I had a brief attempt at planted tanks about 10 years ago. The big tank was stripped and planted out, low tech, left to its own devices. Some plants died and some survived and after a while those ones thrived and look fab. Tried my hand at a smaller 150l tank and had algae issues. Tried adding ferts and co2 and still didn’t get the hang of it, so I gave up. Hence the clueless.
So over 5 years later, here I am. My son won a goldfish at the fair with his grandparents and the resulting panic of getting the poor fish into more suitable accommodation (it came home in a tiny fish bowl) rekindled my desire for a tank of my own.
So this little journal will see how well I handle the challenge second time around
Here is what I’ve got - 19l Fluval Spec 16 x 44 x 27cm.
I’ve sealed up the bypass holes in the filter section and drilled some very small holes in the outflow pipe so I can put a small 25W heater in the pump compartment.
I have to admit I have no idea what my substrate is! Some sort of aquarium soil that came with the tank (I found a bargain secondhand). There wasn’t quite enough, so it’s been mixed with black sand. Initially I had soil on the left and sand on the right. Planned to plant heavily on the left and slope down to an open sandy area. After a play around with the hardscape, the substrate mixed up a bit and I though “sod it, I’m just going to mix it completely to make my life easier”.
Here is what I started with.