Plant my tank - suggestions please! (Dutch)

[Dave S]

Hi,

I'll be honest, I'm looking for advice on how to make the most of the set up I'll describe below. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

The problem I have is: my plant growth seems slow, some plants (dwarf baby tears, Pogostemon helferi) died. General condition of my plants is not what I would call excellent. What rate of growth do others experience with similar set ups?

Ok, some details to get started...

So, my set up:
Tank: Fluval Profile 1200 (330L empty volume), 60 cm depth
Lighting: Fluval T5 units x2, 4x 39W T5 bulbs (as bought second hand)
Heater: 300W Fluval,
Filter: Eheim Professional 3e (1800L/hr)
Power head: TMC V2 PowerFlow 2000 (2000L/hr)
CO2 reactor: AquaMedic reactor 1000 (in second pumped loop)
UV steriliser: Newa 7W UV-C steriliser (in second pumped loop)
Pump: Waveline DC-4000 (4000L/hr max)
CO2: 5L rented bottle

Plants:
Cabomba caroliniana,
Cryptocoryne petchii,
Alternanthera reineckii,
Eleocharis acicularis,
Hydrocotyle tripartita,
Hygrophila pinnatifida,
Pogostemon erectus,
Bacopa caroliniana,
Rotala wallichii,
Ludwigia repens.

Fish:
3x angelfish,
3x white platies,
22x rummynose tetras,
12x glowlight tetras,
2x panda corydoras,
1x swordtail,
1x orange platy,
1x Bolivian ram.

Temperature = 26C,
Lights on 11am & 12 am
Lights off 9pm & 10pm
CO2 on 10am
CO2 off 9pm
BPS >4... hard to say

Dosing dry salts:
Potassium nitrate (1tsp) & Potassium phosphate (1/4tsp) Sun, Tues, Thurs
TMC trace (1/4 tsp) Mon, Weds
No dosing Fri/Sat
50%+ WC on Sunday

Powerhead, pump & filter on 24hrs/day.

Drop checker turns green but only late in day (6-8pm).

I don't test for pH, CO2 or anything else at the moment. Fish are all in very good condition. Angels have spawned several times.

I'll stop here for now.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Dave S]

Please let me know if you can see the photos... I suspect they are not visible. I uploaded them to Imgur.

 

[aaron.c]

Not showing for me Dave


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dave S]

Okay, so I've uploaded the pic of the tank prior to my trimming on Friday.

I'll grab a pic of how it is tomorrow once the lights are back on.

As for CO2 I tweaked the CO2 flow and flow on the CO2 injection loop... I had a yellow drop checker today and the plants were pearling. At least I think they were.

I'll throttle back the CO2 now as the reactor had a significant co2 bubble in it at the end of the day. It gurgles in the evening but is silent in the morning after the bubble's dissolved.

 

[Dave S]

Testing the link to Imgur... hope this worked.

 

[Dave S]

Tried resizing using Imgur.

 

[Dave S]

Ok, took a bit but I got there. I now have control over my photos...

 

[Dave S]

So... the tank in an easy to view size. (taken Friday 01/07/2016)

 

[Dave S]

A bit random but for any of you out there with a Sony Xperia Z3 phone... don't believe Sony that it's IP68 rated & waterproof. I used it Sunday to take some photos of the tank from in the tank. Well... it worked... until I took the second photo, then the phone died.

Aquascaping can be an expensive hobby. Even if you don't throw your phone into your tank.

 

[Dave S]

Friday 08/07/2016 - Water change and glass clean yesterday.

 

[Dave S]

Ok, I'd like some planting suggestions. I'll post pics and current layout ASAP.

Basically I've got free space in the tank, I can now control pearling. I have to alter the positioning of the powerhead to influence CO2 evolution from the water.

• The tank is recieving (39Wx4)/73 gallons = 2.13 W/gallon
• Plant pearling by 6th hour of light
• currently dose EI: 1 tsp KNO3/0.25 tsp KPO4 three days a week & 1 tsp TNC micro 2 days/week with 50% water change once a week
• >10 tank volumes of flow/hour

Looking forward to posting the layout & pics.

See you soon,

Dave

 

[AndreiD]

Hi , test Ph right before CO2 starts and right after CO2 stops . You should have 1 Ph difference between the measurements

 

[Cor]

Hi , test Ph right before CO2 starts and right after CO2 stops . You should have 1 Ph difference between the measurements

Sorry to interrupt: Is there more information available why there must be 1 Ph difference. (perhaps link..?) I'll like to know more about this statement beqause I'm still trying to figure it all out...

 

[AndreiD]

Sorry to interrupt: Is there more information available why there must be 1 Ph difference. (perhaps link..?) I'll like to know more about this statement beqause I'm still trying to figure it all out...

Hi , no sorry i don't have any link about this .

 

[Dave S]

So, some more photos...


Dwarf hairgrass - pearling nicely


Hygrophila pinnatifida, Bacopa caroliniana etc


Hockey stick pencilfish - Nannostomus eques


Hygrophila pinnatifida


Advice?


This is how things look now

 

[Dave S]

Hi AndreiD,

Hi , test Ph right before CO2 starts and right after CO2 stops . You should have 1 Ph difference between the measurements

I don't test pH at the minute... I was running based on:

1) yellow drop checker,
2) how the plants look,
3) how the plants grow.

How do you find your plants grow with a 1 pH unit drop? What pH is your set up before CO2 on? Any idea of the level of hardness in your water? I have pretty hard water, it's between 180-200 ppm CaCO3. Achieving a 1 pH drop might be more difficult given the high hardness value. Any comments?

How do others find using pH as an indicator of if they're in the CO2 sweetspot?

 

[AndreiD]

Whats your KH ?

If your Kh is high than CO2 is "dilluting" more hard in the water and you need to add more CO2

 

[Manisha]

A bit random but for any of you out there with a Sony Xperia Z3 phone... don't believe Sony that it's IP68 rated & waterproof. I used it Sunday to take some photos of the tank from in the tank. Well... it worked... until I took the second photo, then the phone died.

Aquascaping can be an expensive hobby. Even if you don't throw your phone into your tank.

Oh no! Did it dry out?

Are you still trying to figure a background centre plant and foreground righthand side plant?

Your tank is very nice - is it quite tall? Would you like some more height in your scape? If so, perhaps vallisneria if your water isn't too soft? asiatica or Americana maybe?
Aponogeton bulbs are quite large growing and produce many leaves so maybe nice. Crinum bulbs are nice too or members of the nymphea species can look good in a large tank with floating leaves?

The tropica website is good for browsing aquascapes and identifying plants you like and would like in your tank!

If your after a foreground carpeting plant - let me know when you find one... I don't like most ha! Though have considered echinodorus quadricostatus but it's quite big for a carpet!