30gallon Planted With Diy And Ferts

[keeton]

hey guys, decided i might aswell go full on at a planted tank including diy co2 and ferts, instead of afew planted scattered around the tank. With me being on the tight budget im going to be gradually buying bits then putting it together over a few days. i like how Andeekaii's tank is coming along and intend to follow a similar sort of tank but different (confusing i know )
my tank at the moment is like this:

at the moment i have a "natural" coloured substrate, but unsure on whether im going to change it to a dark nature colour/black fine gravel. also dont know whether to keep my slate background but think it will look good with a dark substrate and nicely planted.

not really decided on the plants yet but here is a list i made the other day, this is almost definatly change lol.
im open to all idea's and suggestions from you guys

foreground/carpet:
Pygmy Chain Sword (Echinodorus tenellus)
Dwarf Hairgrass (Eleocharis parvula)
Hemianthus 'Cuba' (Hemianthus callitrichoides)

foreground:
Dwarf Anubias (Anubias nana)
Afzeli Anubias (Anubias afzelii)
unsure (ideas?)

middleground:
Blyxa Echinosperma (Blyxa echinosperma)
Blyxa Japonica (Blyxa japonica)
Straight Vallisneria (Vallisneria)
Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus)

background:
Dwarf Hygrophila (Hygrophila polysperma)
Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus)
Giant Hygrophila (Hygrophila corymbosa)
Tape Grass (Val) (Vallisneria spiralis)
Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus)

please add and change plants as it would help alot.

now for the technical bit:
at the moment i have 1 bulb (unknown wattage) will have to sort that out.
ferts: excell and TPN+
DIY co2 using 2 2litre coke bottles.

currently not using ferts or co2.

thats the best i can think of/all i can think of with side kick sleeping on the job:

all help and advice much appreciated

 

[Andeekaii]

Woah, i got a mention! But i have ripped all of the plants out now and started again, i will update my journal in a while so check it out!
I never intended to keep the plants i had in it, it was just more of an experiment to see how well diy co2 would work. It worked pretty well imo.

Im pretty fond of the natural colour substrate, it looks nice.

I don't recommend the hairgrass as a foreground plant, its the only plant in my tank which didnt thrive, it kinda just went brown and died.
However i did manage to save some of it and it seems to be growing better now ive redone the tank, maybe because its getting more light? I was running 2.5wpg of T5 before though so it should have been fine? who knows.

The Hygrophila polysperma grew extremely fast in my tank, within 2 weeks i had to cut the tops off because they reached the surface. Ive sinced moved it downstairs into my parents tank, It seems to have doubled in size in a fortnight and has even started growing "runners"...well, new shoots from the base of the plant like this \|/ instead of just |

I recommend you get your lights sorted out, it will save you a lot of trouble in the future.

How are your DIY co2 bottles going?

Andy

 

[keeton]

yeah you got a mention lol.
im not using ferts or co2 at the minute (whoops) just letting the plants grow with the light that came with the hood.
what bulb would you suggest?

do the plants sound alright other than dwarf hairgrass? i want some thick (wide/tall) plants for the background but dont know many

 

[Andeekaii]

yeah you got a mention lol.
im not using ferts or co2 at the minute (whoops) just letting the plants grow with the light that came with the hood.
what bulb would you suggest?

do the plants sound alright other than dwarf hairgrass? i want some thick (wide/tall) plants for the background but dont know many

I dont really know enough about plants to guide you in the right direction, wait for aaron or green fingers to come along. Im sure they'll point you in the right direction.

Are you bulbs T8 or T5? T5's are thin, T8's are an inch thick.

 

[keeton]

its about an inch thick, but it doesn't say a wattage on it just says:

arcadia
original tropical
the plant growth lamp

strange thing is, the bulb lets out a pink light.

 

[afishdude]

Most plant bulbs do.

 

[keeton]

according to there web site:

[URL="http/www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid...p;sub=&id=4"]http/www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid...p;sub=&id=4[/URL]

its a 25watt, 30" long. which would work out at 0.83wpg, would that be alright with ferts and co2? or would it be better with a 45watt or similar and having 1.5wpg with co2 and ferts

 

[Andeekaii]

Yeah, pink lights are good for plants, i am running a pink bulb, for the plants and then a white skylight bulb for aesthetics - looks nicer.
Im guessing its probably T8, it should be fine for growing plants

That is too low for co2 and ferts, the light will limit the growth.
You should aim for about 2 - 3 wpg for co2.

 

[keeton]

okay what bulb are you running andy, guessing its about 80 watt or 2 45watt?

 

[Andeekaii]

Good guess, I'm running 2 x T5 39W

1 x Sylvania Grolux and 1x Phillips Daylight - Only cost about £4 for the phillips and about £9 for the Sylvania.
Wayyyy cheaper than the £18 EACH that they are asking for in the LFS. Probably a lot better too!

 

[keeton]

woah! that cheap, where'd you buy them from. im just browsing through aqua essentials.

 

[Andeekaii]

http/www.lampspecs.co.uk/

 

[Geoff1991]

Note: You can use ferts/co2 at any lighting level, its only at about 2wpg that co2 becomes essential As for plants, how about some crypts?

 

[keeton]

update
okay this is the list of stuff i need to buy/need, will tick off when bought.

lighting:
AquaEl Ballast 30 Watt £19.99
Arcadia Freshwater lamp - 30" £14.99
electricity bill - £1,000,000
ferts:
not sure which to use, help?
Easy Life EasyCarbo - 250ml - £5.99? (should use this?)
Tropica Plant Nutrition+ (250ml) - £9.99? (this? whats the difference between tpn and tpn+?)
co2:
2 - 2 litre coke bottles (got 1)
air line
T piece
glass diffuser - £10.99
sugar (how much)
yeast (1 teaspoon?)(any yeast)
silicone - £5.99

have i missed anything?

 

[Andeekaii]

You can get TPN+ 500ml on ebay for £9.99 + £3.50 delivery.
TPN+ contains more phosphate and nitrate which is better if you have a low fish stock as it is the same stuff fish produce in their waste.
TPN is for high fish, low plants, TPN+ if for high plants, low fish

You can probably pick up 1kg of sugar for 65p, at least i can. It will last for 2 bottles.
Yeast you can pick up from a supermaket, i got 8 packets for 50p, which is enough for about 24 bottles.

You can get diffusers on ebay for about £5, from china. I recieved a drop checker from china today, only took 5 days.
Although, my glass diffuser i recently ordered isn't working grr, no bubbles, dont think the pressure is high enough.