Simon B
New Member
Hi everyone!
After a kind prod from a moderator over on the New Member section, I have plucked up the courage to document my journey into planted tanks!
I'm afraid I have no pictures yet, as I'm just about to buy everything! But as I'm new, I thought it might make sense to quickly document a bit about me, and the kind of things I'm looking to achieve.
I'm in my thirties, have given up my proper job and am now a piano teacher, which means I have a fair bit of time at home, which is handy for this sort of stuff. I've kept marine fish for a few years, but I haven't kept a freshwater tank since the horrendous mish-mash of gravel, inappropriate tankmates, overstocking, and general algae farm that I had as a teenager. I think I always assumed that this was just how planted tanks were. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I clicked on a YouTube video by George Farmer, and I was absolutely amazed at the beautiful things he was doing. I then spent the next few days clicking link after link, trying to understand how it was done. Do I think mine will look like this? No. Not a chance. But it won't half be fun to have a go trying!
My plan is to set up two planted tanks over the next few months or so. The first will be a cheap and cheerful venture just to get my feet wet and learn a few basic principles. Then, I hope to create a more high-tech setup and put some sort of iwagumi together.
For this first tank, I'm thinking of setting up a small planted tank for 3 Dwarf Puffers, and maybe a few Amano shrimp if they'll tolerate them. I've been absolutely captivated by DPs, and I need them in my life! Anyway, I'm aware that I really don't know what I'm doing at this stage, so if any of this sounds dodgy, please don't hesitate to say so!
For this tank, my current thinking is as follows:
Tank: Dennerle 60 litre cube - cheap and cheerful
Filter: Oase BioPlus 100 Thermo internal corner filter (integrated 100W heater, 500 litres/hr). This tank will be placed on a chunky hardwood sideboard in the dining room, and sadly drilling holes for external filter pipework isn't really an option. This filter doesn't look too bad to maintain with its handy magnetic catches. I was toying with the next model up, but a 200W heater in a 60 litre tank feels a bit dodgy, and I'm not sure the DPs would appreciate that sort of flow rate battering them about.
Light: I'm thinking of splashing out on a Kessil A80 freshwater. Once it's bought, it's bought. It might be useful in the future, and I have a bit of a fetish about shimmer lines...
Substrate: Dennerle Scapers' Soil (4 litre bag); and maybe a front corner of the tank left unplanted with Limpopo black sand (1-2mm grain).
Water: I'm not sure about this. With marines, I'm used to using RO or facing the consequences. If it was possible to use appropriately treated tapwater, so much the better. I'm in Birmingham, so my tapwater comes largely from the Elan Valley, is about pH 7.8, on the soft side, and seems reasonable. I haven't looked at the TDS or anything, though.
Hardscape: Unsure. I like manten stone, but I'm damned if I'm paying manten stone prices! I think a dark rock would best show off the slightly drab nature of the Dwarf Puffers best, so I'll see what's available. Also, since it's quite a tall tank, I'm thinking of some sort of vertical elements of driftwood / manzanita / redwood.
Plants: I'm not after a perfect biotope, but I thought it might be nice to include some plants from the Puffers' native Kerela. After a bit of research, the native ones I seem to have any hope of growing are:
Cryptocoryne undulatus 'Red'
Hygrophila corymbosa 'compacta'
Hygrophila corymbosa Siamensis 53B
Hygrophila difformis
Limnophilia sessiliflora
Vesicularia dubyana 'Christmas moss' (not strictly biotope, but it's a bit nicer than the native Java moss...)
Microsorum pteropus mini 'Petit' Java Fern
Whilst not native, I might see if I can get a slight foreground carpet of Monte Carlo going. It would be good practice for the iwagumi.
I'm aware that I need to break up lines of sight in this tank to avoid aggression, so if anyone has any suggestions of suitable plants (whether native to India or not), please do let me know. The fishes' well-being is the most important thing.
Fertiliser & CO2: Dennerle Carbo Elixir Bio (2ml / day to start with, then see where we are before adding fish)
Evolution Aqua "The Aquascaper Complete Plant food" (2ml / day to start with)
Ancillaries: Small 10 litre or so cheapo tank and sponge filter for propogating snails for food.
My biggest query so far is in how to best to cycle the tank. I'm used to just banging a load of live rock in and waiting for the Ammonia and nitrite to hit zero, which is easy! Oddly, not many aquascaping videos seem to cover this, or if they do, they're all using filter media from a handy system that's already running so they can pop things in straight away.
Anyway, that was far longer than I intended it to be! Sorry - it's probably a bit boring without pictures, but at least this will be useful for me to remember what I decided next week when I'm hopefully not still snowed in, and can make a pilgrimage to Aquarium Gardens!
Thanks for reading, and I'll do my best to keep this updated - and, hopefully, more entertaining - over the coming weeks!
Simon
After a kind prod from a moderator over on the New Member section, I have plucked up the courage to document my journey into planted tanks!
I'm afraid I have no pictures yet, as I'm just about to buy everything! But as I'm new, I thought it might make sense to quickly document a bit about me, and the kind of things I'm looking to achieve.
I'm in my thirties, have given up my proper job and am now a piano teacher, which means I have a fair bit of time at home, which is handy for this sort of stuff. I've kept marine fish for a few years, but I haven't kept a freshwater tank since the horrendous mish-mash of gravel, inappropriate tankmates, overstocking, and general algae farm that I had as a teenager. I think I always assumed that this was just how planted tanks were. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I clicked on a YouTube video by George Farmer, and I was absolutely amazed at the beautiful things he was doing. I then spent the next few days clicking link after link, trying to understand how it was done. Do I think mine will look like this? No. Not a chance. But it won't half be fun to have a go trying!
My plan is to set up two planted tanks over the next few months or so. The first will be a cheap and cheerful venture just to get my feet wet and learn a few basic principles. Then, I hope to create a more high-tech setup and put some sort of iwagumi together.
For this first tank, I'm thinking of setting up a small planted tank for 3 Dwarf Puffers, and maybe a few Amano shrimp if they'll tolerate them. I've been absolutely captivated by DPs, and I need them in my life! Anyway, I'm aware that I really don't know what I'm doing at this stage, so if any of this sounds dodgy, please don't hesitate to say so!
For this tank, my current thinking is as follows:
Tank: Dennerle 60 litre cube - cheap and cheerful
Filter: Oase BioPlus 100 Thermo internal corner filter (integrated 100W heater, 500 litres/hr). This tank will be placed on a chunky hardwood sideboard in the dining room, and sadly drilling holes for external filter pipework isn't really an option. This filter doesn't look too bad to maintain with its handy magnetic catches. I was toying with the next model up, but a 200W heater in a 60 litre tank feels a bit dodgy, and I'm not sure the DPs would appreciate that sort of flow rate battering them about.
Light: I'm thinking of splashing out on a Kessil A80 freshwater. Once it's bought, it's bought. It might be useful in the future, and I have a bit of a fetish about shimmer lines...
Substrate: Dennerle Scapers' Soil (4 litre bag); and maybe a front corner of the tank left unplanted with Limpopo black sand (1-2mm grain).
Water: I'm not sure about this. With marines, I'm used to using RO or facing the consequences. If it was possible to use appropriately treated tapwater, so much the better. I'm in Birmingham, so my tapwater comes largely from the Elan Valley, is about pH 7.8, on the soft side, and seems reasonable. I haven't looked at the TDS or anything, though.
Hardscape: Unsure. I like manten stone, but I'm damned if I'm paying manten stone prices! I think a dark rock would best show off the slightly drab nature of the Dwarf Puffers best, so I'll see what's available. Also, since it's quite a tall tank, I'm thinking of some sort of vertical elements of driftwood / manzanita / redwood.
Plants: I'm not after a perfect biotope, but I thought it might be nice to include some plants from the Puffers' native Kerela. After a bit of research, the native ones I seem to have any hope of growing are:
Cryptocoryne undulatus 'Red'
Hygrophila corymbosa 'compacta'
Hygrophila corymbosa Siamensis 53B
Hygrophila difformis
Limnophilia sessiliflora
Vesicularia dubyana 'Christmas moss' (not strictly biotope, but it's a bit nicer than the native Java moss...)
Microsorum pteropus mini 'Petit' Java Fern
Whilst not native, I might see if I can get a slight foreground carpet of Monte Carlo going. It would be good practice for the iwagumi.
I'm aware that I need to break up lines of sight in this tank to avoid aggression, so if anyone has any suggestions of suitable plants (whether native to India or not), please do let me know. The fishes' well-being is the most important thing.
Fertiliser & CO2: Dennerle Carbo Elixir Bio (2ml / day to start with, then see where we are before adding fish)
Evolution Aqua "The Aquascaper Complete Plant food" (2ml / day to start with)
Ancillaries: Small 10 litre or so cheapo tank and sponge filter for propogating snails for food.
My biggest query so far is in how to best to cycle the tank. I'm used to just banging a load of live rock in and waiting for the Ammonia and nitrite to hit zero, which is easy! Oddly, not many aquascaping videos seem to cover this, or if they do, they're all using filter media from a handy system that's already running so they can pop things in straight away.
Anyway, that was far longer than I intended it to be! Sorry - it's probably a bit boring without pictures, but at least this will be useful for me to remember what I decided next week when I'm hopefully not still snowed in, and can make a pilgrimage to Aquarium Gardens!
Thanks for reading, and I'll do my best to keep this updated - and, hopefully, more entertaining - over the coming weeks!
Simon
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