First Aquarium

[Hawks1980]

Hi All,

As I have never had a planted aquarium before I thought I'd start a brief log of my journey from unplanted tank to (hopefully) a wonderfully green ecosystem.

Brief overview of my aquarium:

Arcadia Arc 60 litre (60cm x 30cm x 36cm)
24w Arcadia 'Plant Pro' Lighting
Arcadia Powerbio 700 Filter (contains sponge, filter floss and K1 ceramic media)
Arcadia 200w Heater (they sent me this instead of 50w)

Substrate:
JBL Aquabase Plus
JBL Manado

Decor:
Driftwood
Slate

As I have posted in the beginners section I have set the tank up yesterday and will begin to cycle it properly from Monday when my Ammonia arrives. The K1 ceramic media was taken form the filter of my LFS so hopefully will shortcut the cycling time. So far all I have done is to add the substrate, water, soaked driftwood and slate and currently I have it scaped as follows:

I am currently thinking of an amazon theme around a fallen tree (the driftwood) although not sure if slate fits entirely with that theme but I think it looks quite good. The truth is in the end it may have no overall theme. I want some extensive carpeting at the front but of very low height plants (not grass like) so would be interested to hear people's suggestions.

It looks bare at the moment but am hoping eventually it will be full of life.

Would love to here people's thoughts as to potential flora (and fauna).

Thanks
Tom.

 

[Llegmore]

That's a really nice piece of driftwood. A great base for the hard-scape. Great start. I'll be interested to see how it goes.

 

[KittyKat]

I recommend that you add a plain background of your choice (I prefer black). For planting, I prefer to have more substrate at the back than the front, although it is quite difficult to plant anything into substrate that's less than 1" at the front.

Fish wise, my vote goes towards Characidae gen. sp. “Yellow Glass” and Nannoptopoma sp. ‘Peru’/‘Peru white’, if you can actually find some and are prepared to take on the latter!

 

[Hawks1980]

OK so I have begun to plant in earnest today with the arrival of my initial order from Aqua Essentials, followed by three more from my local P@H as they sell Tropica plants.

I have also purchased some Colombo Bactuur which I added to the filter this morning.

I am using AE Aqua Carbon and also AE Aqua Nourish and AE Aqua Nourish+ as my ferts.

FTS:

Cryptocoryne Nevellii:

Anubias nana Bonsai (stuck on with trusty Super Glue):

Echinodorus Rose:

Echinodorus Bleheri:

Bacopa Coroliniana:

Hygrophilia Corymbosa sp 'Siamensis'

I'm not sure whether to swap the Echinodorus Rose with the Bacopa.

Would like to get people's opinions on my placements, this is the first time I have ever planted a tank so may had made some bad location choices.

 

[minnnt]

Not feeling the Echinodorus, but the rest is excellent. The heater ruins it for me, i would keep it as a spare and get a little stumpy heater that you can have upright and hidden behind the filter.

The bogwood is probably the best 'non-redmoor' i have seen being used in a proper aqua scape.

As for the carpet, i would go with Glossostigma. A little more easier going than HC and will complement the height of the background as it is also a little taller than HC.

 

[Hawks1980]

Not feeling the Echinodorus, but the rest is excellent. The heater ruins it for me, i would keep it as a spare and get a little stumpy heater that you can have upright and hidden behind the filter.

The bogwood is probably the best 'non-redmoor' i have seen being used in a proper aqua scape.

As for the carpet, i would go with Glossostigma. A little more easier going than HC and will complement the height of the background as it is also a little taller than HC.

As soon as I saw the Driftwood in Maidenhead Aquatics I knew I liked the look of it, so it was a no brainer to buy it.

Is it the Amazon Sword you don't like, or the Rose....or both? Any tips on where they should go?

The heater is 200w and was included by mistake by Charterhouse...I should have had the 50w with this tank. I agree though it is far too large so will look to swap it out for a smaller one, it kind of overtakes the background.

Thanks for the recommendation on the carpet, I plan to sort this out next. One of my main conundrums is what to do with the open space to the right of the driftwood and slate....do I plant it all up, and if so with what, or do I leave it more open.

 

[minnnt]

Basically what you need to do is 'PS3Steveo' it.

He had more or less the whole right hand side just carpeted with HC. It did look the muts nuts. Riccia would also work, but won't exactly make use of your substrate due to the way it is grown.

You could use something like Blyxa Japonica or Aubertii toward the rear of the right hand side then maybe some Rotala Rotundafolia at the very back of the scape. As for the Amazon sword, i'm not sure. Bin it? AS's just aren't anywhere near as nice as the more speciality Echinodoras. It just look a bit random atm, but maybe it will alter when the carpet is in place.

 

[Hawks1980]

Great advice, thanks.

When I originally planned my tanks and put the driftwood in it's place I hadn't seen PS3Steveo's tank. When I did see it I though...oh god it looks like I've copied with the placement, but I genuinely hadn't. I like the idea of an open space so will have a ponder.

I may bin or move the Sword in the end but for now I'll see how it goes.

Just need to decide which fish to put in now, I want a school of a single species of fish, and maybe a small catfish.

 

[minnnt]

Some zebra otocinclus would look well in there. A group of 5 would be ace. As for the shoal... whatd'ya like?

 

[Hawks1980]

I like Rummy Nose Tetra's, glowlight Tetra's, Harlequin's etc. If I were to include a few small catfish, how many tetra's do you think would go in my tank without overstocking?

 

[minnnt]

10 Espei Rasbora's

 

[KittyKat]

10 Espei Rasbora's

+1, make sure to know how to tell them apart from harlequins and hengeli

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

10 Espei Rasbora's

Hey! That's MY line!!!

Lovely tank BTW, I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on

 

[minnnt]

That's because I just want to be you...

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Can't say I blame ya TBH!