My 55 Gallon

[Teeleton]

This is my first attempt at a planted tank, and I've decided to go natural on this one.  Low light, no ferts, no CO2, no heater, soil bottom with a gravel cap.  Canister filter has sponges for mechanical filtration and some charcoal.  I had to put the small airstone back in it tonight as a couple of the swordtails were acting like there wasn't enough O2 in the water.

Anyway, here the 1 month old pic I took of it tonight.



Teeleton

[sproett]

Re: My 55 Gallon

That looks great.  Has it been difficult to keep up with?  You have a nice looking piece of driftwood in there.

[Teeleton]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Nah, not too bad.  Mostly I just have to trim the anachris back every so often because it grows to the surface, and then it starts growing across the surface. The driftwood was a piece of a fallen branch I found near my father in law's lakehouse.  I beat it into the proper length with a large hammer so it couldn't have any odd looking cut marks in it, and soaked it in the tank for a couple months to get it waterlogged.

[Mzungu]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Looks good, I love the piece of wood! What other fish do you have in there besides swordtails?

[Teeleton]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Currently 6 swordtails (3 male, 3 female), and 5 zebra danio.  I not sure, but I think the male danios have barbels and the females don't.

I got a bit of anubias yesterday from a friend of mine, and added that to the tank as well.

Teeleton

[eklikewhoa]

Re: My 55 Gallon

nice low light tank!

[Tiapan]

Re: My 55 Gallon

looks great, i would keep more fish but i love to have over crowded tanks its a curse. but keep up the good work. oh and no ferts and the soil gravel mix you have works fine with higher light too just need more plants.

[Teeleton]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Update time!



Teeleton

[eklikewhoa]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Nice growth you got going there!

[Mzungu]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Cool! Is that wisteria? The green just pops out in the lower light!  

[Teeleton]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Yeah, the tank is mostly wisteria.  I took the anachris out because it grew crazy fast and I couldn't keep up with trimming it.  The wisteria will take about 2-3 weeks between trims, which is about right, IMO.  I added a few small crypts in the very front in the center.  The cabomba is holding its own, and the sword on the far right seems mostly stalled.  Not sure why, but it seems to just be hanging out.  Very little growth, but no signs of sickness or stress.

Fish load is up a bit, too.  I added a small school of 8 rasboras, and swordtails have added 4 juveniles to their number.

I had to do a LOT of tweaking with my camera to get that shot.  The light is so low that you're looking at about a 2-3 second exposure.  I love the green.  It's soooo much nicer than my previous brown/red plastic plant tank.

Here's a larger version if you're interested:

http://www.h-a-s-t-e.com/modules.php?full=1&set_albumName=album140&id=NPT_after_4_months&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php

Teeleton

[Mzungu]

Re: My 55 Gallon

Thanks, I was actually hoping I could see it a bit closer! Again, it's very nice.  :)