# Wife's tank...*first shot with kitty litter*



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Nice start. I like the lay out of the wood. Are you putting anything in for a carpet or foreground plant?


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## Bree (Dec 17, 2010)

Wow, that looks so amazing! I can't wait to see this when up and running!!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

thanks . maybe glosso in the foreground & moss or anubias. but don't know how it will do with not too much lighting...its eventually only going to be 1.5 wpg...so we'll see about that.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Some Marislea might do the trick for low light.


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## 10galfornow (May 13, 2011)

MOAR plants! get some elodea and maybe some java fern, if it's low light.


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## eternity302 (Jun 19, 2011)

WOW! That's very nice =)

I dun think it matter if you went cheap or expensive =) even if I had the money I go cheap haha! what matters is that you're happy with the setup! Nice work!

And wow, first post =)


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## trackhazard (Aug 24, 2006)

Firemouths are like mini earth eaters so they will sift the sand. As long as you surround your rooted plants with some rocks or have a big patch of sand they can sift through your plants should be ok.

I had a tank of firemouths but most of my plants were epiphytes.

-Charlie


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

@ chad....aight, i think i can get my hands on some marislea...

@10galfornow....eww...i hate elodea...aka anacharis...aka...goldfishfood. and the tank is already full of java ferns...like 10 of em.

@trackhazard. thanks...that is helpful. most of the tank is sand so hopefully they won't bother it too much. and epiphytes as in moss, ferns, anubias? etc? cuz that is what this tank is mostly except for the crypts and ambulia.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

warning...fts filled soon...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

aight...here are some moar pics...and a filled fts
with my temporary uber-ghetto lighting....YES!!


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## treetom (Feb 11, 2011)

I love my kitty litter/play sand shrimp tank. You have about the same ratio as I do. I used the tow as a cap for top soil though. You have anything under it all? Oh, looks very nice. I like how it looks like the tree was growing out of the stones.


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## ktownhero (Mar 21, 2011)

That's a really fantastic aquascape, good job! Not all tanks require 100% plant coverage, and I think the use of space is one of the best qualities of this tank. It has the added benefit of giving your Firemouths a playground so they don't bother your plants. I would just try to get some plants in the wood/rock area that will really fill in thickly, and when they do it'll look phenomenal!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yeah, i thought about capping the kitty litter with black sand or eco-complete since it is rather dusty and silty...we'll see how that goes. and thanks for the complements. the one stone on the left that is on the wood is temporarily holding it down too. it is kinda an eysore right now.

yes i think i just need a huge mat of needle leaf java ferns and that would set it off right now, but what i have will grow soon to fill in that middle section and ook nice.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

thats alot of buckets over on the right.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yup wife gets me pickle buckets from her work...yay! so i have enough.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

nice start!


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## kalawai2000 (Jan 15, 2011)

Very nice...


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## joetaff (Jun 9, 2007)

Nice hardscape, put some rocks or some kind of barrier around the planting substrate to help keep that sand nice and clean.

Great start though


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## treetom (Feb 11, 2011)

Any updates?

Sent from my EVO 3D using Tapatalk.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

It reminds me of Oldplunk's 29G. 








Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Dwarf Sagittaria, Pygmy chain sword will work. Just add some Osmocote plus tabs. 

2 grams of osmocote into ice tray. Top with 3 ml. of water. Freeze. Before inserting break them in ½, unless its a huge sword plant or giant crypt. Osmocote will float unless you let them soak for a minute or two and shake the tray around a little before freezing.
Sewingalot

So you have the kitty litter mixed with the sand, or topped with the sand? If you get tired of keeping it white you can get river sand from landscaper for $3.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

joetaff said:


> Nice hardscape, put some rocks or some kind of barrier around the planting substrate.


That reminds me of Medred's 40 gallon cube.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

ok ok ...i'l update soon..
been a busy guy with all my 12 tanks....arg!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Love the scape.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

ok here you go...finally got the shop light so now things are growing...

added some giant hair grass, got some in a few tanks now. and a rangeri sword...i like its tall vertical growing leaves...very cool.


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## silva_unt (Apr 27, 2011)

It looks great!!


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Good start!

I would like to see more rangeri sword on the right and some more ferns around the rocks on the left side. Then some crypts around the rocks on the right side. Looks like you could use some more sand on the right side.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

thats friggen awesome man.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yes..well sold my last 2 rangeri swords to a dude this week so don't have any more of those right now. and yes, i def need more crypts up front on the right...pretty much just need more plants that stay under 7" up front...

oh and incase I didn't say so earlier...all the wood and rocks were found....ehh....less than 5 min from my house on the side of the road...yay for living next to streams and trees!

...just hope it dont melt in like 6 months...haha wouldn't that be great....not


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

here's wees goes..... much better pic...you can see some fishes too...firemouths, sunburst tux platies...1 bn pleco and 1 male red tailed goodied.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

those meeki's are sweet. hope they dont destroy everything


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

ditto...


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## narhay (Feb 28, 2007)

Black background!


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

For background you could get some silk material and tape it on the back with gorilla tape. That is what I have done. 

You could also make a wall as Phil Edwards did:
Plastic egg crate and Great Stuff" brand spray foam. Siliconed egg crate to the back of the tank. then filled it in with Great Stuff and pressed the second layer of eggcrate down into it as it expanded. After that dried and cured overnight I filled in all the holes and put another layer down to make sure everything was filled in and let it sit overnight. trimmed the excess off to get a relatively flat surface, sanded it down, and painted it with a couple layers of black Rustoleum. Voila, tank background.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

Hilde said:


> For background you could get some silk material and tape it on the back with gorilla tape. That is what I have done.
> 
> You could also make a wall as Phil Edwards did:
> Plastic egg crate and Great Stuff" brand spray foam. Siliconed egg crate to the back of the tank. then filled it in with Great Stuff and pressed the second layer of eggcrate down into it as it expanded. After that dried and cured overnight I filled in all the holes and put another layer down to make sure everything was filled in and let it sit overnight. trimmed the excess off to get a relatively flat surface, sanded it down, and painted it with a couple layers of black Rustoleum. Voila, tank background.


yeah...my first idea was to make a cave with these branches coming out with this method...but i don't have the time and effort with all my other tanks. just wanted a natural approach. and yes i need to put on a black background. and clean the back inside/outside glass...its yucky.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

spyke said:


> yeah...my first idea was to make a cave with these branches coming out with this method...but i don't have the time and effort with all my other tanks.
> 
> yes i need to put on a black background. and clean the back inside/outside glass...its yucky.


I feel you there. I have so many projects I have started and not been able to finish. Most aggravating is the cave started in my tank using a rock. I need to build more rocks around it to mimic a cave in nature. 

I found that the darker the background is the less visible the algae is. For I tried light blue background but it showed all of the flaws on the glass due to it being bought used. With dark blue I don't see any flaws.


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## Robert H (Apr 3, 2003)

great hardscape. really like it


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## Cody6511 (Jul 8, 2011)

Absolutely gorgeous!


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## moonshinetheslacker (Sep 13, 2010)

Your wife has a beautiful tank. Well done.


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