Planted tank journal (10G Hex)

[MrJG]

Now that the lighting on this tank has been upgraded its time to start planting some new plants.

I jacked most of this stuff from the "rate my tank" forum just to keep the specs and all here. I really hope this isn't considered cross posting...

Tank info updated on page 5 post #38.

If you'd like to check out the current pics of the tank they are here:
10G Hex Planted Betta Community

If you notice between that post and this one that I've gotten rid of the Zebras and added in more tetras and another rasbora. I finally got around to searching for a semi-local fish store and ended up finding a really nice one about an hour away from my place... snagged the new fish there today and these...

After boiling them for ~1 hour

Possible configuration but haven't really decided how its going to go in yet. Trying to make sure that the shrimp have hiding places and the betta has a cave to sleep in.


They are being soaked in a bucket for the next few days... now its just time to decide what kind of moss/plants need to go back in the tank.
Going to keep everything thats in there already sans the mondo grass.

Look for updates fairly soon...

[MrJG]

So woke up sunday morning and to my surprise after soaking all night the bucket was almost completely clear. Decided just to boil them (again) for another hour each with not very much of the tannins coming out during that.

Went through the process of setting them up in different configurations on a table next to the tank. Making sure that each of them would even fit the tank. Is it just me or does something like this literally take hours/days to decide? It took me almost 1.5 hours to just decide on which pieces to take from the store. :-/ After much thought the decision was final and I pulled the old ornament did a quick gravel sweep to pull about a gallon of water out to make room. Added in the driftwood pieces and it barely fit (there are 2 - 1 inch sections that I'm not going to be able to fit a mag float around). I can't believe what a difference in the look of the tank it has made. I'll try to get some pics up this week sometime.

So now its time to plant shop. Already got the wysteria and java fern for the back wall so that takes any larger background kinda plants out of the equation. At this point I'm thinking this...

The way the driftwood sits there is a nice tray that might be perfect for an Anubias Barteri petite. Either java moss, taiwan moss, or Fissidens spontanus for the extending driftwood pieces. Then pulling out the mondo grass and just adding a few marimo balls to sit on the substrate. I think without higher lighting and CO2 that I would be hoping for too much to try glosso or HC right?

Lighting is 1.8wpg on for 7 hours daily, lunar light rest of the time.
Adding 1ml of flourish and excel every other day.
Everything is growing nicely and there is even a fresh growth of wysteria at substrate level (will get a pic of that too) and surprisingly I can actually see growth on the java fern already.

cheers.

[VirgoWolf]

Wow, sorry, I can't really answer your questions as I am just getting into planted tanks myself. I just love this tank, this is exactly what I want for my betta or maybe even the Galaxy Rasboras, although I think they would appreciate a longer tank,... anyway, back to the topic at hand...

I love the driftwood pieces you chose, one piece of advice though, make sure all the edges are nice and smooth, betta fins are extreemly delicate and even my Oscars have been shreaded by driftwood. I took the piece out, baked it (to dry it out), took a dremel sander to all the edges and points, rinsed it well, and put it back.

So when do we get pics? LOL I want to show my hubby what I want for Valentines day LOL.

[MrJG]

Hehe. I'll get some pics up in the morning I promise.

I forgot to mention that after boiling them the first time I let them dry out fairly well and took some high grit sandpaper to them followed by some low grit to smooth them back out (I usually end up really screwing stuff up with my dremel since its not adjustable speed). Hopefully I got any of the mean jaggies off of them. Either way I hope to have the edges covered with moss as soon as I can get it.

[Guysy1110]

Sounds good to me wood looks good aswel

[MrJG]

Ok as promised here are a few pics with the driftwood in the tank. I think I'm finally satisfied with the setup and hopefully the tank layout should stay like this for a while unless something hits me.

Full shot from across the room:


Closer:


Little closer:


Left:


Right:


New wysteria growth. I had a previous stalk of wysteria growing here and this just popped up at the bottom so I'm going to let it grow out from there.


Wysteria in the back peeking out. I'm hoping that this grows straight up from this point and then the underlying part will grow legs to make room for the neons to swim underneath.


Tis all for now. Just gotta decide which moss to order and make a decision on either marimo balls for the forground or something else. I'd still love to hear any thoughts on the question of possibly growing low ground covering with my low-light.

Cheers.

[Mahamotorworks]

The Driftwood Looks great in the tank. I think the tank looks bigger then 10G. Cant wait to see the plants grow in.

MAHA

[Big Vine]

I'm afraid I can't give any suggestions, because I think the choices you've made on your own work really well together so far. Everything looks great!

BV

[tropicalfish]

I'm jealous!!
Want to trade tanks??

lol jk

Great looking!

[Limi310]

Wow...stunning tank