# My Planted Tanks



## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Here are some photos of my first go at planted tanks. They're not NPTs, just regular planted tanks. My boyfriend and I were planning to set up one per day this long weekend, but ended up doing them all yesterday! Yay! Well, when I say we... I mean he steered clear of me in my "work-face" mode and lent a hand when I needed one. I swear, I really did want to work together, but apparently I get stuff done better and quicker alooooone...

All of them are 3.9 gallons, two are inhabited (attempting fish-in cycles with the sponge filters) and one is uninhabited until a Thai import gets here (giving fishless cycling a go in the meantime). A list of all the plants that are in the tanks:


Various anubias
Willow moss
Java fern
Water sprite
Duckweed
Crypt. wendtii
Substrate is black quartz gravel, and it's the first gravel that I really like the look of, yay! The lighting is LED lamps I bought from eBay. I'm really not sure of the colour temperature, so I'm looking to upgrade to 6500k as soon as I can afford it. But yes! Without further ado, here's some photos:


Feyd's tank, front view:










Side view:










Weehawk's tank, front view:










Side view:










The two tanks where they live on my dresser:










The currently uninhabited tank:










Bit of a closeup:










And because I can, Weehawk being a cutiepie derpy thing:

















Unfortunately Falkor doesn't get a planted tank, because of his chronic tail-biting and apparent liking for tiny tanks (he seems so much happier since I moved him into the 2 gallon hospital tank, so I decided to keep him in there, and we've decided to do that tank up all artificial and outlandish, so it can be interesting but still safe to medicate if we need to do so again. Will probably photodump when that's done in Falkor's photo threat, haha.


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

Wow your tanks look amazing!!!!!!!! a true inspiration


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Eep! Thank you! I'm just relieved they weren't a disaster, being my first try, haha!

(Just ordered some subwassertang, I've heard it spreads like mad if given half the chance but it's just soooo pretty. >.<)


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## Betta Bro (Feb 6, 2013)

AMAZING!! Great job!


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

Your first try!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! look like a pro to me


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Thank you! I do worry that the tubes on the sponge filters are too close to the surface... I hope they'll still work...?


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Soooo jealous. Mine's just a wee 5 gallon with an apple snail and a betta, but I hope to eventually ditch the fake ornaments and go all planted and all wood. I loooove the look of your tanks, and your bettas! Gorgeous. 

I would love it if you kept updating. <3


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

leahleigh said:


> Soooo jealous. Mine's just a wee 5 gallon with an apple snail and a betta, but I hope to eventually ditch the fake ornaments and go all planted and all wood. I loooove the look of your tanks, and your bettas! Gorgeous.
> 
> I would love it if you kept updating. <3


Thank you!

As for going all planted and all wood... Do eeeet! Ditching the fake ornaments (barring the skulls, I really like those, haha!) was the best thing I did for the appearance and "feel" if that makes sense of all the tanks!

I'll update when there's some growth to be seen, but that's unlikely to happen for some time with most of the plants I've got going, especially with less-than-ideal lighting. But when there's something to update, I shall! ^.^


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

I love subwassertang! I have half that, half java moss in Odysseus's tank and it looks so nice.  My shrimp love it too!

The tanks look lovely, and Weehawk is adorable.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yay! Can't wait till it arrives, hehe. Glad to hear shrimp love it, I'm hoping to add a couple to each tank once the cycles are established. ^.^

May I ask what kind of shrimp you have? I've been looking into glass shrimp and Darwin Algae shrimp. Can't have cherry shrimp 'cause Weehawk goes berserk at anything red, it'd be a death sentence for sure, so I'm interested to hear what works for you.
^.^


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Unfortunately for you, I have cherries! My bettas learned to live with them, and the shrimp learned to survive. Eventually. 

I have a friend who has long-nosed Darwin shrimp, which do well enough in her tanks with bettas, although they won't breed in freshwater, I believe.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ahh! I guess I'll just have to give it a go, see how it goes with each of them and how many will learn to use the cover provided... Hrmm!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So I've had to remove the crypts as they've never really behaved, and I noticed today that they're melting again, so I got fed up and just took them out. Gave me more room to add wisteria, bacopa and subwassertang to all the tanks, and unfortunately I had an awful lot of difficulty planting the stems, so they look a lot less deliberate now. Wahhh! I still like them, though. Just disappointing is all. >.<

Pictures to come tomorrow!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Nevermind, photos today! Just some quick cruddy ones because I'm pretty tired. >.<


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## Mr2KiEu (Jan 25, 2013)

Nice x 3 tanks! What brand are those tanks? Measurements? I've never seen those tanks here in the U.S. Where did you buy them from? and did it come with the light? thanks!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Mr2KiEu said:


> Nice x 3 tanks! What brand are those tanks? Measurements? I've never seen those tanks here in the U.S. Where did you buy them from? and did it come with the light? thanks!


Thanks! I can't remember the brand name, I think it's something like VitaPet or similar, they're el-cheapo tanks from a store called Big W here in Australia, and measure 12 x 9 x 8 inches. The lights did not come with the tank, and are from eBay, though better quality lights are available for similar prices and I'm kicking myself for not investing in better ones with my almost obsessive interest in plants now, hehe!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Your tanks are looking great. Anubias is one of my favourite aquarium plants. Looks like your current set-up should should grow out very nicely. 

I have found if I shove Seachem root tabs under my crypts it tended to stop them melting so much. Once they establish themselves I have found crypts to be hardy as heck.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Your tanks are looking great. Anubias is one of my favourite aquarium plants. Looks like your current set-up should should grow out very nicely.
> 
> I have found if I shove Seachem root tabs under my crypts it tended to stop them melting so much. Once they establish themselves I have found crypts to be hardy as heck.


Thank you! I stupidly just tossed the crypts, but that's a good point, I should have thought of root tabs! I guess I've just got more room to plant stems now, which might work out better in the long run if my lighting proves adequate, I absolutely adore the bacopa but am terrified of it just dying on me!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Not sure what suburb you are in, but I have a fair amount of Hydrilla which grows with only very indirect natural lighting in some of my tanks. I originally got it from Dave at Aquagreen. 

If you aren't too far away from me I can always just snip you off a few strands and you can take it for free. It grows *really* fast under high lighting but mine seems to be doing equally as well with whatever small amount of lighting comes through my window.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm in South Yarra/Hawksburn, so fairly central, depending on where you are.

That'd be super-awesome! ^.^


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I'm out in Montmorency. However, we do go to the Cat Clinic in Prahan every few weeks for our old cat who has thyroid issues, so if you ever want to meet up there as it looks closer for you I can just whack some hydrilla into a bag and bring it down. 

I remember meeting someone with a polystyrene box at the train station. It looked like we were doing a drug deal haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ahh, a fair way out! That'd be fantastic, really! Prahran is next door, hehe, so it's really perfect for me.

Haha, that sounds funny about the polystyrene box... It'd be hilarious if police officers stopped you, discovered only aquatic plants and left with bemused expressions on their faces...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

A little update. Got some snazzy new lights, they arrived today so naturally it's photo time, haha.


























Here's hoping all the plants perk up a little. ^.^


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

What lights did you get? Your plants and tanks are looking great. Bet your boys are happy.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> What lights did you get? Your plants and tanks are looking great. Bet your boys are happy.


Thank you. 

I got these: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190784162876
Hoping they work out okay. I know it's not exactly the colour temp I should be looking for, but after weighing up the cost of any other lights of similar quality, I decided to just go with these.

The boys seem pretty happy. At first they were a bit like "Whaaa? What's all this light doing here? Not sure if I like this..." but now they're right back to normal. When there's actually some growth going on I'm sure they'll love it more. XD


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

6400K is fine for plants. Probably the thing that is a problem is that they are only 5 watts. You may have to see whether it is enough for some of your more light demanding plants to grow.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> 6400K is fine for plants. Probably the thing that is a problem is that they are only 5 watts. You may have to see whether it is enough for some of your more light demanding plants to grow.


Yeah, that's why I went with 3 tubes per tank, for 15 watts total. Unless I've goofed the calculations that is. >.<


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## sarahspins (Sep 5, 2012)

Sparrowhawk said:


> Thanks! I can't remember the brand name, I think it's something like VitaPet or similar, they're el-cheapo tanks from a store called Big W here in Australia, and measure 12 x 9 x 8 inches.


They are not el-cheapo but those are similar dimensions to the 4 gallon schuber wright tank. I have one and I really like it - if they were cheaper I'd probably own more


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