PEMs Freshwater Planted 65G build

[Frankie]

[PEMfish]

Plants are growing about an inch per day! I aint even dosing with anything yet.

I have no heater in this tank and its 82*f in the evening. I suspect it might be a degree or two cooler in the morning, with the house about 3 degrees colloer and the lights off all night.

I bought a dozen ghost shrimp.

The big group of plants to the right is under the return where a shower of CO2 bubbles explode from so they are coated with them in the pic. Sorry.

[PEMfish]

For the final scape I dont know exactly what Im gonna do yet.
Either a big mountain in the middle like the first two pics in link #1
or a slope like the 2 and 3,well see.

1. Jeff's Aquarium Tour Photo Gallery by Oliver Knott the aqua creator at pbase.com
2. http://wetplantlogic.com/wordpress/w..._img_09122.jpg
3. 17.jpg (image)

[Clownfish518]

Coming right a long. Makes me want a FW tank

[PEMfish]

I was going to rent a 20g cook pot and boil the drift wood but got impatient and scrub brushed it off in the tub. I had to weigh it down with a pile of rock to keep on the bottom of the tank. If it dosnt absorb enough water to sink on its own fairly quickly I'll screw some slate to the bottom.

So heres my plan for the scape;
cryptocoryne beckettii in the back right
I'll cover the top of the drift wood with java fern and the front with anubias nana
For the left front Im thinking Hemianthus callitrichoides or some kind of grass. As for the back center A stemmed plant like hygro.

[Nervoustime]

I really like the look of the drift wood. Your setup is progressing very nicely!!! Good stuff.

[PEMfish]

The only 5 shrimp I found are dead. Added them too soon. But hey, it'll help the cycle. Over night ( with no lights ) the plants grew about 3/4"! The Cabomba has really nice red tips now.

[PEMfish]

I disconnected the ground to the lights. They are tripping the GFCI every five minutes. I dont see an obvious short but there must be one. Until I can pull the hood down and trouble shoot all the possible areas It will have to do with no ground.

In other news I was able to take 3 rocks of the drift wood this morning.

[StirCrayzy]

3/4" !! Great Scott ! eventually how often will you have to prune these? every other day once you start dosing?

[PEMfish]

I dont know. Might have to stave em a bit.

[Clownfish518]

You know, I have noticed that my sw plants seem to do their growing when the lights are out. Is this really the case? Do they gather energy during the day and grow at night? Hmmm. You spurred a thought!

[PEMfish]

Really dont know. I do know plants work differently at night, consuming oxygen from the water column.

I brought home another bunch of the bright green stuff and added it to what I already have. Dosnt look to different though. I also got a green wendtii. I will cover the right side with those, its just that we only had one left at wrok.

[Clownfish518]

Actually, plants respirate around the clock, taking in O2 and giving off CO2 - that doesn't take place only at night. However, in daylight they also photosynthesize, giving off far more O2 than they consume.

I remember that much biology

[PEMfish]

I remember I was once in bio.. Dose that count for anything?

The red cabomba is really turning red. I hoped it wouldn't do that, I guess I made it too happy.

[PEMfish]

Plants are still growing like mad but the bottom leafs of the cabomba are dieing. I dont see how they could be that shaded, its a bright tank.
I haven't yet begun dosing, it could be that the old growth requires chemicals that aren't there where the new growth needs others. That would explain it but I cant see how that would be.