Carlos & Siran Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 So it's been aprox 3 weeks since we started the actual tank, though this has been in the planning stage for at least 2 months. Tank dimensions: 120.2cm long x 44.5 cm deep x 50 cm high. (285ltrs) Substrate: Daltons aqua base covered in a combination of several substrates. Decorations: Large piece of driftwood (Macro tree root) Plants: 6 x swords, including ozelot and rose, plus others but we've forgotten the names. 2 x types of Reineckii, one purple, 1 green. (About 6 of each) 6 x water star grass 10 x Dwarf sag 1 x Hydrocotyle 2 x Christmas moss 6 x Dwarf hair grass Still to come: Cabomba Lighting: 2 x T8 Super light Atman 30 watt 10.000K 1 x T8 pink 30 watt 12.000K (intend to replace these soon with new tubes when we can afford to) Filtration: 1 x Standard 2000lph trickle filter 1 x Eheim 2215 external(620lph) Stock: 2 x Blue mystery snails Still to come: 1 x Royal Panaque 1 x Royal Whiptail 6 x Cochu blue tetras 3 x Oto's 5 x Marble Hatchets 10/12 x Mosaic Cories 1 x BGK Current lighting frequency and fert program: Lighting-currently 4 hrs per day, have just changed to 6, will watch algae and switch back to 4 if it becomes a problem. Fert- 35mls flourish/week 40mls/Ferropol/week Other- 35mls StressZyme/week Will add DIY CO2 in the next few weeks, and hope to change to canister CO2 when we can afford it. Will use the fert program Jenifer and 44 use as soon as the tank matures. Comments and constructive criticism welcome. Alan: All the plants are doing very well so far except the Green Reineckii which seems to be just rotting away, it's getting as much light as the other plants. (The tubes in the tank are old and definitely need replacing, do you think this could be the problem?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Wow looks beautiful I'm a bit confused though - Green reineckii? It only comes in red. It might be normal Alternanthera reineckii grown under low light, or Ludwigia glandulosa that has been grown under low light, or it could be a type of Hygrophila. Also can Hrydrocotyle verticillata be grown successfully on bogwood like that? It looks very cool I sent your plants today. I had to use a large yoghurt container to fit them all in, and it cost $6 to post them I basically gave you half of the plants in my tank My tank looks a lot more empty and tidy now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Looks good. Plants will take a few weeks to settle in and grow according to the conditions in your tank. A boisterous royal pleco will have a lot of rearrange in that tank! I'd be keeping a 10 hour photoperiod or so on the tank. PM me your address and I'll send you some of my ferts. Make sure you leave the lights on if you use them! By Mosiac cory, do you mean - Corydoras haraldschultzi? Where can you get them from? If you think the tubes are old, replace them if that's an option. I tend to over extend the life of my powerglos and plantpros but given the price of each one, I'll forgo perfect looking plants for a few more months use haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Wow looks beautiful Also can Hrydrocotyle verticillata be grown successfully on bogwood like that? It looks very cool I'm not sure, seemed like a good idea at the time, It seems to have lots of strong healthy new leaves but it also seems to have quite a few withered looking brown leaves which it didn't have before. Do you think we should plant it in the substrate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Schwartz's Corydora 44, perhaps I used the wrong common name?, Wonderworld in Rotorua has them, seen them on TM from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I think it is best planted in the substrate, because I've never seen it grown on bogwood before and it is a root feeder I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 http://www.aquascapingworld.com/plantpe ... 0Pennywort This plant can be either planted in the substrate or left floating. If allowed to penetrate or float along the surface, Hydrocotyle leucocephala will produce tiny white flowers. Edit: Sorry, just noticed that's for Leucocephala and not Verticillata Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinbote Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Nice looking tank. You probably wasted some money buying all that hair grass, though; it spreads like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Actually, we only bought 3 plants, Matt Smith kindly sent us 3 more free. We highly recommend him(TradeMe name: Cellar.door) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinbote Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Actually, we only bought 3 plants, Matt Smith kindly sent us 3 more free. We highly recommend him(TradeMe name: Cellar.door) Nice, the new Doctor Who actor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinbote Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Are you going to go for real cabomba? Ambulia is about $3.50 a bunch, reputedly easier to grow and indiscernible from cabomba to the casual observer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Joe is kindly sending us some Ambulia this week, but it's for our south east Asian project. We'd like to keep to SA native plants/fish as much as possible. Our original plan was to have a biotope but we realized fairly early on that a true biotope is difficult and restrictive, so we've changed to a South American themed tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinbote Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Joe is kindly sending us some Ambulia this week, but it's for our south east Asian project. We'd like to keep to SA native plants/fish as much as possible. Our original plan was to have a biotope but we realized fairly early on that a true biotope is difficult and restrictive, so we've changed to a South American themed tank. Have you got a source for cabomba? Pygmy chain sword is another nice SA plant you might want to consider. Latest pics of my amazon tank are here if you're interested viewtopic.php?f=4&t=50055&start=45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Not atm no, we want something tall to full out the back of the tank, Rotorua has it but at $6.50 per plant it's a bit on the steep side as we want at least 15 or so, we'll prolly source bits and pieces. Do you know of a plant like Vallisaria Americana that's allowed in NZ that's not banned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinbote Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 The amazon swords should get like that eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Nice tank! more whiptails would be cool I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted February 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 Starting to get black slimy looking algae growing on some of the plants, namely the broad leaves of the sword plants. And a more brownish looking one on the Hydrocotyle, which is directly under the lights, the leaves are stretching up towards it, only a few inches below the light. Decrease light period? Or perhaps add a few Ottos to do their thing? It's not getting out of control yet, but may do if given the opportunity. We've run out of Flourish, been about a week without it. surely that wouldn't be the cause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Not atm no, we want something tall to full out the back of the tank, Rotorua has it but at $6.50 per plant it's a bit on the steep side as we want at least 15 or so, we'll prolly source bits and pieces. Do you know of a plant like Vallisaria Americana that's allowed in NZ that's not banned? Cyperus helferi :happy1: It is way better looking than val :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted February 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 We noticed a bit of an anomaly with the tank this morning. The hood comes with 3 tubes built into it, the tubes arn't full length, but perhaps a foot shorter so they've been staggered to make up for the lengths. There are two down one end and only 1 up the other, two tubes are white aqua-glows, one is a pink aqua-glow I guess. The problem is the pink one is the odd one out and is up one end of the tank all by it's self. We noticed that all the plants at that end have become scrawny and have lost their leaves, some of the plants have even rotted and have died, where the ones at the other end are bushy and healthy. We're going to swap them around so we have a white tube at each end in hopes this fixes things. Think it's time to add the CO2 now, and perhaps start the ferts Jen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Get a decent lighting hood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted March 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 Updated pic: Have since added DIY CO2,(copied Joe's double bottle idea...thanks Joe) 5mls Flourish Comprehensive per week + 3 Oto's Have ordered: 1kg Monopotassium Phosphate 5kg Potassium Nitrate 1kg Iron Chelate Should be here next week. Oh, and 8 blue Cochu tetras coming next week too. And finally tracked down some Cobomba, stuff's hard to find and expensive ATM, hopefully be here tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted March 11, 2011 Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 !drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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