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Hi ! newbie with new tank and confused !

Yeah doomed under water mate but will grow emerged, sticking out of water in pots hung on side, that's why the LFS sell them. A lot of UKAPS sponsors sell plants in vitro (grown in hydroponic gel) so are safe in the post for a while but to be fair even the ones that aren't delivery is usually excellent anyway. Alternatively try the for sale swap wanted section of the forum if you can, can't remeber how many times you need to post in the forum before this opens up for you. Many people will send you cuttings if you cover the postage charges.
I'll keep in touch, me tank is probably due a good clipping out in the next couple of weeks. Good thing about getting cuttings from UKAPS members is they tend to be in good condition, they are getting rid because they have too many flourishing in their tanks.
 
Is city aquatics near you in cardiff? I've mail ordered from them before and found them very helpful. I think they do plants.
 
Also The Green Machine in Wrexham, not sure if they still have a shop you can walk into or have gone purely online these days. Bit of a trek for you but well worth taking a look at some of the scapes there for some inspiration. Make a day of it. I bought my ADA tank down there and the guy asked if I wanted to come and pick it up so I guess you can still walk in.
 
Pysgodyn said:
My other thought was somthing like an ehiem 650, it will have a harsher flow (no idea if you can put a spray bar on I ?). but I could also add a filter easily to it if I think I need more mechanical filtration.
Click to expand...

As far as filtration goes the rule of thumb seems to be 10 x your water volume, so for you about 1000 litres per hour. I have a 125 Litre tank and use a Eheim Pro 3 thermo filter which outputs just over 1000 lph.

When you say Eheim 650 I assume you are talking about the Eheim 650 powerhead?
 
a little update, i have managed to get some java fern (was a pain to tie to the wood i alteady had in the tank) and sword plants. the little green thing i had has melted, and another little sword like plant is looking poorly. some other plants are growing ok-ish, apart from the vallis which isn't looking too perky.

so do i need to add a 'full fertiliser' ? or try a 'trace elements' fertiliser ? i have the lights on about 5.5 hours. don't want a mega algae eruption.

i can also see some slimeyness on a few bits of the wood, doesn't look 'green', more creamy ? not sure what that is.

i took the carbon out of the juwel filter and crammed some ceramic noodles in lower down under the green nitrate sponge which i will leave in i think.

i'm changing about 25% water every 3-5 days. too much faff to do larger volume changes. a little bit of nitite showinh up so i hope there is some bac. development.

still think the circulation is poor, but can't decide on which sort of pump to add... i did see that the hydor nano pump is very small (900 lph i think).... the ehein 650 ball powerhead looks way larger and maybe too big... but could have a second filter attached for more mechanical hoovering.

i'm trying to keep an eyeout for java moss. i don't want to try crypts untill the tank is more settled. i saw 'pets at home' get the tropical 'packs'... i'm waiting for a fresh delivery at my local store... current stock looks ropey.

my minnows are gettibg fed up waiting to move into their new home.
 
Hi all,
Pysgodyn said:
any advice about floating plants ? i'd want hardy and ok at 18-20 deg with low co2
Click to expand...
Because they have aerial leaves CO2 availability isn't a problem for floating plants. Amazon Frogbit (<"Limnobium laevigatum">) is fine grown cool or Duckweed (Lemna minor).
Pysgodyn said:
OK, so the one's I wasn't sure about are probably doomed if left underwater ?!
Click to expand...
Yes they are. This happens all the time, and <"it really annoys me">.

As the others have said the "spiky plant" is <"Dracaena sanderiana"> , and the "ferny one" Selaginella wildenowii.
Pysgodyn said:
might they be OK with leaves out in the air, but roots in water (in a suspended pot even ?)
Click to expand...
Should be fine, Selaginella doesn't like bright light, or low humidity, but Dracaena spp. are pretty indestructible.

cheers Darrel
 
thanks darrel, very helpful.

looks like i'm getting a bit of algae growth starting, i'll give the glass a wipe.
the mopani wood is getting hairy... not sure if i should remove it or not ?

i'll call by a lfs or two and see if i can find some more plants.

i've ordered a circ. pump and some fert liquid, but i'll wait a bit before starting.

i'll keep up the 25% water changes as i'd be surrounded by buckets to do any more. i guess that might help with the algae.

G.
 
ok.... i've managed to put a hydor 900 circ. pump in the opposite back corner, low down. does a little bit, but not as strong as i expected. i hope it will help the tank be healthier and get flow around the plants. i had to move two plants as they were not coping near the pump.

not sure what is growing on the wood, white hairs it seems... good or bad ? i attach some poor photos. what do people think ?
 

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another question, one plant is unhappy, its fairly central under the lamps, green leaves slowly going yellow. sorry for the very very poor photo.

the tank is still cycling.
 

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Pysgodyn said:
ok.... i've managed to put a hydor 900 circ. pump in the opposite back corner, low down. does a little bit, but not as strong as i expected. i hope it will help the tank be healthier and get flow around the plants. i had to move two plants as they were not coping near the pump.

not sure what is growing on the wood, white hairs it seems... good or bad ? i attach some poor photos. what do people think ?
Click to expand...

This white growth will disappear in a few weeks....keep up the water changes!

The plant in the picture is not a true aquatic plant!
Best remove it and stick in a plant pot...... http://www.treadwellplants.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/59/index.htm
Cheers
hoggie
 
great, thanks Hoggie - i'll pot them up ! I've learned that my LFS are fairly crap with plant advice. So big thanks to ukaps !

I did pick up 2 more plants on the w/end, they might also be a bad idea, one looks like a dwarf vallis to me (but bigger than the ophiopogon)
and red cabomba - but that may fair poorly, esp given my comments below about light availability ?

the koralia 900 pump seems to be helping a lot to get the water moving around.

My anubias are looking happy, I have a new leaf.
The cabomba however are having a mixed time. the lower leaves on a few are rotting away, there is some growth at the top on most, but it's not really that fast. (same with the bacopa, some growth and some rot) (vallis not looking any worse thankfully - they didn't really have any roots when I got them)

Now, the difference with the above is that the former is a lot closer to the lamps (on wood) than the latter, so getting more light.
I know I should be careful with lighting levels with a new tank to avoid too much algae.
But is this a hint that I may have too low light levels ?

The hood has t2 T8 590mm tubes (18W), which are of unknown age.
I did put some white sticky plastic on the inside of the (otherwise black plastic) hood to give a bit of reflection.
I suspect new tubes might help a bit ? also I've seen clip on reflectors for tubes, so I might try one on the 'warm tube' at the back. (seem rather over priced however)

Another water change tonight. I'm doing 20-25% about every 3-4 days I think.
Testing suggests minimal if any ammonia, some nitrites still. I'm adding a little bit of 'fluval cycle' after the water changes.
I also took the carbon out of the filter.

G.
 
Fungus on the wood is nothing to worry about. Happens a lot with new bits in the tank. It should go away as the tank matures. Give it a little scrub with a tooth brush before your water change.

Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk
 
Hi, OK AWB, ta for that, I'll maybe buy a cheapo tooth brush or two if things start to look a bit unsightly, the fungus filaments aren't growing very fast, or maybe have paused. Good to be a little bit more relaxed about them

I took out all the identified non-aquatic plants (thanks peeps!); I have potted up one or two as an experiment.

Added red cabomba, put it in more towards the middle for max light.
Also added the other new plants (that to me look a bit like short vallis). hopefully they stay short-ish, as they are towards the front.

Tank now looks a bit chaotic as I've planted things as and when I've manage to find plants.
Still fancy getting some java moss.

The red cabomba has a lovely copper colour under the lights. Hope it can cope with my tank.

G.

not sure if I'll put in another bit of wood in (tall, with a moss 'coat'), or look for some interesting rock (slate), or leave that bit of the tank with just plants. Can you glue slate together ?
 
Right, My resolve crumbled and I put a couple of zebra danio's in the tank. zero ammonia BUT a little bit of nitrite according to the test strip before the water change... added more fluval cycle in after them. Fish seemed perky and happy this morning, gave them a tiny bit of food - hopefully they'll help the tank settle down and won't get too stressed out. I'll try to do a 25% water change every other day for a bit.

So I need to track down some 'safe silicone'. I suspect I'll end up buying expensive stuff from the LFS.... seems everything gets costly once the magic word 'aquarium' is written on the packet 😉

One thing I wondered was if I was incorrectly planting the stem plants ? I have a tropica substrate with gravel on top, and I've pushed the stems into the substrate rather than in the gravel on top ?
Also I've wondered if I should have used more gravel and had a thicker layer ? its about an inch on average, though a bit deeper at the back.
 
Can you get a plastic glue gun, the ones that melt sticks. If you're in UK only about fiver in wilkos and a handy bit of kit to have around for running repairs.

Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk
 
Stupid answer lol you're in Wales. I need to keep track of my posts.

Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk
 
hi all, thought i'd give you an update on the tank.
i've added reflectors to the tubes a week+ ago, plants seem happier.
also dosing easylife stuff, profito after water change - half dose, and trying their liquid co2 stuff, again a low dose, maybe 1ml at start of day or start of lights going on.

2 weeks ago I added java moss to a third new piece of wood standing tall (tied to some slate as foundation) and more anubius nana.
taken some poorly bacopa out. the vallis i had wasn't happy either, but now worse despite the liquid co2, which they apparently don't like.
added a couple of smaller crypt wenditti in the corners. and limnopilia sessiflora which i quite like the look of and may get more if it's happy.
the cabomba seems ok, though grows slowly.

the 3 danios were joined by 7 wcmm, while 4 oto cats were put in quarantene in small tank.

last weekend i called in 'the green machine' some nice small tanks there, they don't have the big tanks anymore as the seem to be just doing the ADA stuff. came away with more java ferns, some straggly trident, and nicer 'mini' stuff which goes well with the taller ferns i already had. also some crypt beckettii petchii has been added in the mid-fore ground.

got back home to add these plants and found an algae bloom and a missing danio and missing wcmm, haven't found them inside or outside the tank. water test seemed ok, so i added the new plants and did water change.
i also took the juwel nitrax filterr sponge out and replaced it with a std course sponge that i had hollowed out and filled with fluval biomax ceramic thingys.

given the algae, and with the oto's looking heathy, i put the oto's in yesterday and the seem happy. good addition as similar in size to rest and no bother from other fish.

this morning i seem to be down another fish ?!! could only count 6 wcmm. again, can't find a corpse anywhere.
tested for ammonia and seems close to zero.

bit worried about fish loss and my failiure to find the dead ones. i cant see how the juwel filter could suck them up, nor how the hydor koralia might be chopping them up.

as far as fish behaviour goes, the wcmm do seem a bit lethargic and stay quite high in the tank, and dont explore the plants at all. the pair of danios are far less boistrous that they were as a trio, still happy to zoom about and go exploring every corner of the tank. so i'm actually happier with their chilled out behaviour.

anyway i attach a few photos.
i'd like to get some more slate in there i think- aquascaping advice would be helpful. some taller plants would be nice too, but i may leave the tank be for couple of weeks and see how it does first.
also pondering an led light as an extra, maybe a dimmable one would be ideal, though i saw the arcadia stretch lamp and it seems a good option, small and cheap, but no dimmer. tank290717threejavacrypts.jpg tank290717newwood.jpg tank290717.jpg
 
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