bigmatt
Member
Hello all,
I've got wood! And it's got moss on it! (Subtitle for this thread "Carry on Inject my Fertiliser" )
This journal will chart the development of my 54l (2x1x1) from the first tank i ever owned, that has remained fairly untouched since, to a planted masterpiece that will make you all gasp with wonder. Or possibly not
The tank is a Hagen Elite, which is a fairly standard tank of these dimensions. Sadly it has black silicon but the silver trim round the bottom, whilst not to the taste of many i'm sure, does have the added bonus of hiding some of the substrate, and i feel it actually gives the tank cleaner lines, and can always be photoshopped out for the international competitions ...
I've removed the original hood and replaced it with a 36w PL overtank luminaire (a bargain at £25 inc. p&P from a guy in Sunderland- PM me for details if req.), and finally replaced the original Elite Stingray filter with an external. The Stingray was very, very efficient - maintained Nitrate at 0 despite being hugely overstocked when my platy population went through the roof, and i'd happily use it again in a fish house tank - but was always a bit of an ugly lump of plastic in the tank in our front room. The external is an Eheim 2234 (an Aquarist CLassifieds bargain!) and has done wonders for plant growth by itself just by increasing flow.
The scaping plans stem from seeing so many beautiful tanks both here and on the PFK website. I'm not naturally an artistic bloke but i saw a piece of driftwood in my LFS and started drawing my plans up around this. The plan goes like this ...
A pathway design with bed of hairgrass left and right with paths disappearing betwixt 'em off towards the rear right hand corner, interpsersed with red ambulia (Rotala Wallichii) to give colouring and (hopefully) give depth and height to the tank. The centrepiece will then be a piece of driftwood dressed with Java Moss, Riccia and Java fern. This will then form an archway across the "path". Substrate will be JBL AquaBasis topped with play sand and then (well boiled) birch leaves on top, with dwarf hairgrass blending the forground with the mid/background.
In the absence of pressurised CO2 (will have to wait until funds allow) i'm dosing with AE Design Aqua Carbo and TPN+ (presently 1ml of each but i think i'll have to up both with the new light)
Livestock will be Harlequin Rasboras and Pygmy Corydoras, and i might shift my Snowball Shrimp poulation into this tank if you think they'd do well ...?
I'd love your opinions on all of this - hopefully remove acouple of steps in the learning process!
Cheers
Matt
I've got wood! And it's got moss on it! (Subtitle for this thread "Carry on Inject my Fertiliser" )
This journal will chart the development of my 54l (2x1x1) from the first tank i ever owned, that has remained fairly untouched since, to a planted masterpiece that will make you all gasp with wonder. Or possibly not
The tank is a Hagen Elite, which is a fairly standard tank of these dimensions. Sadly it has black silicon but the silver trim round the bottom, whilst not to the taste of many i'm sure, does have the added bonus of hiding some of the substrate, and i feel it actually gives the tank cleaner lines, and can always be photoshopped out for the international competitions ...
I've removed the original hood and replaced it with a 36w PL overtank luminaire (a bargain at £25 inc. p&P from a guy in Sunderland- PM me for details if req.), and finally replaced the original Elite Stingray filter with an external. The Stingray was very, very efficient - maintained Nitrate at 0 despite being hugely overstocked when my platy population went through the roof, and i'd happily use it again in a fish house tank - but was always a bit of an ugly lump of plastic in the tank in our front room. The external is an Eheim 2234 (an Aquarist CLassifieds bargain!) and has done wonders for plant growth by itself just by increasing flow.
The scaping plans stem from seeing so many beautiful tanks both here and on the PFK website. I'm not naturally an artistic bloke but i saw a piece of driftwood in my LFS and started drawing my plans up around this. The plan goes like this ...
A pathway design with bed of hairgrass left and right with paths disappearing betwixt 'em off towards the rear right hand corner, interpsersed with red ambulia (Rotala Wallichii) to give colouring and (hopefully) give depth and height to the tank. The centrepiece will then be a piece of driftwood dressed with Java Moss, Riccia and Java fern. This will then form an archway across the "path". Substrate will be JBL AquaBasis topped with play sand and then (well boiled) birch leaves on top, with dwarf hairgrass blending the forground with the mid/background.
In the absence of pressurised CO2 (will have to wait until funds allow) i'm dosing with AE Design Aqua Carbo and TPN+ (presently 1ml of each but i think i'll have to up both with the new light)
Livestock will be Harlequin Rasboras and Pygmy Corydoras, and i might shift my Snowball Shrimp poulation into this tank if you think they'd do well ...?
I'd love your opinions on all of this - hopefully remove acouple of steps in the learning process!
Cheers
Matt