Ok, here we go. You might want to get a cup of tea... because this is going to be a loooooo-o-o-ong post.
Apologies for the quality of the some of the following photos - my camera gave up the ghost and i had to start using my phone
Firstly then, the equipment:
For the Tank and Life-Support
4 Juwel Reflector 38w
1 Hagen Glomat Double Starter Unit 40w
2 Interpet Daylight Plus 42 inch 38w
2 Arcadia Plastic Spring Clips T8 (1 inch)
1 Arcadia Nylon Plastic Fasteners 4mm
1 Hagen Fluval 205 External Filter
1 Hagen Ribbed Hose Fluval.
1 Eheim Compact Pump 300
1 TetraPlant Complete Substrate 2.8kg
1 API laterite 1560g
2 JBL Floropol 700g
500ml Ferka Aquatiliser
500ml Ferka Balance K
For the Co2
1 Dow Corning Silicone Sealer 25gm
2 TetraTec Whisper Check Valve
1 Airline Plastic Tee Piece
2 Eheim Compact Pump 300
1 Algarde Airline Plastic Elbow Connector
1 Interpet Mini Gravel Cleaner
2 x 2l Plastic coke bottles.
Firstly, THIS is what I want my to look like…. Eek.
http
/home.infinet.net/teban/how-to.html
so… off we go...
This is the tank with just the base layer ferts:
The substrate going into the tank is essentially 2 layers, but several materials make this up. The base nutrient layer has been made richer than most, but I intend to grow a majority of heavy root-feeding plants so decided to go the whole hog.
The base layer is made up of the following: 1.5kg of API Laterite, 1.5kg of JBL Floropol, 2.8kg of tetra complete, and a few of handfuls of well sieved compost.
All this is topped off with a mixture of silver sand and silica grit (1-2mm) - about 3" deep.
The life support
I made my own budget C02 'reactor' by using a small gravel cleaner with the end blocked off. A 300lph eheim compact pump pumps water into the top half, and c02 from my yeast bottles goes in at the bottom. The pump churns these bubbles into a foam. Crucially the pump isn't powerful enough to force the bubbles all the way down the reaction chamber and out of the bottom so they are forced to dissolve. It's also no coincidence that the c02 rich output of the reactor is placed by my filter inlet - this will ensure that, despite the low turnover in the tank, c02 rich water is pumped around the whole system. There is a small pin-hole just above where the water is pumped in. This hole allows the reactor to 'burp' when the pump is off at night - otherwise there's a danger that the pump might not start if c02 builds up in the reactor during the night and fills the impellor chamber with gas.
The c02 reactor:
And In position in the tank...
The filter outlet in placed 4" below the surface and points at the opposite front corner of the tank, this is to ensure the water has to move the full length of the tank before finding the filter exit. The filter is quite small, and I expect that once it's filled with media, etc, that it will output about 300-400lph - likely a bit less. While it's fashionable to pump water around tanks like mad, the once per hour turnover mentioned in last months PFK plant tank maintenance article makes a lot of sense. This will be more than enough to circulate the tank effectively and still maintain stable c02 concentrations. I've always used huge amounts of bio filtration with high turnovers in the past, so this slow and steady approach feels alien. However I do believe it'll work in my favour and leave more nutrients for the plants. The filter currently houses the stock media of carbon, biomax and foam. The carbon will be removed in a couple of days and replaced with alfagrog.
I'm really happy with the fluval filter itself... the quality is good, it's quiet, and i really like the huge foam prefilter in the canister:
I filled it with biomax and alfagrog.
A second small 300lph Eheim pump has been wired up to a timer on a reverse photo period to aerate the tank at night by outputting water from a spray bar pointing downwards:
It points downwards to ensure any surface scum that has built up during the day is removed by being dragged into the flow. During the day time, the surface of the tank will be perfectly still. The timer makes the pump come on 10mins after lights out, and go off 30mins before the lights come on - the idea being that c02 levels in the tank will be rising by the time the lights and c02 come on stream.
By the way... I can't believe more people don't rave about the Eheim compact pumps... they are so tiny (the 300lph model is smaller than the plug!), quiet and well-made that they should be everywhere. They cost less than a tenner, too. Buy one!
Lighting
I'm using 2 38w Triplus lights in the Juwel fixture and have attached two further 38w Interpet Daylight tubes to these by bolting two plastic light clips back-to-back.
All four tubes have reflectors attached and fit quite neatly into the Juwel hood.
This gives me 2.4 watts per UK gallon. I was initially going to use all Triplus, but on George Farmers recommendation, I added 2 daylight tubes instead. I'm glad I did - the colour rendition is great now the set up is full.
Thanks George!
Aquascape.
I used 'green slate' and granite bought from Homebase for the rock work. This is arranged off-centre and in a 'mountain' formation. I spent ages getting this bit to look how I wanted. I'm loathe to use the words 'amano-style' because I'll be very lucky if my tank ever gets anywhere near there. But the image I have in mind is some small tetras or pencil fish swimming in front of these like those pictures he does where the fish look like birds flocking in front of mountains. I'm not sure I've got the same sort of scale working here though. To the left is a tangle of mopani wood.
I filled the tank by VERY slowly pouring water from a bucket, into a bowl, which was standing on a plate placed flush with the sand. At this point, I added the dechlorinator to the tank and filled to about 70% full.
I laid my plants out on a damp towel and kept them wet while I planted.
I took quite a while doing this as I wanted to get it right first time.
Once the plants were in, I filled the tank to the top, added a maturing agent, and switched on.
Hmm can there be anything else to say? I'm not following a strict EI routine, yet. My local water ranges from 20 to 30pmm Nitrate, and looking on my suppliers water reports on their website phosphates are classed as 'high' - therefore I want to see how the tank performs before adding any extra nitrate. I'll be dosing Aquatiliser twice a week and Balance K twice a week.
So... wish me luck!
Here's the finished article as of 5pm today:
there's loads of hygrophila planted behind the rocks... it just needs to grow
