First attempted plant tank

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

thanks for the compliments i hope the zebras like it as well.


substrate is black tahittan sand with seachem flourish tabs inserted. the lighting is about 2wpg right now and am contemplating wether to leave it at is or to up it a little. the zebras are nocturnal so that is my main concern.

after looking up the treadfins i really liked how they displayed themselves and went over to see mike and picked up 6 but there was only two females in the bunch. after about a day or so the males were fluttering all over the place!! really cool to watch!.

[logan5]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

How many tabs did you use ... and how often do you have to replace them?  Just wondering cause I'm looking to use them as well.

thanks
Logan5

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

well i just started using them.

the packaging states there are ten tabs in the pkg, 1 tab per 4-6" radius so i ended up using 4 since i went with the lesser. the pkg also states that they need to be replaced around 3-4months.

[Tiapan]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

i have heard of several people having success with them. and the sand look really good. if you look at some of the competition pictures from aquaticplantcentral.com you would see a lot of tanks using sand, and i imagine they would have to use heavy fertilizers to keep their plants happy.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

I have read up on the sand compacting and not allowing nutrients to reach rooted plants. haven't had the plants long enough to really now what I'm doing is working but  hopefully it will, I went with the bit extra flourish tab deep and close to the roots of plants that need it and using co2 to help some as well.

As for the compacting sand I have some mts in there helping with churning the sand.

[Tiapan]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

good idea with the mts, they should help a whole lot about any compacting.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

Doe anyone have the small fresh water clams ?

[Jose]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

I had some clams when I had my 60g. The only time I would see them is when I would vacuum my gravel. They would go right back into the gravel after. They do move around under the gravel. Some sites say they are coldwater, not tropical.

[Mzungu]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

Quick question: Are your MTS actually burrowing into the sand? That's one of the reasons I went ahead and switched over one of my tanks a month or two ago to sand, because I had a good supply of MTS. But they don't really seem to be actually burrowing, just kind of rooting around in the first millimeter or two from the top, and hiding under things. Any observations with yours?

Oh, and also, this past weekend I moved everything in the 10g (the tank with the new sand) to an 18g. While transferring the sand, I found my fluorish tabs still in there, and not even half-way dissolved. So, after two months they're still pretty sizeable. Just to let you know!!  :)  And as far as I know, they're helping. My crypts have been sending out runners like mad, so it's either the sand or the tabs!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

when i first put the mts in with nothing but sand there were trails everywhere the next morning, now i see them move around once and awhile but they still help some. also think its better to keep the sand in a thin layer to prevent problems.

think to efficiently stir the sand in our tank there would have to be hundreds of them, that would make sure the sand is aerated.

thanks for the heads up with the tabs. how much lighting do you have on your tank and are you using co2?  

i have only had my plants in for a few days so its hard to tell if all the additives are actually helping but i have notice a nice leaf coming from one of the anubias and little green sprouts coming from the baby tears. other than that i havent notice much of a change yet.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

just noticed if you look at the pictures i posted on friday it shows the anubia on the driftwood with the sprouting leaf and then the pictures posted on monday show open.  

[Mzungu]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

Well, I now have 36 watts of PC bulbs over the tank. Previously, I just had the normal 20" (18ish watt?) fluorescent strip light. So, since the tank is tall, it's still a low light tank. And no, I'm not using CO2, but I am thinking about it. Since I just added the new lights (Friday), I'm going to see how it goes. I know, of course, that CO2 would probably help, but I'm going to go without it for a little while.

Can't wait to see your tank with the zebras in it!!

[Ellen]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

I just put in the same tabs this past weekend. I don't have very much light right now and I'm not running CO2, so I didn't want to overfertilize and cause a big ole algae problem. I took one of the tabs and squeezed it with some pliers to break it up. I then stuck the bigger pieces right up under the bigger swords. I took the smaller pieces and stuck them right under the smaller swords. I figured it was worth a try.

Ellen

[Smokin_Cache]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

Great looking tank!!! I love the little pleco too!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Planted tank/ zebra's new home**ready for the zebras!!

new shots of the plecos that are in the tank right now.