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Greetings

J

jrc75

Seedling
Joined
20 Sep 2018
Messages
6
Location
Cheshire, UK
hi folks. newbie here... I've been keeping aquaria for a good 30 years and for the last 15 or so I've been heavily into marines. I'm just looking to set up a small tank on my desk at work and I really like the idea of a bowl. I'm not planning on any fish necessarily... just plants would be fine.

I'm slightly out of touch with current thinking though so I'm after some advice. I'm open to ideas on plant species but I'm thinking something like small anubias species, probably attached to rock or wood. Would a desk lamp with an LED bulb suffice for slowish growth? I can probably incorporate a small powerhead if required but a heater might be problematic. Would such a species tolerate lower temps albeit with slower growth? Are these conditions conducive to any other particular species? What kind of substrate would you recommend?

I've also been looking at wabi kusa on the web but it doesn't appear that the required materials are readily available (although I do live within striking distance of TGM).
 
Plants arnt overly fussy about the type of light and I'm sure an led desk lamp is more than enough to grow anubias. If you are going to stuck with plants that don't root in the substrate then go with sand. If you are going to have rooting plants I would go with aquasoil or something with a high CEC assuming you plan on dosing ferts. If you don't want to dose ferts then I would recommend something like Tropicas planting substrate with a sand cap. Quite a few of the 'easy' plants will be just fine at office room temperature as this should be quite consistent all year round and hopefully not get too cool.
 
Hi again folks. Think I've managed to find a nice acrylic bowl and now looking at lighting options before pulling the trigger. Best LED desk lamp I can find only looks to be capable of handling a bulb of up to around 6w giving about 520 lumens output. Does this sound acceptable? If so, is it better to go for a cool white or warm white colour temp? I can't really go for CFL or a bigger desk lamp as the bowl will be in an office and employer will whinge about power consumption. Aswell as anubias, can anyone suggest any plants that will survive under such lighting? I'm not looking for fast growth. Java fern? Java moss? Anything else? I'm thinking sand for the substrate but maybe use a hidden pot for a Cryptocoryne crispatula which I will prune regularly to keep it from overgrowing. Could I use the Tropica substrate with sand cap mentioned in such a pot? I'd be hiding it with ADA slim wood or bogwood which would be siliconed in place, plus some smooth river pebbles. I'd be using purified tap water for water changes... slightly alkali and quite hard water in my area.

Is it critical to have a powerhead for water movement in such a system?

I'm wondering if I could add a few glass shrimp and ramshorn snails also?
 
Glass shrimp and snails will do well in this kind of set up. Don't underestimate their appetites though!

Buce would probably do well in your setup too?
 
cheers Matt. Sorry what's Buce mate? What do you think about the Crypt in a pot idea... feasible?
 
ikea jansjo lamps are cheap, look stylish and are used by quite a few people on here including myself :)

Welcome!
 
cheers, yeah it was the Antifoni Ikea lamp I was looking at.

Aha- Buce looks nice!

Hoping to start assembling equipment for this shortly. Do you think I'll need a powerhead in there?
 
I would advise having some flow yes... I have used an airstone to achieve this in the past connected to one of those silent nano air pumps with a sucker on the back.
 
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