Hi First time with planted

[Leesey]

Hi

I have kept marines for a period of time and when we moved house we shut the thank down and were looking to re set it up with new skimmer etc.

However times have changed and with another baby on the way we are going to use the tank for tropical fish instead.



Its measures 36 inches wide, 27 inches deep and 27 inches high.

The sump measures 30 inches wide and 18 inches deep and the water level come about 10 inches high so the working system volume is around 518 litres.



i am wondering what type of fish you would recommend for this.

My daughter is obsessed with sharks (she is 3), however we are thinking towards low tech planted and then some shoals of fish and some corydoras catfish. Unless you have ny better selections i have not thought of.
We are just looking for plenty of movement to keep the children interested and to give my wife and i something nice to look at.

I do have soft water with a ph of around 6 to 7.

Any thoughts please say.



I will be having plants in this and a sand base (i think)



The flow through the tank will be provided by a 6000 lph return pump in the sump and supplement by a Jebao powerhead to produce a wave (natural feeling) in the tank and to provide more circulation.



I may in the future be looking to have a c02 set up but i am totally unsure on this.



the lighting will be provided by a white led which i currently have.



All thoughts on stocking and plants etc please say as i am relearning in this side of things.



Thanks in advance



Jon

 

[harryH]

Hi Jon,

That's a big tank you've got there, always a challenge as a planted set up but beautiful if you can achieve a nice balance.

I will start the ball rolling by suggesting one or two things and then you will get the input of others I'm sure to help you along.

First substrate, there are lots of different preferences here. In my present tank I used the Tesco cat litter which is a nice clay granule ( lots of info on this site) and is cheap. It tends to be rather lightweight so if sloping of the substrate is desired it will pay to add some supports I bought some very cheap kitchen prep mats off Ebay and cut them into strips inserting them on edge to retain the substrate and it works a treat. I don't like to use sand alone as it can pack down and affect the desired cation exchange. a sprinkle (no more) of Osmocote slow release fertiliser and same with Sphagnum peat moss on the glass bottom before adding the substrate will help with substrate fertilisation and bacteria respectively. You can of course select from a wealth of tailor made substrates on the market if your pocket will run to it!.

Lighting will need to be monitored carefully,especially if you are to use your high powered marine lights. You have a very deep tank so yes you need to get the light to the bottom but excessive lighting and you will be plagued with algae problems. Again there is lots of info available on here.

To grow plants successfully I would always inject CO2 though I appreciate some don't with varying amounts of success.
If you do go the CO2 route, and injected properly CO2 will give you growth you never dreamed possible, Also read up on EI fertilisation which is great. but you may need to consider the sump you have.
Sump filtration is very good for marines and does actually work well on a planted tank but you can lose a lot of CO2 gassed to air using this method. Again this has been discussed on here at some length so do the searches ( or maybe somebody who is better than me at finding the threads might post you some links.

Plants are very much down to your own taste but I would strongly recommend you cover at least 80% of the base with mainly fast growing stem plants at first until it gets established.

As for fish, I'd be wary of sharks in a planted tank at that size unless you can find a new home for them as they grow. They get very large and it is always difficult preventing them from uprooting stuff, plus Red Tail Blacks can be very territorial with other sharks. Barbs are very active and there is a good selection to chose from or you can go for large shoals of smaller Rasboras Tetras etc.

I suggest you search this site and do some studying before you proceed, it will be well worth it.

Hope this has helped a bit and I'm sure others will be along to add their views too.

Good luck with it and don't forget to give us some pics or do a Journal for us to look at?

Harry.

 

[Leesey]

Hi Harry

Thats been a great help

I do plan on doing a lot of research as i don't like getting things wrong.

The shark thing is my daughter and i know red tails are very territorial.

Barbs sound like a good idea and shoals of tetras also sounds good.

Are corydoras catfish not a good idea?

I have looked into co2 injecting however if I'm honest it confuses the life out of me and as we are expecting another baby money is not as free as it used to be.

I will try and do things as frugally as possible however i do appreciate that not everything can be done cheaply.

as i said in my above post all help gratefully received and nothing can start for at least 2 weeks as my parents are having to come up from Nottingham to help move the aquarium to its new location as there is not hope of me moving it with the assistance of my rather pregnant wife and my 3 and 2 year olds won't be much help and neither will my dalmatian.

Thanks as always

Jon

 

[harryH]

Are corydoras catfish not a good idea?

Corys are great Jon, they may uproot newly planted carpet plants which are shallow rooted but once the growth is on they are fine. Busy little blighters and clean up uneaten scraps I love them.
I like to let my plants grow and the whole eco system run for a good 6 weeks before adding fish. Most plants are well rooted by that time and you know the system should be safe for livestock by then.
Do lots of water changes, yes I know it's not easy with your gallonage but at least twice a week early on. In fact my latest 80l tank still gets 2 WC a week after almost 6 months running. Water changes and controlled (not too bright) lighting are two of the most important tools in keeping algae at bay.

Harry

 

[Leesey]

Yeh

Similar to Marine in a way.
Although water changes will be easier than they were then.

Does anyone have any pointers to the best place to buy plants etc?

Jon

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Hi Jon, welcome to the forum, looking forward to seeing your tank progress.
Im a little short on time so ill be brief nut from what youve said id suggest reading through a couple of the stunning mud tanks we have on here. Having a new kid on the way, congrats, and being new to planted id assume you dont want loads of work, maintenance, high tech co2 headaches etc. Lowtech tank will also work very well with a sump as it will produce good gas exchange and water changes are small.

Tom bucket is a complete guide to a mud tank, long but an interesting read front to back.
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/toms-bucket-o-mud-the-end.14521/

also Alastairs chocolate puddle
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/...es-licorice-n-allsorts-baby-chocco-fry.25069/

fish wise, my only suggestion would be to try and keep regional, they just look better together in my opinion. Mother nature knows best 🙂
If you want a shark like fish then the rainbow shark is far less boisterous that red tails, i kept one in a planted tank without issue...
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-frenatum/

enjoy 🙂

 

[Leesey]

Thanks

The Shark is not going to happen.

As long as there is plenty of movement it will be fine.

I think to start with we will be going with low tech and moving onwards and upwards etc.

The lights will need changing also as they are not the most powerful which sits better with low tech but the wife is interested in co2 and high tech so it will happen at some point.

Thanks
Jon