• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Off we go...

AlanRR

Member
Joined
22 Feb 2019
Messages
103
Location
Yorkshire
The plants for my first ever aquarium arrived yesterday so I planted them yesterday evening and am now neurotically watching for algae :)

WP_20190313_21_34_26_Pro.jpg


The tank is 64 l with an internal filter. I plan to ultimately run without CO2 but I do have one of the small Tropica System 60 CO2 units in at the moment in the hope that it helps plant growth. I haven't added any yet (the drop checker is blue) but plan to fill the chamber just before the lights come on. These are currently set for 6 hours each afternoon/evening (4PM to 10PM).

I did a 50%+ water change today at lunch time and plan to keep doing that daily for the next couple of weeks before trying to reduce the volume.

The plants are in Tropica Soil and I will be dosing the tank with 1-2ml of Aquascaper CPF daily. I have added some floating plants as a low tech monitoring solution.

I had no idea what the plants were like other than from looking at the web so went for the following selection of easy plants from Aquarium Gardens

Bucephalandra 'Wavy Green'
Bucephalandra Red
Limnobium laevigatum
Limnophila sessiliflora
Vallisneria Spiralis Bunch
Anubias Nana 'Mini'
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green
Cryptocoryne Nevellii
Vesicularis Dubyana (Java Moss) in Cup
Microsorum Pteropus Mini 'Petit'
Microsorum Pteropus
Eleocharis Acicularis Dwarf Hairgrass
Sagittaria Subulata

Fingers crossed they take to their new environment.

Thanks to everyone whose answered my questions and offered support over the last few weeks!
 
You look to have done a good job on separating plants and planting :)

Some considerations
- straighten out the reclining hair grass (at right side photo), just a gentle pull with tweezers should guide it upright
- the Anubias placed high on the wood is very close to light and will likely develop green spot algae - I’d move this somewhere more shaded (suitable Microsorum species seem more resistant to GSA)
- trim the moss strands - I know difficult but you will get better growth and more lateral growth (is moss glued or tied? If former, don’t trim too close to glue as moss in contact with glue often suffers)
- separate the Buce into separate rhizomes if multiples in pot (more economic and Buce does seem to respond well to this, if you need to break/cut rhizome I wouldn’t at this time)
- separate the crypt clumps but this is optional, just a good way to increase coverage, C wendtii green is especially fast growing and will quickly fill in. If you see any “melt” of crypt leaves, just follow Jurijs protocol of cutting leafs at base
- daily water changes are grand as they generally introduce both dissolved CO2 & O2 from tap water system
- Tropica System 60, I’d run this for the first couple months depending on growth rates, also expect to taper off CO2 rather than just stopping it, again daily water changes during this time may assist

L sessiliflora is your “weed” so you should see daily growth with it, in a 60L aquarium I would’ve included at least 2 (Tropica volume) pots of fast growing stems, daily water change will really help with algae control

Also realize that if there is significant ambient light, plants may be photosynthesizing long before lights come on - Rotala H’ra is a very good indicator of this (and very tolerant of low light, non CO2 aquaria in my soft (tap) water)
 
Alan

I like what you have done so far, I only have one concern and that is that very large rock at the front RH end. I would prefer a smaller rock even less than half the size of the other two rocks.
I would position it between the other two rocks and as close to DW between the two rocks.

This would then give you a bigger planting foreground plus a far smoother eye movement from left to right.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
You look to have done a good job on separating plants and planting :)

Wow thanks for all of the advice alto, that is great.

Some considerations
- straighten out the reclining hair grass (at right side photo), just a gentle pull with tweezers should guide it upright

Done

the Anubias placed high on the wood is very close to light and will likely develop green spot algae - I’d move this somewhere more shaded (suitable Microsorum species seem more resistant to GSA)

Hmm that’s a shame as I like the position but I do want to avoid algae as much as possible so will try to think where else I can put it. The top of it is currently only 20cm below the water surface.

trim the moss strands - I know difficult but you will get better growth and more lateral growth (is moss glued or tied? If former, don’t trim too close to glue as moss in contact with glue often suffers)

The moss is tied on so I will try and trim it tomorrow

separate the Buce into separate rhizomes if multiples in pot (more economic and Buce does seem to respond well to this, if you need to break/cut rhizome I wouldn’t at this time)

I was in two minds about this when planting. I wasn’t sure how big a single clump would grow. I want a good quantity of plants (both to look nice and to help maintain the tank) but I also want to be able to see some of the hardscaping and was worried that several smaller clumps might take over. I’ll have a better look over the weekend and see where else I could stick some.

separate the crypt clumps but this is optional, just a good way to increase coverage, C wendtii green is especially fast growing and will quickly fill in. If you see any “melt” of crypt leaves, just follow Jurijs protocol of cutting leafs at base

Good advice, thanks

daily water changes are grand as they generally introduce both dissolved CO2 & O2 from tap water. Tropica System 60, I’d run this for the first couple months depending on growth rates, also expect to taper off CO2 rather than just stopping it, again daily water changes during this time may assist

This pretty much ties in with my thoughts so nice to have confirmation I’m on the right track there.

The drop checker is still resiliently blue this morning despite filling the chamber yesterday, all 150 ml of which seems to have been absorbed. The checker is on the opposite side of the tank from the chamber near the filter outflow. Ideally I’d put the CO2 chamber there as well but there just isn’t room for the filter and chamber in the same corner. At this stage I’m not sure if the whole tank is low in CO2 or if it is high near the chamber but circulation is poor. I’ll try moving the checker near to the chamber to see if I get a different reading.

L sessiliflora is your “weed” so you should see daily growth with it, in a 60L aquarium I would’ve included at least 2 (Tropica volume) pots of fast growing stems, daily water change will really help with algae control

I picked L sessiliflora as a fast grower to try and rapidly increase plant mass in the tank in the early stages. Does it count as a stem plant? I will see about adding some others as well.

Also realize that if there is significant ambient light, plants may be photosynthesizing long before lights come on - Rotala H’ra is a very good indicator of this (and very tolerant of low light, non CO2 aquaria in my soft (tap) water)

I have very soft water as well (about 1.5 gH according to the Yorkshire Water website). How would I use the hra as an indicator of this and what advantage does that give (or is it just better, faster growth to help with establishing the tank faster)?

Again, thanks for all the advice, it’s a great help

Alan
 
I like what you have done so far, I only have one concern and that is that very large rock at the front RH end. I would prefer a smaller rock even less than half the size of the other two rocks.
I would position it between the other two rocks and as close to DW between the two rocks.

This would then give you a bigger planting foreground plus a far smoother eye movement from left to right.

Keith:wave::wave:

Thanks Keith I do like that idea and will have a try at rearranging tomorrow. The right-hand rock is actually much smaller than the other two (about 1/4 the size though the orientation makes it look a lot larger in the photo) so i may be able to use it to achieve the look you describe.

Cheers

Alan
 
Back
Top