Getthejist's 100l Tank

Hello,
this is my 100l tank. This is my first proper planted tank although I have kept plants before with great success



It has a hydor prime 30 canister filter which provides good circulation (900lph but probably less) and has a massive 5(although mine appears to be 7) litre capacity. : . The plants are Java fern windelov, crypt parva, crypt tropica, pygmy chain sword and possibly another sword and some moss balls, I am also hoping to get some christmas moss for the mangrove root (thing) and maybe a moss carpet. It has dirt capped with medium and small gravel for a more natural look and because i didn't have enough small gravel, and I have some root tabs in there Im not sure what everyone else thinks but I think they're great they may be the reason why the crypts aren't melting. It is using a single 20 watt tube so about 0.8 wpg. Any suggestions for a low light background plant. If I have missed anything out just ask and I'll put it in This picture is actually a week old so it looks slightly different but no extra plants though. Also if you feel anything should be changed don't hesitate to say so. I have 2 amano shrimp in there currently but want some more. The tank has been set up for a month but the plants weren't added straight away most were added 3 weeks ago but the crypts were only added last week and the tropica is melting but the parva is doing ok not much growth but only two yellow leaves on the 3 of them in there so its doing better than i expected The java fern is growing new roots which is good but it hasn't attached itself yet Moss balls are green but thats about it

Re: 100l Tank

Hi,
I'm assuming that this is a non-CO2 enriched tank. You can add a variety of other fern types such as Needle and Java. Vallis is always a nice choice for the background as well. It's not clear where you're located, but if you are in an agricultural area you might have plenty of nutrients in the water with no additional need to supplement, especially if using a soil type sediment, but if you are located in an area with low nutrient water it might help to add weekly amounts of inorganic nutrients.

Cheers,

Re: 100l Tank

I am dosing micro nutrients once a week and I now have some fish in there so they should provide some macro nutrients. I'll try and get a better picture but my camera doesn't like my tank so they don't turn out great. My water doesn;t have much in it so I think I need to dose micros. Also I thought vallis liked high light?

Re: 100l Tank

Im yet to find a situation where vallis wont grow, its a weed!

Re: 100l Tank

ceg4048 said:

You can add a variety of other fern types such as Needle and Java. Vallis is always a nice choice for the background as well.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure theres space for them unless they can be planted. Has anyone tried planting the roots of java fern in the substrate but keeping the rhizome above the substrate? Also my shops aren't the greatest for plants so theres no guarantee they'll have the common species let alone the rare ones, although they occasionally get some good stock If you noticed in the back left (on screen) corner there is some vallis but that died quickly so i removed it so I was unsure on vallis again :?

Well, there's always Ludwigia repens, Hygrophila polysperma, any Echinodorus, any of the hardier Cryptocorynes, Anubias for the foreground... You have not updated your profile to say where you are located, so if you are in Europe you might want to think about ordering on-line from any of our sponsors. You can see their banners at the top of the screen, and they even have their own sub-forums so if you are in a difficult location they will work with you as far as shipping goes. There's no need to be stuck with only what the LFS has to offer....

Cheers,

Thanks Ceg I'll check them out. And I'm in England

Also ceratopteris thalictroides for a nice little jungle at the background I remember you mentioning that you have 0.8 wpg worth of lighting but what kind of light please? T5 ? T8?

I have 1 T8 fluorescent tube, no co2 or liquid carbon and weekly dosing micro nutrients I think I actually have some ludwigia repens in there. I'll look out for all of the plants you guys mentioned

Don't you think 0.8 WPG of T8 might be a tad too low? With T8 lights, if I remember it correctly it is usually advised to keep it between 1.5- 1.8 wpg. I mean the only way we could possibly know for sure is when one has a PAR meter reading to go with it but I would increase the lighting just a wee bit to anywhere between 1.3-1.5 wpg using T8s.

Clive & the others would know better for sure.

I said that as well but was told that I'd need to use co2 if I did http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=20473 and so far I'm getting pretty good growth so I'm not bothered. The only thing is that its a bit dim so I'm going to change the bulb to a 7500k one or higher as the one I have now is only 4000k which is orange and I believe it promotes algae growth. Also I'd have to add the tube into my hood and dont really know how, I wouldn't mind dosing liquid carbon but no doubt I'd forget a lot and I can't afford a pressurised system

If plants are growing then this tells you immediately that the lighting is sufficient.
Kelvin temperatures have nothing to do with algae. Algae can grow with any color Red, Orange Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. If you want to get 7500K bulbs, get them because you don't like looking at orange, not for any other reason, because any other reason is an illusion.

Cheers,

Oh ok, the orange isn't the nicest colour and will probably look better with a whiter light. Also If my swords were growing any faster I'd almost have a carpet Also how do you make pygmy chain swords into to two seperate plants ? Cut straight down the middle?

Hi,
Colors are strictly in the eyes of the beholder, so if you think a less orange light is better then definitely get that. Some people like more red or more blue or even more green. If you have multiple bulbs you can mix-and-match to suit. Have a look at viewtopic.php?f=50&t=555 to see some example colors and the associated bulb models.

Chain swords normally propagate by sending out runners and the plantlets will pop up a few inches away. You normally don't need to pull the plant up to separate it unless it is overgrown and you want to thin things out a bit. It's very likely why the plant is named "chain" sword, because of the daisy chain effect of the runners and plantlets.

Cheers,

Unfortunately I only have the one bulb so I can't mix and match. And with the runners that sprout several inches away, once they've grown roots can i cut the connecton between that and the orginal (mother?) plant?

Hi,
Yes, definitely.

Cheers,

Thanks Clive you're very helpful, also heres a pic of the tank now lots of growth going on

I just bought 4 ottos from my lfs and these guys were very healthy, they'd been in the shop for 2 weeks and grown quite a bit because between 5 of them and a couple plecs they managed to get rid of ALL of the algae in the tank and there was so much algae the week before the tank looked hideous. It's good to know they weren't starved . Also the neons have grown quite a bit. They looked a bit like straight lines when i bought them now they're starting to look more like adult neons 8). Also the plants are growing very well So far I haven't had any casualties and I'd rather keep it that way, I'm hoping that the ottos survive.

I actually was thinking of upping the light a bit because the aquarium looks quite dark and I have another 2 tubes and a starter, so I can either keep the tank lighting as it is, use a 15w tube or a 20w tube. Any thoughts on this?

Yes, you can add more light, but do so very gradually, say an hour or two a day extra light at the mid day and extend the time on a little bit after a couple of weeks at a time.

Cheers,