New Project

[xXMrBonesXx]

Update- my fluvals arrived and are up and running, now comes the boring bit of doing a fishless cycle.
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Stress Coat and Ammo Lock are your friend now

 

[Lenna]

I decided to go with CO2 injection so I've done a DIY pressurised system. This system is much like the setup described in the Chuck's aquarium pages articles. Here's the regulator with adaptor and meter valve.

And here's the whole thing attached to the tank. I've built a reactor similar to that described in the previous articles to dissolve the CO2.

This setup was good, I saved over AUS$300 by doing it this way and have a 10kg CO2 tank which will last me ages. I got the CO2 to a constant concentration of around 20ppm before I added the plants.

Okay here's the tank after the addition of mainly val, with some amazon swords, banana lilies, crypts and anubias.

 

[BabySealClubber]

Lookin good. Nice work!

 

[simonbrown403]

Looks good, should look fab when the plants fill out.
Vallis is superd, spreds like nobodys business, you should end up with reed bed in no time.

 

[RedShark]

I like the wood alot. Your lay-out looks great so far and has an enormous amount of potential.

*edited for spelling

 

[bunjiweb]

Looking good, you can clearly see it coming together. The wood looks great!

You should be able to cycle the tank much quicker having already added plants. Test your water and i reckon within 2 weeks it will be cycled.

Ben

 

[Lenna]

Thanks for the comments.
Here's the tank today after the addition of the contents of two of my 2' tanks.

There's still two 40g tanks worth of driftwood and plants to go in there, although these tanks aren't so heavily planted.
It's great to see my plants pearling for the first time.

 

[Spyderdf]

wow that tank is great looking... great job....

i look forward to updates



Josh

 

[WILDER]

Looking very good.

 

[jkrekord]

that tanks is beutiful

 

[George Farmer]

Always nice to see a big planted tank - very nice.

I love the CO2 system.

What lighting are you running?
Is that plain pool filter sand or have you added any nutrients?
Have you planned a fertilising regime?

I look forward to seeing the progress. Maybe see you over on the planted forum sometime?

 

[Lenna]

gf255- It's currently 2wpg as I have mainly low light plants, but I'm thinking of adding a little more so I can try some more demanding things. The substrate is mainly poole filter sand, but at the back I have 3-4" gravel under the sand, which I pushed root tabs into. ( I couldn't get fluorite or laterite around here). I may try EI after I see how much nutrients the plants are using. My tap water has no nitrates and around 1ppm phosphates. At the moment the nitrate level is sitting around 5ppm but I may bring this up a little as the plants take off. The plants are growing like mad though, with the stem plants growing a few inches in as many days.

This is a bit closer at the left side of the tank.

And the right side.

More tanks and plants to add yet.

 

[KageBunshin]

looks great! cant wait to see it in a few months. What are your stocking plans?

 

[George Farmer]

gf255- It's currently 2wpg as I have mainly low light plants, but I'm thinking of adding a little more so I can try some more demanding things.

That's a nice amount of light in a large tank. I'd say that you will probably already be able to grow more demanding species. The Watts per Gallon "rule" becomes more leanient with larger volumes i.e. 2 WPG in a 180G is a lot higher intensity than 2 WPG in a 20G. Bearing in mind I grow Glossostigma elantinoides easily with only 2.1 WPG in my 33G I'd say you could grow more than you may imagine.

What lighting is it exactly (tube make and sizes, reflectors etc.)?

 

[Jen]

That looks amazing! I love those bits of wood. They are all branch-y and intertwine-y. lol. Nice find. What are your plans for fish?