Jellies journey towards a true Dutch

[JellieTG]

Hey im Jellie! I'm not gonna bore you with my story but I like plants!

This is the start my my documentation of my first high tech tank and dutch style. I've spent the last couple months researching, sketching and planning this out and soon everything has arrived.

My tank:
My tank is a regular 54l (15g) tank equipped with a aquaclear 50 for filtration and the eheim skimmer 350. For CO2 injection I'm currently using soda stream bottles but I'm looking to upgrade soon. (everything is super expensive regarding CO2) I'm using the Nicrew regulator, because it's cheap and supposedly should work good! The Light is the chihiros wrgb2 45 because if you're going to do something you have to do it right.

I'm using tropica soil after a quick mind change from sand. I'm also using dry ferts, the concentrations will be below:
Fert dosage weekly
KH2PO4 0.3ppm (1,5ml)
KNO3 10ppm (11,5ml)
K2SO4 10 ppm (22ml)

I've linked my sketch and but here's the plant list, I've separated the background stems from the rest of the plants so it's easier to illustrate in your mind. Here it is:
Althernthea reineckii "mini"
Pogostemon helferi
Cryptocoryne lutea
Eriocaulon cinereum
Elocharis mini
Staurogyne repens

L-R
Ludwigia palustris
Myriophyllum Guyana
Hygrophila siamensis 53b
Limnophila hippuridoides
Bacopa caroliniana

 

[JellieTG]

 

[plantnoobdude]

glad to see you finally joined ukaps! plan sounds good and i'm sure the tank will be as well when you set it up.

 

[JellieTG]

All the equipment is now in and the last package should arrive soon so I can finally order the plants

 

[JellieTG]

Hey im Jellie! I'm not gonna bore you with my story but I like plants!

This is the start my my documentation of my first high tech tank and dutch style. I've spent the last couple months researching, sketching and planning this out and soon everything has arrived.

My tank:
My tank is a regular 54l (15g) tank equipped with a aquaclear 50 for filtration and the eheim skimmer 350. For CO2 injection I'm currently using soda stream bottles but I'm looking to upgrade soon. (everything is super expensive regarding CO2) I'm using the Nicrew regulator, because it's cheap and supposedly should work good! The Light is the chihiros wrgb2 45 because if you're going to do something you have to do it right.

I'm using tropica soil after a quick mind change from sand. I'm also using dry ferts, the concentrations will be below:
Fert dosage weekly
KH2PO4 0.3ppm (1,5ml)
KNO3 10ppm (11,5ml)
K2SO4 10 ppm (22ml)

I've linked my sketch and but here's the plant list, I've separated the background stems from the rest of the plants so it's easier to illustrate in your mind. Here it is:
Althernthea reineckii "mini"
Pogostemon helferi
Cryptocoryne lutea
Eriocaulon cinereum
Elocharis mini
Staurogyne repens

L-R
Ludwigia palustris
Myriophyllum Guyana
Hygrophila siamensis 53b
Limnophila hippuridoides
Bacopa caroliniana

After som rereading of the rules regarding the traditional Dutch style, I realized I had made a bunch of mistakes in my original sketch. So I spent 3h and 15 minutes designing a new sketch that's more leaning towards a traditional Dutch.

 

[JellieTG]

After som rereading of the rules regarding the traditional Dutch style, I realized I had made a bunch of mistakes in my original sketch. So I spent 3h and 15 minutes designing a new sketch that's more leaning towards a traditional Dutch.

Edit: looks like I haven't added the species name of the main street, it's supposed to be Pogostemon Helferi

 

[plantnoobdude]

plan looks incredible, only one mistake. It's going to look better than my tank. I'd start over if i were you 😉

 

[noodlesuk]

Dutch style seems rare these days, but I love them. They are like an underwater allotment. Watching with interest.

 

[JellieTG]

After som rereading of the rules regarding the traditional Dutch style, I realized I had made a bunch of mistakes in my original sketch. So I spent 3h and 15 minutes designing a new sketch that's more leaning towards a traditional Dutch.

Finally! After weeks of waiting and months of planning, I can finally say that I've started my first ever high tech planted aquarium! Thanks to @plantnoobdude and many more I've achieved my goal.

Some plants are missing but will be added in the upcoming weeks.

+bonus i also got free skrimp with buce which is very pog.

 

[plantnoobdude]

looks very nice! glad i could help.

 

[bazz]

Hi JellieTG,
I cannot see your maintenance regime so just to ensure you are on the right track:
Tropica Soil = Daily water changes for the first week, every 2 days second week, 3 days third etc...
Light = Keep low to begin with perhaps 40/50% (I'm unfamiliar with the Chihiros) for a 6 hour photoperiod and slowly ramp up after plants begin to transition to immersed growth.
CO2 = Drop Checker wants to be light green during lights on, yours appears to be blue (a PH profile is far more accurate).
Try and get some more plants in there as soon as possible, maybe just cheap fast growing stems (they can slowly be replaced later).
Cheers!

 

[JellieTG]

Hi JellieTG,
I cannot see your maintenance regime so just to ensure you are on the right track:
Tropica Soil = Daily water changes for the first week, every 2 days second week, 3 days third etc...
Light = Keep low to begin with perhaps 40/50% (I'm unfamiliar with the Chihiros) for a 6 hour photoperiod and slowly ramp up after plants begin to transition to immersed growth.
CO2 = Drop Checker wants to be light green during lights on, yours appears to be blue (a PH profile is far more accurate).
Try and get some more plants in there as soon as possible, maybe just cheap fast growing stems (they can slowly be replaced later).
Cheers!

Hello! Thank you for reaching out, I've done research and the Ammonia release from tropica soil is minimal so daily water changes aren't necessary, im going to be doing 50-60% wcs every 2-3days though. The drop checker was blue because I hadn't turned on co2, everything is now set up. The light is on 60:40:60 right now which also seems to be a good starting point. Photo period is 6 hours at 100% + 1h sunrise and sunset.

 

[JellieTG]

Hi JellieTG,
I cannot see your maintenance regime so just to ensure you are on the right track:
Tropica Soil = Daily water changes for the first week, every 2 days second week, 3 days third etc...
Light = Keep low to begin with perhaps 40/50% (I'm unfamiliar with the Chihiros) for a 6 hour photoperiod and slowly ramp up after plants begin to transition to immersed growth.
CO2 = Drop Checker wants to be light green during lights on, yours appears to be blue (a PH profile is far more accurate).
Try and get some more plants in there as soon as possible, maybe just cheap fast growing stems (they can slowly be replaced later).
Cheers!

Plant wise, I think I've got enough, one pot of palustris is going to be added (it was out of stock)

 

[JellieTG]

One week in! No algae!

 

[JellieTG]

Everything looking hot 🔥

 

[JellieTG]

Possible clear mutation in Pogostemon helferi.

 

[Wookii]

Hello! Thank you for reaching out, I've done research and the Ammonia release from tropica soil is minimal so daily water changes aren't necessary, im going to be doing 50-60% wcs every 2-3days though. The drop checker was blue because I hadn't turned on co2, everything is now set up. The light is on 60:40:60 right now which also seems to be a good starting point. Photo period is 6 hours at 100% + 1h sunrise and sunset.

That’s incorrect, Tropica soils puts out lots of ammonia in the first week, if you don’t flush it out with daily 80%+ water changes it may cause you issues with melting.

 

[JellieTG]

That’s incorrect, Tropica soils puts out lots of ammonia in the first week, if you don’t flush it out with daily 80%+ water changes it may cause you issues with melting.

Are you sure we're talking about the same soil? I've tested daily and it never spiked more than 0.25ppm.

 

[Wookii]

Are you sure we're talking about the same soil? I've tested daily and it never spiked more than 0.25ppm.

Absolutely sure if it’s a Tropica soil, they only make two type and they only differ in grain size. It could be your test kit misreading.

This is what I got for about a week the last time I did a fresh startup with Tropica soil:

 

[JellieTG]

Absolutely sure if it’s a Tropica soil, they only make two type and they only differ in grain size. It could be your test kit misreading.

This is what I got for about a week the last time I did a fresh startup with Tropica soil:

I have no idea what you're taking about.