Planted tank

[zig]

Hi everyone

This is my first serious attempt at a planted tank, ive kept aquariums for a good few years but never successfully kept plants alive in them, they usually lasted a while but would normally get covered in algae or other unknown substances and id chuck them out...........and then...........i discovered this forum

So its with thanks to the people in the planted section that ive got this far..........plants alive and well

Id been lurking here for a couple of months and then became a member with the view of setting up a planted tank, i made the tank myself so it would fit in an alcove in my house, the tank measures 30x18x18 and holds 160 liters and has 3 WPG lighting, the plants in at the moment are fast growers to try and outdo the algae and to find a balance in the tank, i will change these plants in a month or so when the tank has matured a bit more and will probably change the aquascape as well to something totally different, thats the plan for now anyway.

Thanks again to everyone in planted section its been a learning curve but good fun so far.

Here are my pics


The first shot is taken about about 4-5 weeks ago when i put the first plants in and the rest i took this evening, the foreground plants have yet to carpet the front area of the tank as they are slower growing than the rest.

Thanks for looking

 

[Annastasia]

That is so gorgeous! I love it!

Very, very, very good job. I'm sure the fish love living in there too.

 

[snowyangel]

Very beautiful, I like the wood you chose. Are you going to have any fish with those plants?

 

[Spyderdf]

very nice the wood looks great in it

 

[Snailguy101]

That looks amazing are you gunna add fish?

 

[Nospherith]

well done, it looks great. nice driftwood too, it suits the tank perfectly. oh and btw, the microsword might spread out faster if it's seperated and planted in individual strands.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

that looks really really good!

 

[debiasir]

really like the look of the tank

good work

 

[Sime]

lovely zig, nice and green, nice layout - excellent! is the plant on the front right hygro?

 

[glolite]

That looks lovely! You must have worked very hard.

 

[houndour]

zig, I absolutely love the tank. Looking very lush and green.

Your carpet is doing pretty well for 5 weeks. I had hairgrass and have completely given up on it (all went in the bin last week). What kind of light/co2 etc do you have?

 

[jimbooo]

Zig: i'm jealous thats one beautiful tank and the driftwood looks awesome. great job mate.

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

great tank what fish do you have in their

 

[zig]

Hiya guys

Thanks a million for all the replys, i really do appreciate it.

You can begin to self doubt yourself when you look at something long enough so its good to hear from other people with a fresh view on things, its by no means perfect and could definatly do with more foreground interest to finish off the green look, but that plant is growing very slowly, but unfortunatly over here its very difficult to get decent aquatic plants and none of the UK suppliers will post to Ireland, so i was sort of stuck with the slow grower in the front because its all i could get, all of my plant choices were really limited, but hopefully ill build up a stock over time and be able to propagate some nicer plants.

There are fish in the tank, not many for now, i have 6 Zebra Danios and 6 Ottocinclus, ive just been adding them slowly because i didnt have to cycle this tank because all the fast growing plants were eating up the ammonia and nitrates, so i didnt have to go through a cycle at all, so i was very pleased with that and now the irony is that i auctually have to add nitrate to the tank to feed the plants, so cycling with plants does work but you need the correct lighting.

Nospherith, the plant in the foreground is Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, but your probably correct i should split it more than i have, ill probably do that, thanks for the tip.

Sime, the plant on the front right is a stem plant Hygrophila polysperma its easy to grow and has a really nice light green coloration, i really like the plant it looks very delicate and i would definatly use it again, its ideal for a first planted tank setup.

Hondour, im useing DIY co2, i have 2 nutrafin ladders, ive no problems keeping the co2 at 30ppm with a diy mix, i change the mix about every 7-10 days max, but i change the units alternatly, when one is due a change the other is bubbling away and that way i allways have a supply of co2 and have the mix about right just through trial and error, so once i got it right i just repeated it, and its working well so far.

Im useing 3 WPG i think the same tubes as you, the Interpet Daylight 6500k compact flourescents, i like them, but i must experiment with other tubes also, but they are a nice light to view the tank also.

The substrate is laterite mixed with a fine gravel, i used laterite because thats all i could get around these parts.

For the moment im useing Flora Boost ( but want to get Seachem Flourish ) as a liquid fertiliser 3x10ml per week and am useing dry fertilisers, Potassiom Nitrate Kno3, Potassium Sulphate K2so4 and Potassium Phosphate Kh2po4 through a product called Fleet Enema which you can get at a chemist shop, and i dose these on days i dont use the liquid fertiliser.

Thanks everybody again for the replys, you made my day, thanks a lot


My last photo, not a very good one of my beloved Ottocinclus, i love those fish.

 

[Vivienne]

Great looking tank - I can't beleive how much growth there is in that length of time.