tim clearseal 20 gallon tank (:

[tea-man-tim]

well.... ive been wanting to do this tank for about 6 months now

but here we go

my plannes for the tank is plants plant and some more plants, allong with some crystal shrimp & endlers

and due to a over the top mum, this is the bigest tank she would let me get & i think im going to have to go for a dreaded internal filter for the time being which suckssss but i plan to have thousands of steam plants at the back, so it should cover it

the tank is a 24"(long)x15"(high)x12"(deep) clearseal tank



and now for the billions of pictures.... sorry for the blury pics

the tank


old camping mat for the base, i think polestirine looks horrible


£40 worth sand


a twig in my sand, almost like they just dug the sand up from their garden...


how dirty it was after an hour of washing the 2 bags (did it separatly in a 1.5gallon pot)




i found this peice of "redmoor wood" on ebay, tape measure to show its size




what you think of the driftwood placement?

not much will change in the next week or so, as i get payed thrusdays and then have to await for the postman to bring my lighting unit & plants

thanks guys and girls. critism, good and bad would be nice

tim

[Jur4ik]

do you have some sand left? if so, then try a bigger slope in the back - this will give you more depth and try to avoid slopes in front of the glass - this looks artificial and the tank looks smaller.

[John N.]

Love the shape and style of the wood piece.

I agree that it may be better placed on a high slope if you have the ability to. Your driftwood piece looks similar to "Pinhero Manso". Maybe go for that look in terms of height, angle, and tank placement.

-John N.

[tea-man-tim]

well, thanks to Jur4ik i rescaped...

So I found the rest of the sand I didn’t use, washed it and plopped it into the tank for some rescaping

My aquascaping tool of choise

The tank now

The sand depth at the front, will this be okay for growing hc cuba?

The depth on the hill in the back right hand corner


And here is an awful photoshop but this is my planting plan ish

Green – hc cuba
Red – flame moss on driftwood (get it, flame, red lol)
Yellow - Nesaea pedicellata and a bushy plant, hoping you can help with the busy plant? I don’t want combodia carrolina (how ever its spelt) because I find that most of the leaves melt off and im left scouping up leaves ever 10 seconds and left with a bare steam....


Thankyou peopleeee

[tea-man-tim]

update time

my lighting unit arrived 9am this morning, mum dragged me out of bed at 8:30, several hours before i intended on getting up but oh well

packaged realy well


couldnt beleave how small the light bulbs are




sorry about the strongbow can, i literaly just put it on my unit thing last nite after party on the beach lol


thankyou
cristism welcom as usual

[Jur4ik]

before plants - how about co2 and ferts?

[tea-man-tim]

what time is it? update timeeee

well..... bad bits first, my moss was infected with some random bugs, not a happy bunny.... so the moss on wood will have to wait

good news, hc if fine and ive filled up, yay

internal filer.... i hear screams... well i have it and its sat under my bed for 6 months, so might as well use it, if the balaxia doesnt cover it ill buy external, if it does its staying

so heres the picture...


and the ruler is my inventive way to stop the wood floating

so tell me what you think thanks

[Jur4ik]

actualy a bit empty for my taste. Would wish there would be some middle and background plants too

[Shadow]

You can tie a rock under the wood and buried it in the soil to keep the wood from floating.

[tea-man-tim]

Originally Posted by Shadow

You can tie a rock under the wood and buried it in the soil to keep the wood from floating.

good idea, ill go hunting for a rock in my garden in a bit lol

the hc is annoying me, i hope it covers the foreground :/

[tea-man-tim]

well.... summer holidays and i got bored.... i was trying to sway my self from wanting a discus, didnt help

plants still havent arrived and the hob filter i ordered for the nano ill be doing didnt work.... not going well im affriad

taa
tim

[tea-man-tim]

the plants are here!!!! about time, blyxa could be in better condition but as long as it lives im happy

now for pictures....






i cant belive how small they are, but the blyxa should grow to 20cm ish, and Rotala sp 'green' should grow to 40cm

cristism good as usual
tim

[Jur4ik]

that blyxa realy doesnt look that healthy ..
dont worry it will grow faster and bigger as you ever wished to

[tea-man-tim]

Originally Posted by Jur4ik

that blyxa realy doesnt look that healthy ..
dont worry it will grow faster and bigger as you ever wished to

i know:/ the company i got it from had run out so they had to order from tropica, so my guesses it hasnt seen light in 5 or 6 days, and the company sent it straight out to me.....

edit....
hc cuba is starting to drive me mad, keeps up rooting its self and doesnt look overly healthy, so it might not have a carpeting plant one day lol & ive finaly attached the moss to the driftwood

[Jur4ik]

hc loves fertilized substrate like Aquasoil, planted in those soils hc grows more horizontal ..

[tea-man-tim]

oh, i thought seachem black sand was fertalised, hense why it was £20 a bag

[divadnart]

From my experience, hc also loves flourite. It takes maybe a week or so until it gets established and the root system starts growing. When this occurs the hc will be stuck to the substrate like glue. lol. Just don't add anything that can uproot the hc like fish or something. I don't add any fauna in my tank until everything is established.
Your water seems to be a little cloudy. You should probaly do more water changes.

[tea-man-tim]

thanks ill just wait and see how it goes with the hc...

and i dont think its cloudy, just my curtains dont stop much light so its probably the light because it was mid day when i took the picture.

[tea-man-tim]

well.... the bylxa melted, i blame greenmachine for it being in the post from norway for like a week

so, i got some from a user on another forum & its planted


and this is a new one on the right, one from greenmachine on left

thanks
tim

[ro2f]

very nice