Beware Curves Ahead

[ejek]

Hi All,

I've recently joined the forum and thought it was time I said hello. I'm an Aussie bloke who's been living in the UK for quite a while now. So much so that my kids don't have the right kind of accent. It's been nearly 15 years since I last kept fish. My last tank was around 450L, heavily planted, and for the era pretty hi-tech. I had the pressurised CO2 thing going, lots of lights and nutrients. Was great.

Anyway, time goes by, got married, had, kids, moved to the opposite hemisphere and bought a small tank back around Easter for the kids, and the planted tank bug has come back to bite me.

So I managed to pick up a second-hand Fluval Venezia 190 L corner tank at a great price, and I'm collecting it tomorrow. My plan is to set up a planted tank that is as "slow-tech" and low-budget as I can get away with while still achieving good growth, and trying to keep the Algae at bay. Since buying the tank I've spent quite a few hours browsing through the forums, and I've come to the realisation that there are not too many people around with corner tanks. I've seen displays from hijac and also ianho's tanks. Also got inspired by a tank that George built. But there don't seem to be too many others. So example aquascapes to emulate in the corner format are pretty rare.

I think I've forgotten most of what I once knew, and in particular I'm struggling to get back up to speed with the plant species that are available. I think I'm going to shoot for (hopefully) slow and easy growing crypts and swords.

I do have some initial questions though as I get this journey under way:

• The tank I've purchased was in use as a marine tank, as was the canister filter (Fluval 205). Do I need to do anything special to clean the tank before I use it for tropical plants? And will buying new media for the filter plus a good clean be all I need to worry about?
• I'm planning to use Akadama as a substrate, and do fishless cycling. Should I do the cycling while the Akadama is in the tank? Or would I be better off soaking the Akadama separately in some plastic bins for a couple of weeks while the filter cycles.
• Is it normal to buy plants on-line? My local fish shop doesn't have much range and the plants he does have are pretty beaten up?
• Same question goes for fish really - do people buy these on line? It seems weird to me to send fish through the post

I know there will be more questions to follow, and I'll start posting some pictures once I've got something to show off I'd definitely love some suggestions on plant species that are both easy to grow and reasonably low maintenance.

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Alex.

 

[spyder]

Welcome. The bug can bite hard.

With your cycle question, if you plant well from the start they will assist the cycle. Paramaters should stay in check if you stock sensibly.

A few of the sponsors supply plants online and many scapers buy online. Fish is sort of normal but not something I've had to try out myself just yet.

For low tech Crpyts are hard to beat. Plenty of varieties to play with.

Good luck with the corner tank, they can be challenging when it comes to flow.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Hey alex, welcome to the forum. First off i think you will find its the right accent!
Your right corner tanks are rarer on the planted scene and i may be wrong but from what ive read and from a friend who has one, it is more difficult for high tech as they seem to have flow issues and tend to be deeper, not to mention that most lighting units tend to match up with rectangular tanks better.
There is a good sticky in the substate section on here about akadama if you havent seen it, but not sure it answers the question about cycling etc...but cant say ive ever used it. Normally the more plants during the fishless cycle the better. Im pretty sure the the issue with akadama when starting is the rise in KH so as i dont see a problem heavily planting right off the bat in a low tech setup with daily water changes... but dont take my word for that.
Plants in the mail is totally the norm and in fact unless you are very lucky then the best plants come by post. Obviously the plants from members on here tend to be great but failing that The Green Machine (TGM) and AquaEssentials supply high quality Tropica and Aquafleur respectively. Ebay tends to be hit and miss.... Its normally worth the extra cash to get good quality.
Fish is a bit of an unknown to me, mainly because i like to see where they come from and the quality of the environment they are kept. A lot of people seem to like it though.. certainly for the harder to find species. It is pretty normal for shrimp to come by mail though.
All in all there are quite a few people on here who sell shrimp and plants as a side line to fund their hobby, its normally worth posting a wanted ad in the sale, swop, wanted section first for larger portions at better prices.
I look forward to seeing the progress...
Where abouts on the second best island are you from?
Laters

 

[Nelson]

Hi and welcome.
Can i ask where you're getting the akadama from ?.
Also Amwell Aquatics in Epping isn't too far from you.If you get there just after they get their plants delivered,or within a couple of days,they have a fair choice.Not loads though.
Can't remember if its tuesday or thursday though.

 

[ejek]

Thanks for the welcome and apologies for the delay in replying.

Nelson - I've ordered my Akadama from Cherry Blossom Bonsai (http://www.bonsai-uk.co.uk). Hopefully this should arrive by the end of the week. I couldn't get their shopping cart to work properly, so I just called them during business hours to place the order.

Earthgeezer - some good comments there. Most importantly, I'm a Queenslander born in rural Queensland, but spent most of my life in Brisbane. Regarding lighting and flow - we'll have to see how that works out. On the lighting front with this tank it looks to me like the back corner could be a little dark as the lights are quite a long way towards the curved front. There are two 22" T5s in the standard fitting providing a shade over 1wpg. Hopefully that will be enough for low-demand plants such as crypts and if not, the plan is to install one or two 12" T5s fore and aft of the standard lights. The additional lighting should increase the level to around 1.7wpg. After that it would get tricky to increase the light levels further. For flow - a powerhead (or two) might be needed. And finally - with regard to Akadama causing an increase in KH during cycling - can you explain why KH is an issue as I don't think I've ever got my head around KH and GH ad why we'd even care about such things

BTW - did anyone have any suggestions for cleaning an ex-marine tank? There's some calcification on a few of the internal glass areas - I assume vinegar is the answer, maybe a stronger acid if I can lay my hands on some.

Cheers
Alex.