# AL's Setup Mk3 - Sorry, I don't name my tanks.



## Little-AL (20 Oct 2013)

Hi Guys,

Thought I better get a new thread up before I forget! I originally purchased this tank in May 2011 with the intention of going for a Jungle type theme (see Mk1 below) - loads of big growth and plenty of fish for movement and colour.
Then due to a lot of time spent away from home for work, the growth was strangling the tank somewhat so I thinned it all out, lost the moss etc and ended up with Mk2 (again, see below).

The tank has been ticking over for some time, just with a couple of Crypts and a bit of stone in there. Its become a breeding ground for Corys and unfortunately also for pest snails. Despite a snail trap and a load of Assassins its become overrun with them. I've also never been overly happy with the JBL substrate as it seems to attract crap and is impossible to vac as its so fine!

Mk1:






Mk2:





I also wanted to use this piece of wood that I bought ages ago! I'd even gone so far as soaking it previously in readiness but never actually used it.





I pulled the remaining plants out on Friday night ready for fish catching on Saturday morning... They weren't too impressed!
Amazingly, I found 11 Otto's in there when I thought there were only one or two left. Must have been plenty of algae for them to eat 



And here is their new home... one of the sump tanks at the MA where I used to work  I kept my Otto's and Amano's in another tank that I've had running for a while with just a Fighter and some moss 



Got the chance to give my kit a proper clean whilst the tank is dry. Shame to lose all my mature filter media but couldn't chance keeping it will all the snails unfortunately. The filter was full of them too!



Clean tank with my new TMC Nutrasoil in there;





I'm probably going to leave it dry until about mid November (mainly due to work) then my stocking plan will be very simple; a nice moss on the wood and a tonne of vallis everywhere else. And that's it! Won't be to all tastes i'm sure but I have a vision in my head and am going to stick with it.
As for Fauna, I have a number of Amano's already and approx. 11 Otto's which will make their way back in once its up and running. I want to stick with one type of 'feature' fish this time - planning on Celestial Pearl Danio's currently although will take a trip down to Sweet Knowle Aquatics soon to see what they have and if there is anything else I fancy.

Overall I just want to keep it simple, easy to maintain and cheap to run!

Equipment;

Aqua Manta (Maidenhead Aquatics) Eco80
Eheim Ecco Pro 300
Fluval E200 Heater
Arcadia ECO LED Lamp in addition to stock T5's
And that's it!


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## oldbloke (20 Oct 2013)

Love that first pic.


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## Little-AL (21 Oct 2013)

Cheers, was pretty dense then!

Tried the wood in the tank yesterday - had to trim a little off the bottom to get it sitting how I wanted. Soil will need a tidy too before filling!



Think I've decided on my plant list (grown slightly from the first post);

Vesicularia ferriei for the wood
Echinodorus tenellus front left and around the end of the piece of wood on the right
Vallisneria nana on the left and around the wood
Vallisneria americana planted heavily at the rear

Hoping that the similarly styled plants will create a decent sense of depth if planted carefully. Not going to plant too heavily from the start, want to let it grown in over time this time around.

Thanks


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## Little-AL (27 Oct 2013)

Moved my holding tank to the living room whilst painting upstairs. It looks crap inside... Just some old moss, a load of BBA and some wood/stone.

Stock is a few Assassin Snails, some Amano's, a load of Otto's and a Fighter.

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All of the stock will move in to the big tank once it is back up and running - will probably chuck the fighter in there too!


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## Little-AL (1 Nov 2013)

Erm, so the tank currently looks like this 



Decided whilst it was empty to chuck a coat of paint on the walls! (Matt Soft Pebble by Homebase if anyone is interested )
Good news is whilst the tank has been covered up by a plastic dust sheet, the inside has gotten really really condensated (assuming moisture in the Nutrasoil) so, I reckon with a couple of strategically placed bits of clingfilm I might be able to do a dry start on this take to let the moss get established on the wood.

Anyone know how well Echinodorus Tenellus does in a dry start?

Cheers


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## Andy D (1 Nov 2013)

No idea but just wanted to let you know I was reading it in case you thought there was a lack of response.


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## sa80mark (1 Nov 2013)

Not sure if it does alright long term in dry start and not exactly the same but I have a bit in my wabi kusa thats doing well but it has only been in there a week


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## Little-AL (1 Nov 2013)

sa80mark said:


> Not sure if it does alright long term in dry start and not exactly the same but I have a bit in my wabi kusa thats doing well but it has only been in there a week


 
You have a journal showing it pal?


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## sa80mark (1 Nov 2013)

Heres the link

soon to be wabi kusa | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Im working away until next week but I will get some up to date pics on when I get back


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## Little-AL (9 Nov 2013)

Afternoon All!
Had a ridiculously early start today to drop the wife at work so decided to carry on down to Aqua Jardin in Gloucester (via Strensham Services for a nutritious McDonalds breakfast )... My intention was to buy some stone to go around the base of my existing piece of wood to weigh it down so I could do my dry start then with any luck they'd have some 1-2 Grow Tennellus...
Instead I bought two entirely different pieces of wood and some hairgrass?! I have issues... haha.

Found these two pieces of wood that fitted together nicely - just needed a little trimming to fit and I bought a 4kg piece of slate which is cable tied on the bottom to keep it all weighed down. Hope I don't get too much in the way of tannins from the wood...



So part way through planting the power went off... Annoying!



Fortunately it came back on so is now saw with the lights on and warming up nicely. Got a decent amount of condensation in there so assuming its fairly humid!



Got two pots of dwarf hairgrass which I've spread over the foreground. Also have weeping moss all over the wood. Planning to order some Tennellus to go on the left then when its all filled it'll have some vallis at the rear also.

Stay tuned!


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## Little-AL (11 Nov 2013)

Day 2 of the DSM... Struggling with humidity currently as my moss is drying out on the higher branches (heat of the light I guess). Not really sure what else I can do to keep it moist as i'm not there to spray it every hour haha....



Think I may have gotten the soil a little too damp aswell so going to try and siphon some liquid out later :-/


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## Little-AL (12 Nov 2013)

Day 4



Left some of the moss at the bottom bit of the wood where there is more moisture so hopefully that will keep going! If not, i'll get some more moss when I am due to fill it up nd attach it with cotton.


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## Little-AL (18 Nov 2013)

Day 9 update... Removed the wood tonight as the moss has dried out - some mould appearing on the wood too so stuck it to soak in a big bin with a load of hot water 



Tenellus due to arrive on Thursday! Will give it another week or two of DSM then fill her up!


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## foxfish (18 Nov 2013)

Shame about the moss mate! I cant really see how you sealed the top, did you have a seal between the light & the tank.


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## Little-AL (18 Nov 2013)

Yeah it was a proper lid then I clingfilmed over the top. Temperature too low i think. Its definitely wet in there!

Ah well, get some more when I fill it!


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## foxfish (18 Nov 2013)

What I meant to say was ... did you fit a vapour barrier between the light source & the tank?
As a rule you need to keep the humidity really high without getting any dry heat in there, so the best method is to cling film the tank top & keep the light above the cling film, you can take it one step further & use a heat matt under the tank.
With a sealed top & bottom heat you can get a rain forest effect - complete with dripping  rain !!


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## Little-AL (19 Nov 2013)

Unfortunately due to the shape/design of the tank there is no way of getting clingfilm between the light and the top... so yeah the dry heat is very prominent unfortunately. The lights side within the lid basically


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## foxfish (19 Nov 2013)

O well, best fill her up & get the moss to grow underwater 
(I guess you could of cling filmed the top & rested the light unit on a couple of bits of wood)


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## Lauris (19 Nov 2013)

I'm starting dry the same mate. I have rio125 with lid and lights re under the cover. cling film is wrapped on a top of the lid. 
You can easy keep DSM to the way you do it, just for the ground plants, to let em root in and stabilize the rooting system

My project is 1,5 weeks from flooding and this is my 3rd week since planted. so far I'm managing well and the plants are 
doing well. I have a tree to be planted in but this was the main reason to plant it in temporary tank before moving in my project.
And it will be moved in on the day when flooded. Otherwise the moss would just dry out

I'm spraying twice a day, lights ON for 12 hours.

Humidity over night time 90% and T 16-17C
Humidity during the day 80-85 and T 22-23C

I suggest to move your tree in with tighten moss just before flooding


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## Little-AL (22 Nov 2013)

Bit of an update... 
Had a load of goodies in the post today;
From TGM 2 x 1-2 Grow Echinodorus tenellus and 1 x Utricularia (bit of an impulse buy, doubt i'll make it thrive!)
And from Claire on here a load of Blyxa Japonica and a chunk of Weeping Moss (which i've chucked in my other tank for now).

Planted up in the areas around where the wood would sit;





Also cut some blocks of wood to raise the light and clingfilmed the top of the tank so hopefully i'll get a decent rise in humidity now! 

More soon


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## Lauris (22 Nov 2013)

Good stuff. I could suggest to grab soil out from one of the fron side corners down to the glass and separate the empty space wigh some plastic peace. So you will have a control of water levels wgen spraying and it will be easy to suck out unwanted water to avoid plant melting. Also it will be better tl flood the tank from that spot. As it will fill the tank from the very bottom through the substrate. 

erutangiS klatapaT


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## Little-AL (24 Nov 2013)

Quick Sunday evening update... Decided now that the humidity has increased I would add the would back in as its been soaking for a week. Had to move some of the blyxa and may adjust some of the soil but glad to have it back in there! 
Added a chunk of the Weeping Moss I received from Claire too so I can see how it fends now 





I reckon another two weeks and it can be flooded


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## Little-AL (25 Nov 2013)

Day erm...16?



Hairdryer getting the temp up a bit haha! Tenellus doing ok, Blyxa melting a bit


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## Lauris (25 Nov 2013)

If melting you have too much water at the lover levels of substrate. 

erutangiS klatapaT


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## Little-AL (26 Nov 2013)

Lauris said:


> If melting you have too much water at the lover levels of substrate.
> 
> erutangiS klatapaT


 Hi Lauris,

(finally) took your advice and got some water out of the substrate, hopefully this will improve matters a little!

Cheers


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## Lauris (26 Nov 2013)

This should help a lot. Just keep the water levels low. Maybe reduce the spraying times or amount of water sprayed. Just keep draining once the level picks up and you should be fine. Also would suggest to remove the melted parts. Keep us updated

erutangiS klatapaT


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## George Farmer (26 Nov 2013)

Great idea with the hairdryer!

The wood is lovely.  

All the best with the progress.


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## dw1305 (26 Nov 2013)

Hi all,





Little-AL said:


> Blyxa melting a bit





Lauris said:


> If melting you have too much water at the lover levels of substrate.


 Probably too little rather than too much, because I don't think you can grow _Blyxa spp._ emersed.

cheers Darrel


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## Little-AL (30 Nov 2013)

George Farmer said:


> Great idea with the hairdryer!
> 
> The wood is lovely.
> 
> All the best with the progress.


Thanks G!

Nothing to add... The moss I chucked in hasn't died yet...looks quite healthy I'm fact so the humidity must be vastly improved!
Hairgrass is looking reasonable too...appears to be putting on some growth! Possibly flooding next weekend


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## Little-AL (3 Dec 2013)

Day 31... Time seems to be flying?!

Eleocharis is pretty well rooted now  Ulticularia seems to be settling too! Looking good for flooding this weekend


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## Little-AL (6 Dec 2013)

Well theres 115l of RO in the back of my car... Hope its gonna be enough!

Anybody want to place a bet on how many bits float?


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## Andy Thurston (6 Dec 2013)

My monies on the wood not the plants


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## Little-AL (6 Dec 2013)

Big clown said:


> My monies on the wood not the plants


 

Bingo! Plants all stayed where they should be... wood trying to make a break for freedom but thankfully the piece of slate it is attached too has kept it down! 

So I needed most of this...



Added it slowly...

**

Didn't want to disturb the hairgrass!



And full it looks like this;





Blyxa didn't like the dry start so thats melted away! Probably go back to my original plan and add some vallis in there! Will add mos to the wood too as time goes on.
Extra heater in there temporarily as it was only 15 degrees! Oops...

Will give the glass a wipe over tomorrow and go from there!


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## Little-AL (7 Dec 2013)

Chucked a few bunches of Vallis in today. And a spraybar. Ultracularia trying to escape!


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## Little-AL (10 Dec 2013)

Couple of pics form the other night with the water clearing further...





Test results coming back sweet so added the stock from my holding tank (Otto's, Amano Shrimp and a Fighter) - all seem happy - I know its a bit early for an algae crew but they have survived in a holding tank for the last few months from a fresh start so I feel will be fine in here


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## Little-AL (29 Dec 2013)

Wow, can hardly contain myself with all of the comments on here 

Shortly after the last pics, I gave the plants a decent trim - especially the hairgrass. A couple of weeks on and its growing back in nicely;



The grass is sending shoots out all over the place and the Tenellus is really starting to take off now. As the livestock has all been doing well and tests are coming back clear I decided to go and select some fish today. 
Originally I was considering Celestial Pearl Danio's but just couldn't bring myself to spending so much on a small shoal of fish when this is meant to be a fairly cheap setup... So I went to Sweet Knowle Aquatics this morning and narrowed my choice down to;
Lemon Tetra
Silvertip Tetra
And these...



So a shoal of 12 x Checkered Barbs are now resident in my tank  They are sticking together and swimming about happily - have coloured up quite well and are eating already!
I also picked up a packet of Dennerle 'vesicularia dubyana' which i have split out and tied to the wood with cotton. Hoping this spreads fairly quickly!



Its likely that i'll add some more Barbs in the future and am considering adding some shrimp too (either Cherries or Blue Jellies)


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## Iain Sutherland (29 Dec 2013)

Looking good al, checkers are lovely as they mature and colour up. They will spread round the tank and take up loose areas for each male to dominate. You can expect to see some good old chasing going on and spawning behaviour, they have a pretty clear pecking order so you will likely get one stay smaller also.
I wouldn't add any small shrimp, adults may survive but babies will be hunted quite effectively.

Staying regional with other additions normally looks better in my opinion so maybe think about rasporas rather than tetras...? 



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## Little-AL (29 Dec 2013)

Hi Iain,

Yeah that was my only worry with shrimp. Might have to stick with a few additional Amano's then and think of another fish.
Not planning to add Tetra, there were an alternative to the Barbs rather than both together. 
Cheers


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## Little-AL (6 Jan 2014)

Picture from the other week that makes me smile...



Quick crap phone pic. Tenellus is doing really well and the vallis has picked up following its trim. Been dosing liquid carbon which appears to be helping.


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## tim (6 Jan 2014)

Cats thinking if only I had opposable thumbs I could get that bloody hood off and have my dinner  looks good al.


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## Ady34 (7 Jan 2014)

Hi Al,
tanks looking great and I love the checker barbs, stunning fish when fully mature.
I wouldn't dose the liquid carbon too heavily, vallis has a tendency to react badly. Some find it works fine but I suspect overdosing won't be tolerated and may end in mush.
Cheerio,
Ady


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## aliclarke86 (13 Jan 2014)

Agree with ady I have had this happen

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