You can alway make a FW look like a marine enviroment. Find some neat looking brakish fish like puffers and you can use some realy well rinsed sand for the bottom and some lace rock. I had a tank like that for a long time till a old friend of mine bought it off me when I started on my Nano reef. You can also get NO florecent lighting with a 50/50 colored bulb. The normal population can't tell the diff.
I've used CO2 from yeast in the past. Its kinda fun, works ok for a small tank.
CO2 from a tank is so much easier. You can get a regulator from a beer store for $65 and build an in-line reactor (to canister filter) out of pvc.
There are also other rigs that use some stuff that generates co2; never tried them.
CO2 from a tank is so much easier. You can get a regulator from a beer store for $65 and build an in-line reactor (to canister filter) out of pvc.
There are also other rigs that use some stuff that generates co2; never tried them.
You'll want a CO2 system with a tank. Yeast is just too unstable and the resulting pH fluxuations are a pain in the neck. It's one of those hardware choices that are worth it.
The only downside to planted tanks is the pruning. Mine needs a haircut every other week. On the other hand, I don't use RO water and the plants clean the water almost as well as a bunch of live rock and a skimmer.
The only downside to planted tanks is the pruning. Mine needs a haircut every other week. On the other hand, I don't use RO water and the plants clean the water almost as well as a bunch of live rock and a skimmer.
I would not even bother doing a planted tank w/o CO2 personally, it sooo enhances plant growth! The 2l bottle with yeast and sugar is very cheap and easy, but I found it does need fiddling with often, as in almost daily.
(*I think planted tanks are just as much hassle as a reef as well*)
(*I think planted tanks are just as much hassle as a reef as well*)
HD - I'll post pics of my planted tank soon. I did mostly asian fish , I have:
1 Microptenapoma
2 Croaking gouramis
1 yoyo Loach
1 Siamese algae eater (these fish rock, will even eat beard algae!)
5 Threadfin rainbows (Gorgeous fish but sort of high maintenance for a rainbow)
4 Otocinculus cats (south american but they are hardy and functional)
Had some pygmy cories in there too but they dissapeared after move from 30 gallon cube to 60 gallon. I am runnin a eheim 2213 and a bottle Co2 with diffuser. Tank is lit by 4 t5s , 2 6500k and 2 10k.
The plants I sort of started over since previous tank I had a echinodorus uruguayensis that grew over everything else. This tank is some pygmy chain sword, alternatheria reineckii , red tiger lotus and bronze crypts so far. I have to say the planted tank can be a lot of work if you want to prune and make it immaculate but I usually just remove the leaf litter, mulm etc when doing water changes and occasionally trim a few things here and there and it takes me maybe 30 mins a week max.
Its a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from reefkeeping - you can go with lower maintenance plants and don't have to have fancy lights etc to get some really nice looking plants but it helps.
1 Microptenapoma
2 Croaking gouramis
1 yoyo Loach
1 Siamese algae eater (these fish rock, will even eat beard algae!)
5 Threadfin rainbows (Gorgeous fish but sort of high maintenance for a rainbow)
4 Otocinculus cats (south american but they are hardy and functional)
Had some pygmy cories in there too but they dissapeared after move from 30 gallon cube to 60 gallon. I am runnin a eheim 2213 and a bottle Co2 with diffuser. Tank is lit by 4 t5s , 2 6500k and 2 10k.
The plants I sort of started over since previous tank I had a echinodorus uruguayensis that grew over everything else. This tank is some pygmy chain sword, alternatheria reineckii , red tiger lotus and bronze crypts so far. I have to say the planted tank can be a lot of work if you want to prune and make it immaculate but I usually just remove the leaf litter, mulm etc when doing water changes and occasionally trim a few things here and there and it takes me maybe 30 mins a week max.
Its a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from reefkeeping - you can go with lower maintenance plants and don't have to have fancy lights etc to get some really nice looking plants but it helps.
i was going to quit reefkeeping a couple of years ago because i had a crash when i came back from vacation. it was very frustrating of course and when i took down the 50 gallon i thought i would not get back in the game. i have a few freshwater tanks, one planted one african cichlid and one discus. but after a while i missed reef-keeping. i got a great deal on a 100 gallon and i am sure glad i got back to this hobby again. i think everyone gets frustrated but when things go right it is more rewarding then any other hobby ive tried.
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
