Jakester's 15 Gallon Mid-tech Planted Tank

Hi,
Thought I'd show you guys my newly setup planted tank!

The spec:

1 T5 Daylight tube
Nutrafin Co2 kit
Tetra Complete Substate with black gravel over the top

Plants

Elodea Densa
Aponogetum Crispus
Elecocharis Parvulus
Mini Amazon Sword
Bacopa Monnerii
Twisted Vallisneria
Sagittaria Natans
Rotalla Indica
Hygrophylia Polysperma
Cabomba Caroliana
Ludwigia Mullertii
Cryptocoryne Wendtii


Fish

9 Cardinal Tetras (and a neon that thinks he's a cardinal)
2 Albino Corys
4 Amano Shrimp
1 Golden Gourami
1 Pineaple Swordtail
Bristlenose Plec


The tank just setup:

A while later:

Nice!

With only that much lighting, I'd have said that CO2 would have been unnecessary...

Andy

Thanks Underwurlde If think with out CO2 the algae would be aweful.

a while later:

.

a vid for ya:

<a href="http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JZeNWGTZbA" target="_blank">http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JZeNWGTZbA</a>

Comments, tips and constructive criticism is all welcome!

Thanks Jakester

looking good jakester! in my opinion it would look better if you filled it out witha few more plants, but then i do like the jungle look
what wattage is your t5, is it one of the linear t5's or a PC?

Thanks for your reply, the T5 is 36 watts not sure on any other details. Im still not quite happy with the layout, I think its looks a bit too messy.

Your tips and comments are appreciated.

Thanks Jakester.

No more comments?...

jakester said:

No more comments?...

Click to expand...

Looks good Nice scape. What type of plant have you got in the foreground? I like the feeling of deapth that your scape brings to the viewer

rabbut

Wow! Thanks Rabbut!! The foreground plant is dwarf hairgrass!

When did you set it up? At roughly 2WPG, I'm too lazy to do anything but estimate, adding CO2 was a good call. Even with WPG being a less effective tool for tanks smaller than 20g, 15g is right at the cusp there, so it is better to be safe than sorry. Is it a 15g high or long/ Looks like a long to me, which is much nicer to light. My 15g high was a royal pain to light up.

Keep watch over your hairgrass, again, your tank size is at a cusp. Tanks smaller than 20g tend to require more lighting to get the equivalent effect in a tank over 20g. At 2WPG in a 20g, hairgrass will generally work, you have to watch it in a 15g. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine, but I'd keep an eye out. WPG also uses NO T8 flourescent bulbs as the standard, T5s generate more light, so that may also give you an extra push.

Note on fish: Increase the size of your corydora school. They like to be in groups of 6 or more of the same species. They look like albino C. aeneus to me, but the catfish section will know more, as there are quite a few albino morphs out there. I wouldn't worry about the additional bioload, corydoras produce minimal waste, less so than even minimal waste fish like cardinals, so increasing the school size shouldn't hinder your biological filter much if you are up on your water changes. That being said, the gourami, swordtail and the bristlenose are fish, IMO, that are too large for a little 15g. So, I'm not saying that you're overstocked, but all three may feel hindered with the lack of space eventually, and the gourami and swordtail may become agressive as they are both surface-dwelling species. Just something to think about.

llj

Thanks for your reply. I am actually having quite a few problems with algae. I think its due to my low filtration and relatively heavy stocking. The hair grass has alot of hair algae on it and some of the stem plants have a fair covering of other algae and general dirt. The Gourami is quite aggressive, however he came with another tank of mine which I am using to breed keyhole cichlids in so I had to move him to this one really. I am really getting to the end of my tether as to what to do about the algae.

Thanks again Jakester. Your replys are really appreciated!

Sorry, I'm going blind here. Q) How big is that tank. I assumed die to your sig that it was the '40 Gallon Planted Tank'.

CO2 needs to be stable, if not - algae. You do not need CO2 to combat algae IMO (just more plants). Do you use only one Nutrafin kit?

Andy

Sorry Its been ages since I updated that sig. The tank is 15 gallons with one nutrafin co2 unit and the other day when I tested the Co2 it was 19ppm.

Sometimes my thicknessness amazes even me. Thread title states.............! 15Gallon.

DOH!

Anyway, point still stands, CO2 needs to be stable. VERY difficult to do with a single CO2 kit. Best run 2 in parallel each mix to last 1 week, but change kit #1 on a Sunday, kit #2 on a Wednesday. You get the idea...

Andy