29 Gallon Freshwater Build

I started this tank a month & a half ago and I've redone it way too many times lol. I'm still not done but thought I would share some pictures of the progress. I think the only thing I have left to do is add some taller plants. My plan for stocking is 12-15 neon tetras, 10 cories, a pair of honey gouramis, a female bn pleco, some nerite snails, chopstick snails and a mystery snail.

 

Nice tank! I love your rocks. Some tall plants would really fill it out. Do you have specific plants in mind? I quite like water sprite's lacy leaves and quick growth.

Are you planning on adding a background?

Edit: In wondering why I got an alert for this new thread, I realized that it's in the Saltwater Beginner's forum. That answered my question because I follow that forum, but perhaps you'd like to have this thread moved to the freshwater or planted section, as you'll probably get more replies there. If you want to move it, I'll be happy to call on one of our mods to take care of that for you.

 

Nice tank! I love your rocks. Some tall plants would really fill it out. Do you have specific plants in mind? I quite like water sprite's lacy leaves and quick growth.

Are you planning on adding a background?

I'm probably going to do crypt spirals because the crypt wendtiI I have seems to be the only thing really flourishing lol. I did just order ferts though, so hopefully I'll get some more growth.

I may do a background, but if so it would probably just be black. Not sure though. Open to suggestions!

 

Did you see my edit above yet?

I'm not terribly experienced with plants, but yes, ferts will definitely help with growth. Excess nutrients will feed algae of course, so perhaps you should start your ferts with half doses and slowly work up to the full dose.

My favorite thing for black backgrounds is a product called PlastiDip. Goes on like spray paint, but dries like a plastic coating which can be scraped off if needed. This is typically something you want to do outside with an empty tank though, so you probably want something you can lay on the tank. I'd suggest picking up some limo tint, the darkest you can find. I have it on one of my tanks and it was easily applied with water. The plastic/paper like backgrounds that are sold at pet stores works too, but it inevitably gets wet, which doesn't sound like a problem with the plasticky quality. It does show water spots though, and they've always ended up looking pretty bad in my experience.

 

Did you see my edit above yet?

I'm not terribly experienced with plants, but yes, ferts will definitely help with growth. Excess nutrients will feed algae of course, so perhaps you should start your ferts with half doses and slowly work up to the full dose.

My favorite thing for black backgrounds is a product called PlastiDip. Goes on like spray paint, but dries like a plastic coating which can be scraped off if needed. This is typically something you want to do outside with an empty tank though, so you probably want something you can lay on the tank. I'd suggest picking up some limo tint, the darkest you can find. I have it on one of my tanks and it was easily applied with water. The plastic/paper like backgrounds that are sold at pet stores works too, but it inevitably gets wet, which doesn't sound like a problem with the plasticky quality. It does show water spots though, and they've always ended up looking pretty bad in my experience.

Lol, I have no idea how I did that. I thought for sure I was in freshwater jdhef I see you're online. Could you help me out with moving it? Sorry lol.

I will definitely do that! I don't have a clean up crew yet and I think that could get out of hand quickly lol.

Yeah, PlastiDip sounds good for a future tank, not so much this one though lol. I will look into limo tint. I've never used anything for a background but I often wondered why they even sold backgrounds that are paper like, doesn't make much sense to me lol.