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First Planted Tank

Dan OB

Member
Joined
9 Jun 2017
Messages
31
Location
Slimbridge
Hello,

I am currently 20 days into my first planted tank and wanted some advice on how I should be cutting the plants and if you think I should be doing it by now? Should I be replanting the stems? How low would you cut them down on their first trim?

What are your thoughts on placing a plant on top of the wood and letting it grow outside of the water, can you recommend a plant that would do this? or do you think its best I keep it as it is for now?

Do you think it looks ok for a first attempt, I'm personally not too happy with how central the wood piece is, but I'm a bit worried about moving it now and upsetting all the plants! This is my first planted tank and first aquarium so all a learning curve :)


Day 1 photo:
Day 1 Set Up.jpg


Day 19/20 Photos
20170708_190500604_iOS.jpg

20170708_190529045_iOS.jpg Day 20 From Top.jpg Day 19.jpg Day 20.jpg
 
Great looking Dan. It would be good if you could tell me and any other beginners what the plants are and a bit about the tank and lighting.
 
The Plants were all sourced from Tropica123 grow at my LFS along with the hardscape (Aquajardin in Gloucester) they are as follows, Carpet: Eleocharis Acicularis Mini. Mid-Ground: Sagittaria Subulata, Hygrophila Araguaia. Background: Pogostemon Erectus, Bacopa Caroliniana. The Tank is an Ada 60-P with an Ikea Besta stand. The Light is a Twinstar LED 600E from Aquarium Gardens, The light is on for 8 hours a day. The filter is an Oase BioMaster Thermo 250. Glassware and Regulator with solenoid were all sourced from Co2 supermarket, I'm using a 2kg fire extinguisher and diffusing co2 with a JBL inline diffuser. Co2 is on 1 hour before lights turn on and off 1 hour before they go off. I'm currently dosing Tropica specialised fertiliser daily (1 pump). The substrate is Tropica topped with Tropica soil. I currently have 6x Otto's, 6x Armano Shrimps and 6x Cherry Shrimps in the Tank, still deciding on what fish to put in here. I have been doing 50% water changes twice a week, will drop this to once a week soon.
 
It's a beautiful setup and seriously awesome for a first attempt. The wood placement is great. So dontb worry. Just decide at height u wanna trim. Since they r background plants u wud wanna be able to c them from the front. So u can probably trim when they reach a couple of inches from the rim. U could replant the trimmings but that cud just cause too much crowd. Each stem u trim will let out a side branch. Hence u need not actually replant the trimmings . Abt plants on the wood.. rhizomes like java fern and anubias can grow on the wood. But dont think they can grow emersed. For that u can try some stem plants which can be rooted close to the driftwood

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
 
Welcome Dan, your tank is looking great. Just go with whatever feels right to you. Use this scape to get as much firsthand experience as you can...experiment and above all else have fun, it's a great hobby.
Check out the Tutorials section, it's a great source of info and should get you running on the right tracks to start with, and if in doubt ask questions...we're here to help.
 
Hi Dan,

It's clear you've documented yourself seriously because you just made the right steps from the very begining. In my opinion, wood is in the right position; after the plants will grow, the nakedness of the wood (probable this is looking not good to you right now) will be blurred. A few moos on the base of the wood could help to "dress" it. Cleaning team is almost exactly what I use in my tanks, the only difference being Spiral Horn which spare me the cleaning of the walls.

Good luck!
 
Hi Dan

Beautiful tank. How much do you feed the current occupants of the tank? And do you get any algae? Cheers!
 
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