27 replies to this topic

[Noddy65]

Hi all, heres a post for those who dont frequent the other planted tank forums in Aus.

Hi all
Heres the photos of the setup...there is some partial nudity (you have to have your shirt off when doing this sort of work).

The tank has T5 flouros, reflectors only on the front ones for better penetration for the low growing plants.
It has pressurised CO2 and I fert every few days. This will take some tweaking as Im not sue exactly how many of these plants will grow.


The setup. Bags of compost, gravel, laterite and tubs ready for the fish.


The tank prior to stripping. Its a 5 x 2 x 2 with T5 lights. No CO2. Plants at this stage are Narrow Val, Chain swrod and a mix of crypts. Oh and lots of duckweed.


The 'stripping' starts. I warned you about nudity. (Im gonna have to get some stick on hair)


There was a LOT of vallus in there. Ended up filling the bathtub.

[Noddy65]

Tank is now almost empty, just the last few fish to catch in the mud on the bottom.


Tank is now empty. I left a thin layer of mulm on the bottom. The theory was that it would contian good bacteria and help with any cycling probs.


I then put down a layer of laterite sourced form Perth and also a layer of Water lilly Compost. The laterite is about 1 cm thick, potting mix about 3 -4 depending on if its at the front or back of tank. I made it thicker at the back.


Substrate is finished. topped with a nice think layer of standard fine gravel

[Noddy65]

Heres a closeup of the substrate.


Water is in, lights are on no fish yet.


Time for a cup of tea.



And of course the long suffering wife.

[Noddy65]

Heres a pic a few days later, I have some GW issue now and will wait a few days for the water to clear.


And one of the plants. I think its a Native Water sprite..Ill have to do some research and will post pics and labels when the plants have grown more.


Mike

[anchar]

Thanks Mike..I needed a smile

[grimlock]

tanks looks good

thanks for the plants mike!

put them in last nite didnt know there was so much riccia stuck to them!

[Dave76]

Tank is looking good Mike - you did forget to show me your discus when I was there tho

Howd you go with your ammonia issue ?

Cheers

Dave

[Noddy65]

Sorry about that...so much happening time got away.
Ammonia seems to have really rapidly resolved, two big water changes and things are ok...I guess our little bacterial friends finally got their act together and got to making some nice Nitrates.

Mike

[Dave76]

Just thinking.... I wonder if prior to the rescape the abundance of plants were using all the ammonia before the filter got a go at them.

Then all of a sudden the plants are no longer there to use the ammonia & the filter then has had to play 'catch up' to the ammonia produced in the tank?

[Noddy65]

Its possible but its my understanding plants will use Nitrates not Ammonia...however its possible that there was a nice bacterial culture in the original gravel, converting Ammonia to Nitrite to Nitrates and its taken a few days for the canister filter to catch up and compensate for the loss of substrate bacteria.

Mike

[Brett]

Wrong way round Mike, plants prefer ammonia but will use nitrates/nitrites if they have to.

Check out Diana Walstads book for the experiments that confirm this


Cheers

Brett

ps Always wondered about what is in the filters of heavily planted tanks that have little or no nitrogen in the water. Maybe just a lot of mulm and not much bacteria !!!! Just a thought

[Noddy65]

Update...


Mike

[ChRiS_06]

how the hell do your plants grow that fast 8O

[Noddy65]

Light and CO2 in this case...because of the GW and current (and expected) algae problem I havent been fertilising.

I must admit, it has grown much faster than I thought.
There may be some nice native cuttings a bit earlier than I thought.

Mike

[Noddy65]

Still not too sure what this is, but it is a fantastic looking plant and I reckon it would creep along the substrate.



Mike

[Graeme]

Tanks going really well Mike
Great job
now how do you lose those discus?


Graeme

[Noddy65]

Update
PS: I have lost some of those discus

So far the species list is:
Aponogeton euryspermus
Aponogeton vanbruggenii
Aponogeton tofus
Aponogeton unknown species
ELATINE GRATIOLOIDES
Maidenia rubra
Hygrophila angustifolia
Ceraptopteris thalictroides
Potamegeton tricarinatus
Limnophila aromatica
Limnophila sp.
Rotala mexicana
R. occultiflora
and a few species of native Val
Mike

[Brett]

Sorry to hear that Mike :cry: :cry:

Plants look healthy though

Cheers
Brett

[Dave76]

Tank is looking good Mike

Sorry to hear about your discus tho - any idea on the cause ?

Dave

[Noddy65]

Nope...no idea...the initial ammonia problem has disappeared....we did lose power here the other day for most of the day...they started dieing soon after that but all water parameters seemed to be ok...?
Mike