Barneys 160l Planted Tank Using Ada Substrate/ferts - Journal

[Azaezl]

great tank & lovely looking fish( jealous ). You think your tank is scratched you should see my juwel tank

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Thanks

Just a couple more pic's.

Baby Cory

Baby Cory with adult in the top left for comparision.

 

[Biulu]

Very nice Barney! Do you have an aponogeton plant in there? If so, is it reproducing itself or not? Curious, since I have 2 of these plants, and they are currently only growing.

 

[P Zero]

Your tank looks magnificent. I will hopefully be able to set up something similar once we move to a bigger place (soon).

I was wondering if you could tell us some more about your maintainence routine?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Very nice Barney! Do you have an aponogeton plant in there? If so, is it reproducing itself or not? Curious, since I have 2 of these plants, and they are currently only growing.

I did have an aponogeton in there. It never sent out any runners but it did flower loads (at least 1-2 per month). I had to take it out though as it took up way to much space in the tank (each leaf was about 3ft long and the whole plant took upto about 1/3 of the tank). Lovely plant though and if the tank was wider I would have kept it (if anyones planning a planted tank try to go for something that is at least 1.5-2ft wide, makes scaping so much easier).

I was wondering if you could tell us some more about your maintainence routine?

Its actually not overly complicated

Daily:
Feed the fish (twice a day)
Put in 7 sprays of ADA Brightly K
Check the Temp
Check the CO2 (bubble checker, pressure and drop checker)
Check the fish
Check flow from filter output
(sounds like a lot but all this takes less then five minutes)

Three times a week:
7 Sprays of ADA step 1 (switching to step 2 very soon).
Top up the tank (loses about 3/4" of water over the course of the week)

Weekly:
10-15% water change
Pruning - Mainly prunning back/removing runners, trimming out any dead bits and cutting back the really fast growers.

Monthly:
Strip down the filter, release baby shrimp back into the tank from the filter (I always seem to get a few shrimp that find thier way into there), give the pads and media a quick swish round in tank water, swap out filter wool.

Every two-three months:
Replace CO2 canister

Every 6-8 months:
Replace tubes on light

Looks like a lot when it is all written down but it really isn't too bad. If I didnt spend a lot of time "faffing about" (I get distracted by the pretty fishies every time I go near the tank ) It is maybe only about 1 hour work a week to maintain with an extra 30 minutes a month to take the filter apart.

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

I assume that is all the fertilising you do on the tank, the ADA Brighty K ??

Chris

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yep all I dose with is ADA brightly K and ADA step 1 (will go to Step 2 once the Step 1 has run out). I do also have ADA substrate as well though which supplies a lot of the nutrients that are needed anyway.

I did for awhile dose Potasium phosphate and potasium nitrate as well and did notice the difference in plant growth. I have stopped this now though as the tank also does compeltely fine without it and trimming everything up once a week is more then enough of a job

I did plan on making up my own trace mixes and ferts but to be honest the ADA system is just so easy and hassle free that I would prefer to just pay the extra for it (ie I'm lazy ).

I dont bother with any other the other ADA ferts and if I felt something was lacking I would just use dry ferts to make up for it.

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

Thanks, i was wondering whether to take the EI route or just the ADA mixes. Are you having a more controlled growth with the ADA?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Thanks, i was wondering whether to take the EI route or just the ADA mixes. Are you having a more controlled growth with the ADA?

To be honest I have never used EI so cant directly compare the two. I can say that the plant growth is very good with just using the two basic ADA ferts. From what I have read both will give you similar results. I'm not sure the ADA system would work so well with an inert substrate so if you plan on using sand or inert gravel then EI would probably be a better option.

In general most plants will grow well given even halfway decent amounts of light and nutrients so you can go for EI, ADA (or similar type of system), EI with inert substrate, EI with nutrient rich substrate, Half dose EI, etc and all of them will give very similar results.

I would personally go with the one you will be able to maintain and understand. When I started EI was very confusing and sounded more like high school chemistry then a hobby which is why I went the ADA route. I have learnt a lot since then now though so if I was to do it again I would go the EI route (just because its cheaper). There is a lot to be said though about just have two bottles you buy off the shelf without having to measure and mix a bunch of dry ferts.

 

[phistar]

i just read your entire thread . . .

your tank is amazing and your stock spawning in it is awesome

are you gonna be doing anything about the amount of snails in your tank? i noticed you have tons of them in there lol

 

[R1ch13]

Hey man!

Great tank, its absolutely stunning!

But i have a few questions...

I have a tank just slightly bigger than this 54Uk Gallons!

And I have always had problems with circulation!

My fish were very slow and lethargic and didnt look happy at all!

I have since moved them all out!

So now i have a 54 galloner sitting doing nothing!

I essentially wanted to go all out on this tank and make it fully planted!

But now i am slightly discouraged

I currently run a fluval 305 but it doesnt seem to be so good in a tank this size (i got everything in a fluval package)

Any info on filters, filter outlet placements etc

Would be greatly appreciated

Thanks alot

Richie

 

[garuf]

vertical spray bars, a second filter and a hydor areo to distribute your co2 and I would guess you'll have no trouble what so ever with dead spots.
Post a new thread I'll help you there.