Minicrazy's FW 55g Build
- Thread starter minicrazy592
- Start date
minicrazy592
Member
So I just finished plotting out the tank and here's what I came up with:
20 Dwarf Hair Grasses
10 Dwarf Baby Tears
10 Four Leaf Clovers
10 Ludwigia Broad
8 Dwarf Swords
Hopefully I will need less depending on the size of the plants.
I didn't do it with the tape, but I'm going to dip the middle like the sides.
20 Dwarf Hair Grasses
10 Dwarf Baby Tears
10 Four Leaf Clovers
10 Ludwigia Broad
8 Dwarf Swords
Hopefully I will need less depending on the size of the plants.
I didn't do it with the tape, but I'm going to dip the middle like the sides.
minicrazy592
Member
As for the substrate, I plan on having Flourite as the base and having rock on top of it. What kind should I get that is cheap and won't affect tank parameters too bad?
I have used the pea gravel from the hardware stores like $5 for a 40lb bag and it has never effected my paramiters. Looks nice to easy to plant.
Looks like you have a solid plant list I would pass on the baby tears but that is just me. Crypts walkeri and wedtil would be a nice addition.
I like the planted tanks and recently did an MTS tank that I tore down after a few months, I really hated the MTS "mineralized top soil" it's nice but if you have to move plants forget it. That is why I say have a good plan, in your case with the florlite you can move plants without making a huge mess and you have a good plan already so no need to stress that point.
Eric
Looks like you have a solid plant list I would pass on the baby tears but that is just me. Crypts walkeri and wedtil would be a nice addition.
I like the planted tanks and recently did an MTS tank that I tore down after a few months, I really hated the MTS "mineralized top soil" it's nice but if you have to move plants forget it. That is why I say have a good plan, in your case with the florlite you can move plants without making a huge mess and you have a good plan already so no need to stress that point.
Eric
minicrazy592
Member
Bought the Flourite and gravel today. The gravel is a mix of mostly pea gravel and pool sand. Washed everything out throughly and added it to the tank.
This took FOREVER to wash all of the dust out.
I left the tape for the outlines of the different sections so I could figure out where it was once everything was laid out. Also the exposed Flourite is going to be covered by a dark sand and is going to be made curvy, etc.
Since I won't be here to plant the tank, it's a long story, my Dad is going to be doing it. The plants will be here sometime Thursday, I'm not sure when he can swing by to pick them up. The little flags represent different plants and their placement. Also I now have only 26 plants instead of 58, I didn't like the $300+ plant bill.
This is the current layout with rocks. I'm going to change the center and the left side since the more and more I look at it, it just doesn't seem right.
The glass doesn't look this bad in person.
And a tease of what I'm playing around with......
This took FOREVER to wash all of the dust out.
I left the tape for the outlines of the different sections so I could figure out where it was once everything was laid out. Also the exposed Flourite is going to be covered by a dark sand and is going to be made curvy, etc.
Since I won't be here to plant the tank, it's a long story, my Dad is going to be doing it. The plants will be here sometime Thursday, I'm not sure when he can swing by to pick them up. The little flags represent different plants and their placement. Also I now have only 26 plants instead of 58, I didn't like the $300+ plant bill.
This is the current layout with rocks. I'm going to change the center and the left side since the more and more I look at it, it just doesn't seem right.
The glass doesn't look this bad in person.
And a tease of what I'm playing around with......
minicrazy592
Member
Thanks for the suggestions. More different kinds of plants are going to be added once I flood the tank. I'm planting these right now because they can be grown with the dry start method. I was thinking of adding some Hemigraphis Traian, Myriophyllum heterophyllum, and maybe some bamboo, who knows. We shall see what I come up with in a few weeks.I have used the pea gravel from the hardware stores like $5 for a 40lb bag and it has never effected my paramiters. Looks nice to easy to plant.
Looks like you have a solid plant list I would pass on the baby tears but that is just me. Crypts walkeri and wedtil would be a nice addition.
I like the planted tanks and recently did an MTS tank that I tore down after a few months, I really hated the MTS "mineralized top soil" it's nice but if you have to move plants forget it. That is why I say have a good plan, in your case with the florlite you can move plants without making a huge mess and you have a good plan already so no need to stress that point.
Eric
minicrazy592
Member
My Dad is going to try to go pick up the plants tomorrow. I making him take pics so me and you all have something to look at as it progresses.
minicrazy592
Member
Hmm I think I want to do this once it's established. I'm going to experiment with it in my 2.5g first though.
How to Grow a Moss Wall, by Loh Kwek Leong
How to Grow a Moss Wall, by Loh Kwek Leong
minicrazy592
Member
I couldn't sleep, so I decided to make a DIY CO2 system for my 2.5g. I came up with my own recipe:
1/4 cup of natural cane sugar
3 teaspoons of yeast
60% filled with water of a .5L coke bottle
So far so good. It started making a good stream of CO2 after about 10 mins. We shall see how long it will last. I painted the bottle with a can of plastic dip to not only improve looks a bit, but act as an insulator. I sealed the cap with double sided duck tape which seems to be holding so far. I have two adjuster valves on the tubing. One is going to be replaced by a check valve once I go to the LFS and the other I use to release excess CO2 and control the bubble rate. I'm using a standard throw away air stone for now. The bubbles are extremely small and plentiful, but not too much.
Any thoughts on it? I plan on scaling it up for the 55g if it works right.
1/4 cup of natural cane sugar
3 teaspoons of yeast
60% filled with water of a .5L coke bottle
So far so good. It started making a good stream of CO2 after about 10 mins. We shall see how long it will last. I painted the bottle with a can of plastic dip to not only improve looks a bit, but act as an insulator. I sealed the cap with double sided duck tape which seems to be holding so far. I have two adjuster valves on the tubing. One is going to be replaced by a check valve once I go to the LFS and the other I use to release excess CO2 and control the bubble rate. I'm using a standard throw away air stone for now. The bubbles are extremely small and plentiful, but not too much.
Any thoughts on it? I plan on scaling it up for the 55g if it works right.
minicrazy592
Member
My Dad planted the tank today, added the water, and wrapped the top to create a "green house", so fingers crossed from here. Although I think I'm going to get him to remove some water, idk yet.
iPhone pic:
iPhone pic:
minicrazy592
Member
Thanks! I'm just testing the water, using this formula, and see how it compares to this chart. The current water has a ph of 7.2 and KH of 6.7 degrees. I'm shooting for 20ppm, I right now have 12.7ppm of CO2. So to get that I need to lower the ph to roughly 7.0.
CO2 (in PPM) = 3 * KH * 10^( 7-pH )
KH is Carbonate Hardness in degrees.
CO2 (in PPM) = 3 * KH * 10^( 7-pH )
KH is Carbonate Hardness in degrees.
Attachments
minicrazy592
Member
I'm still playing around with the mixture to get some more CO2 and more pressure out of my system. Anyone have some recipes?
minicrazy592
Member
Gottcha, I was just curious how you were monitoring
Eric
How do you do it?
Over the period of 8-10 weeks I turned my co2 up a little every 3-4 days, I watched my tank and fish very closely and when I noticed a Negative affect I backed it off and left it there I know that's terrible but it worked.
I never did get to try out one of those cool glass drop checker, I ordered one in off ebay from Hong Kong from sexylady something or the other low feedback and it showed up destroyed, there are good sellers from hong kong I decided to try this one and lost $5 in the deal. Was funny in a way the packaging was horrible it was in a paper thin box and in a big envelope, I don't know how they thought that little piece of fragile glass was going to make it 15 days in the postal system like that lol.
I know that's terrible but it worked. I never did get to try out one of those cool glass drop checker, I ordered one in off ebay from Hong Kong from sexylady something or the other low feedback and it showed up destroyed, there are good sellers from hong kong I decided to try this one and lost $5 in the deal. Was funny in a way the packaging was horrible it was in a paper thin box and in a big envelope, I don't know how they thought that little piece of fragile glass was going to make it 15 days in the postal system like that lol.
minicrazy592
Member
I made my moss wall a few days ago. The Java Moss is already starting to branch out from it. My tank is dirty in this pic, so my apologies.
