PeterBD
Member
I am about to embark on my first planted tank. I have kept fish in various ways for over 30 years but never with real plants. My current tank is an African Cichlid tank which I am in the process of shutting down. I will also be changing my tank as I can't change the light on my current tank. I don’t want an open top tank so I am going for a Seabray tank. The tank will be a 4' x 1.5' x 2' (about 340 litres) and will have a closed hood. I will be fitting a Fluval Plant 3.0 light, hopefully the 59W version.
Filtration will be by two Fluval 407 external filters
I will have two 300W JBL heaters controlled by an Inkbird temperature controller.
I am not planning on using CO2 at least to start with.
My inspiration for the intended aquascape is from the Takashi Amano tank forests underwater, in the sense that I like the idea of separate islands of planted areas separated by a pure clean sand substrate. Something like below. I am certainly no aquascaping expert but I will give it a good go!
The plants I am planning are Anubias and Bucephalandra on the rocks and wood and some java moss on the wood. In the two island areas on the corners I will have a mix of reds and greens with a combination of Rotala Rotundifolia, Rotala H'ra, Rotala Bonsai, Ludwigia Palustrus Super Red, Limnophila Sessiliflora and Tiger Lotus. I have a few other on my list if I have room and fancy more variety or if some of those mentioned don’t do well.
In terms of livestock I initially thought I would like mainly rainbowfish, and I haven't totally discounted that, but at the moment I am thinking of less rainbowfish with the following mix:
5 banded Barb (x12)
Denison Barb (x3)
Rainbow Shiner (x12)
Wapoga Rainbowfish (x6)
Sterbai Corydoras (x 6)
Otocinclus (x5)
Siamese algae eaters (x5)
Cherry shrimp
Snails - ramshorn?
My plan is to go for a dark start method. I want to set up the hardscape and add the aqua soil and sand then run the tank for about a month with no plants or livestock and the lights off. I will then plant the tank and run it for a week before starting to add the livestock.
I think this is going to be slow progress but I will post updates when I can.
I re-homed the fish from my current tank yesterday. Just need to sell the tank then I can order the new tank and start my new setup.
Filtration will be by two Fluval 407 external filters
I will have two 300W JBL heaters controlled by an Inkbird temperature controller.
I am not planning on using CO2 at least to start with.
My inspiration for the intended aquascape is from the Takashi Amano tank forests underwater, in the sense that I like the idea of separate islands of planted areas separated by a pure clean sand substrate. Something like below. I am certainly no aquascaping expert but I will give it a good go!
The plants I am planning are Anubias and Bucephalandra on the rocks and wood and some java moss on the wood. In the two island areas on the corners I will have a mix of reds and greens with a combination of Rotala Rotundifolia, Rotala H'ra, Rotala Bonsai, Ludwigia Palustrus Super Red, Limnophila Sessiliflora and Tiger Lotus. I have a few other on my list if I have room and fancy more variety or if some of those mentioned don’t do well.
In terms of livestock I initially thought I would like mainly rainbowfish, and I haven't totally discounted that, but at the moment I am thinking of less rainbowfish with the following mix:
5 banded Barb (x12)
Denison Barb (x3)
Rainbow Shiner (x12)
Wapoga Rainbowfish (x6)
Sterbai Corydoras (x 6)
Otocinclus (x5)
Siamese algae eaters (x5)
Cherry shrimp
Snails - ramshorn?
My plan is to go for a dark start method. I want to set up the hardscape and add the aqua soil and sand then run the tank for about a month with no plants or livestock and the lights off. I will then plant the tank and run it for a week before starting to add the livestock.
I think this is going to be slow progress but I will post updates when I can.
I re-homed the fish from my current tank yesterday. Just need to sell the tank then I can order the new tank and start my new setup.
