Planted Tank Journal

[jarcher1390]

i've decided to get my self a new tank witch i've decided to plant up. its the new river or reef tank the 94 liters.

[URL="http/s73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/jar...nt=Image019.jpg"]http/s73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/jar...nt=Image019.jpg[/URL]
as you may see it is over lipping the self this is temporary place till i find a suitable alternative ro get some support for it
(edit)sos picture has not rotated follow link for a rotated image
It has 2 t5 lighting

and some blue leds for moon lighting ( i believe for the reef if i was going to do one of those)
For filtration it has a back box i have decided not to move it and it keeps cables and pipes out of vision.

It has a compartment for the heater out of sight. at the moment it has 2 pumps capable of 550lph i'm not sure wether to keep both running on half or remove one and keep it and near its maximum out put

Its going to have

Shrimps and fish
7 Amano shrimp (which are my dads)
9-10 Galaxy rasbora depending how much ill have at the end

plants
Hygrophila polysperma
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Limnophila aromatica
Anubias barteri var nana
Which i have put an order in for at my lfs which come in about a week

For decor in just going to have a number of rock dunno what type of rock but probably sand stone colour. Asd my idea is to have like a cliff face with the Anubias barteri.

for substrate im going to have
flora base 1 bag
and aquarium sand 5kg (probably wont use all of it)

Liquid fertilization i have chosen tropicas own plant nutrition liquid (my plants are also coming from tropica)

Im still undecided about CO2 as if i were to get 1 it would cost £200 and i dont have that kind of money at the moment.

The tank cost me 149.99 with every thing i need for a normal tank
And i estimate that fertilsation will be £25 (initially)
sand for a 5kg bag is 3.50
and a budget of £20 for the rock
plants will be roughly £50-70

Any comments are welcome. This is my first journal and my first planted tank. plan to come later as i am rubbish at sketching
Thanks in advance Jonny

 

[bricko]

Should make a nice little tank that, like the way how it curves around the side. Very nice.

You don't need to spend anywhere near £200 for a CO2 BTW.

Cheers, Keep us updated with progress,

Bricko

P.S How well would a planted setup do with African Cichl;ids, thought they would tear it up in no time

 

[aaronnorth]

i agree, £200 for CO2 is ridiculous fo rthat tank size.

the cheapest option for co2 is the fire extinghuisher rounte, costs about £80 to set up.

£25 for the TPN sounds a little steep too, what size are you getting?

 

[jarcher1390]

damn sos i did not it was a sub forum for africa cichlids my bad could a moderator move this topic to an appropriate forums sos

Thanks jonny

i agree, £200 for CO2 is ridiculous fo rthat tank size.

the cheapest option for co2 is the fire extinghuisher rounte, costs about £80 to set up.

£25 for the TPN sounds a little steep too, what size are you getting?

£25 was for both TPN and the flora base
TPN is £9
Flora base 14

 

[guppy_man]

Thats a nice sized tank, i'd love one like that. How much did you pay for it?

I'll be following this topic.

 

[jarcher1390]

the tank cost me 149.99 it will be a while before i can afford the plants and stuff as i'm waiting to be paid
Thanks Jonny

 

[jarcher1390]

My plan
As seen blow my plan is to have a base level with a slope like a u shaped valley/slope going up on the right hand side with plant 1 (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis) making the 'lawn effect' and also below the rock face.
On the rock face i will have plant 2 (Anubias barteri var nana)
On the left hand side, this is where the grills to the filter lead in to. The two higher plants. Plant 3 (Limnophila aromatica)and plant 4 (Hygrophila polysperma) to cover them up.

As you may see on the drawing (which are to scale as close as possible) you may notice the out lets to the lower pump will be blocked. Im still undecided whether to just have 1 pump or working so it don't matter if its blocked up or run a pipe through the slope and rock face so that it can still run.
Any suggestions welcome
Thanks jonny

 

[aaronnorth]

i think you are going to complicate things by having 2 different plants plants on the left side, the LA is quite a big plant to have for a small tank aswell IMO.. I would stick to some tall grass plants like Eleocharis vivipara. This will complement the style you are trying to achieve on the river look.

 

[jarcher1390]

i think you are going to complicate things by having 2 different plants plants on the left side, the LA is quite a big plant to have for a small tank aswell IMO.. I would stick to some tall grass plants like Eleocharis vivipara. This will complement the style you are trying to achieve on the river look.

i see what you mean but unfortunatly the plants are already on order so theres only reagranging i can do
Thanks jonny

 

[jarcher1390]

got some more money and the plants are ready to be collected

 

[jarcher1390]

after work
Ive now bought a substrate heater, red sea 20w
got some aquarium gravel and the aquabase plus
tropica plant liquid.
ive cut some slate to create the slope.
Tomorrow i'm going to get some rocks to make the rock face and my co2 unit jbl pro flora co2 set 2.
Then im waiting for a carpenter to make my base (hopefully be finished this weekend) ready to setup for the plants.
The plants which came in unfortunately were ruined as they been standing dry for 4 days so they sent me some new ones which should be here well yesterday ready to be picked up
Pictures to come when im setting it up

 

[aaronnorth]

why have you bought a substrate heater?

 

[jarcher1390]

to increase circulation in the gravel so the plant roots don't rot so i have read
Jonny

 

[Mr Bliss]

I guess plants with delicate roots and/or plants who do not transport oxygen to the substrate could benefit from a substrate heater. I'd imagine Anubias roots in particular, if they reach the substrate, might like it. The side effect of the substrate heater is that nutrients will rapidly escape the substrate and into the water column, though, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on the plant. Hygrophila will be happy, as they seem to do poorly when forced to primarily root-feed. On the other hand, root feeders such as Echinodorus might not appreciate this, but then, you don't have them in your plan anyway. Root-feeders with extensive root systems actually do better with an anaerobic substrate, since that enables them to control the localized pH around their roots for optimal nutrient intake.

Well, that's the theory anyway. YMMV.

I like your plan! The hillside look has the potential for awesomeness. Looking forward to see the pictures when you start setting it up. About CO2: Hygrophila won't mind if you don't add CO2. It'll grow like a weed anyway, and there are reports on the net about Hygrophila actually slowing down if you give it CO2 and lots of light. In fact, my own H. polysperma should have all the light, CO2 and nutrients they can hope for, yet their growth is kind of pitiful compared to the Echinodoruses that are going crazy.

I've read that Lilaeopsis won't create a real "lawn" without CO2. Dunno. I keep recommending yeast-based DIY CO2 systems to everyone who will listen, since they're so cheap and easy to make. If you like the results, switch to pressurized later on.

 

[aaronnorth]

trust me, you look at all the great aquascapes and find one that usues a heater cable, I am sure you will know george farmer, he doesnt use heater cables one for one reason, they are a waste of money and while they dont harm plants, they do not benefit them either. It wont stop anerobic pockets either, someone on UKAPS had heater cable but it still went anerobic.

You might of well as s[ent it on something more beneficial like lighting or CO2 etc.