George Farmer
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For those that don’t visit the Planted Forum here’s an overview of my 34 Gallon.
I’m happy with the way things are looking. You can just make out the red Lily (Nymphaea japonicus) on the right behind the Hairgrass (Eleocharis acicularis) – it is growing very slowly but will hopefully add a nice accent of red to the picture when it finally grows into a decent size.
WATER QUALITY
I put the tank’s (both plants and fish) success and good health down to a few things. Water quality is kept up by having good plant growth – the plants absorbing all sorts of nasty compounds as they grow. My water chemistry is suited to the soft water fish that inhabit the tank – pH 6.5, KH 3, GH 6, Nitrates 5 mg/l, Phosphates 0.1 mg/l. My tap water is hard and alkaline so I use RO water mixed with a little tap water for buffering. I also have excellent biological/mechanical filtration in the form of the Juwel internal and Fluval 204 external filters. I don’t use carbon or any other chemical filtration as my plants perform that role.
EQUIPMENT
Lighting is 3 Watts per Gallon – I have 5 T8 fluorescent tubes of various types all full-spectrum with varying colour temps. from 3000K to 7500K. Carbon Dioxide is injected using two Nutrafin units at approx. 25 mg/l. The substrate is a fine gravel and laterite mix with a heater-cable. I am a big fan of Dennerle products and use their entire fertiliser range (S7, Pflanzengold 7, TR7, E15 and V30). They are initially expensive but only new water is fertilised when performing water changes so they last ages. I also add Potassium Nitrate weekly to maintain a Nitrate level of 5 mg/l. I change 30% of the water every week.
PLANTS
The plants are chosen due to their low-maintenance. The Vallis (Vallisneria spiralis) produces runners that are simply removed when things look too dense and if the leaves are getting too long I just trim them. The Java fern (Microsorium pteropus) and moss (Vesicularia dubyana) look after themselves – now and again I thin out the moss and remove any ugly leaves from the fern. The Ivy (Hydrocotyle leucocephala) (on the right) is thinned out occasionally – I simply pinch off any ugly parts of the plant. Probably the biggest task is giving the Hairgrass a “haircut”. I use sharp scissors to trim off the tops and net off the cuttings from the water surface (luckily they float). The hairgrass is still spreading and becoming thicker, eventually it will become a dense carpet which should look quite stunning.
FISH
I like to split my fish into two groups; display and maintenance. My 28 Cardinal tetras and 5 Gold rams are for display – I love the colours especially against my black background. Maintenance fish include 2 Siamese Algae Eaters, 5 Otos and 10 Amano shrimp for algae control, 2 Corydorus julii for scavenging and helping to keep the hairgrass detritus free and 2 Botia striata for snail control. I also have a healthy population of Malaysian Trumpet Snails (that are too big for the Botia) to help keep the substrate turned over. I have never vacuumed my gravel.
I’m happy with the way things are looking. You can just make out the red Lily (Nymphaea japonicus) on the right behind the Hairgrass (Eleocharis acicularis) – it is growing very slowly but will hopefully add a nice accent of red to the picture when it finally grows into a decent size.
WATER QUALITY
I put the tank’s (both plants and fish) success and good health down to a few things. Water quality is kept up by having good plant growth – the plants absorbing all sorts of nasty compounds as they grow. My water chemistry is suited to the soft water fish that inhabit the tank – pH 6.5, KH 3, GH 6, Nitrates 5 mg/l, Phosphates 0.1 mg/l. My tap water is hard and alkaline so I use RO water mixed with a little tap water for buffering. I also have excellent biological/mechanical filtration in the form of the Juwel internal and Fluval 204 external filters. I don’t use carbon or any other chemical filtration as my plants perform that role.
EQUIPMENT
Lighting is 3 Watts per Gallon – I have 5 T8 fluorescent tubes of various types all full-spectrum with varying colour temps. from 3000K to 7500K. Carbon Dioxide is injected using two Nutrafin units at approx. 25 mg/l. The substrate is a fine gravel and laterite mix with a heater-cable. I am a big fan of Dennerle products and use their entire fertiliser range (S7, Pflanzengold 7, TR7, E15 and V30). They are initially expensive but only new water is fertilised when performing water changes so they last ages. I also add Potassium Nitrate weekly to maintain a Nitrate level of 5 mg/l. I change 30% of the water every week.
PLANTS
The plants are chosen due to their low-maintenance. The Vallis (Vallisneria spiralis) produces runners that are simply removed when things look too dense and if the leaves are getting too long I just trim them. The Java fern (Microsorium pteropus) and moss (Vesicularia dubyana) look after themselves – now and again I thin out the moss and remove any ugly leaves from the fern. The Ivy (Hydrocotyle leucocephala) (on the right) is thinned out occasionally – I simply pinch off any ugly parts of the plant. Probably the biggest task is giving the Hairgrass a “haircut”. I use sharp scissors to trim off the tops and net off the cuttings from the water surface (luckily they float). The hairgrass is still spreading and becoming thicker, eventually it will become a dense carpet which should look quite stunning.
FISH
I like to split my fish into two groups; display and maintenance. My 28 Cardinal tetras and 5 Gold rams are for display – I love the colours especially against my black background. Maintenance fish include 2 Siamese Algae Eaters, 5 Otos and 10 Amano shrimp for algae control, 2 Corydorus julii for scavenging and helping to keep the hairgrass detritus free and 2 Botia striata for snail control. I also have a healthy population of Malaysian Trumpet Snails (that are too big for the Botia) to help keep the substrate turned over. I have never vacuumed my gravel.
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