OP
OP
My 34G
- Thread starter George Farmer
- Start date
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Totally amazing gf225.
What has been the downsides to maintaining your setup e.g. certain plants did no grow to their potential etc. (if any) and what did you attribute these factors to.
P.S. I'm not putting your tank down or anything like that (far from it) I would just like to know about the pitfalls you've experienced in order to educate myself (& other forum users).
Totally amazing gf225.
What has been the downsides to maintaining your setup e.g. certain plants did no grow to their potential etc. (if any) and what did you attribute these factors to.
P.S. I'm not putting your tank down or anything like that (far from it) I would just like to know about the pitfalls you've experienced in order to educate myself (& other forum users).
One_Trick_Pony
Steals the show
gf225 what is the pink floating plant on the set up in you r sig, and how dd u get it to maintian its poisiton
OP
OP
George Farmer
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It's Rotala indica (or rotundafolia). It's not actually a floating plant but a stem plant that I've allowed to grow to the surface where it fills out real quick (more light and CO2 available). The same plant is now on the left behind the Limnophila aromatica. It will only go red in good light, I think iron helps the colour too.One_Trick_Pony said:
OP
OP
George Farmer
ad aqua
A quick biography of my tank.
I bought my tank 2 years ago and it started out very basic. I had no knowledge of plants and their requirements and my knowledge all things aquatic was very limited. Even my understanding of the Nitogen cycle was limited. Some examples of my ignorance included; cycling my tank with Cardinal Tetras even though my water was hard and alkali, buying non-aquatic plants and wondering why they wouldn't grow, stocking too heavily with fish resulting in constant white-spot in my Rams of which I had 8 (also kept in alkali water!) Eventually I had limited success with some true aqautic plants (bought by more luck than judgement) i.e. Hygrophila polysperma, Ludwigia sp. and Limnophila sessiflora (small Ambulia) even with my somewhat pathetic 0.8 Watts per Gallon with no reflectors. However, the overstocking took its toll and I got a massive outbreak of all kinds of algae including Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Slime Algae) which smothered everything.
This event gave me the motivation to do things properly. I wanted a decent, healthy planted tank so I began my research. I subscribed to Practical Fishkeeping magazine, read countless articles on the net, bought various books and signed up on various forums (including this one). I decided that from a practical point of view, the best thing to do was to start from scratch. I gave my Rams away to a better home and housed my other fish in temporary accomodation. I threw away all my plants and sterilised my substrate and tank which was full of foul smelling substances, a consequence of anerobic bacteria producing toxic gases (hydrgen sulphide). I mixed in a load of API First-Layer Pure Laterite with my now clean gravel and installed a heater-cable. I bought an additional filter, a Fluval 204 external to supplement my Juwel internal. Inside the Fluval I placed a 250ml bag of RowaPhos to keep Phosphates down as my tap water contains over 5 mg/l - a level certain to trigger algae infestations. I bought some reflectors and full-spectrum tubes. I then began to plant heavily with fast-growers and stcked with a load of Otos to keep down algae. I also stared using RO Water mixed with tap to keep the water soft and acidic, ideal for my fish and most plants.
Things went well for a while, I was having success with most species of plants. I only bought easy plants though and I became eager to improve things. I increased my lighting by adding more tubes and injected CO2 to keep things balanced. I started to fertilise regularly and things really took off.
The vast majority of plants that I have a tried have grown well. This is probably due to me buying easy, hardy plants though. Exceptions are Cardamine lyrata which lasted a few months but started to become weak, I assume due the warmer temps. (it prefers 22C or below). I had limited success with Echinodorus tennelus (Dwarf chain-sword or Microsword) but this eventually became covered in green algae and it stopped growing well. I couldn't grow Lobelia cardinalis or Small Helsine for some reason. My biggest success stories are my big Amazon Swords in the background (Echinodorus blehri), they are almost as old as the tank and are still producing about 10 new leaves a week. My new Limnophila aromatica is doing well too, it is the most demanding plant I have owned and has had to adapt from being grown emerged (above water).
I would recommend planting heavily with easy plants to create a balance, then replace with more demanding plants gradually. Mixing species shouldn't be a problem if the water is changed regularly, diluting any alleochemicals (produced by plants to out-compete one another).
I would say that the biggest hardship is keeping up with the maintenance. I now spend about 2 to 4 hours a week in pruning, preparing new water, fertilising etc. cleaning filters, reflectors, tubes, etc. I could probably get away with doing a lot less but I am a perfectionist.
I bought my tank 2 years ago and it started out very basic. I had no knowledge of plants and their requirements and my knowledge all things aquatic was very limited. Even my understanding of the Nitogen cycle was limited. Some examples of my ignorance included; cycling my tank with Cardinal Tetras even though my water was hard and alkali, buying non-aquatic plants and wondering why they wouldn't grow, stocking too heavily with fish resulting in constant white-spot in my Rams of which I had 8 (also kept in alkali water!) Eventually I had limited success with some true aqautic plants (bought by more luck than judgement) i.e. Hygrophila polysperma, Ludwigia sp. and Limnophila sessiflora (small Ambulia) even with my somewhat pathetic 0.8 Watts per Gallon with no reflectors. However, the overstocking took its toll and I got a massive outbreak of all kinds of algae including Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Slime Algae) which smothered everything.
This event gave me the motivation to do things properly. I wanted a decent, healthy planted tank so I began my research. I subscribed to Practical Fishkeeping magazine, read countless articles on the net, bought various books and signed up on various forums (including this one). I decided that from a practical point of view, the best thing to do was to start from scratch. I gave my Rams away to a better home and housed my other fish in temporary accomodation. I threw away all my plants and sterilised my substrate and tank which was full of foul smelling substances, a consequence of anerobic bacteria producing toxic gases (hydrgen sulphide). I mixed in a load of API First-Layer Pure Laterite with my now clean gravel and installed a heater-cable. I bought an additional filter, a Fluval 204 external to supplement my Juwel internal. Inside the Fluval I placed a 250ml bag of RowaPhos to keep Phosphates down as my tap water contains over 5 mg/l - a level certain to trigger algae infestations. I bought some reflectors and full-spectrum tubes. I then began to plant heavily with fast-growers and stcked with a load of Otos to keep down algae. I also stared using RO Water mixed with tap to keep the water soft and acidic, ideal for my fish and most plants.
Things went well for a while, I was having success with most species of plants. I only bought easy plants though and I became eager to improve things. I increased my lighting by adding more tubes and injected CO2 to keep things balanced. I started to fertilise regularly and things really took off.
The vast majority of plants that I have a tried have grown well. This is probably due to me buying easy, hardy plants though. Exceptions are Cardamine lyrata which lasted a few months but started to become weak, I assume due the warmer temps. (it prefers 22C or below). I had limited success with Echinodorus tennelus (Dwarf chain-sword or Microsword) but this eventually became covered in green algae and it stopped growing well. I couldn't grow Lobelia cardinalis or Small Helsine for some reason. My biggest success stories are my big Amazon Swords in the background (Echinodorus blehri), they are almost as old as the tank and are still producing about 10 new leaves a week. My new Limnophila aromatica is doing well too, it is the most demanding plant I have owned and has had to adapt from being grown emerged (above water).
I would recommend planting heavily with easy plants to create a balance, then replace with more demanding plants gradually. Mixing species shouldn't be a problem if the water is changed regularly, diluting any alleochemicals (produced by plants to out-compete one another).
I would say that the biggest hardship is keeping up with the maintenance. I now spend about 2 to 4 hours a week in pruning, preparing new water, fertilising etc. cleaning filters, reflectors, tubes, etc. I could probably get away with doing a lot less but I am a perfectionist.
kenneth_kpe
Lider op da pises.
yup! still amazing to look at
jimbooo
James flexton
thanks gf225, i'm at the "give up and start again" stage with my rekord 60.
fingers crossed.
fingers crossed.
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