My 40 Gallon

[zig]

Hey guys this is my 42 Us gallon tank, i have'nt had a lot of luck with this tank in the last couple of months, i had major lighting issues thanks to dodgy Interpet lighting products, anyway all has been resolved (eventually) and this is the latest reincarnation.

The shots are taken with a new camera of which i am not yet totally familar, hence the light burnout on some of the leaves etc, i just thought i would post them now as i will probably be making some changes in the next week or so to the tank, and keeping that in mind this version might not be around much longer.

The foreground is probably a bit fuller than it looks in the pics, again some camera burnout, but not yet totally covered with the Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC) i would say another 2 weeks will do the job.

The fish at the surface of the tank is just coincidental, i only noticed it as i went to post the pics, CO2 is usually kept at around 30-40ppm with no stress to the fish whatsoever.

Anyway let me know what you think, good bad or indifferent all opinions welcome, or if you have any questions fire away.

 

[riverman444]

Beautiful set-up. I like it.

What plant is that in the bottom.....carpet?

 

[guppy_man]

lucky fish looks great like that big piece of wood.
i dont think you should change it too much it looks really good

 

[TammyLiz]

Zig, I really like the left side. Are those pieces of driftwood attached to slate or are they just shoved down into the substrate to get them to stand up that way?
The curving line you have created with the hardscape and the stems is very nice. I would have been tempted to put something in the front left corner but leaving it empty gives it an even nicer look. It will look great once the HC fills in.
You said you were going to make some changes, are you planning on doing a complete redo or will some things stay the same? It looks nice now.

 

[YOYO]

The tank is looking great zig !!! What is that carpeting plant that you are using and where did you get it from ???

 

[TammyLiz]

The foreground is probably a bit fuller than it looks in the pics, again some camera burnout, but not yet totally covered with the Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC) i would say another 2 weeks will do the job.

Since two people have asked I thought I would point out that he did say what the foreground plant is. Its HC, short for Hemianthus callitrichoides. I have been thinking about trying this plant in my tank as well but am not sure how it will do without CO2, or where I would get it from...

 

[clareriley]

I love it

 

[zig]

Thanks for the comments folks!

The carpeting plant is indeed Hemianthus callitricoides or HC, thanks for pointing that out Tammyliz.

@Tammyliz.....the pieces of driftwood are attached to pieces of plastic and then pushed into the substrate, what i did was i got used 2 litre milk cartons and cut the bottoms off them as these are the strongest pieces where the thickest plastic is, i then cut them into squareish shapes about 3x4 inches for each piece jutting upward, i cut the pieces of driftwood at the bottom so they were level and pointing in the direction i wanted and then attached the plastic feet and buried them in the substrate and covered them with the gravel for stability, its amazing how effective it works, and also very simple to reposition them, it works very well.

I am also very tempted to put something into the left front corner coming right up to the glass, i cant decide, a low lying crypt may work, for the moment it is going to be HC, but this is one of the changes i may make. Im not planning on doing anything to radical just tweak it here and there, i may remove the Bocopa sp. from the front of the larger pieces of driftwood and move that plant more to the background. I think the main thing lacking is probably some colour, it will be a very green aquascape once the HC fills in.

@YOYO........got the HC in my local lfs, i only bought one tiny little pot, so when it totally carpets it will have gone far!

The HC does great even at low light levels, i was growing it at 1.4 WPG for a couple of weeks as my lighting was being resolved and it did really good, a lot better than i expected, but i was injecting CO2, i have no idea how the plant would cope or grow in low light without CO2, i would say it would grow but reaaal sloow as it grows slow anyway.

I will have some HC up for grabs when and if we get our swop section up and running.....so stay tuned in!

HAHA this is going to be a monster post if i dont stop blabbing on anyway here are the tank specs

-42 gallon AGA, 30x18x18 inches
-Custom stand and hood with 2x55watt PCs, 2xASL Daylight 7100k tubes, giving me 2.8 WPG, lighting duration of 10 hours per day
-filtration by Eheim classic 2215
-Pressurised CO2 @ 30-40ppm, CO2 diffusion is done directly into the filter intake
-Substrate, fine gravel of 1-3ml mixed with First layer laterite
-Fertilisation, EI method

Plants in the layout

Ludwigia arcuata
Microsorum "narrow"
Cryptocoryne x willisii "lucens"
Limnophila aromatica
Pogostemon stellata "broadleaf"
Bacopa sp.
Hemianthus callitricoides "Cuba"
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Cardamine lyrata
Eleocharis acicularis
Vesicularia dubyana

 

[lljdma06]

The tank looks great zig! I like the HC. I haven't seen that plant very much online, but I haven't really been looking. Might work well for me in subsequent set ups.

By the way, love you avitar caption. "Algae grower". I think not! That's my job!

llj

 

[pseud]

Looks nice. You're obviously excellent at keeping your plants in good health.

I've been looking into getting some crypts for my tank, and I think you've just given me the answer that I've been looking for. I don't generally like the look of crypts, but that one is sticking out to me. I must have one. Thanks... and again, your tank is looking real nice...

 

[Solomon]

Really nice tank Zig -like the way you've made use of the height of the tank.

Thanks for including your tank stats and water parameters etc. -as it helps people like me who are just starting out.

I really like the plant in the right foreground (tall and grassy). I know you've included the list of plant names in your post, but which one is this plant?


Looking forward to seeing what changes you're going to make.

Keep us posted.

 

[Jen]

Its beautiful. I really like the look of everything in the tank. What is the plant in the back left corner? It's gorgeous.

 

[George Farmer]

Is that it?

Only kidding mate. Looking very, very nice. I'm relieved your lighting seems finally sorted. The ASLs seem to give good colour rendition.

Nice photography too, should be even better once to sort the white balance etc. Does it have manual WB adjustment? I wish I spent a few more £ and got one with this and super-macro.

It'll look stunning when the HC fills. I can imagine it now, and when the narrow ferns dominates a little more it will improve even furthur.

Any plans for the woods on the left?

Couple of techie questions -

What micros are you dosing now (still CSM+B)? Recipe and qtys.
What ppm NO3 and PO4 are you dosing?

Are you sure that's Cardamine and not Hydrocotyle? The leaves look too big for Cardamine and it prefers cooler temps, (<24C).

Is that your permanent spray bar position or have you moved it for photo? Is the inlet in the same corner?

Is your CO2 going direct into filter now? Have you noticed any changes in ppm or growth issues?

That's enough for now!

Good job mate, keep the pics coming as it develops - are you making this a journal thread?

 

[zig]

Thanks for the kind words guys

@pseud........yes im getting slowly more into crypts, i like this one though, as it will fill a role as a midground plant it only grows (slowly) to a max of 25cms about 10 inches, good midground plants that dont grow to high or require little maintainence are hard to find.

@Solomon.....the grass type plant is Eleocharis acicularis, it grows quite tall so only suitable if you want that look, it will grow about 5-6 inches, it does well in low light as well with CO2 injection, a more compact version would be Eleocharis parvula, this only grows about 1-2 inches max.

@gf......yes the camera has manual overide and has about a 6-7 different options for WB adjustment......alls you have to do is pick the right one!......im still learning obviously. It has excellent macro as well.

I imagine the final layout as having a thick layer of HC growing up an inch or so up the wooden stumps in the foregroud, although i may soften these and add some Dwarf hairgrass at the base, i have some baby fern plantlets growing from the branches of main pieces of driftwood on the right hand side, cant see them from the pic, im not really sure to be honest, i may remove the Bacopa from the front of the main driftwood, this would really open that area up, but i would need to grow more HC or something else low lying, im undecided, im just going to play around with it. Behind the driftwood is a sword type plant, this was just put there in the grow out stage to provide some biomass, i forgot to remove it for the pic, its now in the compost heap, behind the driftwood i have a stem of Cyperus helferi, i have only a couple of small ones ATM but they should produce lots of runners and tower above the wood when they grow out. The plant is definatly Cardamine lyrata, it is a Tropica plant and i have the plastic stub from it (which proves nothing but im pretty sure it is what it says) my tank temprature is 25C.

Jeez so many questions George

Next....Dosing regime

Because my water here is very soft, low KH and GH, i have to buffer my water, and from a water report from my city council i know that i also lack magnesium, so i add at weekly water change time 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and 1 teaspoon of mgso4 (epsom salt)

I follow a fairly strict regime of classic EI dosing, all my ferts are mixed into a solution with the exception of the bicarb and the mgso4 which i dose dry.

I buffer my KH from 1.7 to 3 degrees this is sufficient IMO

Day 1 50% water change
Add 10ppm KNO3, 1 ppm PO4 (from Fleet enema) 25ml Kh2so4 (this gives me about 10ppm K or potassium) 5 grams or 1tsp mgso4, 1 tsp bicarb of soda.
Day 2 10ppm CSM+B
Day 3 10ppm KNO3 1ppm Po4
Day 4 10ppm CSM+B
Day 5 10ppm KNO3 1ppm Po4
Day 6 10ppm CSM+B
Day 7 Nothing

Pressurised CO2 kept at 30-40ppm going directly into the intake of the filter, ph with the CO2 injection is usually 6.2-6.4, i find the CO2 just takes longer to build up going directly into the intake, i switch it on about an hour and a half before lights on and this gives me the required ppm of CO2.

The recipe for the CSM+B is 29 grams per 500ml, so i usually make up 250ml at a time (running 2 tanks now) and add 14.5 grams mixed with 250ml of water. This lasts me about 6 weeks for both tanks.

The spraybar is in that position for quite a while now, it beats looking at it on the back wall of the tank, the heater and intake are on the same side just hidden by the wall in the back corner, dont forget this tank is in an alcove and you only see about half of the nearest side of the tank.

Have i forgotten anything?

@Jen.....The plant in the left hand corner is Pogostemon stellata "broadleaf", it suits that position quite well, i had this plant in other positions in different setups and it never looked quite right, its a bit of a weed really, grows quite quick and easy to propagate.

Thanks again guys hope that answers some questions, all critiques are still welcome good or bad.

 

[pseud]

Oh, by the way, can we get a full frontal? (of the tank!!!)