Lowee's 45gal Journal

[lowee]

Well, everything has arrived, so i thought id get started. For starters, i placed my JBL substrate along the bottom, then covered it in the Tahitan Moon Sand. And added the wood,just to check out what it was going to look like. But i have a problem, with 2 options. I am going on holiday on thursday for just under 2 weeks so
Do I:

1. Add the water, get the co2, filter, heater etc going. Then order the plants on monday, plant them before i leave. Put my lights on a timer and then start E.I after i get back.

2. Not do anything else until i get back

What do you all think?


Comments on the tank also welcome.

 

[Castellop123]

...

 

[lowee]

Its just one piece of redmoor wood.

 

[wei0204]

I think better leave it till u come back. The wood looks nice...

 

[lljdma06]

I think better leave it till u come back. The wood looks nice...

Leave it and work on it when you get back. That is a sweet piece of wood. FKNM is jealous. She wants to attach moss to it and make it a tree.

What is your lighting?

Have a great Holiday. Is everybody going on Holiday? I want to go on Holiday too.

 

[lowee]

My lighting is 4 x 39W EQJ luminaire

 

[Themuleous]

You know about changing the bulbs in those lumiaries? The D&D bulbs are the cheapest decent repalcement, but get them from aquatics online, a bit more expensive than the other place that sells them, Ultimate Discount Aquatics, but I recently got some from UDA and the brass end had oxidised and I was told when I sent them back that all their stock was like that! Rubbish in other words.

Sam

 

[lowee]

Ok, i am just about to order the plants, so far i have:

Rotala rotundifolia
Ludwigia Repens
Diplidid Diandra
Eleocharis Parvula

These cover the background and the mound. But i am struggling on what to put in front of the background plants, on each side of the tank. I could carry on the hairgrass, but im not sure on how that would look. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[lowee]

Anyone?

 

[Castellop123]

..

 

[mlawson]

Utricularia Graminifolia...

Yes, a good idea or perhaps a Lilaeopsis, Echinodorus tennelus, Sagittaria pusilla.

 

[lowee]

Thanks for the tips guys and i have now decided on my final plan. I am currently writing this from San Jose, USA, so i cant really do much else at the moment but I get back on wednesday and am hoping to start planting on thursday. I just drew this up now, its my final plan for the tank. I decided on HM infront of the rotala and also decided to let the hairgrass grow across the tank more. I have also decided on a name for the tank. Opinions/comments welcome

'The mound'

 

[james 3200]

Looks like a promising scape, only thing i would like to add is that the tank could do with some more depth, so try and get height to the back of the tank by adding some more substrate

Look forward to seeing this develop

James

 

[lowee]

Thanks for that James, unfortunately i didnt quite have enough sand, so ive had to buy another 20lb bag of the stuff! Ive got the heater running now and done a couple of water changes. Plants should arrive tomorrow, so i will get the CO2 up and running about 30mins before i put the plants in. I wont actually plant them because i need to wait for the sand but will just leave them in their pots.

I also have my EI mixes ready, when do you think i should start putting them in the tank?

 

[Dave Spencer]

Where are you getting your plants from Lowee? If it`s Greenline, then your Didiplis diandra will actually be Rotala sp. "Nanjenshan", but don`t worry because the Rotala is a very nice plant.

As for dosing, I would start at somewhere around half target after a day or two, when your plants start to show signs of growth. Just increase it a little as the plants start to accelerate until you finally reach full target and maximum growth. You`ll soon get a feel for it.

Dave.