60cm Planted Tank

[MoreCoffee]

A few days ago I setup my new 60cm tank. This is my first attempt at using ADA substrate and ferts, heard so much that I had to give it a try.

Here's what it looks like at the moment.

You'll have to try ignore the ugly filter uptake and return, and I will be putting a black background onto the tank. But for now it's about providing
the right growing conditions for the plants. The tank is only half planted at the moment (problem with plant delivery)

Plants I've also included an indication of growth rate (Fast/Med/Slow)

Rotala sp. ''Nanjenshan'' (''Mayaca sellowiana'') (Fast)
Proserpinaca palustris ''Cuba'' - To add a highlight of copper/red (Slow)
HM (Med)
Lilaeopsis macloviana (Fast)
Lilaeopsis mauritiana (Slow)

I had a shortfall in my plant order and was missing most of the plants I had ordered for the foreground.
I've gone ahead and planted up what I've got .... I probably should have waited, but thats another story !

I have some Pogostemon helferi ready to go into the tank.
I also have an order with Birstall (should be here on thursday) for some extra P. helferi and they are seeing if they can get some
Utricularia graminifolia (but I'm not holding my breath).
Failing that I may use some HC or Glosso.

Setup
AS, PS, Tourmaline, Bacter100, Super clear.
The tank has pressurised CO2 (currently 2bps) and between 2.7 & 4 WPG ( 3 tubes - switchable 1,2 or 3 on/off ) and using
ADA Step 1 and Brighty K as ferts.

The filter is a Fluval 105 that has been running in another tank for about 5-6 weeks, so should be fairly mature.

4 days in and there are already some encouraging signs of growth, tank is still crystal clear, the foreground should be done this weekend
and I'll post an updated pic after it's done.

Any comments very welcome .......

 

[Scotty87]

Very nice, i love it!

 

[scubadoo]

Looks really promising.

Cant wait to see how it turns out.

 

[Themuleous]

Nice mate I know its early days but are you going for a triangle layout? If so the vals (?) on the right might be too tall, perhaps sags or dwarf swords might be better?

What are you going to put along the front?

Sam

 

[Graeme Edwards]

Nice mate I know its early days but are you going for a triangle layout? If so the vals (?) on the right might be too tall, perhaps sags or dwarf swords might be better?

Year nice job so far MrG whats your motivation with this tank?
What is the aquascape plant?

What light unit are you using for this setup?

AS, PS, Tourmaline, Bacter100, Super clear.

What type of aqua soil are you using? Looks like amazon norm?
Can i ask why you have added bactar100 clear super and Tourmaline? I bought power sand special last year and it contains both Bactar and clear super, so its better value for money.

What your Co2 ppm at the moment?

Good stuff though MrG ill keep a close eye on this one

 

[Themuleous]

PS - love the wood, seems like a few people have managed to get their hands on this type of wood, hopefully it'll become more common in the future.

Sam

 

[MoreCoffee]

Thanks for the replies .....

Sam

are you going for a triangle layout? If so the vals (?) on the right might be too tall, perhaps sags or dwarf swords might be better?

It was going to be a triangle, and yer right those plant will probably get too tall. It looks a bit 50/50 at the moment ... too much of a split in the middle. I'm going to have a think and maybe make some changes when I do the forreground. They're not Val's though, they are Lilaeopsis macloviana. Never tried or even seen them before, so I decided to give them a try, it's also a fast grower, which is unusual for a Lilaeopsis sp

What are you going to put along the front?

Pogostemon helferi and Utricularia graminifolia (if it turns up - Birstall are trying to get some for me), I'll know more by tomorrow.

PS - love the wood, seems like a few people have managed to get their hands on this type of wood, hopefully it'll become more common in the future.

I noticed it at Maidenhead Aquatics when I was getting my CO2 refilled. They've had mangrove root and sumatran driftwood in recently and they say they'll keep stocking it B)
Some of the ends were cut a little flat, but the moss helps to hide it.

Moody

............ whats your motivation with this tank?

Finding something to do that my kids wont try and take off me ..... they've already claimed the PC !

What is the aquascape plant?

Rotala sp. ''Nanjenshan' and Proserpinaca palustris ''Cuba'' at the rear of the wood, HM around the edges and front.

AS, PS, Tourmaline, Bacter100, Super clear.

Amazonia norm AS. I didn't use PS special because AE didnt have any in the size I wanted. Actually not sure if 'Special' does work out cheaper. I still have enough Bacter100, Tourmaline BC and Super Clear to do my 240Ltr tank when I set it up next month !

What your Co2 ppm at the moment ?

Currently at about 2bps. I'll make a call increasing or decreasing this next week.

Cheers
Al

 

[Chri$]

Looking good so far

Is that an Arcadia Luminaire?

 

[MoreCoffee]

Spooky !!

Pogostemon helferi and Utricularia graminifolia (if it turns up - Birstall are trying to get some for me), I'll know more by tomorrow.

Whilst typing that reply, I missed a call from Birstall. It seems there are 6 pots of Utricularia graminifolia waiting for me to collect

 

[Themuleous]

Excellent! I want to try and get my hands on some of that!

 

[scubadoo]

Hmm - I was at my nearest maidenhead aquatics yesterday but didn't see any - will look a bit harder when I next drop in - could just do with a nice big piece.

Out of interest does it leach much ?

 

[Graeme Edwards]

MrG i was asking how much Co2 is dissolved into the water in parts per million, dont know if you know how to work that out, you need a Co2 calculator, ph and your KH i think there is one on this site, chuck's planted tank website has a down-loadable one which i use.
Also how many bubbles per second are you running at and through what diffuser?

 

[MoreCoffee]

MrG i was asking how much Co2 is dissolved into the water in parts per million, dont know if you know how to work that out, you need a Co2 calculator, ph and your KH i think there is one on this site, chuck's planted tank website has a down-loadable one which i use.
Also how many bubbles per second are you running at and through what diffuser?

Sorry

...... yeah I've got all the test kits and calculators to work out my CO2 levels and am happy with how to do it. I've not actually taken a full set of readings yet. I wanted to leave it a couple of days, as there are no fish in the tank, so it's not critical. I prefer to do it that way so that I'll also get results for initial ammonia / nitrite readings, then I'll have an idea how 'mature' the filter is.

I'll be taking a full set of water readings tomorrow, so I'll know my PH/KH (and CO2) then.

As mentioned, I'm running about 2 bubbles per second through a small glass/ceramic diffuser. There is currently about 4.7 wpg running for 12 hours.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Quick update: 1 week after setup.

The foreground is now in place. Birstall managed to get hold of the Utricularia graminifolia & Pogostemon helferi that were unavailable last week. I was tempted to try add a rock in between the graminifolia to try break up the foreground rather than have a flat patch of green, but dont want it to look too out of place as the only rock in the aquascape - not really sure !

Whilst I was doing the planting, I also moved some of the Lilaeopsis macloviana from the centre and replanted it to the right, hopefully this will eventually help hide the ugly Fluval inlet and outlet pipes (these may end up getting replaced). The outlet has been straightened up and there is far less surface agitaion now.

Comparing the two pics, it is easy to see the new growth since last Sunday.
I've still got to add a black background, hopefully that will make the plants stand out a little more and add some definition.

I did about a 50% water change today (the first one since setup). I took a quick set of water readings prior to the water change...

GH = 10
NH3/NH4 = 5 ppm (thats Five, not 0.5 ! )
NO2 = 0.3 ppm
PH = 6.5
KH = 4
CO2 Level = 38ppm (Using Chucks calc)
CO2 BPS = 2

(I forgot to do a NO3 test !)

The very high ammonia spike seems to be similar to the one craynerd reported in his tank journal using AS and mulm. I'm not overly concerned about this at the moment as I dont plan on adding any shrimp or Otto's until about 3 or 4 weeks in, I'm expecting it to drop back in a week or so.

I'd welcome any comments, I doubt I'm going change much in the way of the positioning of the bogwood, but any observations or feedback will be useful for the next tank.

Cheers

 

[sammy86]

i would give my left arm for Utricularia graminifolia! 0_0
it looks amazing!