120 Litre Planted Aquarium Journal

[mark4785]

120 Litre Planted Aquarium - Journal​

This particular aquarium has been running for a total of 2 years now; in the last 6 months plant growth has excelled and algae formation has come to an halt. Despite the aquarium being quite established and well-planted, I think there is still room for improvement in terms of giving this aquarium a natural feel as this was never the intention initially.


Aquarium Details

Capacity: 120 litres (Ferplast Aquarium)
Co2: Yes; Dennerle Comfort Range with replaceable 500g CO2 cylinder
Lighting: 2 x 24 Hagen LifeGlo fluorescent tubes (22")
Plants: Limnophila sessiliflora, Cryptocoryne wendtii brown & green, Cryptocoryne parva, Marsilea hirsuta, Eleocharis parvula, Cryptocoryne undulata 'broad leaves', Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya'
Inhabitants: 8x Black Neon Tetras, 4x Corydoras Cat fish (the clean-up crew of the tank)
Substrate & Decoration: Regular play sand sourced from China. Various grey pebbles are scattered around the aquarium; nothing significant.

Aquarium Pictures

Overview

Corydoras Pair 1

Pearling of the Marsilea?

Black Neon Tetra Shoal

As you can see from the overview, the aquarium is or has become quite densely planted. I am looking to add some kind of a centre piece to the aquarium (decor-wise) so that it doesn't look so flat in the middle. This decoration could be a piece of bog wood or a type of rock. Do you think I should go ahead with this? Will adding such a piece of decor block the CO2 flow that comes forth from the back-left of the aquarium (from the power heads) and which travels to the front-right?

Any other suggestions will be much appreciated,


Mark.

 

[mark4785]

The lights for this tank have been off since yesterday when the external bubble-counter exploded. The pressure reducer showed 3 bars as it always does but for some reason the bubble-counter decided it explode. I am lucky that I wasn't blinded by the flying plastic!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Oh dear shame bout the bubble counter, nice looking scape tho.

 

[mark4785]

Update: [background=rgb(252, 252, 255)]30th December 2012[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 255)]-The marsilea (four leaf clover) has been removed from the centre fore-ground and placed to the left and right of the tank. [/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 255)]- Bog wood with attached moss added to left side;[/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 255)]- Small branched wood added to centre with moss;[/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 255)]- New grass carpet planted;[/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 255)]- Added 1x Bolivian Ram and 2 more Black Neon Tetras.[/background]

Oh dear shame bout the bubble counter, nice looking scape tho.

Thanks!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Looking good, prefer the hair grass but did like the Marsilea.

 

[shepherd88]

Tank looks awesome mate i really want a fully planted tank like yours

 

[mark4785]

Looking good, prefer the hair grass but did like the Marsilea.

I like the hair grass too as co2 bubbles can get passed it easier.

Tank looks awesome mate i really want a fully planted tank like yours

Thank you! If you need any help/advice with any aspect of planted aquariums, be sure to ask here and I'll definitely help.