MikeyUK47
New Member
Hi all,
I've been asked by a few people to do a journal on this tank so...here goes!!
I have kept planted tanks for the past 4yrs, just learning what I can & can't grow & using different fertilising methods. I had the ususal mix of success & failure. In August this year I decided i'd learnt enough & felt confident enough to have a go at doing a 'proper' aquascape.
The equipment used:
60 x 30 x 30cm tank
Fluval 405 filter with glass lily pipes. 2 litres of Sera Siporax & Sera course fibre, no chemical media used at all
Hydor 300 external filter
Arcadia luminaire 4 x 24W tubes. 2 Plant Pro & 2 Philips 865 Daylight
2kg CO2 bottle with ceramic diffuser
Here's the tank after hardscaping & filling on the 15th August:
ADA Amazonia & Welsh blue stone are used. At this point the tank was run with the temperature set at 25C, no plants & with ammonia being added each day until ammonia spike was over. I was also doing 50% water changes every other day due to the tannins being leaked by the Aquasoil, the water was VERY brown!!
On the 1st September the ammonia & nitrites were dropping & it was time to plant up. 6 pots of Tropica HC, 4 Pogostemon heferi & 2 Blyxa japonica were used. Here's the tank after planting:
The CO2 was set running at this point & EasyCarbo added at half recommended dose. No fertilisers used at all. 2 tubes were used for 5hrs a day. Water changes every day were still being carried out at this stage. 10 days later the plants were growing well:
By now I had the lighting on 6hrs a day, still 2 tubes. EasyCarbo was at recommended dose & EI ferts were being dosed at half dosage. I'd also added 2 pots of Ludwigia glandulosa to the right hand side as an accent colour. No algae issues at this point & the fish & shrimps had been added. Several days later the snails were added too. At this point disaster struck!! I suffer from Psoriatic arthritis & have bouts of severe pain in my ankles & knees. I suffered just such a bout right now & the water changes were impossible to do. As a result algae began to grab a hold. When I finally recovered the helferi was covered in black brush algae & the rocks were covered in thread algae. The Blyxa was in poor condition & the Ludwigia wasn't too good either. I removed most of the Blyxa & I phyically removed what I could of the algae & did several large water changes over the next week. I upped the EasyCarbo dosage & reduced the lighting period again. On the 29th September the tank looked like this:
Most of the algae had gone & the lighting was increased slowly to 7hrs a day, still only 2 tubes. EI ferts were now dosed at the proper level & EasyCarbo at double the recommended dose. Things really started to take off again. For the next month things went well & the HC carpeted really well. The Blyxa never really recovered & was removed. I also decided the Ludwigia didn't go with the look I was going for & took it out. My camera conked out too hence no pics for October
The tank now looks like this:
I'm now dosing EI at double the recommended dose, CO2 @ 3 bubbles per second & EasyCarbo at 3 times the recommended dose every day. Lighting is still via 2 tubes for 7hrs a day. 50% Water changes are done each week & i've had no more algae issues (touch wood)
I'll happily answer any questions, i'm sure i've missed details!! Hope it inspires people to have a go.
I've been asked by a few people to do a journal on this tank so...here goes!!
I have kept planted tanks for the past 4yrs, just learning what I can & can't grow & using different fertilising methods. I had the ususal mix of success & failure. In August this year I decided i'd learnt enough & felt confident enough to have a go at doing a 'proper' aquascape.
The equipment used:
60 x 30 x 30cm tank
Fluval 405 filter with glass lily pipes. 2 litres of Sera Siporax & Sera course fibre, no chemical media used at all
Hydor 300 external filter
Arcadia luminaire 4 x 24W tubes. 2 Plant Pro & 2 Philips 865 Daylight
2kg CO2 bottle with ceramic diffuser
Here's the tank after hardscaping & filling on the 15th August:
ADA Amazonia & Welsh blue stone are used. At this point the tank was run with the temperature set at 25C, no plants & with ammonia being added each day until ammonia spike was over. I was also doing 50% water changes every other day due to the tannins being leaked by the Aquasoil, the water was VERY brown!!
On the 1st September the ammonia & nitrites were dropping & it was time to plant up. 6 pots of Tropica HC, 4 Pogostemon heferi & 2 Blyxa japonica were used. Here's the tank after planting:
The CO2 was set running at this point & EasyCarbo added at half recommended dose. No fertilisers used at all. 2 tubes were used for 5hrs a day. Water changes every day were still being carried out at this stage. 10 days later the plants were growing well:
By now I had the lighting on 6hrs a day, still 2 tubes. EasyCarbo was at recommended dose & EI ferts were being dosed at half dosage. I'd also added 2 pots of Ludwigia glandulosa to the right hand side as an accent colour. No algae issues at this point & the fish & shrimps had been added. Several days later the snails were added too. At this point disaster struck!! I suffer from Psoriatic arthritis & have bouts of severe pain in my ankles & knees. I suffered just such a bout right now & the water changes were impossible to do. As a result algae began to grab a hold. When I finally recovered the helferi was covered in black brush algae & the rocks were covered in thread algae. The Blyxa was in poor condition & the Ludwigia wasn't too good either. I removed most of the Blyxa & I phyically removed what I could of the algae & did several large water changes over the next week. I upped the EasyCarbo dosage & reduced the lighting period again. On the 29th September the tank looked like this:
Most of the algae had gone & the lighting was increased slowly to 7hrs a day, still only 2 tubes. EI ferts were now dosed at the proper level & EasyCarbo at double the recommended dose. Things really started to take off again. For the next month things went well & the HC carpeted really well. The Blyxa never really recovered & was removed. I also decided the Ludwigia didn't go with the look I was going for & took it out. My camera conked out too hence no pics for October
The tank now looks like this:
I'm now dosing EI at double the recommended dose, CO2 @ 3 bubbles per second & EasyCarbo at 3 times the recommended dose every day. Lighting is still via 2 tubes for 7hrs a day. 50% Water changes are done each week & i've had no more algae issues (touch wood)
I'll happily answer any questions, i'm sure i've missed details!! Hope it inspires people to have a go.
