Thinking of restarting

[Pricey32]

Hey guys, my 1st post in a while been kinda hectic lots going on. So ive been looking at my tank recently and feeling like i want to change things. Theres some plants that have worked other that havent but if im honest it just needs a change up. I want to keep it lowtech like it has been, no Co2 but definitely change the t8 bulbs or maybe the light system altogether. Plus i want to probably get rid of most of the fish bar my sailfin pleco, i want to regonalise it. Make it look more natural but anyway id be interested to see what you guys think and any sort of advice. Its going to be a slow process anyway as im looking to do it over the next few months or so. Thanks for reading and i look forward to hearing from you

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[Manisha]

How's it going Pricey? I think you might be the only other person on UKAPS who still uses t8 bulbs other than myself! It can be challenging with a fairly deep tank too. Have you just gravel? You might find plants grow better in a soil substrate - Tim wrote a good guide http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/...-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/page-8#post-464291 in the tutorials - you might find it helpful ☺

Your cryptocoryne look good - I found these grow well along with some echinodorus species & a few easy stems too!

 

[PARAGUAY]

How's it going Pricey? I think you might be the only other person on UKAPS who still uses t8 bulbs other than myself! It can be challenging with a fairly deep tank too. Have you just gravel? You might find plants grow better in a soil substrate - Tim wrote a good guide http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/...-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/page-8#post-464291 in the tutorials - you might find it helpful ☺

Your cryptocoryne look good - I found these grow well along with some echinodorus species & a few easy stems too!

That's 3 of us T8s lol

 

[PARAGUAY]

You could plant heavily with stems even if temporary Pricey to begin with. Crypts won't mind low light either if you keep low lighting plenty of Java Fern tied to wood can look really natural.If you keep inert substrate root tablets,I prefer the very slow release type,will be fine for crypts

 

[Pricey32]

How's it going Pricey? I think you might be the only other person on UKAPS who still uses t8 bulbs other than myself! It can be challenging with a fairly deep tank too. Have you just gravel? You might find plants grow better in a soil substrate - Tim wrote a good guide http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/...-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/page-8#post-464291 in the tutorials - you might find it helpful

Your cryptocoryne look good - I found these grow well along with some echinodorus species & a few easy stems too!

Yeah i bought this tank 2nd hand of a friend of my mums as she didnt have the time, it was full of black hair algae and took me up until recently to try and get rid. Yea its just gravel ive thought alot about changing but its just finding the right bits on a budget. In regards to the lighting i was lookin recently at the led lights on ebay so im thinking of changing to those in the new year


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[Pricey32]

That's 3 of us T8s lol

I put a post up a few months ago about lights, thought i had t5s by accident as i was unsure ordered some by accident so if you jnow anyone that needs some 590 t5s


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[Manisha]

Cat litter & dosing the water column ferts seems a low cost way to go?Though if you cant be arsed, adding some wood and use epiphites ( plants that you attach to hardscape is another option )Theres lots of anubias & java fern sp. & bolbitus is also nice. Some LED alternatives are great, though some can be not great for plant growth - so hope you find ones that work well - hinterfeld is quite well priced & have an ebay outlet...

That's 3 of us T8s lol

Glad im not the only one! - have you a jounal on ukaps at all?

 

[Pricey32]

Cat litter & dosing the water column ferts seems a low cost way to go?Though if you cant be arsed, adding some wood and use epiphites ( plants that you attach to hardscape is another option )Theres lots of anubias & java fern sp. & bolbitus is also nice. Some LED alternatives are great, though some can be not great for plant growth - so hope you find ones that work well - hinterfeld is quite well priced & have an ebay outlet...



Glad im not the only one! - have you a jounal on ukaps at all?

Me??? No but i may consider doing one for this project aslong as i dont get the much aggro from people on how im doing things


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[Pricey32]

So continuing on from this post im decided that im going to change the lighting 100%, saw some on ebay for roughly £30. Not too sure wether to get one or to but i will probably buy one see how that looks, then substrate im not too sure. I dont really want to go to sand as its too messy, but saw john innes aquatic compost at dobbies near Atherstone. I may be tempted into doing a layer of that and then put the current gravel back on top. Definitely still keeping it low tech, will still carry on using the seachem excell but no co2 for sure. Anyway let me know your thoughts guys as im heading to bed as its the school run in a few hours. Night

 

[PARAGUAY]

Although it's not absolute necessity if your looking at lighting the general opinion seems to be in the 5 to 7000k daylight range for plants. @Manisha -missed this,no not done a journal will be setting a new tank up soon and probably do that,

 

[Manisha]

...We should start a t8 club