14g and 20H lightly plantes build thread

[BigJoe]

ok so my SW idea is on hiatus due to money issues... plus i'm gonna be moving again in a year and SW seems like it would be hard to move... so both of my tanks are going to a FW planted setup.. we recently got the 14g back up and it is currently cycling with food (dried krill shrimp... seems to be working ok... ammonia is up.. just waiting for nitrites...

so specs on 14g is that it is a 14g wal-mart kit with 2 incandescent slots, came with 2 10w bulbs but i have since changed over to 2 13 w 6500k CFLs (maybe switching to 20w if it goes a little more high tech..) I have 2 HOB tetra filters with floss only running about 150 GPH (going to buy more floss when i find it...)

I have 2 pieces of drift wood that i think i am gonna use both of these on the 14g cause how i had it setup before starting to waterlog them with one leaning up on the other creating a nice bridge like structure for fish to swim in and out

so far I have been blessed to find a few people willing to send me some plants and I would like to thank everyone who has done so for being so nice...

the 20H tank is still empty but I plan to buy a 2x24w t5HO light (that all i gotta do when i start my SW is change bulb) and then i gotta find a filter and i think its gonna have a schultz bottom... with larger river rock top to it..

[peacemaker92]

Hi Joe. Congrats on the tank! You seem to have everything on track. What fish are you planning to stock the tank with? Hope to see pictures soon. Good luck!

[BigJoe]

ok so now due to the generosity of some members i now have a tank that is nearly finished cycling and has plants that make it look like i am selling them... I can't wait till they grow out...

one question is there a way to keep water lettuce from pulling into the intake of my HOB filter? can I trim the longer roots?

[BigJoe]

well thought it was done cycling so i... i mean my wife bought 2neons and a glowlight tetra... they are acclimated and in the tank happy to be out of walmart tank (only place within 1 hr of home)... the ammonia went up to 1 PPM within an hour (i think my wife poured the water from the store in... so i gotta do daily water changes for a while... oh well its good to have fish again...

[aquarist48]

Congrats on the new tank and fish BigJoe. Hopefully your mini cycle won't last for long.
Best of Luck,
Ken

[BigJoe]

well it lasted maybe 12 hours.. i now have 0 of all tests and 6.8 pH.... i attribute nitrates to all the plants and the nitraban from some easy balance i put in when i set the tank up...

the inhabitants now include 5 neon tetras and 1 glowlight tetra and as much as I know 2-3 snails...

plants are java ferns (3 types 5 total plants), water lettuce, madagascar lace plant(putting out new leaves since i cut others off), crypt wedtii bronze, and a dwarf onion plant with one leaf (hasn't done anthing but put out what looks like feelers all over it)

I replaced the 13w bulbs with 15w after my wife dropped the light in the water and it look s really bright

[Annadvn]

Can you post pictures? I would love to see how the plants i sent are doing?

Anna

[BigJoe]

If i can get my wife to ever give me the camera i would try... i'll try tomorrow she will be at work while i'm home

[BigJoe]

here it is... i know... horrible but until i get some driftwood its gonna be lava rocks everywhere (thinking of making a lava mountain0

[Annadvn]

Cool tank,

You might want to bleach dip the dwarf onion, i did before i sent it to you, it has the algae growing on it still! The rest was free of algae.

Anna

[BigJoe]

well i wasn't able to dip the onion before it spread the HA but it isn't bad so far... i wiped most of it away...

also i had my first fatality since starting this tank... nothing seems off all of them seem happy... a little chasing but no nipping... one of the smaller neons died... i'm hoping there isn't too much current... i raised the level of water up to what it was supposed to be which adds less air bubbles in tank but decreased the current a little bit... i'm hoping it was just a stress related death cause i really dont want to waste the money at this point in time... we are taking this oneback to wal-mart and exchanging it on monday... hopefully they get a load of them in so we can get one that might still be healthy

[aquarist48]

Hey BigJoe. Neons can be tricky to keep in newly established tanks. From everything I've read they should really go into a tank that has been established for several months.
Best of luck! Maybe Santa will bring you a digital camera of your own too this Christmas
Ken

[couesfanatic]

Looks good! Thats what I want to start doing with my tank. I hope to add a few live plants soon. keep us updated.