My first planted axie tank....

Well, I creep around on here but dont post very often ....but felt that I wanted to share the progression of my new tank. I have been ordering and collecting items for the past month and even though most of my plants haven't arrived yet i couldn't hold out any longer. What started out as just getting the substrate in the tank turned into....well.....ill just put in an inch of water to smooth out the sand......well.....i'll just lay out the slate.....ok ill add the stones.......ok maybe ill do the driftwood...........if i do the drift wood i need to do the java moss.....AHHHHHH ok ill set up the filter!!! It's a 40gallon breeder so once it is done....they should have a field day moving from their 20 gal breeder!!



Here is the substrate i chose to use....unfortunately it is a little more coarse than i wanted but think i should be ok with the sand and stones on top....i also feed either by hand or in a feeding dish you might notice in the front right of the aquarium.





Sand to go over substrate



Large 1"-2" river rocks to go on top of sand



and the slate i was going to use to configure a hide



and ye ol fluval







Here is the basic layout of the drift wood and the slate.....this could have been the toughest part of the setup. I couldn't get it just right and had a 4th piece of wood but decided it was going to be too much.



Here it is as it sits right now.....I still have the plants to add and one of the pieces of wood decided it did not wish to stay submerged any longer. The empty spot near the food bowl is where the piece of slate that is holding it down will eventually go.



Fish are in to help cycle the tank as i eagerly await the plants......correction from earlier....waiting is the toughest part!!


Hope you like it an maybe inspires you....

looks great!

abbzt said:

looks great!

Click to expand...

Thank you!!

Plants arrived today...here are some pics freshly planted



Sorry for the glare.....not the best area to photograph in my house

I really like this! Its so natural yet interesting to the eye, bet your axies are having funnn!

Looks really nice. Me likey.

looks excellent. im sure your little one(s) will love it.

What plants did you use?
Thanks

Ok, finally felt comfortable putting the group in the tank....they seem to love it!!! They didn't like the location of only one plant and I replanted it for them.

The leucistic is Thor and the golden is Iceman







The regular albino is Tony Starks





The plants that i used are a mix....i also have some in my other tank that i am going to use as a guppy breeder.

Cryptocoryne, Lutea, Ciliata, Spiralis, Undulata, Anubias, Java Fern, Java Lace, Cabomba, Vallisennaria, and Jungle Vals

really love this tank. what size is it, if i may ask. Also, lovely axies you've got there.

Thank you. It is a 40gal breeder 36x18x16

looks awesome. I just bought the same size tank from petco for $40. going to start getting it together piece by piece. I really love the river rocks (mine won't have them though, because I'm paranoid of impaction, even though i know yours are too large for that). Over-all, that's an awesome tank, you should be proud.

Thank you!