Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Hello!
I was cruising around the forum full-ghost mode and some of the functions are for members only. So I said why not and registered, might as well also share some info on my current only tank.
I am about to rescape a bigger build, which shall be the subject of a later thread, perhaps. For now, we have this small 25 liter tank, with a dirted substrate. Some time ago, it looked like this.
Needless to say, it was not the prettiest of tanks. The fish you see there is a small betta I had removed from the 90 liter aquarium for fin-nipping, it went back there eventually and this was left utterly barren for the better part of a year. Then I said you know what, I'll give it some love. It's dirted, all we need is to plant it. So I went out and sought some plants out. And these are all the plants collected.
I gave myself a few weeks of trial and error (which, to a certain level, continues to this day) to see which plants grew best, and if they were even aquatic. Most of them were. The first thing I added was some peace lilies. I was unsure as to how to plant them, at first. This was a decidedly... unintelligent idea. I can't remember what the purple plant's name was, it did not work. It's a really common houseplant though.
Then came the next iteration: lilies in the sides, and we begin the actual planting process. Also, the filter was dumped. I left the pump with some filter media in a rock cranny, so that the bacteria could help the plants as they started processing ammonia, but gradually I wanted to remove it so that I did not have any nitrite problems. Monte Carlo, Echinodorus, some Alternantheras, and some sad Vals a guy sold me. They're bouncing back now, but he gave them to me in a bombed state. There's a Jacarandá pod, to make things interesting and grow some mulmy gunk for critters to feed on, and a dead shell (NO LIVE THINGS YET).
The Monte Carlo did not pan out, and this is when I went out and did the first big plant collection.
This sort of gave the tank its first "decent" look, and I kept it like this for a few weeks. Also, I added at this point some Jenynsia Lineata schooling fish, more dead shells, a Quebracho log and some wild shrimp.
Finally, I added more wood to the tank, and even more species of plants. I suppose the next few months we will see if there is significant allelopathy between any particular species, and watch how their competition unfolds. Last pic (more plants, more logs, less rocks, more shells) and a short video I did before adding the last batch of plants.
Hope you enjoyed the read! Cheers.
I was cruising around the forum full-ghost mode and some of the functions are for members only. So I said why not and registered, might as well also share some info on my current only tank.
I am about to rescape a bigger build, which shall be the subject of a later thread, perhaps. For now, we have this small 25 liter tank, with a dirted substrate. Some time ago, it looked like this.
Needless to say, it was not the prettiest of tanks. The fish you see there is a small betta I had removed from the 90 liter aquarium for fin-nipping, it went back there eventually and this was left utterly barren for the better part of a year. Then I said you know what, I'll give it some love. It's dirted, all we need is to plant it. So I went out and sought some plants out. And these are all the plants collected.
I gave myself a few weeks of trial and error (which, to a certain level, continues to this day) to see which plants grew best, and if they were even aquatic. Most of them were. The first thing I added was some peace lilies. I was unsure as to how to plant them, at first. This was a decidedly... unintelligent idea. I can't remember what the purple plant's name was, it did not work. It's a really common houseplant though.
Then came the next iteration: lilies in the sides, and we begin the actual planting process. Also, the filter was dumped. I left the pump with some filter media in a rock cranny, so that the bacteria could help the plants as they started processing ammonia, but gradually I wanted to remove it so that I did not have any nitrite problems. Monte Carlo, Echinodorus, some Alternantheras, and some sad Vals a guy sold me. They're bouncing back now, but he gave them to me in a bombed state. There's a Jacarandá pod, to make things interesting and grow some mulmy gunk for critters to feed on, and a dead shell (NO LIVE THINGS YET).
The Monte Carlo did not pan out, and this is when I went out and did the first big plant collection.
This sort of gave the tank its first "decent" look, and I kept it like this for a few weeks. Also, I added at this point some Jenynsia Lineata schooling fish, more dead shells, a Quebracho log and some wild shrimp.
Finally, I added more wood to the tank, and even more species of plants. I suppose the next few months we will see if there is significant allelopathy between any particular species, and watch how their competition unfolds. Last pic (more plants, more logs, less rocks, more shells) and a short video I did before adding the last batch of plants.
Hope you enjoyed the read! Cheers.
