# planted 40gallon...



## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

found the driftwood in the back yard...
View attachment 112549


its currently housing 4 baby caribas that arnt even an inch big yet...









the tank is 18inchs wide, so its a great temp tank untill the 100gal is free...

thanks for lookin...









n special thanks again to Dippy, for really getting me into the planted tanks, your totally right, i just cant look at the tank the same if its not somewhat planted...
should look fairly decent in a few months...
cheers


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

That's a sweet setup.


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## LouDiB (May 22, 2006)

Yeah thats plenty big for a a grow out for your little caribes...it has plenty of hiding spots...great job man...good luck with the babies!


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

thanks guys...
they're still a bit shy from the re-arange... but today they were swimming in the current so they either love it or they;re trying to escape cuz they hate it...









anywho, heres a shot of the little monsters, like i say, they're just hitting the one inch mark...
View attachment 112593


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Looking great, man! --Fish are awesome!!

If I were you, I would spread out that macrandra, it needs LOTS of light ..so give it all you can


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

cool thanks again dipps...

will do, i found some mondo grass too today, so ill be planting that aswell as spreading out that macrandra... cheers


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

BRO!!!!

Dont get the Mondo grass!! it isn't a true aquatic plant!! get pygmy chain sword, (Echinororus tenellus) or E tenellus 'micro', or Blyxa japonica or something..

Please don't put terrestrial plants in your tank!


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

whoa really, well thats what i get buying CRAP at petsmart...

anywho, get my pm?


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

ok... i just read up a bit on how planting terrestrial plants is bad news...

bad buisness ethics petsmart... boo-urns...


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

really nice setup...reall cool driftwood.


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

thanks trigga... appreciate that...

i traded in the bunk mondo grass and went somewhere other than petsmart(which is what i should have done in the first place, but i was just there anyway n happend to see it...)... anywho...

thanks to dippy i have a much better selection than mondo grass...
i also took the advise n fanned out the macrandra... which i think the caribas actually like better now...

one of my brand new bulbs stoped working for somereason, so glad i kept the recet, exchange that in tomorrow...

enjoy...
View attachment 112620


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

wow~ very awsome set up man..very nice job. but if i would you i'll put a nice background on it to bring out your tank subtraction. other than that you are good.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Looks great! I especially like what you did with the driftwood!! What kind of grass is that?? Looks aquatic









One thing..., I would spread out the stemmed plants so that only the very tip of the leaves were touching each other. You can create a 'wall' effect that way too --Those plants need all the ferts and light they can get, trust me!!
What is the stem plant behind the Rotala macrandra? Ludwigia brevipes?
Again, looking good!

I agree with 2PiRaNhA, it would look good with a background.. I have poster board from Eckard, $1.89! lol


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

ok...
so i took your advise dipps n re-arranged the Rotala macrandra one last time... the caribas love it spread out like that anyway...









i also picked up a brand new twin T-5 lighting strip...
its got a 6700k plant bulb n a full spectrum bulb at 40watts all together... should keep the tank thriving...

cheers


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## awfraser (May 13, 2006)

nice tank i gotta post up my new tank


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## ruger345 (Jul 8, 2006)

Humanburger, you have a very nice looking tank. Great little fish as well.
Dippy, I will Pm you with some pics of my tank to get some help on my 75 that I somewhat have planted.

Oh yeah Humanburger this one is for you ====>


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Good job!

But remember, if the macrandra starts to drop leaves, you can always tweak the placement

Do you have a peat bottom in that tank?? If so, how did you do it, and how much light is on the tank?? Rotala macrandra is a very hard plant to grow nice. If you successfully grow it, you are doing absolutely wonderfully!


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

thanks again guys... means a lot, im really excited to see how this pans out...

so far the Rotala macrandra has new growth and last time i re-arranged it, there were tones of new root growth too... so things are deffinitally looking promising...

took a pic of the lighting setup, 2 bulbs, one plant n one full spectrum...
View attachment 113265


i exchanged the plant at the back(not sure what it was) for some corkskrew val grass i saw at the local pet shop... along with some dwarf grass too i think, it was in a massive bundle i couldnt untangle so it had to be planted in a chunk, but its already came with loads of runners...

but the caribas seem to love the new grass feild they got... i think it looks much much better...
really cant wait till all the grass fills in...
View attachment 113263


View attachment 113264


and as for the substaright...
its standard black gravel mixed with some black lava rock and 'flourite red' which will help with the plant growth, there is no peat in the substraight, but i have it in the canister filter instead... like i say, there has been new growth so far on most plants since they've been in there, so this hopefully should be a thriving tank for the little caribas till they hit that 100gallon as soon as its free...

all the best guys...


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

lookin good







nice caribe


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

sorry triple post..comp froze up


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

sorry triple post..comp froze up


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Nice tank, but dude, get a background :laugh:

Also, I see that you have a powerhead going with airation. I would stop that imediatly. Your plants are going to need the Co2, and the surface agiatation and the airation sure are not going to help them.


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

yeah, backgrounds next on the list, although in the morning, the tank gets a shot of sunlight for an hour or so, so i dont know... it really doesnt bother me not having one thou... so its on the back burner, but yeah, i just get that black construction paper... nice n cheep...









as for the surface airation... you have to remember im raising wild caught fish, i'd like there to be a considerable amount of oxygen in the tank for them, im also dosing with excel, so it should even out... plus i always have surface airation on my 100gal and the plants do just dandy... dont want to sufficate my poor fish... you'd be surprised how fast the oxygen can depleate from the water...

cheers


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Humanburger said:


> yeah, backgrounds next on the list, although in the morning, the tank gets a shot of sunlight for an hour or so, so i dont know... it really doesnt bother me not having one thou... so its on the back burner, but yeah, i just get that black construction paper... nice n cheep...:laugh:
> 
> as for the surface airation... you have to remember im raising wild caught fish, i'd like there to be a considerable amount of oxygen in the tank for them, im also dosing with excel, so it should even out... plus i always have surface airation on my 100gal and the plants do just dandy... dont want to sufficate my poor fish... you'd be surprised how fast the oxygen can depleate from the water...
> 
> cheers


Yeah I guess the sun too could help out the plants. But, it could also support more algae.

Since you have surface agiatation, the Co2 you're getting from excel is being removed before you plants have a change to use it. If you're worried about oxygen levels, setup a small bubble stone or something on a timer to go on in the night. Also once your plants get big enough, you should have more then enough oxygen. Most people like the have the surface agiation to a minium to get the most out of their Co2, otherwise it is more or less a waste.


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

so i started to notice the Blue/Green algae/bacteria slime that came in with the macrandra was starting to faitly web up on the new growth...

so im upping the nitrates to combate it and im also not so sure on wheather im suppost to lower or raise the phosphates?
my water usually has high phosphates even after regular water changes so i suspect its in my well...

anywho... im kind of going to schedual a weekend and wensday night water change for them...
i gave them a 40% one tonight and took out all the green slime... it came off really easy with the gravel vac surprisingly...

so here are the tank peramiters:
pH: 6.5
Amonia: 0
Nitrate: 10mg/L (i added the recommended dose tonight with the waterchange, ill have to up the doses)
Phosphate: 5.0 (no matter how much i change the water this never seems to lower)

im also dosing a bit more iron to encourage root growth...

let me know if im bungin up here, but i think that should do the trick...

and considering these cariba are only an inch big, frequent water changes should make them grow faster than the plants







hopfully anyway... i want some big suckers...









cheers n thanks in advance


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

That slime shoud go away as you raise the nitrates and disrupt it's growth.
When you see it, remove all that you can. Keep doing those large weekly water changes, and keep the filter media free of organic waste.

Be sure to dose micros w/ iron as well

Oh, and only add phosphates if you see green spot algea on the glass, or plants. 5 is certainly all you will ever need, and then some... Unless your test kit is a bit whacky


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

im still battling the Blue/Greem slime... im going to raise the nitro+ just a bit more than i did last week cuz it wasnt hurting anything and it really seams to be doing the trick...

other than that thou, the tank is looking great an the plants are still growing regarless...

heres a pic of the new growth on the macrandra
View attachment 113897


the macrandra apparently has a better color when nitrates are lower, so i hope i dont have to keep the nitrates raised for too much longer...

cheers

and heres a recent pic of one of the caribas....


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

hey, nice looking macrandra..
I would like to say that keeping the nitrates low so that the macrandra looks it's best, can be an accident waiting to happen.
Macrandra looks it's reddest @ 5ppm nitrates. Unless you are seriously on top of this, it could crash and start an algea infestation.
What most guys do, is keep the nitrates at safe levels, and take pictures of their tanks after letting it drop down, for the best color.

GREAT FISH


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

ok cool... ill try not to worry so much about the macrandra then...

i bought some more plants today...
View attachment 114006

on the right is some Hydrocotyle verticillata, mixed in some Cyperus helferi with the corkskrew val grass and added some Hygrophila corymbosa 'compact' infront of the driftwood...

the plants are eating up the nitates im giving them like nuts!!! so im ajusting acordingly to kill off that BGA...

cheers...


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Looks great, 
I would manually remove the green slime that is on the driftwood, though. If you keep on top of removing it every time it shows up, it will eventually go away with water changes, and filter cleanings.
You got some nice plants!! I love cyperus helferi, and most all Hydrocoytle's

oh, and can't forget Hygrophila!


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Looks great,
> I would manually remove the green slime that is on the driftwood, though. If you keep on top of removing it every time it shows up, it will eventually go away with water changes, and filter cleanings.
> You got some nice plants!! I love cyperus helferi, and most all Hydrocoytle's
> 
> oh, and can't forget Hygrophila!


the sad thing is i removed almost all i could see on monday...








it seems to be lossing the battle thou... it seems to come out the most on the LUDWIGIA inclinata var.

yeah, you cant really see the cyperus helferi just yet, i put most of it in the back behind the driftwood, im sure it will be noticable in a month or so...

and im really stoked to see how that hygrophila works out... its got quite a stunning color...

cheers


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

ya, your nitrates were dangerously low. that is only for picture taking.. I made that mistake before.. I try to be sure I never do that again! LOL

IF that one stem is L. inclinata ver verticillata 'Cuba', it is looking kind of shabby. It most likely won't make it, IF that is what it is. But if it sends out offshoots, it might have hope. 
U have CO2 in there? how much lighting? What are your params? The slime is normal in new tanks, especially those that have lower nitrate levels.
Keep doing big water changes, and filter cleaning, and it will go away eventually


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## HumanBurger (Jan 11, 2006)

yeah, i think its a L. Inclinata ver verticillata... its just infested with the slime...
at least it has noticable new growth since it has been in the tank, so ill keep it going, really the guy at the plant store just threw it in for free to let me try out cuz i knew how demanding of a plant it was...
so we'll see how that turns out, but its also growing roots off the steam aswell...

as for the lighting... i have 2 flourecent bulbs, ones a 6700k plant light and the other is a full spectrum... both are T-5's and are a combined 40watts...
making the tank 1wpg i guess...

i was dosing with flourish excell but i forgot that that stuff makes the corkscrew val melt... i have a CO2 welding cyclinder i found in my garage, but i was savin that for the 100gal...

i figured with the low light the plants would hopfully have enough co2 present in the eco system...
so how wrong am i? hahah

in the 100gal i dont need co2, the fish seem to have that cover'd but its got much more of a bioload than the 40gal...


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