Robbies Betta Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 I reckon it looks wicked. the chunkier driftwood gives it an older look. wish I had driftwood like that :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara_01 Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 all this plant talk makes me want to do a bit more but my lfs hs nothing nd is so overpriced (i refuse to pay $30 for small amazon sword) does anyone know if you can buy plants off aquabid? i really like that drifwood btw, it does mke it look oldish - very natural, can't wait to see the end result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbies Betta Posted August 20, 2007 Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 you can buy plants off ebay, and there are various aqua-plant websites that are based in Aust. don't know them, but pretty sure there are mail order places that sell plants to But I know what you mean Sara, after eading all this I just want to re-do my lil 2fter and set-up a natural planted tank to stay outdoors :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted August 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 robbie, i don't suppose you know anyone who lives near a creek?? cause that's where i got my driftwood! i saved myself a lot of money just by going to the creek in my nan's back paddock i've actually got three other similar chunks of driftwood in the shed at the moment! (couldn't decide which ones i wanted so i bough them all home) the tanks all clear an tea coloured now, woot! starting to look like a real black water ecosystem my mum wants to hijack the tank to grow yabbies and crawbobs in it now though i offered to set up a third 3ft tank for her to put some in and she lost interest pretty quickly LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted August 20, 2007 Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 that's an amazing piece of driftwod Celeste. It looks like you've moved the tank now - I noticed it was near a window before. Good move! What lighting are you using? I know you said 'high light levels' but I don't think I saw any other details. You didn't end up bleaching it, did you? I hadn't realised earlier that you were going to do that. I'd be petrified that the bleach would soak into the wood then keep leaching out into the tank forever. I can't wait for the next lot of photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 20, 2007 Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 That's a sensational piece of driftwood! What kind of substrate did you end up using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2jdaze Posted August 20, 2007 Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 that driftwood looks awesome it's coming along great fishies are gonna love you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted August 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 yeah it's in another corner now, with a window if front that provides non direct sunlight. all i know about my lighting is that it's a super-expensive "tropical strength" natural light??? it does well in any case:) and no i didn't bleach the driftwood LOL i DID bleach the tank, and then rinse it thoroughly (i figure that if there's any ammonia left over it'll help keep the filter going), but i decided against bleaching the wood as i'd have to soak it for a week in clean water - AND change the water every single day :-/ i decided to let my uv filter deal with any bugs in it (i found out why the UV filter wasn't working...it had an ants nest in it. all fixed now though). mike, just used this really basic potting mix that had NOTHING added to it (you wouldn't believe how hard that was to find!) plus some killarney peat/spagnum moss stuff, and a layer of river sand on top and i hope so stace! with this big bit of driftwood i won't need any more fishies than the gouramis, black widows and glass shrimps <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 20, 2007 Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 Der. You already told us about the substrate in an earlier post. I remember things eventually. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted August 20, 2007 Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 is it a single tube or more than one? They all seem to be called things like "super" and "tropical strength" but unless there's more than one tube (or it's halogen or similar) they're not really high-light lights. I thought it best to mention that before you go stock up on pricey high-light plants - I speak from experience :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted August 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 only a single tube, but i've had high light plants before that've thrived (like the riccia LOL) the actual light seems to glow a pale purple if that's any help? kinda a bit like an actual uv light, even though it isn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 ok so the water had gone nice and dark, and the peat was settled in, and i even had some kinda slime algae growing in there. i decided the tank was well and truly established now so i did a 40L water change, and turned on the UV filter. i also added some phosphate/silicate absorber to help get rid of the algae quicker. this is it post water change - it's still a bit murky from the water change, but it's looking good as a black water tank getting the riccia and the black widow tetras next thursday still trying to get the moss :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windyzz Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 wow nice tank!!! Looks like u gonna be spending alot for the moss to cover such a big surface area of driftwood. But then, it would look stunning with mosses around it Cant wait to see ur next progress :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 well i was hoping that if i covered the center inch in a strip up the entire length, then the moss would grow out off the sides on it's own, so it wouldn't cost too much the problem is getting the moss i want ;; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windyzz Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 ooo what kinda moss u looking for ? I would really love to have some taiwan moss, rather than the ordinary java moss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 yeah i want the taiwan moss, or if not that, the christmas moss :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I dont know if we can get taiwan moss in Australia, but we do have Christmas moss, and Willow. Look forward to seeing it planted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted August 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2007 me too except there's slime growing in the tank guess my UV filter does need a new bulb *sighs* mum wants me to just get a new filter completely, one that's smaller and goes in the tank :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted September 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 well slime issue solved (love chinese algae eaters, and the new marble variety are so pretty!), but i can't get riccia, so i decided to go with lilaeopsis instead - i'm getting half a mat of it tomorrow as well as the rest of the school of black widow tetras and a pair of bronze cories (the algae eaters will go into the OTHER 3ft tank to clean the partitioned areas). can't wait! decided just to stick to my large powerhead filter and forget about the UV - it's too messy/ugly and tanks up too much space, and tanks survived before they were invented (plus i'm not keeping $40 fish in there anymore). i should be able to hide the filter pretty well and use the boom arm to create a fountain effect to aerate the water as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 ok the lilaeopsis couldn't compete with the slime/algae. so most of it's dead :< that said the lilaeopsis that HAS survived is almost 20cm tall, which is way taller than i want it! so mum keeps telling me she hates the tank :-/ she hates the blackwater effect actually. so i'm gonna leave the aquascaping for the CLEAR 3ft tank my bettas are in, and just turn this one into a simple black water habitat. not really sure what to do though?? i was thinking of banana lilies (one in each corner), to cover th water surface a bit, then some low light plants (since the BL will block a lot of light) and i still want to put moss over the log any suggestions for the low light plants??? on the plus side the bronze cories and the black widow tetras are loving the tank ; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canfeleq Posted September 16, 2007 Report Share Posted September 16, 2007 What about Java fern and anubias, you could use the log to anchor the anubias and that would also help anchor the moss as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted September 17, 2007 Report Share Posted September 17, 2007 you could possibly try some marsilea, it grows quite a lot like glosso but without the pain, it generally needs decent lighting levels and CO2 but there are species which may be able to handle the situation. I have some pictures in my photobucket account but im having trouble accessing it at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted September 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 i was definitely considering anubias (i was thinking of one each of coffeafolia, frazeri and Congensis), as i could anchor them to a rock and then they could naturally root into the substrate.but i want to keep the log clear for the moss, so that rules out java ferns as they don't go well with substrate also i really want a lot of low light plants because the banana lilies are going to block out most of it anyways. can anyone suggest any midground plants?? i think the tank would look pretty bare with just the 3 anubias and some ground cover daniel, do you have a full name for the marsilea? i really do want a ground cover, but i don't want it to be java moss LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 Marsilea is the genus name, we have access to only native species at the moment, M. hirsuta and M. drummondii are the ones i have experience with, hirsuta is a thinner form, while drummondii is more a glosso ish, heres a pick of the drummondii in my nano, i dont have a picture of the hirsuta, have a look on the aquagreen website though http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f233/pho...aniel/good1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2jdaze Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 any updates on this one Celeste? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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