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Not a clean slate, 200L

jesperl.dk

jesperl.dk

Member
Joined
23 Jan 2017
Messages
50
Location
Copenhagen
Hi all

I am starting a tank after a break of more than 4 years. Not that I ever really got the hang of anything the last time I tried 🙂 I am new to Ukaps, but have chosen this place as my new favorite spot after the demise of the Danish site akvarieplanter.dk.

Tank: Cheap AquaEl all glass
Size: 100 x 50 (H) x 40 cm
Volume: 200 L
Stand is homebuild in ADA style

Lighting:
Two Hagen Glo T5 with each 2x39W, I use 2x840 and 2x865

Filtration and flow:
Eheim Pro 3 2075 with glass in- and out-flow from Aquasabi.de
Hydor Koralia nano 1600 for extra flow

Heating:
Hydor ETH 200W in-line heater controlled by a Hobby Biotherm eco

CO2:
2kg with Tunze regulator and Aqua Medic M-Ventil controlled by a Hobby pH-Control
JBL Proflora Direct in-line diffuser

Doser:
Aqua Medic Evo 4 Reefdoser

Most of this is reuse and have been taken out of storage after 4 years, however the two Hobby controllers and the Reefdoser are new. I like to make things automatic, but more important I like new gadgets 😉
I have in the last couple of days set it up for a “dry” run. Uh, I forgot how hard it is to prime the Eheim from scratch and how picky the CO2 regulator is, but I am slowly getting it set up and tuned in.

32435675772_7a002d0fc4_z.jpg
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I will empty it tomorrow and then do the hardscape. When I am satisfied with that I will order the plants 🙂
 
OK, today was the day to do the hardscape...

I am a bit hopeless with hardscape, aquascape, layout, whatever you call it. I love the amazing scapes you see in the books and at sites like this. I just don't feel like trying to copy any of them. Part of me just want to grow some plants and some other part of me want to dream up a nice layout of my own. But from my last (and only) try at that, I know I am no good at all going from some idea in my head to an actual good looking scape. Well, but here I go again.

I had some inner image of a landscape that kind of had got it self stuck pretty good on the inside of my head. I googled "tilted slate" and found this picture:
main-qimg-e7e61060f51b364d0cab9638af40bcc0-c?convert_to_webp=true.jpg

yeah, I bit like that. But could I do i? And will it work as a scape? Well, what the f..., I will just try...

I bought 15 kg of slate, but decided to do a simple cardboard muck-up to get an idea of the dimensions:
31774371664_78bbf754b4_c.jpg

I wanted a steep cliff-side, and I would build it of a lot of smaller pieces of slate. That meant I would need to have something to hold the substrate. I cobbled some supporters up out of pieces of Plexiglas:
31805496283_6326b3353e_c.jpg

I am going to use Tropica Soil as substrate. Last time I tried a planted aquarium I used used gravel with some fertilizer tabs, but this time I wanted to try an upgrade, and Tropica is one of the few brands available where I live (both Tropica and my self are in Denmark 🙂). But that stuff is expensive! So I used gravel below the plateau, and then Tropica Soil on top of that. I had at least 10cm of soil on top of the gravel.
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Then first go at placing the slates. Uh, not easy... not quite like what I was hoping for.
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Well I topped up with Tropica Soil Powder, and tweaked the positions of the slates many times. This is not going to win any prizes, but it is my scape 🙂
One problem that I knew of is going to be fixed when I have water in the aquarium. There are some fine lines in the slate, that is not visible when they are dry, but is quite clear when they are wet. Actually they can bee seen in the photograph even though they could hardly bee seen with the naked eye. Well, the lines are in all directions, and will have to be tidied up bit later.
31774382144_275441a70c_c.jpg

Tomorrow I am going to review my plant list, and then place an order. Looking forward forward to getting some plants in the aquarium 🙂
 
I have now ordered plants, but do not yet know when to expect them.

I was considering to ask for advice, it is not at all easy to select what to try. But I went ahead and did my order. I know that some will grow better than other, and that it is always easier to judge when it has been growing for a while. I also selected more different plants than I think I will end up with, and also selected many quite fast growing ones - some of this is expected to change when the aquarium gets more mature.

This is what I have ordered for:
plants.jpg

When it is all (cross my fingers) growing I hope to get some suggestions for changing it for the better 🙂
 
The plants arrived Saturday, but it wasn't until evening I could unpack and prepare for planting.

All plants was from Tropica, and most was 1-2-Grow plants. All was top quality, and I could actually had made do with a bit less. I got the plants form akvariebutikken.dk, and if you are from Denmark, I can only highly recommend them. You can order from the full Tropica catalog.
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It was quite nice and easy to plant in the Tropica Soil Powder.
32619116141_6339c336ed_c.jpg20170204-P2040006.jpg by Jesper Lauritsen, on Flickr

Water was added and the filter started late Saturday, so that was my day 1, but it wasen't until Sunday that I got the CO2 running and dosed the first fertilizer.
32619118291_49b683c42a_c.jpg20170204-P2040018.jpg by Jesper Lauritsen, on Flickr

Now I am just waiting for some of it to grow a bit 🙂
 
It is now day 5, and it looks pretty good.
32782507185_023868e59b_c.jpg20170208-P2080004.jpg by Jesper Lauritsen, on Flickr

I have growth for most of the plants.
32659045001_af071ca5fa_n.jpg 32659047961_922c1c63fa_n.jpg 32659050811_7047215c2e_n.jpg

I have light green growth for several plants, and I would guess that means I am a bit low on ion. I think I'll increase my micro and actually increase all macro as well. I does daily, and do 50% water change every day, so I would think I am safe even if some values are a bit high.
Please let me know what you think!? 🙂

My glosso is reaching for the light, so I would think I should rise the amount of light, at least at the front.
Until now I had light like this:
1 hour at the the front lamp only (50%), then
3 hours both lamps (100%), then
2 hours at the back lamp only (50%)

I will raise that to:
1 hour at the the front lamp only (50%), then
5 hours both lamps (100%), then
1 hour at the back lamp only (50%)
Please let me know what you think!? 🙂

I am tuning in on my CO2 level. My checker has been greenish all the time, but I have had some swings in my number of bubbles and my CO2 level, and I was a bit low the last day or so.
I am not yet using my Hobby CO2-controller. I want to make sure it is measuring ok (the call is still out on that). But also, the Tropica soil should change the pH in the first weeks, so I am not sure the usual formula holds here in the beginning. I don't think the pH has changed much, though.
 
Looking good.As you have no fish or shrimp in the tank yet i would turn you co2 up untill you get a yellow drop checker and as the small lady in poltergeist said Do not be afraid of the light.
This should get your Glosso to carpet well.
 
Hi there ! Nice equipment ; Tropica rules ! Their range 1-2-Grow is top of the top ; but I must tell you that your plants, full grown, will completely hide your rocks 😉
 
and use tropica step by step start up guide! it's extremely effective ! check it on their website ! 😉
 
Daveslaney said:
Looking good.As you have no fish or shrimp in the tank yet i would turn you co2 up untill you get a yellow drop checker and as the small lady in poltergeist said Do not be afraid of the light.
This should get your Glosso to carpet well.
Click to expand...
Yeah, will do 🙂 I have confidence in your advice even if it includes small ladies and poltergeist.
Many postings here and ukaps and elsewhere talks about the fear of light, but my limited previous experiences included quit a lot of light, and with a fast growing glosso carpet as result (other things were not quite as good 😉).
 
Eduard18 said:
... ; but I must tell you that your plants, full grown, will completely hide your rocks 😉
Click to expand...
Yeah, I kind of know that. Almost changed it a bit before planting, but decided to wait and see how it turns out before changing any rocks. Also, I have my scissors ready 😉.
 
Eduard18 said:
and use tropica step by step start up guide! it's extremely effective ! check it on their website ! 😉
Click to expand...
I like to be a bit more hands on and to experiment a bit more than in the Tropica step by step guide - not that I think it will bring me better results, it is just more fun 😉
I am more inspired by
Ed Seeley said:
Setting up a 'higher' tech planted tank
Click to expand...
, supplemented with what I picked up here and there. Like not being too afraid about the light even though many will try to scare you 😉 This is also in line with what I did when I tried a planted aquarium 4-5 years ago. I did have some limited success then, but got to busy with other things to keep up on pruning, water change, dosing, etc etc. That is the problem with the "hich tech" approach, you can not look away for too long...
 
I have nothing against experiments , it's just I think it's easier to experiment once you got off on the right foot 😉
 
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