ejek
Seedling
Hi All,
I've recently joined the forum and thought it was time I said hello. I'm an Aussie bloke who's been living in the UK for quite a while now. So much so that my kids don't have the right kind of accent. It's been nearly 15 years since I last kept fish. My last tank was around 450L, heavily planted, and for the era pretty hi-tech. I had the pressurised CO2 thing going, lots of lights and nutrients. Was great.
Anyway, time goes by, got married, had, kids, moved to the opposite hemisphere and bought a small tank back around Easter for the kids, and the planted tank bug has come back to bite me.
So I managed to pick up a second-hand Fluval Venezia 190 L corner tank at a great price, and I'm collecting it tomorrow. My plan is to set up a planted tank that is as "slow-tech" and low-budget as I can get away with while still achieving good growth, and trying to keep the Algae at bay. Since buying the tank I've spent quite a few hours browsing through the forums, and I've come to the realisation that there are not too many people around with corner tanks. I've seen displays from hijac and also ianho's tanks. Also got inspired by a tank that George built. But there don't seem to be too many others. So example aquascapes to emulate in the corner format are pretty rare.
I think I've forgotten most of what I once knew, and in particular I'm struggling to get back up to speed with the plant species that are available. I think I'm going to shoot for (hopefully) slow and easy growing crypts and swords.
I do have some initial questions though as I get this journey under way:
I know there will be more questions to follow, and I'll start posting some pictures once I've got something to show off 🙂 I'd definitely love some suggestions on plant species that are both easy to grow and reasonably low maintenance.
Looking forward to getting to know you all.
Alex.
I've recently joined the forum and thought it was time I said hello. I'm an Aussie bloke who's been living in the UK for quite a while now. So much so that my kids don't have the right kind of accent. It's been nearly 15 years since I last kept fish. My last tank was around 450L, heavily planted, and for the era pretty hi-tech. I had the pressurised CO2 thing going, lots of lights and nutrients. Was great.
Anyway, time goes by, got married, had, kids, moved to the opposite hemisphere and bought a small tank back around Easter for the kids, and the planted tank bug has come back to bite me.
So I managed to pick up a second-hand Fluval Venezia 190 L corner tank at a great price, and I'm collecting it tomorrow. My plan is to set up a planted tank that is as "slow-tech" and low-budget as I can get away with while still achieving good growth, and trying to keep the Algae at bay. Since buying the tank I've spent quite a few hours browsing through the forums, and I've come to the realisation that there are not too many people around with corner tanks. I've seen displays from hijac and also ianho's tanks. Also got inspired by a tank that George built. But there don't seem to be too many others. So example aquascapes to emulate in the corner format are pretty rare.
I think I've forgotten most of what I once knew, and in particular I'm struggling to get back up to speed with the plant species that are available. I think I'm going to shoot for (hopefully) slow and easy growing crypts and swords.
I do have some initial questions though as I get this journey under way:
- The tank I've purchased was in use as a marine tank, as was the canister filter (Fluval 205). Do I need to do anything special to clean the tank before I use it for tropical plants? And will buying new media for the filter plus a good clean be all I need to worry about?
- I'm planning to use Akadama as a substrate, and do fishless cycling. Should I do the cycling while the Akadama is in the tank? Or would I be better off soaking the Akadama separately in some plastic bins for a couple of weeks while the filter cycles.
- Is it normal to buy plants on-line? My local fish shop doesn't have much range and the plants he does have are pretty beaten up?
- Same question goes for fish really - do people buy these on line? It seems weird to me to send fish through the post
I know there will be more questions to follow, and I'll start posting some pictures once I've got something to show off 🙂 I'd definitely love some suggestions on plant species that are both easy to grow and reasonably low maintenance.
Looking forward to getting to know you all.
Alex.