Old Time Riverman

[BigC]

Most of the obscure species my LFS will never see, so ordering on-line before from Birstall, I will go down that road again as they were well supplied and the plants were in tip top condition when they arrived at my door.
I dont mind paying a little extra for healthy specimens, I have ordered stem from other various places and to be honest they were really stringy and damaged...not what I like to see. I want my plants to arrive all at the same time and get them all into the aquarium in one go, if humanly possible.
As for the die-back issues you have mentioned, I'm already aware of this as most plants today are grown with only their feet in water akin to hydroponics, but this information is excellent for anyone preparing a planted aquarium for the first time to make them aware that not to throw this dishevelled foliage away as it may well return to it's former glory and then some when it becomes to it's new growing conditions.
Liz - Can you give me some indication of how many of each plant will I need to establish my planting plan.
Regards
C

 

[lljdma06]

You're tank is appoximately the same size as mind Depends on how much dividing you want to do. A big crypt will have a bunch of daughter plants, which can be split replanted. I'll need Ian to check this because I don't know how much UK plants sites have per plant. If this were my tank, here's what I'd order based on what typically arrives in US planted websites in each bunch or pot.

Vallis - If potted, like 2-3 pots, if in bunches of 10, like 2
Moss - I don't know how big your wood is or how much you are looking to cover
Anubias - 3-5 plants
H. zosterfolia - 2 bunches at the most, or two pots
H. polysperma - 2-3 pots or bunches
C. wendtii (brown) - 2 large plants, split them
C. wendtii (green) - 3 large plants, split them
P. helferi - 2-3 pots or bunches
E. acicularis - 1 pot, this can be split
dwarf hairgrass - 3-4 pots, again you're going to split this...

Now, I don't know how anal you are. I can guess based on your journal... If you are as anal as I am. split for the hairgrass means like 3-5 grass leaves per split. This is very tedious, but boy do you get nice spread when it fills in. For crypts, a large plant will yield between 10-15 daughter plants, depending on the size. This is also planted densly. Again, I'll need Ian to check my numbers, and I tend to plant denser than most here.

Is the wood placement set? If it isn't and you can remove the wood, you'll have a much easier time attaching the moss and anubias if you remove the wood and work at a station or something. When I sew moss for my moss wall or work with wood and anubias, I'll setup a little table covered with a trash bag, a good desklamp, fishing line, and either a beer or a mojito (depends on my mood ) and I'll work comfortably, sitting in front of the TV. This also makes a nice station for preparing plants for planting (ei. when you do the splitting of the crypts and grasses). You have to be comfortable. Next to the station, have a bucket of dechlorinated water to dump finished plants in and a trash bag for junk that you are binning. Use tweezers to plant the fine stuff. You probably already know to do this, but nothing makes me chuckle more than when newbies are like struggling to attach moss and stuff to their wood while said wood is still in their tanks. No, take out the darn wood and make your lives easier, newbies...

 

[BigC]

Cheers Liz, I'll await Ian's conformation of your suggestions.
Regards
C

 

[BigC]

There are times when you know something just ain't quite right, it gets under your skin and really annoys you, you try to carry on regardless with what you have got but deep down you know some fundamental aspect is missing. Well I'm feeling this bigtime with this aquarium depth size, quite simply put, its around 2 inches short on the height. You may say that 2" would not make much of a difference to this project but believe me it's so in your face that viewing a tank that you have spent money and time on at such a neck-breaking angle would detract from all I was trying to achieve here. So I have decided to build my own tank once again, something I didn't want to have to do but the aesthetics of this whole project would be spoilt if I don't address this aspect now. I can place this tank into my Killifish set-up quite easily and replace it with a new bespoke glass box....If I can get hold of a sheet of Opti-white for the front pane then happy days.
Ok sometimes you have to go back to go forward if you know what I mean and I feel I must do this now or live with the regret of not having done this later on. So please bear with me as I backtrack somewhat so as I can proceed in the fashion that I'd originally intended.

My original tank which had that extra depth which made all the difference when viewing from the hallway seat.

Ok I know where I am now going with this now. That Juwel Rekord 60 tank is simply too low for comfortable viewing so it has to be changed...

Another thing that now has to be addressed is the wood. Its a little uninteresting and will be too low in stature for my new glass box so I'm going to try and get hold of some fake, but lifelike mangrove root (see below)

I will be keeping most of the planting plan offered up by my counterparts and adjust the positioning somewhat but still keeping that look that Liz and Ian suggested.

I feel that by performing all these alterations now, it will give me more options in the long run and make me feel a lot happier that I did take the time to address this at this juncture. Those people who know me will understand that my journals, though pretty much informative, take a long time to come to fruition but I like to get things right and you cant blame me for trying to achieve that goal.

I'm back to work after the holidays tomorrow whereby I shall be cutting the glass, for the tank and get back up to speed with this project as soon as possible.
Regards
C

 

[ian]

I wish i was a glass cutter!

Sorry, i didn't get back to you, i wasn't on yesterday for to long. I would be happy with what Liz has suggested regarding the amount of plants, they sound the same ish amount as our potted plants. Also C, i would be inclined to look for Aquafluer plants rather than Tropica, Aquafluer are of great quality and half the price of Tropica.

BTW and man could do with an extra inch or 2.

 

[lljdma06]

I wish i was a glass cutter!

Sorry, i didn't get back to you, i wasn't on yesterday for to long. I would be happy with what Liz has suggested regarding the amount of plants, they sound the same ish amount as our potted plants. Also C, i would be inclined to look for Aquafluer plants rather than Tropica, Aquafluer are of great quality and half the price of Tropica.

But don't you think, C can find wood of a similar shape and style to that fake mangrove root and still have real wood?

BTW and man could do with an extra inch or 2.

No, I understand completely, C. It's dumb luck to get a scape right the first time. And I understand about viewing too. I had a tank once in my bedroom that if angled correctly I could see and enjoy from my family room seat in front of the TV.

 

[BigC]

Ian - Must take a look at those Aquafluer plants you suggested have you got a specific url. or supplier you could pass on.

Liz - I will try to find wood but it's very difficult, My LFS does supply other types of wood but they dont submerge well and need holding down, plus they get a fungus on them when kept underwater for any length of time.
That fake mangrove root is very lifelike and equally quite expensive, but I like it's shape and height as a haven for small fish speciesjust like in the wild.
We'll see what happens, I want to get this tank sorted first...
Regards
C

 

[ian]

here you go Colin

http/www.plantedtanks.co.uk/plants-93-c.asp

Brillian quality Aquafluer plants, all the ones i have got from here have been great quality. Very cheap as well.

 

[BigC]

WOW...Big Dupla fan....can't beat that for plant price Ian...thanks man.
Regards
C

 

[ian]

his dry ferts are a brilliant price as well.

 

[BigC]

Yeah that's another thing, how do you go about using dry ferts, what do you buy and what do you do with them once you've acquired them.
I dosed a lot of chemicals in my marine set-up, but this is new territory for me.
Basically I'm looking for an idiots guide to dosing dry ferts or a link to a jargon free explanation.
Although I will still be going down the all-in-one liquid route (TPN+) in the beginning there is no harm in educating one's self.
Regards
C

 

[ian]

the best thing to read would be...

http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/ and look up dosing methods and PMDD.

^^tis a good read and has helped me loads along the way.

 

[BigC]

Cheers Bud!
ATB
C

 

[GrayScale]

Check this out.
JamesC's Estimative Index

 

[BigC]

How contrary I am, I have decided to leave things as they are, partly through a discussion with the missus who would not be happy with me bringing yet another aquarium into the house. So we will continue with the original plan. I would like to get some thin pieces of bogwwod to try and form a natural looking structure and make it a little more interesting.
I was also thinking about the flow around the aquarium. This will consist of the pre-installed filter pump which comes as part of the Rekord kits. The secondary movement will be created by an external Eheim 2217 classic range canister filter.
What I have found in my drawer are two of these little items, refugees from my marine nano, but were never used.

Hydor Flo water deflecting device.

They connect to the outlets of filters and pumps and turn slowly with the speed of the water going through them. I am looking to incorporate these into this tank to help prevent dead areas.
Do you think they will be fine for this purpose.
Regards
C