A place 4 my questions & ponderings as I build a 34 Gallons (127L) tank

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Yeah he's digging through the sand. I was thinking Elliot will love having a snail so I'll leave him.

The latest order was botched. So annoying that nobody called to let me know this before shipping it out. The bonsai arrived but with one Xmas moss instead of 2. They substituted Spiky moss & I'm really annoyed as I wanted the specific moss for the bonsai. Then I ordered Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green for grass effect around the tree. But instead they delivered Cryptocoryne Beckettii 'Petchii' which is a totally different plant.

Urgh, what a nightmare! They should let you keep those, and send out replacements of the actual plants you ordered. Have you contacted them?

 

[AilyNC]

Urgh, what a nightmare! They should let you keep those, and send out replacements of the actual plants you ordered. Have you contacted them?

Yeah I called. I'm getting a call back tomorrow, very apologetic. Told me to plant the ones I got.

 

[AilyNC]

Ok I am.gonna try create a cliff to the right, holding a higher level of sand that the tree will sit in. I need lots more moss for the back and it'll take time for moss to fill out so the bonsai won't look super fancy for a while... But..

We go outside after dinner to play with Elliot & watch the bats... And it was so lovely to look in the back door and see the tank

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

It's looking so good already, I love the tree!!

It's going to be so great to follow your progress, yay!

 

[AilyNC]

It's looking so good already, I love the tree!!

It's going to be so great to follow your progress, yay!

I feel like the tree isn't great, but I need to be patient. It's nice not having fish so I can really adjust the layout. Omg sand is WAY easier to plant in!! It's ridiculous the Azalea root us turning a really nice dark shade. Looking forward to that sinking. I'm thinking the cliff on the right side then move down into a wood & plant forest look. Obviously not fancy aquascaping but my own version.

The 3 of us sat looking at the snail & the tank this evening. Even without fish it's so enjoyable. My actual fish and probably bit jealous

 

[AilyNC]

Added Lagenandra meeboldii rot. Why don't plants have easy to remember names?! Can't find anywhere with Xmas moss (or any moss) locally for the bonsai.

Water tests are weird as my GH (tap 307ppm) came up as 179ppm in the tank.

Ammonia is 4ppm
Nitrite 0

Day 4 of cycle.

 

[AilyNC]

It's Captain's log only less adventurous.

Also tried to buy grass for tank but fish shop said it needs soil under the sand. I don't know.... Is he right? Or is every fish shop local to me sucky?!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Lagenandra meeboldii rot? Never heard of it, but I like it!

Was it dwarf hair grass? I think it can be grown in sand, but you'd need to research I'm afraid, I'm not sure. It's hard to do carpeting plants with CO2 though. @Wells might know! Think he has dwarf hair grass.

 

[AilyNC]

I'm pretty sure it was this but in those in vitro tubs.

Eleocharis parvula - Tropica Aquarium Plants

The right aquarium plants

tropica.com

This is the new plant. The tag says rot but I see both rot/red written. I'm actually a little miffed as I asked him for the faster growing Cryptocoryne Wendtii he had but this was in the bag. I do like the reddish tink so I won't return it.

Lagenandra meeboldii 'Red' - Tropica Aquarium Plants

The right aquarium plants

tropica.com

 

[AilyNC]

Is the GH normal or a bad test? 307ppm down to 179ppm sounds wrong

 

[kwi]

"Rot" is German for Red.......

 

[AilyNC]

"Rot" is German for Red.......

Haha that makes more sense.. I was actually "oh crap is this some weird rotting plant"

 

[Wells]

Is the GH normal or a bad test? 307ppm down to 179ppm sounds wrong

Your tank is looking great, your bonsai is looking so nice, what type of moss did you go with?

These readings don't like too strange to me as has similar experince, I tested mine the other week and had 210 tap and 124 in tank, I have rocks in mine as well so not overly sure why it dropped so much?

Saw a tag about hairgrass, I've had it for awhile and growth seems slow I've recently added some very budget co2 will report if it improves, I would personally over plant it to start with if you want a lush looking carpet.
Also in terms of planting I would say it probably does need a nutrient rich substrate, soil is the obvious choice, is there anything under your sand that could give it that? Maybe liquid ferts would suffice but don't think you could get the good results as if it was in a more nutrient dense substrate.
Maybe someone a bit more knowledgeable can comment, I know @Wills has got it in his current tank, our names are very similar I've just realised ha

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Your tank is looking great, your bonsai is looking so nice, what type of moss did you go with?

These readings don't like too strange to me as has similar experince, I tested mine the other week and had 210 tap and 124 in tank, I have rocks in mine as well so not overly sure why it dropped so much?

Saw a tag about hairgrass, I've had it for awhile and growth seems slow I've recently added some very budget co2 will report if it improves, I would personally over plant it to start with if you want a lush looking carpet.
Also in terms of planting I would say it probably does need a nutrient rich substrate, soil is the obvious choice, is there anything under your sand that could give it that? Maybe liquid ferts would suffice but don't think you could get the good results as if it was in a more nutrient dense substrate.
Maybe someone a bit more knowledgeable can comment, I know @Wills has got it in his current tank, our names are very similar I've just realised ha

Hahaha, I did actually mean you! Because I remembered seeing it in your TOTM tank, and that you hadn't added CO2 yet, while I know that @Wills is doing a high tech, CO2 set up.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I've grown some eleocharis parvula ok without co2 (started it off with some but it carried on ok without). Thats in sand substrate with TNC root tabs and fert