Superfish 15L planted tank

[Toredan]

Hi there! This is my first planted tank so please go easy on me This tank started life as a nano marine tank which I kept running for 6-8 months. I've got a 150L marine system and am in the process of cycling a new 400L marine tank so this nano tank was just meant to be a neat challenge. It was quite intense as a marine tank needing daily water changes and nothing growing very well at all. I decided to close it down and from there it went into storage.

Recently I've become more interested in planted tanks and saw some real beautiful tanks online so decided this tank would become my first planted tank. So off to the local MHA to pick up some aqua basis, a small bag of substrate and some wood. The tank was filled with water and ran for a week to settle down. From there I bought the following plants:

Ludwigia arcuata
Microsorium pteropus
Eleocharis acicuiaris
Crytpcoryne wendtii Green
Unidentified Cryptocoryne
Unidentified Hygrophylla
Java fern
Annubis

The original idea for this tank was for it to be planted and then to go with some CRS. I still plan to add some CRS in the future but would like to get the tank past it's 'new tank syndrome' first. After about two weeks I added 3 neon green rasbora. Following is the only pic to date of the tank.

Please let me know what you think! All comments are welcome and helpful as I'm extremely green when it comes to planted tanks. (All puns intended!)

 

[Toredan]

No comments? Must be perfect! kidding of course, lots to do on it yet. Any comments at all are welcome. No new pictures at the moment but have put in a really nice hygrophila polysperma and plan on taking out the java fern tomorrow and will be doing some trimming so if it goes well a new pic will be up. Been told java fern really is a no go for a nano tank but to be honest it was free so I had it. Starting to get a bit of brown dust algae on some of the crypts so I've lowered the photo period to 5 hours a day and had a 2 day black out. Tomorrow the lights go back on so fingers crossed it's made a difference but the tank is extremely new so I am expecting a bit of diatoms still. Rather tempted to add a couple of ottos to help with the algae but since it is a small tank I've not got a lot of space for fish. Thinking 3 ottos and a nice group of 6 neon green rasboras. I've located a nice juwel rekord 80 for sale locally quite cheap and am already planning the upgrade. Stay tuned!

 

[Lindy]

This tank is too small for ottos. I wouldn't put any kind of fish in it, it is so small. Can you reduce the light intensity as that is what is causing the diatoms. If you want this as a shrimp tank you do not need to add fish to get it past 'new tank syndrome'

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[Toredan]

Coming from the salty side of things my first thoughts were that this tank was too small for fish also, was convinced by my LFS I could add what I was considering. That's a shame Oh well, going to pick up upgrade tonight so as soon as it's ready the fish will make their way across and the nano will turn shrimpy As well as lowering the light to 5 hours I'll half power it also, thanks for the info Idcgroomer.

 

[EnderUK]

You could get some trumpet snails to help with the algea as long as you don't over feed the tank the population won't go out of control. A couple of nerites is also an option but watch you ph with them, the won't breed in fresh water. Shrimp are more than enough for this tank, they're very fun to watch.

Fish that fit in nano tanks like to be in schools of at least 6 so this makes most nano tanks hard to stock.

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[sciencefiction]

Hi Toredan, welcome to a very nice forum.

I would remove the wood and plant well. There is no room for plants now The wood is also obstructing the flow. Another reason for diatoms is lack of flow. Plus there are diatoms in almost all new setups. It disappears itself when the tank stabilises.
Shrimp and snails will do nicely in such a tank and they are as entertaining as fish. Well, at least I find them so.
I keep the light in low techs at 8 hours, anything lower and the growth is not fast enough to keep the tank in balance. The only tank I keep at 6hours is the one next to a window because it gets extra sun light.
This is providing the intensity of the artificial light isn't too high but from the picture it doesn't seem so to me. It actually looks quite shady. So I guess it's difference of opinions.

If the soil is JBL aquabasis plus, I didn't have good results in a low tech tank with it at all. In fact plants didn't grow. I binned mine after about 8 month battle. I now use plain Topsoil from the garden centre(one that doesn't contain any compost, manure or fancy chemicals). I've provided a link to my low tech below so you can see the type of substrate I use with great results if you stick to the easy low tech root. The tank is nothing spectacular and excuse the pictures because it hasn't been cleaned at all for a year but the plants grow really healthy and free of algae.

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/nano-walstad-tank-startup.28519/#post-346472

The best of luck with your new challenge.

 

[Toredan]

If the soil is JBL aquabasis plus, I didn't have good results in a low tech tank with it at all. In fact plants didn't grow. I binned mine after about 8 month battle. I now use plain Topsoil from the garden centre(one that doesn't contain any compost, manure or fancy chemicals)

How interesting, thanks for the information mate because that's the one I've bought. Since I've already decided an upgrade I'm glad you posted this before I spent more on stuff that doesn't work. Anyone else use regular topsoil from garden centres? I do like the look of that piece of wood so will use that in the upgrade and will replan the nano out, thanks for the advice.

You could get some trumpet snails to help with the algea as long as you don't over feed the tank the population won't go out of control. A couple of nerites is also an option but watch you ph with them, the won't breed in fresh water. Shrimp are more than enough for this tank, they're very fun to watch.

Trumpet snails? will keep a look out for those! LFS had some rams horn snails last I was in.

 

[EnderUK]

I can send you some by post if you want (they would be around 3-5mm), just make sure you do want them first I started with 5 I have counted at least 20 in my tank now and that's the ones on the surface. They dig around in the soil which is always good for planted tanks.

http://www.planetinverts.com/malaysian_trumpet_snail.html

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[Toredan]

I can send you some by post if you want (they would be around 3-5mm), just make sure you do want them first I started with 5 I have counted at least 20 in my tank now and that's the ones on the surface. They dig around in the soil which is always good for planted tanks.

Wow that's a really nice offer, thanks mate would love some! You'll have to let me know how much and I'll PM you my address

 

[EnderUK]

When you get them just make a donation to the forum. Send me a pm.

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