Jim's 60 Gallon High-tech Planted Journal

[ari]

How on earth did you accomplish that with £110 (what lighting, substrate, CO2 etc. are you running)? I am stunned!!

Beautiful work.

easy actually ...living in asia does have its advantages when it comes to a planted tank. first of all the tropical climate makes those plants grow like crazy...i had to avoid fast growing plants..( i hate trimming ). then there are no seasonal changes...so i skip the cost of buying heaters. believe this or not ...i use an undergravel fileration system with a small chinese made powerhead. for the gravel..i pick them up from the jungle stream for free. the filter plates covers only a quarter of the tanks running from the left back portion to the right, while the front portion is filled with clay, mud and debris collected from the jungle wetlands. the top layer is cover with the jungle stream gravel i mention earlier.
the co2 system is a 500gram refillavabile with a simple glass defuser... 5 months later after the plants and fishes have establised themselves ..i discontinued the use of co2. the plants provides the o2 for the fishes and the fishes provide the co2...its back to nature.
for lighting ...well, here i have the advantage from my positioning of this tank...it gets a few hours of indirect sunlight during the early mornings. i use 4 30V white forecent lights..the common philips house light
as u can see this is quite a simple construction...without any expensive equipments, apart from the 2 weekly liquid ferterzilers. then if u look at the tank again ..it has only a few different plants, with the dwarfs foreground plant as the primadonna. a tank wont look good if they too many different plant growing together...it doesnt look natural. the key is ..... less variety but more of the same.

another of my low budget tanks, this one cost even less...most of the plants are wild collected . note the power head for the undergravel filters....it doesnt harm the roots if u arrange the plates in a proper way. anyway this is an outdoor tank...so lighting is quite low with 2 30V FLo lights. im scrapping this tank later ...its doesnt look good at all. the background plants are not growing properly...i suspect the gravel is too thin.plus algae growth is a major problem here.

 

[George Farmer]

Dennerle delivered what i wanted but who is to say i will succeed, i hope i will and i should which is what this log is about and what makes it so interesting, i just hope you find it interesting too

I must admit I am somewhat jealous of all your hardware. You are in the enviable position of not being limited by your equipment - unlike many of us. You have the potential to produce an amazing aquarium which I'm sure you will, especially as you have some of the best inspiration available in my opinion - Amano.

Keep us posted!

 

[GSD]

its amazing!i love the grassy plants on the bottom and that big on on in the corner(dont know any plant names!)

 

[George Farmer]

another of my low budget tanks, this one cost even less...most of the plants are wild collected . note the power head for the undergravel filters....it doesnt harm the roots if u arrange the plates in a proper way. anyway this is an outdoor tank...so lighting is quite low with 2 30V FLo lights. im scrapping this tank later ...its doesnt look good at all. the background plants are not growing properly...i suspect the gravel is too thin.plus algae growth is a major problem here.

Inspiring results from such a low-tech set-up. Note to self - Move to the far-east!

 

[RYO]

Can i carry yer bags mr

 

[ari]

hahaha..u two could spend hours sweating in wetlands searching for your plants , while i stand watch with a short gun...just incase the wild boars come calling ...hahahha

 

[jimboliana]

The next thing on the list and one of the first things that i bought is the light.

The light is a Arcadia Pendent 3 series with digital timers, it has got 1 X 150W Metal Halide lamp and 2 X 18W Fluorescent tubes on the side. The light measures 70cm X 38cm

I got the digital tomers because again i wanted my fish and plants to have a 'siesta' period and to help stop any algae growing. The timers are pretty cool as you can have the lights come on/off as mant times in the day/night as you like. Also as i said before i might change the Fluorescents to the Dennerle ones.

Both sets of lights are independent of each other so i can have the Fluorescents come on then half an hour later the Metal Halide can start up. It also has light shutters to control the spread of light and avoid light spillage outside of the aquarium

The light is going to be suspended from a shelve which matches the stand and hangs over the aquarium on easy adjustable wires. You have to have the light at a min distance of 20cm from the surface of the water but i think i might need mine a little higher or i might get too much light and start an algae bloom

The only thing the light does not have is a moon light which i think would be pretty cool. At first i was looking at the Aquamedic range but they were just a bit too expensive for me though i do love the Aquamedic Light Computer which can control a special feature of the computer, 'an incandescent night lighting circuit to a maximum of 100 watts. The night light's intensity is controlled using an internal programme to simulate the natural lunar cycle of 28 days' How cool is that!!

i might in future add a DIY moon light but i have not really looked into them yet as Kuhli Loaches are nocturnal and feed at night i could view all this. The other thing i like about these moon lights is that they should not just be used for Reef aquariums which i think they are as rivers, lakes and swamps all get the moonlight as well.

Anyone had any experience with moon lights? I would love to hear

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hi-tech arcadia bulbs are too expensive for me they cost around .... 17 - 19 dollars here ? is that the normal price for them ? for a 15W bulb that is

BTW. i hope your tank turns out great ! good luck

*edit
GASP!!!! 1200 pounds is almost like 120K Pesos! right now im only into the 10K peso mark or around a 100 pounds

 

[jimboliana]

kenneth_kpe

Yeah they are prob about that price, i dont know off the top of my head as i bought it as a unit though i do know that the Dennerle ones range from about £12-17

Thanks for the reply, I know it is quite a bit of money and i prob could have bought a Aqua-Medic complete kit for that price but i wanted to do it all myself

 

[jimboliana]

Had some other good news today, my cabinet is being fitted on saturday afternoon

The only bad thing is that i have got to get it painted by then, think i will just do the alcove as i said then paint the rest after, i,ve been to B&Q and got the paint and told me dad i'm not working friday afternoon I'm sure i can get it done by then, it's only a couple of walls - so he says

I'll take some pics of it being fitted on sat so that meens getting the b****y camera again off me dad, sat morning job then

I'll let you know

 

[jimboliana]

So last but not least is the chemicals (addatives and fertilizers) that i will be putting into this tank, again they are all Dennerle products and are:

E15 - Iron Fertilizer. This contains large quantities of chelate-protected, bivantent iron as well as essential potassium and manganese.

V30 - Universal Plant Food. A combination of all active subatances ensures vigorous,splendid plant growth.

S7 - Trace Elements and Vitamins. These are constantly being used up in the aquarium by the fish it is important to frequently replace them

Pflanzengold-7 - Growth Promoter. For the plants health and vitality as well as inhibiting algae growth

TR7 - Peat-Bark Extract. Helps to Induce Spawning, aids plant growth but prevents algae. Also keeps leaves clean and shiny

Biogrun - Tap Water Conditioner. Binds poisonous heavy metals, neutralises chorines

FB7 - Clear Water Filter Bacteria. This is living water, it will activate the filter material, reduce annonia and nitrite and keeps the water clean and clear

You can see aswell at the top of the picture i have also bought a triple test for pH - KH - GH and another for Nutrite and Nitrate

I have also got some 25cm tweezers with sissors that go on the end to plant and trim the plants. I was told that the longer ones dont work very well!!!

The numbers after the product are to remined you when they should be added i.e. E15 should be added every 15 days, easy

Oh and by the way the painting is coming on quite well

 

[jimboliana]

Just an update

Right well me mate John has just been round and fitted my cabinet The corner that it was being fitted in to has been decorated, just got a few bits to touch up then i can decorate the rest of the room

I have also had a matching shelf put above the cabinet from which the pendent light will hang from. It all still looks a bit bare at the moment but within the next few weeks i'm sure it will all take shape

I have taken some more pics for you to see, i will try and post them soon

 

[George Farmer]

I love those tweezers - how much and where from?

 

[jimboliana]

I got the tweezers again from http/www.newleafaquarium.com/index.html and i think they cost about £14.00
I haven't used then yet put i might try them out on some plants round the house

 

[George Farmer]

How much is postage for their mail-order? You've inspired me to take the (expensive) plunge and go for a pressurized CO2 system.

Will you be performing the recommended Dennerle water changes - 25% every fortnight? Personally I like to change more than that so consequently have to up my ferts accordingly - I add E15 and V30 alternately every week as I change 25-30% weekly. Just a thought for the future - it depends on your stocking I suppose.