2 weeks in and already want to start over!!

[LancsRick]

Well I'm not going to start over, since that wouldn't be fair on the fish, but I am going to start building up thoughts and ideas of whenever I do get around to my first rescape in the future. Things I've realised already that I'd do differently...

- Get rid of the textured Juwel background (empty tank job)
- Do all my planting in the dry (can't stop cat litter coming up!!)
- Find a way to clean plants leaves since they get filthy whenever I disturb the substrate and I can't clean them easily
- Get an external pump

And those are just the things I can't change that I've come up with in 2 weeks! I bet there's loads more in the coming weeks as I learn more.

That said, I'm pretty hooked on this already!!!!

 

[logi-cat]

How about some pics?

 

[spyder]

Well I'm not going to start over, since that wouldn't be fair on the fish, but I am going to start building up thoughts and ideas of whenever I do get around to my first rescape in the future. Things I've realised already that I'd do differently...

- Get rid of the textured Juwel background (empty tank job
- Do all my planting in the dry (can't stop cat litter coming up!!)
- Find a way to clean plants leaves since they get filthy whenever I disturb the substrate and I can't clean them easily
- Get an external pump

And those are just the things I can't change that I've come up with in 2 weeks! I bet there's loads more in the coming weeks as I learn more.

That said, I'm pretty hooked on this already!!!!

It's good to start looking at ways you can improve things.

Here's a few thought's on your list.

Yes, ditch the background.

I plant the front in moist substrate, when I move to the slightly taller midground/background stuff I will half fill the tank to plant those.

Have a plan for planting. I do but it never goes to plan. If you plant right you won't disturb the substrate so much. Cat litter can be dusty for a while but it settles down after a month or so, hang in there.

An external filter would be a nice upgrade.

 

[curefan]

With regards to keeping plant leaves clean, I reckon some Otto's in the tank will take care of that

Cheers, Dave.

 

[LancsRick]

Just added some juvenile Cory's tonight, and a few bloodworm which have gone down well!

I've also planted some Crypts in there too, and have got most of the root mass under the substrate, but I'll be damned if I can get all of those long threads under there!!!! I'm going with the thinking that they'll burrow away from the light and it'll survive, so I gave up in the end with trying to bury them all!

Cheers guys.

 

[foxfish]

You could of cut off any long threads of roots, in fact it is best to do this befor planting.

 

[LancsRick]

Thanks fox. I'll pull them out tonight and do that. Do I want to trim right back to the central root "stub"?

 

[foxfish]

Here you go ....