I used a mineralized topsoil substrate according to this m3thod.
Over the course of five weeks I soaked and dried 20lbs. of topsoil four times. This part took the most restraint as I wanted to get this sucker growing again after the Great Snail Debacle of 2008.
Over the last few days leading up to the planting me and the misses took turns stacking the driftwood in various manners trying to pre-plan as much as possible;
2:30 PM Friday afternoon.
Finally the plants I ordered from Florida arrived on Friday. All was in place. I took my light apart and cleaned and oiled the fans. I painted the back of the tank black. I decided to go with one white light bulb and one mixed sea-sun and corral in my dual fixture sub-compact lamp. All the rocks and wood had been soaking in water to leech any tannins or toxins out. I had dissolved mexican potters clay and mixed one pound of that with uber fine beach sand and this mixture was ready to mix with my sterilized soil.
I opened the plants up to get them in water and determine the ones I would select for the tank. This is about 15% of my order:
The rest waiting in bags;
First went down a mixture of Dolomite Lime and Muriate of Potash.
Here is where I deviated from the Greater Washington Aquatic Plant Associations article; I wanted the edges of the tank to remain open, and especially the middle front. I used a dense sand to line the edges and define where I wanted plant growth to remain light.
Now I added the mineralized soil mixed with the potters clay and sand;
This was covered by black pea gravel. The bowl is in position and the tank is ready for water. This is where it began to get difficult. You have to be patient and fill the tank very slowly or the hose will escape the bowl and blow apart the surface of the gravel covered soil.
The first of the plants go in. I realize that with the fine silt bleeding out of the soil I can't see jack shit. The plants are placed by braille. The camera flash lights it up but as I plant I am working in a fog.
I get in everything that I can and finish filling the tank and set up the new filter system and connect hoses for the undergravel aeration lines. After I finish cleaning up it is 12:30 AM. I am drunk and exhausted.
I have many plants left over as they usually give you a lot more than you order.
I use a small 6 gallon tank to try and save some of the extra plants. I think I'll throw a Betta in there.
The finished project sans fish which will come in about 2 weeks after the water chemistry becomes stable.
Using this method the tank, even though heavily planted will require no fertilizer for 10 years or more. After about three weeks the plants should recover from the shock of shipping and planting and the tank should go nuts to the point where I have to prune the plants once a week to keep them from blocking out the light. I have a dyi CO2 system that I may incorporate. All I lack atm is good timers for the lights.
Fresh water planted aquaria can be as beautiful as the most elaborate salt water reef tanks. The cost of a fresh water system is a fraction and with care and patience exotic, rare and seldom seen species of fish can be kept. Here is a nice mix of pictures of fresh water tanks;
Over the course of five weeks I soaked and dried 20lbs. of topsoil four times. This part took the most restraint as I wanted to get this sucker growing again after the Great Snail Debacle of 2008.
Over the last few days leading up to the planting me and the misses took turns stacking the driftwood in various manners trying to pre-plan as much as possible;
2:30 PM Friday afternoon.
Finally the plants I ordered from Florida arrived on Friday. All was in place. I took my light apart and cleaned and oiled the fans. I painted the back of the tank black. I decided to go with one white light bulb and one mixed sea-sun and corral in my dual fixture sub-compact lamp. All the rocks and wood had been soaking in water to leech any tannins or toxins out. I had dissolved mexican potters clay and mixed one pound of that with uber fine beach sand and this mixture was ready to mix with my sterilized soil.
I opened the plants up to get them in water and determine the ones I would select for the tank. This is about 15% of my order:
The rest waiting in bags;
First went down a mixture of Dolomite Lime and Muriate of Potash.
Here is where I deviated from the Greater Washington Aquatic Plant Associations article; I wanted the edges of the tank to remain open, and especially the middle front. I used a dense sand to line the edges and define where I wanted plant growth to remain light.
Now I added the mineralized soil mixed with the potters clay and sand;
This was covered by black pea gravel. The bowl is in position and the tank is ready for water. This is where it began to get difficult. You have to be patient and fill the tank very slowly or the hose will escape the bowl and blow apart the surface of the gravel covered soil.
The first of the plants go in. I realize that with the fine silt bleeding out of the soil I can't see jack shit. The plants are placed by braille. The camera flash lights it up but as I plant I am working in a fog.
I get in everything that I can and finish filling the tank and set up the new filter system and connect hoses for the undergravel aeration lines. After I finish cleaning up it is 12:30 AM. I am drunk and exhausted.
I have many plants left over as they usually give you a lot more than you order.
I use a small 6 gallon tank to try and save some of the extra plants. I think I'll throw a Betta in there.
The finished project sans fish which will come in about 2 weeks after the water chemistry becomes stable.
Using this method the tank, even though heavily planted will require no fertilizer for 10 years or more. After about three weeks the plants should recover from the shock of shipping and planting and the tank should go nuts to the point where I have to prune the plants once a week to keep them from blocking out the light. I have a dyi CO2 system that I may incorporate. All I lack atm is good timers for the lights.
Fresh water planted aquaria can be as beautiful as the most elaborate salt water reef tanks. The cost of a fresh water system is a fraction and with care and patience exotic, rare and seldom seen species of fish can be kept. Here is a nice mix of pictures of fresh water tanks;
