Planted Aquarium Progression Thread

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Then did some rescaping and spent several hours trimming/propagating plants.

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So this is how it stands now. I apologize for having to make every picture an individual post; the MFK app won't let me upload multiple pics per post.

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Comments, criticisms, questions, and suggestions are quite welcome, by the way. I'll try to update this thread on at least a monthly basis, at least until I consider the aquascape "finished" (if that ever happens). Hopefully within the next couple months, I'll replace the hideous CFL fixtures with some proper T5HO fixtures. The brooder lamps are a pain to deal with; they're always in the way, and the bulbs are longer than the lamps, and I haven't found a good way to suspend them without spending money.
 
Nice tank and scaping, I didn't think CO2 effect the plants grow rate in a week until I saw major different from your before/after pics :D
I having a low light planted tank with major of Anubias, Ferns and 2x Red tiger Lotus. I might consider trying pressurize CO2 later :) right now I'm using Liquid CO2 so until I finished the bottle I'll look into mini CO2 pressurize system! :headbang2
 
jclyde13 said:
Over the next couple weeks, I added more lights, something like 30-40 stems of Bacopa monnieri, 4-5 stems of Cabomba caroliniana, and a couple long stems of Brazilian pennywort which I cut up into several smaller plants.

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Click to expand...

I just realized, this is actually the point at which I added CO2 (you can see the diffuser on the right side). My time scale might be a little screwy, with everything I've had going on lately.
 
Yuki Rihwa said:
Nice tank and scaping, I didn't think CO2 effect the plants grow rate in a week until I saw major different from your before/after pics :D
I having a low light planted tank with major of Anubias, Ferns and 2x Red tiger Lotus. I might consider trying pressurize CO2 later :) right now I'm using Liquid CO2 so until I finished the bottle I'll look into mini CO2 pressurize system! :headbang2
Click to expand...

Thank you, and yes, it is incredible the change you see when you add pressurized CO2, especially with good fertilizer dosing and lighting. My stem plants are always pearling like nuts these days, and they just keep looking healthier every week.

My only advice is to not bother with the disposable CO2 cartridge systems sold by Fluval and other companies. Paintball CO2 tanks are the way to go. I purchased the Fluval 88g system on Amazon.com for about $60, but the first cartridge ran out after 2 weeks (running 2 bubbles per second for about 9 hours per day), and replacement cartridges cost $30 for a 3-pack... if you do the math, that adds up to $270 per year just in CO2 replacements.

Rather than buying the replacement cartridges, I found a $16 adapter to fit a paintball CO2 tank onto the regulator that came with my Fluval CO2 kit, and I bought a 20oz CO2 tank from Dick's Sporting Goods for $20. The tank is refillable, too, and it only costs $4 for a refill at Dick's, which should last about 5 months, so the yearly running cost is only going to be $8-12.

If I'd have known better from the start, I also would have just found a cheaper regulator. There are regulators on the market that come with a solenoid valve (so you can put them on a timer), for less than what I paid for my basic Fluval system.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I was a paintball player some years ago so I have plenty best quality fiberglass CO2 tank :D and I knew where to get free Co2 rechange hehehe it's a win win here :headbang2
 
You can't really tell from the pics, but my Bacopa monnieri isn't doing too well. The new leaves are folding for some reason, and the old growth is slowly withering away. I'm thinking about just removing it and replacing it with more of the Micranthemum umbrosum, since it's doing much better.
 
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