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12gal soft water

plantnoobdude

Member
Joined
17 Mar 2021
Messages
1,337
Location
uk
Here is the new scape in my 45l tank.
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I just threw the lava rock in so nothing is final but pretty happy with it so far.
Substrate in the back is kitty litter from pets at home. Rinsed it for 10 minutes or so and it seems good to go. In the front is a mix of unipac silver sand and unipac fiji sand. With some Botanical stuff. Planning on going out to collect some soon!

Plants;
In the back I’ll be using some stems mainly.
Tonina fluviatilis
Rotala wallichii
Ludwigia super red
Ludwigia cuba
Bacopa colorata
Ludwigia senaglensis
Hygro polysperma
Cuphea
And as a centre piece I’ll have a cute nymphaea micrantha lily growing out the middle.

For the foreground it’ll be mostly easy stuff,
Staurogyne repens
Buce kedagang
Buce kedagang mini round
Catherine
Crypt flamingo plantlets
And some rotala indica probably.


I also have some stocking ideas,

Options;
Some small corydoras, not as small as pygmys though, I want a more solid bodied fish if that makes sense. Watching them forage around the botanicals will be great fun

Chilli rasbora or similar. PNice small school and pretty but not much personality..

Sundadanio axelrodi
Very pretty blue sheen that’ll stand out against the tannin stained water I’m planning. Bit pricy tho.

Tangerine tigers
Very pretty small shrimp, will definitely be getting them!

Nannostomus marginatus
Nice pretty fish, a serious contender.


Water Params:
In terms of water, this tank will be run on RO. Relineralised sparingly like my high tech, probably to 3-4gh.

Filtration: currently have a small internal mocked up, but not sure if I’ll upgrade to a hob like the aquael or seachem. But I’m guessing the 500lph internal is probably more than enough considering the tank is low tech.

Any suggestions or tips on the stocking will be greatly appreciated!!
 
Went botanical hunting today. Collected some leaves from what I believe to be oak trees? And also the seed thingys which I’m forgetting the name for at the moment.

C6FB2DFB-440F-43ED-B110-55E23A94C406.jpeg
B7CC8CFE-D6D3-44D4-A020-C7CE8E87CFDB.jpeg

My abysmal tree identification skills tell me this is oak, can anyone confirm?

My research online tells me this is safe for use as botanicals.
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Here are some of the pieces I collected, should I do anything to treat it like boiling?
Would the seed thingys be safe to use with the leaves as well?

Anyway, pretty excited for the planting. Got some frogbit as well which will look fab I think.
 
Yes this is oak. I’m guessing the cups of the ‘seedy things’ , they are acorns, will be fine but acorns themselves are mildly toxic to lots of animals so don’t know whether they are suitable in a tank tbf. Unless anyone knows better, I would pass on those as a precaution.

@dw1305 is probably one of your guys for botanicals so hopefully he will pop by! 😊
 
Yes this is oak. I’m guessing the cups of the ‘seedy things’ , they are acorns, will be fine but acorns themselves are mildly toxic to lots of animals so don’t know whether they are suitable in a tank tbf. Unless anyone knows better, I would pass on those as a precaution.

@dw1305 is probably one of your guys for botanicals so hopefully he will pop by! 😊
So, just the acorn cups and I should be good.👍
I’m guessing the leaves and acorn cups are good to go straight in the tank?
 
I agree with @KirstyF, the oak leaves are fine but I'd leave out the acorns and also @dw1305 will explain everything correctly!
Personally I use oak leaves & beech leaves. If I want extra tannin staining alder cones are very potent.
The day before I use them in the tank I place them in a jug & pour boiling water over just to make sure they sink.
 
I agree with @KirstyF, the oak leaves are fine but I'd leave out the acorns and also @dw1305 will explain everything correctly!
Personally I use oak leaves & beech leaves. If I want extra tannin staining alder cones are very potent.
The day before I use them in the tank I place them in a jug & pour boiling water over just to make sure they sink.
Thanks for the tips!
 
Went botanical hunting again.

Found these, which I assume are alder cones.
849FABF8-70C6-4E40-B6DD-C1E3DA308247.jpeg

They came from these trees. They look like alder trees to me?
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17760654-0361-4FA9-B8A3-102C8E188F58.jpeg
A13DD4EC-3849-4BC8-B96D-5D24D2B2CF9C.jpeg

Anyone able to confirm?
Thank you in advance 😊
 
Any suggestions or tips on the stocking will be greatly appreciated!!

Given the tank size you’re fairly limited on species - if you want Cory’s, Hasbrosus (Salt and Pepper Cory) are your best bet - proper Cory behaviour in miniature.

Marginatus as you suggest, would look great in there given the black water vibe, but I’ve not kept pencils myself, so I’m not sure on how well a decent sized shoal (10-12) would get along in that tank size.

A shoal of Chilli’s would do well in those water parameters, and might just about fit as a small shoal. You’d need plenty of floating plant cover though.
 
Given the tank size you’re fairly limited on species - if you want Cory’s, Hasbrosus (Salt and Pepper Cory) are your best bet - proper Cory behaviour in miniature.

Marginatus as you suggest, would look great in there given the black water vibe, but I’ve not kept pencils myself, so I’m not sure on how well a decent sized shoal (10-12) would get along in that tank size.

A shoal of Chilli’s would do well in those water parameters, and might just about fit as a small shoal. You’d need plenty of floating plant cover though.
Those were exactly the corys I were considering!

As for the marginatus, I am not too sure either. I think @shangman has some experience? Do you think my tank would be suitable for nannos? Also, do they eat shrimp babies a lot?

Chillis would be nice and cute. I think the sundadanio will be alright as well, since they are quite small, sedentary fishies.
( to clarify, one or the other, not both)

Yes, they are indeed!
Thanks again 😊
 
As for the marginatus, I am not too sure either. I think @shangman has some experience? Do you think my tank would be suitable for nannos? Also, do they eat shrimp babies a lot?
I personally wouldn’t keep them in less than 75cm, they are very active fish that really used my whole 90cm tank constantly. The males keep territories and will fight, and they often chased eachother all over forcing the losers to hide. Mine were very bold, curious and greedy, and I think they did stress my other smaller fish out when feeding and made it hard for them to eat. I don’t think they would eat your baby shrimps though, they act like big confident fish but their mouths are quite small.

I think there are some smaller more gentle pencils but they’re a bit more unusual, worth keeping an eye out for though! Nannostomus espei.
 
Very nice, I prefer tannin stained water & botanicals with fish rootling around in the leaf litter without a care in the world! Will you leave everything to rot away naturally or keep replacing as the colour fades?
 
Very nice, I prefer tannin stained water & botanicals with fish rootling around in the leaf litter without a care in the world! Will you leave everything to rot away naturally or keep replacing as the colour fades?
Not sure, but I won’t be doing much maintenance to this tank once it settles in. So I’ll probably just let the botanicals decompose. And add some when I feel like it.
 
stocking should be soon,

After being advised by @Conort2 that the tangerine tigers will adapt to most water Params, I will definitely get them. There seem to be a few sellers on eBay. Now for the interesting part, the fish!!

So far I have narrowed it down to these,

1. Corydoras habrosus
2. Sundadanio axelrodi
3. Nannostomus espei
4. Nothobranchius rachovii ( eggs? Seems pretty fun) I saw a thread about them here on ukaps and they were just stunning. They should be fine in my tank size, might need a lid
5. Sparkling gourami

Any other interesting suggestions? I want some mostly peaceful fish, quarreling fish give me anxiety lol, so I’d like to avoid that!


And lastly, where to purchase.
I was considering tropco, but seen some mixed reviews on fish health? I think going In person to their shop would be good but not sure.

Wildwoods is good, but relatively limited choices and stock available, perhaps give them a call before heading over?

Also seen wholesale tropical, and aquatic design centre. Fairly sure I visited the latter once but I don’t remember too clearly…

Would appreciate any advice!
 
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