Ken 25 Journal Update New Set Up

[kennygater]

From looking at you're tank when you started, to what it is now.. it is an unbelievable improvement, it looks great.
Not sure if you did this on purpose, but i like the effect with the sand creating a lower point in the middle of the tank, looks great like that.
Do you have any pics of your c02 setup.

no i didnt do the sand on purpose, its because the filter outlet is at the top of the tank and hits the front of the glass and washes the sand away a bit at the front thats why i tried putting the stones there to try and stop it washing it all away but i quite like it aswell. the co2 is just a nutrafin kit if you look in the first picture you can see the canister, and i have got the ladder in the right hand corner of the tank. thanks

 

[Themuleous]

Looking great, the addition of CO2 should not be underestimated. Your plants look healthy and a nice vibrant green

Sam
EDIT - what your next step/plans for the future?

BTW what lighting do you have in there?

 

[kennygater]

Looking great, the addition of CO2 should not be underestimated. Your plants look healthy and a nice vibrant green

Sam
EDIT - what your next step/plans for the future?

BTW what lighting do you have in there?

the light is 18w t8 with a reflecter i dont know how to work out the wpg.
i am trying to get a piece of twisting bogwood at the moment but having trouble finding a piece, as soon as i get that i am going to rearange my tank, and also i am going to have a go at putting soom ricca in there

 

[Luke_e]

To work out WPG you divide the amounts of watts, in you're case 18, by the number of gallons
E.g. 18w of lighting, with 18 gallons = 1wpg.
18w of lighting with 9 gallons = 2wpg.

 

[kennygater]

To work out WPG you divide the amounts of watts, in you're case 18, by the number of gallons
E.g. 18w of lighting, with 18 gallons = 1wpg.
18w of lighting with 9 gallons = 2wpg.

my tank is 90 litres, how many gallons is that?

 

[Luke_e]

20 imperial, 24 metric/US

 

[kennygater]

right a quick update. now i have got my co2 right i went to the lfs today and at last i got some riccia it was already fixed to the slate aswell which was handy, the price wasnt to bad either. £4. i got 2 more ottos aswell.
i am going to change my tank around the weekend and maybe change the decore depending if i can find a decent piece of twisting bogwood which isnt easy, so any advice on where to place my plants would be great and i will listen. i did try and grow some glosso in front of the bogwood but it didnt realy take at first but when i added the co2 it started to grow accross so i will get some more glosso since most of it died.
also i am going to fit a moonlight, i have ordered the mains power adapter today so i should get it by wednesday.
please feel free to comment

 

[Luke_e]

You got a bargain with the riccia and slate together for £4.00 imo (in my opinion)...

If i were you, i'd loose the plant pots if your wanting a natural planted style..

 

[kennygater]

You got a bargain with the riccia and slate together for £4.00 imo (in my opinion)...

If i were you, i'd loose the plant pots if your wanting a natural planted style..

yes your right i have only realy got them because when i bought my first fish tank it came with a catfish the catfish stays in there all day untill the lights go out, but im sure he can find somewhere else to hide

 

[craynerd]

Ken , you say u have 18W tube and your tanks around 20g ! thats like 1WPG !!! which isn`t much, considering most of us strive for about 3wpg !

I have just seen your adding a moonlight and have to say i haven`t a clue what one of those is! But i would certainly recommend you upping the lighting as this is almost certainly the limiting factor in your tank. Also i find riccia really easy to grown, BUT i know it needs lots of light and this could be a reason why it died on you!

Like i just said, i don`t know what a moonlight is, this may solve your problem, but at the present time i would consider another 2 !! tubes in your tank. Dead simple, just get a dual light controller, two 18W tubes and 2 reflectors and just DIY attach them in the hood (obviously check you have room!!)

I have really enjoyed watching your posts since you seem to have started just a little after me . The addidtion of the CO2 is clearly visable in the pictures, much more vivid and bright plants. I think the addition of light would really encourage growth!!

Good luck and i hope someone can inform me more about what a moonlight actually is!

Chris

PS....what are u using for ferts ?

 

[lljdma06]

As far as plants are concerned, you tank is beginning to look good. Your WPG is too low and this will need to be taken care of if you want to care for some of the plant species that you've mentioned. But others have told you this already.

That being said, some of your livestock choices need to be addressed. Because of their agression both to other species and to their own, I recommend that you separate the male and female bettas. They should never be housed together in such a small system. I have seen males and females housed together, but the tank was a very densly planted 55g and all the fish had ample room to establish territories and hide. Not the case in your 20g. In addition neons tetras, IME, tend to be nippy and not suitable tank mates for bettas. Otos prefer to be in groups of 3 or more. If your catfish is a corydora, they also prefer to be in groups, at least 4. Your tank is over-stocked, especially with fish that occupy the surface strata. The easiest option to remedy your situation would be to remove the bettas and put them in bowls or tanks of at least a gallon. You could possibly keep the female bettas in the tank if the system is mature enough, but I would consider adding 3-4 more females to relieve aggression. But that would require adding more fish to your system, so the best option would be the relocation of your bettas.

You are taking the right steps to making this a very nice planted tank, so keep up the good work.

Warmest,

llj

 

[kennygater]

hi craynard.
i am looking into getting double tubes but the only problem i have is that my ballast is built in the hood which is just above the water level so in order for to me to put the double lighting in i would have to cut the ballast compartment out somehow. which looks like a pain in the backside. the moonlight is just a small tube which you have on at night, a gimmic really but looks good. you can see it in the diy forum.
i am only using liquid fertilizer at the moment but it seems to work quite well

as you can see in the picture the light sits against the compartment the ballast is in, its not the best picture but you should be able to get an idea of what i mean

 

[kennygater]

hi lljdma
im sorry to say that my male fighter killed both my female fighters, i was advised on this forum to seperate them so i arranged for my lfs to take them of me that weekend and put the male fighter in a breeding tank but he got out and killed both the females and most of my guppys . i have got 3 ottos. but i dont realy want any more catfish i will do an update on what fish i have got a bit later just to update it.
thanks for your advice

 

[kennygater]

hi i went to my lfs today and bought a extra light as i was advised, i managed to fix it to the lid which was easier than i thought. so i have got an extra 18 w in my tank now, i have just got to get a reflector which i forgot
i have got some laterite coming soon so i can sort my tank out as soon as i get that. not realy worth touching untill i get that.

 

[Themuleous]

Glad you managed to get the extra light you'll cretainly notice the difference with your plants. That'll give you around 2WPG so should be fine to grow most plants

Just out of interest, what type of blue is the new one? It looks very pink to me?