30L Fluval Ebi

[mafoo]

I thought I'd start a journal as it goes along.

30L fluval ebi.

Substrate: 1 Bag stock fluval shrimp stratum, 1 bag Colombia Florabase
Hardscape: Bogwood

Plants: No idea. So far Bobilis Deformis, a little fissidens fontamus and some mini pelia on the bogwood.


Rough Hardscape: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94637334@N07/8617797574/in/photostream/

FloraBase + Water = colombian coffee


Settling down:



Planting zones Layout:


I think i will have hairgrass in the green or blue zone, Or short hairgrass in the green and medium in the blue.

Im still not sure what to have in the pink and yellow zones. I was thinking maybe some Pygmy Swords or Brazilian Micro Swords.

I'd love to hear what people have as far as suggestions for plants.

 

[mafoo]

So the Eheim 2213 came today. I installed it with the spraybar from the Ebi's stock filter.




Its got the same flow rate as the fluval 205 I'm using on my 130L tank

 

[mafoo]

I think the background's looked naffer and naffer the more i looked at it (and it poses a bit of a tank hygiene issue) so i decided to remove it last night. Good thing i did because I gave it a light prod down and the whole thing came shooting out. 😱

Im ordering the stuff to make my own custom acrylic inlet/outlet.

Finding plants is proving to be strangely hard. Still not entirely sure what to put in there. I was thinking blyxa Japonica at the back (Yellow on the diagram) and Styrogyne Repens inbetween the 2 pits of wood (Pink). Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[tim]

Will you be adding co2 to this or running low tech ?

 

[mafoo]

Will you be adding co2 to this or running low tech ?

Yes to start with.

 

[mafoo]

Went hunting for plants today. Ended up driving round the M25 to croydon to get them.

Plants from left to right:

Staurogyne Rubensis
Staurogyne Repens (is there actually any diffrence?!)
Blyxa Japonica
Marsilea Crenata
Brazilian Chainsword



All planted up:



The blyxa was recently imported so the likely hood there are residual pesticides. I'm soaking them in a tub for a week or so before planting them - but i poped them in just to see what they would look like 😉



Tested the water today, the pH was around 5! 😱 That florabase really does lower it doesn't it.

 

[mafoo]

So after starting with the intention of this being a low tech tank, I've ended up buying one of these 😳




My justification was that the yeast reactors couldn't be regulated and for a tank this size the levels could easily get lethal - and its my birthday in a month

 

[LondonDragon]

I've ended up buying one of these

Its the best thing you will ever buy for a planted tank 😉

 

[mafoo]

The water parameters were stable enough to put the livestock in. 7 Neon green rasboras that look amazing - but they seem a little cramped. I might swap them over with some exclamation point rasboras i have in my 130L tank. There's an amano shrimp and the pioneering cherry shrimp in there as well. I might add some blue pearl shrimp in once the plants have gotten established.

Some of the marsilea didn't take too being chopped up to well, but the stuff on the sides is starting to produce new growth. The staurogyne cuttings are all starting to root and produce lateral growth as well.


Link to high rez pic

 

[mafoo]

The neon green rasboras have gone to live in my 130L after they obviously didnt like the lack of horizontal space and fast flow. After much pondering I bought some rosey loaches and they seem to be loving it.

The staurogyne has gone nuts - lots of really dense growth - better than i anticipated. The blyxia is doing really well also. The marsilea is hanging on in one corner and the center has had some donated Micranthemum sp. 'Monte Carlo 3' which has been in there a few weeks and seems to be growing fairly quickly.

Have been getting a bit of BBA and hair algae on the fissidens. Had some brown algae but popped an otto in and it was gone overnight.

 

[Anthony89]

What a nice tank. It amazes me how much bigger it actually looks when scaped right.