# Planted 6.6 Journal



## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Woo, so I had my "tester tank" with my 5 gallon and it made me decide to try to get in deeper with the planted tank world. This is going to be the journal of my transition and everything i've learned. It's more for me than for the community, i'd just like to have a place to keep track of everything. 

Before #1: 
Don't have picture, but started out with pea-sized gravel, perhaps a little bigger. It didn't look very good, and my plants wouldn't stay put. It was hard to clean and overall just didn't do the tank justice or give me the feel I wanted. 

Before #2: 








This is the gravel switch and simple plants added. 2x Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss, Drift Wood, Lucky Bamboo. (P.S. please don't comment on the bamboo, i know it's not full-time aquatic)

After! I bought this tank off of LittleWatty. 








I built a shelf specifically for this tank, plywood and cinder blocks! It actually looks pretty good. Found the drift wood we had left over from the gold fish tank, something I could NEVER find until now? Tied the large Anubias to the small piece of drift wood, and anchored my very poor looking Java Fern to the hole in the large drift wood. This is what i'm going to be considering the "before" of my planted tank. It'll probably be complete rearranged and a TON more plants added. I plan on putting a small carpet of moss in there, duckweed in the top right, some type of long grassy type in the back right. Oh yeah, and buy a better light bulb.


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## Agility4fun (Nov 16, 2012)

Neat!! I look forward to following your progress.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

looks good ^_^I'm gonna stalk your tank


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## valen1014 (Jan 20, 2013)

Looks awesome!! Careful with the bamboo possibly rotting (I'm not how far up out of the water they have to be) and make sure that jagged end of the opening of the clay pot isn't sharp or the fishes might get cut. I love the black substrate! It just makes everything else stand out so well =]


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Oh yeah, I know! It's survived 6+ months and the others that I took out and "properly" planted ended up dying. The edge on the pot isn't sharp enough to cut him, and only the snail goes into it anyway.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

And thanks guys! I look forward to it's progress.


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## soady (Nov 26, 2012)

How to keep a bamboo plant properly:


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

I'm aware of that, and that's how I planted them, as you see above it says I did it properly.

I also asked for people to not comment on the bamboo, so if you guys could refrain from doing so in this thread, send me a PM or something! n_n

Thanks. <3


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

The 6.6 has so much potential, what other plabts are you going to put in there?

One more thing about bamboos that I hope will be permitted 
Personally I don't like how bamboo looks in planted tanks XD, Only once did I see a bamboo tank I thought was cool. It was this zen themed tank planted with lots and lots of bamboo, like a bamboo forest .


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

I know, I saw an all bamboo forest planted tank and it was sooo cool. I only keep it in there because my mother's oscars tear them up and Dimitri likes rubbing against it. 

UHM, I have a list here, and here are most hopefuls that will be eventually and not right away. I found someone in the town over who has some plants for sale maybe, but if not i'll just check into petco/petsmart when they have new shipments of plants. I don't have a local fish store. ;n; 

Hornwort, Banana Plant (i love them!), Hairgrass, Cobomba c. (not too sure, but i liked the looks of it), I really want some Dwarf Sagittaria and some moss to put in the back under the drift wood. I realllllly want some branch wood but I can't find any of it long/squat enough. I might get one and trim it down a bit. I have a very specific look with a very low budget. c; But isn't that how we all start out?


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## soady (Nov 26, 2012)

aokashi said:


> The 6.6 has so much potential, what other plabts are you going to put in there?
> 
> One more thing about bamboos that I hope will be permitted
> Personally I don't like how bamboo looks in planted tanks XD, Only once did I see a bamboo tank I thought was cool. It was this zen themed tank planted with lots and lots of bamboo, like a bamboo forest .



I loved that zen themed tank, too!  And sorry, OP, I just wanted to say that bamboo can be used even though it is not full aquatic.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

It's okay, I just get it from all ends no matter what I say. It gets frustrating, sorry if I seemed rude, I don't mean to be. 

Good news, I get paid friday! I'll see what I can spare so maybe I can go plant hunting.  Will update on Saturday.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Sorry about the quality, forgot I had flash on and too lazy to take a better picture. 
Alright, so I got home and Dimitri has about five more scales missing, i'm assuming from the drift wood because nothing else can really ding him up. The water was tinting orange from the tannin's the drift wood was leaking (idk, i boiled it for three days and soaked it for two more, oh well i guess!), and while I know they aren't bad I hate my water being that orange without my consent lol! The water was also slow moving (expected, i baffled it), and stagnant to the right side of the tank. Dug up two old things of mine, an old piece of rock and an even older bubbler. I had to rig it to blow less bubbles with duct tape and some piece of wire. Used this old rock in my moms 20 gallon community tank, but I broke it because it was too big. It didn't break the way I wanted it to but it serves the purpose I wanted. Finally got to tie my Java Fern to something! Yay. 

Mr. Snail is still traveling fast and loving every minute of it. When I get paid tomorrow i'll probably venture out and get some calcium tablets and get my water tested. Again, this is probably a temporary set up until I get things I really want. I like it a lot better though, and Dimitri seems to too.


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## soady (Nov 26, 2012)

Looks great! You could put some floating plants around the filter. 

And what about your snail? I got one Helena snail, really small, and today I see it grew in size a lot! It freaked me out! haha Is that okay?


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Yeah, definitely want some duck weed and other floating plants like that. The filter is fine now, but I don't like stagnant or even semi-stagnant water. 

The bubbler made things a lot better and something I planned to do anyway. My snail is just a golden apple/mystery snail. They get really big and I used to "raise" them. They were what I got into before bettas. c: And i've never heard of that kind of snail, so idk! Google?


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## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

Nice tank!  Glad it arrived safely and in one piece. I loved the look of that driftwood, but the tank almost looks better without it.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Thanks, LittleWatty! I really, really love it. It's coming along so great. For some reason the water keeps getting stained with Tannins but I think it might be leaking from the rock when I broke it. Not sure yet, will investigate later.

Unfortunately I fell in love at Petco, and came home with another fish. His name is Garth. He's a HMPK according to Petco, but i'm unsure, any ideas? I think he is, but just checking!  I also HOPE HOPE HOPE he's a marble, I saw him in there last week and he had a bit less white. He also has a metallicy-pink sheen to him that isn't really noticeable on camera.









Here's Garth's temporary home until the 6.6 gets more plants and divided.









These are the plants I picked up today, along with two little hitch hikers (well five, but squashed three), which I decided to put them in the 6.6. I figure if they survive, good for them, i'll take care of and feed them just like I do my Apple Snail. If not that's okay too. Hopefully they won't get sucked up in the siphon, but oh well if they do. Also need some help identifying two plants.









This I know is Anacharis (how do you pronounce that?! xD), and is it okay if it free floats for now? I can plant it, i'd just rather not. Is this a low-medium light plant?









WEE BANANA PLANT c:

Two in question:







and









And what are those two light requirements? I plan on getting a 6500k light bulb soon, just have to wait until next week. Also need to know if I have to put a light on Garth's little tank.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Oh, and I almost forgot, an updated shot of the 6.6!









Dimitri's fins are a little torn around the edges, will keep an eye out on it to see if it gets worse. Don't know how he could have done that. Flipped the pot just in case, now there really aren't any edges to get him tangled in. 

Oh yeah, and I ordered some java moss/peacock moss/mixture from a friend in NY. Going to tie it to the flat side of that big rock. Maybe even a little bit on a smaller rock and add it to Garth's for the time being. 

Speaking of Garth, anyone know his specific color, other than white? 

Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for all the answers!


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## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

I'm guessing the plants are Moneywort/Pennywort (not sure if there's a difference) for the round leafed one. Its supposed to be a relatively easy plant to care for, minimum light requirements, but I never had luck with it. Microsword is my guess for the grassy-like one, which (if I remember right) needs med-high light. It does better in sandy substrate like other carpet plants. 

No idea on Garth, other than he looks like a HMPK to me!


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Pennywort is correct. I googled it, and from the looks it's going to be a great match for my tank.

Not too sure that the microsword will survive long, but I hope so considering I payed 7 dollars for it, lol!
It likes high light with fertilizer, which won't really BE a problem, just getting some liquid fertilizer will be tricky. I think the eco-complete will suffice it for now, even if it's not what it prefers substrate wise. 

Will update in a week or sooner if something happens.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Also, for journal logging. AS OF WEDNESDAY 3/6/13.

2 bettas; Ice-blue HMEE (halfmoon elephant ear) Dimitri, metallic-white HMPK (halfmoon plakat) Garth.
1 Apple Snail; possibly three nerites, hitchikers and all that.

Anubias x2, Java Moss, Pennywort, Anacharis, Banana Plant, Drift Wood, Microsword, Surprise Moss from friend (Java Moss x Peacock Moss x subwassertang x MAYBE a little marimo mixed in). 

1.5 Gallon (maybe 2.5, need to check), and 6.6.
2x heaters, 2x bubblers, 1 filter.
Eco-complete in both.


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## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

Mine survived plenty long without fertilizers, so as long as you've got a plant light, you should be ok  It just might like it more with some extra nutrients!


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

*EDIT*: Made picture smaller. 









My trip to walmart had to come early, a lot of things happened today. Got in a car accident (before you freak out, everyone is okay) on the way back and i'm just really stressed. I planned to prolong the dividing for awhile just to make sure Garth was going to be okay, but I rushed it and am prepared for the worst, have all my medicines stocked up too. 

The only thing I was worried about is how aggressive Dimitri is, and being unsure of Garth's personality, I didn't want to push them both into it. Lucky for me I pegged Garth right, curious but uncaring. Dimitri is running the divider for a bit but goes to check out the rest of his lil' home. He's adjusting fine, in fact they both are. I'm really pleased with how the sides look.

Have to get my moss still, but i'm excited for it. The only thing i'm going to splurge on next is some calcium tablets for the snail and a new light. Which will probably be next friday when I get paid. 

But here it is, woo!


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Sorry for the post stretch, didn't realize it was that big. But at least you get to see everything in detail now. Sorry for the foggy water, dust was still settling after two hours. Should be fine in the morning. Also had to do a small edit to the divider because Dimitri was testing it too much and I had cut it a smidge short. 

That poor Java Fern is still holding on, for whatever reason. xD


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## Crowntails (Feb 12, 2013)

Love the look of the tank! I'm looking forward to more pics.


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## Kwomais (Dec 31, 2012)

Lookin' good Leah! Also, glad to hear you're all ok. Car accidents suck, a LOT. I know, I've been in a few 

If you think that the boys are stressing out too much by the divider, you can always add some stem plants in front of it on either side to break up the line of sight a bit.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Aw, thanks Crowntails!  Makes me feel good. 
Thanks to you too, Kwomais. Thanks again, about the car accident. It was scary but yeah, just shaken up is all. 

Garth is really chill, he's not very aggressive and instead seems to enjoy exploring his side more. Dimitri kind of hounds the divider but not really bad, the only thing concerning me is him possibly biting his tail, although i'm not sure why he would do it/haven't caught him acting like that's what he's doing.


















Also, my little moss package got here today! I'm soooo happy with it. She threw in some little marimo moss parts, which I rolled into a ball (see right of garths side, left of dimitris), and even frogbit! I nearly screamed I was so happy. I just hope it survives long enough to reproduce and give me some more.

Does Dimitri's tail look ripped (idk on what) or bitten (idk why), and if so how should I treat it/him?


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Also, also, (lol!) Garth seems to be marbling already! Holy cow I wasn't expecting him to actually marble, if anything. His eyes have darkened a lot and he's starting to get little black specks on his stomach and his tail is turning greyish black. Excited to see how he's going to change. I would just DIE of happiness if he turned out white and black.


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## LittleWatty (May 13, 2012)

You can just see the colors on his tail (I think) and he's gorgeous! I would be jealous if he was white and black. Heck, I'm jealous already! haha. Tank is looking fantastic!


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Ah, I have been duped once again! Petco selling non-aquatic plants and then charging me extra. Damn them. If it wasn't already in my tank and I hadn't thrown away the package i'd take it back. Stupid. I was really excited because I wanted more cover for Garth's side but I didn't want another Anubias. I should have done my research but oh well, impulse buy and whatnot. 









This is what I got, and upon further investigation it is not fully aquatic, but I don't want to waste my money. Does anyone know how to plant these to make them survive?









Tank update! Woo. Java Fern is doing MUCH, MUCH better, got a 6500k watt for my light bulb so things seem to look a bit cleaner. Anyone know what times I should keep my light on and off? I just had a bloom of brown algae and scraped most of it off.

















I really wanted to switch the pennywort into the back corner but for some reason it wont stay there. So I put the nonaquatic Umbrella Plant back there and moved the pennywort to the front. Le sigh.~

Anyway, this has been an update.


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

I did the same thing and planted them anyways...they lasted 2 months before I saw any deterioration...started with small holes in the leaves that grew larger over time, I tossed them out before they rotted too much as I didn't want them to ruin the water quality but I bet I could've gotten about 5 months out of them? I had 6500k lights and dosed with sechemflourish excel along with root tabs...not sure if th at helped them survive longer perhaps? Id go ahead and use them, just put them in a spot that you'd be comfortable replacing them later on and put them in decent lighting. My bettas loved them.


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

Oh sweet, thanks! That'll definitely give me time to find a replacement, I might go ahead and just get another anubias because Garth LOVES low lying plans, but Anubias are so common and I really want something different for my tank. Next weekend i'm probably going to be doing a 100% water change to get rid of a lot of the dust that seems to be still in the tank, rearrange things before I pour in the water too is a good idea. It's hard to get plants in the right place without shuffling everything else around lol. 

Note: Pennywort on Garth's side is doing A LOT better than Dimitri's side, might move all of pennywort to Garth's side, unsure.

Does anyone know how to cut down Anacharis?

Might even tie some of my java moss to the divider, or would that be a bad idea? If so, why?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

turned out so nice! 
what happened to the bamboo?


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## leahleigh (Feb 3, 2013)

I took it out because I divided it and didn't think it fit with Garth's side. I put it back in my mom's Oscar tank to be beat up on, it's still thriving, but it's little leaves don't stand chance.

I forgot to post about Baxter, but his story is right here. That happened 3-17-13. Within three days he got a new planted tank and I poured over $80 into him. 









Aqueon 2.5 "Betta" version. It came with an extremely crappy divider that I don't want and a filter, along with some water conditioner and some betta food. And $2 off coupon! Which is rad, I love coupons. 
I chose this tank for a few reasons: I SPECIFICALLY wanted a 2.5, no bigger no smaller, it's size is A LOT better than I thought it would be because I have never actually owned a 2.5, always 1 gallons or 5, 10, 20. I was looking for a tank to put the 6500k light bulb I put on my 5 gallon, which is now unused and in storage. I was looking for something with a filter (now unneeded) or at least some type of bubbler. I wanted something black. I already have the bubbler, the heater, and the light.

Things I bought today: Tank, Amazon Sword "Bleheri", Marimo Moss Ball, Thermometer. 

Altogether: 6500k light bulb, eco complete, anubias + rock, amazon sword, marimo moss ball, bubbler + air stone, heater, thermometer, betta!


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