120 Litre Planted Aquarium (Journal)

[mark4785]

120 Litre Planted Aquarium - Journal​

This particular aquarium has been running for a total of 2 years now; in the last 6 months plant growth has excelled and algae formation has come to an halt. Despite the aquarium being quite established and well-planted, I think there is still room for improvement in terms of giving this aquarium a natural feel as this was never the intention initially.


Aquarium Details

Capacity: 120 litres (Ferplast Aquarium)
Co2: Yes; Dennerle Comfort Range with replaceable 500g CO2 cylinder
Lighting: 2 x 24 Hagen LifeGlo fluorescent tubes (22")
Plants: Limnophila sessiliflora, Cryptocoryne wendtii brown & green, Cryptocoryne parva, Marsilea hirsuta, Eleocharis parvula, Cryptocoryne undulata 'broad leaves', Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya'
Inhabitants: 8x Black Neon Tetras, 4x Corydoras Cat fish (the clean-up crew of the tank)
Substrate & Decoration: Regular play sand sourced from China. Various grey pebbles are scattered around the aquarium; nothing significant.

Aquarium Pictures

Overview

Corydoras Pair 1

Pearling of the Marsilea?

Black Neon Tetra Shoal

As you can see from the overview, the aquarium is or has become quite densely planted. I am looking to add some kind of a centre piece to the aquarium (decor-wise) so that it doesn't look so flat in the middle. This decoration could be a piece of bog wood or a type of rock. Do you think I should go ahead with this? Will adding such a piece of decor block the CO2 flow that comes forth from the back-left of the aquarium (from the power heads) and which travels to the front-right?

Any other suggestions will be much appreciated,


Mark.

 

[LondonDragon]

What you need in there is some hardscape wood or rocks!

Any updates?

 

[mark4785]

What you need in there is some hardscape wood or rocks!

Any updates?

I know, this is something I've been considering for a while. Any wood or rocks would block the co2 flow from the powerbeads which are on the back, left hand-side pane of glass so I've put it off quite a bit as I know the Marsilea foreground plants will die from lack of co2.

 

[mark4785]

Update: 30th December 2012

-The marsilea (four leaf clover) has been removed from the centre fore-ground and placed to the left and right of the tank.
- Bog wood with attached moss added to left side;
- Small branched wood added to centre with moss;
- New grass carpet planted;
- Added 1x Bolivian Ram and 2 more Black Neon Tetras.

 

[Antipofish]

Whats the big leaved plant back right please?

 

[mark4785]

Whats the big leaved plant back right please?

I believe it is a Echinodorus ruby, but please don't quote me on that.

 

[mark4785]

Update: 9th of February 2013

- I have removed most of the branches of the Echinodorus (large leafed plant) which were overshadowing my green cryptocoryne plants
- Uprooted all of the overshadowed green cryptocoryne on the right-side of the aquarium as the lack of light had made them fragile. Replaced them with a new singular green cryptocoryne.
- Introduced a wooden structure and attached moss.
- Introduced a Corydoras tube/cave
- I have trimmed all of the hair grass

Ever since uprooting the old plants I have had algal spores growing exclusively on all the panes of glass. Trying my best to resolve this.

 

[mark4785]

Anybody have any recommendations for change to the current planting scheme?