# Redoing My Aquascape



## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

For the past couple of months I have been debating changing my substrate in my tank from gravel over to sand. I have decided to take the plunge. After spending hours last night washing sand, I am now at the point were I am ready to do the change. Everyone and everything is going to be coming out of the tank. Will post some pictures later of before and after shots. I also found two more pieces of driftwood to add to my tank at the pet store today, each piece was just under $9. I also placed a large plant order at sweet aquatics. I have been feeling that my tank was still lacking on plants, and my frogbit that I got with my first order never did take off. I still have some of it surviving in a couple of tanks. So now it is off to remove the fish, plants and other decor. Drain the tank out, remove the gravel, and then put everything back together again.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Finally done for now, fish are back in the tank and corys are loving the sand. Just need to wait for my plant order to come in to finish my aquascaping. Here are some before and after pictures. Still need to add plants to the back area, and in need of floating plants, that all should be coming hopefully soon.


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## Nubster (Aug 1, 2011)

Looks GREAT! I have sand in my tank...first time I used sand in a FW tank...gotta say I really like it. I am sure you'll be glad you finally made the switch.


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## BabyBoyBlue (Aug 19, 2011)

I'm going to be doing mine today... granted, mine is only a 10 gallon. 

I have sand in my second 10 gallon tank and I really like it, which is the reason why I'm switching my first tank over tonight.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Thanks nubster :-D I am looking forward to when I finally get my plant order in. I have a bunch of floating plants that I ordered along with some stuff for background and foreground. Right now I just feel that it is not complete.

@Babyboyblue, this is the first tank that I have done with sand, and I do love the way it looks. My corys are loving it also, and just in time for the new corys I will be getting this week.


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## Beaches (May 28, 2011)

You did a great job there Barb, the tank looks beautiful...:welldone: :nicefish: too!!!!


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## saint fu (Jun 19, 2011)

looks great mate! i plan on switching to a sand substrate myself in the next week or so. how exactly did you rinse your sand? I've been trying to figure out the best method without making a huge mess.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Thanks Beaches :-D

Thanks saint fu, for cleaning the sand I cleaned it in the bathtub with buckets. I filled the buckets about half way, was using mop buckets I have have for doing water changes. I used my water changer hose to fill the buckets with water and washed away. Once the sand was washed enough I put the sand into an empty new tote that I had. I washed my sand on Saturday night, and did the change over on Sunday. My water was still a little bit cloudy when I first put the sand in, so I filled the tank and emptied it a couple of times which helped to clear it up. I spent about 4 hours washing the sand, and than about another four hours doing the change over and setting things back up again.


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## OddballFishCoveter (Aug 18, 2011)

Man Barb, your plants are so green and beautiful! Mine have a few small to large brown spots and my one sword has a mostly clear leaf... Have your plants always been that healthy looking, or have they freshened up lots after being bought from wherever you got them?

And that sand really makes the tank pop.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

@ OddballFishCoveter, the plants have always been pretty good. Most of my plants I got from sweet aquatics, my swords, val and wisteria that are in the tank. The swords when I first got them were fairly small, but over the past few months they have really taken off. The cyrpt and anubias that I got from petsmart have done well too, when I got those I looked for the best of what they had available. I have a album in my profile section that has pictures of monthly progress of the tank, you can definitly see the change in the swords. Thanks :-D


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

It was lovely before, but it's even lovier now Barb. I did my 115g about 5 weeks ago, gravel to sand, took 3 days. The fish of course were managing in another (though smaller) tank for that period.

That is good wood, I use it in all my tanks and really like the look. Tannins are not too bad either.

Byron.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Thanks Byron :-D I can only imagine all the time that it took to wash all that sand for your 115 gallon. I did not have another tank availabe to put the fish into, so I used a clean storage container. I think one of the longest parts of the tear down was trying to catch all the fish. I removed everything from the tank first, plants, filters, and other decor so no hiding spots. But some of those guys really did not want to come out :lol: When I finally get the rest of my plants it will help, I really need to have more floating plants in there.

I like the wood myself, the pieces that I found the other day at the store I thought was a good price, especially for the large one. I have never had them discolor my water much, and I love the fact that they sink right away.

Byron the cyrpt that is in the last picture, what is your opinion on the type? When I bought it the package said it was wendetti green, but I am thinking that it might be something different.


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## saint fu (Jun 19, 2011)

you got me all motivated now, I've got my sand and starting the process of changing over. I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew here...


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

> Byron the cyrpt that is in the last picture, what is your opinion on the type? When I bought it the package said it was wendetti green, but I am thinking that it might be something different.


I think this is correct, though I can't see the leaf structure clearly in the photo. If you check our profile of the red form, the green will have the same veining.

Byron.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

saint fu said:


> you got me all motivated now, I've got my sand and starting the process of changing over. I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew here...


It really is not that difficult, just make sure to allow yourself time to do everything. I washed my sand the night before so that I was not trying to wash sand with my tank tore apart. Making sure that you have things planned out ahead will help. What took me the longest time really was filling and emptying the tank a few times. My water was really cloudy when I first put the sand in, but after a couple of times of emptying and refilling it cleared up really quick. Was also able to get a few loads of laundry done while waiting for the tank to empty and refill.


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## jennesque (May 11, 2011)

I love the new look!The tank honestly didn't look bad before, but the sand really makes it look great! My corys love the sand in my tank as well. Make sure to stir up your sand, or get some MTS to do it for you! 

I can't wait to see it with all the plants in it.  

I'm glad when I made the switch, I've only got a 28 gal. I can't imagine anything larger. I'm always wanting a bigger tank, but then I think about how much more work that it.. lol. I'm happy with my inhabitants now anyways. I love my rams, and I don't think I'd get to see them much if they had a much larger tank..


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Thanks jenn :-D I have gotten my mts already so that is covered. My plants unfortunately are not that great looking. I was one of several members here that recieved plants from sweetaquatics that were not it great shape. My water sprite and amazon frogbit looks great and came in green. But my vals are not looking so hot. I am giving them a chance in the tank to see if they make a come back. I figure that if they are not doing better by the time that I move in November that I will toss them out, if not before that depending on how they do. If they do not end up making it, it will probably be awhile before I will have the money to be able to work on replacing them. I do love the way that the sand looks, and my corys are loving it also.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Barb the tank is really looking good! Wish place around me sold Malaysian driftwood. The closes store that sells it around me is 100 miles around. I went there once and they were out. All I can get is that crappy mopani wood which I have to fight with it for awhile to get rid of the fungus. Which is always fun!


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Thanks Boredomb, my malaysian driftwood I get from my local pet supplies plus. The only place locally that I have found it availabe. Sometimes they get in a good selection of pieces, and the price it not bad, especially when can find a larger piece. So far no issues of fungus on the new pieces of wood. I soaked them for a little while in a bucket of really hot water before placing them in the tank.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Petsmart carries the Malaysian driftwood, if one is near you Boredomb. It is available from places online too, but of course with that you have no idea what it will look like, as it is all natural and varies in shapes so they will send you whatever.


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## Jbrofish8 (Jul 7, 2011)

The Petsmart near me doesn't carry Malaysian driftwood unfortunately. =( All they keep is the Mopani driftwood in the reptile section. I guess it depends on your petsmart. I looked at getting some pieces on Ebay, they will at least post a picture of the piece you are bidding on. You might try looking there, the only downside is you have to pay for shipping.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Another place to check out for driftwood online would be aquabid. There are several listings on the site for malaysian driftwood and noticed that mikeswetpets has several pieces listed. I have heard good things about him from other members here on the quality of his plants, and his shipping looks like it is reasonable.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Byron said:


> Petsmart carries the Malaysian driftwood, if one is near you Boredomb. It is available from places online too, but of course with that you have no idea what it will look like, as it is all natural and varies in shapes so they will send you whatever.


There is petsmart near me but they are worse then Petco LoL they don't even carry any wood except the fake decoration. Awhile back I started getting hardwoods for the rivers and cleaning them up and had better luck then with them then the mopani wood! I still have a couple of pieces of mopani wood ( now in my 55 gallon) that are doing fine. Sorry Barb not meaning to highjack your thread!!


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## n2fish (Sep 18, 2011)

What do you guys not like about the mopani wood? Just curious since I'm new to this. I just put a small piece in my tank the other day (after soaking it for a week or so) and I love the contrasting dark and light colors in it.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Boredomb said:


> There is petsmart near me but they are worse then Petco LoL they don't even carry any wood except the fake decoration. Awhile back I started getting hardwoods for the rivers and cleaning them up and had better luck then with them then the mopani wood! I still have a couple of pieces of mopani wood ( now in my 55 gallon) that are doing fine. Sorry Barb not meaning to highjack your thread!!


 
No problem at all :-D


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## jennesque (May 11, 2011)

n2fish said:


> What do you guys not like about the mopani wood? Just curious since I'm new to this. I just put a small piece in my tank the other day (after soaking it for a week or so) and I love the contrasting dark and light colors in it.




One thing I can say on this, just because it is safe for reptiles, does not mean it is safe for aquariums. There is mopani driftwood out there that is safe for aquariums, but at the pet store, if it only says it's reptile safe, it could still have pesticides or other chemicals known to be ok for reptiles that may harm your fish.


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## n2fish (Sep 18, 2011)

jennesque said:


> One thing I can say on this, just because it is safe for reptiles, does not mean it is safe for aquariums. There is mopani driftwood out there that is safe for aquariums, but at the pet store, if it only says it's reptile safe, it could still have pesticides or other chemicals known to be ok for reptiles that may harm your fish.


Yea - I was concerned about that so I bought mine from Foster & Smith, figured they wouldn't sell it if it wasn't safe for fish. They do reccomend soaking it to get the tannins out, which I did.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

I agree with any driftwood that is added to the aquarium I make sure that it says that it is aquarium safe. Even with buying wood on ebay, if it says anything about it being sealed it personally makes me hesitant to add it to my tank. The less chemicals that are going in the tank the better.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Mopani wood can carry various fungi that are toxic. I have only bought one piece, and lost some fish, so never again. But it depends upon the wood, some does and some doesn't have fungus in it. There is no way to tell until you put it in the water. The fungus is white and fluffy/slimy. It is near impossible to remove as it is in the wood; scraping it off may work, but it can re-occur months later from more inside the wood [this is what happened to me]. As I say, any fungus that appears may or may not be toxic; there are many species of fungus and without analysis by a microbiologist you've no way to know what it might be.

Mopani is also hard to sink until it is waterlogged. Which is why i always use the Malaysian driftwood, sometimes called ironwood, or mangrove root. It is very dark brown, almost black sometimes. It is heavy and sinks immediately. It is tannic but much less than Mopani. I have used dozens of pieces over the years and never a problem yet.

Byron.


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## n2fish (Sep 18, 2011)

Boredomb said:


> All I can get is that crappy mopani wood which I have to fight with it for awhile to get rid of the fungus. Which is always fun!


So I did all my water tests, ate dinner and settled in to watch my fish for little awhile and noticed what looks like fungus, on one of my pieces ofMopani wood. It's sitting in a pot of dechlorinatd water coming up to boil as I type. You guys think this will sove the problem and how long would you boil the driftwood for?


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

n2fish said:


> So I did all my water tests, ate dinner and settled in to watch my fish for little awhile and noticed what looks like fungus, on one of my pieces ofMopani wood. It's sitting in a pot of dechlorinatd water coming up to boil as I type. You guys think this will sove the problem and how long would you boil the driftwood for?


It might take care of the fungus and then again it might not. I have had to do it a couple of times on the same piece of wood. I generally do it (boiling) for 30-60 mins. I have with smaller pieces of wood put it in a roasting pan filling it with water as much as I can and put it in the oven. The water will boil plus the heat of the oven helps with the rest of the wood that's not covered (if any is not covered with water). I will do that for a couple of hours.


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## k19smith (Aug 19, 2011)

I can just see my fiance coming home and saying "what's for dinner honey?" oh look there's a log in the oven. lol Sorry just couldn't help myself.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

k19smith said:


> I can just see my fiance coming home and saying "what's for dinner honey?" oh look there's a log in the oven. lol Sorry just couldn't help myself.


 
:-D Could make things interesting, never know what might be cooking.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

k19smith said:


> I can just see my fiance coming home and saying "what's for dinner honey?" oh look there's a log in the oven. lol Sorry just couldn't help myself.


LoL yeah well the smell would probably hit him first. The one time I did it. My wife had a fit about the smell it made! LoL it start stinking pretty bad. This was after a couple of hours in the oven though.


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## n2fish (Sep 18, 2011)

Well I ended up boiling it for half hour (I have a huge stock pot). I had, what I can best describe as sap come to the surface of the water, so I drained that off, wrinsed the wood off and back into a fresh pot boiling water. A lot on tannin still coming out of this piece, I kinda like the tea color in my fish tank, looks like the Amazon River.

Hopefully this will kill the fungus.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

n2fish said:


> Well I ended up boiling it for half hour (I have a huge stock pot). I had, what I can best describe as sap come to the surface of the water, so I drained that off, wrinsed the wood off and back into a fresh pot boiling water. A lot on tannin still coming out of this piece, I kinda like the tea color in my fish tank, looks like the Amazon River.
> 
> Hopefully this will kill the fungus.


Oh watch out for the sap once it gets on stuff (pots/ pans) and dry/hardens it is really hard to get off. Plus don't know what it will do to the fish. Always the tannins will eventually go away even in the tank with water changes and even faster boiling it (wood). I know the look you are talking about and like it myself just hard to keep it that way when you have to keep boiling the wood lol. Hope that works for you this time and best of luck!


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Barb any update pics on your tank? How is it doing?


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## n2fish (Sep 18, 2011)

Boredomb said:


> Oh watch out for the sap once it gets on stuff (pots/ pans) and dry/hardens it is really hard to get off.


yea, I know what you mean. I hope I can save my chili pot with a brillo pad and some elbow grease after all this is done


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Waiting to see if any of the plants from sweetaquatics will make a come back. The water sprite and amazon frogbit is doing great. But the vals are iffy. If they don't seem to be improving soon I might just pull them.I have actually been spending a lot of time lately researching and planning out my new tank. Going to be getting ready to setup a saltwater tank, although that will not be until next year I am hoping to be able to get it started in the next 4 to 6 months. Will make sure to start a log in the sw section when things get moving.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

n2fish said:


> yea, I know what you mean. I hope I can save my chili pot with a brillo pad and some elbow grease after all this is done


Sorry n2 for not mentioning that earlier but I have only ever had one piece of driftwood leach sap before and I found it by the riverside. It was a really cool looking stick that got pitched in the yard after that. Never had a store bought piece of wood do that!


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Barb I noticed you had some post in the SW section. I think a sw tank would be really cool just out of my price range to get started. Best of luck there! Hopefully your vals will make a come back.


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## n2fish (Sep 18, 2011)

Boredomb said:


> Sorry n2 for not mentioning that earlier but I have only ever had one piece of driftwood leach sap before and I found it by the riverside. It was a really cool looking stick that got pitched in the yard after that. Never had a store bought piece of wood do that!


That's ok, I would have boiled it regardless. It's got a cool shape to it and some interesting colors. I just noticed the fungus on it last night and figured I didn't want it in tha tank one second longer. Now that I've boiled it, I'll put it back in and keep a close eye on it. I may even boil it somemore this evening when I get home from work.

Mopani driftwood soup anyone?


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## k19smith (Aug 19, 2011)

You guys crack me up.

Barb it's taken my vals from SA a month and they still look ruff but they are slowly starting to get some new sprouts and a little green, I'm sure they will come back but they are very slow.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Thanks k19, right now I can say at least the tank in not in an area that I am looking at all the time, it is set up in the bedroom. So I am not continously looking at it and the condition of the plants. I am planning on when I move next month to have it set up in my livingroom along with at least the saltwater tank will be set up out there also. The vals haven't disingerated but they are brown and rough looking. Thinking about adding some root tabs to see if that helps.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Boredomb said:


> Barb I noticed you had some post in the SW section. I think a sw tank would be really cool just out of my price range to get started. Best of luck there! Hopefully your vals will make a come back.


 
It is going to take me awhile to be able to get everything together. I have been pricing things out online and looking for the best prices for getting my equipment. I am also planning on keeping the set up simple. The good thing about the fact that I will be working the holidays this year is that I have a plan on where some of that extra money can go. When things start moving along on the sw I will start a build log on it.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

BarbH said:


> Thanks k19, right now I can say at least the tank in not in an area that I am looking at all the time, it is set up in the bedroom. So I am not continously looking at it and the condition of the plants. I am planning on when I move next month to have it set up in my livingroom along with at least the saltwater tank will be set up out there also. The vals haven't disingerated but they are brown and rough looking. Thinking about adding some root tabs to see if that helps.


Barb what kind if substrate do you have again? When I had my vals in eco-complete they did fine with out any root tabs and just flourish comprehensive once a week. When I moved them to the current substrate I have now (sand). They didn't really start taken off untill I put root tabs near them. They were actually looking pretty sad lol since the root tabs they have recovered and are growing again and even sending off runners as well. I just used the flourish root tabs as these are the only kind I can get locally.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Changed to a sand substrate, need to see if I have any root tabs left or if I need to get some more.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

BarbH said:


> Changed to a sand substrate, need to see if I have any root tabs left or if I need to get some more.


Since they are in sand root tabs would definitely help them since they pull nutrients up from their roots. I didn't put any in my at first because I have some clay/dirt mixture under my top layer of sand. Well actually have sand all the way through but not very much on bottom layers. I think I put like 3-4 tablets by my swords and I have a bunch in that one corner of my tank and they took off after about a week or two. Thinking that should help yours as well.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I found some .."Osmocote Pot Shot's" that work well as root tabs in my 80 gal planted tank.
Google ..osmocote in planted aquariums and you may find that there are quite a few folks using this product.
Is macronutrient slow release fertilizer that last's about three to four months in my expierience.


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## Nubster (Aug 1, 2011)

I'm using Osmocote + tabs in my tank under my sword and wendii. Brought them back from dead. My sword was down to a single leaf and the wendii was more than just melted...it was dead. Shoved a root tab under each and in just a couple weeks the sword has about 8-10 leaves on it and the wendii looks better then the day I got it. I have a big plant package on the way to me now from FL and they will all get the Osmocote treatment when they arrive.


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Thanks will have to look those up and see if available locally. If not will see about getting them online.


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## n2fish (Sep 18, 2011)

n2fish said:


> That's ok, I would have boiled it regardless. It's got a cool shape to it and some interesting colors. I just noticed the fungus on it last night and figured I didn't want it in tha tank one second longer. Now that I've boiled it, I'll put it back in and keep a close eye on it. I may even boil it somemore this evening when I get home from work.
> 
> Mopani driftwood soup anyone?


Well, I boiled it for an additional hour when I got home from work, wrinsed it off and anchored my plants to it...again.

The fuzz (fungus I'm assuming) came right back, within 24 hours...the mopani is now sitting in my trash. Last piece of that stuff I buy  Too bad to because the pirces usually look really good.


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Sorry to hear that N2fish. Mopani wood is real bad for that. Its hard to kill the fungus as it usually comes from inside the wood. One trick I have found that works is using a wire brush to scrape off the fungus then try boiling again or just rinsing off. I have also noticed that I have more problems with that wood fungus in one of my tanks verses the other. That is the only wood I can buy where I am at so unfortunately I have to try and make it work for me. The two pieces I have are okay for now but it took me scrubbing and boiling to get it that way and it may come back again. I really hate that wood.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

n2fish said:


> Well, I boiled it for an additional hour when I got home from work, wrinsed it off and anchored my plants to it...again.
> 
> The fuzz (fungus I'm assuming) came right back, within 24 hours...the mopani is now sitting in my trash. Last piece of that stuff I buy  Too bad to because the pirces usually look really good.


I paid $35 for a wonderful branch piece of Mopani. Developed some type of fungus which clearly stressed the fish (the corys sat on the bottom respirating very heavily), so out it came. Scraped and hot water soak. Placed it in a non-fish tank and it seemed fine for about 7 weeks, so put it back in another fish tank. After a few weeks, fungus appeared again and I lost a few small fish (before I noticed the fungus on the back side). Now the wood branch is sitting in the garden. This is a risk with Mopani wood. Never again.

Byron.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Nubster said:


> I'm using Osmocote + tabs in my tank under my sword and wendii. Brought them back from dead. My sword was down to a single leaf and the wendii was more than just melted...it was dead. Shoved a root tab under each and in just a couple weeks the sword has about 8-10 leaves on it and the wendii looks better then the day I got it. I have a big plant package on the way to me now from FL and they will all get the Osmocote treatment when they arrive.


 
I have found that a little bit of osmocote goes a long way.
Easy to use too much, and then possible film on surface of water,cloudy water,fish acting abnormally could be result's.(see numerous water changes over day's weeks.) 
I set up 29 gallon last weekend with bottom most layer consisting of three table spoons of osmocote, a one inch layer of top soil,one half inch layer of unscented cat litter(clay), and topped with rinsed Petco black sand around two inches.
In eighty gal planted tank, I use no more than four of the" Osmocote "Pot Shot's " under large crypt's and a couple sword plant's.


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## k19smith (Aug 19, 2011)

1077 said:


> I have found that a little bit of osmocote goes a long way.
> Easy to use too much, and then possible film on surface of water,cloudy water,fish acting abnormally could be result's.(see numerous water changes over day's weeks.)
> I set up 29 gallon last weekend with bottom most layer consisting of three table spoons of osmocote, a one inch layer of top soil,one half inch layer of unscented cat litter(clay), and topped with rinsed Petco black sand around two inches.
> In eighty gal planted tank, I use no more than four of the" Osmocote "Pot Shot's " under large crypt's and a couple sword plant's.



I'm interested in learning more about this. Seems like a much cheaper idea than root tabs.

After doing some reading you have me sold I'm gonna pick up some tomorrow.


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## Nubster (Aug 1, 2011)

Yeah...the osmocote+ seems to be good stuff. It really did wonders for a couple of my plants I was loosing. I bought some made up in gel caps from a member on another site for cheap. The osmocote+ I think is pretty pricey but a jug of it should last nearly a life time unless you have lots of heavily planted tanks. A neat trick instead of using gel caps...place some of the osmocote in an icecube tray, cover with water and freeze. Remove the cube and place under the plant you wish to fertilize. The ice melts leaving the osmocote where it needs to be.


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## Nubster (Aug 1, 2011)

Here is where I got them from...

The Planted Tank Forum


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## k19smith (Aug 19, 2011)

I was looking for the pot shot's but no luck, I checked walmart and lowes today. I may try the other latter but I found root tabs on clearance at lowes for $1 a bottle so I bought 6.


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