Vader's Tank Progress

[vader71]

I've not been good at sharing here but I do really enjoy reading the posts and I've purchased a few things and gotten some free Mollies thanks again Crush. The tank came from Craigslist almost on a whim, its a nice Oceanic take that I stained and polyurethaned up before filling it up. I chose not to use the Eheim filter as I didn't want to risk the mess in the house. (LMK if you want it)
Got some angel fish from Troy on here and they seem to now be the dominate tank fish, they ate the six cherry tetras and I think they are nipping the danio fins and ate the few mollie babies......I got these two cute BN plecos now one albino and one not albino.
I've added live plants but honestly they do not seen to be doing well. I have a good bed under the gravel and have a Finnex Planted 24/7+ light so I thought they would do well but so far I'm not seeing any new growth yet.

Really would love to get the tank plants growing and work up to discus but on my budget I'll have to wait a while for that to be a reality.

OK this got long and I ramble. Hope you like the tank so far, its some good progress for a few weeks.

[morpheus]

how big is the eheim? i would be interested. i have been wanting to switch over my HOBs to canisters for the better bacterial growth. i am in copperfield, so its a little bit of a hike to the humble area, but figured i would ask.

the angels will essentially eat anything that fits into their mouth, so if you like tetras, stick to the larger varieties (Buenos Aries, congo, bleeding heart, red blue columbian, black skirts, emperor, etc). giant danios would probably also work. just steer clear of fin nippers since those long angel fins are a target.

as for the plants, they do take some time to root. i have a planted+ as well so that should be fine for the low light plants (java ferns, crypts, hygros, anubias, etc.). one thing i do recommend is using root tabs (especially for swords), but depends what soil you used too. i have never done a capped substrate. i hear they can get messy.

i just started a planted tank a few weeks ago and my crypts i bought started to yellow and melt within a few days. changing environments, different minerals available, etc. appear to be stabilizing. its just a waiting game for the new growth.

[ptran]

Nice looking tank and set up. As Morpheus mentioned, you might want to try adding Excel Flourish root tab under the gravel for the plants.

[Crush]

Your welcome. Btw I'll take that filter off your hands. Depending on the plant it's going to be about a month before you see new growth unless you have some very fast growing plants like anacharis. Iv been using flourish root tabs every other month, API leaf zone weekly and Api co2 booster daily. It's a decent combo but watch for the diatoms, you start getting into brown algae I suggest shortening time the light is on and invest in nerite snails. Nerites are great for cleaning up diatoms, especially off broad leaf plants

[vader71]

Thanks all.

I will have to try the root tabs and see if that helps the plants. May have to look into the snails also.