My First Attempt at a Planted Aquarium

[VeryFatbloke]

It doesnt look like much imo but I say just scrape it off. I'm one of the people who believe that a little algae in an aquarium is beneficial so theres that but if you dont like it just scrape it off.

Thanks @Rocky998. It doesn't really bother me and if it's doing no harm then I'll leave it for the time being while reducing my lighting window for a few days. I'm away this weekend for the bank holiday so will tell my son to reduce the time the lights are on.

 

[Wills]

Looking really good Just one thing to note, the algae you have between the sand and the glass could be blue green algae as thats where it starts, it would be worth scraping it and vacumming it out before it spreads above the substrate. Best thing to use is an old store or credit card.

Wills

 

[VeryFatbloke]

Looking really good Just one thing to note, the algae you have between the sand and the glass could be blue green algae as thats where it starts, it would be worth scraping it and vacumming it out before it spreads above the substrate. Best thing to use is an old store or credit card.

Wills

Thanks @Wills, I have one or two old credit cards!

 

[VeryFatbloke]

Having been away for a few days it was time to scrape the algae from the front of the tank and do my water change. The algae below the sand level came away quite easily and I managed to vacuum most of it away.

My stats/parameters are steady and so I decided I'd like some more fish and so I bought 8 more Pentazonas and 10 Embers. They've settled in well and feeding time is a hive of activity. I've added some more photos, all of which are taken on my phone, I must get my DSLR out and attempt to take some pictures with that.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

View attachment 142522

As good as Tiger Barbs, without the hassle.

 

[VeryFatbloke]

As I've seen others doing videos I thought I'd have a go. Not the best quality but it shows off the Pentazonas really well.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Nice. Every* fish looks good against plants.

*Even Lake Malawi cichlids.

 

[Brighton Fan]

So, as I mentioned in my introductory post, after 15 years away I have rekindled my enjoyment of fishkeeping. I have purchased a Juwel Rio 240, as I am not allowed to get a dog or 4 kittens, and have decided that I'll set up a low maintenance planted tank. So here are a few pictures showing how I've set it up. The plan is to add my fully matured Fluval 307 to run alongside the internal filter, I currently have 6 assorted Corys and 10 Pentazona Barbs in the mature tank and they will be moving over once it is safe for them to do so.

I bought a jungle style tank plant collection https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/plant-collection-for-48x22-jungle-style-tank-101-p.asp, along with some moss on coconut shells, some dragon stone and a large piece of Redmoor wood.

I'll try and keep you updated as the tank progresses.

https://imgur.com/8WitsK2

https://imgur.com/VGGHukv

https://imgur.com/WCxcXIV

https://imgur.com/GVw3NnK

Be interesting to see how those barbs get on in hard water

 

[VeryFatbloke]

Blimey, I can't believe that it's 4 months since I last updated this. I've been suffering from algae for quite some time, which I'm still trying to get to the bottom of. I've shortened the time the light is on to 7 hours and usually feed every other day.

I've now adjusted the light time down to 6 hours and added a number of cherry shrimp, I'm not expecting immediate results but hopefully that'll make a difference. We'll see. Anyway, here's a picture taken this afternoon.

I'll try and update a bit more frequently!

 

[Naughts]

IMO the Juwel lights cause excessive algae, the plant bulb is fine at 6500 kelvin but the daylight bulb has 9000 kelvin, plants need 6500 kelvin.

 

[Colin_T]

Plants will grow under 9000K but it has more blue light than they need. If they are fluorescent globes, the Kelvin rating will decrease over time and after 12 months it will be around 7-8000K

 

[AquaBarb]

IMO the Juwel lights cause excessive algae, the plant bulb is fine at 6500 kelvin but the daylight bulb has 9000 kelvin, plants need 6500 kelvin.

Yeah your spot on. Ive just replaced the day blub in my 450 with another nature blub. Found the day blub too strong and was causing algae on my large anubias leaves and my swords wasnt growing aswel as they normally do.

 

[VeryFatbloke]

Thanks all, I've recently replaced the standard lights with the Helialux RGB and control unit. Reading that the daylight bulbs are 900 kelvin and that plants grow at 6,500 I thought I would have a look at how I've set the lighting cycle up. I've set the time that the light is on full to 6 hours but set the percentage to 61%. This is going to be a case of trial and error to see if I can strike the right balance and at least stop the algae growing any further.

 

[itiwhetu]

Thanks all, I've recently replaced the standard lights with the Helialux RGB and control unit. Reading that the daylight bulbs are 900 kelvin and that plants grow at 6,500 I thought I would have a look at how I've set the lighting cycle up. I've set the time that the light is on full to 6 hours but set the percentage to 61%. This is going to be a case of trial and error to see if I can strike the right balance and at least stop the algae growing any further.


View attachment 152252View attachment 152253

Fancy piece of kit, I hope it works

 

[VeryFatbloke]

Fancy piece of kit, I hope it works

Me too. I'm fortunate that I'm a position to get these things. The picture below shows the extent of the issue, a big water change and some gardening to be done on Sunday morning.