Cobbled together

[steveninaster]

I'm wary of doing this as I really don't have the same level of knowledge as the rest of you. I've had a planted 150ltr cube for 3-4 years now and it's been my experimentation tank (low tech\ high tech and everything in between). However I have now ordered a new 170ltr from MA which I collect in February and my old tank is going to my sister so I thought it time to give this a go.

Aquarium : Seashell 36inch Tiepollo Elite 170ltr.
Lighting : 2 X 39 watt T5
Filtration: Tetratec EX700 & Koralia Nano powerhead
Heating : 200 watt external
CO2: Up aqua in-line atomizer & 2kg FE with solenoid
Dosing: Trace + KH2PO4, tap water provides plenty of Magnesium and nitrate so I dont bother dosing these.

Substrate: Stuff I have to hand - Base layer using tetraplant, osmocote & jbl 7 balls, layer of dennerle gravel, capped with river sand at front.

Decor : Atlantic Cobbles, various drift \bogwood (I have a selection, havent decided yet).

Fauna : Probably moved in from previous tank, haven't decided yet
10 Emerald eyed rasbora
10 neon tetra
10 pygmy cory
6 peppered cory
3 juvenile bolivian rams
nerite.
I intend to add a SAE now I have a tank wide enough.

Flora
L. Sessiliflora
L. Repens 'Rubin'
B. Monnieri
R. Indica
Nesaea pedicellata
Pogostemon erectus
Pogostemon helferi
E.Tennellus
Marsilea hirsuta
Java Moss

I'm hoping to match the cobbles to the river sand to give an impression that the sand is worn from the cobbles. Foreground plants will be planted in sand in front of cobbles, I intend to use the wood to create a focal point.

Any advice\suggestions would be very welcome .

Thanks

Steve

 

[steveninaster]

Well I set it up friday, plants have lots of growing to do. Found some pogostemon helferi at P@H for £1 so decided to give it a try. Inline CO2 is fantastic, plants are really pearling. I'm hoping that some of the BBA I have on plants transferred from the other tank will die off as plants take hold, currently double dosing liquid carbon to give it a hand.

Apologies for the 2 fake plants (Wife insisted and as it's in the dining room I couldnt argue.

 

[twg]

I like the rockwork, looks very natural and serene.

I'd probably lose the background, but that's just my own personal preference

 

[steveninaster]

Thanks, must confess black is my norm for backgrounds, decided to give this a go as it matched the rocks. I think it will mostly disappear behind plants eventually.

 

[spyder]

I think it will mostly disappear behind plants eventually.

You can swipe out the placcy plants soon and the wife won't notice when she's admiring the growth on the real ones. Sand and cobbles are nice on the eye.

 

[steveninaster]

Pygmy Sword is dying off and is covered in algae,
CO2,light and ferts are good so not sure of the cause, might be change of substrate. All other plants are growing well and I'm removing worst affected leaves daily and hoping for a recovery.

 

[Johno2090]

I wouldn't worry about the Chain sword I've grown it a lot in the past year and if you move it about it will die off and then regrow. Just keep trimming it one leaf at a time and it will come back with a vengeance.

Nice Tank, Get those plastic plants out as soon as she's not looking!

 

[1stgolf]

Great looking tank mate hows the plants growth?

 

[steveninaster]

Sorry I havent posted on this in a while, will do some pics soon, The news is good and bad, I've added a aquagrow beam and the stem plants are now going nuts with tons of growth and some red, I added Alternanthera Reineckii and hydrocotyle but all the other foreground plants have died off.

Speaking to someone at aquatics live it looks like my substrate at the front isnt good enough so I'm going to need a re-think. I have a second problem also which is my own making, I switched to APF all in one and my nitrates are going through the roof, I used to mix my own without KNO3 as my tap water is 40ppm so I'm going to switch back.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

tap water provides plenty of Magnesium......

I'd be really surprised if your tap water supplies much magnesium at all, there is a only a very limited area of the UK where the limestone has any appreciable amounts of magnesium in it (Permian Age Magnesian Limestones from Nottinghamshire running NE), and other than that the magnesium rich sources are confined to the Lizard Serpentine rocks, some evaporite deposits (the source of Epsom Salts at Epsom) and some Scottish/NI Basalts.

As you are not very far east of me I would suspect that all the permanent hardness (dGH) in your water is from calcium. Another issue is the calcium/magnesium ratio, where a high calcium level can inhibit the uptake of magnesium, even if some is present. I'd always add some magnesium sulphate (Epsom Salts MgSO4.7H2O), you can't over-dose it and it is both easily available and very cheap to buy.

Substrate: Stuff I have to hand - Base layer using tetraplant, osmocote & jbl 7 balls, layer of dennerle gravel, capped with river sand at front........"Speaking to someone at aquatics live it looks like my substrate at the front isnt good enough so I'm going to need a re-think.

Call me a sceptic but I don't believe there is anything wrong with your substrate, have a look at our Cat litter <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8572> & Akadama <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=741> threads

I have a second problem also which is my own making, I switched to APF all in one and my nitrates are going through the roof, I used to mix my own without KNO3 as my tap water is 40ppm so I'm going to switch back.

If you have high nitrates, up your plant biomass, they will rapidly convert NO3 into plant, particulalry if you use floating plants that have access to atmospheric CO2. Also the levels of nitrate in your tap water will vary through out the year, and it is likely that the NO3 will be much lower in the winter, when rain-fall is higher (diluting sewage plant outflows) and nitrogen rich fertilisers are not being used by farmers.

cheers Darrel