Redoing my 10g-Natural Planted

[pokefan]

I figure I'll post a journal here so I can keep everything together and hopefully get some insight to what I need to do better.

I acquired this tank from a friend and it came with everything so the decorations are mostly what I was given. I hate it and think it looks tacky so I want to go with something that has a bit more natural feel. So here we go.

This is pretty much how it came to me, I added the tree on the left to get rid of some crazy castle thing that was in it. Don't judge the dirty tanks these were mostly taken after cleanup and WC's!



A night shot - At this time I took out the fake plant in the front and got this from PetCo. Yea this was an impulse buy before I started researching so I honestly don't know kind of plant it is but I do know that somehow it's still alive.


And then we come to today - I'm starting in on getting this planted with a light upgrade. These are the simple GE daylight 10w 6500k lights from walmart

I can't believe the difference a simple light can make!

A couple better pics of the plant that's currently in there and some of my inhabitants!




If anyone knows what the plant is please let me know.

I'm starting this project off with a new filter and lights. I should be getting the filter in a couple days. After I get the filter up to par I'm going to start with the planting. As far as plant selection I think I'm going to go with, Anacharis for a good background plant, Java moss for a bit of a carpet, and Dwarf Sagittaria to scatter through out the decorations to give a little bit of variance.

I'll keep this for reference too, this was my original inspiration for the look. I want to keep one side of this a bit more open for my Corys to have some sand to dig into and play and the other side more planted for the Gold barbs to run around and hide in.

[trashion]

Looks to me like Anubias barteri. Needs to be tied to a rock or some other decor. Good luck with the conversion!

[pokefan]

Thanks Trashion!

Originally Posted by trashion

Looks to me like Anubias barteri. Needs to be tied to a rock or some other decor.

Really?
It very clearly had roots how would these attach to decor?

[trashion]

They grow into it, so to speak, and stick to it. It's pretty cool, actually. But what you can do is just plant the roots, and make sure the hard, stem-like part(rhizome) is above the gravel. If it's below it, it will rot.

[pokefan]

Is the "stem" hard? These didn't have a hard piece to them it's all very flexible. And I'm by no means saying your wrong just want to make sure it's the same plant.

[trashion]

No, no. If you look at the roots, in the center there should be a brownish, hard thing. Right now it's under the gravel. That's the rhizome.

Btw, I think you have anubias nana, not barteri, but yeah-same thing. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...i_var_nana.jpg

[Obsidian]

LOL I just figured out how I killed off a plant I was trying to get to root in water (Mom always managed to save plants this way, thought I would try). I had put the rhizome in there (not knowing what it was or that it was not to be under water) darn thing liquified and I always wondered why!

The good news is that I saved the plant anyway, just not that one part.

[pokefan]

Finally found a shop with Anacharis! I got rid of the silly pink tree and went ahead and planted it. Though it wasn't looking to healthy it's starting to perk up a little. The fish took to it instantly! They absolutely love it, I have a feeling this tank is going to be a lot more active when it's completely planted. I think I know why everyone loves a planted tank so much!

Anacharis planted


And for a bit more help here is the roots of the other plant. I'm sorry I know the pictures are a little blurry so I may need to get better ones later but here they are.

Do you see the rhizome?



I think I kind of see it in this one if I'm looking for the right thing. Is it there in the middle the obviously thicker piece? It's hard to see and not brown but I think that's it. If so will it be ok to just float this until I get whatever I put in to anchor it to?

I wish my filter would hurry up and get here so I can get it up and going and get rid of this stupid "Clown Puke"!!

[trashion]

Yup, thats the rhizome. Sure, you can float it. BTW, you need to plant the anacharis stems separately, like, an inch apart.

[pokefan]

Geez, I'll get something right eventually!

I was told that anacharis is to be planted in bunches. Apparently I was told wrong!

This sight has some great info if anyone is interested. LINK

[pokefan]

It amazes me how fast fish will warm up to the people that feed them everyday. They practically swim into my hand when I'm in there messing with stuff.

Changed it up a bit:

[Ricker]

sweet tank. It even looks good with the neon gravel. ya I have that same plant I hope it grows good I got it in some rocks cause it poor little roots got ate by a fish. Then the died :

[CaysE]

My suggestion is to use something else for a carpeting plant. Java Moss will just grow out in all directions... it's capable of just filling the tank if left alone.

[pokefan]

Originally Posted by CaysE

My suggestion is to use something else for a carpeting plant. Java Moss will just grow out in all directions... it's capable of just filling the tank if left alone.

I was just rethinking this last night and didn't feel like getting back on to ask. Not necessarily because of the grow out which is a good point I hadn't thought of, but because I want something that will root more. So I've looked around and came up with a list that may work. If anyone has suggestions to these or any to add please let me know.

Marsilea quadrifolia
Marsilea minuta and HERE
Eleocharis acicularis?
Hemianthus Callitrichoides

Little rant:
I can not for the life of me find a good piece of driftwood for this tank! Anyone out there have some they want to get rid of?

[pokefan]

Got my filter in the mail today and got it all set up and running. I put the old media from my other filter in there with it so everything stays stable.

I'll give it a week or two then add the new substrate and deco!! I'm getting excited!

[CaysE]

Marsilea minuta sounds pretty interesting. I've never used it but it sounds promising if it is hardy and tolerates low light.

HC is a pain without high light, and good CO2.

[Ricker]

here if you don't mind buying drift wood on line then this is a good link. The other day I seen a piece go that was 15-20" go for 69 bucks at LFS here 12.99

https://www.petsolutions.com/Malaysi...70+C10164.aspx

[pokefan]

Originally Posted by CaysE

Marsilea minuta sounds pretty interesting. I've never used it but it sounds promising if it is hardy and tolerates low light.

HC is a pain without high light, and good CO2.

Yea, I've mostly seen that HC is high light and CO2 but came across a couple of places that said it was doable in low light. That's pretty much last on the list though. Most likely unless someone else chimes in I'll go with the Minuta. If I could somehow lure JOM in here I'd probably be set!

Originally Posted by Ricker

here if you don't mind buying drift wood on line then this is a good link.

Thanks Ricker, I finally found a decent lot on ebay for about $10 shipped with about 40 pieces. I figure I'll pick out what I want and sale the rest!

[Ricker]

OK no problem ya I am going to go up to the creek/river when I feel better to go get river rock and try adn find driftwood.

[pokefan]

Got a few good pics tonight so I thought I'd share. You can see in these pics the anacharis is really looking better too. When I got them only two of the stems had the dark green color to them. Now 6 are turning a really nice looking green!



I couldn't believe all of them lined up for this one shot! I even got one of the Corys in there as well.


Enjoy!