Rescaping 64l customised rekord 600

[RickB]

So in around a weeks time I will be rescaping my customised rekord 600 aquarium.

During my journey with my initial aquascape (or attempt at one lol) I made alot of errors, bad choice of substrate, no source of ferts or co2 for the first 6 weeks (I am that new I did not know you needed co2 and ferts in a planted tank), the substrate wasnt great (tetra complete with tetra active on top) grain size was too big for the plants I had and the colour was... a bit terracotta.

After weeks of effort and research the plant I have left are doing ok, hair grass isnt best though, thats where the substrate probably was not the best.

So I am going to start from scratch.

I am going to drain the tank with most of the water going into a container for the fish that will have a powerhead and heater plus the sponge with the bact on.

I am going t remove the internal juwel filter.

Then I am going to make a substrate of tetra complete substrate on the bottom,then I am going to place root tabs, then tropica aquarium soil powder.

The light is 2 x 24w t5ho.
Filter will be an APS EF1 external filter

I will also be using one of co2art's complete advanced sodastream sets to delver co2 to the tank.

I will be dosing tropica premium and specialised fertilisers on alternate days

I am aiming to follow this: http://tropica.com/en/guide/get-the-right-start/tropica-app/ guide throughout the first 3 months.

I have an idea of the plants I want:

background:
Hygrophila Polysperma
Hygrophila 'Siamensis 53B'
Ludwigia Arcuata
Rotala Rotundifolia

Midground:
Ammania sp. 'Bonsai' Tissue Culture - Hortilab
Anubias Nana 'Mini'
Bolbitis heteroclita ‘Difformis’
Cryptocoryne Petchii
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown
Microsorum pteropus 'Trident'
Java Moss

Foreground
Staurogyne rubescens

I am a little disappointed about the bonsai been hortilab as I was hoping to use all potted but want to source all the plants from the same place.

Will be using 2 very nice pieces of redmoor as a frame for the moss,triident,anubias and the bolbitis (thanks to dave at auarium gardens for picking out the perfect pieces for me).

I am going to get 10 amano shrimp to help with keeping everything tidy, they will work with the 6 oto's I have.

Will update after day 1 with it planted etc.

 

[john dory]

Watching with interest,as I have a record 600.

 

[RickB]

Quick change of plan to save myself some money, I am not going to be using tropica soil pwder now, instead I will use the rest of the tetra active substrate I have but top it with Limpopo black sand, that eliminates both the bad grain size and color of the tetra active substrate and saves me money - win win.

Hoping to order hardscape this week sometime.

 

[ian_m]

I placed black Limpopo sand on top of Fluval substrate when I first set my tank up. Carefully banked it up to make slopes with plastic dividers. Looked good.

However after a while the substrate underneath started "floating up" through the sand, as well as the sand banking "collapsing", probably due to the x10 flow in the tank moving the sand around. Spent ages pushing the substrate back under the sand and placing pebbles/rocks to stop the sand being washed away. Not sure I was wise to attempt to bank up sand or even put sand on top of an aquatic substrate.

Eventually admitted defeat and one evening, hiked it all out, and sieved the substrate from the sand and put it back with sand at the bottom and substrate on top. Much better now as if bald patches of substrate appear it is much easier to just push around the substrate on the sand, thus covering the bald patch.

Also remember as with all new substrates, you will get ammonia from leaching and being immature, despite using old water and mature filters. So for first couple of weeks I did daily water changes and daily dosed with AmQuel to keep ammonia down.

 

[RickB]

Interesting.

I wonder if this would have the same issue: http://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/dennerle-nano-shrimp-gravel-sulawesi-black-2-kg-1750-p.asp

 

[RickB]

project has been delayed a while as I have decided to get a sodastream co2 system from co2art and that has hammered my budget.

 

[RickB]

So.. this is actually happening next week now 100% so I updated the op wth all up to date nfo on plants and setup etc.

I will be going for a nature theme and am using alot of Amano's works as inspiration.

Also I do not think it qualifies as customised rekord 600 anymore lol as the only thing left is the glass tank.

If anyone has any last minute advice on using co2 that would be great too, I have read alot the past two weeks, that I should aim for 3 bubbles a second and around 30-35ppm and a green drop checker, will be starting with 1 bubble a second and working up to 3 though throughout the first day, to time how long it takes for the checker to change etc so I know when to set the co2 to tun on.

Also hoping the external filter has enough flow for me, at 1000l/h in a tank this size I should be ok?

 

[alto]

Depending on the why's of your plant choices (ie keep them as is if that's what you like ) I'd be inclined to adjust a bit

Background - I'd choose either Hygrophila Polysperma or Hygrophila 'Siamensis 53B', both should be quite fast growers, HS 53B will likely have larger leafs, color is quite different

Mid - these are all fairly slow growers, I'd switch one out for a faster growing plant
java moss is pretty invasive & can be quite a fast grower, so you'll need to monitor it carefully (syphon away all trimmings) - I assume you'll be attaching this to wood

You might add in a smaller round leafed plant for contrast

I'd be inclined to plant & run CO2 24/7 for a week or so before adding in livestock or if you need to add fish etc back sooner, you can run increased CO2 during photoperiod, then adjust to lower rate during ambient light period (this can be useful if tank receives a good amount of ambient light)

If possible I'd add the Tropica soil back in as a top layer (one 9litre bag)

Filter should be fine

 

[RickB]

So switching the 53b for a bacopa for example?

The midground plants are all chosen with a view to how it will look once grown in.

I am throwing the bonsai in there to try add variety, could also add a bacopa compact maybe? can you recommend any fast growing midground plants that are not too demanding?

With the co2, I am very very new to co2 (my first co2 system) so I am not sure I am comfortable running higher from the start, is there a reason why I should run it higher from the start?

 

[RickB]

Ok so tank is planted and filled and filter running, will start the co2 tommorow as I am tired after a very long day, will also provide a few pics too.

 

[alto]

I did mean to get back to you on this (just got distracted)

is there a reason why I should run it higher from the start?

This can be helpful transitioning new plants (most ship with emerse growth) to submerse life, but if you've livestock, stick with levels that are comfortable for your fish etc
There are some plants which "grow" outside the photoperiod - especially if tank receives ambient light, so you can also choose to run lower CO2 rate 24/7, & then increase this CO2 rate during photoperiod (this is my preference as tank receives some sunlight & even a cloudy spring day affects plant demeanour)

fast growing midground plants that are not too demanding?

I did look at Tropica's site but these tended to be slow or moderate in growth - most "fast growing" plants tend to be those stems that also achieve considerable height - eg, if you compare growth rate of Bacopa 'compact' it's rather slower than Rotala rotundifolia (both have handling & growth videos)

will also provide a few pics too.

 

[RickB]

I will get some pics today, will not be best quality sadly as am using a smartphone, just been very busy ^^

Thanks for explaining also, I think I will stick to the basics for now though, drop checker was green by lights on at around 2 bubbles a second, apparently the regulator I got from co2 art is kinda pre rigged at 40 psi as that is what they recommend for the bazooka diffuser.

I ended up getting a Pogostemon Erectus instead of the 53B, had to cut the hygro polysperma back before planting as the plant was huge lol also I decided not to use any moss as I like the natural color of the wood and my past experience with moss is bad.

The equipment is a bit of an eye sore but pactical I suppose.

I ended up using tropica soil powder as top layer too, I used a small amount of the tetra active to help build up the back of the substrate, the bigger grain size should help a bit back there.

 

[RickB]

Pics

 

[alto]

Well done

For equipment, you could
- move spraybar to left tank wall (across width of tank rather than length - as spray bar will cover the width completely this should provide more even flow)
- move inlet to back right corner (common alternate location would be back left corner, you might try both to see which provides more even flow - CO2 microbubbles or fine flake food is a good indicator of flow patterns)
- place heater vertically in a back corner (opposite back corner to inlet or adjacent to inlet depending on viewing angles)

That left side "stump" looks to be your main flow blocker so it may work better with the spray bar on the opposite wall - just try out the various combinations

 

[RickB]

Thanks for the advice, will have a play around with the equipment next water change.

1 other thing, the Bolbatis and trident both have black on the leaves, this is nutrient related if I read correctly, the tropica guide states not to use ferts for the first few weeks, should I stick to the guide or start dosing half a dose of the premium fertiliser?

 

[RickB]

Ok so I removed the spray bar, I can tell you that every area of my tank is now flowing around nicely, I cannot see a plant that is not swaying trying to think of where I can put the heater now, the wire is not long enough to reach to the back right corner, could I put it just behind the outlet?

I am also starting to get white fungus around my wood, I understand this is very common and harmless and will go away by itself, am I right?

 

[Matt Havens]

Ok so I removed the spray bar, I can tell you that every area of my tank is now flowing around nicely, I cannot see a plant that is not swaying trying to think of where I can put the heater now, the wire is not long enough to reach to the back right corner, could I put it just behind the outlet?

I am also starting to get white fungus around my wood, I understand this is very common and harmless and will go away by itself, am I right?

I had the same problem when I set up my 60L too. The white fungs did go after a while. I think the ottos had a great time with it after I added them it appeared to have gone.

Very interested to see how this develops as I am going to be doing a very similar project soon.

Well done so far it looks great!



Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[RickB]

So I added the 10 shrimp today, they are busy little things! the fungus is gone lol they also destroyed the oto's left over food.

 

[RickB]

Is it normal for all the shrimp to congregate in one place when the lights off? they all seem to be in a huddle on the filter outlet pipe.

 

[alto]

they all seem to be in a huddle on the filter outlet pipe.

to me this is not a good sign - make sure oxygen levels are good ie adjust filter return so there is more surface movement - you might also look at decreasing CO2 somewhat when adding any livestock (again I mostly do this just by increasing surface agitation for a few days)
Have you seen any molts since adding shrimp?

It's possible shrimp are just not feeling that great - but increasing oxygen/decreasing CO2 is always a good thing if livestock are (even slightly) sick.
You can also do daily water changes of 20 - 25% at this time (I'm a bit more conservative with shrimp water changes) or morning & evening if you need to change more water re plants etc.