# My New 40B Planted



## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)




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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)




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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)




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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Neat looking. What are the specs of you lighting/system? CO2?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Very nice!


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## vreugy (May 1, 2013)

I just love this tank. Cutest one I have ever seen. What fish will you put in it? Thanks ever so much for sharing.


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

jrman83 said:


> Neat looking. What are the specs of you lighting/system? CO2?



Light I just got

T5 Grow Light (2ft 4lamps) DL824 Ho Fluorescent Hydroponic Bloom Veg Daisy Chain with Bulbs - Plant Growing Light Fixtures - Amazon.com

Filter (was on sale last week for 45 bucks ))

Amazon.com : SunSun HW-304B 5-Stage External Canister Filter with 9-watt UV Sterilizer, 525 GPH : Aquarium Filters : Pet Supplies

CO2 Pressurized CO2 system with Concoa 2 stage regulator, Milwaukee selenoid and the rest is all just put together from brass tubes etc with drop checker and 2 in line one way valves in case water tries to come back. 

Homeade Cerges reactor (plans found all over the net for them since they dont make good diffusors for larger tanks and the diffusors out there dont disperse the CO2 as well as a cerces does. my cerges totally dissolves the CO2 before its even left the reactor


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

Well just planted some Cyperus helferi in the background so will have some nice tall thin leaved grass for my nano fish


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

FTS in post 3 is beautiful!
Great shot,great looking set up.
It can only be beat by getting a fish that will use the tire swing.
The tire swing is OFF THE HOOK!
Great set up Joe!


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

OK I just ordered rest of my plants from Nilocg Colin it is nice being able to get my plants and ferts from one place at reasonable prices I highly recommend him if you need something. I will be getting some Dwarf Baby Tears, and some Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo' for my ground cover, 2 Bylaxa Jap for the sides of stone wall and some utricularia graminifolia for the ground under my tree. once that shipment comes in I can call this landscape Complete. However I am looking for that 1 special something for the middle of the top tier but that will take a while as it has to be short bushy and look badass rofl


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

Well today I got some Cyperus Helferi for behind the tree and basically the left back wall of the tank. it will be great back there as it is fine leafed grass and will grow to top of tank where I will keep it trimmed. when it grows and thickens up will form a nice place for my Nano fish to hide and also for them to lay their eggssess. Also my CO2 guage is now instead of bright yellow a nice light green.


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

lol in the above pic you can see a fine line of pearling bubbles going across front of tree from my sag


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

But now I have the start of an Algae problem it is a really fine green algae all over my moss and starting on some of my plants


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

Your tank is AWESOME!!!! I really like how you made it look like a bonsai tree.


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

wife grabbed a wooden park bench today lol told her wood water dont go together she said just put it in and when it rots in a few yrs then take it out in mean time the water will make it look old rofl


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

Girls have a weird sense of fashin sometimes, don't they?


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

oh i was looking for a bench for it but a plastic one


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## Juan1 (Mar 27, 2015)

Beautiful design! It has a "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" vibe in effect! Bravo!

Best Regards

Juan


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

Ok guess I forgot my plant list and fish list

*Plant List*

alternanthera reineckii mini

anubias nana petite bonsai

blyxa japonica

cryptocornye parva


cyperus helferi

eleocharis belem hairgrass

hemianthus callitrichoides dwarf baby tears

hygrophila pinnatifida

hygrophilia corymbosa temple compacta

lobelia cardinalis

ludwigia repens x l arcuata

micranthemum sp monte carlo

pogostemon helferi



round pellia lomariopsis ineata

sagittaria subulata dwarf sagitaria

utricularia graminifolia

xmas moss


*Livestock*

hara jerdoni

danio margaritatus

paracheirodon simulans

axelrodi riesei

espei rasboras

danio tinwini

caridina multidentata


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

Ok guys well I am working on my next tank which was sort of a challenge tank. I got with Rachel O'Leary one of the foremost eggspurts on Nano fish and told her I wanted her to pick the fish for the next tank for me but not tell me what they are. I told her just need the water parameters and the region. Well the other day she chose the region it will be SE Asia/Inda. so could be all kinds of things from micro crabs and weird catfish to pencil fish to who knows. So while thinking I thought maybe a jungle ruins theme like Angkor Wat in Cambodia. That was one I always wanted to recreate but then I thought hey I did Irish Countryside which is a semi land location thing I want to come up with something killer. SOOOOO today thinking totally off the wall I went to the local Train Hobby shop and picked up a few different silicone molds for rocks. I know they use plaster in them but silicone can mold abt anything so I was thinking either A: Use ceramic liquid clay let it set then take to be fired which I then can paint and will look realistic, or B: resin cast with some kind of fish friendly resins. I prefer A but it is trying to get it out of the mold without breaking the green clay.


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## vreugy (May 1, 2013)

I like the way your mind works


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

lol thanks need to think outside the box. I been trying to get some ideas etc on places like the Barr report but most them heavily into aquascaping seem cliquish and dont like to share and stuck on certain ideas. I like to think in new ways and try to create a new genre that us normal folk might like something like landscape based aquascapes which can includee little sunken towns or like one guy just did using mine for inspiration made a little hill and just put a little picket fence in and it really made the scape. if he didnt add the fence it would have looked plain


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

I told him a little doghouse look cool but one guy says a couple old tombstones and I agree a couple old tombstones would look awesome


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

tell us what she picked when she tells :]


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

well it will be a whiler and I will do a sep thread for that build and document it all like did here. right now I am doing some testing with these rock molds i got from the model train place. I poured ceramics clay in and waiting for it to dry out then see if it comes out mold nice then fire it . if things work out the way I think they will (after some experimentation) I will start selling these ceramic rock ledges etc and ppl can paint to suit their needs will save them tons over the chain store prices plus be customizable


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

Ok I have my Micranthemum sp "Monte Carlo", planted and my Hemianthus Callitrichoides (HC) dwarf baby tears done and my Utricularia Graminifolia around my tree. oh and my Bylxa Jap planted at end of wall And I can finally call the tank Completed. well other than fish and shrimps and that but all scaping is finished and just waiting for it to fill in and to get it stable so I can add livestock


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## vreugy (May 1, 2013)

How will you vacuum the mulm out? I have such trouble getting all of it out of the tank. I have white sand with some plants and decorations. Seems like I always have to lift the decorations because there is so much mulm under them.{hollow with openings} Seems like if I don't vacuum the sand deep, it turns black and stinks. Only have 2 to 2 1/2 inches of sand.

Can you share how you built the rock wall? It's so neat, I think I would like to try to do it in my 55g after we move next year.


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

well this isnt sand it is Medium grit Black Sandblasting Media and doesnt seem to get smelly like when I used pool filter sand. Also I wont be vaccuuming I will have plenty of amano shrimps etc which will keep the bottom clean. and possible reason for buildup on your could be as I found on mine before was over feeding it caused lot of buildup on the bottom

as for the stone wall its pretty basic. I had an old poster frame and took the clear acetate and cut a strip the length and height I wanted the wall. I then got a bag of river rock from walmart abt $3.50 for 50 lb bag. washed the rocks really good and layed them out on a card table to dry good. 

then I just used 100% silicone and picked through the rocks siliconing them to the acetate. next I got a free 5 ml syringe from walgreens and filled it with silicone. I also got a bag of crushed stone from craft store which is abt the size of sand grains. I didnt use sand because the sand will absorb the silicone giving a weird look and the stone doesnt. then taking the syringe i ran tiny beads of silicone between the rocks and some to fill the gaps between the rocks and once silicone was there poured and pressed the crush stone onto the silicone beads which hides the gaps and silicone and looks like a type of mortar.

I then took some 4" plastic "C" channel and cut it into 1 1/2" wide pieces. I then siliconed these along the backside of the wall where the bottom foot was abt 2 1/2" below the wall. this allowed for substrate depth and also the substrate would hold the wall in place. the wall can be curved how you want when placing as long as they are slow curves so you arent popping rocks out of the silicone. as you curve it you can hear and tell if its getting too much.


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## JoeH (Nov 13, 2013)

also if you want the wall longer you can always silicone another strip to the first strip overlapping it abt 2"


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## All-Or-Nothing (Jul 4, 2015)

Just reading thru the thread.


YES....do the tombstones. That would look great.


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## welok (Jul 20, 2015)

Love the pictures! Did you make or buy the stone fence? If you made it, how did you do it?


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## Anna W (Aug 15, 2015)

absolutely awsome, love it


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## brad138 (Apr 6, 2015)

I know it may be too late, but if i may suggest, you should do a blue-grey frosted plastic background and shine an LED bulb near the bottom to get a sunrise effect. or even an orange-like colored plastic for a sunset. i think both of those would look awesome with your scape


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## welok (Jul 20, 2015)

JoeH said:


> well this isnt sand it is Medium grit Black Sandblasting Media and doesnt seem to get smelly like when I used pool filter sand. Also I wont be vaccuuming I will have plenty of amano shrimps etc which will keep the bottom clean. and possible reason for buildup on your could be as I found on mine before was over feeding it caused lot of buildup on the bottom
> 
> as for the stone wall its pretty basic. I had an old poster frame and took the clear acetate and cut a strip the length and height I wanted the wall. I then got a bag of river rock from walmart abt $3.50 for 50 lb bag. washed the rocks really good and layed them out on a card table to dry good.
> 
> ...


Sorry for asking how to do this after you posted, it never showed up when I was reading before. 

Can you use any 100% silicone (Windows, Doors, and Siding), or does it have to be aquarium silicone? I'll spend the extra money on the aquarium stuff, but if it's all the same thing...


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

100% silicon works. Just make sure there are no anti mold additives or anything else in there.


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## cheshire319 (Feb 28, 2012)

Wow! What a beautiful setup! How is it looking as it grows in?


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## Chillwill007 (Aug 20, 2010)

Wow amazing tank. Love the tire swing


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

JoeH said:


> Ok I have my Micranthemum sp "Monte Carlo", planted and my Hemianthus Callitrichoides (HC) dwarf baby tears done and my Utricularia Graminifolia around my tree. oh and my Bylxa Jap planted at end of wall And I can finally call the tank Completed. well other than fish and shrimps and that but all scaping is finished and just waiting for it to fill in and to get it stable so I can add livestock



It looks as if you could possibly make a few plants images for our list, do it, please


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## robinc (Jul 15, 2014)

Really neat tank. Love the wall and tire swing....actually love it all.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

neat!


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

I wish Joe would come back. I would love to see an update


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