60Lt Planted Tank

[Ryefish]

Oh and my lfs gave me a bottle of 'leaf' food that seems to be jam packed with things that would nuke my reef, I'm guessing this is good.

i have no advice but this made me chuckle!

any pictures of the tank yet?

 

[Verminator89]

That made me laugh to

I'm amazed its taken untill post #16 for someone to ask for the mandatory pictures that come with a journal for a tank

 

[sorgan]

Ok so almost full tank shot

(excuse the coraline on the heater holder bit it's a nightmare to get off)
Here's one of the 2 froggies that are now in the tank

This is the bottle of leaf stuff that could kill a reef at 50 paces

Here's the cycling bottle stuff, doesn't matter now as we got frog poo!

And finally the fertilzery substrate that is under by gravely substrate

 

[SuperColey1]

put the first bottle in your cabinet for a 'rainy day' you won't need that at the moment.

The second bottle is to get the bacteria working however you have got the frogs doing that already. Keep testing and then you can add the fish oce the cycle is over.

TetraComplete was my first substrate too. Some bad reviews but I never had any problems with it. Good stuff IMO.

YOu don't have many plants and those frogs alone (plus left over food) will be providing everything the plants need fertiliser wise.

I would gues as frogs are amphiboius they can go up and breathe quite easily in most waterc. lol

Do you have a shelf or something for them to go on near the water level? Did check into these a long time ago but can't remember their 'needs' apart from not being suitable for tall tanks

Get some more plants. Then get some wood or rocks to break up the 'substrate monotony' a little

What size tank is it and what Wattage and type of lights have you got above it. Should have asked this much earlier especially you being a reefer and all.

AC

 

[sorgan]

The frogs are fully aquatic only only surface to breath so they don't need a shelf, bottles shelved
The tank is 60lt and has an 18w t8 over it w reflector.
More plants will need to wait till Sunday as will rocks

 

[Ryefish]

looks like youve found yourself some really nice quality plants

 

[SuperColey1]

Light looks fine for low light setup on that size tank. Stick to Ferns, Anubias and Crypts for now. They look the best (once established) anyway IMO

This tank of mine is completely 'supposed' alow growers

Personally I think reefers can become the best planted people. They embrace technology and already have the habit of regime. As long as they can seperate the ref rules from the planted 'no rules' then coupled with their abillity to be 'in control' it makes a great combo

AC

 

[sorgan]

I am used to averting disaster in my reef tank a few times a month so 'in control' is fair.
Will I be able to add grasses? And how many more plants should I add?

 

[ian]

add as many plants as you feel you need to (the more the better). I think your tank looks nice, the Anubias is a good specimen. As Andy states in one of his previous posts, you need to get some kind of hardscape in there, whether it be rocks or wood.

You could try some dwarf hair grass in there and see how you get on with it. You could also try some Riccia tied to some slate, to give the carpet effect. Also you can't go wrong with crypts.

btw, your reef tank looks good.

 

[Biulu]

That is low light and perfectly suited to grow many plants without problems. Just start off with growing plants and bother about the scape later.

 

[sorgan]

Ok so new additions today of 6 tetra's (neon I think) and 4 more (well more as I split them) plants. Oh and a rock.

So piccys, full tank shot

And some close ups

Now I was going to go for danios but the lfs recommended the neons as they are more flashy so will make nice contrast in the tank, we sat down and talked about future stocking (he rejecting my ideas for the more expensive fish) so here hopes it goes well.
Didn't even look at the marines today (much to LFS suprise) although we did have a nice chat about marine algae munchers.

So lemme know what you think, LFS is going to order me some low growing carpeting plants later.

 

[stevereade]

Looking good.

 

[SuperColey1]

Now I was going to go for danios but the lfs recommended the neons as they are more flashy so will make nice contrast in the tank, we sat down and talked about future stocking (he rejecting my ideas for the more expensive fish) so here hopes it goes well.

Aaagh LFS' and their 'advice'.lol.

Not a great idea to put Neons in a 'new' tank. They can be pretty sensitive. However the tank looks nice. I should think with your reef background the parameters will be uber tested.

Whatever that is behind the tank kinda makes it look like a mountain. lol. Bonus

AC

 

[sorgan]

Well all the plants are looking good bur sadly 3 of the neons have died, serves me right for taking LFS 'advise' it's strange as he has always steered me well in the past.
They seem to die over night, one at a time. All my tests are ok except I've got high pH of about 7.6, does pH get higher at night? Could that be the cause of these fishes untimely doom or are neons like sheep, they are only born to find neecand interesting ways to die?

I've hooked the co2 back up us I've heard it lowers pH but what else will help? Was thinking of doing a partial water change with RO to take some of the buffers that would of been in the tap water out.

 

[SuperColey1]

It's strange as he has always steered me well in the past.

Hate to say I told ya so Neons are one of the most common 'first fish' I'm not sure its an LFS problem more an industry wide problem.

They seem to die over night, one at a time. All my tests are ok except I've got high pH of about 7.6, does pH get higher at night? Could that be the cause of these fishes untimely doom or are neons like sheep, they are only born to find neecand interesting ways to die?

Nope they are just sensitive. On here you would be advised in the characin section that Neons should be in matured tanks. Then you will have to filter the different opinions of matured which will range from 3-6 months. Safe to say that it isn't just after cycling

Also don't get into the belief of the PH crash in this section or you'll end up getting some fairly lengthy posts explaining why there is no such thing Ph is a relative measure that is influenced by other parameters. It is one of the other parameters that brings the Ph down that is the crash. possibly KH but I amd not really thinking that it is. Something else.

If Ph crash was a problem then we would all be having deaths in CO2 tanks. Also non planteds with no water changes where the KH drops over time (plants pinch the C) and then have a heavy water change (like I just did 60% after a year of no water changes) would suuffer a huge fluctuation of KH as the 0dKH water is removed to be replaced 60-40 with high KH lincolnshire liquid rock

I don't know what the real 'crash' is but I am pretty sure that the Ph dropping is caused by whatever is the real problem.

Yes it is normal for the Ph to rise at night and drop in the day in CO2 enriched tanks. It may be the same in CO2 addition tanks and non CO2. due to the levels of CO2 in the water in the day the Ph can drop to as much as 1.2Ph below normal. Once the solenoid cuts it off it will return pretty quickly (in the space of a few hours) to normal.

I've hooked the co2 back up us I've heard it lowers pH but what else will help? Was thinking of doing a partial water change with RO to take some of the buffers that would of been in the tap water out.

Leave the water alone. Stability in a higher Ph is better than fiddling to reach a 'managed' Ph. The 'high' Ph didn't kill the tetras. Many people who have them in higher than 7.6 will tell you that.

In the pictures is that your filter right down at the substrate? Move it up to just under the water surface to create a gentle ripple. That will promote gaseous exchange of O and CO2. Will mean you have to increase CO2 very slightly if it doesn't reach your desired level.

AC