My First Attempt At A Planted Aquarium

[stubzy]

should be getting some photos up soon, my sister in law has my digi camera, getting it back soon, the first few photos were taken from a smart phone so should have some higher quality pics soon

 

[stubzy]

Plants have been in 1 week now
 
http/imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/tank2002.jpg/
 
 
http/imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/tank2003.jpg/

 

[Joshwainwright]

Looking good! 
 
Now it's just time to wait for some growth, I can really see it looking great after a few months 

 

[stubzy]

ye the growth is pretty slow so far, think i should have bought an extra 1 or 2 pots of HC 

 

[Aquamaniac]

That tank looks really good. I'll be following this.
You say you are a begginer at planted tanks, but honestly that tank looks and feels pretty advanced to me.
Great job.
Whats the light on that tank if i may ask?
 
I am in the process of converting my 240 litre tank to a low-tech but i have a 75 litre cube that i been thinking about using for some high-tech experiences.Problem is i am not sure the light system on it will do the job.

 

[stubzy]

its the standard light that came with the tank, it says on the box that its 18 watts per litre but i really am not sure, was looking into some other lighting but it all seems so expensive

 

[Joshwainwright]

I am in the process of converting my 240 litre tank to a low-tech

 
Does that mean it's currently high-tech?

 
If so, why convert? Surely high-tech is better?
 
Or maybe you like a challenge... I'm just interested in what you mean by this

 

[stubzy]

here is a short little vid i shot of the aquarium to test out my new camera.
 
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVYRx21ubY&feature=share

 

[Aquamaniac]

I am in the process of converting my 240 litre tank to a low-tech

 
Does that mean it's currently high-tech?
 
If so, why convert? Surely high-tech is better?

Or maybe you like a challenge... I'm just interested in what you mean by this

All my projects in this tank where high-tech. I shut it down in december I am starting a new project now and decided to go low-tech and downgraded the setup.
There is a thread of the project in the journals If you want to check.its called forest river.
But the main reason of the downgrade is my life does not allow me the extra free time a high-tech demands.
And a 240 litre tank does tank some time to maintain.
Decided to upgrade my smaller 75 litre to high-tech instead.

 

[Aquamaniac]

The question of high-tech vs low-tech is not easy to answer. Some will argue like I did in the past that a true planted tank has to be high-tech. That may have been true a few years ago.
But today there is a better understanding of what plants really need thanks to people like amano, tom barr and diana walstad. New methods evolved aquascaping from a high-tech only thing to a much wider range of setups.
In the forum you'll find many low-tech scapes that are beautiful in their own right and can compete to many high-tech.
High-tech does have many advantages but also means alot more work and investment from the aquascaper. And is far less unforgiving when it comes to problems than a low-tech.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Ah right, fair enough. I just thought it seemed a little bit strange but that explains
 
I'll go check out your journal now!
 
 
the video looks great, Stubzy!
 
Definitely something I'd like to try and work towards later this year

 

[stubzy]

added 10 red cherry shrimp to the aquarium yesterday, plants are doing ok'ish a little bit of melting on the dwarf tears, but thats expected with new plants in a new aquarium so i have heard. Its a pain though, it keeps floating up when doing water changes even when im trying to be really carefull. Looking to add the neon tetras next week, then thats it, just need the plant growth then.

 

[Aquamaniac]

Give it time and it will grow. Patience is the best tool in a planted tank
Hope the shrimps do ok I love to have them in my tanks.

 

[stubzy]

added 6 neon tetras just over a week ago, thats it for stocking now, bit of bad news though, lost a shrimp this morning, no idea what caused it, ammonia = 0  nitrite = 0 nitrate =40 ppm, a bit high but its always at this level, i think its my substrate, as i did a 50% water change the other day and that put it back to 5ppm then a few hours later it was back up to 40 ppm.
 
plant growth is coming along slowly, the HC is starting to spread along the bottom, progress is still pretty slow though. I might look into getting some better lighting once i get paid.
Will post an update pic as soon as the plants have grown a bit more

 

[Aquamaniac]

Sorry to ear about your shrimp mate. I love shrimps myself and been having them in my tanks for a year now.
Either by luck or good care I never had one dying on me .
The ones I have are amano's and they need certain conditions to breed, like some salt in the water, which I never bothered to give them so I never expected them to breed. But go figure I don't no how and I definetely did not see them do it but on one of my tanks I now have the double of the original amount of amano's I put in.
Don't give up on them as they bring a tank to life.
I never had problems with shrimp and fertilizing but I've read some people claim its not good for them.
On the other hand copper kills them, dosing iron from what I know is also a big no no.