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Grow tank?

James O

James O

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No idea what to call the thread....

I want to move on to a larger tank but have a few necessities in other departments to take care of first. So I was wondering.....

I can lay my hands on a smallish (60L I think) for £0. I was wondering about using it to grow on some plants in the meantime for the big tank which will be low tech. I might even think about shoving some ferts & CO2 (disposable canister) in there too on the cheap.

Does this sound like a good way of cheaply growing more plants while I wait for my big tank?
 
Agree with Tim very good idea!You could save some money on plants and have better aclimatised,established plants to move to another tank.Cheers Mark
 
Goody!!

This won't be a planted tank per say. I was thinking substrate on the bottom for those that need it and some sort of removable bars half way up for anubias & java with maybe some moss on mesh.

I was thinking crypt crispatula & betchii petchii along with narrow java, anubias nana & bonsai.
 
Just a simple internal filter should cope. I thought maybe an oto or 3 and maybe some amano

The anubias can be cable tied and the jave too.

What could I make the bars out of? Treated presawn timber, alluminium tube maybe?
 
Simple and perfect Tim!

Must stop overthinking James O!!!! :) what a Wally eh?

What do you think about the oto/ amano combo?
 
James O said:
Simple and perfect Tim!

Must stop overthinking James O!!!! :) what a Wally eh?

What do you think about the oto/ amano combo?
Click to expand...
Simple and cheap like me ;) amanos would be perfect little cleaners I'd only add ottos if you have a lot of diatoms if not hold off until you get the big tank they can be sensitive little fish when moving tanks.
 
Maybe a zebra nerite for the glass if it gets too green? cleaning around those suckers would drive me mad!
 
I was thinking maybe turn this grow tank into an emersed growout tank. You will no doubt find the crypts will do amazingly well in this setup. This will also mean no algae and no snail! You won't have to worry about CO2 and the substrate can be soil based giving it the nutrients needed. All you need to do this keep the tank humid by placing cling film or some sort of lid on top, mist if every now and then and boom almost carefree setup.
 
oooh I'm liking that idea! A couple of questions

Will the anubais, java and mosses cope with that strategy? Is there any detrimental stress on the plants when being moved from emersed to immersed?

Also the free tank appears to have a leak or 3. Would those large, mostly clear, plastic storage boxes work? The light will be coming from above so I cant see an issue - are there any?
 
The storage boxes will work, I'll be using them for my up coming emersed project. Anubias, java fern and moss will work. You may experience a little melt from emersed to immersed and vice versa. However, growing in emersed setup you will no doubt find some improvement in growth which should cover the amount of melt. The plants you have listed are very hard and should make the transition well. Crypts could potentially melt even if its grown in water in the first place. Most of the plants we get in the large retailers etc are grown emersed so if you find that they have success with placing those in your aquarium, the likely hood is that you won't experience much problems from emersed to immersed. But plants like the ones you have will experience growing out of water in nature.

The main thing in emersed setups is to keep the humidity up. Having 100% humidity is ideal but a little less is fine. It can be more important to have a high humidity over misting constantly.
 
Great thanks. So emerged only requires light and humidity. They're going to be kept in the bedroom so will be slightly warm but very stable temp. That frees up cash from little filter and heater too!

Java & anubias should be tied as per tank to avoid rotting - might still use the suckers idea for these.
 
Okay. I got an 80L plastic storage box and a piece of glass cut to fit the top. I'll order a load of suckers as well.

As I understand it as long as the temp is slightly above room temp there will be humidity. More questions:

Do I need to constantly add liquid? I remember my grandmothers bottle garden just needed water 1 or 2 times a month...
Should I spray the fern/anubias with liquid feed
What soul based substrate will work for cryps -John Inness?
 
John Innes will work. I've tried peat and have heard people have success with coco fibre. It has been suggested that as long as you have a good fitting lid you will not have to mist plants often as your keeping the humidity inside. I will mist my emersed cultures if the leaves look dry and when it feel quite cold during the day. I know for sure that you can plant Anubias below the rhizome. Java fern should be the same.

I would avoid spraying liquid feed on the plants. There have been some comments about liquid ferts causing burns/melt for the leaves. John Innes should provide enough nutrients to last a long while.
 
Righto! I have my box, my glass and this morning my GroBeam 500 arrived courtesy of steveno

aP1fvWl.jpg
 
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So having read this emersed anubias blog | grow your anubias emersed, using the easiest way & this AquaScaping World Magazine - Growing Crytocorynes Emersed I reckon I can use gravel and nutrient added to the water. Or a 3/4 gravel 1/4 compost. Or a ......:)

Anywhoo I don't think I'll need heat as that much water in an enclosed space with that much light should equals humidity.

The java fern could be just staked to the gravel. I was thinking of popping my mosses on top of the pots to grow them on as well.

How's that looking?
 
That word was from our sponsor steveno: a total standup guy, perfect item, communication, packaging & postage!

Now back to our program :)
 
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