SamH Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Same here. If it was up to me, I'd have none. But the BN's come first! :roll: I'd sell them but they're my longest surviving and my second ever fish, plus they're a breeding pair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Careful, this AquaBasis stuff is potent. So make sure you've got a good 1-2cm layer of substrate ontop of it. Make sure you rinse off your plants really well in correct warm water before putting them in your tank, as ANY algae will go NUTTS in a tank like that - we set ours up about 6 weeks ago and we're slowly getting rid of the brown algae. So be prepared for quite a bit of algae while the plants get established, once they're established they should be able to take care of the excess nutrients. PS: Did you rinse the AquaBasis first? It's pretty much about 80% clay that'll come up into the water column unless it's rinsed out. Plus the tank will be cloudy for about 1-2 weeks afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Careful, this AquaBasis stuff is potent. So make sure you've got a good 1-2cm layer of substrate ontop of it. Make sure you rinse off your plants really well in correct warm water before putting them in your tank, as ANY algae will go NUTTS in a tank like that - we set ours up about 6 weeks ago and we're slowly getting rid of the brown algae. So be prepared for quite a bit of algae while the plants get established, once they're established they should be able to take care of the excess nutrients. PS: Did you rinse the AquaBasis first? It's pretty much about 80% clay that'll come up into the water column unless it's rinsed out. Plus the tank will be cloudy for about 1-2 weeks afterwards. Yep ive got 2.5cm of aquabasis, then going to put 1-2cm of gravel/sand on top. It didnt mention anything to do with rinsing on the bag, so I didnt. Guess I should take it out whilst I still easily can and give it a rinse I guess I use the same method as rinsing sand? swirling around in a bucket a few times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 I didnt think you had to rinse it at all. that will get rid of a lot of the nutrients. lots of substrate on top of it ensures that it wont get out. brown algae is pretty normal in a new tank. it comes in almost every new tank ive set up even without a substrate fert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 I didnt think you had to rinse it at all. that will get rid of a lot of the nutrients. lots of substrate on top of it ensures that it wont get out. thats what I thought... Im going HFF on the way home to exchange the bag I didnt use, ill ask them. But your point does make logical sense phoenix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 there is supposed to be a 2-3 cm layer of aquabasis and then a 4-5cm layer of gravel on top of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 4-5cm ouch... my tank is only 25 tall... that dimension was based on a 5cm substrate layer. Hold on, I have a bag right here, it says: Spread a 2-4cm deep layer of aquabasis and cover with a layer of 2-4cm of washed aquarium gravel. Take care not to stir up the substrate when filling (guess that means no rinsing eh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 yep the numbers overlap. I got my figures of people off plantedtank.net (go check it out, there are some inspiring tanks out there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 yep the numbers overlap. I got my figures of people off plantedtank.net (go check it out, there are some inspiring tanks out there). I already have the nano section bookmarked I might put two oto's in too, at least until the tank matures enough for them not to be needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 You guys are probably right about the rinsing, when I pulled it out of the bag it was *very* dusty and clay-like. So I rinsed as much of it out as possible. Probably took out about a years worth of nutrients but I was afraid of the the nutrient overload, since my tank had quite a low plant load (about 50 small crypts - now large crypts!). I guess it would depend on what substrate you were using as to your top layer? If it's larger gravel then you'd need a thicker layer, smaller/finer gravel and it wouldn't need to be quite so thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 You guys are probably right about the rinsing, when I pulled it out of the bag it was *very* dusty and clay-like. So I rinsed as much of it out as possible. Probably took out about a years worth of nutrients but I was afraid of the the nutrient overload, since my tank had quite a low plant load (about 50 small crypts - now large crypts!). I guess it would depend on what substrate you were using as to your top layer? If it's larger gravel then you'd need a thicker layer, smaller/finer gravel and it wouldn't need to be quite so thick. Yeah was thinking of a thin layer of black sand Do you guys think I should add a backround? my big tank has the same tinted glass but its against a blue wall, so it works effectively, but this tank as you can see is only partially against a wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I find that a thick piece of black cardboard from the craft shop works well. Just tape it on with clear tape, it's the best looking solution I've come across yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Definately have a background but don't limit yourself to black. I choose a light blue one for my 3 footer but the tint on the back makes it look stunning. Try to differ this tank from coventional tanks, make it stand out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Ok so first bad thing has happened - not only is my well compacted clay layer obvious despite the gravel, even my best efforts and putting some water is resulted in one wee splash that penetrated the gravel and hit the clay - its visible at the front as you can see the layers. Water is cloudy as hell, but thats not too much of a problem. I know black is quite common for a bg, but I do like it, gives a great contrast against lucious green plants! especially with everything else being black, will just be the plants that arent! oh and my co2 reactor, but thats green too. EDIT. Just found a solution to the problem at the front where the layers were visible. Got my subway card (best sandwiches ever) and just shoved it down the front of the glass, and now no clay visible. Pics dont show that though... youll have to wait until tomorrow when hopefully there is clean water, a backround and some rocks (with javamoss ) Tomorrow: Water change (further get rid of cloudyness) Get backround Turn on heater Sunday: Drain tank to half. buy first lot of plants. Fill tank. Dont worry it will look ten times better tomorrow. Id change the water a few times tonight but ive just done back in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzyJeff Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I have just been thru this exercise... I didn't rinse the AquaBasics stuff, just put it straight in - I then put 2-3cm gravel on top (black silica sand) then I covered the bottom with a couple of sheets of newspaper and poured the water in. This worked well - didn't upset any of the substrate. Tanks was cloudy for 8 days total - I did a ~40% water change after 5 days (used the newspaper to pour new water in again) All looking sweet now! I am finding the pH is very high still so have added some driftwood yesterday hoping to get it down so I can add some fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Yeah I waterchanged it about 7 times and eventually got clearish water. I then move a bit of gravel etc.. and it just clouds up straight away. Horrible to work with... It needs a much thicker layer of gravel (that damn phoenix, always right) but I dont want that much substrate in this tank. So $30 worth of substrate just went on the garden, and im going to buy some flourite black sand today. (what i shouldve done in the first place but i was being cheap) :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 So $82 (ouch) later and I have good substrate. A quick swirl with water in a bucket and chucked it in. Didnt cloud much at all. I was concerned at the amount of air pockets remaining so ended up giving it a good stir up. 2 water changes later and its clearing up really fast. Got a black backround too. Any ideas on heater placement? It will only just fit vertically in the corner (but im lazy and dont want to turn the heater off every water change), I dont like diagonal placements either. The low horizontal is the best placement I came up with so far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Spot the heater here Horizontal should be fine, just make sure there's good flow around it and the temperature is consistant. Super envious of your sand, could never bring myself to fork out that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 oh no you chucked out all the good substrate!!! all you needed was time and patience! LOL :lol: well this works too and looks nice, so have fun setting up the whole thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 oh no you chucked out all the good substrate!!! all you needed was time and patience! LOL :lol: well this works too and looks nice, so have fun setting up the whole thing! The clay was simply horrid.. I shiver at the thought of it now... Im the type of person who changes stuff around a lot until im happy - and when planting is concerned, and the substrate dissolves when in contact with water, the tank would stay cloudy for a long long long time! But yay plant shopping today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Oh and regarding the lighting, do I need to change the 15000k bulb for something lower in the spectrum... I actually dont like the colour it gives either, want maybe a cool white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 those are best used in conjunction with another tube, like 10000K. its a really good tube though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 those are best used in conjunction with another tube, like 10000K. its a really good tube though Yeah didnt want to go with 2 tubes, will look at 10000k or a 6500k. 15000k lighting makes taking photos really difficult Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 The clay was simply horrid.. I shiver at the thought of it now... Im the type of person who changes stuff around a lot until im happy - and when planting is concerned, and the substrate dissolves when in contact with water, the tank would stay cloudy for a long long long time! Luckily I didn't have any of these problems. I layered up some gravel to create the terrain I wanted, then layered in the AquaBasis where I wanted it, then covered it again with substrate. I planted before filling, so that may explain why I had less trouble with it. Sorry that you had to throw out the AquaBasis, it's not cheap ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Rawr I have plants! I thought it fruitless to do internet research to end up with a list of plants I wanted, as then Id have to source them, most of which wouldnt be able to get no doubt. So the plan was to go to HFF albany and take my pics from what they had. The list: Macaranda stems (for a bit of red) Water sprite Wysteria Dwarf sag Hairgrass An argentian sword (centerpiece) Vals some stems that are like hygro but leafier crypts I trimmed a lot of the stems, as well as the hairgrass which I split into two. My method of growing is chaos. Plant the plants how they might look nice, and just let chaos reign and see what happens! I also got a sunlight bulb too, heaps better. Will take more pics when the water clears up, not going to do anymore water changes to get rid of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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