My New Aquarium

[don_kihotis]

Hi guys, i have been a tropical fish enthusiast for 25 years now. I have had various freshwater tanks in the past but now i went a step further and decided to set up a planted tank.
 
My previous tank (Pearl 80 by AquaEL) had a linking problem so i ordered a custom made one from a local shop. The dimensions are 100x43x45. I asked him to make a filter across the back of the tank. It's an old school filter which works with the principal of communicative vessels. After trying several filters like external, submersible, a combination etc I found this to be the best filter to achieve crystal clear water and easy to maintain.
 
Another innovation i did with this tank was to skip the use of a lid and change the use of fluorescent lights with LED ones.
Features of the light set as given by the factory: 
 
• Dimensions 34.5" x 5" x 1" (Add 0.65" in height with bracket installed)
• Includes LED x 66
• 2890 Lumen
• Super Energy efficient 0.50watt LEDs output
• 66 x 6500k LEDs
• 2 x on/off function for day and night use (Lunar mode)
• Extend up to 40" in length with bracket installed
• Splash guard
• Non-corrosive powder coated aluminum housing
• Low heat operation
 
Since i wanted to have a terrain full of Eleocharis grass the gravel was not of importance thus i just added plenty of JBL's Manado.
I tried to keep the set up as minimal as possible so i just added 2 big rocks for the right side and a driftwood on the left. I placed 2 Hemianthus on the driftwood to make it look like a tree and added a few more plants here and there.
 
I will post photos to show the on going progress.
 
Any comments are welcomed.
Cheers
 
 
 

 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Very nice, unusual to see the inner workings of filter from inside the tank, novel idea!
 
Tank will look great once the plants grow out.

 

[don_kihotis]

Hi Charlie, thanks for the comments.
It's nice and weird at the same time Lol
I am thinkng either to cover it with a black plexiglass or place tall plants at the back.
The bacopa and ludwigia are growing very fast but the Eleocharis is not spreading. Do i need more Co2? Currently i am injecting 3 bubbles per second but i don't see those oxygen pearls on the plants.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Does not say what the wattage per led or par/pur readings are for the led lights.
 
Nice idea to get a piece of black plexiglass/perspex to fit at the back of tank if you no longer want to see the inner workings of the filter.
 
Bacopa and ludwigia do pretty well in this type of set up and at these temps, assuming around 24/25C - 75/77F.
 
Elocharis are more cold water plants, grow faster in cooler waters, if water temps too high, they may melt. Otherwise they do absorb a lot of nutrients from the water column, do you add any ferts?
 
3 bps co2 sounds quite high to me, can see you have a drop checker in the tank, what colour is this at?
Generally, a decent idea is to move the drop checker to different positions to see if the co2 / drop checker colour is the same in all areas of the tank, this helps you to see if flow is even throughout imo.

 

[don_kihotis]

Thanks for the reply Charlie.
The lights are 0.5Watt so 66 LED lamps x 0.50 it gives me 33Watt in total. I have read here in other threads that the recommended is 1 Watt per gallon. There are 132 litters in my tank without the filter which converts to 35 gallons so i'm covered in that aspect.
Regarding the Co2, i placed the diffuser in the last compartment of the filter exactly under the power head so when it sucks the water and sends it back in the tank the Co2 is spread throughout the tank. Ok not all corners get the same flow and Co2 but i think it's sufficient. The Hemianthus are placed on the driftwood so they are higher and hold a better and more beneficial position but they don't have oxygen bubbles either. At first they did but now not.
I used to add the Sera Florena (https/www.sera.de/en/products/in_category/universal-fertilizer-369/product/sera-florena.html) but i read in Tropica's website that it's better to add fertilizers after the 3rd week otherwise algae will occure.

 

[don_kihotis]

Sorry i forgot to mention the temperature which you assumed correctly that is 25C.

The drop checker gets a nice lime green color which means the Co2 level is perfect. But i will try your suggestion and place it temporarily on the other side of the tank. Good idea, thanks.

 

[Zikofski]

wow very nice tank there, i do love the look of the inners to the filter but will start to look ugly once that floss goes black i think what plant do you have going on the wood? love the look of that

 

[don_kihotis]

Hi mate, thanks for the comments.
I clean the floss once a week so they never look dirty. I have added a black sponge in the compartment before the floss to capture the large pieces of waste and keep the floss untouched as it's difficult to pick the waste piece by piece from there. I am also planning to replace the first piece of floss with that light blue sponge in order to combine all kinds of sponges (thickness wise). 
 
Regarding the plan you asked: I tied 2 Hemianthus Callitrichoides [SIZE=large]on the driftwood to create a small tree. I got the idea from a video at youtube. Check the photos above and compare how it looked before the Amano and how it looks now 

[/SIZE][SIZE=large] [/SIZE]
 
I cannot make an individual post adding and describing each group of pictures as the software keeps merging the consecutive posts, therefore i will upload the photos all together.
 
Photo #1. How the tank looks today after 3 weeks.
Photos # 2, 3 & 4: My Cryptocoryne plant which we were discussing the other day. Check the holes from the shrimps.
Photos #5, 6 &7: How poor Hemianthus looks today.
Photos #8, 9 & 10: Bacopa and Ludwigia. These are the only ones that do well in my tank.
Photos #11 & 12: This is how i spread the Co2 in the tank. I have placed the diffuser under the power head so when it sucks the water and sends it in the tank it also spreads the Co2 with it. Is it a good idea or?

 

[LyraGuppi]

Lurvley.

 

[don_kihotis]

Lurvley.

 
 
 
Thanks

 

[shoulders]

nice looking tank but is there a reason you have your thermometer stuck in the substrate ?

 

[don_kihotis]

nice looking tank but is there a reason you have your thermometer stuck in the substrate ?

 
Hi shoulders, thanks.
Actually is the only way to keep it up standing. When i use the sucker to stick it on the glass it keeps falling.

 

[shoulders]

thought so i have the same one and its always sliding down the glass and sticking in the gravel

 

[don_kihotis]

thought so i have the same one and its always sliding down the glass and sticking in the gravel

 
It's the typical problem with suckers. After some time the rubber gets hard and it looses it's flexibility.