My First Planted tank (Journal of a penny pincher)

Ok so I have decided to take the plunge and do my first planted tank. My main tank is a 80ltr tank that I setup just using my girlfriends spare items and bought a cheap ebay tank to put everything in. I have guppies mollies and neon tetras in there but dont really like the setup as its all fake with cheesy items in it so I have decide to setup a small second tank that I'm going to have nicely scaped with living plants.

So to start I have found a tank, its a bit rubbish but it cost me a whole £5, its a Aquaone Aquastart 320 coming in at a huge 29ltrs , I don't mind the small size as I had only thought of keeping a few fish in just for show I am slightly worried about the build in light as its only 11W I might have to remove the top and find something better. It orginally came with a under gravel filter but this one hasn't got it so I'm going to use the small second in tank filter I had spare for first tank with a spray bar attachment, I'm not 100% sure its good enough flow rate but I'll just have to change it out later if things struggle. I also have a 100w heater that I can use aswell to further reduce my need to buy things.

Here is the tank not great but cheap



I also decided to go cheap on the substrate as well and bought a bag of cat litter that a few have recommended, I know as one of the most important pieces and with such a small tank I should go for something better but I really am on a budget as i'm flying to malaysia next month and have just paid for the flights.

I have washed, and washed and washed the cat litter in a pillow case then put it in a large plastic bucket to soak for 24 hrs, I then rinsed it again and this is what I'm left with.

I actually quite like the finished result but it does seem a bit light.

I wanted to check out what it was like in the tank before I decided what hardscapes I wanted to use, I had an Idea in my head but wasn't 100% sure. I poured the litter into the tank and began filling slowly over a bowl and a plate, but the result had me very worried. The water had quickly turned muddy.



I have decided to keep filling and leave it over night.

While I wait, can you guys help me? I was thinking of using this tank to either just put any babies I get from my first tank in to let them grow before keeping the best and give the rest to my girlfriend and a few of my mates with tanks, or to keep the male guppies in as I am current getting to many babies and this would allow me to keep the numbers down till I want some new ones. The problem is I think I read that guppies are quite partial to live plants and will nibble them, will this be a problem if I keep the males in it? what about if its just a growing tank for babies?

Also Just out of interest I have "acquired" some rather nice looking purple slate, I have tried the vinegar test on it and theres no reaction so i'm guessing its fine but are there any problems with using slate?

Guill said:

i have quite a bit of slate in my tank and haven't had any problems with it.

Click to expand...

Thanks I was pretty certain it was ok but thought I would ask in case it buffed my PH or something.

sr20det said:

Nice tank and bargain price. I bought a similar one for like 15 but is the 420 which I believe is 42l. Bit bigger. Plan was to use it lake tang cichlids.

My only concern is the light. It's not bright, well isn't bad to-be honest. Ideal for low tech which was my plan anyways, especially with tangs.

Click to expand...

Yeah the light does seem a little poor but hoping its not too bad for a low tech small tank like mine, will just match the low level of nutrients and CO2 so hopefully it will balance out to just slow and steady plant growth.

So after 12hours to settle the tank has cleared up nicely far better than I feared last night.



So now to the hardscaping, I was thinking I want a rocky out crop in the back left hand corner as the tank is viewed from the front or right hand side. I was wanting to be able to plant behind outcrop. with tall ish plants then down the back and left hand side with some mid height plants. For the foreground I had no ideas but have decided that I would like to show the substrate rather than a full carpet so have decide to carpet a decent size rock with moss or low level plant. The purple slate I have has been bleached rinsed heavily and allowed to soak in tap safe for a day now This is what I have so far

From the front

From the right hand side


The idea with the rock in the middle is that I wanted a distinction from the slopes round the outcrop which will be planted and the rock in the foreground which will be carpeted but surrounded by open substrate. Also I liked the colour of the slate so wanted some of it uncarpeted and showing.

I have a few other bit of slate left over but theres nothing that I see as particularly good pieces.



Let me know what you think of the lay out and whether any of the other slate might be better or if you think I could break some of it too use in the tank.

Thanks Meejo I like it too, I think it looks kinda of Martion landscape with the red ground and purple rocks was tempted for a second not to plant it to keep it like that. I originally planned black gravel, bog wood, and bright green plants but the second I decide to try the cat litter just though stone would be better than wood on it.

Ok so I'm happy with the setup of the hardscape, I've raised the back end of the outcrop up a little so it's a bit more level than upright but still the same height at the end. So now I need some advice on plants.

I'll start by saying this is planned as low tech, so no frets or Co2 if I can help it but if you can pursuade me it's worth it I could dose with liquid ferts and Co2 and look at getting a Co2 system etc later.

I want the top of the outcrop carpeted with moss but don't want it too tall so was thinking weeping moss so it is lower and running over the edge, anyone suggest something better that will give a moss cap to the outcrop but won't grow to tall? 

Next I would like a plant that will attach itself to the foreground rock but wont grow to much into the substrate or be easy to remove from it as I want the substrate to show through, ideal a plant rather than a moss, although fissiden is really pretty type of a moss but not sure I can grow it without Co2.

Then I would like a background plant, something to grow tall and upright along the back wall, I've seen twisted vallis that would make a tall upright wall of leaves but is there any other suggestions?

Finally a plant to grow around the outcrop mostly down the left but also in front of the wall at the back so it must be shorter than the plants along the back.

All advice is welcome even if it completely changes what I have written above

Think that I have decided on some plants can you let me know if I will have problems with these in my low tech tank and with the size of its, i'm especially worried about the size of the Echinodorus quadricostatus.

My Basket
1 x Staurogyne rubescens - For the slopes round the outcrop and the left foreground
1 x Tropica Rotala rotundifolia - For the background probably infront of the filter on the back left
1 x Tropica Echinodorus quadricostatus - For the background between the filter and heater
1 x Tropica Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping' 1-2-GROW! - For the carpet on the top of the rock outcrop

I'm still trying to decide what to put on the front right rock as I fancied a plant that would grow on it but not to much in the substrate.

Let me know what you think.

Ordered my plants as listed below today, but I just realise one slight problem, how to actually plant aquarium plants? Do the roots need a trim? How deep are they buried? Today's task is to search forums and videos for advice on planting.

Will update with pictures one the plants are in.

Thanks for the link but some how failed to find there vid's so just went on Youtube and found them and they are great to see what i will be doing shortly.

The moss I already knew about from guides on the plant section of the forum which is very good, mine will be tied to rock (should I go with cotton thread or fishing line? haven't decided yet).

I just couldn't get my head around what the plants would be like when they arrived as i'm used to terrestrial plants with a pot full of soil or clipping that I dip in clipping powder.

My plants have arrived today 😀






They look pretty good to me, so i'll get planting and be on later to up load the pictures

Ok so plants are in here are the pictures





Going to see if these stay alive and see how they spread before i look to do more.

Note on the cat litter, it was a little hard to plant in because its a bit light, the plants you just stick in deep were fine but trying to get the Echinodorus to stay in when only planting upto the leaf crown was a bit tricky.

I'm slightly worried about the weeping moss as the top of the rock is a bit smooth so not sure how well it will cling on to it.

Luckily woke this morning with no floaters so i'm looking to move my male endlers and guppies into this tank, any advice on what would be a suitable number to put in here given its low tech so need them for the co2 and fertiliser?

Ok been a long time since i posted on here so a small update, my tank is going ok, but its not looking great at the moment, I have been neglecting it a little and needs a bit of a trim and a good clean out but this is what its like at the moment. The plants are a bit brown/yellow and I have posted a question on the plants section of the forum for some help if you fancy checking it out.

It really needs some forground plants (the 2 plants at the centre are there to see if i could get them to grow but they are failing badly) and some advice would be great at what I could grow in the bottom left hand corner, something that would grow to be about 5-10 cm tall in my tank would be great.

My 12 endlers seem very happy in this tank though i'm currently trying to decide if i need more of them to get a better balance of Co2 and ferts into the tank.