Little valley

[mario]

Hello everyone,

this is my tank, been running for about three weeks now.

Measures 60x40(h)x30(d)
Light T8 15w x3, on for 8 hours
Substrate John Innes 3 capped with fine sand
Easycarbo 4ml daily at the moment, planning to wean it off gradually

Microsorum Pteropus
Hygrophila Corimbosa 'siamensis' and Polysperma
Rotala Rotundifolia
Bacopa Monnieri
Cryptocoryne Parva and Amicorum
Staurogyne Repens
Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis

Thanks for looking,
comments and advices are very welcome!

Mario

 

[Antipofish]

Im not sure you need much advice, thats a VERY nice start mate, very impressed.. looks really natural and I like it a lot. Only suggestion would be make a bit more of a feature of the rock... something a but more vertical might introduce an interesting element to the scape. Other than that I would say its spot on !

 

[mario]

Thank you very much Antipofish!

 

[BigTom]

Yup, lovely naturalistic tank there. Just my cup of tea.

 

[Stu Worrall]

lovely tank, looks like a nice natural little underwater ravine

 

[andyh]

Looks very nice dude!

Would like to to see a background on it........

 

[darren636]

weaning plants? Does that also demand a drop off in light intensity? your set up looks great- really nice detail.

 

[Dan Wiggett]

Very nice little tank, look great!

 

[Aqua sobriquet]

Nice looking Aquarium Mario

 

[mario]

Thanks all for the nice words! I admire your tanks and got ideas and inspiration from many of them!

weaning plants? Does that also demand a drop off in light intensity? your set up looks great- really nice detail.

Hi Darren, my plan was always a long term low energy/low maintenance tank with slow growth but I had some Easycarbo hanging around and I thought to use it to encourage the rooting stage (especially of the Staurogyne). I'm hoping that once roots have estabilished the plants won't suffer if I gradually withdraw the liquid carbon, but we'll see, that's the beauty of this hobby, it's a little scientific experiment every time!
Same thing as far as the light goes, I will see and be ready to switch to two T8s only if algae appear.

Mario

 

[wazuck]

I don't think you will have to worry about the algae after dropping the co2. Three T8's at that height with that depth of water is low at substrate level so it should work as intended. I probably wouldn't even turn a tube off. Very nice tank. Im planning something similar. Altho I have to decide to use either a 45cm high or the 30cm high. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[mario]

Hello everyone!

Little update, the tank is about 2 months old now.

I am still adding EasyCarbo 3 ml and Tropica plus 2 ml every morning. The growth has been good (Lillaeopsis apart) and tank is completely algae free but the lower leaves of the Staurogyne are turning brown and showing some holes. Perhaps a trim would improve the situation?

Thanks for looking,

Mario

 

[Ady34]

Hi there Mario, lovely looking tank
With regards the Staurogyne and browning/holes in the leaves it's classic c02. A trim may help expose the lower portions to more co2 but with your massively increased plant mass it's more likely a distribution issue or infact a c02 deficiency as more plants use more c02. I'd try increasing co2 alongside improving flow to the carpet to get the c02 to the plant, or if your not shy of trimming, give the whole tank a haircut which will allow for improved circulation and free up some c02 from the plant mass
Cheerio
Ady