Felix's First Planted 15G

[flix_cw]

Well, having started fishkeeping a year ago now (childhood fish don't really count!) courtesy of a wonderfully thoughtful birthday present from the girlfriend in the form of a 28L tank, i have now got my hands on an upgrade! After a year of probably reading more about fishkeeping than studying for my Masters degree, i felt i was equipped with the bare minimum to start out with a low-tech planted set-up.

Before christmas, I kept my eyes peeled on Gumtree and ebay for several weeks, and finally found what i think is an absolute bargain! A cheeky 15USg, 2'x1'x1' tank (perfect dimensions for our kitchen worktop) for a cool £30!

Included was a 100W Juwel heater, a Sera filter (unknown model as yet), gravel vacuum, 8W T5 light and unit, numerous large rocks (IDs yet to be discovered, one is slate or shale, one potentially sandstone, please help!) and a substrate of Eco-Complete, so can't grumble. The brand of tank is a John Allan, which i'm not familiar with and not sure about quality. I think they mainly provide generic show-tanks for LFSs.
Anyway, here it all is:

The stones (please ID if you know):

Heater (not sure if 100W might be too much for a 15g?) and substrate:

Filter (Sera, unkown model):

Light tube:

and unit:

I also ordered myself an Eheim Classic 2213+ (with taps and media) for £52 which i thought wasn't too bad a price, giving a 7.6x turnover:

So this is where i am currently at. The tank is sitting on our living room floor, empty, waiting for me to do a trip to my LFS for the final bits and bobs.

One of the most important features about this setup is that the tank will be viewed from 3 sides, so i'm constantly changing my mind about the layout. This is one of the main reasons i've started this journal, in order to receive feedback from those with infinitely more knowledge than me! I've gone, with advice from this forum, for a vaguely triangular layout. Below is a crude layout of how i think i might have it, with plant species very much interchangeable with advice from you, depending on suitability. In my 28L i already have a huge crypt wendtii, hygrophila polysperma, and some little crypt willisii(s). Eyes represent viewing sides:

Advice on where to place things is very much appreciated, such as the rocks/bogwood and also the heater/spraybar. (NB. I'm aware the scale of the rocks doesn't match those that came with the tank, i already have/can get hold of some smaller ones).

The other major thing i'm struggling with is the substrate. I originally wanted play-sand, capping a plant-friendly lower layer. Having seen the eco-complete in person i quite like it though. My current 28L has an undergravel filter, so will have 12 months buildup of lots of lovely mulm i intend to put in. Since the entire bacterial colony will be in the gravel i thought i'd mix the lot of that in too.
I'm just trying to decide how to go about it - mix the mulm, gravel and eco-complete and be done with it? Or cover that all with some mesh and cap the lot with sand? Help!

For now i think that's enough to be going on with, i would love to hear you feedback.

Cheers!
Felix

 

[ian]

nice tank!

I have commented on your lighting in your other thread. The layout looks good as well, some nice plant choices in there, the Rosanervig is a nice plant choice as well. I have some growing in my low light nano, and it's keeping it's pink colour well. It also grows like wild fire.

As for the rocks, i would use all of them, there will be no room for extra planting if needed. Probably use the light 3 rocks around the top of the triangle shape. I'd also be happy with the placing of the intake and spray bar.

The mulm could be put under the substrate, but you'll have to be very careful not to scratch the glass when moving the substrate. I like the substrate, if i was you i would keep the 'eco complete'. It gives a great look to the plants and fish.

 

[flix_cw]

As for the rocks, i would use all of them, there will be no room for extra planting if needed. Probably use the light 3 rocks around the top of the triangle shape. I'd also be happy with the placing of the intake and spray bar.

The mulm could be put under the substrate, but you'll have to be very careful not to scratch the glass when moving the substrate. I like the substrate, if i was you i would keep the 'eco complete'. It gives a great look to the plants and fish.

Thanks Ianho!
I'm not quite sure what you mean regarding the rocks around the top of the triangle shape? And surely there's no room for all of them? There won't be any substrate left to plant in!!

If i carefully scoop out the eco-complete, could i just put in all my old gravel and mulm together and then cap that with the eco-complete? Or is it important the mulm is lowest level?

 

[flix_cw]

Well i popped to my LFS today and had a dig around through their box of bogwood. I found a piece which i thought was pretty unique in it's shape and also fitted in with how i want my scape. Also, only £4 which i thought was pretty good.
One angle:

and the other.

NB. I think i'll place the bogwood over to the left like in my overview, with the protruding part to the left, so that it slopes down into the rest of the tank.

What do you think?

Oh and will i have to boil it for 20min and leave soaking overnight etc before putting it in?

 

[ian]

nice wood!

That will be nice to plants around, i normally soak mine for a few hours with boiling water and the chuck the wood in. I have used Carbon, but now using Seachem prime to soak up Tannins.

 

[Jamepsss]

That wood is a good shape, does loook like the sort that will change the colour of your water though. Even with boiling and soaking overnight it will probably leech tannins for a few weeks.

nice wood!

That will be nice to plants around, i normally soak mine for a few hours with boiling water and the chuck the wood in. I have used Carbon, but now using Seachem prime to soak up Tannins.

Do you mean Purigen Ian? I've beed reading a lot of reviews about this stuff lately and very tempted to give it a try.

 

[ian]

oops sorry, yeah, i mean Purigen lol!

I haven't seen my water so clear.

 

[flix_cw]

Purigen eh? Will have to investigate...

I'm really not convinced the bogwood goes with the black substrate, and i just cannot decide which rocks to use since however i arrange them it doesn't seem to work, again with the black substrate. Maybe i'd get a better idea with plants in there. I just feel it would all look more natural with sand, the jet black just looks a bit artificial.

I also don't know how i'm going to fit my inlet and spraybar in without either hacking bits off the end, or hacking holes into the hood of the tank! Any idea which is more sensible? There's a hole in the back of the hood where the lighting cables come through. I could cut my inlet/U-bend tube at the apex and then just attach the silicon tubing to it to go through at the back.

I just don't want to cut anything then regret it later.

 

[Carlovel1]

It looks like a great tank. If you add some small foreground plants in front of the wood, it will somehow bond together a bit better. You can't say that the bogwood doesn't match the substrate when you haven't planted it yet. If you had a lighter substrate (unplanted) and you added the bogwood, you'd be saying the same thing. I predict the tank will look fantastic when planted.

 

[flix_cw]

I predict the tank will look fantastic when planted.

Thanks carlovel! You're most likely correct, i just want it to be perfect!

I'm thinking pygmy chain sword for foreground plant - lilaeopsis, dwarf hairgrass, HC and glosso might be a bit harder, no? Which is easiest in a low tech setup?

Looking at my floor plan, i definitely didn't scale it properly! I'd like to get the majority of those plants in though. Think i'll have a play around with the rocks again, take a couple pics and see what you all think.

 

[flix_cw]

So i've had a tiny play about with the rocks and happened upon what i think might be quite a nice layout. I've leaned one rock up against the bigger one, creating a small cave/tunnel which i thought might be good for critters.

I just hope the rock is suitable for the tank. It has a sparkly sheen to it. I think it might be a form of Schist, in which case it should be fine.

Here's a pic of the tank with the rocks:

and from the end (where you can see the cave/tunnel the rocks create):

The glass is pretty grubby! What's the best way to clean it all? I've heard something about using vinegar.

So this is the current floorplan of the tank, which i need to then add plant species to:

 

[lljdma06]

I think you've got a really good start to this and I'm looking forward to seeing it develop. The rocks, IMO are too large for the tank, but that's up to you. I like the substrate mixing. I think it's interesting. I think a darker rock would work better.

llj

 

[flix_cw]

I think you've got a really good start to this and I'm looking forward to seeing it develop. The rocks, IMO are too large for the tank, but that's up to you. I like the substrate mixing. I think it's interesting. I think a darker rock would work better.

llj

Thanks llj. I was also concerned those rocks were too big. What about the darker slate i also have in one of the first pics? I also have some other pieces of very dark, almost black slate, but i think they might be too small actually. I can't seem to find a happy medium. Are you thinking the rocks are too light for the substrate? Maybe once it's planted it might improve. I want to get it right first time though since i'm planning on supergluing plants to the rocks (java fern/anubias).

 

[lljdma06]

I think you've got a really good start to this and I'm looking forward to seeing it develop. The rocks, IMO are too large for the tank, but that's up to you. I like the substrate mixing. I think it's interesting. I think a darker rock would work better.

llj

Thanks llj. I was also concerned those rocks were too big. What about the darker slate i also have in one of the first pics? I also have some other pieces of very dark, almost black slate, but i think they might be too small actually. I can't seem to find a happy medium. Are you thinking the rocks are too light for the substrate? Maybe once it's planted it might improve. I want to get it right first time though since i'm planning on supergluing plants to the rocks (java fern/anubias).

How small is the dark slate? Different sizes of similar rock is a very nice approach to hardscape. I like the other slate too. A mix may be nice.

 

[flix_cw]

Here is the small slate collection, with my hand for some idea of scale:

I forgot to mention that in my current 28L resides a good-sized piece of lava rock with a tunnel and side-tunnel through it. I'm not sure how the deep red of that would look with the black substrate of the new tank.
I also have a piece of ocean rock in that tank, but it's even lighter than the current set of stones.

This is a pic of the lava rock and ocean rock from when i first set up my 28L a year ago (don't worry it looks a completely different tank now after dosing ferts regularly!):

and side-on: