90L Dirted Planted Tank

[MattW35 151]

Just read through your whole journey and your tank has come a long way! It's amazing how much it's grown in. The algae looks like black beard algae - it's stubborn but not as annoying as hair algae.

Also it sucks that your plants are stuck in the mail. I hate it when that happens.

It looks awesome - keep it up.

Been a lot of ups and downs with this tank since its set up. It is annoying, one of the plants I got was a more uncommon species which I've been wanting to keep for a while. Only found it available on eBay but yeah the delivery is a bummer. Thanks! I like your 40G Breeder. I've wanted to try a "blackwater-style" aquarium for a while but don't have the space for one atm.

 

[The Aquarium Home]

Been a lot of ups and downs with this tank since its set up. It is annoying, one of the plants I got was a more uncommon species which I've been wanting to keep for a while. Only found it available on eBay but yeah the delivery is a bummer. Thanks! I like your 40G Breeder. I've wanted to try a "blackwater-style" aquarium for a while but don't have the space for one atm.

I had the same issue - I had like 6 tanks at one point and decided to combine all the wood and plants into one. And the blackwater tank was born

 

[CassCats11 1]

To me looks more like staghorn algae. Blackbeard tends to be more straight and silky

 

[Sparx]

Background Changes​

I thought I'd change up the background on this tank to black. It looks a lot better than when it had a frost background IMO. In person, this tank looks a lot better now since the internal filter got ditched, and the duckweed got removed. My eBay order of new stem plants didn't arrive on Saturday, a day after it was due. So Tuesday is the next available day as it's a bank holiday weekend. Expecting half-dead plants . I would like to achieve a dense bushy group of stems along the left of the back wall to get the intended look I was after when I set up this tank.

Quick question to algae experts, What sort of algae is on the Crinum in the second picture? I've been dealing with it for months and started to give up manually removing it. It has gone away naturally before then it came back a few times.
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The black background looks so much better Matt! Makes such a difference

 

[MattW35 151]

Return of the Staghorn​

So since the last update plant growth has been very good, the Tiger lotus is growing really well, and there must be at least 3 separate plants now. The original bulb still hasn't put out any roots which is a shame but I'm thinking of plonking it in the 60L to see if it will finally sprout. The Siamensis 53B on the right side has now breached the water's surface and started growing emersed leafs which I'm just going to leave for now. I have trimmed the roots of the frogbit as they were about an inch from the substrate, the cryptocoryne undulatus runner on the bottom right is now almost as big as its adult plant. I had been tempted to remove it so the plants behind it could be seen but I might just leave it and see what happens. I've recently added two new plants to the back left Rotala Nanjenshan and Bacopa Caroliniana. I did have a rarer species of hygrohplia on order that never arrived so those two were its replacement and so far are doing ok. Surprisingly the Monte Carlo a plant I'm famously bad at growing is slowly spreading , In old scapes that even had C02 injection it always melted back but not in this tank. Now onto the algae.. Staghorn has definitely returned.. mainly on the Siamensis 53B. I think the lack of flow on the right side may be the cause, so I added in a airstone connected to a very loud battery-powered air pump that I have turned on for around 2 hours a day hoping that it will impact the Staghorn growth. Ive pretty much given up on the suspected BBA as I cause more damage to the plants by removing it . Cyanobacteria is still growing rampent in the substrate and front of the aquarium which I manually remove as much as possible every water change, same with thread algae.

 

[MattW35 151]

Sponge filter​

I've not done much maintainence to this tank recently only just did a WC for the first time in 2 weeks . I decided to ditch the bubbler and went for a giant sponge filter instead. Its powered by the smallest and quietest air pump I've ever owned . It's in the back right corner next to the heater and is pretty much invisible! The Bolbitis covers it well and the amano shrimp have made it their no.1 place of refuge. I found another dead RCS which is a shame. Nothing ever came of that one berried shrimp sadly, so my RCS colony is slowly shrinking.. I did a large cleanup of thread algae and cyanobacteria before. It's gotten really bad even for my standards of a "planted tank". The next step for this tank will be a large trimming in a months time and perhaps adding some more crypts to the foreground area.

 

[MattW35 151]

Return of the fern​

I've been chopping and changing around plants quite a bit recently. I know that's the last thing a "dirted" tank needs but a large die-off of stems occurred at the back left side. Which I'm assuming was emersed plants failing to form into submerged form and a lack of light as the roots of the peace lily and pothos cover that area. So I decided to add in some low light epiphytes a single Anubias barteri caladiifolia and a Microsorum pteropus Minor. This is the 3rd Java fern that has been in this tank and so far is doing better than the last two. The Siamensis 53b that was on the right side was cut back as it became a stick with a few leaves on top and what leaves that did remain were covered in staghorn algae Limnophila sessiliflora ambulia has taken its place and is growing very quickly. I also added some stems of Hygrophila Corymbosa to the far left which can't be seen due to the mass of Polysperma in front of it. Fish are doing very well and have taken a liking to Fluval bug bites even the shrimp too.

A few shots of the tank

The smallest male from the breeding group. Highly likely this fish contracted fish TB when in the fry development stage

 

[MattW35 151]

Red Lotus pad​

For the first time, the red lotus finally breached the water's surface. I've had this plant since the start of this tank back in Jan/Feb this year and it never made it to the full height of the surface until now! I'll probably keep it for a couple of weeks then trim it off so it doesn't begin only to produce surface leaves. I also removed the peace lily as the roots became a bit too much and replaced it with emersed Hemigraphis repanda. After removal, I saw that it grew 2 new plants which is probably the cause of me not being able to shut the lid fully. The roots were about 25cm+ long and had completely absorbed the terracotta rings I first used to weigh the plant down. I have planted the peace lily into a large pot with a thick cap of Leca clay balls to stop fungus gnat breeding. I only water my house plants from the bottom now and have seen a decrease in gnat numbers (fly traps also help ). Hopefully, it will transition back into its more soil-based environment decently well.

 

[MattW35 151]

Big Stem Trim​

I left this tank a bit too long to grow . The majority of quick-growing stems were at the water's surface and newer growth at the bottom of the tank became stunted due to the lack of lighting. The Rotala rotundifolia had become swamped in cyanobacteria and thread algae so I hacked it down to around 1-2 inch tall stems. The Limnophila sessiliflora had consumed the plant weights they were in to a ball of roots so I thinned them out and removed any roots that had grown into the substrate. The Val has been doing very well with runners popping up everywhere which I am leaving alone. I removed the hygrophila corymbosa compact as it started to become leggy. I added in my Anubias barteri Coffeefolia from my old 60L paludarium into the hygrophila's place. I'm hoping the Rotala will bounce back as it hasn't been doing very well recently which I assume is down to the algae it was being absorbed by. A nice pop of red on that right side is needed IMO which the Rotala can achieve if it grows .

An update on the stocking the 5 remaining RCS are now in my 60L and one amano shrimp from my old 60L scape is now in this tank. I found a dead female Sawbwa a few weeks back being consumed by the frogbit roots so that takes me down to 10 fish, 5 male 5 female.

Before

After

 

[MattW35 151]

A tank of two halves​

There's been a few changes (again) since the last post. Firstly the look of the tank above the water level was starting to become unsightly IMO. So I added a fake rim to hide the polycarbonate lid. I had some spare black window film from when I changed the background. I cut two lengths for the front and right side as the left is not a viewable side when looking at this tank. Next, I had to do another trim as thread algae spread quickly throughout the recovering Rotala, which I had trimmed a while back. So now the tank is in two halves. The left is the ideal look I'm after, dense plant growth with hiding areas and the occasional gap where the Sawbwa can be spotted. In contrast, the right side is a baron wasteland. I did add some H.polysperma 'Rosanervig' into the back right corner as an attempt to create more height and partly cover the sponge filter when it grows in. But at the moment the right side is an eyesore. As for the stocking, no new issues have occurred so far. The Amano that I added from my old 60L Paludarium is loving life in here. The sponge filter has become the current hotspot for the shrimp & snails. I also removed the frogbit as the roots started to become intertwined with the Crinium which made the entire right side become blocked from light leading to some die-off of Monte Carlo and S.repens. I don't have this issue with the water lettuce so I'm letting it spread and mix in with the L.sessiliflora as the stems reach across most of the tank now on that left side. I'm dosing API leaf zone now (3-6ml) as it is giving better results than the other fertilizer I had.

Three male Sawbwa sparring over a female

 

[MattW35 151]

Jungle Look​

Since the last post on December 4th, I've barely touched this tank, trimming only some old lotus leaves and adding some new stems. Water changes have also barely happened. In the last 23 days, I've done a single 10L water change (today) with one or two 3L top-ups to counter evaporation. I've seen no issues or problems occur and the fish are doing very well. I did originally reduce the lighting intensity to 21% but recently put it back up to 30%. I am still dosing API leaf zone but have now done it to a minimum of 6ml a week as this tank contains a lot of fast-growing plants & algae. This dosage is still well under what is recommended for this size of tank. Recently I did a head count to find 11 fish.. A 6th female has appeared somehow. I can only guess that It was born in this tank as I've not added anything since the group of amanos a while back.

Now onto the look of the tank I'm still impatiently waiting for that right side to grow in. It seems the H.polysperma 'Rosanervig' is a much slower grower than the regular H.polysperma. I did put the Java fern behind it ontop of the sponge filter to give it access to more light. As for the L.sessiliflora I've just let it grow and do its own thing. It now controls most of the water's surface along with the water lettuce and red lotus.

Before WC

After WC

Some more photos of the tank

Water's surface

Red lotus pad

Anubias & Algae bunch

Amano shrimp

Sawbwa resplendens

 

[noahm]

While not advocating for minimal water changes, it does show how much more forgiving a well-balanced tank is. Tank looks great.

 

[gwand35 152]

Is the dense plant growth controlling nitrate levels?

 

[MattW35 151]

While not advocating for minimal water changes, it does show how much more forgiving a well-balanced tank is. Tank looks great.

It will be 1 year old in late January. I like to think a mature tank is usually around the 6-month mark. However, I believe the plants are the biggest contributor to having an aquarium that requires little involvement. The use of quick-growing aquatic plants + plants such as pothos in a low-stocking aquarium is a perfect combo for a healthy aquarium IMO. I do think I could add a few more fish and see little difference in parameters but that will probably not happen any time soon.

Is the dense plant growth controlling nitrate levels?

I will admit I haven't done a liquid test in a long while. I shall get some results later

 

[MattW35 151]

Results are in

I will admit I thought the Nitrate would have been lower. But at least it's not dangerously high levels. I make it out to be between 10-15ppm?