# My 33g Planted Tank



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

Hey,

This is my second attempt at a planted tank, but its been a few years since my first one. Tank has been up and running for almost a week now and the plants will hopefully start to grow in soon.

I'm running 2 emperor 280's for filtration (they were on sale at BAs) and 2 x 39 watt T5HO for lighting. I will hopefully get a CO2 system soon, want to get a pressurized system (thanks darkblade for the awesome guide, youll probably get a pm or two from me soon with questions).

Currently i have wisteria, bacopa, crypt wendtii, anubias mini, flame moss, dhg, and an amazon sword in the tank. once everything gets settled might take out some of the wisteria and replace it with something else, not sure though.

As for fish, 10 zebra danios. future additions will for now include 10 harlequin rasboras, 3 ottos, 2 or 3 bolivian rams, and some yellow shrimp (maybe).

Thanks for looking any comments/feedback would be sweet.


----------



## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

looks good buddy, and yes co2 would be the most important asset to your system, especially with the lighting. Do you find you have too much current to work with there? THeres a lot of filtration on your tank.


----------



## semaSauntee (Jan 7, 2011)

*im here*

hey. I can't wait to be a part of this community


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

jimmyjam said:


> looks good buddy, and yes co2 would be the most important asset to your system, especially with the lighting. Do you find you have too much current to work with there? THeres a lot of filtration on your tank.


Thanks. There is current but it isnt too bad as long as the water level is kept up. when it starts to get a little low the current can definately be too much. And i cant wait to get CO2 running, next weekend ill start purchasing the parts, i get paid on friday. and in the meantime is flourish excel a good enough substitute? i add that as well as big als plant food.


----------



## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

My experience with flourish excel hasnt really been that great.. Im not a huge fan. I use it more for cleaning up algae. But you wont have any issue for a few weeks. Not a problem. Aquainspiration has everything you will need for co2, and at the best price as well. Check them out


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

Cool, thanks. Are they a store in the GTA, or online retailer?


----------



## Ctstarter (Oct 15, 2010)

GTA, see attached link to website.

http://www.aquainspiration.com/


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

Thanks.

Will post updates after i get co2 up and running.


----------



## Jamblor (Dec 21, 2010)

Looks awesome! Nice piece of driftwood too.


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

Jamblor said:


> Looks awesome! Nice piece of driftwood too.


Thanks.

Added oto's and harlequin's today, plus ordered everything I need for co2 setup off ebay. just need to pick up the tank locally and wait for shipments to arrive. I cant wait to see what effect it will have on my tank. photo update will follow once i have the co2 up and running. and this may be a stupid question, but, do you fill a bubble counter with water or is there a special solution? I'm a co2 rookie if you couldn't tell.

and thank you for all the great feedback.


----------



## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

fill it with Distilled or RO water. Only reason is so you dont get water stains. Trust me, do it.. Its a pain in the ass to wash out calcium deposits in bubble counter =P


----------



## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

jimmyjam said:


> fill it with Distilled or RO water. Only reason is so you dont get water stains. Trust me, do it.. Its a pain in the ass to wash out calcium deposits in bubble counter =P


That or mineral oil.. I'm blind... makes it nice and easy to count the tiny bubbles.


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

thanks for the tips, where would i find mineral oil?


----------



## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

Mineral oil eh... umm never thought of that. sounds intersting.. have you used it? Doesi t make a mess somewhere down the line?


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Not unless you spill it all over your desk when filling the counter..... oops.

You can get mineral oil at the pharmacy.


----------



## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

+1 ameekplec.... 

yeah, the first regulator i bought (off another member) was set up with mineral oil. The viscosity makes it easy to count the bubbles. It has yet to migrate anywhere as of yet.


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

cool, looks like im going to the pharmacy on my lunch break. thanks guys.


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

so, just got some mineral oil at shoppers drug mart, for those of you that dont know, who like me didnt know what its used for, mineral oil is a laxative. pretty funny and kinda awkward at the same time.


----------



## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Try it out, works like a charm


----------



## PPulcher (Nov 17, 2006)

dspin02 said:


> so, just got some mineral oil at shoppers drug mart, for those of you that dont know, who like me didnt know what its used for, mineral oil is a laxative. pretty funny and kinda awkward at the same time.


"Back in the day" folks used to go to the pharmacy and ask for "Fleet enema" as it contained phosphate...  The things people do for planted tanks!


----------



## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

PPulcher said:


> "Back in the day" folks used to go to the pharmacy and ask for "Fleet enema" as it contained phosphate...  The things people do for planted tanks!


I think we are getting a lil off topics folks  ... but im gonna get on this mineral oil business.. both for my bubble counters and me bowl.


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

Hey,

Sorry its been so long since my last update. was waiting to get my co2 running but I'm still waiting on a few things to arrive. should be good to go by next week. and have been actually getting some decent growth without it, I'm excited to see what happens when I get it going.

got some new additions in there, the red plants at the back and some hornwort are the only new plants, can't remember what they are called. but more exciting, I got myself 20 yellow shrimp a few weeks ago and just last night added a pair of german rams. my new favorites. both the shrimp and the rams can be seen in the pics. the rams however have a sixth sense for the camera, when I didn't have it up they would be in plain view looking awesome, soon as the camera came up, straight to the back of the tank.

anyway I'm super happy with the way things are going and would love to hear what you guys think.

thanks.


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

also, I know that no blue on the black spot indicates a male and the opposite a female. can anyone tell from this picture if I have one of each sex? I'll try and take better photos tomorrow, I think I have one of each sex but I'm not 100% sure.


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

hey,

so its been a while since my last update. pics to follow soon, probably tonight. finally got all the pieces for my co2 setup and got that up and running a few days ago. everything is working perfectly which is sweet. currently doing one bubble per second, may increase it when i get my ferts situation figured out. which leads to my question. since i dont have a scale or graduated cylinders, is there anyone who makes ferts and has extra to sell? im looking for a daily type of fert with macro and micro nutrients. i currently use big als liquid plant food twice a week, but thats not enough probably. any thoughts or suggestions in terms of fertalizing?

Thanks.


----------



## johnny (Feb 14, 2011)

the tank looks great


----------



## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

hey man nice tank. just want so ask if what kind if cryps you have on the leftside beside the rocks.


----------



## Arkerone (Mar 15, 2011)

I'm pretty sure the one on the right is female, the other may be too but it's hard for me to tell at that angle.

Tank is looking awesome though!


----------



## dspin02 (Oct 6, 2010)

hey, so i still havent taken new shots but i promis they will come next week. since adding co2 my plants are growing like crazy, i think i will need to look into more serious ferts to get the best results. my hornwort grows off the charts and if anyone wants some i will be getting rid of a ton sometime next week. and will be trimming the rest of the plants down as well, maybe even move thigs around, we'll see.

@camboy012406
I bought them at big als and they were labled crypt wendtii, so i'm assuming thats what they are. they are doing alot better now with the co2 injection.


----------

