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OK, I'm going to be converting my tank, which currently has small pebbles as a substrate and no lights, to a planted tank. My tank is 48 gallons, 36" wide, 16" deep and 20" tall. It is currently home to one fish, an 8-year-old male Megalechis thoracata.
Substrate
I plan on adding some fine sand with smooth granules for bottom-feeders to dig around in. I also want to add some plants that will grow on wood. I am not sure whether I will also add some aquarium soil in a different part of the tank for plants that need to grow in a substrate. Advice welcome!
Scaping
I already have driftwood in my aquarium. It has spent 10 years submerged and is starting to fall apart. Time for a driftwood upgrade!
First step: stick soup.
This is the bottom of the trunk/top of the roots of a lilac bush one of my neighbours pulled up last year. It spent the winter outside. Yesterday I boiled different parts of this piece of wood, rotating it and basting the emersed parts with the boiling water to kill any fungi and to soften the bark and the outer layer of the roots. This process took several hours and steamed up my home pretty impressively. Then I spent more than an hour peeling off the outer layer of the roots, which is delicate and tends to rot. (It comes off much like potato skin). When I was done with the wood, the giant pot of water had gone opaque with the tannins from the bark and roots, like oversteeped tea.
Snail question
Should I try to remove as many of the snails as possible before I get plants? There are lots of Malaysian trumpet snails in the substrate, a few small ramshorns, and possibly also a few small pond snails.
Substrate
I plan on adding some fine sand with smooth granules for bottom-feeders to dig around in. I also want to add some plants that will grow on wood. I am not sure whether I will also add some aquarium soil in a different part of the tank for plants that need to grow in a substrate. Advice welcome!
Scaping
I already have driftwood in my aquarium. It has spent 10 years submerged and is starting to fall apart. Time for a driftwood upgrade!
First step: stick soup.
This is the bottom of the trunk/top of the roots of a lilac bush one of my neighbours pulled up last year. It spent the winter outside. Yesterday I boiled different parts of this piece of wood, rotating it and basting the emersed parts with the boiling water to kill any fungi and to soften the bark and the outer layer of the roots. This process took several hours and steamed up my home pretty impressively. Then I spent more than an hour peeling off the outer layer of the roots, which is delicate and tends to rot. (It comes off much like potato skin). When I was done with the wood, the giant pot of water had gone opaque with the tannins from the bark and roots, like oversteeped tea.
Snail question
Should I try to remove as many of the snails as possible before I get plants? There are lots of Malaysian trumpet snails in the substrate, a few small ramshorns, and possibly also a few small pond snails.
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