts once a week for 3 weeks and then not dose for the 4th week and restart weekly dosing for the next consecutive 3 weeks & so on.

For a 20 US gallon tank it's:
1/4 teaspoon Seachem Equilibrium
1/8 th teaspoon KNO3 powder
1/32 teaspoon KH2PO4

Sorry if I yapped too much here. I only intend to inform you of such a regime exists in case you were not familiar with it.
 
Re: Back to day one!!

faizal said:
Hi :) . This is a very nice journal. I am not sure if I have this right (maybe someone with much better experience could correct me if I am wrong) but I think we should heavily plant our non co2 set ups if we are planning to go the no water change way. I think heavily planted means that if we see our substrate level straight from the top, we should only be able to see 10-15% of the bare substrate area, the rest should be covered with plants.

Somethingfishy, this is only just in case if you had not known this piece of information, Tom Barr also advises a pattern of dosing where you dose very simple ferts once a week for 3 weeks and then not dose for the 4th week and restart weekly dosing for the next consecutive 3 weeks & so on.

For a 20 US gallon tank it's:
1/4 teaspoon Seachem Equilibrium
1/8 th teaspoon KNO3 powder
1/32 teaspoon KH2PO4

Sorry if I yapped too much here. I only intend to inform you of such a regime exists in case you were not familiar with it.

thanks for the extra info

i have more plants coming this week and i think i will be at the mid/heavy planted stage, although the wood in my tank makes it hard to judge.
i have been using tnc complete but maybe i should dose according to tom barr no point in ignoring someone who understands alot more than me :)

its a bit daunting not doing a water change but i guess i have to stick with it and see how it goes.
 
Re: Back to day one!!

Thought I would add a pic to help you think about the Congo's. They never get their full colour in the holding tanks and once they get the fin extensions they are lovely. A shoal of these looks amazing some of my males are now 5-6cm. All 21 of mine came from MA scotsdales.

100_0844.jpg


Unfortunately I am limited by my poor camera skills.

Loving the progression of your tank :thumbup:

Andy
 
Re: Back to day one!!

thanks for that Andy

and trust me compared to my camera skills that pics a cracker.
i must admit they do look good but dont tell easerthegeaser i said that :)

where do they tend to swim ? i know that sounds stupid but i would really like
a mid to high level fish.
i had some emperor tetras and i am tempted to go back to them.

cheers dave
 
Re: Back to day one!!

Be careful with the Emperor tetra's I have seen quite a few recently in numerous LFS's and they have had lesions and what look like little worms inside. I have no idea what they are but it seems to be affecting stock.

Congo's tend to stay more upper to middle water level generally. They are higher in the water than when I kept Emperor's.

If your not so sold on this Congo's have you seen the Yellow Tail Congo's? They are a bit different and both Cambridge MA's had them in stock.

Thanks for the compliment.

Andy
 
Re: Back to day one!!

yeah i have not seen a healthy looking emperor tetra for a while

to be honest i think the congo's would suit my tank better and if in your experience they are higher
swimmers then they could be spot on.

how are you getting on with your tiger plecs?
 
Re: Back to day one!!

damm now the best looking thing on my journal are your pics :lol:

really love those little fellas and the chocalate is really very nice
i popped into amwells yesterday but theirs had gone ... probably best as with your advice they
would not of been that happy in my tank ... temptation is a bitch :twisted:
 
Re: Back to day one!!

somethingfishy said:
i have been using tnc complete but maybe i should dose according to tom barr no point in ignoring someone who understands alot more than me :)

:lol: Yeah,...I totally agree

somethingfishy said:
its a bit daunting not doing a water change but i guess i have to stick with it and see how it goes.

I know exactly what you mean , I had the same feeling as well but it appears to do well though from what you hear & read. In my present non co2 tank (which is just 2 weeks old :oops: ) I am doing just about 25% water change weekly
after lights out. I make sure I do the water change at least 12 hours before the lights come back on. If I am not mistaken I remember reading a post where Tom once said that it can still be done (small water changes 20-25% in a non co2 tank) but one should do it after lights out period. I will let you know if anything takes a bad turn in my tank due to these small water changes. My tank is not fully planted as per Tom's advice :oops: but I am getting there. I think I can still see about 40% of the substrate when I look down at it from the top.

Wish you all the best of luck with yours
 
Re: Back to day one!!

Think of the pics as inspiration and then your tank will be great!

That Zebra is out all the time not shy like the others. Bold as brass and she was my 1st plec so I have a bit of a soft spot for her.

Keep working on the tank and post us some new pics soon!

Andy
 
Re: Back to day one!!

Thanks for the encouragment guys
i will be posting some pics this weekend :)

oh on a side note has anyone seen a bleeding heart tetra in the flesh so to speak, they look pretty good in some pics.
 
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