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AquaZinYaw's first time to lay my hand on aquatic plants

AquaZinYaw

Seedling
Joined
2 Jun 2009
Messages
4
Location
Singapore
Hi all,

I'm from Myanmar and currently staying in Singapore. Even though I got some experiences with fish keeping, I never lay my hand on aquatic plants before. My tank is still in planning stages and plz guide me and plz honestly point out my mistakes. Thanks in advance. Here is some of my tank spec ~

Tank - 90cmx45cmx45cm (12mm thickness) braceless & rimless tank.
Lighting - T5H0 illumax pro lighting set (planning to use 2x39w and 2 x24w T5 light tubes)
Filter - Eheim pro II 2026 external filter (rated for 350L tank but some people say too small for my tank. "is it true?")
CO2 fertilization - 5L pressurized CO2 tank with JBJ solenoid (using external CO2 defuser)
Substrate - ADA Amazonia 3x9L bags
Fertilizer - Wonder-Gro Set (Macro+,Micro+ and Root+)

My tap water parameters are (using API test kits) ~
pH - 7.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
kH - 3
GH - 5
Phosphate - 0.25
Average Temperate - 28 deg C (hopefully can lower 1 or 2 deg C by using Fans only) (can't afford chiller)

My tap water is very soft and I guess ADA substrate will further lower down my pH and kH. :crazy: I'm afraid it'll crash the pH and so I'm planning to put some crash corals in filter to buffer pH. How do you guys thinks and what can I do about it? Please kindly give me some inputs so that I can improve before actually set up and unchangeable.

th_28399_crop_tank_122_185lo.jpg
 
Hi Zin and welcome to UKAPS!

You must have a wonderful selection of fish and plants over there?

Your set up sounds fine to me. The photo looks very blue - are you using any actinic bulbs, or is it just the white balance on the camera?

I would not be concerned with your soft water and ADA Aqua Soil. I know of plenty of folk who run 0 KH with no issues... pH crashes shouldn't be an issue with a decent water change and maintenance regime anyway.

28C temp is also fine for plants.

You filter is regarded as underrated for a typical hi-tech set-up like yours so do consider upgrading it or adding another.

Typically for most high energy (lots of light and nutrients) tanks we recommend around 10x turnover or more. Another option is to add a powerhead to improve circulation.

I hope this helps and good luck with your project.
 
Hi George, thank a lot for your reply. The photo looks blue because the lighting was used for marine tank and with actinic bulbs. I'll change it to daylight tubes total of 126 Watts.

Regarding to filter, I'll think of adding another filter or powerhead as you advise. I wanted to buy a Tetratec EX1200 but It's hard to find in Singapore. Some Local Fish Stores even don't know about its existence. :oops:

I'm still confusing about the water chemistry. If KH is low, pH also must be low to get around 30ppm CO2 according to CO2 chart. For my case KH is 3 and pH is 7.2, so the CO2 level is only around 5.6ppm. Then when I inject CO2 into the water, the pH will be going down, right? Will the KH go down also when I inject CO2? I need to adjust my CO2 bubble rate to get pH around 6.5 with the kH of 3, so that I can get the CO2 level of around 30 ppm? Am I right?

Am I confusing you guys? Sorry about my poor English.
 
It's been a long time since my last update due to busy with my work and school assignments. Finally got chance to take some photos and updates. Some hardware update ~ Hydor K1 wavemaker Flow rate: 1500L/h 4.5W and a cooling fan which rated 1.4A ,that means it draws 30+ Watt. :(

Here ADA Amazonia 3x9L bags go in - Plz click on picture to see bigger one.
th_89730_DSC_0235_122_73lo.jpg

th_89815_DSC_0236_122_247lo.jpg

Wood and stones go in -
th_89858_DSC_0239_122_1105lo.jpg

I'll only set up this tank in Oct which is my birth month. I'll celebrate my bd with my new tank.. :p It's embarrassing to show my layout. I don't have a talent to create a decent scape. Can any1 tell me how can I improve it? :oops:
 
Here is some update. My tank was set up for nearly 2 months.

This was just set up.
DSC_0247.jpg


.... and this is current status... very messy tank... :D
DSC_0514.jpg


... and just some photos.
amano shrimp
DSC_0352.jpg


anubias flower bud
DSC_0500.jpg
 
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