Moose's Beginner Planted Aquarium Log

[Moose]

Hi all,

After dabbling successfully in freshwater fish for some time and a brief unsuccessful stint with a marine / reef aquarium my wife and I have decided to create a planted aquarium. We've been very inspired by a beautiful planted aquarium at a local LFS (I'll try to get a picture of the tank) and then by many of the tanks here.


Tank ? 20 gal long (30 x 12 x 12in)

Filtration ? Fluval 104 canister filter (bio media and activated carbon)

Lighting ? 55 watt PC from ahsupply.com. 2.75 WPG. 5500K

CO2 ? None yet but expecting a Nutrafin kit in the mail any day.

Substrate ? Seachem Flourite with standard gravel on top.

Fertilisation ? None yet.

Water chemistry ? pH: 7.25, KH: 3 dH, GH: 0.5 dH, temp: 77 F

Maintenance ? Not yet

Fish ? None yet.

Plants ? Unsure see below.

Decor ? Unknown type of driftwood.

Additional comments ?

After being told it was unnecessary to pre-rinse the Flourite substrate I've been battling with cloudy water for 4 or 5 days now. Partial water changes have helped but it'll still take some time to clear up. When it clears up a bit I'll better arrange things.

I just added my first plants today. The LFS called them Japanese Fern and Sagitaria. If you can please help me identify the exact scientific names! Please bear with me on the cloudy pictures:

"Japanese Fern"??

"Sagataria"??

Overall setup (cloudy!!):

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Dubby]

Second pic looks like Vallisneria.

 

[Neal]

I back that up to, I also think it looks like vallisneria, ?gigantea? variety maybe. Also an update on your driftwood, I think it's bogwood although I may be wrong as it's not too easy to recognise with the cloudy water, but I reckon it is, and it's the most common wood sold (me thinks). Anyway, what are your plans for stocking this tank?

Neal

 

[Moose]

Thanks guys. I'll put new clearer pictures up once the cloudiness goes away.

We haven't decided on how we'll stock it yet. Right now I just want to see if I can keep a couple plants alive.

 

[Moose]

Did you mean the Variegated Japanese Rush (Acorus gramineus):

Looks like what I have is that.

This article also says Japanese Rush is not aquatic but there is a variety that is:

http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plan...apaneseRush.php

Anyone know the name of that?


Looks like I bought my plants from the wrong LFS. Fortunately I only bought a few.

 

[Neal]

No need to let them go to waste, put them in a pot and put it in your house, i'm sure it will look nice!
You could even keep it in your aquarium and let it grow above the water, it's up to you!

Neal

 

[crypt]

when i first saw the Sagittaria it looked like Sagittaria platyphylla to me as for the other plant could it not be Blyxa japonica

 

[Moose]

Thanks. Sounds like whether it Blyxa japonica or Acorus gramineus they're both difficult to keep. I'll get new pictures soon as I took care of the cloudiness problems.

But now I have a different problem. Without any fish I was getting nearly 1mg/l ammonia readings. I did some water changes and with no help and then decided to test the tap water and it reads nearly 1mg/l.

Could my test kit be bad or am I drinking bad water? It's a Tetra Laborette kit.

 

[Moose]

Oh, I just read that Chloramine is Chlorine + Ammonia. Probably why my tap water reads ammonia.

 

[Moose]

dup post.

 

[Moose]

Alright! The tank cleared up and I got a few more plants. They seem to be growing like mad.

I assume this is Rotala Green (Rotala rotundifolia):

Should I cut down the white root like things that hang down throughout the plant (those are what seem to be growing)?


I don't know what this one is:

The runners have grown from about 2 inches to 6 or 7 inches. Should I cut the runners and replant?


Also, I seem to have acquired two snails for free. Should I allow them to graze on the algae that is appearing or should I get rid of them before I have hundreds of them?

btw I don't think the grass like plant I have is Japonica Blyxa as I saw some in a store and it looked fairly different.

Thanks!!

 

[pseud]

^ Second pic is Tonina sp 'Belem'. Apparently a difficult plant to keep, but I don't have personal experience with it.

 

[lljdma06]

Pseud!!! You're alive! I thought you defected to saltwater already

Anyway, tonina was mentioned and I suddenly remembered this grassy looking tonina plant.

Found two species...
http/www.greenchapter.com/plant.php?id=194

and
http/www.greenchapter.com/plant.php?id=1...li=0&pname=#107

Ditto, FKNM, I thought Pseud was gone too! Hey Pseud!

Moose, I'm inclined to agree that the Japanese fern is a non-aquatic of some type. I'm impressed that you LFS sells tonina. Wish my LFS sold tonina . I'm also impressed that your flourite cleared so quickly, I had a 36g with flourite and it was cloudy for 3 weeks and never cleared. Can we get a full tank shot?

llj

 

[pseud]

hehehe, I'm still alive and still planted. I actually let my tank slide and didn't do much with it, can't convert to SW yet as I need to build a stand and don't have the funds for all the equipment yet, so gonna have to wait on that one. So, in the meantime I decided to rescape my tank. Anyway..

/hijack

 

[Moose]

I'm impressed that you LFS sells tonina. Wish my LFS sold tonina .

There's a store dedicated to planted aquaria (they sell a lot of ADA stuff) in downtown San Francisco called Aqua Forest Aquarium. Unfortunately it's a bit of a hike for me and it's a bit expensive. They have some nice display tanks though.

Here's some shots of some of the store tanks (for some reason I didn't get a shot of the tank containing labelled Torina -- but I do think Torina is correct):

(I believe that's java moss, hair grass. and the same Rotala that I have).

I'm also impressed that your flourite cleared so quickly, I had a 36g with flourite and it was cloudy for 3 weeks and never cleared. Can we get a full tank shot?

I had to completely drain my aquarium twice using a python vacuum hose to completely clear it.

I'll take another shot tonight. There were a lot of bubbles after a water change yesterday when I took the other pictures.