A Working Process (Dirted Tank)

Hey Guys,
Just wanted to share my new project. I've been wanting a 40B for years now, but never really had a chance/excuse to start one until recently. I decided my 20L was getting a bit crowded with plants and wanted to upgrade. Thank to finding some awesome deals, I was able to start one without really hurting the wallet...much.


Here's the 20L...can't find more recent pictures, but it didn't change too much from this picture. It was just a jungle. I removed the Wisteria and added an assortment of Swords and Rotala.


I had an xP3 laying around, but no hosing. However, I had some PVC piping laying around and some tubes. I also bought an inline heater over a year ago that I never had a chance or place to use. And I decided I wanted to paint the pipes black. And while I was at it...I never painted a tank before and decided...why not. This could be the tank I experiment with.

Since this was an upgrade for my plant tank, I've also been wanting to do a dirted tank. I used Miracle Gro Organic Potting Soil. I sifted through it to remove any big pieces.


After sifting through all that dirt (pretty time consuming), I made a border for the dirt. I didn't want to see layers, so I made a border and poured the dirt in there before I capped it with PFS. I was planning on adding Laterite before I capped it, but I forgot! I was kind of mad because I kept telling myself this over and over. I ended up sprinkling the Laterite around and pushing it down as much as I could without disturbing the substrate too much.




I didn't like the strainer that I was originally planning on using and found that a sponge filter fits just perfectly into the intake.


After that, I SLOWLY filled the tank up with a plate to prevent the water from disturbing the substrate and started to move the plants.

I'm kind of OCD with how my filters are placed. After I turned it on, It wasn't priming. After looking at the aquastop, the piping was reversed. The way I like my system is the intake on the left and output on the right (when you're looking at it). Well...it seems that the xP filters are opposite. I tested the filter before to check for leaks and did the same thing so I don't know how it happened again. The good news was that the way I would've liked it made me worry as I was worried about the inline heater attaching the PVC to the hose would come loose over the electrical outlet. Since I had to switch it around, I no longer had that fear. And actually during the switching, the inline heater did pop off And of course, since I reversed the intake and output, I had to rearrange the plants and rock that were already planted. That whole process was a pain.
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The next day, it was time to move more plants. After pulling up my 1 Crypt, it divided into 3-5 plants when I dug it up. I ended up planting the small ones together, so they are spread out into 3 areas of the tank. I originally started off with 4 Swords which turned into 8-9. I'm hoping that when the Swords grow in, it'll be a nice thick bush on the left side of the tank.


After about 5 days, I moved in some tester fish.


Now I play the waiting game. I'm actually waiting for some new lights and I'm still not sure if I want to move the Rotala in here yet. I might get an Anubias to hide the roots of the Java Fern by the rock.

So far, I have Amazon Swords, Argentina Swords, Cryptocoryne Undulata, Java Fern, and Moss Balls. The tannins are already leeching into the water, so I'll be doing a water change soon.