Musicmanryann
Member
Hello everyone! Finally getting around to posting my first steps in to this beautiful hobby. I am here hoping to get assistance learning along the way, as well as engage with like-minded enthusiasts. Been lurking on here for almost two months now and you all seem like a friendly and active bunch. I am excited to be a part of the party! Now, onto my story.
This journey began innocently enough. I bought my daughter a fish tank for Christmas. She wanted a rodent, but I didn't feel that would work well. We are a very busy family and she is still learning to be responsible. In my mind I thought a fish tank would be much easier. Go to fish store, buy a beginner's tank kit. Have her pick some fish, colorful gravel and decorations she liked, throw it all together with some water and make sure they get fed. Well, come to find out it isn't even close to that simple, lol. After more than half of the fish died early on and the tank water resembled something out of a dystopian toxic waste site, I sat down at my computer and started to figure out how to really do this thing.
Along the way, I found out about aquatic plants and how they can help create a better environment for fish. From there saw these beautiful rimless tanks (didn't know they were called rimless at the time) with loads of healthy colorful and exotic plants that seemed out of this world. There was something more about these tanks, it wasn't just about the plants, or the fish, it was about how it all worked together as an ecosystem, in a very harmonious and beautiful way. By themselves, these ecosystem are self-sustaining, but approached in a sensitive way, humans can not only nurture this system, but also enhance them to create some of the truest art I have experienced. It isn't just art though, there is a lot of science at play behind aquatic flora and fauna husbandry. Chemistry, Microbiology, Physics and others all play a role in this as well. It is not only art and not only science, but a healthy dose of both, working which also find very appealing.
Needless to say, once I came to this realization I was hooked completely and began in earnest to learn everything I can about this hobby. It is kind of the way I am....once I find something that interests me I go a mile wide and a mile deep with it. I frankly get obsessed and my experience with this hobby is no exception. At the same time, I cannot rush nature, and ultimately cannot control it, and thus this hobby forces me in to a state of patience and submission to these forces, which is outside my normal state, and helps me grow in these areas of my life. In order for me to help curate and nurture a well balanced, harmonious and thus beautiful layout I must find also find balance and harmony within myself. Simultaneously the ecosystem helps me find this harmony, and thus we coexist optimally in a symbiotic way, where the ultimate goal isn't to experience nature, but to become part of it.
I'm rambling about all this, because my natural tendency is to get lost in the details and lose sight of why I originally began this journey. There is likely going to be lots of cussing when I am fighting algae or whatever other problems come along the way. And since technically this is a tank journal, I want make a chronicle of this so I can hopefully come back to this time and again, when I naturally lose the forest from the trees, or the tank from the rotala so to speak.
Now, if i haven't lost you yet, on to the details:
TANK AND LIGHT
Tank unpacked and set up. ADA 60P. It was hard to put $225 USD for a tank, but once it got here I was immediately in love. It is simply stunning, and made me very excited to fill it up. For my next build I may go with UNS just to compare, but I can see why ADA tanks are so regarded.
Also, the Chihiros WRBG II Pro for light. I love techy things and was totally attracted to the app control. So many opportunities to geek out and get lost in the details. It also seems like a good entry light for a enthusiast wannabe, such as myself. A light that gives flexibility to keep it simple or customize it once you get more comfortable and level up, all at a good value. So far the only thing I don't like are those flimsy legs that don't fit on the tank at all, nto even functionally. I have the hanging kits coming my way from Chihiros, that will improve it drastically.
I put on a white vinyl background that I have since removed. I worked really hard to get it on there good, but as soon as I put water in it showed every single little area the seal wasn't perfect--most of which were at the top where I will likely have negative space and was a big distraction to me. I like the idea of it, though, just back to the drawing board with it, I guess. Any thoughts, suggestions or otherwise here are welcome.
HARDSCAPE
Make shift dojo using the top the tank came in. Generally going for a right to left triangle layout Using Icelandic lava rock, and spiderwood. This is a little over half of what I bought. Sourcing hardscape was the biggest surprise challenges in the procurement process, as there are no local sources near me, and holy crap it is expensive for deadwood and rocks, lol. Would be so much easier to be able to pick through a large assortment and be able to see it in 3d, touch it and play with it before buying. For future builds where I'm using a large amount of hardscape that features prominently in the layout, I will drive to Chicago. it is a 3.5 hour drive each way, but I spent at least that scouring the interwebs finding the best source and working with them on just the right stuff.
FILTER AND CO2
Filter and CO2 ready to go. Got the Biomaster 350 Thermo. It is awesome. It was one of the first filters I settled on in my research, but then spent 3x more time finalizing the purchase due to so many complaints all over about the gurgling, noise and such that seem to be prevalent. Fortunately for me, there was no such issues. After filling it with matrix, I have done zero modifications and it runs super quiet. I think it has great flow, but as a newb I have no clue what that really means, lol. I joke, but this is why I got such a beefy filter. As a beginner who has no clue about so many things, I know that by using a top line filter, I don't ever have to think along the way if my filter is part of whatever issue I'm having at the time. I can focus more on other variables. My biggest gripe is the tubing that comes with it. It is the stiffest vinyl tubing I have ever used. I'm not sure how you could ever wrangle this tubing between the filter and tank and make it look neat and unobtrusive. Tubing from my harware store is better, but has writing on it. I spent a little extra and got the Chihiros/FZone tubing that is perfect.
AS far as CO2 I have the Fzone mini v 3.0 with solenoid, connected to 5lb cylinder. I also have the COart inline diffuser I will hook into the filter once I get planted. For now I am cycling my tank.
SUBSTRATE
Like anything there is a mountain of bad advice and even more mediocre, incomplete or overly simplistic advice about how to do all of this. Wading through all of the noise is part of the challenge and journey I think, but a critical component for early success. Along my journey of choosing from the myriad ways in which I could begin my first layout I found 2hr Aquarist/Dennis Wong to be a place I could rely on for solid info. He is a big proponent in the dark start method, and I guess I became and follower. I used their new product, APT S which is blend of nutrients and starter bacteria to cycle the tank and remove the excess ammonia from aquasoil prior to planting. From my research it would seem I am a bit of a guinea pig here as I could not find any independent sources that have used this product. A bit of a leap of faith, but given how credible Mr Wong seems to be within the planted tank world, I made the leap.
\
Speaking of aquasoil and high ammonia levels, I used Amazonia II. Just seemed one of the best from my reviews and at least where I am at I was able to get at the same or even cheaper price than other regarded brands like Tropica or Platinum. I bought two bags as I got a deal, and let's be honest this will be far from the last tank I buy. With all the hardscape I put in, I ended up using not quite a full bag.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Here I have the stones and aquasoil in. This took me an unreasonable amount of time, but I completely lost myself in it. One things that added a lot of time was that I added some extra matrix I had to build up the base. I didn't use mesh bag to hold it together and when I moved things around it would come up to the surface. Why did I do this? I kept going back and forth whether or not to buy ADA Powersand and it just seemed a little too superfluous to me at the time. Likewise, I found APT Start to do the same things other than the pumice stone. That's where the matrix came in, to be a makeshift powersand. My problem is I made this decision right before I did it and didn't fully think it through. I knew I needed to build the soil pretty high to get the hardscape where I wanted it, but started to worry about proper flow and potential anaerobic conditions with that much depth of aquasoil. Classic me overthinking things.
The other thing I kept going back and forth about was whether or not to add soil than stone, or stone then soil and/or a mix of both. Obviously there is a a lot of variation out there, but in hindsight I would've at least added some of the stone first. Overall I think I was along the right track, just didn't quite execute properly on some of this stuff, but learned a TON. Bottom line, is that I very happy with how it turned out. I almost left it with just the rocks, but my problem is that 1) with jsut the rocks it felt a little too "iwagumi-ish" when i am going for nature aquarium style, and 2) I am just in love with this spiderwood I have.
"Finished" hardscape
Here it is with the spiderwood. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. One thing I have learned is that being able to see it in three dimensions makes a huge difference. Most of my pics of my tank the pics seem to look a lot different than real-life. Gives me a whole lot more appreciation for the breathtaking professional scapes you see--absolutely amazing they are able to make the picture "pop" and add so much shadow and depth, in the way I don't see in this photo like I do in real life. What does everyone think? I think it looks a little crowded, but when I take the wood out I am less happy with it. My favorite part of the wood is the short little root sticks surrounding the two dark knots. What the picture doesn't show very well is those actually come at and up and away from the viewer, so when looking in person it adds in a sense of much greater scale and dynamic lines than this pic for sure. The other things this pic doesnt show is the stones that sit at the bottom of the chasm between the two large stones in the background. You can kind of see it in the first photo with just rocks, but there are actually two stones there, one in the mid ground and one in the background and a large dip down in between them.. In real life there is definitely layering happening here and depth created that looks dynamic and interesting, but isn't translating well in the pic. Hoping as i get plants in there and learn how to take better pictures I can accentuate it a bit more.
PLANTS
Speaking of plants, one of the great benefits of doing a dark start is that I got my layout set with your hardscape, and then decides how you want it planted from there, and it forced to me to take my time with the process, so i felt like I learned more than if I picked them out in a day. Also, a drawback because it is soooo hard to wait! Right now, the tank has been cycling since 4/9, so 17 days, and I have had all that time to very deliberately choose and learn all about them and how they will work with my overall plan. I've been testing the water every day and is almost complete, so I ordered the plants you see above and they shipped today! Assuming the postal service does their job, the plan is to start planting come Sunday. Oh, btw the instruction on 2hr APT (S)tart suggests 2-3 weeks for the cycle with high ammonia aquasoil, and that is exactly where I am at. So far, no complaints with this product.
There is so much I could share about the process of choosing plants, but overall it was a ton of very enjoyable work. I probably had 85% of the plants figured out within a couple of hours on the first day, then spent the rest of the day picking out the other 15%. I really feel (well hope really, because i don't know for sure) taking that extra time for the 15% is essential to my success with this build. I might be wrong, but I dont think so. Narrowing down the plants I wanted to get was made sooooooo much easier with Tropica's website where I could examine scapes, and see exactly what plants they used and where and how they used them, and then click on the plants and get all of its info. I'd probably be still picking out most of my plants if not for this resource. Another big challenge I had was figuring out how much of each plant to get. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info out there, which is probably on purpose as it gets you to buy more plants, which certainly worked on me. Knowing me, I probably have twice as many plants coming my way than I can reasonably fit in my tank. I ordered 16 different plant species, 31 total plants, and over half of those are "Buy two get one free". So I have a load of plants coming my way. But hey, my original shopping cart was 50% bigger, both in species and plants and I whittled it down to here, so good, right?? Hahaha.
TODAY
And here is my tank as of 5 minutes ago. It is just sitting at the precipice of a universe of opportunities, isn't it? Let's see how much I can keep it that way.
Anyways, that's it for now. I am finalizing my plant layout plan, but my next post will be sharing that and seeing what you all think as we lead up to planting day. Also, have plans to go over my lighting, CO2, fert plants and my RO system, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading this far! Hahaha
Cheers,
Ryan
This journey began innocently enough. I bought my daughter a fish tank for Christmas. She wanted a rodent, but I didn't feel that would work well. We are a very busy family and she is still learning to be responsible. In my mind I thought a fish tank would be much easier. Go to fish store, buy a beginner's tank kit. Have her pick some fish, colorful gravel and decorations she liked, throw it all together with some water and make sure they get fed. Well, come to find out it isn't even close to that simple, lol. After more than half of the fish died early on and the tank water resembled something out of a dystopian toxic waste site, I sat down at my computer and started to figure out how to really do this thing.
Along the way, I found out about aquatic plants and how they can help create a better environment for fish. From there saw these beautiful rimless tanks (didn't know they were called rimless at the time) with loads of healthy colorful and exotic plants that seemed out of this world. There was something more about these tanks, it wasn't just about the plants, or the fish, it was about how it all worked together as an ecosystem, in a very harmonious and beautiful way. By themselves, these ecosystem are self-sustaining, but approached in a sensitive way, humans can not only nurture this system, but also enhance them to create some of the truest art I have experienced. It isn't just art though, there is a lot of science at play behind aquatic flora and fauna husbandry. Chemistry, Microbiology, Physics and others all play a role in this as well. It is not only art and not only science, but a healthy dose of both, working which also find very appealing.
Needless to say, once I came to this realization I was hooked completely and began in earnest to learn everything I can about this hobby. It is kind of the way I am....once I find something that interests me I go a mile wide and a mile deep with it. I frankly get obsessed and my experience with this hobby is no exception. At the same time, I cannot rush nature, and ultimately cannot control it, and thus this hobby forces me in to a state of patience and submission to these forces, which is outside my normal state, and helps me grow in these areas of my life. In order for me to help curate and nurture a well balanced, harmonious and thus beautiful layout I must find also find balance and harmony within myself. Simultaneously the ecosystem helps me find this harmony, and thus we coexist optimally in a symbiotic way, where the ultimate goal isn't to experience nature, but to become part of it.
I'm rambling about all this, because my natural tendency is to get lost in the details and lose sight of why I originally began this journey. There is likely going to be lots of cussing when I am fighting algae or whatever other problems come along the way. And since technically this is a tank journal, I want make a chronicle of this so I can hopefully come back to this time and again, when I naturally lose the forest from the trees, or the tank from the rotala so to speak.
Now, if i haven't lost you yet, on to the details:
TANK AND LIGHT
Tank unpacked and set up. ADA 60P. It was hard to put $225 USD for a tank, but once it got here I was immediately in love. It is simply stunning, and made me very excited to fill it up. For my next build I may go with UNS just to compare, but I can see why ADA tanks are so regarded.
Also, the Chihiros WRBG II Pro for light. I love techy things and was totally attracted to the app control. So many opportunities to geek out and get lost in the details. It also seems like a good entry light for a enthusiast wannabe, such as myself. A light that gives flexibility to keep it simple or customize it once you get more comfortable and level up, all at a good value. So far the only thing I don't like are those flimsy legs that don't fit on the tank at all, nto even functionally. I have the hanging kits coming my way from Chihiros, that will improve it drastically.
I put on a white vinyl background that I have since removed. I worked really hard to get it on there good, but as soon as I put water in it showed every single little area the seal wasn't perfect--most of which were at the top where I will likely have negative space and was a big distraction to me. I like the idea of it, though, just back to the drawing board with it, I guess. Any thoughts, suggestions or otherwise here are welcome.
HARDSCAPE
Make shift dojo using the top the tank came in. Generally going for a right to left triangle layout Using Icelandic lava rock, and spiderwood. This is a little over half of what I bought. Sourcing hardscape was the biggest surprise challenges in the procurement process, as there are no local sources near me, and holy crap it is expensive for deadwood and rocks, lol. Would be so much easier to be able to pick through a large assortment and be able to see it in 3d, touch it and play with it before buying. For future builds where I'm using a large amount of hardscape that features prominently in the layout, I will drive to Chicago. it is a 3.5 hour drive each way, but I spent at least that scouring the interwebs finding the best source and working with them on just the right stuff.
FILTER AND CO2
Filter and CO2 ready to go. Got the Biomaster 350 Thermo. It is awesome. It was one of the first filters I settled on in my research, but then spent 3x more time finalizing the purchase due to so many complaints all over about the gurgling, noise and such that seem to be prevalent. Fortunately for me, there was no such issues. After filling it with matrix, I have done zero modifications and it runs super quiet. I think it has great flow, but as a newb I have no clue what that really means, lol. I joke, but this is why I got such a beefy filter. As a beginner who has no clue about so many things, I know that by using a top line filter, I don't ever have to think along the way if my filter is part of whatever issue I'm having at the time. I can focus more on other variables. My biggest gripe is the tubing that comes with it. It is the stiffest vinyl tubing I have ever used. I'm not sure how you could ever wrangle this tubing between the filter and tank and make it look neat and unobtrusive. Tubing from my harware store is better, but has writing on it. I spent a little extra and got the Chihiros/FZone tubing that is perfect.
AS far as CO2 I have the Fzone mini v 3.0 with solenoid, connected to 5lb cylinder. I also have the COart inline diffuser I will hook into the filter once I get planted. For now I am cycling my tank.
SUBSTRATE
Like anything there is a mountain of bad advice and even more mediocre, incomplete or overly simplistic advice about how to do all of this. Wading through all of the noise is part of the challenge and journey I think, but a critical component for early success. Along my journey of choosing from the myriad ways in which I could begin my first layout I found 2hr Aquarist/Dennis Wong to be a place I could rely on for solid info. He is a big proponent in the dark start method, and I guess I became and follower. I used their new product, APT S which is blend of nutrients and starter bacteria to cycle the tank and remove the excess ammonia from aquasoil prior to planting. From my research it would seem I am a bit of a guinea pig here as I could not find any independent sources that have used this product. A bit of a leap of faith, but given how credible Mr Wong seems to be within the planted tank world, I made the leap.
\Speaking of aquasoil and high ammonia levels, I used Amazonia II. Just seemed one of the best from my reviews and at least where I am at I was able to get at the same or even cheaper price than other regarded brands like Tropica or Platinum. I bought two bags as I got a deal, and let's be honest this will be far from the last tank I buy. With all the hardscape I put in, I ended up using not quite a full bag.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Here I have the stones and aquasoil in. This took me an unreasonable amount of time, but I completely lost myself in it. One things that added a lot of time was that I added some extra matrix I had to build up the base. I didn't use mesh bag to hold it together and when I moved things around it would come up to the surface. Why did I do this? I kept going back and forth whether or not to buy ADA Powersand and it just seemed a little too superfluous to me at the time. Likewise, I found APT Start to do the same things other than the pumice stone. That's where the matrix came in, to be a makeshift powersand. My problem is I made this decision right before I did it and didn't fully think it through. I knew I needed to build the soil pretty high to get the hardscape where I wanted it, but started to worry about proper flow and potential anaerobic conditions with that much depth of aquasoil. Classic me overthinking things.
The other thing I kept going back and forth about was whether or not to add soil than stone, or stone then soil and/or a mix of both. Obviously there is a a lot of variation out there, but in hindsight I would've at least added some of the stone first. Overall I think I was along the right track, just didn't quite execute properly on some of this stuff, but learned a TON. Bottom line, is that I very happy with how it turned out. I almost left it with just the rocks, but my problem is that 1) with jsut the rocks it felt a little too "iwagumi-ish" when i am going for nature aquarium style, and 2) I am just in love with this spiderwood I have.
"Finished" hardscape
Here it is with the spiderwood. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. One thing I have learned is that being able to see it in three dimensions makes a huge difference. Most of my pics of my tank the pics seem to look a lot different than real-life. Gives me a whole lot more appreciation for the breathtaking professional scapes you see--absolutely amazing they are able to make the picture "pop" and add so much shadow and depth, in the way I don't see in this photo like I do in real life. What does everyone think? I think it looks a little crowded, but when I take the wood out I am less happy with it. My favorite part of the wood is the short little root sticks surrounding the two dark knots. What the picture doesn't show very well is those actually come at and up and away from the viewer, so when looking in person it adds in a sense of much greater scale and dynamic lines than this pic for sure. The other things this pic doesnt show is the stones that sit at the bottom of the chasm between the two large stones in the background. You can kind of see it in the first photo with just rocks, but there are actually two stones there, one in the mid ground and one in the background and a large dip down in between them.. In real life there is definitely layering happening here and depth created that looks dynamic and interesting, but isn't translating well in the pic. Hoping as i get plants in there and learn how to take better pictures I can accentuate it a bit more.
PLANTS
| Rotala Rotundifolia sp Green | 2 |
| Micranthemum callitrichoides (Cuba) | 2 |
| Java Fern Narrow Mini | 2 |
| Anubias Coffeefolia [Mini Size] | 2 |
| Rotala Hra | 2 |
| Fissidens Fontanus / Phoenix Moss | 4 |
| Hydrocotyle Sibthorpioides | 1 |
| Cryptocoryne wendtii ’Brown’ | 1 |
| Cryptocoryne Undulatus ’Red’ | 1 |
| Micranthemum Micranthemoides | 1 |
| Cryptocoryne Parva | 2 |
| Eleocharis sp. Mini | 1 |
| Alternanthera Reineckii Mini | 2 |
| Rotala Colorata | 2 |
| Rotala Rotundifolia | 2 |
| Mini Taiwan Moss | 4 |
Speaking of plants, one of the great benefits of doing a dark start is that I got my layout set with your hardscape, and then decides how you want it planted from there, and it forced to me to take my time with the process, so i felt like I learned more than if I picked them out in a day. Also, a drawback because it is soooo hard to wait! Right now, the tank has been cycling since 4/9, so 17 days, and I have had all that time to very deliberately choose and learn all about them and how they will work with my overall plan. I've been testing the water every day and is almost complete, so I ordered the plants you see above and they shipped today! Assuming the postal service does their job, the plan is to start planting come Sunday. Oh, btw the instruction on 2hr APT (S)tart suggests 2-3 weeks for the cycle with high ammonia aquasoil, and that is exactly where I am at. So far, no complaints with this product.
There is so much I could share about the process of choosing plants, but overall it was a ton of very enjoyable work. I probably had 85% of the plants figured out within a couple of hours on the first day, then spent the rest of the day picking out the other 15%. I really feel (well hope really, because i don't know for sure) taking that extra time for the 15% is essential to my success with this build. I might be wrong, but I dont think so. Narrowing down the plants I wanted to get was made sooooooo much easier with Tropica's website where I could examine scapes, and see exactly what plants they used and where and how they used them, and then click on the plants and get all of its info. I'd probably be still picking out most of my plants if not for this resource. Another big challenge I had was figuring out how much of each plant to get. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info out there, which is probably on purpose as it gets you to buy more plants, which certainly worked on me. Knowing me, I probably have twice as many plants coming my way than I can reasonably fit in my tank. I ordered 16 different plant species, 31 total plants, and over half of those are "Buy two get one free". So I have a load of plants coming my way. But hey, my original shopping cart was 50% bigger, both in species and plants and I whittled it down to here, so good, right?? Hahaha.
TODAY
And here is my tank as of 5 minutes ago. It is just sitting at the precipice of a universe of opportunities, isn't it? Let's see how much I can keep it that way.
Anyways, that's it for now. I am finalizing my plant layout plan, but my next post will be sharing that and seeing what you all think as we lead up to planting day. Also, have plans to go over my lighting, CO2, fert plants and my RO system, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading this far! Hahaha
Cheers,
Ryan
