First Journal - First planted tank!

[MrJames]

Hello everyone I decided to start a journal for my planted tank I've never had fish before unfortunately the fish have been delayed due to me not being happy with how my tank is looking yet so needs more work I thought I'd also post up some of the older pictures of my rather poor attempts at a planted tank lol

Tank: Hagen Elite 60L 60 cm x 35 cm x 30 cm
Lighting: 1x15W T8 - Changing to 2x24W T5HO
Filter: Tetratec EX600
Co2: Pressurised FE through in-line atomizer
Substrate: Sand
Fertiliser: EI Dosing + JBL Kugeln clay balls

This was my first attempt using DIY Co2..... Which I then decided looked far too organised and totally un-natural. (Sun-Glo tube 4200K)



So then I moved things around a bit and added some more plants.... And switched to proper pressurised Co2. (Life-Glow tube 6700K)



And this is how the tank currently is I once again moved some plants around and added a piece of wood that I got a while ago and never used. (T5HO 1x Day tube 9000K + 1x Nature tube 4100K)




Right so where to start.....I've changed my lighting up as the single T8 just wasn't enough and I had the 2x24w from another tank so going to mount it above the tank so I can adjust the height of the light to start with I think it was a bit too low as I started getting algae so moved the light up and cut the time it's on for from 8 to 6 hours.

My current plan is to strip down the tank soon and redo it so far I have the follow that I want to do:

- Replace the substrate with something better than just sand still not sure what to use though any suggestions? I'll be having cory so need something that'll be ok for them.

- Remove the hairgrass, not really liking it as everything gets caught in it then when it comes time to trim it's a nightmare to clean up all the cuttings! Not 100% sure if I'll put another carpeting plant in yet and if I do what I'll use.

- Either add a second piece of wood like what is already in the tank or replace with a nice piece of redmoor root.

- Want more colour variation in the tank so trying to pick out some interesting plants.

Any suggestions or comments more than welcome and look forward to any feedback

 

[MrJames]

Well came home from work today and realised a few problems, where I'm running the bigger light and currently have no cover over the tank it seems Co2 levels have dropped so need to up that a bit for now.

Had to wipe a nice amount of algae off some plants also have a nice coating of slime in the filter hoses so that'll be fun to clean out! And plants don't seem to be pearling the way they used to many down to Co2 problems?

Still trying to decide on a substrate trying to decide if I should go for a complete one that I can cap with sand any thoughts? I suppose the benefits of a complete one is I wouldn't get them mixing.

 

[MrJames]

Well after a lot of thinking I've finally started planning how I want to put things in the tank and some new plants and substrate, not sure what of my current plants I'll be keeping might not keep any!
Also decided on substrate going to use either cat litter or regular moler clay along with some sand as you'll see in the picture below....

 

[ceg4048]

Hello,
48 watts of T5 lighting is simply too much for a 15 gallon tank.

Cheers,

 

[MrJames]

Don't worry it's being suspended above the tank I would buy a smaller proper light but in 3-4 months I plan on getting a 200 / 250L tank so seems a bit pointless thank you for the advice though

*Edit* Just to add more information I picked up a used tank which was a Juwel Lido 120 but unfortunately I didn't see how bad a lot of the scratches were so decided not to use it, the light has been mounted to a shelf above the tank and is currently 8" from the surface of the water and can be raised up more if needed

The reason I've done this is mostly because of how the tube is mounted in the lid for the tank it's at the front and because of the ballast in the lid the back of the tank wasn't getting much light even with a reflector.

 

[MrJames]

Well after adding the bogwood which had already been soaked all the plants started dying so must have been contaminated with something......

So removed everything from the tank took it outside to give it a good clean out then broke the tank on the way back in ooop! Which resulted in me picking up a used Fluval Roma 200 quite an upgrade! Just got to decide on equipment to use such as pumps, filters, substrate and if I change the standard lighting for T5 so the 60L tank is now dead sad times

 

[Ady34]

Bummer James, every cloud has a siver lining though ....upgrades are good
I'd keep the t8 lighting for now, you'll be able to grow perfectly healthy plants with it and it will make co2 provision slightly easier.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[MrJames]

How well will the T8 penetrate the depth of the tank though?

 

[Ady34]

How well will the T8 penetrate the depth of the tank though?

They will be fine, especially with reflectors, and directly above the water surface in the closed top tank. If in doubt check out Ian Holdich' journals pre led instalment, they were ran on 2x T8.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[MrJames]

Ok then I'll get a couple of tubes ordered and see how it goes it's got marine tubes in at the moment.

 

[MrJames]

Seems I will be going T5 the light unit for the tank had an arcadia blue led bar installed I'm guessing this allowed water into the tombstone as that side isn't working so I'll get a double 39watt T5 ballast