# Learning curve



## tinthree (29 Jul 2014)

Hello everybody

After getting some inspiration from this forum, I've finally decided to set up my very first planted tank. I've been keeping fish since I was young mainly tropical and coldwater and therefore I don't really have any first hand experience of the complexities of keeping a nature aquarium. I've done a bit of research and feel that I want to give it a go.  I thought it worth spending a bit more to get decent quality kit.

Here are the specs I've gone for:
- custom built 90x45x45 3 sides optiwhite braceless tank
- Lights: 2x TMC grobeam 1500 ultima attach on a mountaray brackets
- Aquaray aquabeam 8 way multicontroller
- Filters: TetraTec EX1200 and TetraTec EX700
- Substrate: 18L ADA aquasoil Amazonia and 6L ADA powersand special 
- Heater: Hydor ETH 300

Fertiliser
- Ei dosing

Hardscape
- redmoor root
- collected rocks from a riverbed

Plants
- Micranthemum monte-carlo
- Staurogyne repens
- Spiky moss
- Ludwigia palustris red
- Ammania sp bonsai
- Alternathera reineckii 'mini'
- Anubias nana bonsai

C02 source
- FE cylinder attached to acrylic diffuser set at approximately 5-6 bps or more. I attempt  to turn the drop check colour lime green. 
- Seachem flourish excel 

Tin (^^,)


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## tinthree (29 Jul 2014)

I received my custom build tank after 9 weeks of waiting. 












This is what my tank looked like whilst waiting for the redmoor root to arrive. 




Then I finalised my aquascape.








I left it like this whilst waiting for my co2




I started getting my tank ready for planting after receiving these ones


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## tinthree (29 Jul 2014)

The planting process... 











This is what it looked like just after planting


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## clone (29 Jul 2014)

I wish I had the same gear for my first tank  Welcome to the forum and enjoy. Nice hard skape arrangement[DOUBLEPOST=1406672548][/DOUBLEPOST]The light seems to me quite strong for newly planted tank...hopefully will not give you algae hard time.


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## tinthree (29 Jul 2014)

clone said:


> I wish I had the same gear for my first tank  Welcome to the forum and enjoy. Nice hard skape arrangement[DOUBLEPOST=1406672548][/DOUBLEPOST]The light seems to me quite strong for newly planted tank...hopefully will not give you algae hard time.



Thanks Clone. It took me a long time to get all the pieces of equipment together but good thing I have managed it at the end. My lights are on for 4 1/2 hours; 30 minutes ramp; and set at 35% at the moment. Hope that's just about right.


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## REDSTEVEO (29 Jul 2014)

Hi there, looks like you are off to a great start. Just one question...is that ADA Amazonia Soil that you have used for your substrate? If it is you might want to watch out for a big ammonia spike in your water parameters over the next two weeks. Be careful not to put any fish in there until the ammonia has dissipated. You will need to do a few 50% water changes every few days until it has finished cycling.

Your plants might suffer a bit also, with algae as the previous person has noted, so be careful with the lighting, and I would not pump the Co2 in until it has finished cycling. It might be frustrating having to wait two weeks but it is less painful than seeing any of your fish die.

Not trying to frighten you here, just to make you aware, that's what the forum is for...

Good luck,

Steve.

p.s Nice shoes


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## tinthree (29 Jul 2014)

REDSTEVEO said:


> Hi there, looks like you are off to a great start. Just one question...is that ADA Amazonia Soil that you have used for your substrate? If it is you might want to watch out for a big ammonia spike in your water parameters over the next two weeks. Be careful not to put any fish in there until the ammonia has dissipated. You will need to do a few 50% water changes every few days until it has finished cycling.
> 
> Your plants might suffer a bit also, with algae as the previous person has noted, so be careful with the lighting, and I would not pump the Co2 in until it has finished cycling. It might be frustrating having to wait two weeks but it is less painful than seeing any of your fish die.
> 
> ...



Yes it's Amazonia soil, thanks for your advise Steve I'll consider that.


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## Lindy (30 Jul 2014)

Looks fantastic!  Nice shoes by the way....If you have no livestock I wouldn't wait for it to cycle before ramping up the co2 but I suspect you know this if you have been reading everything on the forum.


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## Edvet (30 Jul 2014)

Looks like you are of to a good start!
I guess you read the part where it says the amount of light drives the need for CO2 and ferts (remember it's not a fixed number, the more plantmass the more CO2 and ferts are needed). I'd say get everything going and wait with the fish till you are happy with the plantgrowth.


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## Lindy (30 Jul 2014)

That stand is lovelly. I'd tuck something absorbent around the edge of the top(of the cabinet) when doing anything with the tank as it is amazing how many dribbles down the glass you get even while being very careful. You don't want water going where you can't get to it to dry it up.


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## Martin in Holland (30 Jul 2014)

I think my wife likes the shoe-scape more.... LOL...but I like the tree better...


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## Iain Sutherland (30 Jul 2014)

great looking first tank, straight in the deep end 
would think 35% on the lights is about right, should be easy enough to get the co2 levels right with that amount... dont wait to add co2!  Big water changes and never too many to start up.
Will look great in a few months.


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## edgarseamonkey (30 Jul 2014)

Hi,  I also have a Grobeam 1500 Ultima...  Do you have a controller and if so what percentage do you have it at ?


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## Edvet (30 Jul 2014)

tinthree said:


> My lights are on for 4 1/2 hours; 30 minutes ramp; and set at 35% at the moment.


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## tinthree (30 Jul 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> Looks fantastic!  Nice shoes by the way....If you have no livestock I wouldn't wait for it to cycle before ramping up the co2 but I suspect you know this if you have been reading everything on the forum.



Thank you. (^^,) I'm planning to put the fish in once I feel confident at balancing the co2. I'm thinking of putting some cleaner crew in first on the third week such as otocinclus and cherry shrimp.


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## tinthree (30 Jul 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> That stand is lovelly. I'd tuck something absorbent around the edge of the top(of the cabinet) when doing anything with the tank as it is amazing how many dribbles down the glass you get even while being very careful. You don't want water going where you can't get to it to dry it up.



Good idea, I'll take note of that.


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## Lindy (30 Jul 2014)

Amano shrimp are far more effective at cleaning up.


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## tinthree (30 Jul 2014)

Edvet said:


> Looks like you are of to a good start!
> I guess you read the part where it says the amount of light drives the need for CO2 and ferts (remember it's not a fixed number, the more plantmass the more CO2 and ferts are needed). I'd say get everything going and wait with the fish till you are happy with the plantgrowth.



Thanks for the advice Edvet. I'll try to grow the plants first before I put any fish in. (",)


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## tinthree (30 Jul 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> Amano shrimp are far more effective at cleaning up.



Ah I see. I'll get amano shrimp instead then.


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## tinthree (30 Jul 2014)

Iain Sutherland said:


> great looking first tank, straight in the deep end
> would think 35% on the lights is about right, should be easy enough to get the co2 levels right with that amount... dont wait to add co2!  Big water changes and never too many to start up.
> Will look great in a few months.



Thanks lain. I'm going to do 50% water change everyday for the first week; every other day on the second week; three times a week on the third and weekly thereafter unless necessary.


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## ceg4048 (30 Jul 2014)

Hello,
          You're advised to save your energy. a 50% water change 2X-3X per week for the first month or so is all that is necessary. It won't hurt to do this more frequently but water changes get seriously boring very quickly.

Cheers,


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## REDSTEVEO (30 Jul 2014)

The wise one has spoken...take heed


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## tinthree (31 Jul 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> Hello,
> You're advised to save your energy. a 50% water change 2X-3X per week for the first month or so is all that is necessary. It won't hurt to do this more frequently but water changes get seriously boring very quickly.
> 
> Cheers,



I see... 2 to 3x of water change per week sounds good to me. I prefer to do that than daily water changes. Thank you for the advise. (^.^)


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## Alastair (31 Jul 2014)

Lovely looking tank stand and hardscape look forward to seeing this one grow in 

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## ceg4048 (31 Jul 2014)

tinthree said:


> I see... 2 to 3x of water change per week sounds good to me. I prefer to do that than daily water changes. Thank you for the advise. (^.^)


Also remember that water changes in a planted tank is a more than just replacing the water. One of the more important features is to clean the surface of the plant leaves of slime dirt and debris, and that allows the plants to breathe with much more efficiency. See the bottom half of this post (the thread deals with an unrelated subject but I discussed the water change in that particular post) 
http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/algae-problems-help-please.6331/page-2#post-72428

Cheers,


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## tinthree (31 Jul 2014)

Thanks for attaching the thread Clive.


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## foxfish (31 Jul 2014)

Great start, good luck with your tank....


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## tinthree (1 Aug 2014)

Third day update:

Tank's h20 has finally gone clearer. 











Micranthemum Monte Carlo




Spiky moss




Anubias nana bonsai




Alternathera reineckii mini




Staurogyne repens




Ludwigia palustris red




Lime green colour that I always try to attain prior to lights on.




UP Acrylic CO2 Aquarium Diffuser.




Under the cabinet light has been installed for easy maintenance.




Plugs have also been labelled so I won't get confused during maintenance.




Then my tools have been organised as well.




That's all for today.


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## parotet (1 Aug 2014)

I love the 'behind the scenes' pictures. We should seriously consider a 'show what is inside your cabinet' thread in this forum.
Looks promising this tank!

Jordi


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## Edvet (1 Aug 2014)

parotet said:


> We should seriously consider a 'show what is inside your cabinet'


 NOOOOO, NO NO NO NO NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo


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## Lindy (1 Aug 2014)

Looking extremely organised and putting many of us to shame lol...
The only thing I would change is to mount the plug sockets up high in your cabinet to allow a drip loop in your cables and to get them out the way for when you are doing filter maintenance. You don't want any water getting in there!


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## tinthree (1 Aug 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> Looking extremely organised and putting many of us to shame lol...
> The only thing I would change is to mount the plug sockets up high in your cabinet to allow a drip loop in your cables and to get them out the way for when you are doing filter maintenance. You don't want any water getting in there!



Sounds like a good plan. I'll look into it and see where the best place is for mounting the plug sockets.


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## edgarseamonkey (7 Aug 2014)

what kind of ferts. are you using ?


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## Andy Thurston (7 Aug 2014)

parotet said:


> I love the 'behind the scenes' pictures. We should seriously consider a 'show what is inside your cabinet' thread in this forum.
> Looks promising this tank!
> 
> 
> Jordi


Agreed! crack on get one started then


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## REDSTEVEO (7 Aug 2014)

Edvet said:


> NOOOOO, NO NO NO NO NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo



+ 1


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## tinthree (7 Aug 2014)

edgarseamonkey said:


> what kind of ferts. are you using ?



I'm using ei; I put in more than the recommended dose as there are no fauna yet. Quite happy with the result.


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## Tim Harrison (7 Aug 2014)

Looking great so far...liked the shoe scape as well though


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## tinthree (17 Aug 2014)

On day 5, I planted 4 more pots Monte Carlo. 

Week 2: The plants are growing well. Although now and again I have to scrub off the 'white stuff' on the tree using a toothbrush. Here is a snap from where I am sitting.


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## tinthree (17 Aug 2014)

I also managed to mount the plug sockets high up as advised by Lindy which I think is better. 





I also bought a ph pen to help me in balancing the co2 in my tank as I'm trying to get a drop of 1 prior to lights on and throughout the photoperiod. This is a real challenge at the mo.


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## Omegatron (19 Aug 2014)

Wonderfull setup! One can tell you thought this through


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## Lindy (19 Aug 2014)

Wow, your cabinet looks ace! Tank is lovely and nice cat. Siamese?


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## tinthree (19 Aug 2014)

Thanks Lindy. Yes she's Siamese. (",)


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## Crossocheilus (20 Aug 2014)

Beautiful tank, beautiful cat! This whole setup is very similar to the one I will soon be setting up, I look forward to watching it grow and flourish and hopefully learning a couple of things along the way. Keep this up, it looks like you're off to a really great start


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## tinthree (8 Sep 2014)

On the third week I added the members of my cleaning crew consisting of 5 amano shrimps and 5 otocinclus. 

I found it hard to get a consistent 1 unit decrease in ph with my acrylic diffuser unless I ported the gas directly under the filter intake as suggested by Clive from other thread. I could have left it like this but I was worried that my inhabitants might be sucked into the filter.






Because of this, I installed a 2 way co2 splitter in order to attach an inline diffuser as well. I know that the inline diffuser might already be enough on its own but I like to keep an in tank diffuser as the bubbles are fun to watch. 










Original UP New Inline CO2 Atomizer Diffuser 

I can now achieve a full unit decrease of co2 throughout the photoperiod 2 hours before lights on. 

On the 4th week, I added some neon tetras and rummy nose tetras. 

Now on its fifth week, all plants are growing in nicely but the Alternathera reineckii mini. The old leaves have fallen off and new leaves have emerged (this might be a good sign, I'm not sure).  I ordered some more Alternathera reineckii mini off ebay to fill in the gap under the tree. However I am not sure if I received the right plant so I planted them at the back instead. Here is the photo:




Alternathera reineckii 'mini' (-.-)???



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## tinthree (8 Sep 2014)

5th week:





After planting reineckii 'mini'








Thanks for reading. (^^,) 



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## Crossocheilus (8 Sep 2014)

Looking great! Once the carpet fills out it should be even better. One small criticism I have is that the moss on the wood is in lots of small clumps across all of the branches, I feel it would look better with fewer clumps. Only a very minor point though.


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## REDSTEVEO (8 Sep 2014)

Hi Tinthree,

I just looked at the picture of your UP Inline Diffuser. I also have one of these in my system.

In your picture the diffuser looks to me as if it is the opposite way around to mine, if I have understood correctly which way the water is flowing. I could be wrong but if the water from the outlet on your filter is flowing upwards, I think the diffuser should be fitted the other way around.

Or maybe it does not make any difference...see picture

http://s654.photobucket.com/user/foxfish_photo/media/20bbe095680742bc68682726f8e46ddd.jpg.html


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## Martin in Holland (9 Sep 2014)

I don't think it makes any difference which way you install your inline diffuser, the gas will be picked up by the water anyway.


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## Lindy (9 Sep 2014)

Personally I like the moss clumps. I can imagine it trimmed bonsai style. I'd start trimming soon though. If you want it more wild looking it will soon join up as it grows.


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## tinthree (9 Sep 2014)

My inline diffuser is therefore installed opposite way around. To be honest I didn't really know how to install it as I didn't see any instructions in the packaging.  Thanks Redsteveo for attaching the photograph for future reference. I'm glad to hear that it does not matter which way I install it, thanks Martin.

I'll trim the moss clumps and see what they look like. Then in future I can probably let them join up for a wilder look. (,^^)


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## Greenfinger2 (16 Sep 2014)

Hi Tinthree, Great Journal. And wow your cupboard is so so tidy  Love the Scape and planting


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## Vivian Andrew (4 Jan 2015)

Any Update?


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## nayr88 (4 Jan 2015)

Would love to see an update too, catching up on this journal and it must be looking amazing by now! Really like when someone takes the approach to planted tanks well planned out and nicely done


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## tinthree (15 Aug 2015)

Update:

I got this tank looking quite good until February 2015 when it just went downhill as I had a few issues e.g. ran out of CO2 FE for 5 days. I nearly lost all of my plants but the anubias nana bonsai and the spiky moss. This was what it looked like in December 2014. 





to this (pic was taken before replanting):






At the time I also changed my liquid carbon to easylife from SFE. Somebody told me that this could also be detrimental to my plants if I overdosed on it (which I probably did). Anyway I have just bought some plants and replanted my tank again. I planted cryptocoryne parva, myriophyllum tuberculatum, micranthemum montecarlo and staurogyne repens. This is what it looks like at the moment (day 2 post planting):






Last week before I went for a 6 day holiday I have installed a Jebao auto dosing pump for macro, micro and SFE. I am very pleased that it worked really well as plants were looking good when I arrived home.







I am planning to also make a spray bar and see if it's going to work for my set-up. 

Cheers. 



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## Tim Harrison (15 Aug 2015)

Bit of a bummer, but good warts 'n' all update nevertheless...it's been too long It'd be great to see how the new planting works out too


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## tinthree (15 Aug 2015)

Troi said:


> Bit of a bummer, but good warts 'n' all update nevertheless...it's been too long It'd be great to see how the new planting works out too



Apologies for the very late update. I must admit that I lost my motivation a bit when my plants died. I visited 'The Green Machine' on my holiday for some inspiration and bought my plants there too. Crossing my fingers that this will be a success though. ️


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## Greenfinger2 (15 Aug 2015)

Hi Tinthree, Ho No This was a stunner of a scape.I am sure you can pull it back from the brink. Looking forward to your updates


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## Fran (15 Aug 2015)

Interesting read. Sorry to hear about the plant loss. I hope you get things up and running again soon. The tank was very beautiful and I'm sure it will be again soon. Great sucess for a first planted tank.  Best of luck.


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## tinthree (15 Aug 2015)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Tinthree, Ho No This was a stunner of a scape.I am sure you can pull it back from the brink. Looking forward to your updates



Thanks. Yeah I'll definitely keep you all updated. 


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## tinthree (15 Aug 2015)

Fran said:


> Interesting read. Sorry to hear about the plant loss. I hope you get things up and running again soon. The tank was very beautiful and I'm sure it will be again soon. Great sucess for a first planted tank.  Best of luck.



Thanks Fran. It seems to me that the plants that I have just planted are settling well as they are looking more vibrant (so that's a good sign). 


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## Edvet (15 Aug 2015)

Next time should the CO2 run out, as an emergency you could lessen the light to only 10-15% of what the plants are used too, this will save a lot of plants


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## tinthree (17 Sep 2015)

Today is more or less a month after re-planting. There was some staghorn algae in my tank over the last week which I spot dosed with Seachem flourish excel. I also did filter maintenance as per advised in the forum. Although I got rid of staghorn algae, some of my Christmas moss have turned brown (after spot dosing). I don't know, perhaps Christmas moss are not meant to be spot dosed. I believe it will recover in no time as I've seen some new growth. 

I have also installed a pvc spray bar which I've been using for 3 weeks now. I must say that I am impressed with it. Because of this, I'll invest in getting an acrylic spraybar and glass exit pipes sometime.






Tank as of today:





(^^,)


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## Martin in Holland (18 Sep 2015)

Yep...spray bars do work nicely indeed.


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