The Puffer Forum

i am totally excited about the new plants, and hope i can keep them alive and (fingers crossed) even allow them to thrive

Here's what i got in there:

Java moss
Java fern and lace java fern
crypt ciliata
cambomba
vals
moss balls (check out the giant one, stage right, its about 4" in diameter!)

its a 30 gal with a 65w PC 6700k -- i am dosing with half a cap of excel every day (but think every other day might be better, based on some surfing) - i am also considering using flourish for ferts (good idea?) - current photo period is 5hr on, 2hr off, 5hr on. Any advice here for adjustments would be greatly appreciated as this is my first experience with aquarium plants -- Thanks!

Nice setup! Nice F8 too!

Tank looks wonderful!

Just wondering though, is it brackish?
If so, you may want to keep a careful eye on the plants, as they may not live in brackish if they weren't carefully acclimated and could foul the water.

absolutly loving the setup! whats the orange lookin creature, is that a molly? .... major props. and good luck w/ it,

thanks everyone --

steven, that is indeed a golden molly, one of the only ones the fig 8 hasn't killed yet, he didnt like the other two that would harass him on a regular basis

corey, it was brackish, but i slowly took the SG down to 1.001 (or below) for the planting, once the plants seem to take hold, i will start slowly raising the SG back up to 1.005

Looks awsome.

Great stuff very natural looking tank well done

how's this doing Mike?

things are good, thanks for asking --- the molly in the first pictures was murdered, but the plants are doing well . the SG is at .005 and the plants are doing well. the cambomba is not doing as well since raising the SG, but its not dying. The hornwort grows like a weed and helps keep algae pretty much in check. the ctypt ciliata in the front does great (but the fig 8 loves to poke holes in it, looking for snails i guess) --- the java fern, both lace and regular are doing great, shooting off new little groups all the time. ive started transfering the extra growth to my 20 gal baby fig 8 tank

The bummer with the brackish tanks is when you want to add new plants, you have to have a whole tank dedicated to it. Starting them in fresh and then bringing up to SG over a few weeks once they take hold -- thats why i havent added much since the beginning, and what made it, has made it

i just got my camera working and took some pics last night (not great but you get the idea)

it looks great mate, good job I hadn't considered the bother of adding new plants, must be a pain but then again of its gonna look like your tank then its worth having an acclimatising tank. I'd love to see a vid of you puffer whizzing about in there, any chance at all? Have you entered the tank of the month comp?

yeah , i hadnt considered it either, until i realized i wanted to add watersprite, tried to just stick it in, and it died in a few weeks (bummer)

yeah, i can grab a video -- he is totally scared of the camera for the most part, but from time to time he tolerates it, so ill give it a shot

i havent entered the TOTM yet, but might do it this month, since my camera is working again.

wow looks great

Very nice planted tank. I have NO luck with plants of any kind except java moss, and that is only because it is in the corner of a tank that gets natural sunlight in that corner!!! It is the same for house plants and yard plants...they all die on me!

Great Looking Set-up!!

How's the tank doing? Are you getting pretty good growth out of the plants? I've been really wanting to setup a planted-brackish tank for a F8. Your tank is starting to make me think it can work!