skaffen Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Hiya I'm two months into this, my new hobby. I got an 85 L tank from a friend who's off overseas. It was overstocked so I started shopping for a larger tank. Several lapses of judgment later, I have a 440 L planted tank and a few more fish... Who'd have thunk that crack was extracted from tropical fish I have 9 tiger barbs, 11 black neon tetra, 3 rummy-nosed tetra, 1 golden gourami, 1 platy, 2 Siamese algae eaters, 2 Bolivian butterflies, a bristle-nosed pleco, and one mid-sized bala shark. The RNTs were original, I won't be replacing them over time - too flashy for my taste... I had 5 tiger barbs originally, one died and the remaining four started fighting amongst themselves more. Adding five more fixed that, well as soon as the new barbs grew a little and they all started schooling together. They are cool fish, almost copper colored around the gills in the evenings, sometimes turning a metallic green when chasing each other, and they leave all the other fish alone. The butterflies were my last addition - very pretty, peaceful fish, but they stand their ground when it comes to tasty algae wafers! I had to isolate my red tailed black shark - he was OK in the 85 L, but he gradually got more and more aggro in the 440 L tank - he's by himself in the 85 now. I'll try reintroducing him to the 440 L after a few weeks. I'd like another bala, but I'm not sure about stock levels or how large balas go in planted tanks. He sometimes schools with my gourami - who puts up with it for a while then ducks for cover. After watching a few older balas at the LFS, I think my one would appreciate another of his kin to muck about with. Are bristle nosed plecos OK in a planted tank? I know the larger plecos are a no-no, how about BNPs? Anyhow, after battling with Dotphoto and a few other photo sites, and posting into the wrong forum, I've finally got some pics on line. Feel free to offer comments and constructive criticism on plant spacing, stock levels, and by all means feel free to answer my questions! Remember, n00b alert! My plants are starting to go for it, and the nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are all zero. For now I'm using Flourish Excel and API Leaf Zone, along with fert tabs in the substrate. I'm going to look into PMDD soon. Can someone please ID the plant to the right of the stump? It's going crazy and needs lots of pruning, not too sure if I'll keep it once the swords grow in... -Si -Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simian Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Looks like a good effort to my untrained eye. Join the Waikato Aquarium club, we have just had a tank crawl and could have had a really critical look at it. We have em about every 6 months so join up and we will see you soon Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 I have 9 tiger barbs, 11 black neon tetra, 3 rummy-nosed tetra, 1 golden gourami, 1 platy, 2 Siamese algae eaters, 2 Bolivian butterflies, a bristle-nosed pleco, and one mid-sized bala shark. Bala sharks like to be in groups of 4-6, ubt you oculdnt house that many in that tank and they eventually get to 30cm.and rummy nose tetras look great in bgger schools of atleast 8 -12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 And the tank looks great by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Oh and bristlenose plecs are great inplanted tanks, they will easily breed in there too if you have a male/female pair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-town... Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 wow nice looking tank you have there! bristlenose can be alright. I had a pair of golden black eyed bns in and they were fine. they are now in a diff breeding tank so put two of the off spring in the main planted tank the lil male was fine but the female stripped all the swords and apontogeon :evil: other wise good fish also ottocinclus are good for planted tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 I like it - a lot!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 That's good new about the plecs Here's a closer shot of the mystery plant. This came from the 85 L originally... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 The plant in the front is Echinodorus amazonicus or amazon sword. There is another common amazon sword (Echinodorus bleheri) but it has slightly wider leaves and more stalk before the leaf forms. The plant at the top/rear is Hygrophila corymbosa stricta (also known as H. stricta, temple plant and blue hygrophila). Wen it gets too tall you cut it off above the bottom two leaves and replant it. The stump will often produce two branches and the cutting grows roots so that one becomes three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 The Hygrophila corymbosa stricta was the one I didn't know the name of - it's the only plant that transitioned over from the 85 L, so I know the rest. Thanks for the ID I can recommend it if anyone wants a fast growing phosphate hoover! Speaking of phosphate, what levels should I be aiming for in a planted tank? Hamilton water seems to have a bit. I don't have any algae issues, so just whatever's the best balance for the fish and plants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 The tank looks great and very well balanced. No algae problems means you have everything pretty well sorted, so my advice would be don't change things up unless you start having problems. Did you use any Aquatic Mix under your sand or are the swords getting all their nutrients from the fert tabs? Keep them a bit starved or you'll end up with tank busters which will hide your stump completely. Well planned and executed, bravo! Oh, What kind of lighting are you running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Two months into the hobby and your tank looks like that...are you fibbin you really have been doing this for much longer right :lol: :lol: Your tank looks awesome Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Thanks for the kind words. I spent a couple of months lurking in various forums, reading and asking questions - good old interweb My friend who I got the 85 L off has accused me of being obsessive A big shout out to Shannon at World of Water who helped me heaps with plants, she really knows her stuff As far as lights goes, it's 4 X Sera 60cm 18W - two 4900 K "Plant" tubes in the rear and two 12000 K "Blue Sky" in the front. I got the little clip-on reflectors too. It's an AquaEl tank and hood BTW. There's an AquaEl Unimax Pro 500 for filtration, which has foam/wool, bio balls, dolomite, then ceramic noodles. What do you guys reckon about the media I'm using? The water's clean and almost clear, but there's some fine suspended particles - should I be able to get crystal clear water? PO4 is ~0.25, not sure about gH - either it's close to zero or my kit's faulty, I'm going to take some water and the kit to the LFS this weekend to figure it out. pH is 7, kH is 6-7 - I've been using Sera mineral salt as Hamilton's water is soft and a bit acidic. Fe is 0.5 - I'm using Leaf Zone to maintain that level, ~40 ml/week. Changing 2 X 50 L a week, vacuuming each time. I'm using Excel at the recommend rate, and I've got some Flourish on the way from Pet Planet. The substrate is Sera Floradepot (read expensive sandy soil with ferts, wish I'd known you can get bulk stuff at Bunnings...) with 3mm quartz on top. I just added some fert tabs, I might have been a little hasty on the swords? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 The same plant three days later, the smaller leaves are about 250% bigger now. Has anyone noticed standard Flourish smells like soy sauce? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 Another thing, I just found this guy floating about on an aponogeton leaf. Must have come with the plants, what is it? I presume there's more, are they going to munch plants too much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted April 24, 2008 Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 Common Pond Snail, very common in aquariums and likely hitched in with plants. Thick jelly egg sacs with visible white dots. Doesn't really harm plants, good for a cleanup crew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted April 24, 2008 Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 Malayan trumpet snails are best for the planted tanks IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 Ah, not to worry then - thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANB001 Posted April 24, 2008 Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 I am sorry to disagree, maybe i`m wrong, but i think that these is a lymnaea (bad snail), not a physa (good snail) Those kind of snails usually comes with shop plants here, and 90% times are physa. Physa is a good gardener and never eats plants ... but i dont like them because breeds too fast, and tank goes full of them in few time (i like planorbis a lot more than physa to eat algae) Lymnaea its like a physa, and also breeds like a physa, but its a bad snail because it eats plants. The difference is in the shell`s turning direction (mmm i hate my english sorry) Lymnaea shell turns like a clock Physa shield turns in the other way I put a link where it talks about it ... in spanish ... sorry me not found it in english , but you can see the photos http://www.drpez.net/panel/showthread.php?t=145461 We are very far, so maybe i`m wrong and these is a NZ snail ... maybe another photo ... but i should bet for lymnaea. What do you think? Very nice fishtank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Your english is better than my spanish! You're correct about the direction of the shell spiral. I'll have a search and see what I can find. BlueandKim, do you have the full name for what you think this thing is please? -Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted April 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Here's some more more pics - a bit of a build blog really. Not sure if this should be here, but you can't comment over in the tank pics forum... This is the new filter running on the old 85 L tank - to give the bio-filter a head start - slight overkill :-) Cat is lurking in the background, he seems to approve of the new hobby. Here's the cabinet all assembled, leveled and powered. The tank has just arrived. I spent ages deciding between a blue gradient or plain black for the background. Black got the nod in the end. Sera Floredepot substrate is in and I'm adding quartz. Filling up for the first time Full, the floor appears to be holding up. Luckily there's a double joist directly under the tank. First plants - some java ferns. More plants and the first fish move in. The rest of the plants and fish are in. Ten days later. The anubias nanas on the rocks and along the wood are slow growing compared to the other plants. Two Weeks later. I moved the wood from the rockpile down to the stump - it looks like it's attached. I moved a couple of crypts and sagittaria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 OH, OH, OH very, very nice...I REALLY like this! Love the progresss pics! Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 OMG THAT IS AMAZING I am so doing a tank with sand now! Where did you get the stump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 What kind of sand is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Nice tank pics . Wish my tank looked that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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