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I'm off the mark at last - thanks for the tips

Willard

Willard

Member
Joined
22 Oct 2011
Messages
46
Location
Merseyside
Right at last I've got my low tech/light tank filled and part planted. I've spent a fair bit of time trawling through this site picking up all sorts of useful stuff - so I'd like to say thanks & in particular to those who have replied to my questions.

The idea was to have a natural riverbed - so I decided to keep to 2 species of plant - Rotala and Eleocharis parvula. On a whim I picked up some Limnophila sessiliflora. Heres a pic of where I am now:

Xmas2012ampSarahsbday2013053_zpsa2580434.jpg
I realised I have massively underestimated the amount of plants needed to fill up the tank - its Vision 180. I also got stung buying some from one supplier on ebay (who I wont name ) but got some really nice plants from another ebay supplier plymstar - (am I ok to name?) Also picked up some pots of tropica from pets at home - but wasnt too impressed with these to be honest. The weedy looking bits at the back right are tropica rotala but the bits at the centre back are the plymstar rotala.

I had a disaster weighing down the wood - I thought it was secure - but...it wasnt so it pretty much erupted from the substrate covering the tank in a mix of John Innes no3, MTS & JBL aqua basis.:rage:

Its now firming drilled into a piece of slate.

Besides the dodgy plants & the wood - its been really good fun. The Missus thinks Im a bit weird - the way I sit and look at it - but thats her issue - not mine...

I have had 2 grobeams running at 50% for the last two weeks (thanks Easer the Geezer for the tip to keep the lights low) for 7 hours a day and things seem to be going well

Im running a fishless cycle at the moment & waiting for more rotala & dwarf hair grass to arrive to fill in the gaps. If the rolata doesnt like the low light im going to fill the back with Limnophila sessiliflora. Its really taken off in the back left corner.

Anyway, thanks for all the tips and advice,:clap: its much appreciated.

Cheers

Willard.
 
Hey willard, great feeling to get started and set up hey. The plants from pets@home are notoriously poorly kept however they are always in the mersed form, over the coming days/weeks it will start to drop the lower leaves and have immersed growth which is what you have from ebay. Once they are at a good length cut off the new growth and replant. The rotala from ebay does look nice and it will go just fine in low light, this is rotala in alistairs low tech (hope he doesnt mind me showing off his skills :angelic: )
rotala_zpse5e2dc50.jpg
The closer together you plant the parvula now the better as its slow to carpet low tech. Wait until you see a good amount of green shoots then cut it right back.
Keep it clean and you'll be good.:thumbup:
 
easerthegeezer said:
The closer together you plant the parvula now the better as its slow to carpet low tech. Wait until you see a good amount of green shoots then cut it right back.
Click to expand...

Should you plant it as just a few strands each time but close together or as bigger amounts ? And when you say cut back when you see green shoots, how low do you mean please ? Thanks.
 
Plants in little bunches of as few strands as your patience and back can tolerate. You will see new growth in a few weeks, as it is likely that it is emersed so the old growth wont do much and new shoots are usually a lighter green. Once you feel the plant is sufficiently settled and growing cut it back to just above the substrate.
:thumbup:
 
easerthegeezer said:
Plants in little bunches of as few strands as your patience and back can tolerate. You will see new growth in a few weeks, as it is likely that it is emersed so the old growth wont do much and new shoots are usually a lighter green. Once you feel the plant is sufficiently settled and growing cut it back to just above the substrate.
:thumbup:
Click to expand...

OK thats great. The same applies to all types of hairgrass I assume ? And then once its growing nicely you can just trim it down to the desired height rather than back down to that low (i hope ?) ?
 
absolutely,like a garden lawn. Its worth hoovering it a lot and/or roughing it up at waterchange time as it does like to build up detritus at the base of the 'fronds'? leaves? which will in turn attract algae. Your gunna need a lot of patience though as most carpet plants take forever to grow in lowtech.
 
Iain Sutherland said:
absolutely,like a garden lawn. Its worth hoovering it a lot and/or roughing it up at waterchange time as it does like to build up detritus at the base of the 'fronds'? leaves? which will in turn attract algae. Your gunna need a lot of patience though as most carpet plants take forever to grow in lowtech.
Click to expand...

Thanks. You've changed your name, LOL, how did you do that !? I was a bit confused there and thought I had drunk too much wine with my lunch. And you mentioned low tech. Is my tank low tech then ? I have CO2 and add ferts. Thought that made it high tech ?
 
Iain Sutherland said:
Hey willard, great feeling to get started and set up hey. The plants from pets@home are notoriously poorly kept however they are always in the mersed form, over the coming days/weeks it will start to drop the lower leaves and have immersed growth which is what you have from ebay. Once they are at a good length cut off the new growth and replant. The rotala from ebay does look nice and it will go just fine in low light, this is rotala in alistairs low tech (hope he doesnt mind me showing off his skills :angelic: )
rotala_zpse5e2dc50.jpg
The closer together you plant the parvula now the better as its slow to carpet low tech. Wait until you see a good amount of green shoots then cut it right back.
Keep it clean and you'll be good.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thats the chocolate puddle tank isnt it? Awesome. Showed it to the missues - even she seemed impressed. Then quickly said I cant have one!

Thanks for the tips about the hairgrass. Im expecting some more so I will split it into the smallest portions I can.

I have a question about Liquid carbon - do I have to do the same level of water changes that you do with a CO2 gas system? Also can I use it to give my plants a boost at the start & then discontinue its use without damaging the plants?

Also I have just noticed my 1st inhabitants - 3 snails...the kids were made up...
 
Hello all - bit of an update:
I've got some more rotala to fill out the back right and the plants have really started to take off & I'm fairly pleased. I've ordered some liquid carbon and will spalsh a bit of that in to see how that goes.

Im thinking about placing a row of crypts along the purple line.

545c1b83-0c63-4a8b-99a9-92277c1d72ba_zpsf065b5e4.jpg



Any thoughts on which of the following would be best suited: WALKERI LUTEA, PETCHII or RED UNDULATUS.

My snails growth rate has been quite amazing, I have 2 decent sized snails who have doubel in size in the last 7 days. Black shells with gold spots. I notices some green gunk on the suction pads for the filter intake before leaving for work, however my two snails had pretty much polished it off for me by the time I got home. I read these things are meant to be pests?

I have also picked up 4 platys. Stuck them in yesterday, got up this morning to find fry in my tank!.Totally amazed but unprepared for this. Stuck a piece of foam over my filter intake to stop them getting sucked up & will get a trap to keep them away from the adults. The platys are busy little fish zooming everywhere and I'm really pleased with them.

I was looking at a schoal of emperor tetras in a few months & then once my plants are settled a school of panda corys.

If I get some cherry shrimp will the platys & tetras eat them?
 
It looks like the best location in the tank for crypts to go into.

Do you have any plans for the wood above it? might look good with Anubias or Java Fern in the dark hollow, though it allready looks very decent as is.
 
Hi Ian, thanks for the reply. I hadnt considered java fern or anubias, but will look at them. Will they be ok considering the hollow is really dark? I have decided on the Walkeri crypt and will plant it along the purple line and fill the front with more hair grass.
 
Both plants do well in low light and if they need more can grow out of the shade. They are also attractive mixed together with the ferns hiding the rhizomes and roots of the anubias.

I think once the crypts are established along the line it will fill the space under the wood? you might not see the rotala behind it until you look over the wood which would add some nice depth
 
hi Willard, the tanks looking really well. very natural and love that piece of wood.
I think your pick of crypt is the better as the green will be a nice contrast to the red in the rotala.
I would say congrats on the baby platties but you'll probably and up with another batch soon knowing how fruity those things get ha ha.
ps usually when you start adding liquid carbon it makes the tank become more of a higher tech but there was some one on here who ran very low lighting, added liquid carbon at the lowest dose and just did a ten percent change every other week. if I can find the link I will add it.
 
Hi all thanks for the comments. Alastair thanks for the heads up about the water changes. I can just about cope with 10% every two weeks. What happens if i stop dosing? Will the plants wither and die back?
Ian your comments about creating depth are really interesting. I hadnt considered that as a resul. I will post a new pic once i have the crypts in place.
Thanks again for the tips, much appreciated.
 
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