Beginner new tank disaster!

[ben_t]

I setup my first planted tank on Saturday and as the title suggests it’s been one problem after another. I’m now seriously considering what the best options are and looking for advice.
At first things were going well but when I went to fill up all the soil came forward over the sand, then the wood started moving about and a number of plants uprooted. By the time I sorted this out I‘d spent most of the day on it.
I‘ve heard you should do daily water changes in the first week so on Sunday I did a 50% change. This fiddling about then caused more problems with more plants floating and the wood moving about again. Also the floating plants were mostly sinking and dying.
After a major sort out yesterday I was hoping for a minimal effort 50% change today but it was the worst one. The wood fell over and uprooted half the plants. It took a few hours to sort out and now looks a total mess.
Also the internal filter periodically makes this gurgling sound like a rush of bubbles is going through. I don’t know if that’s right but it’s annoying.

I think it’s my fault for making it too complicated with the sand and soil, not anchoring the wood securely and buying too many plants. I can’t decide whether to persevere now or give up and scape from scratch with something simpler. What do you think? It would be a waste to lose the plants but I might need different hardscape that will be more solid.

 

[Hufsa]

These are all very common things to struggle with at first, you don't have to start all over again Emersed grown plants (grown above water) tend to be bouyant little ***holes so you might struggle with some escapees for a little bit until they root down better. The sand mixing with soil is something I think most people using soil have needed to tackle one way or another, some use stones to make a barrier, some use wood, plexiglass, plastic sheets etc. You could possibly try waiting for your plants to establish a bit more at the front then suck out the mixed sand with a little siphon, then you can replace it with clean sand. I think that a dense enough foreground might keep it back, but im not a soil user so take it with a grain of salt. If your wood hardscape is still a bit light that will get better as it gets more waterlogged.
Dont worry! This is all a part of the process, and its never as easy as it looks on YouTube
Mentally prepare yourself for the ugly/algae phase, unless you're exceedingly lucky things will get worse before it gets better.
While you wait for things to settle there are a lot of great resources on this forum to read, and if you have any questions beyond that don't hesitate to ask. Plus start a journal, we love those

 

[PARAGUAY]

Welcome to UKAPS . With soil substrates the outflow would be ideal with the syphon raised and not to fierce the water entering horizontally. Can you weigh the wood down with rocks for now. It takes time for plants to establish. Looks good overall nice start IMO

 

[Angus]

Sometimes when i put in new floating plants they dont want to float so you have to encourage them a little bit by trying to catch air under them, and repeatedly blowing dry the leaves.

Are you using something to diffuse the water as you refill after your waterchange? (red colander? LOL) being gentle and slow is key when refilling.

Even with the substrate mixing it looks pretty good to me! welcome to UKAPS

 

[Onoma1]

Welcome to the UKAPS.

We have all been where you are at some time in our scaping journey...you are not alone!

I would syphon out all soil on the surface of your sand as @Hufsa suggests to get a clean sandy area.

Then drain down your tank and separate your sand area from your soil area with a physical barrier using rocks or wood blocking all holes between the two. You can use filter floss or silicone (into which you push bits of rock to disguise it) or other materials. There are a few posts on the forum on island designs which may be helpful and provide other ideas.You can add the sand/ soil mix to the back of the scape.

I would then secure your pieces of wood to each other using superglue and cigarette filters or paper towels. Then weigh the glues piece down with a rock until it sinks and stays down.

Replant any plants that need replanting.

Finally adjust your flow on your filter to ensure the plants aren't blown around to the extent that they sink as, @PARAGUAY suggests.

 

[MichaelJ]

Hi @ben_t and Welcome to UKAPS!

I echo all the good advice given above. This is all normal; hardscape tilting over, plants up-rooted etc. substrate mixes not "behaving" due to flow being too strong etc. etc. we've all been there. The operational words in this hobby are patience and consistency! You're off to a good start with lots of plants as far as I can tell.

When breaking in (or cycling) a new tank you don't really have to do 50% per day. 50% 3-4 times per week for the first couple of weeks and then you can throttle down to 2 per week as the tank matures. Also, start fertilizing from day one and make sure you keep the dosing consistent - a little more than necessary is better than too little - dont worry about over-fertilizing! If your not doing so already, get a good complete fertilizer such as TNC Complete and just follow the directions.

Good luck,
Michael

 

[X3NiTH]

I would suggest getting the spray bar kit for your Oase internal filter which will better distribute water more evenly around the aquarium, align it along the back wall pointing to the front glass so the water is distributed from front to back.

 

[pat1cp]

I would suggest getting the spray bar kit for your Oase internal filter which will better distribute water more evenly around the aquarium, align it along the back wall pointing to the front glass so the water is distributed from front to back.

Those Oase filters don't come with a spray bar (edit....at least I don't think they do), but it does have an adjustment knob on top which blanks off the main outlet and instead diverts the flow through the small holes at the top. You may want to have a play with that.