# First Planted Tank



## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

Hello, i have been reading on this forum for the past couple weeks and it was about time to register. Im new to aquariums and through this site I have learned alot and it has shown me some crazy aquascape which encourage me to make one myself. 

this is my first tank ever which hopefully stays low budget :icon_bigg
10 gallon halfmoon tank
with java ferns, java moss, Malaysian driftwood and some pebbles i have found around my neighbourhood.
I have 4 guppies, 2 ballon molly, 1 betta, 3 tetras and 3 cory cat fish all happly living in my tank.









here is my set up with the diy co2 
















tried to mimic a cave


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

nice I like it, that driftwood is pretty cool and the cave looks good. 

I'm surprised the betta gets along with the guppies and mollies. If they don't work out you should consider trying more neon tetras since they are schooling a few more than 3 would be better.

next time you rescape you may want to consider getting a natural color pea gravel and replace the blue gravel. I think natural pea gravel would look better with those nice pebbles.


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

I was also surprised that my betta is very friendly and peaceful, i did have 6 neon but 3 of them died as they were my cycling fish 

I didn't plan to get blue gravel but when i started up my fish tank it was the cheapest one and i regret it now. this is why there is a excessive amount of rocks and pebbles to cove the ugly blue gravel.


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

kamikazi said:


> next time you rescape you may want to consider getting a natural color pea gravel and replace the blue gravel. I think natural pea gravel would look better with those nice pebbles.


+1... those pebbles have a such a great look in conjunction with the driftwood, it kills me to see the blue underneath it, lol.

Aside from that, I love the look of your tank. Keep an eye on your cories though; they are scavangers and prefer a finer substrate that they can scrounge around in. You might want to move them to a better environment for them.

Look forward to seeing how your tank develops!


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Crazy Tanks*

Hello harrow...

I really like your tank. It doesn't look "crazy' to me. I have large, crazy tanks to grow different kinds of plants. Here's a pic of one of my 55 Gs.

Not as well organized as yours.

B


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

Hmm, how would I change the substrate without disturbing the bacteria since im coming to the end of my cycle. I would hate to start over as cycling was a pain in the @$$

my plan for aquascaping was to have sand on the bottom and a pebbles around, they seem to be fine but i would hate them to be unhappy as there are one of my favourites in the tank.


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

WOW your tank is so luscious GREEN


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

Keep your tank water and use it store your stones, DW and plants while you rescape and then put the water back in the tank when finished.

Carefully take the stones out trying to minimize any scraping, touching and brushing of their surfaces.

keep the middle portion of the blue rocks in place and just add the natural-colored gravel to the edges of the tank and the very top, this will keep all the bacteria on most of the blue gravel untouched.

You'll still see loss of bacteria but it should be minimal and easily compensated for with a few water changes in the days following the rescape.

As for the cories... just watch them to make sure they are getting a decent about of food... or better yet, make a small patch of sand for them to dig around in.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Sorry to be slow, I see your DIY CO2 but what's your water mover/filter?


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

I am currently rescaping at the moment, and my water seems to be really cloudy. I did rinse the silica sand, and took a bit of the old substrate out. I did stir up the old gravel more then i wanted but i had to, to get rid of the blue gravel on the edge of the tank. 

I can barley see through the water at the moment. If i wait an hour would the water settle or do i have to vacuum the rest of the water and do a waterchange. I did save the rest of the water in a bucket with the fish.


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

my diffuser? its a airstone that works pretty well as the bubbles it creates are tiny. my filters a marineland bio wheel filter for 30 gallon.


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

and it smells TERRIBLE in MY ROOM!


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

I think the tank looks really nice. I've never used DIY CO2, but I wonder about the choice of an airstone to disperse the CO2. My worry would be that it might clog over time. If that were to happen, you might have a real mess on your hands. I know some people have simply inserted their tubing into the intake of a HOB filter.

You may read that a biowheel is not ideal in a CO2 injected tank, especially with DIY CO2. I'm not 100% sure, although I suspect it may lead to some CO2 loss. You may want to consider removing it... let the plants help with the bio filtration. The key with a HOB filter is to try to minimize a lot of surface agitation. You could do this by making sure the tank is full.


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

That's looking great! The cloudiness should settle. I wouldn't worry about it too much.


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

well i do have a check valve so it should be safe right?

i finally filled the tank and it is a lot more clear but still a bit cloudy, ill post pictures soon when the waters more crystal clear. Im using 2 filters to speed up this process.

I did however siphon the bottom water out but kept it, i believe i didnt take to much good bacteria out, i still have the water and was thinking if its necessary to pour in the water little by little as the water evaporates.


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

heres an update, the water still seems a bit cloudy but its gotten a lot better and the sand looks much more realistic and nature like.


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

Amazing how much a difference that blue gravel makes doesn't it? Even with it on the bottom of a more natural looking substrate.

I'm glad you swapped it out; it looks really great. Only think I'd consider now is some plants with a little red in it but that can wait until the tank matures a bit... no rush.

looks great!


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## ISail (Mar 13, 2011)

That looks GREAT!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Cool! I have the same tank. Just re did mine also. Check out my profile pic.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Looks 10 times better now!


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

Looks 10x better really stoked about it, cant wait till the java moss and java fern actually stick to the driftwood. Im thinking of getting amazon swords for the back right corner.

all this fish research and rescaping makes me want to create a iwagumi tank, trying to figure out a low tech cheap setup for one any suggestion.


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXCy7GXkD_Q&feature=channel_video_title

had to make a little video of my tank.
let me know what cha think


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

cool video! you should check my videos out, I got a couple in the 29 journal and 1 in the 40 journal.


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

harrow said:


> well i do have a check valve so it should be safe right?


The check valve will keep water from backing up into your yeast/ sugar mix. But if the air stone were to clog, there would be nowhere for the pressure to go. Worst case scenario, the bottle explodes, and you have a nasty mess.

Tank looks great BTW.


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