My First Planted Tank!

[Hamsnacks]

Posted a few threads in regards to my tank (Thank you for all the help) and I think I am finally done! Now just regular Maintenance. Thought I would share the final build with the details and get any suggestions/opinions on anything that can be done better or is wrong (won't take it personally lol) especially on the maintenance part.

60 Gallon Tank, (48" Wide, 12" Deep, 24" High)
2 x AquaClear 70 Hang on Filters
4 x 55W Sunblaster T5Ho Bulbs at 6400k, 2 lights are blue and red
Temperature currently at 77F, trying to get it down to 72F, going through a heat warning in the city.
Sand as Substrate

Plants:

2 x Java Fern Bundles, 2 x Amazon Sword Bundles, 1 x Bundle of Christmas Moss, 2 x Anubia Bartari, 1 x Crinum Calamistratum, 1 x Cryptocoryne Wendtii, 5 x Jungle Vals, 2 x Anubia Bartari.

Maintenance:

20-25% Water Change Per Week
Seachem Flourish Tabs in the Sand
Nilocg THRIVE All in One Fertilizer, dose every 5 days
8 Hours of Light per day, 4 Hours at a Time, Lights are about 6.2" From the surface of the water but do have glass tops.

Thanks again for all the help, I am pretty happy with the setup and hope they all thrive very well!

 

[NickAu]

very nice hope to see it in the tank of the month competition.

 

[candrews999]

Looks lovely

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Hamsnacks]

Thank you! Just realized I should of posted it in the member's aquarium and fish tank section. Maybe an Admin can move it.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't bother trying to reduce the water temperature unless it hits 86F (30C).

75-78F is actually the correct temperature for most tropical fishes.

Is the heater in the grey plastic cage standing upright in the middle at the back?
If yes, put it lower down and have it on a 45 degree angle with the cord up higher than the bottom of the heater. This will let the heat come out over a longer area and if the heater is lower down, the water will heat from the bottom of the tank rather than leaving a cool spot below the heater. The filters circulating water will also help keep the temperature stabile but generally the lower down the heater is, the better.

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Be careful with the algae magnets that you use to clean the glass. If they get sand or gravel under them they scratch the glass. I use to put thin piece of soft sponge on the inside magnet to try and reduce gravel damaging the glass. You also want to take the magnets out and rinse then dry them off after use. They end up rusting if you don't.

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The Anubias won't do that well underwater. they have tough leaves but are not a true aquatic plant and their leaves eventually get smaller. I would remove the Anubias and put them in pots and grow them on a window sill.

The Java Fern should be tired to the driftwood away from the Java Moss/ Xmas Moss.

The Amazon Swordplants will probably shed their old terrestrial leaves and grow new softer aquatic leaves, so don't worry if you see a few of their leaves turning brown and falling off.

I would put some Ambulia in the back right corner, and some Hygrophila polysperma in the back left corner. And maybe some Hygrophila ruba or Pygmy Chain Swords (mini swordplants) in the front between the Cryts and the Crinum.

And if you want a floating plant, then Water Sprite on the top. You could even put Water Sprite in the front between the Crypt & Crinum instead of H. ruba or Pygmy Chain Swords.
You can make a plastic loop out of airline and a joiner and tie a piece of string/ fishing line to the loop and an airline suction cup to hold the loop to the glass. The string will allow the loop to go up or down as the water level changes in the tank, thus keeping the plants confined to the loop. Then keep the Water Sprite in that to stop it being sucked into the filter and spreading across the tank.

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I would do a 50-75% water change each week or every 2 weeks (depending on fish). The bigger water change will dilute any nutrients & disease organisms more effectively and the fish usually do better. Plus it will reduce the chance of overdosing with the liquid fertiliser. Any nutrients that are not used by the plants will build up and a big water change will reduce all nutrients to a low level meaning poisoning from overdosing will be less likely to happen.

Make sure you turn the filters off before water changes, and fill the filters with tank water before turning them back on.

I would put an extension tube on the right Aquaclear filter so the intake is lower down, this will help pick up rubbish behind the wood.

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You mention the lights are on for 4 hours at a time. Can you elaborate on that?
I would have 1 light come on, then an hour later another, an hour later another and an hour later the 4th one. Then leave all 4 lights running for 4-6hours before turning them off 1 at a time, (1 hour apart).

Make sure you turn the room lights on or open the curtains an hour before the tank lights come on. And turn the room light on just before the last tank light goes out. then wait 15-30minutes (or more) before turning the room light out.

Besides the above, the tank looks nice and should look really good with fish and when the plants have grown.

 

[FroFro]

It looks like you have the anubias in the substrate. You'll want to anchor them to the wood or another item in the tank as having their rhizome buried will cause them to rot.

 

[NickAu]

The Anubias won't do that well underwater.

Are you serious? Nah Im sure its April fools day or something.

 

[Colin_T]

Anubias is not a true aquatic plant and will lose its terrestrial leaves and grow tiny little underwater leaves. The plant was never designed to live under water. It likes moisture but dry leaves. The only reason shops sell it, is because it has tough leaves.

 

[NickAu]

Anubias is not a true aquatic plant and will lose its terrestrial leaves and grow tiny little underwater leaves.

And how long will that take? I have so much growing in my tanks its not funny and Im still waiting.

I found this bit im my 6 foot tank hidden among the blue stricta and crypts.

But then again I have also been told that the Blue Stricta in my big tank will fail, 3 years latter im still waiting.

 

[Colin_T]

That plant would have been a lot bigger after 6 months growing on land, and its leaves would be 3-4 times the size they are now.

As an experiment you could try growing some in potting mix and fertiliser it regularly, and compare it to the ones in the tank after 6 months

 

[NickAu]

I accept that challenge, Im actually thinking of turning the gobby tank into a riparium,

 

[Hamsnacks]

Thank you all for the responses, and Colin_T as usual thanks for all the help and I have adjusted my tank accordingly. Funny thing is I always wondered why every tank I saw always had their Heaters angled, now I know lol.

Just had a few questions, when I purchased the plants from an online seller, they weren't bright green but they were in Shipment for almost 5 days, and I just thought they would adjust, but they look like they may be getting worse, not better.
I have adjusted some of the plants that I was told work better attached or not fully under the substrate. I also have read a lot online that these plants sometimes look like they may be dying when there is a sudden change of environment but will eventually adjust, it just requires patience, my biggest concern is the Jungle Vals and the Crinum Calamistratum. The Anubia is a weird one, the ones in the substrate are a solid strong green and some of the ones attached to the wood are also green while others are black, but I am not too concerned. Overall all the plants look like they are growing new longer roots. I have attached some photos.

 

[Colin_T]

If the plants were in a cardboard box and did not get any light for 5 days, it will knock them about pretty badly. In future try to get them delivered in 24 hours or buy plants from a shop. The less stress the plants suffer, the better they do.

The vallis looks awful and should not be brown, but give it a chance. Sometimes they recover.

The crinum needs about 4 inches of soil to grow in. They have a bulb which stores nutrients and the plant will be using up the reverse to grow new roots.

Cypts are notorious for rotting after being moved. They need to be handled very carefully otherwise the tuber gets damaged and they rot. And once they start rotting they die. They also store nutrients in the tuber.

Get the fertiliser in there and give them light and hope they do ok

 

[Hamsnacks]

Not the response I was hoping to hear haha.
I have decided will be adding CO2 this Thursday, my setup arrives then. Hopefully, a large water change, fertilizer, light and CO2 on Thursday will bring them back to life, just need them to somewhat survive.

 

[Colin_T]

Vallis doesn't need CO2 and there are not enough plants in there to worry about using CO2 yet. There is heaps of CO2 in the air and that gets into the water through the surface. In addition to that, fish and filter bacteria produce CO2, which is in the water for the plants.

Plants only use CO2 when they get light. At night and when the tank is dark they Oxygen (O2) and release CO2.

Adding CO2 will drop the pH of the water so you need to add carbonate hardness (KH) buffers to keep the pH stabile otherwise you get pH crashes.