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Slow & Steady - First tank!

Z

Zoe

Member
Joined
5 Aug 2015
Messages
86
Location
UK
Thought I'd start a journal to document my first planted tank!

I've got so far:
Fluval Spec V (white)
Tropica Aquarium Soil (3kg)
Wood

Still to buy:
Heater
Plants

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I'm aiming to make this low tech, using Easycarbo and The Aquascaper Complete Plant Food.

So far the wood and tropica aquarium soil are in, I'm aiming to give this 2-3 weeks to soak before getting my plants, the filter will run in this time so the water doesn't stagnate but the lights will be off.

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It was tough to find a piece of wood that would fit the narrow depth, but I'm really happy with this piece, it's exactly what I had envisaged, and only £10.50! I used an entire 3kg bag of aquarium soil and it ended up being the perfect amount, allows me to bank it slightly in some areas but still have a good coverage.

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Ramekins for weight!
 
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Cleaned the slime off the wood and made a bit of a mess, but the wood seems to already be water logged which was much faster than I expected.

I've ordered an Aquel Easy Heater since I'm not fussed about having it in the pump compartment (I feel iffy about it being pressed up against the tubing). Once the heater arrives I'll order the plants then I'm cooking with gas :)
 
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Ordered the plants :)

Anubias nana 'Pinto'
Alternanthera reineckii 'mini'
Ludwigia repens rubin
Salvinia auriculata
Bucephalandra 'mini needle leaf'
Helanthium tenellum green
Hygrophila corymbosa siamensis 53b
 
Oh my word, that is looking fab already! I'm new here too, and starting my first aquascape, but I'm totally clueless! I think I will journal my progress (I mean 'attempt' lol ) I love that tank too, been looking at one like that on eBay. That may well be my project number 2 :D
 
PiddleMouse said:
Oh my word, that is looking fab already! I'm new here too, and starting my first aquascape, but I'm totally clueless! I think I will journal my progress (I mean 'attempt' lol ) I love that tank too, been looking at one like that on eBay. That may well be my project number 2 :D
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Do it!

I got my tank from pets at home, it was £70 :)
 
You might try sinking the wood into the substrate - at the moment it looks as if it's perched atop the substrate which is great for lifting & cleaning the slime off (later the wood will produce less slime, also shrimp, snails & Otos usually clean it up)

You'll have lots of plants :D

Some of the plants have fairly broad leaves so it will be interesting to see this scape develop
Be sure to stay on top of thinning out the salvinia, I've a tendency to let it get too deep a layer & then the lower levels go all brown - I'm always positive this Crash happens overnight :wideyed: but that is rather an unlikely happening ;)

I've not had any issues with heater in the pump compartment - as long as there's water in the tank it will dissipate the heat, only consideration is during water change that you turn the heater off first

This newer silver LED is fairly intense lighting for this small tank so you may want to add the EasyCarbo daily & be conservative with photoperiod, especially when starting up the tank
 
alto said:
You might try sinking the wood into the substrate - at the moment it looks as if it's perched atop the substrate which is great for lifting & cleaning the slime off (later the wood will produce less slime, also shrimp, snails & Otos usually clean it up)

You'll have lots of plants :D

Some of the plants have fairly broad leaves so it will be interesting to see this scape develop
Be sure to stay on top of thinning out the salvinia, I've a tendency to let it get too deep a layer & then the lower levels go all brown - I'm always positive this Crash happens overnight :wideyed: but that is rather an unlikely happening ;)

I've not had any issues with heater in the pump compartment - as long as there's water in the tank it will dissipate the heat, only consideration is during water change that you turn the heater off first

This newer silver LED is fairly intense lighting for this small tank so you may want to add the EasyCarbo daily & be conservative with photoperiod, especially when starting up the tank
Click to expand...

I’m going to, it’s like this from where I was weighing it down, I’m going to drain it right down and move the wood/fiddle with the substrate before I plant it.

I’m going for 4ish hours photo period to start with, and I’ve got the easy carbo ready to go :)

The heater I got does actually fit in the pump compartment, allbeit without its bracket. Would I need to drill holes in the tubing to increase the water flow in that compartment or do you think it would be ok?

The salvinia is just to increase my plant mass while it gets going, I don’t think it will stay once the tank is established but we shall see!
 
I've never found it necessary to add holes in the rubber tube - though I know this is something that some Spec users are adamant about ;)
but then I also often use heaters sans brackets

Depending on ambient light, I'd suggest a 5 hour photo period (with more ambient light, it's fine to reduce this to 4h)
 
alto said:
I've never found it necessary to add holes in the rubber tube - though I know this is something that some Spec users are adamant about ;)
but then I also often use heaters sans brackets

Depending on ambient light, I'd suggest a 5 hour photo period (with more ambient light, it's fine to reduce this to 4h)
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No daylight - we have french doors but keep the curtains closed during the day, plus it's north facing and the tank is on the opposite side of the room, I'll try 5 and see how I get on :)

Yeah I didn't 100% agree with the logic of it (unless it was for reducing flow) but I may try the heater in that compartment, I've already stuck a little command hook on there for the cable!
 
Considering swapping out the Ludwigia repens rubin for Ludwigia palustris, the leaves are just much bigger than I realised!! I've read that the palustris is smaller, opinions are needed and welcomed!!

I also need to bank the soil up more at the back on the left, I thought I had done this but evidently not, though may wait until the Alternanthera reineckii 'mini' is a bit more established so it's easier to replant!
 
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Has anyone got any thoughts on swapping the Ludwigia repens rubin for Ludwigia palustris? Does it have smaller leaves?
 
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You can see established Alternanthera r 'mini' in this client tank from Jurijs mit JS
This plant is slower to establish than some others so unless you want to wait several weeks, I'd add in the extra soil, then gently pull the A mini upwards

Oakheart 45P

I'd switch out the L repens for L palustris as I prefer the smaller leaf (especially in a smaller tank), leaf shape would also contrast more with some of your other leafs
The two are quite different in color though so you might keep your L repens to see how you like it :)

With the 1-2-Grow I generally begin adding fertilizers from the beginning
(Older,bigger potted plants have more reserves for the transition to your tank)
 
Thank you alto!

I’ve not got any extra soil to add, i need to push the soil where the A mini is back, so I’d need to pull it up completely then replant it, do you think it would be too much disruption to do it a week after I first planted it?

I’ll definitely switch out the ludwigia and I’ll order my ferts tonight, thank you for your advice!
 
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I'd just move the soil about sooner rather than later - there'll be more root Growth to disturb after a week than a couple days
If you find any "melted" bits when you pull up plants, just trim these back before replanting

(I'm assuming you've some sort of pinsettes or tweezers, take care not to crush or abrade delicate stems - some pinsettes are almost smooth while others can be quite sharp. You may also find that you're able to move a fair bit of soil about just with the pinsettes - try upper end, down)
 
I’ve got training chopsticks! They work pretty well for the 1-2-grow plants! Ok when I do a water change this weekend I’ll sort it out. Thank you again alto :)
 
Note that daily water change can increase dissolved CO2 in the tank, depending on tap water - it's not unusual to have higher levels dissolved CO2 in tap than in (nonCO2) tanks
You can also add carbonated water to boost CO2 during the first weeks - look for low sodium water - again this works best with daily water changes (before adding carbonated water) to reduce any sodium accumulation
 
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