This is my first effort at a ‘high tech’ planted tank. I’ve had aquariums and ponds on and off over the years and shut down my reef tank in December for a number of reasons. Mainly cost but also time. The first few days I felt gutted and wondered what on Earth I’d done. And I had to get something else up and running quickly to deal with the unbearableness of being aquarium free. But that feeling of doubt has completely gone now. Everything that’s in this tank- substrate, hardscape, fish, critters and plants- cost far less than a single coral that may or may not randomly die! So I’m quite content that I’ve made the right decision, because even if I make an absolute mess of it, to rescape and start over will be pounds for the whole tank, not hundreds of pounds for a few square inches.
And no more messing around with RO, barrels of water, refractometers, measuring half a dozen different parameters to parts in a billion, panicking every time a coral has a sulk. I’m certain I’m oversimplifying planted aquariums but for now I’m happy in my ignorance!
So I decided to use a 60 litre quarantine tank I had left over, that I was able to get an aquaone stand for. In fact I think it’s an aquaone tank thinking about it. It’s not Optiwhite but I’m ok with that, for now.
I’ve got it running with an Oase Biomaster 350 thermo at 24°C, a Fluval Plant 3.0, EA scaper pipework and a CO2Art regulator on a wifi plug timer.
The hardscape leaves a lot to be desired! Three lumps of elephant stone, a bit of overpriced log, all over a bed of Fluval stratum capped with fine sand. There’s a distinct lack of shops in my area unfortunately so if it’s sold in a MHA, then likely I’ll be using it.
I’ve then added a variety of plants (I have a list somewhere but I’m awful with remembering names) again from MHA.
The fish I’m quite pleased with, just because they’re fascinating to watch. 15 neon green raspbora and 6 dwarf corydora. There’s also 4 red shrimp, think they were called Sakura grade or I’m maybe imaging that. Anyhow they’re also great to watch.
The plan, of sorts, is to see what I can grow first without too much fiddling, then plan something better later, based around those successful plants.
My current regime is two squirts a day of APT complete, with big water changes. There’s bits of algae popping up but I’m sure it’ll settle in time.
Thanks for reading, here’s a few bad photos with my iPhone…
And no more messing around with RO, barrels of water, refractometers, measuring half a dozen different parameters to parts in a billion, panicking every time a coral has a sulk. I’m certain I’m oversimplifying planted aquariums but for now I’m happy in my ignorance!
So I decided to use a 60 litre quarantine tank I had left over, that I was able to get an aquaone stand for. In fact I think it’s an aquaone tank thinking about it. It’s not Optiwhite but I’m ok with that, for now.
I’ve got it running with an Oase Biomaster 350 thermo at 24°C, a Fluval Plant 3.0, EA scaper pipework and a CO2Art regulator on a wifi plug timer.
The hardscape leaves a lot to be desired! Three lumps of elephant stone, a bit of overpriced log, all over a bed of Fluval stratum capped with fine sand. There’s a distinct lack of shops in my area unfortunately so if it’s sold in a MHA, then likely I’ll be using it.
I’ve then added a variety of plants (I have a list somewhere but I’m awful with remembering names) again from MHA.
The fish I’m quite pleased with, just because they’re fascinating to watch. 15 neon green raspbora and 6 dwarf corydora. There’s also 4 red shrimp, think they were called Sakura grade or I’m maybe imaging that. Anyhow they’re also great to watch.
The plan, of sorts, is to see what I can grow first without too much fiddling, then plan something better later, based around those successful plants.
My current regime is two squirts a day of APT complete, with big water changes. There’s bits of algae popping up but I’m sure it’ll settle in time.
Thanks for reading, here’s a few bad photos with my iPhone…