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70L planted - second tank

Alrighty, it holds water. But it doesn't hold 70L of water. I filled 56L with a centimetre or so gap at the top. Mkay.

Stand built, and it juuuust fits next to my first tank for now.

I'm going for a peninsula-style setup because the location I'd finally like for this tank means it will be viewable from both long sides and one short end. Whether it ever reaches that final destination is out of my hands.

Hardscape-wise, I've ordered some redmoor wood - a bit of structure and height but keeping it minimalist. Overall I want this tank to feel 'airy' ('watery'?), and a bit of a contrast to my 70L jungle.

I'm going for an inch or two of inert substrate - the same very coarse sand (1-2mm) I have in my other tank. I quite like the look of it, it should go well colour-wise with the wood.

Plants, wise I'm keeping it simple. Hopefully I'll manage to make these happy in my hard tap water.
  • Vallisneria torta (height)
  • microsorum pteropus (java fern) (height)
  • anubias nana petite (on the wood)
  • weeping moss (on the wood) (is 20 grams of moss a lot or not much?)
  • cryptocoryne becketii (somewhere near the pointy bit of the peninsula (possibly))
  • a little frogbit, pistia from my other tank
  • ??

Stocking will be shrimp and probably snails.

Welcome any thoughts on the planting selection!
 
My suggestion is to replace torta with Sagittaria subulata 'Needle Leaf' or Cyoerus Helferi. Instead of standard Java fern get your hands on narrow or needle leaf.
Get some coloured buces varied sizes instead of nana petite. Weeping moss is already a winner as you have seen it in my tank.
Come grab some C.nuri ordered or from me again.
 
Nice. thanks @mlgt
  • narrow / needle leaf Java a good call.
  • cryptocoryne nurii looks great - is it easy to grow?
  • are buces fussy at all? Agree that some different tones in the tank would be good 🙂
 
Its very easy. Its the carpeting plant in the 350l tank you saw.
Buces can melt a bit at the start and in lower tech can take a bit longer to bounce back. I showed you the kitchen tank which was set up at the new year and its slowly growing back new leaves etc.
Just for piece of mind I guess. Im sure it will be fine.
 
Hi @Little
Good shout. The plan is to make this a peninsula but it's not yet in its final location. But I think what I'll be doing is putting a temporary black background on, something easy to remove when the time comes to move the tank.
 
Here's what I'm looking at for a likely final 'composition'. I seem to have ended up with an island layout, mostly because the wood isn't quite right - out-of-the-box - for the peninsula falling-left-to-right layout I originally had in mind (and I don't have it in me to set about with saw and glue)

I think this layout should give me plenty of places to nestle plants, which are en route
  • weeping moss
  • cryptocoryne becketii
  • cryptocoryne nurii
  • bucephalandra 'wavy green'
  • microsorum pteropus 'narrow leaf'
  • sagittaria subulata

I'll probably scoot the heater behind the centre of the red moor wood, hidden behind some java fern.
 

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Move the filter to the right side and heater too. The long piece going to the left is a bit too strong visualy right now. You could snap it to create a more natural look and then use the snap off piece as a floor piece.
Weeping moss on the branches will look good
 
Thanks @mlgt What do you mean by a floor piece?

I could snap and bend to front left but that might be too strong still, and not what you are suggesting.

Looking a bit misty when I put the light on last night.
 

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Plants have landed. My, some of them are real tiny. I'm just waiting for them to melt now and then start growing. I'm thinking: Let's see how they are looking in a month, and then I'll have a bash at finalising the hardscape, adding a background, and planting up in final locations. I'm feeling in a patient mood.

the frogbit I transferred from my main tank, and the salvinia and pistia, got brown roots in the new tank after a few days. Not sure what that was all about but I trimmed the frogbit and new roots are coming out all nice and clean.

A ramshorn hitched in on a plant weight from my main tank into this one, and I've seen it out and about near that white stuff on the wood and generally touring around.

I added some alder cones in too, and next day...brown water. Very brown. Done a few changes since then to lighten the murk.

Speaking of water changes, I couldn't help myself and have decided to ditch pure tap and go with a base of RO, remineralised to 10GH and 2KH (via adding tap along with epsom and gypsum). In the zone for neocaradina when that time comes.

Dosing-wise, I'm using a Solufeed 2:1:4 and Sodium-free Trace Elements Chelated 'All in One'. Targeting 5ppm N and 0.5 Fe.

The 8W light the tank came with seems a bit feeble, but I'm rolling with it for now.
 

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