Hello,

I'm in the process of setting up my first tank (slowly getting the equipment together now - the tank is 2'x1'x1'). While doing research into it (both on the internet and through the library) I was impressed by the heavily planted aquariums, and thought I'd have a go at it myself.

I thought I'd theme the tank as a "SE asian back water environment" (I think its called a biotope?). I thought I'd use this page and this one as a reference point for designing the tank and choosing plants native to the area. Is there a site that has a list of plants which are available in NZ, so I can work out which ones would work well together?

I'm also little confused about the substrate to use for it though. On another forum (before I found this one ) it was recommend that I use 3-5" of Fluorite, 1/4" of mulm from an established tank, and 1/4" of peat. Is there a special aquarium peat that should be used or will any garden centre variety do?

Thanks,

Gavin.

you can use most peats , just wash it before you use it.

i have 3 kinds of Anubias growing in my tank Anubias nana grows the fastest, i use the jbl base plant food and then just autumn gravel, its a nice brown colour gravel so it doesnt take your eye off the plants and the fish, if you use an orange,red or fruit salad it makes you look at the gravel as well.

Our home page has a list of plants. Also, check out Paul's site, it is full of excellent information and NZ based

http://paul.aaquaria.com

Check the peat has not had any mould inhibitors or other toxic stuff added.

If the peat doesnt sink, boil it in hot water until it does.

Thanks very much for that

-Gavin

If the peat doesnt sink, boil it in hot water until it does.

Note that boiling it in cold water won't work...

lol. I just thought I should make it obvious.

Good spotting Ira :roll:

Alan

fins if you dont add water to your tank before you set it up then the peat will not float , :lol: i mean you will have sand or gravel on top of it to keep it down. :roll:

so you dont need to boil it,

I am just sharing my experiences with peat.

What about with Jim and Andy and - - -

Alan