New Planted Aquarium! Advice Please?.. Picture!

[craynerd]

I`ve just planted my new 18g aquarium and its been set up for a day or two. So firstly any advice or suggestions on looks....

I`m waiting for a lot of plants for the foreground including a riccia for floor covering.

Any other plants you`d recommend for in there?

1) Now obviously i got my tank all set up, but you lot spend such a large amount of time giving careful dosage of nutrients and chemicals, how do i go about working out whats right for my tank. I`m looking to really get this stocked with plants eventually like those in the "members planted aquarium pictures" forum, so need all the advice i can to keep these plants healthy.

I am running a nutrafin CO2 ladder at the back of the tank BUT i only started it 7 hours ago and as of yet can see no bubbles!!!! Gonna leave it a little longer.

2) How often should i be water changing and what temperature is best, when i finish my cycle, i`m just looking for a shoal of tetras and maybe a bottom feeder or two.

3) Since its gonna be veryhard to clean the bottom when the plants get going, what bottom feeders burrow so that i dont have to manually turn the sand?

4) My tank is the record70 and its between a 400 and 600 pump head. I got given the 600 and although its very strong and keeping my tank lovely and clean its causing a huge disturbance no matter where i point the outflow! Are there any buffers/reducers to muffle the water outlet on the pump head?

Sorry, lots of questions, but very eger to get this right!

Chris

 

[craynerd]

BUMP - 4 questions , 30 views, 0 replys

 

[lljdma06]

Did you use the original packets for the Nutrafin unit? That may be why you're not seeing bubbles. Many times, the yeast in the packet is very old and not very active. Do this instead, use a 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp of yeast, 1 tsp of bicarbonate if you tapwater is too soft for a stable reaction. My water is harder so I ignore the bicarbonate. Put the dry ingredients in the canister. Fill the mixture with lukewarm tapwater until 2cm below the top notch. Stir the mix, you'll see bubbles within minutes. The mix lasts between 5-7 days depending on the temperature of your surroundings.

Before I jump the gun, however, what is your lighting in WPG? From what I can see you've got some amazons, egeria (elodea, anacharis), and a type of cabomba maybe?

I change my water once a week, about 50%, and I use the EI method for fertilization which is explained in the pinned article above. But my tanks have pretty good WPG, 3.7 and 2.8 respectively and I have predominantly fast-growing plants. EI is not for every situation, it depends on your lighting, plant mass, and CO2 injection.

Until I know your lighting, I wouldn't be able to recommend any plants. What are you goals with this tank? Do you want a high-tech tank or a low-tech tank?

Before I forget, the tank looks very nice and I like the idea of just some tetras, but bear in mind that most bottom dwellers that are appropriate for this size tank would prefer to be in groups of 5 or more. I really recommend some of the pygmy corydoras as you can have a nice school and still be able to keep a decent school of tetras.

 

[craynerd]

My light is the : Sylvania F15W/154 standard which came with the tank!

NOW thank you so much for bringing this too my attention, since i was searching for my lighting i foudn this topic, http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=98205&hl=F15W
Basically, Sylvania my bulb manufacturer saying the bulbs they supply with the origonal jewel system are unfit for growing plants, lol !!!! i think i`m gonna shoot down to the LFS first thing and change for aqua glow bulbs!

OK well, i`ll ask for more advice when i can tell you exactly what i have purchased tomorrow.

Thanks again!

PS gonna try my DIY CO2 tomorrow, still not got any bubbles!

Chris

RE: What are you goals with this tank? Do you want a high-tech tank or a low-tech tank?


I am a complete nooby, BUT have high expectations of the tank and i am prepared to put in lots of time and effort, so i suppose as high-tech as possible to keep it in good order.

Chris

 

[lljdma06]

My light is the : Sylvania F15W/154 standard which came with the tank!

So basically you have .833 WPG which is very low. If that is cabomba in your tank, you're going to have problems. Anyway can you change the hood or retrofit it to accomodate more light? On my small tanks I basically tossed the original hoods and opted for glass covers and T5 fixtures. Retrofitting a hood is basically out of my scope of knowledge since I really don't buy tank kits in the first place but buy my lighting separate. I also don't buy those all inclusive types like the Eclipse system in the US or the Juwel tanks in the UK. On a more positive note, you are in the right place if you do decide to retro-fit your hood. There are a bunch of people here who have successfully done this. Stick around a while and hopefully they'll tell you how they did it.

 

[craynerd]

swapped the bulb to an aracdeia 15W and also got a new starter so i`m gonna add another bulb next to it, since there is plenty of space, i think.

Whats retrofit mean?

Chris

 

[George Farmer]

swapped the bulb to an aracdeia 15W and also got a new starter so i`m gonna add another bulb next to it, since there is plenty of space, i think.

Whats retrofit mean?

Chris

Welcome to the forum craynerd!

The layout looks nice for a first attempt.

Reading through the pinned articles will answer some of your questions and will provide you with the basic underpinning knowledge of what is required to run a successful planted tank.

As suggested you Nutrafin CO2 output can be improved using DIY recipes - and it's 95% cheaper. The CO2 article will help.

You're wise to boost your lighting. Fit reflectors if you haven't already.

Retrofit means something that is fitted after-market i.e. extra lighting.

 

[Jape]

Hi from another newbie to the board Craynerd!

I've got a rekord 70 that I upgraded the lighting in. I fitted a 36W compact T5 unit to give me 2watts per gallon. I wrote a post on it in another forum (ahem!) which I've copied below. Hope it helps! It has certainly helped my plants along - so much so that I am fitting a CO2 unit this week and adding a couple of other plants! My initial aquascaping attempt was a bit hit and miss - but it will all be changing this week


You could also check out BigC's article on how he upgraded his Rekord 70 with an extra tube His posting had got me thinking that I might fit a twin 36W compact T5 unit in future.....the other tube could go where he added his second 18W. I'll let you know if I do!




I have, today, converted the existing Jewel lighting system on my Rekord 70 to a compact T5 system. It was relatively straightforward, and only involved a bit of drilling etc

First of all, I removed the entire hood, and (obviously) unplugged it!

The first step was to remove the existing lighting unit. On the Rekord 70 this is a single T8 tube mounted centrally in the hood. To access the starter etc it was necessary to remove the plastic cover on the top of the hood (I've called it the 'access cover'). This involved some careful work with a blunt sturdy knife, so as not to damage the plastic. Once one edge was loose, the rest came off easily by sliding the knife under it. It is only glued with a thin strip of glue along the edge.

Once accessed, the standard Jewel unit was easily removed. The tube holders unclip from within the 'access cover' and the wires need to be cut to allow them to be completely removed. The ballast (electronic box) is screwed to the plastic, and is also easily removed. The only thing I left in there was the actual starter holder (seen at the top of the photo), as it was proving a sod to get out

When it was all removed, I began to fit the new unit. It is an Interpet 36 Watt T5 Compact Lighting starter unit, with an Interpet Triplus 36W (16") tube. I also have added a reflector - an Arcadia 38W (42") reflector which has been cut to size using kitchen scissors.

The first step was to fit the tube to the starter unit - to make sure it worked (!) and to get an idea of how the whole thing would work. The securing clips were then fitted to the tube to give me a guide for the fitting.

I then placed the cut reflector, tube and wiring in the upturned hood, and adjusted it all until the tube was central, and the reflector was in a reasonable position.

I then held the whole lot still, and drilled pilot holes, using the clip holes as a guide. The drill diameter was just big enough to allow the self tapping screws to pass through, but bite into, the tube clips, reflector and plastic hood.

I then screwed the lot together from the top of the hood, and routed the wiring through the existing access hole. The screws were then 'coloured in' using a black permanent pen to make them blend in a bit more

Finally, all the covers were re-fitted, and the whole thing fired up. It works a treat! Just got to wait to see how the plants react

The remaining thing to do is to secure the wiring with clips - when I can find some appropriate ones. But the tube is held very securely by the metal clips supplied with the starter unit.

As a side note, the T5 starter unit for the 36W single compact would fit nicely in the space vacated by the standard Jewel ballast, but I would be concerned about the cooling of it.

Hope this all helps - I'm pretty sure the same technique could be used for most of the Jewel tanks I have encountered. If anyone else has any ideas to add then let me know!



Edited to add - Since these photos were taken I've now changed the bulb to a Daylight Plus - it gives much better colours (less blue) and it has given me even faster plant growth!

 

[craynerd]

Jake, great post mate! Thanks so much.

Have to say i think the other post seems a little easier and i`m gonna go with that method, since there is room at the front of the tank!

Chris