# My Aquarium So Far



## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

OK, so it's been her a few days now, there's much more I wanna do to it, particually making more hidding places for fish

But this is where I am at so far


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Thats looking good!


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## cervantes (Apr 24, 2008)

looking good , how big is that tank?


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Thanks 

There's one really annoying plant that keeps floating up a bit, just enough so you don't notice unless you really look. Might tie a house brick to it.


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

cervantes said:


> looking good , how big is that tank?


Tis 125 Litre, 80x35x45cm


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Looking great so far, X.:2thumb:


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

you want to take the foam and lead wrapping off the plants and plant each individual stem. You'll get much better growth from them that way


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

mike515 said:


> you want to take the foam and lead wrapping off the plants and plant each individual stem. You'll get much better growth from them that way


Every single stem??
No weights? How are they not gonna float?


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## Salamanda (May 28, 2008)

very nice set up! :2thumb:


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## roadkill (Apr 1, 2007)

looks good mate


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## simonas (Apr 12, 2008)

looking very impressive

what fish you going to keep


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

:shock::shock::shock::shock: Like WOW!!!!!

Obviously your fish stockist does better plants than ours!! 

Marina


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## Bigjim (Feb 26, 2008)

:thumb:


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## Dragonista (Aug 22, 2008)

Nice set up, I love the way you've scaped the plants. :2thumb:


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## fatratsandcheesekk (May 18, 2008)

Xiorell said:


> Every single stem??
> No weights? How are they not gonna float?


you can get some lead strip from your LFS and that would hold each stem down


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Looks awesome!

But sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but quite a few of the plants in there are non-aquatic.  They'll soon start to rot down and cause water quality problems. I'd remove them ASAP, before you start to get ammonia spikes.










The ones in red are non-aquatic.. the one with the ? in it, i'm not sure about.

If you wanna go planted, I'd suggest going onto the internet to order some plants...

http://www.java-plants.com/product_...d=258&osCsid=a279143e3533546cde6b648bbccb5b1e

I found this to be a great collection, at a great price. :2thumb:

Here's my tank with that plant collection in:









:2thumb:


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

So the red one, the bushy one near the red, and the grassy ones?
Why the hell are they in aquatic shops then? Bunch of tits.

I liked my grass too


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Xiorell said:


> So the red one, the bushy one near the red, and the grassy ones?
> Why the hell are they in aquatic shops then? Bunch of tits.
> 
> I liked my grass too


Aye.  Nearly all fish shops have them... it's crap! If they actually sold them as "aquatic plants" then you can go back and demand a refund cause they were breaking the law by selling something that isnt what they sold it as... though some pet shops cover their backs by having a tiny sticker on the tank saying, "some plants may be non-aquatic". 

I'm sure if you took them back and said you were going to take it further, they might even offer you some store credit... :whistling2:


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Esfa, the pic where you've highlighted the grass, is that just both the long skinny grass ones you've done, or the one with thicker leaves too?


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Xiorell said:


> Esfa, the pic where you've highlighted the grass, is that just both the long skinny grass ones you've done, or the one with thicker leaves too?


The one with the thicker leaves, too.


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

DAMMIT !!!!
That's hiding the heater and return pipe. lol

Here's the one you question marked


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Xiorell said:


> DAMMIT !!!!
> That's hiding the heater and return pipe. lol
> 
> Here's the one you question marked


Does it "flop" when you stand it up? most aquarium plants have evolved to let the water take their weight, so if it can stand up on its own it's a good indication that it's non aquatic... it looks like it could be some sort of hygrophilia species, but the stem looks quite thick...


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Supports its own wieght out of water


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

The red one is supposed to be

Alternanthera - "reineckii Purple" (Lilacina)

That's what it says.


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Xiorell said:


> The red one is supposed to be
> 
> Alternanthera - "reineckii Purple" (Lilacina)
> 
> That's what it says.


Aye, but red plants are amazingly hard to grow, if you don't have a high-tec tank.


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Esfa said:


> Aye, but red plants are amazingly hard to grow, if you don't have a high-tec tank.


Bring it on.
lol

I'll see how I go for a while, if it starts to look gammy it only takes 2secs to take it out


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Xiorell said:


> Bring it on.
> lol
> 
> I'll see how I go for a while, if it starts to look gammy it only takes 2secs to take it out


Wicked. :2thumb:


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## indigo_rock_girl (Mar 9, 2008)

Esfa said:


> Here's my tank with that plant collection in:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


OMG Esfa, that tank is amazing :no1: 
ind
xxx


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Xiorell said:


> No weights? How are they not gonna float?


Once you've removed the sponge, you can reattach the lead weights. I use groups of three stems at a time and push the lead weights under the gravel. Then position each group of three stems near each other but leaving enough room for growth. You can also place small pebbles at the base of the plants to help anchor them until the roots have taken hold. 

Fab. tank, Esfa but I expected no less...:notworthy:


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Hahaha, thanks guys! :blush::blush: The guru strikes again! 

That tank has now been closed down... my corn lives in it. :lol2: But I should have pics of my new one, when the hair algae has decided to gfto my java moss! :lol2:


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Esfa said:


> That tank has now been closed down...


Sacrilege!! :devil: :lol:


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Trillian said:


> Sacrilege!! :devil: :lol:


it still looks just as good, but dryer! :lol2:


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Actually looks better without that bushy thing in there.
Have seperated all the stems, they look better

My Boa has a bit of nice Mopani wood I'm eyeing up now but it might be too big for the tank anyway, want some room for bottom feeders


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

Take the sponges and weights off of the aquatic plants. They will stop them from growing any roots and break the stems leaving them to rot and die. Just snip the leaves neer the bottom off and stick them into the substrate, they will grow roots that way. 

Fish shops are notorious for selling land plants as aquatic ones. Its usually becuase they die after a few weeks and then you not knowing they were land plants go and get more and the cycle starts. They know you are going to be back in a few weeks spending more money. Best to order offline or go to a aquatic specialist shop. 

The tank is looking nice, to fill out the back were the land plants were try some limnophila sessiliflora (not sure of the common name). Its light and feathery and looks nice in groups. Grows fast and needs decent light.
You could also try elodea densa (type of waterweed) which you find in ponds. Hardy and will grow pretty much anywhere. Gets very long so will give you height and density.


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

I'm off to a place tomorrow where there should be some good plants, it's a propper aquatics only place. Hopefully they will have some floating plants too.

And with a bit of luck I will be able to see fish I can't find in town.


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

Xiorell said:


> I'm off to a place tomorrow where there should be some good plants, it's a propper aquatics only place. Hopefully they will have some floating plants too.
> 
> And with a bit of luck I will be able to see fish I can't find in town.


Thats good news. If you are ever in doubt go for plants that dont stand strong out of water. You will find they are usually aquatic. Anything that can support its own weight out of water is most likely not. 

What fish are you looking for then?


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Esfa said:


> Does it "flop" when you stand it up? most aquarium plants have evolved to let the water take their weight, so if it can stand up on its own it's a good indication that it's non aquatic...





Love_snakes said:


> If you are ever in doubt go for plants that dont stand strong out of water. You will find they are usually aquatic. Anything that can support its own weight out of water is most likely not.


:whistling2::whistling2:


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

Esfa said:


> :whistling2::whistling2:


oops should have read through the thread. Great minds eh


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## gex23 (Aug 14, 2007)

Your tanks looking very good - as stated though a proportion of your plants are non aquatic and will not only cause water quality issues they will also clog up the intake pipe of your filter causing filtration and flow issues which will cause further problems.

Ideally go for some easy plants that require such as :

Vallis (any variant / species)
Hygrophillia (any variety - fast growing and not fussy on lighting or water parameters)
Java fern / moss
Water Hyacinth (floating plant - roots actively filter water and improve water quality).
Amazon swords (just 1 as a specimen plant due to large size) 

Will add more as i think of them.

Heres a picture of my 400 litre discus tank (was stripped down and sold last year which i regret) - hope it inspires you to grow your plants!


















Good luck


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Love_snakes said:


> What fish are you looking for then?


Well I wanna go see different kinds of plec and catfish etc mainly

Most of the fish places here have mainly just all your "bog standard" fish, some of which may get a place in the tank but I wanna go see some slightly less common fish.

One of the normal every day fish I am rather keen on though, is a Silver Gourami. I think those are real nice.

I think I have ruled out Tiger Barbs, I really like the fish but the fin nipping starts eliminating the chance to keep other fish I like.


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Love_snakes said:


> oops should have read through the thread. Great minds eh


haha, we rule!


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

That's a cool tank Gex.
That's kinda what I wanna work toward just on a smaller scale

I don't wanna put to many plants in right away coz of course, they grow and I don't wanna end up with a leafy green mess in 12 months.

But at the same time I am an impatient bastard and want it planted yesterday. lol

Hopefully this place tomorrow will have some grassy looking stuff, I like things like that, stuff that will move around a bit and such in the current.


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

Xiorell said:


> That's a cool tank Gex.
> That's kinda what I wanna work toward just on a smaller scale
> 
> I don't wanna put to many plants in right away coz of course, they grow and I don't wanna end up with a leafy green mess in 12 months.
> ...


What you will find is that as your plants grow you trim them and take bits off and plant them or give them away. Most people forget that you have to trim your plants like you would the ones in your garden. It promotes new growth aswell as keeping it looking neat and tidy.


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## Scouse_Mouse (Aug 18, 2007)

Nice tank...


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Scouse_Mouse said:


> Nice tank...


 
Ta

Looks a tad different now.


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

So my Ammonia and Nitrite spiked and then fell.
So I got some fish


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Xiorell said:


> So my Ammonia and Nitrite spiked and then fell.
> So I got some fish


So long as both were zero, that's good to hear.


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## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

Trillian said:


> So long as both were zero, that's good to hear.


Yep. They actually fell to zero about Sunday, I checked it like, 5 times coz I thought I was going mad, nope, was fine. So I put 4 Endler Guppies in, kept an eye, still fine, so today I got some more FISHESESESSSSawsdnfd !!!!!!!!! HAHAHA


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## *mogwai* (Feb 18, 2008)

so where's the pic with fishes in?


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