1st attempt at a planted tank....

[Glen_I]

Hi all,

So the story goes like this...

My daughter got a fish tank 3 yrs ago for her 7th bday as she has a real fascination for fish. So we just had a very standard 60litre tank with artificial plants and Danios, neon tetra's, five banded barbs.

Never really had any dramas so all was good.

However about 6 months ago we decided on taking a different approach and went and purchased a rimless tank to have a go at a planted setup.....

So for any questions regarding lighting, co2 where would be best to ask these questions and ask for advice as unfortunately I do find everytime we leave an aquatic centre we are more confused or finding we are receiving conflicting information, whilst I completely appreciate every circumstance can be slightly different but maybe a simple(ish) guide in layman's terms would be great!!

Kind regards Glen

 

[Jayefc1]

First things first hi and welcome to the amazing world of aquascaping and to ukaps

Id start of in the tutoral section read and read again the read again
See where your at after that
There all pretty comprehensive and i would imagine a lot more indepth tham most aquatic centers

Cheers
Jay

 

[Glen_I]

Hi Jay,

I have been reading it for sometime and yes, it's very comprehensive....

I am one of these people that sometimes over thinks things so I will carry on checking it out, the tank has only been planted since last week so early days still

Glen

 

[Zeus.]

Great place to get to grips with CO2 IMO is D Wong's 2 HR guide here great overview and detail. Plus guide great for most things scaping wisely.

And welcome to the forum 😀

Starting a journey is a great way to keep all you info in one place😉

Plus great to follow them as they go as well

 

[sparkyweasel]

Welcome! 🙂

 

[Jayefc1]

@Glen_I the tank looks good mate best advice i can give is to remember to enjoy the journey you and your daughter are taking get her involved my 5 year old son loves to trim and plant

Cheers
Jay

 

[Glen_I]

Cheers,

Lighting and Co2 does seem to be my worrying points.

I have a Fluval 3.0 plant but just dont know where to start with regarding its settings, only have Anubias, Java ferns and Java moss.

I was hoping to stick with liquid Co2 with Easy life Carbo?

Minefield springs to mind!!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I like the black lava rocks.

Lighting and Co2 does seem to be my worrying points.

I have a Fluval 3.0 plant but just dont know where to start with regarding its settings, only have Anubias, Java ferns and Java moss.

Just add some floating plants, that gets around both light and CO2 as issues, this is

• because you don't need to add CO2 (for any of the plants you already have, and the floating plants have access to 400 ppm of atmospheric CO2)
• and you can use the floating plant to: adjust light levels and tell you when, and what with, to <"feed your plants">.

I like Amazon Frogbit <"Limnobium laevigatum">, but there are <"other options">.

Have a look at <"Questions about....."> and links.

cheers Darrel

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

ask for advice as unfortunately I do find everytime we leave an aquatic centre we are more confused or finding we are receiving conflicting information

It is a real issue, I'm not trying to be funny, but most of the information on forums, from LFS and on manufacturers web sites is any, or all, of:

• just wrong,
• half-true or
• deliberately misleading.

There are forums, sellers, <"growers"> &manufacturers, where you will get good information, but the problem is that you have to know where to look. If you look at the <"posts"> of @Mick.Dk or @Guest, or search for <"Aquarium Gardens">, <"Stephan Tanner (Swiss Tropicals)", "Tim Hovanec" or "Manky Sanke">, on this web site, it will take you to posts from people & companies who know what they are talking about.

Christmas is coming and if you are keen on books and the science that underlies aquarium keeping, I'd recommend Diana Walstad's <"Ecology of the Planted Aquarium"> it isn't any easy read, but it is packed with useful information, most of which has <"stood the test of time">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Glen_I]

Thanks,

I will take a look,

I think I am going to move 1 maybe 2 of the anubias so they are lower and further away from the light, there are a couple of other areas that I may also change whilst doing a large water change at weekend, and then I guess I should leave alone for a few weeks to settle in?

 

[Siege]

Hi Glenn,

Best to post some specific questions on the forum along with full tank info, co2, lighting, maintenance regime etc.

But I’d say you would be best to start with adding more plant massive, quick growing stem plants and floating plants as an extra. 🙂