# Big plans, Small budget



## Summer

I found out fairly quickly that waiting for a tank to cycle gives plenty of time to read, learn, and dream. So as I've been drifting through the posts here, I've been staring at my own aquarium dreaming up some changes. Of course, some of these changes are out of the range of my pocket book right now...times are tough, and if I could just find a job, I could feed my addiction lol

Anyways...heres what I have going right now. 29 gallon tank, neon pink/black gravel, various mismatched ornaments, and several ugly plastic plants. Included in those ornaments are spongebob, sandy, patrick, and the pineapple under the sea. oh joy. 

Pic: 









yea, it's bad. 

The plan? makeover! Might take me a while, but hopefully will be a fun winter project, and since i *LOVE* finding deals and freebies, will also feed my addiction for that. 

What I want it to be:
1. natural looking--no neon pink gravel, no pineapple under the sea. 
I want to find my own rocks to build some caves out of, I want to go ISO my own driftwood...and see what else I can get creative with to save some money here. 

2. Planted. 
Problem here is, I've been told that the lighting that my aquarium has currently won't grow anything, and unless someone can tell me where to look, it looks like to get a different lighting set up i'm looking at 90+ bucks. Not doable right now. 

When the time comes that I either get different lighting cheap somewhere or save up some money to get one, I want to see if I can find someone around me to "donate" some clippings of plants so that I can get a feel for it without dumping money into it and failing. I kill houseplants, seriously. The good thing...I don't have to remember to water the aquarium plants! 

3. different substrate.

I actually was very gung-ho about doing a dirted tank with a pool filter sand on top. That was, until i realized I have improper lighting for plants, and it became a moot point. So for now, maybe just the sand.


Anything I'm forgettin to make a nice looking tank?


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## majerah1

Sounds like a plan to me!What exactly is your light?Just the one that came with the tank?I got a nova extreme T5HO,for my 29 gallon.It was,lemme think.About 80?Anyhoo I know thats steep,but look on ebay as well.What types of plants do you want to keep?If looks dont bother you you can do like I did before I got this light.Get a glass canopy,about 20 bucks.You will need it anyhow with a light upgrade.Then look for another cheap strip light,like what ya have.I actually found two for ten gallons,at thrift shops.I placed those with the one that came with the tank.That brought me up to about medium lighting.

What about the background?Are you leaving the one you have or?I painted mine black,and it shows off the green pretty nicely.Spraypaint,lol.

Oh and yeah I cant keep houseplants either.I forget to water them ironically.But for clippings,I will have some chain sword and wisteria in a few weeks.if you can pay shipping it would help,Im broke.Itll be six bux,so if you want them in a few weeks just let me know.


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## Summer

The bulb that's in the hood right now says it's "all glass aquarium rapid start 17w" what does it mean? I dunno, I'm a noob lol 

I'll definately let you know if I'm ready for plants in a couple weeks. And i'm keeping my eyes open on craigslist and local classifieds for lights too, who knows maybe I'll get lucky!


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## Summer

oh, the background. It's one of those tacky poster type deals right now. I have no idea what to do with it, but it will change. Actually my dad is helping me out by building me a stand, and the plan is to put it in this rather large doorway between my livingroom and my kid's toyroom, so I may go backgroundless so it can be viewed from either room


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## holly12

For lighting.... I couldn't grow plants with the light that came with my tank, so I got a light specifically for plants that was the same length as the original one, so it would fit in the lighting fixture. 

I had a basic 15Watt in my 20g and a basic 20Watt in my 36g. I just upgraded them to a "Life Glo" 15Watt for the 20g and a "Life Glo" 20Watt for the 36g. They are just T8 bulbs... nothing fancy, but are specifically for aquatic plants. Just make sure they are for growing aquatic plants and are the same length. (Granted, my tanks are low light tanks, so I have to have low light plants.... but my tank pics are up in my album.... I don't think I'm doing too bad for low light plants!)  Each bulb was 20 bucks or less, and I only need 1 per tank. No new light hoods or anything like that.


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## Summer

Ah HAH! So it is possible. I PMd Majerah1 last night asking pretty much the same thing. Low light is what I'm looking for, nothing too demanding. I have two little kids, and even if I wanted to, I cant play in the tank all the time. I'll definately look into those, Thanks a billion Holly!


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## Summer

well I made the switch to sand today. I was planning on doing organic potting soil in the very bottom but i couldnt find it anywhere. Wrong season I suppose. So I went with just play sand, I put it in, and put a good bit of the old gravel in a nylon so I wouldnt lose the bacteria. RIght now the tank looks like butt til the sand settles. I'm running my regular filter plus 2 smaller ones meant for 5 gallon tanks in hopes of getting some of the murk out. It's not terrible but it's rough lookin right now, so i'll post pictures later on when it clears up some. Any idea how long that can take? 

After I got the play sand i went to the lfs to get plants, she had none, she doesnt carry any, EVER. boo. Not even a bulb. So right now, still no live plants


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## Summer

Cleared up quite well in a few hours, still not perfect but it's getting there!


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## Rob72

tank looks good Summer


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## Summer

Thanks  anything was better than the original mess I had going on lol


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## Rob72

lol deffently a great improvement you can still do plants, just add ferts and do root tabs


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## Summer

Yea I'm definately plannin on plants. I need to learn some more about them and what kinds will work best. I have a different light bulb picked out that I'm going to get soon that will help with the growth.


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## Rob72

thats cool, what light are you looking at


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## Summer

Amazon.com: Life-Glo Ii Fluorescent Bulb T5, 24-Watt, 24-Inch: Pet Supplies

I don't have the funds to do much more than that right now sadly


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## Rob72

that will do the job for you


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## Summer

Yea i think it'll be fine to start. I'm totally addicted and I can see this being an ongoing project for me, which is good. The lack of money will make this a drawn out project so I wont get bored with it haha


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## Summer

Just finished testing the water. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, nitrate 5ppm. 

Now I'm pondering if this is just because I switched the gravel out for the sand or if my cycle really is finished. I have gravel in a nylon seeding the bacteria, so I suppose I'll check again tomorow and see if anything changes.


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## Kehy

Wow, that was a simple change, but it made a huge difference! Keep going! 
And aquariums are so addicting, even though I've got a full tank, I can't stop! XD


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## Alasse

That sand bed is very deep, you will need to stir it or you will have problems with dead spots. Personally i would remove some, even if you plant it it doesnt need to be that deep

That pink and blue tetra are dyed fish, please do not support by buying anymore of them, it is a cruel and inhumane thing.

Tank does look 100% better with the sand though!!


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## Kehy

Alasse said:


> That sand bed is very deep, you will need to stir it or you will have problems with dead spots. Personally i would remove some, even if you plant it it doesnt need to be that deep


Get some malaysian trumpet snails to help with this, they burrow through the substrate and loosen it up. You don't need too many to start with though, they're livebearing snails (they don't eat plants though, yay!) I started with 3 in my 1.5 gallon, and now I have more than I can count (I also can't actually see them too often either). They do act as a cleanup crew as well, but still not an excuse to overfeed. They look cool too, so get them if you can find them!


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## Summer

Alasse, I know that about the tetras now. That is why there are only 3 of them and no more. Have no fear I'm only a semi-stupid noob now.

Kehy- I will look into those, One thing i'm finding quickly is that when I go in search of something specific, I cant find it. The only snails i've seen anywhere I've looked are mystery snails so I'm not sure how easy it will be for me to find them. 

In other news, when I woke up this morning, one of my 3 spot gourami had died through the night. Wierd because he was perfectly find and happy last night. My best guess is that he got stressed from being moved from my friends tank to mine, and then moved to a bowl while i swapped out the gravel, and also he was red on his belly but wasnt last night so either he got into a scrap with another fish sometime in the night and lost or someone was nibbling post mortem.


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## Kehy

I got my snails from people on here, and if they were bigger I would totally give you some, but you could still probably find people willing to sell or give you some on here :3


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## Summer

I'll see who I can mooch some snails from then LOL


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## Summer

Next segment of the big tank makeover!!! I got a new light today, 4 foot shop light (wanted 2 foot but this is what walmart had and it's what i took haha) with two GE ecolux plant and aquarium F40 bulbs. 40 watts, 1900 lumens. What does that mean? well I surely don't even know but it SOUNDED good and I ran with it. Heres a pic, please excuse the rig up job, it's what we could come up with to hang it where the tank is lol and I need to do some dusting...










Plants coming this week!


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## majerah1

lol,nice!Now you can upgrade to a bigger tanks and have a light for it muahahahahaha!


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## Summer

Exactly! theres perfect space there to put a 5 gallon betta tank right next to it


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## Summer

Built a cave today, snail loves it.


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## Kehy

very nice, looks great!


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## Summer

Thanks Kay!


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## Rob72

tank is looking really good


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## MattMc804

Looking good summer


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## Summer

Coming along nicely!


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## Rob72

Plants are looking good in there summer


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## Kehy

Looking great summer! Come a long way in a short time


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## Summer

It wouldnt have happened without the great people here!


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## Kehy

lol, now you have to enter your tank in for the tank of the month for November!


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## Summer

oh yea right. against the rest of you folks i don't stand a chance


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## Summer

added drift wood, and more plants. 









My husband asked if i was running a homeless shelter for all the unwanted plants on the board, must be along the lines of susan's sword rescue haha So this is my heartfelt HUGE thank you to Bev, Susan, Ben, and Guy who have all sent plants across the states to turn my once barren and boring tank into a jungle of planty love. Thanks guys, you are amazing!



















I cannot wait to update in a few weeks to show how everything has (hopefully) grown. And I'm sure I'll be rearranging a few things as I figure things out. Thanks again for your help and assistance!


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## Summer

oh and almost forgot, new filter added to the tank as well. Marineland Penguin 350B


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## majerah1

Looks great Summer!Im glad I could help ya out,and hope they grow well for ya.They should with that light.


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## Rob72

everthing is looking great, like the wood and new plants


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## Kehy

Looks great summer, gotta love the jungle!


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## Summer

Just wanted to up date and say things are going well in there. even got a baby growing!


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## iadubber

Looks great Summer!


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## Sue520

Looks just as nature intended. Beautiful Summer!


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## Summer

Forgot to update this, i took the pics just didnt add them here, so here are the 2 week updated pics


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## Kehy

Looking great as always summer! 
So what are your next plans for it?


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## Summer

just the weekly photos i forgot to post









have a baby


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## majerah1

Your duckweed exploded,lol.

Looks good.dumpster baby looks healthy despite the fact it was born with a certain....addiction.


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## Summer

LMAO at the dumpster baby omg hahhaha and yes, lots of duckweed. I mailed a nice bit to jen and little rob, and moved a bunch over to the 75!


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## Summer

Has it REALLY been 2 months since I updated this? omg i'm a slacker. So in December I began adding dry ferts, and recently added some DIY co2. The plants are growing great, the fish are doing well, and I love how it all looks. So on with the pics. I'll try to go in order so you can see the progress. 

December 
















































January

































So that about covers the progress over the past 2 months. It's amazing to see the progress since when I first added plants. Wow.


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## Gizmo-The-Betta-Lady

Oh my goodness! It looks great! Makes me want to completely redo my thirty gallon with live plants... XD


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## hanky

awesome job, you should get a job designing tanks lol. quite a difference from where you started. looks like Ty Pennington did a extreme tank makeover. you still using that basic 4' light fixture from walmart?


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## Summer

Yes I am, Hanky


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## Arayba

Looks great summer and you even had babies im jealous


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## Summer

about time for an updated pic I suppose 

Nothing has changed since the last post aside from plants growing and fish popping out babies lol


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## Cadiedid

Summer-I love how the scape continues to evolve and develop and keeps looking better and better. It makes me want to get my new tank going ASAP!


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## Summer

Thank you, it's amazing how far it's come in such a short amount of time.


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