New member from Balearic Islands

[jose_j]

Hi everyone,

my name is Jose from Majorca (Spain). I have had aquariums for many years but only recently (one year ago) I have entered the world of the planted aquariums. I am fascinated with this hobby and I'm joining UKAPS in order to share with you my little experience but mainly to learn from your deep knowledge.

Currently I'm focused in keeping a 300 litres densely planted tank. The aquarium was set up 7 months ago. Fortunately I have never found any algae on it. Even the glasses are exactly like the first day, I have never had to clean them. Hope that good luck will go on, fingers crossed. 2 moths before setting it up I run the filter in my old and first planted tank (80L) and that was enough to get it ready for the 300L aquarium set up.

I really like Dutch style aquariums, but I know that mine is far from them. There are many "rules" in this style and I am not following them. But I like it as it is, so this is the most important thing, as I am not thinking in sending it to any contest, etc. It is a demanding tank in terms of pruning effort, and I am always rescaping it.

Here you have some data and a quick shot of it, hope you like it as well. It is very pleasant and relaxing to sit down in front of it and enjoy the view:



Volume: 300L
Length: 120 cm
Height: 60 cm
Deep: 40 cm

Light: 6 x 50W fluorescent T5s Philips 865 110cm
Photo-period: 4 tubes from 13:00 pm to 22:00 pm + 2 tubes from 17:00 pm to 20:00 pm

CO2: pressurized bottle + inline atomizer working only when lights are on

Filter: Canister. ICA TurboJet TJ3378 14W 1020 litres/hour pump.
Filtering media: filter wool, ceramic rings and sponges.

Heater: 300W heater set to 24ºC

Substrate: Oliver Knott Nature Soil black colour normal size (4.5 mm)

Water: 50% tap water + 50% RO water

Fertilizers:KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, Fe-EDTA, Fertiberia Microplús.

Parameters:
NO3: 10 ppm
PO4: 1 ppm
Fe: 0.5 ppm
TDS: 310
KH: 6

Plant species:
Alternanthera sessilis
Anubias barteri nana
Anubias barteri var "petite"
Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
Fissidens fontanus
Hedyotis salzmannii
Hydrocotyle sp. japan
Hydrocotyle vulgaris
Hygrophila difformis
Hygrophila polysperma
Hygrophila guianensis
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Limnophila aromatica
Lindernia rotundifolia
Lobelia cardinalis
Ludwigia glandulosa
Ludwigia repens red
Microsorum pteropus mini
Microsorum pteropus narrow
Nymphaea lotus red
Nymphoides sp. taiwan
Proserpinaca palustris
Riccia fluitans
Sagittaria subulata
Taxiphyllum barbieri
Vesicularia ferriei
Vesicularia montagnei

Please, excuse my (bad) English.
Cheers,

Jose

 

[Gary Nelson]

Hey Jose, welcome to the forum and a great tank you have... Your plants look great and very healthy 🙂

 

[kirk]

Never had to clean the glass no algae ? Come on then share the secret🙂

 

[jose_j]

Never had to clean the glass no algae ? Come on then share the secret🙂

Hi kirk, there is no secret. I followed some comments and suggestions from local aquascapers friends and they worked.

They include:

-starting the set up with a previously matured filter
-introducing a heavy plant biomass from the beginning
-weekly water changes with > 60% of the total aquarium volume
-photo-period no longer than 9h
-dense shrimp population
-stable CO2 injection
-constantly adjusting NO3, PO4 and Fe levels to 10, 1, and 0,1ppm, respectively

and I think these are all the secrets 🙂

 

[parotet]

Welcome Jose... benvingut!
Nice tank, looking forward to seeing how it evolves.
Cheers,
Jordi (Valencia)

 

[parotet]

Hi again Jose! don't you have problems with accumulated organic matter and debris between the moss wall and the rear glass wall? In my tanks I try to clean very carefully in every WC the walls, dead leaves, pieces of moss on the substrate, every single 'dirt' on plants leaves, etc. ... Of course, to prevent algae.

 

[jose_j]

Hi Jordi,

between the moss wall and the rear glass there is no organic matter. They have a narrow separation of about 5mm that is a great refugia for shrimps, snails and fish juveniles. Any dead leaf that could enter there would be quickly processed by the shrimps and snails. It is also a place with no light at all, as the moss wall is very thick, so algae would not be very happy there anyway. Don't worry about algae issues if you are planning to made a wall like this.

Regarding algae, from my little experience I can tell you that keeping the tank densely planted, monitoring and adjusting CO2, NO3, PO4 and Fe levels, and doing frequent water changes, will out-compete algae. Or at least it will be difficult for them to get established in our set ups.

Pleased to met you Jordi (encantat)

Jose