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48"x30"x24" First time planted tank

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potbellytom

Seedling
Joined
11 Mar 2012
Messages
17
Well i have been reading many journals and asking questions :?: like a mad man. I have been drooling over these scapes on here for days now and have decided to try an do a planted tank and keep a journal to see the progress i have made and get some feed back from you plant guru's. It will be quite a slow journal but hopefully worth it :)

Filteration is a 36"x18"x16" im not sure how much water it holds its got 3 chambers but im not 100% how to get most use out of it as possible. Its got two 300w heaters in that keeps the tank at 28*c - 29*c.

Lighting is 450w of metal halide 1x single 150w 1x twin 150w which probably isnt needed but hey ho it was a good price, how high would you suggest having it above the water suface :?: i am going to replace the bulbs before fully planting to ensure they are working to there best.

Substrate is just playsand mixed with John Innes to give a natural-ish look i know i should of used proper planting substrate but it would of cost too much :oops: .

co2 is 3kg with hopefully http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Up-Aqua-CO2-r ... 3a699390ce unless you think there is a better one with the same sort of budget. I will also get a bubble counter could you recomend one ? and also the best way of diffusing it

Ferts i think i will be going to go EI method going to get a starter kit http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fert ... -plus.html would i need anything else ?

I'd like your opinions on how to plant it, i would like some sort of bottom coverage of some sort but still open substrate. The plants in there now are just to see what it looks like with abit of green in. I plan to have some discus in there some dwarf cichlids maybe afew tetras, corey, plecs and maybe some shrimp???

Starting off
img0133f.jpg


Filling up with out washing John Innes properly :woot:
img0141nx.jpg


Piece of wood
img0152ty.jpg


Up to date
img0160wr.jpg


What do you guys think honestly, i plan on adding for wood of some kind. Idea's on plants and ferts as i have not had any experience with such thing.
 
Nice size tank and welcome to the world of planted tank nutjobs.

I personally would cap that substrate, otherwise you are probably going to have alot of nutrient load in the water column too quickly and planting around in that wont be fun. It looks like it would fly up and go murkey anytime you do any maintainance down there.

Given that you have used sand, you could use that to cap although sand does compact more than larger grain substrates. MTS (malaysian trumpet snails) can help with substrate turnover and help prevent anaerobic areas developing.

I might have suggested somthing like unperfumed Kitty litter as a better (and cheap) planting substrate, but what you have can certainly still work, just cap it.

If this is your first time, I would concentrate on getting the various parameters right, such as the right balance of light, flow, co2 distribution and amount and nutrient. You will need to make your sump air tight to minimise c02 loss. I have personally kept away from sumps, but several people use them and Tom Barr seems to have got it sorted.

You might then want to purchase plants on budget initially, some suppliers will do cheaper mixes of plants.You have a lot of area to cover and ideally you want to start out with around 2/3 (or more)of the soil area planted. People on here will also sell plants relatively cheaply. I dont think you need to get too worried about scaping initially, learn to grow the plants first. Personally I would initially go for a jungle or dutch style scape.
 
sanj said:
Nice size tank and welcome to the world of planted tank nutjobs.

I personally would cap that substrate, otherwise you are probably going to have alot of nutrient load in the water column too quickly and planting around in that wont be fun. It looks like it would fly up and go murkey anytime you do any maintainance down there.

Given that you have used sand, you could use that to cap although sand does compact more than larger grain substrates. MTS (malaysian trumpet snails) can help with substrate turnover and help prevent anaerobic areas developing.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much i am going to cap it today with more play sand is that ok? would i have a chance of growing hc or Eleocharis acicularis?

Alastair said:
I'd also possibly raise the lighting a good 8 inches up from the water surface too
Click to expand...

i will also do that today
 
hinch said:
use gravel not playsand for the cap otherwise the sand and mud will mix up and end up horrible
Click to expand...

Thanks Hinch but i had already brought the sand before you replied :rolleyes: plus i am impatient.

I will put up pics up of mine and my brothers shared tank soon i have played around with the scape abit.
 
Heres the tank as it stand now, do you think its better? what would you change. I'm quite happy with it at the moment its just figuring out what plants should go in, What moss would you choose for the branches ?

The big rock on the wood is just weighing it down because it decided it would prefer to float than sink.


img0167an.jpg
 
that looks good, i use plain java moss on wood, so simple and easy to find. weeping also looks great.
 
planted tanks and impatience do not mix, i recommend at least 3 tanks so you can tinker when you get the urge. which is frequent.
 
That is awesome advice to be honest i may try set up a nano too :shh: im planning to get regualtor next so hopefully no to long until plants go in.
 
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