A Nano Garden

[tanksalot]

I have no excuse.

I've been growing aquatic plants since I started keeping fish a year and a half ago. I have read a ton of stuff on this forum and all around the web. It's really time I tried to do a little more than just throw plants randomly in water and hope for the best!

So having experimented with DIY CO2 and some nice stem plants, I'm trying a mini Dutch scape, as follows.

The stats:

27 litre rectangular tank
Eheim Aquaball filter (would like something a bit less conspicuous though!)
18 watt Ellipse lamp
Flora-base black substrate
DIY CO2 at 20 bubbles per minute (sometimes )

First job was to clear the tank of its shrimpy inhabitants, the plants and old sand substrate, then clean it and the equipment (bit of a GSA problem accrued over time). Then it was in with the Flora-base (not used it before) which I scooped into a simple shallow bowl shape before adding in the plants and water little by little.

This is the first pic I took before the water cleared:

The plants I've used are as follows:

1 Pogostemon stellata
2 Alternanthera reineckii Purple
3 Hygrophila polysperma Rosanervig
4 Christmas moss
5 Weeping moss
6 Glossostigma elatinoides
7 Pogostemon helferi
8 Bacopa australis

I will add more pics when the water has cleared, but I think that may take a while.

I've had experience growing most of these plants in this tank, but don't know about the Glosso or the P. stellata as they're new. I suspect I'm going to see floating Glosso before too long because I really didn't plant it very well I hope it's going to knit together and make a nice little "lawn" at the front, but I'm not holding my breath! I've tried to put contrasting colours and leaf forms together and take flow into account (my experience with helferi tells me to put it right next to the CO2 source, otherwise it's very dodgy), but whether I'll like the outcome I've no idea. I think some things will grow way too quickly and be a PITA, in which case I'll be looking for substitutes.

I know my shrimp will have to have an extended holiday in my main tank whilst the Flora-base gets over its ammonia release, but what I'd like to know is when do I start back with the EI dosing on this tank? I'm used to a 6 day per week alternating macro/micro regime, but does that change because of the Flora-base? Also, I want to be algae-busting from the start, so what should I be doing in terms of water changes?

Could definitely do with some advice here!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Looks good I'm quite impressed, will look awesome when grown in, i'd pit your filter on the rear right tho and maybe move the stellata so the flow comes down on to your diffuser and pushes it round the tank better but up to you. With water changes it's hard to say yet, is your filter mature?

 

[ian]

good luck with this one...i for one shall be keeping tabs on this one. The Dutch style is on of the hardest tanks the get right. It's looking full of potential though.

 

[pablothebetta]

Can't wait to see how this turns out, it looks great already

 

[ian]

sorry missed the questions...

Do daily water changes of 25-50% a day on this and the shrimp can go straight in. I have always stocked straight away (as long as the filter is mature). Saying that, that is a heavily planted tank, so i would stock straight away anyway. The plants will use the ammonia and the spikes from Columbo isn't that great. I have used it 4 times now and never had one loss.

Start the EI straight away as well.

The lighting is 18watt, so start with a 6 hour photoperiod, and build it up when the tank matures.

 

[tanksalot]

Hey, thanks for the replies, guys!

Looks good I'm quite impressed, will look awesome when grown in, i'd pit your filter on the rear right tho and maybe move the stellata so the flow comes down on to your diffuser and pushes it round the tank better but up to you. With water changes it's hard to say yet, is your filter mature?

Hi Steve,

Glad you like it! Can't think where I got the idea to go Dutch I'll see how it goes with the filter and bear what you said in mind. It's pretty powerful (rated up to 550lph), so I hope it should be able to circulate CO2 well enough even from the opposite side to the diffuser. I'll put my drop checker in to be sure.

My filter was mature, but I forgot the dechlor when I was refilling the tank I can always raid some from the external on my main tank though.

good luck with this one...i for one shall be keeping tabs on this one. The Dutch style is on of the hardest tanks the get right. It's looking full of potential though.

Thanks, Ian. Gotta say, my knowledge of the style is sketchy at best, but I've googled quite a few images, so I think I know what I'm aiming for

Can't wait to see how this turns out, it looks great already

Thanks, mate!

I just hope it isn't all downhill from here...

sorry missed the questions...

Do daily water changes of 25-50% a day on this and the shrimp can go straight in. I have always stocked straight away (as long as the filter is mature). Saying that, that is a heavily planted tank, so i would stock straight away anyway. The plants will use the ammonia and the spikes from Columbo isn't that great. I have used it 4 times now and never had one loss.

Start the EI straight away as well.

The lighting is 18watt, so start with a 6 hour photoperiod, and build it up when the tank matures.

Ah, that's what I needed to know - thanks!

6 hours of light? Why so few to start with, if you don't mind me asking? Does that help deter the algae?

 

[ian]

light + ammonia = algae...there may be a little melt in the tank and the small ammonia spikes the Columbo gives off, as the light is the driving factor, the ammonia can bring on the algae. This is why the water changes are important at the beginning. It is said by the planted guru's around the globe that a plant will use all the C02 needed in the first 3-4 hours of photosynthesis, they they tend to get everything they need within the first few hours.

ps don't be afraid to cut the stems really short at at the back at the beginning either, this will give the bushy effect that Dutch tanks take on.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Lol hmmm Dutch style, you must have got sone good advise somewhere lol

 

[tanksalot]

light + ammonia = algae...there may be a little melt in the tank and the small ammonia spikes the Columbo gives off, as the light is the driving factor, the ammonia can bring on the algae. This is why the water changes are important at the beginning. It is said by the planted guru's around the globe that a plant will use all the C02 needed in the first 3-4 hours of photosynthesis, they they tend to get everything they need within the first few hours.

ps don't be afraid to cut the stems really short at at the back at the beginning either, this will give the bushy effect that Dutch tanks take on.

Ah...I was forgetting that the ammonia from the substrate could cause algae...gotcha.

Should I pinch out the tips of the stems (like I would for my garden plants) or cut off some from the base? Never really sure!

I'm already wondering if the Alternanthera is going to be right for this: the leaves get pretty big and the stems get quite a lot of roots on them (at least, they always have in this tank!)

What other slow-growing, small-leaved tidy-looking red plants are there? Something like this perhaps?

 

[NathanPrince]

I have a heap of that Ludwigia in my tank and it's by no means slow growing and thats just with liquid CO2 and EI ferts, stuff grows like a weed!

 

[tanksalot]

Oh...strike that one then! Thanks for telling me before I made a silly impulse buy

Back to the drawing board...

 

[NathanPrince]

Haha yeah, mine can stretch from one side of the tank to the other in about 2 weeks or so? And thats a Rio 125, im sure you saw a picture of my main tank in my shrimp journal? The ludwigia is on the right (sorta pinky because my lighting sucks lol) I cut that about a week before that picture was taken

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Good red plant for you would be Rotala Rotundifolia, would prob stay red under your lighting too, I just had 25 stems delivered, once I give it a trim I'll post ya some, call it favour returned for the Sag.

 

[lljdma06]

Agree on Rotala rotundifolia. Blushes a deep salmon if you're lucky. Also when, you dutch at this size, bear in mind that you have to recreate the standard leaf contrasts of Dutch but in a smaller scale. I've done a few Dutch scapes in my day. Not saying A. reinekii isn't also good, but you have to train it to grow smaller. It also serves a better focal point. That, combined with anubias is delightful. R. macrandra is good too.

A nice plant to try is HC's bigger cousin. Hemianthus micranthemoides. It's got very nice rounding leaves and you can really prune it and train it to create the "streets" so typical in Dutch. Also, E. tennelus is very good too. Under-used IMO.

What messes up people in small Dutch scapes is the off balance of scale, you want to create the same depth that's present in a typical Dutch, most of which are over 75g, so shift your plant leaf size to reflect this. Instead of anubia baterii, use anubia nana. Instead of Hygrophyla corymbosa, use Bacopa caroliniana. Instead of A. reineckii, use Rotala macrandra.

Good luck, lots of pruning in the Dutch scapes, just saying.

L

 

[tanksalot]

@ Steve,

I did have R. rotundifolia in this tank at one point, but I think that was when I had the 11 watt light - it didn't colour much under that, but maybe it would with the 18 watt.

Regardless of colour, it's definitely small-leaved, so yes please! I'll PM ya my address.

Well - surprise, surprise - I woke up to some floating Glosso this morning. Pretty easy to see it coming: small, fine roots in large-ish granules + powerful circulation = plants all over the place I will put it back, but whether I can get it to stay there long enough to take properly I've no idea Anyone who's grown a Glosso carpet in Flora-base, feel free to chime in with hints and tips (I bet I shouldn't have removed the rockwool )

@lldjma,

Ooo, thanks for all those suggestions - I'll go look them up

I've seen one of your Dutch scapes, and it was beautiful - you know whereof you speak! I guess I was just intent on improvising with the stuff I had, but that's not really going to cut it for me. I suspect I could keep the Alternanthera small - the side shoots are smaller and more delicate than the main stem - but it think it might still look kinda clunky.

Need a bit of a re-think, methinks...