Hi all,
I've been lurking on the forum for a couple of months now after being out of the hobby for years due to school and other such distractions (I know... no excuse
). Anyways, I just moved into my own place in September and what was the first thing I did? That's right, set up the ol' 35 gal and head off to the LFS for some plants (after the hardware store).
I'll give you a rundown of my equipment and then some pics
.
Equipment:
35 gallon aquarium
Fluval 3 internal canister filter rated ~160gph
100W Thermal Compact heater (temp is steady in the apartment and the lights provide heat)
4 x 30W T12 NO fluorescents in a DIY hood
2 2L DIY CO2 bottles
The substrate is a 2:1 mixture of black earth and sphagnum peat moss, topped by an inch of sand the hardware store calls "horticulture sand". The sand itself still clouds the water on occasion - my fault for being so excited setting up that I forgot to wash it lol.
I also have 8 RCS (still waiting for them to start doing the do) and recently added 6 Beckford's Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi), which are doing well (they really like the odd fruit fly lol).
Now for some pics! I was hoping you could offer me some suggestions for the aquascape, at least as far as plants go. I need to get to a hardware or lanscaping store and find some rocks and maybe wood to use to get a good hardscape set up. I'm planning to move the water sprite to the back, beside the filter, and hoping to get another bunch of Bacopa caroliniana to add in its place. The Glossostigma is a little unruly so I'm considering uprooting and replanting a good chunk of it. My Christmas moss is also in a temporary spot until I get some hardscape to work with. Oh, and I'm currently still trying to grow the Heteranthera out, since it was in kinda rough shape when I got it. Lastly, I just left the Riccia I got floating and it shaded my Cabomba, which didn't like that (it used to grow noticeably in a day), so I'm currently nurturing that back to health after removing 90% of the Riccia.
Here are a few pics so you can see what I mean. Comments and suggestions are very welcome!
The day after getting my first plants.
Three weeks after the previous pic:
After a shipment of more plants from a nearby hobbyist plus a rescape. The Rotala in the pot (tupperware lol) has been moved to a 10 gallon I just set up.
Shrimp on a leaf.
After a water change on Saturday. You can see my N. beckfordi swimming around.
Two shrimp investigating a pellet in my stand of Potamogeton.
Finally, a FTS:
Let me know what you think
.
Graeme
I've been lurking on the forum for a couple of months now after being out of the hobby for years due to school and other such distractions (I know... no excuse
). Anyways, I just moved into my own place in September and what was the first thing I did? That's right, set up the ol' 35 gal and head off to the LFS for some plants (after the hardware store).I'll give you a rundown of my equipment and then some pics
.Equipment:
35 gallon aquarium
Fluval 3 internal canister filter rated ~160gph
100W Thermal Compact heater (temp is steady in the apartment and the lights provide heat)
4 x 30W T12 NO fluorescents in a DIY hood
2 2L DIY CO2 bottles
The substrate is a 2:1 mixture of black earth and sphagnum peat moss, topped by an inch of sand the hardware store calls "horticulture sand". The sand itself still clouds the water on occasion - my fault for being so excited setting up that I forgot to wash it lol.
I also have 8 RCS (still waiting for them to start doing the do) and recently added 6 Beckford's Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi), which are doing well (they really like the odd fruit fly lol).
Now for some pics! I was hoping you could offer me some suggestions for the aquascape, at least as far as plants go. I need to get to a hardware or lanscaping store and find some rocks and maybe wood to use to get a good hardscape set up. I'm planning to move the water sprite to the back, beside the filter, and hoping to get another bunch of Bacopa caroliniana to add in its place. The Glossostigma is a little unruly so I'm considering uprooting and replanting a good chunk of it. My Christmas moss is also in a temporary spot until I get some hardscape to work with. Oh, and I'm currently still trying to grow the Heteranthera out, since it was in kinda rough shape when I got it. Lastly, I just left the Riccia I got floating and it shaded my Cabomba, which didn't like that (it used to grow noticeably in a day), so I'm currently nurturing that back to health after removing 90% of the Riccia.
Here are a few pics so you can see what I mean. Comments and suggestions are very welcome!
The day after getting my first plants.
Three weeks after the previous pic:
After a shipment of more plants from a nearby hobbyist plus a rescape. The Rotala in the pot (tupperware lol) has been moved to a 10 gallon I just set up.
Shrimp on a leaf.
After a water change on Saturday. You can see my N. beckfordi swimming around.
Two shrimp investigating a pellet in my stand of Potamogeton.
Finally, a FTS:
Let me know what you think
.Graeme
Last edited:
