15g Tank Journal....

[Canis-Equus]

So ive been meaning to do this for ages - not my first foray into planted tanks, but my first real bash at doing it 'properly'.

Started this on saturday last, with a clean tank, using my 'ooh clever' frosted window film as a background for the tank (time will tell if this was wise!).

My substrate of choice is peat and playsand - I'll be honest with you - im a cheapskate. My REAL substrate of choice would be ADA gubbins, but beggars cant be choosers.

So - here is 'tank of mud'.....

Lovely hmm? I should actually have removed that last inch of water and i possibly went a tad overboard with the peat. Ho hum.

Now then... sand... ooh and rocks.

Looking... hmm.... nope, looking worse really. (and yes, my workbench is ALWAYS that filthy and messy)

Just add water and.......

Nope. Still cack.

At this point the hood still contains its original nailed in ballast and diddy T8 tube. I had a cunning plan for that though (however not cunning enough to take photos).

I patiently coaxed the ballast to part from the hood - held on by 6 plastic clips. I lie. I snapped them all off using that all round handy tool, a saddlers edge shave (its just the right shape for so many things, notably poking irritating Other Halves in the eye when they say 'are you sure thats safe?'.... I digress)..

Then i got out my shiny ooh so shiny new arcpod lights. I got two of the 11w jobs, figuring id fit as much as i possibly could into this mini-beast...

Oh but woe is me. Im not massively impressed i have to say - firstly the clips that hold these to the side of the tank are um, how to put this nicely. Crap. They dont hold on that well, and they dont hold the lights in the position you want them in either.

Thus i decided to fit them into the hood, and Arcadia do kindly provide fittings for one to complete this task....... except.....

Not ALL the fittings. Only the little brackets. No nuts bolts or washers. Gee - clever.

So I send OH off to the local version of Arkwrights (open all hours peeps?), well its a hybrid of that and Auntie Wainrights really.... he comes back with suitable fixings and im off again, woo.

Another fault with the Arcpod though..... the natty reflection gubbins painted into the inside of the covers..... it has crazed already from the heat i can only assume. That was after just four hours of use.

Anyway ill stop whinging!

Next toy out of my box (all kindly provided by Mothership Inc for my forthcoming birthday), is the azoo mignon HOB filter. Now THIS i like. Minor adjustment to the tank back (its a rena tank and has a plastic trim all the way round) with careful wielding of my trusty hacksaw and the mignon is on.

Its quiet, its efficient (or will be with the right media in it), its unobtrusive, its cheap. Whats NOT to like?

And then...... oooooh poshly Tropica plants - the names of which ihave of course, forgotten.

Et voila!

There are also some Ferka substrate fert tabs shoved in there - the anubia wotsit is not now shoved right into the sand, the lumpy bit (rhizome?) is now sat ON teh sand with the roots holding it down - if they start to fail in there like that then they will go to live on some bogwood in another tank.

Ive forgotten what the other two plants are. Bad me.

More plants are on their way, again i have now forgotten what i ordered....


So things to do - hoover out the loose peat (oh yes, insufficient sand over the top in some places causing underwater mud volcano and much swearing..... more sand has been added)...... large water change and the addition of mature filter media to the mignon. Remove the interpet internal filter to elsewhere.
Plant new plants when they arrive - remove yet more peat.
Plan tank inhabitants..... im thinking some shrimp, some erm, tinyweenyfish (microrasbora? or perhaps a few pristella tetra), possibly some tiny cories....

Any ideas on stocking?
Have i put those plants in entirely the wrong place?

Long term i shall reuse the old tube from the hood as a back light possibly with some coloured paper or wotnot.


nb. i am not 100% happy with the rocks, however pleaaaaaaaaaase dont tell me to move them or ill cry. I cant. They are now sunk into the peat and moving them will release a ton of mud. So they must stay. For preference id rather the right hand greyish rock was rotated towards the front of the tank a smidge. Tough luck though.


Whaddya think?

 

[donkey]

 

[Canis-Equus]

oh.

 

[Dave Spencer]

The bushy plant on the right looks very nice. Is it Bacopa Australis?

If I were you I would move it behind the hardscape because it will obstruct your view of the tank when it grows. Train that small bushy plant (Hemianthus Sp?) to grow in and around the rocks for a more natural and matured look.

Whatever you do, make sure you get your planting right first time round, because it looks like every time you want to move a plant the substrate is going to explode in to a muddy cloud.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Canis-Equus]

Cheers - re-planting isnt quite such a git as if i wiggle plants out slowly the sand backfills the hole the plant has left. Was hoping my other plants would arrive today but no luck, but when they DO then i may well shift some of the Bacopa around...

Not taken a pic but my riccia from smithrc arrived today so thats gone in around the front and right side of the lefthand rocks.

Need to sort out (ie find all the bits of) my nutrafin co2 system...... one minor issue.... the only place i can fit the ladder thing is at the front currently, dont reallllllllly want to hacksaw off the bottom of it.....

 

[nry]

Don't see peat used much, I had it many years ago below normal gravel, in a low light tank (20 gallons) and my plants grew like weeds so it seems to be a good option!

I'm no aquascaping guru but I like the layout, simple but effective, I am getting into the 'less is more' idea with aquarium designs at the moment.

I wonder if there is possibly too much peat below the sand, generally the whole substrate depth seems really deep for the height of the tank, but aside from this it's a thumbs up from me so far!

As a slight aside, I used some cheap, bleach-free kitchen paper on top of my peat before I put gravel on top. It stopped the peat floating up until everything had settled in and weighed the peat down. Worked very well and the paper 'bio-degraded' over time and disappeared.

 

[Canis-Equus]

Oh b00ger, wish id thought of that with the kitchen paper!

I should have removed all the water from the tank, but didnt - so when the peat went in, the right amount floated, putting the sand on would have made a right mess so like a moron i carried on putting peat in to soak up the water!

Live n learn eh!

 

[thefirethief]

How constructive.


Anywaaaay, nice tank. Good to see some DIY work on the hood, Ive been thinking about wrecking one of my fitted fluval hoods to upgrade the lighting it never dawned on me till now that I could get the fork and knife into it. My suggestion for stocking would be some type blue eye'd rainbowfish. Look at Pseudomugil Gertrudae, awwww isnt he a smasher. Of course Im only saying this because Im getting a pile to put in my 24Gal. My biggest concern would be the playsand, I can imagine that no matter how careful you are it will eventually completely mix with the peat. I doubt this would be a major disaster, just not the aesthetic you were going for.

Dont know if you'll be able to answet this yet but does the peat not discolour the water at all?

 

[Canis-Equus]

This is the second time ive done the peat/sand thang.....

First time round though, i used less peat and B&Q playsand - that might be the crucial difference as its quite a bit coarser and heavier - this time ive used Argos playsand and it is just SO fine.

Im seriously considering not having corys for that very reason, although there is a good inch of sand over the peat i suspect theyd rummage their way through it.

The last tank i did this in i had very good results considering i had just one flourescent tube and no co2. So im expecting it to work quite well - when the peat becomes totally waterlogged it should stay where it is just fine (crosses fingers fervently prays).

It will discolour the water a little, same as bogwood will so ill have to do something to sort that out when it happens, the plus side is that plants seem to root extremely well in it and that helps to hold it all together.


Ive had a look today when i added the riccia, and i think im going to take out the anubias - i just dont think they look right at all (may reconsider but otherwise they will go on some bogwood in another tank unless anyone wants one, theres 3/4 in there).

Those rainbow fish are lovely! Possibly a tad dare i say it, garish, for hwat i have in mind....... dunno (im a sucker for pretty though)....

Ill not be stocking this for another couple of weeks, adn when i do it will be whatever BAS have in stock when i get there as i cant normally go there,except when i have a lift (and OHs parents are visiting so lifts everywhere, woo).

Ta for constructive comments - all v useful