Evansss
New Member
Hello to everyone, here’s a quick run down at my first attempt at an aqua scape. I’d always seen the photos of these amazing scapes and thought that they were just not achievable. However I did a bit of Research (not enough!) and decided to have a go with some kit I already had, supplemented with a few new bits.
I wanted to build a nature style aquarium with the tank I already had. It’s a bit of an odd shape, 45x38x55cm. Aqua one oak style 85, about 94 litres but usable around 85.
The filter and decoration were established from a different tank. The filter is an all pond solutions ef250 (800l p/h) and I used 9l of new Tropica soil.
Plants are all Tropica, a mixture of pots and one two grow bought from horizon aquatics. I have some spider wood and around 8kg of millennium stone. The plant list is ;
Staurogyne repens
Tropica wendtii
Siamensis 53b
Microsorum pteropus trident
Anubias petite
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Java moss
Alternanthera reineckii
Limnophila sessiliflora
Microsorum pteropus latifolia
The plants seem to be doing really well, and the water parameters seem good. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0 nitrates around 5, Ph 7, kh 3 and Gh 8. I have started dosing with Tropica premium at around 2ml a day.
The first week I performed 50% daily water changes. Week 2 every other day.
The tank has pressurised co2 using a co2 supermarket dual stage regulator. Running around 1-2bps, drop checker is a nice like green. I’m running a fluval planted 3.0 at around 75% for 6 hours a day ( I started at 50% but the glass lid and 55cm meant I upped it.) lighting and co2 is all automated, and the co2 starts an hour before the lights and ends an hour before.
On day one, as I already had a seeded filter and some reused decoration, I added 4 nerite snails, 4 Amano shrimp and 4 otos. I’ve had no big algae problems (yet) and have supplemented with algae wafers/spinach. I also used a topping up sachet of nitric goop in the filter at the start.
In the end of week one and week two, I added 5 cardinal tetras for a total of 10. I was really happy with the stocking for now, and was possibly going to add a pair of dwarf gourami in the future.
If you’ve managed to stick with me so far…. Here comes the overstocking dilemma!
I arrived home yesterday to a bag of new fish bought by my partner and daughter!
They have bought 12 new tetra. 4 glowlight, 4 blue and 4 silvertips. I didn’t have the heart to tell them this would overstock the tank, or that they should really be in larger species groups. So I’ve added them for the time being. The fish shop they purchased for have been unhelpful in the past an unlikely to accept them as returns.
As it stands, all the fish are juvenile and fairly small (<2cm) so I think I can manage for now. It’s not the scape I had planned! But for the time being at least, I’m going to try and work with it.
I’ve been testing daily since the addition of new fish, and have gone back to daily water changes while the filtration catches up. Testing before the water changes, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5 so pretty similar to before.
I’d really appreciate people’s insight as to whether this is going to be achievable, or if I’m going to have to make some changes with regards to the stocking? And if so, will it be sooner rather than later?
I’m totally aware that the tetra species would be better suited in a longer aquarium, and how overstocked it could become when they grow.
I’m also keen to hear any tips or pointers regarding keeping the plants healthy! Will this bio load have any negative impact on the plants? Or if I’ve made any other school boy errors that I’m blissfully unaware of so far!
The photos are of day 1. Day 14 (with just cardinals) and I think about day 16 with the new fish. The photos are on an iPhone, and so it has ramped up the colours, but in the flesh they do still look nice and green with no signs of problem algae.
James
I wanted to build a nature style aquarium with the tank I already had. It’s a bit of an odd shape, 45x38x55cm. Aqua one oak style 85, about 94 litres but usable around 85.
The filter and decoration were established from a different tank. The filter is an all pond solutions ef250 (800l p/h) and I used 9l of new Tropica soil.
Plants are all Tropica, a mixture of pots and one two grow bought from horizon aquatics. I have some spider wood and around 8kg of millennium stone. The plant list is ;
Staurogyne repens
Tropica wendtii
Siamensis 53b
Microsorum pteropus trident
Anubias petite
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Java moss
Alternanthera reineckii
Limnophila sessiliflora
Microsorum pteropus latifolia
The plants seem to be doing really well, and the water parameters seem good. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0 nitrates around 5, Ph 7, kh 3 and Gh 8. I have started dosing with Tropica premium at around 2ml a day.
The first week I performed 50% daily water changes. Week 2 every other day.
The tank has pressurised co2 using a co2 supermarket dual stage regulator. Running around 1-2bps, drop checker is a nice like green. I’m running a fluval planted 3.0 at around 75% for 6 hours a day ( I started at 50% but the glass lid and 55cm meant I upped it.) lighting and co2 is all automated, and the co2 starts an hour before the lights and ends an hour before.
On day one, as I already had a seeded filter and some reused decoration, I added 4 nerite snails, 4 Amano shrimp and 4 otos. I’ve had no big algae problems (yet) and have supplemented with algae wafers/spinach. I also used a topping up sachet of nitric goop in the filter at the start.
In the end of week one and week two, I added 5 cardinal tetras for a total of 10. I was really happy with the stocking for now, and was possibly going to add a pair of dwarf gourami in the future.
If you’ve managed to stick with me so far…. Here comes the overstocking dilemma!
I arrived home yesterday to a bag of new fish bought by my partner and daughter!
They have bought 12 new tetra. 4 glowlight, 4 blue and 4 silvertips. I didn’t have the heart to tell them this would overstock the tank, or that they should really be in larger species groups. So I’ve added them for the time being. The fish shop they purchased for have been unhelpful in the past an unlikely to accept them as returns.
As it stands, all the fish are juvenile and fairly small (<2cm) so I think I can manage for now. It’s not the scape I had planned! But for the time being at least, I’m going to try and work with it.
I’ve been testing daily since the addition of new fish, and have gone back to daily water changes while the filtration catches up. Testing before the water changes, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5 so pretty similar to before.
I’d really appreciate people’s insight as to whether this is going to be achievable, or if I’m going to have to make some changes with regards to the stocking? And if so, will it be sooner rather than later?
I’m totally aware that the tetra species would be better suited in a longer aquarium, and how overstocked it could become when they grow.
I’m also keen to hear any tips or pointers regarding keeping the plants healthy! Will this bio load have any negative impact on the plants? Or if I’ve made any other school boy errors that I’m blissfully unaware of so far!
The photos are of day 1. Day 14 (with just cardinals) and I think about day 16 with the new fish. The photos are on an iPhone, and so it has ramped up the colours, but in the flesh they do still look nice and green with no signs of problem algae.
James