Modernhamlet's 40g High-tech Planted Journal

[modernhamlet]

This thread will serve as the aqua-journal for a 40 gallon high-tech planted tank now residing in my dining room. The initial goal is a nature aquarium influenced triangular layout inspired by the seacoast of the Pacific Northwest US.

I will describe the process and add specific plant and fish pictures in subsequent posts. This first post will be reserved for and updated with new full tank shots as they are available.

Day 1 (11/7/05): Plants more or less dumped in. Hygro and Indian fern up front for initial algae fighting. No real aquascaping yet. Note the xmas moss stuck behind the filter intake.

Day 8 (11/14/05): Ugly pic from before all the new editions. It's already time for a cleaning crew.

Day 14 (11/20/05): Still needs more work, but improvement. Stabilization is in sight...

Day 21 (11/27/05): Finally, something almost resembling an aquascape. Algae is still an on and off problem and the fert schedule still isn't quite figured out, but I can finally see what I'm going for.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Luke_e]

That subtrate is to die for. What is it? Gravel, black gravel, black sand?
I love the stringy plant in the center, really nice.

 

[modernhamlet]

The hardware for this setup was accumulated over a period of several months and consists of the following:

Tank: AGA 40 gallon breeder (36”x18”x16”)
Stand: AGA black pine stand
Filtration: RENA Filstar XP 2 Canister
Heater: 200W Hydor ETH 201 In-Line Heater
Lighting: 4x39W 36” Current Nova Extreme HO T5 Fixture, 2 x 6,500K, 2 x 10,000K bulbs
Co2:Milwaukee “Top Gun” regulator and SMS122 pH controller on 5lb canister, Aqua-Medic 1000 inline reactor
Substrate: 80lbs. Eco-Complete over handful of peat

I finally got everything setup and running just in time for the Boston Aquarium Society’s annual auction on Sunday November 6th. Here are a few preliminary setup pictures:

Tank in place between bookshelves. Mister is already curious about some "new friends" for him...

You can see the lights from the dining room window down the block

Behind the cabinet: Trying to keep all the wires and timers under control

Under the cabinet (from left to right): XP2 filter, inline co2 reacter, co2 canister and regulator, and pH meter

 

[pseud]

Looks good so far. Only thing I'd recommend is putting more substrate toward the back and having more of a slope. Hard to tell how much of a gradient there is in the pic, but it looks kinda flat. I wish I'd done this in my tank, and now it's kinda too late to remedy it.

Hardscape placement looks good though!

 

[modernhamlet]

The auction was a lot of fun and I managed to pick up a number of plants I was looking for, as well as a few fish that I wasn’t.

Temporary nitrate sinks:
Hygrophila sp.
Ceratopteris thalictroides (Indian Fern)

Possible long-term inhabitants:
Echinodorus tenellus "broadleaf"
Sagitaria subulata (dwarf hair grass)
Christmas tree moss
Eriocaulon setaceum
Eichhornia diversifolia
Rotala indica
Limnobium spongia (frogbit)

There are a couple of plants that need identifying though. Any help?

"South American floating water fern"

Tonina sp. (possibly Belem?)

Because I couldn’t pass up the opportunity, I also picked up a breeding pair of Apistogramma cacatuoides “Triple Red”. The boy has been quite timid for the first few days, but does flare up for me now and again. On the other hand, the girl is quite the adventurer and seems to enjoy investigating whenever I work on the plants. Both look quite healthy and have really wonderful coloration. I'll get some better pics of them when they're ready to pose, but here's a peek...

Other possible future tankmates include:
Hemigrammus bleheri (rummynose tetra)
Inpaichthys kerri (blue emperor tetra)
Pencilfish (undecided species)
Otocinclus vittatus (otos)

Next: Ferts...


I started fertilizing on Day 1 using the Estimative Index. Due to some unusual tapwater parameters, I am considering a change to PPS (http/www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=4241). This would require far fewer and less large water changes.

In the meantime, here is the fert schedule for Week 1

KNO3: 1tsp/week = 21ppm NO3, 14ppm K
KH2PO4: .075tsp/week = 2ppm PO4
MgSO4: 1tsp/week = 3.15ppm Mg
Traces (Plantex CSM+B Plus Extra Iron): .1tsp/week = .11ppm

Macros on Day 1,3,5,7
Micros on Day 2,4,6

I will stick with this schedule (with minor adjustments) for now until I convince myself PPS is worth it and get a Ca test kit. More on this to come.

Both the Hygrophila and Indian Fern were pearling on Day 2. Even better, the Tonina sp., Eriocaulon setaceum, and Eichhornia diversifolia all look to be in pretty good shape, though the diversifolia has a lot of black algae on its lower leaves from before I purchased it. The tops are looking very green though.

My only worry at the moment is actually the wood, which has a lot of fungus or something similar growing on it. It’s coming out soon soo I can attach the xmas moss, so I’ll give it a good cleaning then.

That’s all for now. Hopefully that’s not too much info for everyone! Thanks for reading…

 

[modernhamlet]

That subtrate is to die for. What is it? Gravel, black gravel, black sand?
I love the stringy plant in the center, really nice.

That's Eco-Complete. Expensive stuff, but it's supposed to be great for plants. And yes, it does look cool.

Looks good so far. Only thing I'd recommend is putting more substrate toward the back and having more of a slope. Hard to tell how much of a gradient there is in the pic, but it looks kinda flat. I wish I'd done this in my tank, and now it's kinda too late to remedy it.

Hardscape placement looks good though!

The slope is kinda hard to see from the pics, sorry. it goes from about 1" in the front right corner to 4" in the back left, on an angle. The left front and back right are probably about 2.5" deep.

I hope that once I get the forground plant (anyone got any HC?), finish aquascaping, and do a bit of sculpting it will start looking better.

Thanks guys!

 

[Dubby]

Its looking good. Should look even better when you have done the aquascaping.

 

[zig]

Looking good MH very nice setup, you have done quite a bit of homework which i am sure will pay dividends, just a couple of things you seem to have an awful lot of bio balls in the reactor this will really cut down on the flow of the filter (although i havent a clue of the flow rating of the Filstar) also good luck with the Tonina i believe they are a difficult plant and dont be surprised if you have problems with it, other than that its looking great i will watch your progress with interest (especially if you decide to go with PPS)

 

[modernhamlet]

Looking good MH very nice setup, you have done quite a bit of homework which i am sure will pay dividends, just a couple of things you seem to have an awful lot of bio balls in the reactor this will really cut down on the flow of the filter (although i havent a clue of the flow rating of the Filstar) also good luck with the Tonina i believe they are a difficult plant and dont be surprised if you have problems with it, other than that its looking great i will watch your progress with interest (especially if you decide to go with PPS)

The reactor is actually an hermetically sealed commercial reactor (let's just say the DIY project didn't go so well for me ) ...) so there's no real control over the contents. I completely understand your concern though. You'd probably be double concerned knowing there's an inline heater even further along the output. Lots of impedence.

I did take this into account though in buying the XP2. At 300 gph, it still puts out a good current via a vertical spraybar. It causes a really cool wave effect in that crazy floating fern that I can't ID.

The Tonina are going to be interesting. I really kinda lucked into them at the auction, getting them in a batch with the Eriocaulon setaceum and the Eichhornia diversifolia for $10. All three of these plants are in the "difficult" to "very difficult" range, so I certainly have a realistic outlook. If I can get even one of these species to do well, I'll be pretty happy.

 

[Griz]

Looking great! I'll be following your progress with interest.

Cheers

 

[George Farmer]

Another great potential tank, or is that potentially great tank?

I'm very impressed MH. You should definitely reap the rewards or your hard work, research and planning. I look forward to seeing the developments.

 

[modernhamlet]

Just 'cause he's so darn cute...

The girl is coloring up already, btw.

 

[modernhamlet]

(Not so good) Tank pic update above.

Yesterday, I picked up a whole bunch of new plants that I won in an aquabid auction. Turns out the guy was a BAS member and almost refused to take any payment for a great looking group of plants. In the end he sent me home with several extra plants, including some HC. Thanks, Christopher!

Eichhornia diversifolia
Dark (almost black) leaves, but strong stems. I hope it will recover. I now have enough stems (7) to really work this into the aquascape if I can keep them alive. This is one of my favorite plants so far.

Ludwigia arcuata
A very fine-leafed and very red plant. A lot of bent stems, but I think this was due to the seller's unusually short setup. Should make an excellent stem plant for the left corner.

Ranunculus papulentus
This little plant looks like a palm tree, so I'm not sure it really belongs in the aquascape. However, it is my girlfriend’s favorite so far, so it stays for now. I cut the runners and planted in two groups behind the main wood piece.

Hemianthus callitrichoides
Small, weak patch, but I don't care. It's HC. This is the foreground plant I wanted, bar none. It’s floating with the fern at the moment. I’ll try to plant with some small tweezers tonight.

Christmas moss
So this is what Xmas moss looks like! The thought had occurred to me, but this confirmed without a doubt what I purchased as xmas moss at the auction was just java moss. I’ll replace the java with the xmas on the main log in the next few days

Weeping moss
Chris threw this in just because. Very different from the xmas moss. I put it on the seaward wood. Very interested to see how it turns out, especially in contrast with the xmas moss on the other wood.

Echinodorus tenellus "micro leaf"
Several small, but healthy plants with numerous runners. Planted them in front of the “broad leaf” for now.

Eleocharis parvula
Dwarf hairgrass, small, good batch. Just plunked it in the foreground for now. Don't know if I'm keeping it or what...

Rotala rotundifolia “green”
Weird growth, almost rhizome-like. I’ve read reports it has trouble growing straight up in bright light, which would explain the strange shape of the plants I got. I planted some back behind the log. If I can get it to grow UP, it should provide excellent green contrast with the red and pink stem plants.

Monosolenium tenerum
This was another random add-on. It’s in the 2.5 fry tank with the Xmas moss for the moment. Not sure if I want it or not. Strange stuff!


Given the stupidly large number of species I now have in this tank, I may have some good imput into this thread soon.

Pics of the redone tank and new plants to come, but for now here's a good shot of the Ceratopteris pteridoides above the water.

 

[zig]

Well im pretty jealous at the choice of plants you have thats for sure............probably to late but if you only have a small piece of HC it might be better to float it for a couple of weeks, it will grow much quicker, some might float to the surface anyway after being planted, it can be difficult to keep down especially with inquisitive fish hanging around.

 

[modernhamlet]

Well im pretty jealous at the choice of plants you have thats for sure............probably to late but if you only have a small piece of HC it might be better to float it for a couple of weeks, it will grow much quicker, some might float to the surface anyway after being planted, it can be difficult to keep down especially with inquisitive fish hanging around.

Perfect! I didnt get a chance to plant it tonight. I'll just leave it to hang out with the floating plants for a week or so...

Thanks, zig!