My 450gl Planted Tank

[Dave Spencer]

I borrowed and improved on one of Takashi's design in his first book.

I love the boldness of this statement.

If you found out which, please let me know.

It`s hard to pin down which tank design you have borrowed, but I am thinking "Flourishing Cryptos" on p.30/31, or maybe "School Colours" on p.108/109.

I would love to have a go at copying "Old Growth Forest" on p. 142/143 some time.

Dave.

 

[blue acara]

Yup Excel is great stuff. I was getting staghorn and bba and some kind of hair algea... and this stuff has cleared it up very well, Every planted tank keeper should have a bottle of this stuff in the cabinet imo.
And wow its a pretty massive tank- must be nice having that height and depth to work with- have you got an outo water changer because 50% of that tanks water would fill a few buckets

Thanks a lot.
I am still dosign Excel to treate BBA algae problem and it really works!
The tank dimension is: 215cm x 90cm x 75cm

 

[woodog]

Wow, nice tank!

Just curious, How much work/maintenance a week is that for you?

 

[icliao]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.
The following are some of the tank information:

Dimension: 215cm x 90cm x 75cm
1. Lighting: 12 x 36W PC Osram Daylight
2. Filter: Overflow to external sump with fiber mats
3. Substrate: Not very sure but dark color mixed grain, could be semi volcanic
4. CO2 injection: set to PH6.9 with controller and shut of at night
5. Fertilizer: One layer of Tetra soil in substrate, plan to dose Seachem Flourish/Excel/Iron

Water parameter:
Kh: 7
NO3: Very Low
PO4: Very Low
PH: 6.9 - 7.9

Fish Stock list:
Neon Tetra: 20
Rummy nose: 12
Guppy: 12
Halequin Rosboras: 10
Glass Tetra: 6
Long fin/marble Angel: 4
Yoyo loach: 2
Red fin shark: 2
Algae eater: 6
Lamp eye: 10
Marble cat fish: 2
Rainbow: 2
Zebra Danio: 8

I prune my tank every 2 weeks for around 30 min.
Water change is performed bi-weekly for 20%.
I have an exclusive water change hose with crane.
All I do is to unroll and drag the hose to the toilet and open the crane on the hose to dump the old water.
After that, I will close the crane and connect the same hose to the tap to fill new water.
I do have phosphate in the tap but I found RO too troublesome for such massive tank.

 

[icliao]

Look again Dave


It is in the first book towards the last half of the book.
Look for tiger lotus to the right corner of the tank.
Let me know if you think my improvement is substantial when you find which design I have borrowed.

 

[fry_lover]

amazing, fantastic!!!

but how comes such a wide pH range (6.9 to 7.9) or is that a typo?

If the pH is consistently below 7, i would get shot of the guppies in case they start spreading disease, altho i guess it depends on their quality in the first place.

How about some bigger shoals, like x50 neons, x50 Rummy Nose etc?

 

[icliao]

amazing, fantastic!!!

but how comes such a wide pH range (6.9 to 7.9) or is that a typo?

If the pH is consistently below 7, i would get shot of the guppies in case they start spreading disease, altho i guess it depends on their quality in the first place.

How about some bigger shoals, like x50 neons, x50 Rummy Nose etc?

My tank water has KH of 7 and the PH goes up to 7.9 after the CO2 shut off at night.
I start injecting CO2 several hours before photo period to keep the CO2 content and PH consistent at 7.0 through out photo period.

I have no way to bring it down at night

 

[fry_lover]

amazing, fantastic!!!

but how comes such a wide pH range (6.9 to 7.9) or is that a typo?

If the pH is consistently below 7, i would get shot of the guppies in case they start spreading disease, altho i guess it depends on their quality in the first place.

How about some bigger shoals, like x50 neons, x50 Rummy Nose etc?

My tank water has KH of 7 and the PH goes up to 7.9 after the CO2 shut off at night.
I start injecting CO2 several hours before photo period to keep the CO2 content and PH consistent at 7.0 through out photo period.

I have no way to bring it down at night

oh thats annoying, isnt 7.9 like a x100 times more alkaline than 6.9? Do you think your fish have just got used to that change as its gradual?

Is there no way to increase the buffering capacity of your tank and get that KH up a bit? Although a KH of 7 isnt even that low is it?

wicked tank though

 

[icliao]

oh thats annoying, isnt 7.9 like a x100 times more alkaline than 6.9? Do you think your fish have just got used to that change as its gradual?

Is there no way to increase the buffering capacity of your tank and get that KH up a bit? Although a KH of 7 isnt even that low is it?

wicked tank though

I can leave CO2 on to maintain the PH at 7.0 through out 24 hours.
I am still unsure if that would be benefitial.
I thought KH7 is hard enough for buffering and PH drop is due to CO2 injection.

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks for the info, icliao.

pH swings through CO2 injection are commonly accepted as harmless to fish. But you can inject CO2 24/7 as long as you have good gaseous exchange through surface movement, providing sufficient O2 through the night. A solenoid would save you a lot of CO2 though.

You have PO4 in your tap water. This isn't a problem with a heavily planted tank. I have over 5ppm PO4 from my tap and have no algae issues.

You may benefit from NO3 dosing though. Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is good, but KNO3 is cheaper...

How much Flourish/Excel/Iron will you be dosing? That will be a large expense over the year? Or do you buy in bulk?

PS I know the design you have used from Nature Aquarium World Book One. This aquascape will be more impressive when it matures.

 

[Heather.]

Absuloutly stunning...... x

 

[john starkey]

Hi icliao, very very nice setup indeed, the very best of luck with it, your growth for only two months is stunning well done regards john.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Aha! "Pushing up Daisies".

Lose the light coloured, flat topped rock in the foreground and you will be close. Another couple of months maybe, then we will see if you are kicking Mr Amanos ass, although it will, of course, always be a copy.

I was going to copy one of his tanks, but then I thought "why should I, he never copies any of mine?"

What do you think of the tank featured on pages 142 - 147? I think it is an absolute stunner. If I ever get a big tank, this would be a major influence for me.

Dave.

 

[john starkey]

Aha! "Pushing up Daisies".

Lose the light coloured, flat topped rock in the foreground and you will be close. Another couple of months maybe, then we will see if you are kicking Mr Amanos ass, although it will, of course, always be a copy.

I was going to copy one of his tanks, but then I thought "why should I, he never copies any of mine?"

What do you think of the tank featured on pages 142 - 147? I think it is an absolute stunner. If I ever get a big tank, this would be a major influence for me.

Dave.

HI dave , i thought you were quicker than that,regards john

 

[icliao]

Thanks for the info, icliao.

pH swings through CO2 injection are commonly accepted as harmless to fish. But you can inject CO2 24/7 as long as you have good gaseous exchange through surface movement, providing sufficient O2 through the night. A solenoid would save you a lot of CO2 though.

You have PO4 in your tap water. This isn't a problem with a heavily planted tank. I have over 5ppm PO4 from my tap and have no algae issues.

You may benefit from NO3 dosing though. Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is good, but KNO3 is cheaper...

How much Flourish/Excel/Iron will you be dosing? That will be a large expense over the year? Or do you buy in bulk?

PS I know the design you have used from Nature Aquarium World Book One. This aquascape will be more impressive when it matures.

I am still not sure about Iron. I thought iron can promote BBA growth. I only feel some leaves can be greener. I may try Flourish. I will get big 2 liter bottles to save a bit.

It will sound crazy to dose NO3 since I am more of a veteran reefer and we try out best to get any trace of NO3 out of system.
I would prefer to add more fish and feed them more.

About the design. Since this is my very first planted tank (I am still keeping reef tank actively), I thought it will be more successful to borrow a design that is already there......