Graeme Edwards
Fishaholic
Hay MrG i would love to see the UG go crazy in your tank, then maybe we can do a plant swap 
60cm Planted Tank
- Thread starter MoreCoffee
- Start date
excaliborg
Fish Fanatic
Not sure of your location, but if in the UK the best place is Aqua Essentials website. If you're not in the UK then I'm not sure where best for you to get it.
General Comment: The 'where can I get' type questions are always easier to answer if people have a location in their profile ... even just a country. Lots of people dont
Cheers, forgot to add location to my profile
MoreCoffee
Fishaholic
No problemNot sure of your location, but if in the UK the best place is Aqua Essentials website. If you're not in the UK then I'm not sure where best for you to get it.
General Comment: The 'where can I get' type questions are always easier to answer if people have a location in their profile ... even just a country. Lots of people dont
Cheers, forgot to add location to my profile
.... As you're in the UK, you'll find you can get pretty much anything you need for your planted tank from Aqua Essentials. AFAIK they are the only place in the UK that supply ADA products.If you are thinking of using AS, be aware that I saw a HUGE ammonia spike withing the first week (and so did Craynerd, if you read his tank journal), mine was pretty much off the scale for the test kit
.Plants are fine during this time, but I'd seriously recommend only adding fish etc after it has dropped back to acceptable levels. ADA europes site suggests adding ottocinclus/shrimp at about 3 weeks (maybe that's the reason).
It's early days for my tanks setup, but I'm already very happy with the plant growth using this substrate.
MoreCoffee
Fishaholic
Here's a quick update:
I've reworked the right side of the tank by removing the Lilaeopsis macloviana from the tank and put a bunch of HM in the centre to work down from the height of the Rotala..
.... I'm happier with the layout now and think I'll stick with this and should look better as the tank develops.
I've now added a black background, next I'm really going to have to look at hiding the Co2 tubing and filter intake/return.
Day 12:
The moss is starting to pick up and fresh bright green shoots are starting to appear all over it, quite pleased about that ! This is just visible on the wood near the diffuser.
There is still an ammonia spike, but it has fallen to 1.5mg/l from 5 ( probably higher than 5, that's all the test kit goes up to).
I'm seeing some brown algae growing in places and there has been a little green 'dust' on the glass, but nothing too bad and I'm not worried about it at this stage. Another 7 - 10 days and I'll get some shrimp and Otto's in there to sort it as long as the water stats are stable.
Another 7 - 10 days and I might do a first pruning of the Rotala and HM
Cheers
Al
I've reworked the right side of the tank by removing the Lilaeopsis macloviana from the tank and put a bunch of HM in the centre to work down from the height of the Rotala..
.... I'm happier with the layout now and think I'll stick with this and should look better as the tank develops.
I've now added a black background, next I'm really going to have to look at hiding the Co2 tubing and filter intake/return.
Day 12:
The moss is starting to pick up and fresh bright green shoots are starting to appear all over it, quite pleased about that ! This is just visible on the wood near the diffuser.
There is still an ammonia spike, but it has fallen to 1.5mg/l from 5 ( probably higher than 5, that's all the test kit goes up to).
I'm seeing some brown algae growing in places and there has been a little green 'dust' on the glass, but nothing too bad and I'm not worried about it at this stage. Another 7 - 10 days and I'll get some shrimp and Otto's in there to sort it as long as the water stats are stable.
Another 7 - 10 days and I might do a first pruning of the Rotala and HM
Cheers
Al
George Farmer
ad aqua
Looks good Al.
The black background works well and the removal of your L. macloviana has provided a greater harmony to the layout.
I'd be tempted to fit a spray bar and paint it and your inlet black. Acrylic paint should work fine. It's what I did.
The black background works well and the removal of your L. macloviana has provided a greater harmony to the layout.
I'd be tempted to fit a spray bar and paint it and your inlet black. Acrylic paint should work fine. It's what I did.
Neal
Live life, don't let it live you!
Looks good, shame about the equiptment. I've just realised i've got the same tank as you, but mines the 2Gallon version, hehe. It's not in use though.
Neal
Neal
novamadcars
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wow what a lovely looking tank keep up the good work
MoreCoffee
Fishaholic
Thanks all ...... I'm far happier with the overall aquascape now and will be doing the first pruning of the plants in a few days .... but the hardware looks really bad .... well it is just cheap plastic, so I cant expect it to look any different !
I'm not too keen on fitting a spray bar, although I'm sure it wouldnt look as bad as the current outflow, I dont really like them that much and think I get a better flow around the tank this way.
Ideally I'd like to replace it with some glass stuff (from AE), however if I spend my 'fish pennies' on that then I'll have to put off setting up my other tank for another month or two ... and it's already been sitting empty far too long. As suggested, I might try painting the existing equipment black and replacing the CO2 tubing with some black tubing and sucker/clip.
You mentioned using Acrylic paint ... is it just normal acrylic paint or anthing special and do I just paint it and let it dry or do I need to treat it in any way ?
Cheers
Al
George .... Thanks for the comments.
I'm not too keen on fitting a spray bar, although I'm sure it wouldnt look as bad as the current outflow, I dont really like them that much and think I get a better flow around the tank this way.
Ideally I'd like to replace it with some glass stuff (from AE), however if I spend my 'fish pennies' on that then I'll have to put off setting up my other tank for another month or two ... and it's already been sitting empty far too long. As suggested, I might try painting the existing equipment black and replacing the CO2 tubing with some black tubing and sucker/clip.
You mentioned using Acrylic paint ... is it just normal acrylic paint or anthing special and do I just paint it and let it dry or do I need to treat it in any way ?
Cheers
Al
Graeme Edwards
Fishaholic
Going good Al, looks more balanced now.
MoreCoffee
Fishaholic
Thanks Moody,
I wasn't happy with the right hand side and took the advice offered by George and Chris
It's also now much closer to the original shape I was looking for.
I wasn't happy with the right hand side and took the advice offered by George and Chris
It's also now much closer to the original shape I was looking for.
Themuleous
Fish Connoisseur
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This is going to be a stunning tank when its filled out My G
Sam
Sam
MoreCoffee
Fishaholic
Here is a quick update -
The HM and Rotala were trimmed back last week and will soon need it again. The HM in particular is looking a bit 'wild'
I've changed the CO2 tubing for some black and it's now practically invisible against the black background. But I've still got to do something about the really ugly Fluval filter intake/outflow. If I dont replace them I may do as George suggested and paint them with black acrylic paint.
Does it need to be treated in anyway if doing this ?
3 weeks after setup:
(the foreground is not actually as 'yellow' as it looks in the pic ... photography not being my strongpoint!)
The water stats have now settled. The initial huge ammonia spike of 5mg/l (as high as the test kit is able to go!), dropped to 1.5 mg/l within a few days, then down to 0.3mg/l and finally down to zero, where it has been for the past few days. During this time there was NO livestock in the tank. I doubt much would have survived in there.
Current water stats:
NH3/NH4 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 20 - 25 (a bit on the high side)
PH = 6.8
KH = 7 degs
CO2 = 33ppm (using chucks calc) - with 2 bps
Ferts:
ADA Step 1 - Daily
ADA Brighty K - Daily
The PH had dropped to about 6.5, but now seems stable at 6.8. I'm monitoring this and the NO3 every day or two and will take action as appropriate. A water change with my normal tap water (PH 7.6 )should be enough to up the PH if it starts to drop again. I may use a few floating 'water lettuce' for a few days to suck up some of the NO3.
I've not seen any real problems with the using the Aquasoil, some clumps of the U. graminifolia have floated free and had to be replanted, but with the roots on that plant, I think that would happen with any substrate.
The tank has suffered from a bit of algae, mainly diatoms low down on the substrate, The only algae I'm worried about is the black bush type stuff that has developed within the past few days but only on some of the Lilaeopsis mauritiana .... could this be due to the NO3 reading ?
As the water stats have been stable for a few days, I decided to get some shrimp and otto's in there yesterday. I got a good price on 10 shrimp from my local Maidenhead Aquatics, and then found he'd given me 11 ... so an even better deal.
Overnight they have made short work of the diatoms and the tank is almost clear of them.
The black stuff is going to be more of a problem to get rid of, I think I may end up having to removing the shoots with it on.
Anyway, here's a few more pics .......
These pics show how the Utricularia graminifolia has developed :
23 Aug - 4 days after planting
03 Sept - with shrimp doing a clean up !
Note: The direction it is laying, is the same way as the direction of water flow around the tank.
03 Sept - Side view of tank:
And finally one of the Prosperpinaca palustris "Cuba", the leaves have started to take on more of a needle like shape and it is developing more of the copper colour. This was planted to complement the reddish colour of the bogwood. (Those shrimp get everywhere ! )
Cheers
Al
The HM and Rotala were trimmed back last week and will soon need it again. The HM in particular is looking a bit 'wild'
I've changed the CO2 tubing for some black and it's now practically invisible against the black background. But I've still got to do something about the really ugly Fluval filter intake/outflow. If I dont replace them I may do as George suggested and paint them with black acrylic paint.
Does it need to be treated in anyway if doing this ?
3 weeks after setup:
(the foreground is not actually as 'yellow' as it looks in the pic ... photography not being my strongpoint!)
The water stats have now settled. The initial huge ammonia spike of 5mg/l (as high as the test kit is able to go!), dropped to 1.5 mg/l within a few days, then down to 0.3mg/l and finally down to zero, where it has been for the past few days. During this time there was NO livestock in the tank. I doubt much would have survived in there.
Current water stats:
NH3/NH4 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 20 - 25 (a bit on the high side)
PH = 6.8
KH = 7 degs
CO2 = 33ppm (using chucks calc) - with 2 bps
Ferts:
ADA Step 1 - Daily
ADA Brighty K - Daily
The PH had dropped to about 6.5, but now seems stable at 6.8. I'm monitoring this and the NO3 every day or two and will take action as appropriate. A water change with my normal tap water (PH 7.6 )should be enough to up the PH if it starts to drop again. I may use a few floating 'water lettuce' for a few days to suck up some of the NO3.
I've not seen any real problems with the using the Aquasoil, some clumps of the U. graminifolia have floated free and had to be replanted, but with the roots on that plant, I think that would happen with any substrate.
The tank has suffered from a bit of algae, mainly diatoms low down on the substrate, The only algae I'm worried about is the black bush type stuff that has developed within the past few days but only on some of the Lilaeopsis mauritiana .... could this be due to the NO3 reading ?
As the water stats have been stable for a few days, I decided to get some shrimp and otto's in there yesterday. I got a good price on 10 shrimp from my local Maidenhead Aquatics, and then found he'd given me 11 ... so an even better deal.
Overnight they have made short work of the diatoms and the tank is almost clear of them.
The black stuff is going to be more of a problem to get rid of, I think I may end up having to removing the shoots with it on.
Anyway, here's a few more pics .......
These pics show how the Utricularia graminifolia has developed :
23 Aug - 4 days after planting
03 Sept - with shrimp doing a clean up !
Note: The direction it is laying, is the same way as the direction of water flow around the tank.
03 Sept - Side view of tank:
And finally one of the Prosperpinaca palustris "Cuba", the leaves have started to take on more of a needle like shape and it is developing more of the copper colour. This was planted to complement the reddish colour of the bogwood. (Those shrimp get everywhere ! )
Cheers
Al
Graeme Edwards
Fishaholic
Prosperpinaca palustris "Cuba",
Nice plant, i had an idea a while back of having a cuban biotope with plants like HC and the above, really like it, the scape looks really good. Youve done well to keep controle of the algea not an easy thing to do in a new set up, i found that when adding live stock to my cube, where it was algae free, a phew dasy later and it showed up, something to think about.
R.
Graeme.
Nice plant, i had an idea a while back of having a cuban biotope with plants like HC and the above, really like it, the scape looks really good. Youve done well to keep controle of the algea not an easy thing to do in a new set up, i found that when adding live stock to my cube, where it was algae free, a phew dasy later and it showed up, something to think about.
R.
Graeme.
mikster
Fishaholic
loving the tank, i would love to do something like that one day, you can really see how its progesses through that series of pics.
nathan01
Fish Crazy
looks great hopefully im getting one silmilar to that one
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