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20 gallon high planted?

Discussion in 'Aquatic Plants & Planted Tanks' started by chickadedede, Sep 30, 2010.

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  1. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Man, a lot's happened. Hair algae took over the tank, and I took down another tank with the rasboras that had been bullying the other rasboras, so they're all in one 10 gallon now. They get along! They just needed a bigger school. I knew they needed decent sized schools, but I wanted to add a few at a time so I wouldn't put a strain on the bioload. After this, I'm going to add at least 6 at a time and just be more vigilant about water changes when I'm adding stuff.

    I decided to bleach out the 20, but while I was carrying it downstairs I ran into a wall and it cracked. Luckily Petco's $1 per gallon sale was on, so the new tank was cheap. I painted the formerly ugly stand a nice bright purple since everything had already been taken down anyway.

    I was tired of the flourite and had heard about using topsoil working well for plants, so I bought some, soaked it, let it dry, then repeated a few times. I also heard that pool filter sand makes a good cheap substrate, so I'm trying out using that on top of the soil (my mom thinks I'm nuts).

    I'm not quite sure it's going to work. The water is muddy. I'm hoping the dirt will settle a bit so I can wave a gravel vacuum over it and hope it's lighter than the sand. If that doesn't work, I'm going to remove the topsoil, do a bunch of water changes, then see how the rasboras handle the pool filter sand.
     
    chickadedede, Jul 26, 2011
    #61
  2. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Dirt substrate didn't work, but the pool filter sand does just fine. I put in a sponge filter (never had one of those before), cholla wood, and the rasboras. I've got plants coming in hopefully Friday. I'm excited, I think this is going to go better than last time.
     
    chickadedede, Aug 2, 2011
    #62
  3. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    once you get it set up I'd love to see some picts.
    Sorry to hear about the dirt not working, I've heard others who have done it...but I still think any time you vac. the tank that it would make a muddy mess.

    I've stuck to the pool filter sand too,
    Never a issue with it getting algae on it, it's cheap, it looks natural, and it softbelly safe ime with it.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Aug 2, 2011
    #63
  4. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Figured I'd take a shot before I get plants in. Heck, I like how it looks even without plants.

    The dirt was an experiment, one that I'm glad I tried on a smaller tank. I wasn't sure it was going to work, but it could have been awesome (and cheap!) if it had.

    ai.imgur.com_XTuUw.jpg

    I need to clean that dirt off my wall.
     
    chickadedede, Aug 3, 2011
    #64
  5. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    haha, i see cholla! my shrimpys love that stuff :)
    be careful wiping that, if theres sand granuals they'll scratch your tank. If you think theres some granules stuck use a turkey baster to squirt water at the inside glass to remove 'em first.

    lookin good, cant wait to see the plants! are they going directly in the substrate or in terra cotta pots first?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Aug 3, 2011
    #65
  6. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Shrimp like those? I might have to get a few then. Otos die kinda easy and I've already got a BNP downstairs.

    Thanks for the tip on the glass, I wouldn't have even thought about that. I wouldn't have thought to put in terra cotta pots either.
     
    chickadedede, Aug 3, 2011
    #66
  7. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Yep, my 20gL that's full of shrimp seem to approve of cholla.

    I agree on the otos & have also found the bnp to be VERY hardy.

    I was just thinking of cheap ways to make a nice looking tank for ya....
    terra cotta pots as planters, then if you chip/dremmel them they make nice caves.
    can also do ceramic planters (my wal-mart had HUGE teapot looking ones on clearance for $9.88, buy ymmv).

    I've also used glass, like the little votive size for planters. Their easy to move about too so once the plant starts taking off you can shift their placement.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Aug 4, 2011
    #67
  8. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    I had been planning to plant directly into the substrate, but I'll look into doing pots. Votives are a nice idea too.

    Ammonia spike. I was worried about moving all 9 of the rasboras into the 20 at once, but having them in smaller groups has been a disaster. I hope this will be a smaller one. Did a 20% change, will do another 20% later this evening. I'm worried about changing the temperature too much.
     
    chickadedede, Aug 4, 2011
    #68
  9. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Snail eggs on glass, cholla looks like it has mold on it.
     
    chickadedede, Aug 5, 2011
    #69
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