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My planted tank journey


Chuckmeister

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Thought I'd keep a log here of my journey from buying second hand tanks to some sort of end result. May be death of 1000 plants or may work out ok.

I recently purchased 2 tanks on a tier. One is 5x2x2 and the planted tank I'm going to try is a 5x2x18. Both tanks were pretty filthly and my first post is just a clean up vid. Other than comments, most of it is just going to be youtube shots. As I progress I'll likely progress into some commentary especially as I learn more.

If you have a wife or a girlfriend you'd better hide them from the first vid as there is a whole lotta man in it :p

And the theme song is dedicated to Link :thumbup:

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Thought I'd keep a log here of my journey from buying second hand tanks to some sort of end result. May be death of 1000 plants or may work out ok.

I recently purchased 2 tanks on a tier. One is 5x2x2 and the planted tank I'm going to try is a 5x2x18. Both tanks were pretty filthly and my first post is just a clean up vid. Other than comments, most of it is just going to be youtube shots. As I progress I'll likely progress into some commentary especially as I learn more.

If you have a wife or a girlfriend you'd better hide them from the first vid as there is a whole lotta man in it :p

And the theme song is dedicated to Link :thumbup:

LOL @ the dog almost doing a dump.

The stand looks to be at a good height for viewing the tank inhabitants.

The theme song I cant get out of my head and I cant remember the name of it. damn!

I also don't have much hair and believe me you are dreaming about being a chic magnet. bgomf.

Nice work Chucky keep this journal going.

EDIT Benny Hill theme. Just remembered.

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Chuck dedicating the backing track to me awwwww :drunk:

I was waiting for you to be chased by a good looking girl :huh:

it always went that way for Benny Hill (legend comedian)

after all with a beard, you have all the cards in your favour :wink2:

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lol I had the girl part planned but I could never catch up to them :p

Fly, they are just light hangers to get them off the tank top.

I did a quick rough and nasty vid on my side drop filter. I either need someone to video or a tripod if I'm gonna keep doing these... anyway...

unfortunately I cant clean between the glass of this filter as I have to pull it apart and I cant be bothered doing that. The plants will hide it in time.

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I was looking at co2 reactors at some stage but I figure I'll just plumb it into one of the uplifts.

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Great video Chuck. Did you go an make yourself a cuppa at one stage.

It is amazing how a bit of elbow grease and hard work can be so rewarding that it doesn't feel like work. You have done a great job and can't wait for this to take shape.

I can turn the blog section of the forum on if you are interested in maintaining your project in one spot.

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What media are you looking to use in the filter? sponge, mat, floss or combo
will you be using eggcrate to lift the filter media up off the bottom
will you be adding matrix or K1

straighten out a wire coathanger and wrap with some cloth to clean the filter plate

gap once the dried matter is wet

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thanks for the cleaning tip, link....I'll have to check my floor for a hanger lol

It came with k1 media. Enough for about half. I'll top it up with aquaclay and some filter wool on top.

Its been some time since using one of these I'd actually forgotten about the egg crate on the bottom but your right, I'll adjust the post when I set it up properly.

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Not that I have ever seen, Fly. I've seen these on huge aquariums. Usually they will put on 2 smaller ones...one at each end but you can scale them up and down depending on how much real estate you are willing to lose.

I'm not too sure on the exact size of this filter but it would have to hold at least 25 litres of media. As big as any of the largest canisters.

I'll have a better idea when my media comes from AOA as to how much it holds.

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I've been looking on ebay to purchase some gold vine but its very expensive.

I normally detest store bought decorations but found this on ebay

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271595861037?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Aside from the green stuff that can come off it...whats your opinion..

Several bit of goldvine like this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321755508305?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

or the ornament?

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Chuck I always prefer natural rather than ornamental. I find that overtime the ornamental still looks artificial. If you are going for a planted tank it is because you want it too look natural I presume.

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Yeah I was actually considering that too Fly. I live right on a lake parkland. there is plenty of wood there but not really show stopping bits.

Having said that I saw a clip on youtube where a guy gets wood and cable ties it together to make epic looking bits and the plants cover the ties.

Grapevine is a great idea...would like to see how that turns out when your done.

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Yeah sounds like a good idea the cable tie thing....

The grape vines look quite interesting but the kiwi fruit vine and root ball look really quite good... not sure how they'll dry out though. Very different consistency to the grape. Saw a guy do a geophagus biotope with melaluca branches and they looked great.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Geez having a bad run waiting on stuff. AOA got caught up with my soil etc and my lights got held up a little too.

I just bought this as my main piece and 3 bits of [edit] removed link as was toxic[edit] so more waiting...waiting waiting !!

Hopefully those fake bits dont look crappy. Was going to cut the stem part off and cable tie a couple togther. Might be a bit much though.

They can go in my 8 footer I guess if they dont work out well.

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Chuck I suppose it will be about having enough piece that allows to to move them around until you have the desired effect. This may be using all the pieces or just some. The cable tie and then covering them with plants idea allows you develop a substantial piece of driftwood inside the tank that you may not be able get into a tank if it was one piece.

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