Re: Rob's 300L (to be named)(week 1 photos)
I know, I know. About time. I hear you (that means you Chris).
Well, I have finally made some progress today and spent a lovely afternoon planting and setting up.
Here are the plants I used.
Rotalla rotundefolia
Rotalla macrandra
Pogostemon erectus
Pogostemon helferi
Hemianthus callicatroides
Hydrocotyl sp
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Anubias barteri
Anubias nana
Echinodorus bleheri
Weeping moss
The weeping moss was first up. This was my first go with 1-2-grow and I have to say I like it. Really nice quality and health. You get a surprising amount once it's washed and separated.
I managed to get the moss and anubias tied to the wood. Not something I would do on my own again. Definitely a two person job but did it and got the wood back in the tank. Also remembered to keep spraying the moss while I worked.
Stems next and the two rotallas. I got these from AE. Two pots gave me a load of plants! This is the macrandra. Lovely and healthy and with some nice colour. Hope my replacements lights turn up soon, so I can keep the red ends.
Got some water in the tank and started on the rest of the plants. This substrate (NA) isn't quite as easy to plant in as amazonia so I ended up planting bigger than normal clumps of HC. One pot divided into about 6 pieces. I had five pots. Pogostemon helferi was next. It's quite a buoyant plant and I have a couple of floaters which I'll replant this evening.
The rest of the plants went in:
So this is how it stands now. This photo was taken before I added anything. I'm using NA ferts stage 1 and K, plus an iron supplement and easycarbo. I've started CO2 injection too, so will spend some time sorting out levels. I've added sera nitrivec and the filter has been running for a few days now, with media from a well established filter, so hopefully cycling will be quick.
I'll now be watching and adjusting. Flow looks good (one benefit of cloudy nitrivec). Some of the stems are caught and need releasing but I'll let them bed in a little first. Tank is also quite cool, so heater is needing to work hard.
Params:
TDS 165
PH 6.9
GH 12
Ammonia and nitrates I haven't checked. No point this early. That's it for now. I'll update soon and take some proper pictures once things clear and settle. Very pleased with the layout and once the HC establishes itself I think will look really nice. Stems will give nice height and the hydrocotyl and pogo round the cobbles will soften things a bit.
Cheers all!