[jschlosser]

My regulator is here, I have my Eco-complete and plants all here. I intend to put it all together this weekend, moving my fish to the quarantine tank for a couple of hours while I pull it all together.

I will be putting the CO2 stuff in place tomorrow.

What do I need to keep in mind as I pull it together? I have been keeping fish for 46 years but this is the first time I am fully committing to live plants and don't want to wipe out my fish in the process.

Thanks for any tips.

 

[klug7214]

Probably quite obvious but dont suffocate the fish by putting too much CO2 in the water.

 

[Sweet Tee]

What types of plants are you adding? Although I didn't buy all of my plants at once for my tank (didn't quite get the idea of HEAVY-STOCKED WITH PLANTS!) I know now that things go smoother with as many fast growing plants as possible in the beginning.

I would maybe sketch out where you want to place everything, that way you're not constantly uprooting because a taller plant needs to be in the back...
Set up your hardscape first (rocks/wood) and POST PICS! We all love seeing everyone's tanks!! Good luck!

 

[jschlosser]

I didn't expect to do it all at once, either but on reading, that appears to be the best way to go about it. Here is what I have on hand except the Christmas moss which is still due in. The others are here waiting to go into the tank. They are drop dead gorgeous. Hope they stay that way!

Pogostemon erectum
Hottonia palustris
Myriophyllum mattogrossense
Rotala macranda sp 'Japan Red'
Amazon sword
Java fern
Christmas moss

 

[jschlosser]

All went pretty smoothly. I made the hideout for my spotted raphael too easy for loaches to scoot through, so I need to create a couple of other options for him where I can see him if I need to. I also need to clean out the filter since all the gunk is in there now. CO2 is at 9 ppm after 24 hours. Will crank it up again once the lights come back on.

What is this needle valve supposed to be doing? I thought it was to fiddle with so that the bubbles came at a regular pace. I get blip...blip...blip....blip.blip...blipblipblipblip. Can't seem to get them to go at a regular pace.

Will post pics once the lights come back up and I replant two plants. Note to self - corners are for loaches, not plants.

 

[jschlosser]

Ta da!

 

[jschlosser]

My first pearls!

 

[Zolbaxil]

You have a beautiful Opaline Gourami! Is he about full grown?:animated_fish_swimm

Nice tank too!

 

[jschlosser]

Thank you. Yes, he is a beauty. Sitting here admiring him right now. He is about 4 years old.

The switchover was a lot easier than I expected. Pearls on day 2, and today, new growth on the Myriophyllum and the color is coming back to the Rotala. I'm quite pleased.

 

[NursePlaty]

Did you add another substrate with the Eco-complete? Cause eco comes in all black. Be sure to not get greedy with the pressurized CO2. I got mine recently and loaded up my tank with 41 ppm CO2 and they are in danger past 30 ppm.

 

[jschlosser]

It also comes in all red. I took out half the gravel and mixed in a couple of inches of Eco-complete. I am stable at 23ppm now. I planted it 6 days ago and have about 2" of new growth on the stem plants already.

 

[jschlosser]

Ta da + 15 days and post first algae bloom

From this

to this

 

[hellfire]

ok,,,ive never in my life used a co2 injector,, monitored ppms or bought super gravel,,, this stuff is easy,, slow down