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Open-Top Aquarium - Your thoughts

mark4785

mark4785

Member
Joined
4 Jan 2011
Messages
451
Location
Derbyshire, UK.
For around 3 months now I have been undertaking a fishless aquarium cycle on a open-top aquarium. While undertaking this boring and sluggish ammonia-cycle, I've been re-arranging the hardscape to try and figure out exactly how I could go about creating a scenery which depicts a natural-looking environment. I currently have a hooded aquarium which, due to it containing inhabitants, I haven't had the will to turn into a proper aqua-scape. It's more an environment that I know the fish will enjoy rather than something that I wanted to make picture-perfect. So unfortunately, this attempt at creating a competent aqua-scape is my first so I'm not sure if the hardscape, substrate and lighting that I have opted to use is entirely conducive for plant growth.

Aquarium Specification:

Capacity: 120 litres
Lighting: Arcadia Freshwater OT5 Luminaire 2 x 24W - 26" with 2 x T5s (1 x Original Tropical Pro and 1 x Plant Pro)
Substrate: Natural Sand (sourced from a China beach)
Measurements: Height = 50cm, Width = 60cm (Lighting is approximately 60cm from substrate level)
Hardscape: Rocks used; name not known at the moment
Co2 injection: Yes
Fertiliser: Yes; EI dosing method
Filtration: Fluval 406 External Filter
Stocking: Various black neon tetra's initially, followed by a pair of Bolivian Rams or, if I feel the need to live on the edge of sanity, I'll stock it with a German Blue Ram pair!

Layout Images

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With the current set-up, and given the height of the lighting unit from the substrate, would the light intensity require me to inject co2?

Also, I plan to use Hemianthus callitrichoides in the aquarium has a carpet plant. Will the German Blue Ram (Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi) up root these plants? Do they require any substrate fertiliser?

Any recommendations on additions or changes to the layout would be most appreciated. I have adapted it to ensure that any GBR's that I place in the aquarium do not scrape themselves so you may want to consider this also.


Thanks,

Mark.
 
Whitey89 said:
Looks alright so far mate, but one question.

How did you get the Sand ? Are you
uK based?
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His profile says he is in Derbyshire Nath ! :rolleyes: I know thats a long way from you but it IS in the U.K. :lol: 8) And I KNEW you would ask about the sand. (Cos you beat me to it !)

PS Lovely stone mate ! Very nice stuff. Cant help with the name though. It looks nicer than mini landscape rock though.
 
Mikrogeophagus means, "small earth eater" So I would not be surprised if it/they ,uprooted a few areas while foraging for food, or just for fun.
Might let ground cover get very good start before introducing the Ram(s).
Have kept them over sand substrate with just wood ,rock,floating plant's ,and did note spitting of sand while foraging,and clearing of small area's when building nest/spawning sites.
 
Whitey89 said:
Looks alright so far mate, but one question.

How did you get the Sand ? Are you
uK based?
Click to expand...

Just looks like Argos play sand to me.
 
johnski said:
Whitey89 said:
Looks alright so far mate, but one question.

How did you get the Sand ? Are you
uK based?
Click to expand...

Just looks like Argos play sand to me.
Click to expand...

Have you not read the back of an Argos playsand bag ? It says.... just like everything else we buy... MADE IN CHINA.... LOL :lol: :lol: 8)
 
roadmaster said:
Mikrogeophagus means, "small earth eater" So I would not be surprised if it/they ,uprooted a few areas while foraging for food, or just for fun.
Might let ground cover get very good start before introducing the Ram(s).
Have kept them over sand substrate with just wood ,rock,floating plant's ,and did note spitting of sand while foraging,and clearing of small area's when building nest/spawning sites.
Click to expand...

Well Rams are only supposed to be added to well-established cycled aquariums so I guess I could populate it with 8-10 black neon tetras (need a lot of them to produce enough waste to appease the needs of the nitrifying bacteria) after densely planting up the aquarium. When the plants are properly anchored by their root system, I will transfer the Tetras to my older planted aquarium and introduced a male and female GBR to the above pictured aquarium. I want it to be a GBR-only aquarium since I've witnessed male rams, while spawning, literally stress themselves to death in their attempts to repeatedly head-butt Corydoras and Tetras out of their 'personal space' or spawning area. It really surprises me when I see the GBR advertised as peaceful community fish when they can be so nasty.

With this being an open-top aquarium, will this effect how much CO2 I need to inject? The aquarium loses about 8 litres of water every day through evaporation so I guess CO2 may also be dissipating too.
 
Can someone please confirm that a PH of 8.4 is the optimum PH when conducting a fishless cycle?

Also, can anybody recommend the best positioning of a co2 diffuser in the aquarium? I was thinking about adding one just below the Fluval input tube so the bubbles go through the filter media and back into the aquarium.
 
the best ph is the one which you will maintain when you get your fish. 8 and above is quite high but some fish need that level of course. Co 2 outlet position is wherever the most flow of water is. Usual below your filter intake or spraybar. What fish are you going to have?
 
darren636 said:
the best ph is the one which you will maintain when you get your fish. 8 and above is quite high but some fish need that level of course. Co 2 outlet position is wherever the most flow of water is. Usual below your filter intake or spraybar. What fish are you going to have?
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No, I'm talking purely about the PH level that is recommended during a fishless cycle, the level that people seek to reach and maintain with bicarbonate of soda.

Edit: I'm cycling the aquarium with no fish. I'm adding enough pure ammonia to reach 5 ppm every time the ammonia is reduced back down to zero. Temp 28 degrees C and PH 8.2.
 
Plants negate the cycle anyhow providing they are sufficient in quantity and health...
 
nry said:
Plants negate the cycle anyhow providing they are sufficient in quantity and health...
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Well I know but I'm only going to put the plants in after the cycle otherwise there would by crypt melt and diatoms all over and I would not know when it would be safe to stock the tank. Plus I can't guarantee good plant growth with it being a completely new set-up.
 
Crypt melt is not about the cycle, it's about how crypts behave - plants LOVE ammonia, they would use this over nitrates and nitrites, however they will happily use these too which is why they negate the cycle and you can add small numbers of fish/shrimp once the plants are in. They should therefore negate the chances of diatoms as ammonia is one of the key algae triggers so no ammonia = no algae.
 
nry said:
Crypt melt is not about the cycle, it's about how crypts behave - plants LOVE ammonia, they would use this over nitrates and nitrites, however they will happily use these too which is why they negate the cycle and you can add small numbers of fish/shrimp once the plants are in. They should therefore negate the chances of diatoms as ammonia is one of the key algae triggers so no ammonia = no algae.
Click to expand...

Ahh I see. Somebody had me believe crypt melt was caused by the presence of ammonia and that ammonia that is released from the substrate when it is disturbed should be removed with a W/C otherwise algae may grow. I know very well that the more macro-nutrients you have, the better higher plant growth is, but I thought ammonia during cycling and ammonia-release from the substrate were a big no-no since it is the deadly free ammonia, rather than ammonium, which is involved and in a cycling context there isn't necessarily any plants or co2 for it to be utilised. Co2 lowers the PH to around 6 which is the complete opposite to the alkaline PH i've been told speeds up a nitrogen cycle.


Does anybody know of the optimum cycling PH? I think 8.4 was mentioned when I last got into cycling discussions.
 
yeah. Shrimp in an uncycled tank always works out well.... Might as well flush em- pretty much the same scenario. Ph does not matter during a cycle, just avoid extremes. I cycle using ammonia, usually takes 3 weeks or 21 days. Whichever comes sooner.
 
Lots of healthy plants = no ammonia = no cycle as you get with a fishless cycle = no issues for shrimp.

Plus, correct me if I'm wrong, but plant growth is driven by light - it is hindered by insufficient nutrients (CO2 included), but sufficient nutrients in themselves won't make them grow fast without sufficient light.

Many here add nitrate to their aquarium for fertilising the plants - this is a by product broken down from ammonia by the nitrogen cycle - plants would much prefer ammonia but as we now, that and fluctuating CO2, are prime algae growth triggers.
 
Ok, I'm on the last week of my fishless cycle. Ammonia and nitrite levels are reducing to 0ppm after 12 hrs of introducing pure ammonia.

Because of this I'm now browsing around to look for the things that I need to run the tank as a planted aquarium. Co2-wise I'm not sure what kind of co2 diffuser I should pick. I have an external Fluval filter fitted but haven't gone down the in-line diffuser route due to most inline diffusers having induced minor leaks when used with the Fluval hoses. So I'm looking for a good in-tank diffuser that I could perhaps place below the inlet pipe so that all the co2 bubbles enter the filter system to properly diffuse only to be spat back into the tank. I don't see any issues with doing this other than the possibility that the inlet pipe won't suck up all the bubbles due to them wanting to float quickly to the surface.

Any opinions about the practicality of doing the above, or another diffusion method, would be appreciated. I plan on using the super co2 diffuser, an excellent diffuser found here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-CO2-dif ... 763wt_1274 .

Planting-wise, I am a bit nervous about planting Hermanthius Cuba (apologies if I mis-spelt that) as it's a difficult plant to keep green and alive. What does this plant need to grow well?

LASTLY, if I were to introduce 15 black neon tetras to this 120 litre cycled aquarium, would this be a good stocking level, taking into consideration the fact that the tank is newly cycled?

Mark.
 
Hi Mark,
If your placing the diffuser under the filter inlet you'll get the best option for effectively distributing co2 around your tank if the filter is providing all the circulation. Hc like all carpet plants requires particular attention to co2 as this will decide its fate, good distribution to the plant is essential and if it's spot on you'll have no trouble. Maybe use liquid carbon alongside pressurised to maximise co2 availability until your certain of a good light/co2/distribution relationship.
As for the fish, I'd probably introduce them in 2 lots ideally, however we do like introducing our shoal as a single lot so if you do this ensure you carry out plenty of water changes to counteract any increases in ammonia that the filter bacteria can't yet cope with. Plants themselves will help with this issue but best safe than sorry :thumbup:
Cheerio
Ady
 
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