My Journal Updated With Pics 28/3/07

[fozziebear]

ok this is possibly the worst paint image EVER lol but what im planning is basically some fast growers at the back like wistera/elodea or something along those lines that gets nice and tall, going round half way round the sides too, mopani wood, some covered in java moss, the rest covered with normal java fern, narrow leaf, needle leaf, and phillipine, the foreground is going to be completely covered in riccia (bear in mind that the picture isnt exactly to scale and my fishtank seems to make the back look bigger than the front so ill need more for dramatic effect, its gonna take a lot of plastic sandwiching and nets though lol, tank is 29 us gal, but is quite shallow for how long it is, planning on putting in tetras, serpaes and 1 different kind im yet to decide on, some amano shrimp if i can get a hold of them, if not then maybe 2 bristlenose plecs, or some otos. anyway stay tuned as i have my t5 power compact starter unit on the way hood is in the planning process trying to source some timber now, 2 nutrafin c02 units coming from ebay so its getting there slowly but surely.

 

[fozziebear]

ok this is possibly the worst paint image EVER lol but what im planning is basically some fast growers at the back like wistera/elodea or something along those lines that gets nice and tall, going round half way round the sides too, mopani wood, some covered in java moss, the rest covered with normal java fern, narrow leaf, needle leaf, and phillipine, the foreground is going to be completely covered in riccia (bear in mind that the picture isnt exactly to scale and my fishtank seems to make the back look bigger than the front so ill need more for dramatic effect, its gonna take a lot of plastic sandwiching and nets though lol, tank is 29 us gal, but is quite shallow for how long it is, planning on putting in tetras, serpaes and 1 different kind im yet to decide on, some amano shrimp if i can get a hold of them, if not then maybe 2 bristlenose plecs, or some otos. anyway stay tuned as i have my t5 power compact starter unit on the way hood is in the planning process trying to source some timber now, 2 nutrafin c02 units coming from ebay so its getting there slowly but surely.

oh yeah forgot something... give me constructive criticism plllease! lol i could do with some pointers.

 

[RadaR]

Sounds good! Cant wait to see pics of the set up.

 

[fozziebear]

Sounds good! Cant wait to see pics of the set up.

well ill try to get some pics my dad just got a new doodad that does video pics and plays dvds and all that so hopefully it should be better than my woeful digicam, and btw its pointless me taking pics at the minute as all i have on the tank is a bolt on house lamp but when i get the lid done ill take some pics and post em up, should have a few more fish by then, by the way im running an internal filter and a UGF so this limits my plant choice a fair bit because i cant use enriched substrates or anything, but im thinking about fert balls or something maybe, but thats why im going for a hardy fast grower at the back because it will grow in almost anything, as will riccia and the stuff on the bogwood wont be bothered.

 

[RadaR]

An UGF
Anyway you can avoid using it? They are old tech and really arent that good. Well that's my opinion and im sure many other's.

 

[fozziebear]

An UGF
Anyway you can avoid using it? They are old tech and really arent that good. Well that's my opinion and im sure many other's.

yeah i know oldschool and all that lol its not good yeah but i have no other choice at the minute, cost prohibits me from using an external at the minute (probably gonna save up) and in the distant future i want to change substrates at some point, but right now its just not possible.

 

[fozziebear]

ok this is a plea to all you nice people out there, could you help out a cash strapped teenager in need (almost like red nose day but with aquariums lol) im after any free aquarium equipment that you have going spare, anything, from air piping to connections to filters, filter media, heaters, lights, anything you got going free im in the game for it, ill pay postage for anything, unless its outlandish like gravel im not looking for that, looking for plants too fast growers, mosses, riccia, anything like that send it my way thankyou all kindly for listening and reading even if you aint got any stuff going spare thankyou.

 

[thefirethief]

by the way im running an internal filter and a UGF

What kind of internal have you got? Remember, not all planted tanks need a lot of mechanical filtering. Just enough water circulation to move nutrients through the water column.


Good luck with tracking down some freebies. Im relatively new to this so the limited spare equipment I do have might be getting used pretty soon.

 

[lljdma06]

I'm in aggrement. If you have an ok internal, you can just use that and skip the undergravel, espcially if you stock lightly. If you could give the dimensions of the tank, that would be great, and what is the total wattage of the lighting you're getting? What kind of substrate do you have now?

I have setup both high-tech and low-tech tanks on a tight budget. Both types have their advantages and disadvantages. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The people here are great.

Good luck to you,

llj

 

[fozziebear]

I'm in aggrement. If you have an ok internal, you can just use that and skip the undergravel, espcially if you stock lightly. If you could give the dimensions of the tank, that would be great, and what is the total wattage of the lighting you're getting? What kind of substrate do you have now?

I have setup both high-tech and low-tech tanks on a tight budget. Both types have their advantages and disadvantages. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The people here are great.

Good luck to you,

llj

ok basically im running a clearseal 700 internal that says its for 4ft tanks and over, it has a mechanical sponge, and activated carbon (which im not replacing as its being used as the biological filter) the one under the 5 to 6ft model, i dunno how many GPH it does, dimensions are 48" long by 13" wide by 12" high, lighting should be around 2.5 to 3WPG, going to be adding c02 aswell, i have a substrate of a few mixed gravel some normal gravel some small pea round gravel, and some onyx sand, most of it is mixed together, but its big enough not to go through the UGF, im planning on getting some fastgrowers first thing out so i dont get masses of algae, things like hygrophila difformis, or cobomba i already have some elodea densa in there floating about, some java moss on mopani wood, and the rest are silk plants just to provide a bit of a background (havent got one on the back of the tank) im planning at some point to bin the UGF and go for another internal, or if possible an external, im waiting to hear from a mate of mine if hes got anything going spare at the minute but thats not a definate, but yeah thats about all i can think of at the minute, im going to pick up the bulbs for my t5's today, and getting the c02 at the same time, hopefully pick up some plants while im at it, im going to wholesale tropicals in bethnal green so they should have a good selection.
ok update i found out my filter does 185 GPH my tank is 29 usgal 24 uk gal will this be sufficient to remove the UGF? (or atleast the uplift pipes)

 

[lljdma06]

Your filter is fine then, ditch the UGF, the plants will thank you. 48" is a great length. I know it as a 30g long. You'll get great light penetration and the future potential for lawncovers is excellent.

This sounds like a potential high-tech setup to me then. I did high-tech on a budget as well, but didn't like the fact that I had to cut corners a lot. Didn't sacrifice plant quality, but I really had to be on the ball for maintenance and ferts and my equipment looked shoddy (a lot of piece-meal and DIY). You should read the pinned article on EI in the pinned section. If you keep your lighting at where you have it now, you will mostly likely need to dose macro nutrients (Potassium, Nitrogen, etc...). There are, however, affordable ways to do this and many here purchased dry ferts and mix their own doses, saving them a lot of money. My tank was small so I got away with a brand of already prepared liquid macros and it was cost-effective, but that won't work on your tank. You will also have to plant heavily, and I mean heavily with fast-growing weeds. At least 75% of the substrate should be covered with these weeds. My advice to you if you do indeed plan a high-tech system is to not plant with your final layout for the first 3-6 months. Plant with weeds instead. Your tank won't be super pretty in the beginning, but you won't ruin an expensive bunch of plants while you sort out your fert regimen and any algae issues that you may have. Trust me, you will not regret it if you follow this route. IMO, planting a high-tech with your final plant choice and not sorting out CO2, algae, and fert issues first is the #1 mistake people make. Then, as the tank stabilizes, gradually add the plants you want and then aquascape accordingly.

Being on a tight budget in Miami, I switched to lower-light, more old-school type setups, and find I don't have to cut corners and the tanks IMO look just as good as my high-tech setups did. One method isn't better than the other. Just different.

llj

 

[fozziebear]

k just a little update, went to a not so local fish shop today and got my t5 bulbs, (triphosphor) also got a few other bits n bobs like some frozen bloodworm a permenant c02 test and some ferrotabs, got 5 bunches of combomba too, just the start of the fast growers im gonna put in to stop algae, im taking your advice llj im going to pack it with cobomba and elodea, and get rid of the elodea after 6 months or so and continue my landscape plan, my hood is in the making, making some struts now just need to get the panelling for the outside, then we'll mount the lights, ill take a picture once we have all the lights mounted and stuff, my mum fell in love with a puffer in the shop, he was huge, the owner of the shop said he has an attitude apparently and doesnt get on well with anything, including ornaments lol, it followed my mums hand and bit at it through the glass which was funny, they had an amazing fire eel too which was just incredible (and HUGE) and they had some really huge common plecs, anyway i shall take some pictures once we get lighting (only gonna put the lights on for the pics untill i get my c02 then ill go into my lighting regime.)

 

[fozziebear]

ok so my c02 units arrived from ebay this morning, got 2 second hand for the price of 1 new well chuffed, my lid is almost finished, all thats left to do its to put on the front top part and hinge, make an access panel for the wires and the like to come out of, and to varnish the whole thing ill take some pics in due course once its all finished.

 

[fozziebear]

ok time for a BIG update, finally got some pictures, its the first day of the lights and c02 being on together, here we go dont be too harsh people the moss is very brown cos it was the first plant in, its been through the cycle, having no lights, and all kinds of stuff, so hopefully it should recover and go nice and green and bushy now i have c02 and lights as you can see theres a big old gap in the lid thats because i had to cable tie wires up and stuff, but im going to add some hooks to close the lid with so it will be flush.

the plants right at the back that arent cobomba or elodea are all silks.

PICCIES!!!!!
overall tank pic.

the mopani wood.

some more of the fishies

ENJOY!

 

[cheesy feet]

Looking good .Not very keen on the gravel though...