pricewayne Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Hi folks! Finally settled in a bit after my move from LA back to NYC and ready to get some tanks back in my life. I still have a 50g IM EXT lagoon reef tank in storage, but that'll be a setup later down the road. Decided to start out with a freshwater planted tank. Setup Display: AquaMaxx 12 gallon long (35.5" x 7.9" x 9.9") Stand: Have a wood/metal bookshelf that's the perfect size for it -- thinking it will be alright holding the weight Lighting: Aquatic Life Edge WiFi LED Aquarium Light, 36" Freshwater Filter: TBD - either AquaClear 20 or Dymax Slim Flo CO2: TBD - loads of reading to do (tips welcome) Rock: 26lbs of some sort of seiryu stone, or so I think Wood: So far I've bought one large piece of driftwood Substrate: 10L Ultum Nature Controsoil Freshwater - Extra Fine Black Livestock Fish: TBD - thinking either an axolotl or betta tank. If I go for an axolotl setup, I'll likely wait a while before adding it so I can focus on plants taking root//water chemistry etc. Plants: Specifics are TBD - definitely hoping to try some carpet moss Tank isn't delivering for another week so still in planning mode for the most part. Hoping to knock out my livestock/plant and hardscape plans by the time it's delivered. Believe if I end up going for axolotl setup, I'll have to consider cold water plants. Need to read up on CO2 equipment//instructions against my desired plant stock, as well - any tips or articles are welcome. Excited to get this started! 4 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 24 minutes ago, pricewayne said: Hi folks! Finally settled in a bit after my move from LA back to NYC and ready to get some tanks back in my life. I still have a 50g IM EXT lagoon reef tank in storage, but that'll be a setup later down the road. Decided to start out with a freshwater planted tank. Setup Display: AquaMaxx 12 gallon long (35.5" x 7.9" x 9.9") Stand: Have a wood/metal bookshelf that's the perfect size for it -- thinking it will be alright holding the weight Lighting: Aquatic Life Edge WiFi LED Aquarium Light, 36" Freshwater Filter: TBD - either AquaClear 20 or Dymax Slim Flo CO2: TBD - loads of reading to do (tips welcome) Rock: 26lbs of some sort of seiryu stone, or so I think Wood: So far I've bought one large piece of driftwood Substrate: 10L Ultum Nature Controsoil Freshwater - Extra Fine Black Livestock Fish: TBD - thinking either an axolotl or betta tank. If I go for an axolotl setup, I'll likely wait a while before adding it so I can focus on plants taking root//water chemistry etc. Plants: Specifics are TBD - definitely hoping to try some carpet moss Tank isn't delivering for another week so still in planning mode for the most part. Hoping to knock out my livestock/plant and hardscape plans by the time it's delivered. Believe if I end up going for axolotl setup, I'll have to consider cold water plants. Need to read up on CO2 equipment//instructions against my desired plant stock, as well - any tips or articles are welcome. Excited to get this started! Following! 😀 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Frank-n-Reef Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Following, My 12L FW tank needs a gravel change and wondering how that Ultum Nature product works out for you. Tim 2 Quote Link to comment
JBM Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 nice another local. pm me when you set up your 50g, i have a 5g bucket full of very dead dry rock that now has your name on it 1 Quote Link to comment
pricewayne Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 2 minutes ago, JBM said: nice another local. pm me when you set up your 50g, i have a 5g bucket full of very dead dry rock that now has your name on it So down to grab that! Going to be a couple months before I’m ready to start on the lagoon though lol. Are you in brooklyn? Quote Link to comment
JBM Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 technically im in nassau county. i work in all 5 boroughs. 1 Quote Link to comment
growsomething Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Hi there pricewayne, I really like that tank and their 22g. long and low, and ready for a pond tank landscape. looking forward to your scape. As far as c02 goes, I tried various dyi setups. they are invariably unstable for me, both the baking soda/citric acid mix, and the cheap regulators that go with them. the mix can suddenly run dangerously high [for the livestock] then hardly run. This invites algae. I spent for a decent regulator and 10g tank. Plug and play and forget about it for 6-10 m0. You may be able to use the less expensive paintball tanks they sell at Dicks with that tank. They refill them, too. 1 Quote Link to comment
pricewayne Posted February 17, 2020 Author Share Posted February 17, 2020 Setup my scape today (tank delivered early) -- few pics: Waiting on heater/thermometer and an order of plants to deliver - hoping to plant and start cycling by Tuesday. Ordered plants from Buce Plant (listed below) - excited to see how they turn out! I'll likely add more background plants from a LFS after I get these in and can see how it all looks. Floating - Salvinia Cucullata (floating) Foreground - Staurogyne Repens UNS Tissue Culture - Utricularia Graminifolia Aquatic Farmer Tissue Culture Mid-Ground - Helanthium Bolivianum Aquatic Farmer Tissue Culture - Kedagang Round - Fissidens Nobilis on Stainless Steel (moss) - Brownie Jade - Red Blade - Peacock Background - Echinodorus Horemanii Red Sword - Nymphoides Aquatica Banana Plant 5 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 5 minutes ago, pricewayne said: Setup my scape today (tank delivered early) -- few pics: Waiting on heater/thermometer and an order of plants to deliver - hoping to plant and start cycling by Tuesday. Ordered plants from Buce Plant (listed below) - excited to see how they turn out! I'll likely add more background plants from a LFS after I get these in and can see how it all looks. Floating - Salvinia Cucullata (floating) Foreground - Staurogyne Repens UNS Tissue Culture - Utricularia Graminifolia Aquatic Farmer Tissue Culture Mid-Ground - Helanthium Bolivianum Aquatic Farmer Tissue Culture - Kedagang Round - Fissidens Nobilis on Stainless Steel (moss) - Brownie Jade - Red Blade - Peacock Background - Echinodorus Horemanii Red Sword - Nymphoides Aquatica Banana Plant That looks really nice so far. 1 Quote Link to comment
ef4life Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Cool. I have not had freshwater since I was a kid, but some of these modern planted tanks really look amazing and I wouldn’t mind trying one out myself in the future. I’ll be following this for sure. 2 Quote Link to comment
pricewayne Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 Tank is planted and filled as of Tuesday, 02/18! Few full tank shots: Everything from Buce Plant arrived healthy and seems to be doing well. Grabbed a few others from Pacific Aquarium (lfs) -- forgot to note their names so I'll try and ID next time I'm in the shop. Some out of the box pics before I planted are on my insta: https://www.instagram.com/p/B81VgU6J9OW/ Closer shots of the scape: Heater I ordered is working ok, but not the best -- built-in thermometer seems to be miscalibrated (which is why it shows temp is at 83). Have two thermometers on each side - both reading steady temp between 78-79. To keep track of my cycle: testing water daily, dosing nitrifying bacteria with Nite-Out II (5ml after daily water tests) and dosed ammonium chloride last night for the first time. 02/19 at 11AM: pH 6.6, ammonia 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 5ppm 02/20 at 11AM: pH 6.6, ammonia .25ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 5ppm -- at 11pm I dosed Dr. Tims ammonium chloride 02/21 at 11AM: pH 6.6, ammonia 1ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 10ppm No surprise there's an ammonia spike in this morning's test -- interesting there was a spike in nitrates but nitrites are still reading at 0ppm, though. I may test again tonight to see if my ammonia levels decrease at all. Not planning to dose ammonium chloride again until tests reflect ammonia is steadily reducing, then start to see nitrites increase/deplete, and/or I see nitrates continue to increase. Still deciding on my livestock plans -- I don't think this setup will work well for axolotls, unfortunately (not enough hiding places//too bright a light//would likely disturb plants on substrate too much and the tank is a bit small for them). Thinking I may go for a few kuhli loaches, a betta and possibly some shrimp. Am reading up on how I'd like to setup running Co2 -- likely will invest in a more long-term setup over a DIY. 6 2 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 not even fair, this is an instant beauty...would take years to get reef tank to look remotely this good. I'm in the wrong side of the hobby 🤔 1 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 32 minutes ago, pricewayne said: Tank is planted and filled as of Tuesday, 02/18! Few full tank shots: Everything from Buce Plant arrived healthy and seems to be doing well. Grabbed a few others from Pacific Aquarium (lfs) -- forgot to note their names so I'll try and ID next time I'm in the shop. Some out of the box pics before I planted are on my insta: https://www.instagram.com/p/B81VgU6J9OW/ Closer shots of the scape: Heater I ordered is working ok, but not the best -- built-in thermometer seems to be miscalibrated (which is why it shows temp is at 83). Have two thermometers on each side - both reading steady temp between 78-79. To keep track of my cycle: testing water daily, dosing nitrifying bacteria with Nite-Out II (5ml after daily water tests) and dosed ammonium chloride last night for the first time. 02/19 at 11AM: pH 6.6, ammonia 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 5ppm 02/20 at 11AM: pH 6.6, ammonia .25ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 5ppm -- at 11pm I dosed Dr. Tims ammonium chloride 02/21 at 11AM: pH 6.6, ammonia 1ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 10ppm No surprise there's an ammonia spike in this morning's test -- interesting there was a spike in nitrates but nitrites are still reading at 0ppm, though. I may test again tonight to see if my ammonia levels decrease at all. Not planning to dose ammonium chloride again until tests reflect ammonia is steadily reducing, then start to see nitrites increase/deplete, and/or I see nitrates continue to increase. Still deciding on my livestock plans -- I don't think this setup will work well for axolotls, unfortunately (not enough hiding places//too bright a light//would likely disturb plants on substrate too much and the tank is a bit small for them). Thinking I may go for a few kuhli loaches, a betta and possibly some shrimp. Am reading up on how I'd like to setup running Co2 -- likely will invest in a more long-term setup over a DIY. Looks great! I’m jealous of that plant shipment. 2 Quote Link to comment
JBM Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Forgive my ignorance. I'm not a fw guy. But arent they "cycled" the second you add plants? Quote Link to comment
pricewayne Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 3 hours ago, JBM said: Forgive my ignorance. I'm not a fw guy. But arent they "cycled" the second you add plants? Nope - plants certainly help your cycle but they won’t establish the beneficial bacteria population you want//need to consider the tank “cycled”. Quote Link to comment
Kered Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Ive never seen this size tank but i love it! A good long tank like that would look good with a decent size of rummynose tetras. Quote Link to comment
JBM Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 16 hours ago, pricewayne said: Nope - plants certainly help your cycle but they won’t establish the beneficial bacteria population you want//need to consider the tank “cycled”. Makes sense. I may start a small fw tank for the kiddos Quote Link to comment
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