More plants

[rob]

added a fair few more plants yesterday

changed all of my substrate to pool filter sand
added C02 a cpl of weeks ago now and also added another light "total of 3 fluoro's now" my plants that i had in there are really starting to thrive now

my crypts have grown about triple there size
banana plants are always putting out new shoots and my anubias have taken off in leaps and bounds. also added another broadleaf sword yesterday, didnt have much success with my last but things are growing lots better now so i'll try again. also added a nice piece of driftwood with a large hole in it for my axies to swim through to get to the front of the tank if there too lazy to swim

since i added the C02, lights and started to fertilize have really noticed a big difference in the health of my plants and seem to have got the algae under control.
get my 5 footer next week, so more axies to come, thinking about 6 total

and turning this 3 footer into a marine aquarium with clams live corals shrimps and exotic fish etc...

 

[joanne]

I am always blown away by how awesome your tank looks Rob!!

The 2nd picture makes me chuckle - your axie looks like he/she is doing a scene from "Chariots of Fire" Slow motion running along the beach . . . I can hear the theme song playing now LOL (I worked in a video store for 3yrs and I associate everything with movies now, it's kinda sad Heh Heh)

 

[rob]

thx for the kind words Joanne

now u mention it i guess it does look a bit like chariots lol... funny how the mind works, music is my main trigger of memories.

 

[coffo]

wow nice tank
my new tank currently only has one plant and its plastic

 

[monica]

That is a nice looking tank.

 

[charlie]

Nice work rob, the plants seem to be thriving!

 

[rob]

thx guys,spend lots of hrs and $ on this tank

 

[apryl]

Wow,your tank is so colourful!Very impressive!As I'm just starting to revamp to a more planted look I can understand the $ involved.To get a decent looking plant you need to pay a decent buck,but it's so worth it when I see how your tank looks.Good work Rob

 

[jojo]

Rob, no matter what you do... your tank always looks fantastic!! I love seeing pics of your tank!! Its beautiful!

 

[stipe]

Hey rob you think youve spent alot onthat 4 foota, wait till you want to start your marine tank, that taks HUGE $$$. thats a 3right? well my 2 foot marine cost me $400 and thats just to start it without buying the lights ( another $150-200). Plus another $100 a year on maintanace. Clams take metal halide ligthing wich will cost you a total of $400 a system. Im warnig you start saving. You cant use your current lighting youwill need a kelvin rrating of 15000k and higher, up to 20-30000k, to keep clams. START SAVING, lol. I wish you luck.

 

[stipe]

Oh yeh a good website to start reashering and asking help is at www.reeflounge.com.

Oh yeh clams are $200 each, lol.

 

[rob]

Thx Apryl & Jojo

yes i wasnt very happy when my dog snuck around the back of me and pinched one of my amazon swords i had ready to go in the tank and chewed it into little pieces

$12 dog food !
getting some more background plants this week and another amazon

and maybe some more foreground plants, if i can find any good ones.
also getting some better lighting this week, going for compact fluoro's iv'e read they are much better
i'm addicted in a big way "i really need to get a life lol"

P.S. thx for the info Stipe will check it out..
not really worried about the price

they look so cool...
one of the shrimps i'm going to get is $185 but it looks soooo cool

bright red with white dots
also getting lion fish and another that looks like a stone fish, my lighting will cost approx $600.
looking @ spending around $2500 without fish. but it's a bit further down the track when iv'e done some proper research and have my axies settled into there new home, my axies are my first priority...

(Message edited by kharmakazi on March 13, 2006)

(Message edited by kharmakazi on March 13, 2006)

 

[samantha]

WOW! YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO MAKE ME JEALOUS!!

Well done what a beautiful tank! U have inspired me thats 4 sure!

CONGRATULATIONS, your axies look soooo happy 2!

 

[stipe]

thats a scarlet shrimp or mabey a barbed shrimp,
when you get the lion fish get the dwarfs because the others grow up to about 20cm and there really delicate because of thier fins.

 

[teesha]

aren't they poisonous!?!? lol....but yeh ur tank is godliness!!! its so wonderful! I want it!! lol. Well done, its a great achievment! Im green with envy. Where'd u get hte pool filter sand from and made sure it was safe? Asked without chemicals in it? How much was it?

 

[rob]

Thx Teesha, i have since taken it all appart and transfered most of it to my new big tank, but not going to go too heavy on the planting this time as it's too hard to clean up after my axies.
got my pool filter sand from a local pool supplies shop, was $12.50 for a 25Kg bag and got a second bag the other day for my bigger tank,mixed it all together and used about 45kg for my base. i washed it for about 2-3hrs to get it clean as it had a fair bit of silt in it. it would have to be pretty safe id'e recon cause of using in a pool filter. but made sure to wash it thoroughly