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Restarting after 10 year hiatus

Y

YCChen

New Member
Joined
30 Apr 2014
Messages
14
Location
Hitchin, UK
Hello! I am dipping my toes back into aquatics now I have the space (and money...) to do so, after around a decade of being out of the hobby. I've been reading a lot on this forum for research, but to be honest I'm a little overwhelmed by all the info, especially as so much has changed (for the better!) over the years. I would be very grateful for recommendations and tips please.

My plan is to start with a Neocaridina tank with an old 30L nano cube with an acrylic lid I've optimistically had in storage all this time. I'd like to do a grass carpet (never tried this before) and perhaps a larger wood focal point. What do I need?!

On my list so far:
  • HOB filter - looking at the Superfish 50, but what media?
  • Water testing kit - I used to have the API Freshwater Master test kit but do I need more than that?
  • Substrate - some articles I've read suggest layering with a base of clay substrate, then soil on top?
  • Lighting - I think I still have the old light I had with my tank when it was used for a betta, but would be open to suggestions for good options for good grass growth
  • Heater - do I need one? If so, would 25w be enough? I'm keen not to lose too much real estate so wouldn't want anything too big
  • Carpet plant - ideally I'd like a low effort plant (so no need to have regular trims to look nice) but do I need CO2 to make it work? What species would suit a 30L?
Thank you 🙂 Also apologies in advance if I've not posted this in the right forum!
 
Just noticed this did not get any replies.

I can give some advice on a few:
1. Just use sponge in your HOB filter. It works and is easy to clean.
2. You probably don’t need the water test kit if you’re willing to have floating plants and some patience. Frogbit is ideal. If they grow well, you’re good. If they struggle you probably need to fertilise more. Just wait a few months before adding livestock and you will be all good.
3. Any substrate will be fine. Dosing fertiliser will take care of nutrients and the carpet will hide it so looks won’t matter.
4. Lighting, can try with what you have. Plants often don’t need a ton of light. If growth is slow then upgrade later.
5. Heater, depends on if / what livestock you want.
6. If you want grass… dwarf hair grass is short or hellanthium tennilum is a longer type. Non grass carpet… Monty Carlo or H Cuba is good.

Maybe read the guide I wrote here:
sway.cloud.microsoft

A Little Guide to Planted Aquariums - For Beginners

Nature Takes Time.
sway.cloud.microsoft sway.cloud.microsoft
 
YCChen said:
good grass growth
Click to expand...
Yes, interesting, like Little I think a response is overdue.

I have grown Eleocharis successfully but really it needs lots of CO2 around 20 ppm in my experience, and its needs do limit what else you can grow since it will not tolerate shading, I think the semi aquatic plants like Eleocharis probably need good CO2 to compensate for permanent submerged growing conditions, spike grasses in nature cope with flooding and then water recession, coping in open spots, on the edges of bodies of water. They also need intense light, I used quite 'punchy' floodlights with a lot of Watts/lumens per litre, approximately 100 watts/8000 lumens of light for 60/80 litres of water, and for consistent health I had to 'pancake' the floodlight on the cover glass, 5000K temperature, but anything between 4000 and 8000K would be fine. As for the substrate I have found, sand over cat litter clay with fertiliser well mixed in, sand over pond soil in mesh bags or not, have all worked well. The bags mean less mess, but the roots do grow into the bags through the mesh, so relocating, reducing plants is still a bit messy. Sand with slow release root tabs works nearly as well, much less mess, but the fertiliser runs out surprisingly quickly with high energy systems, roughly 3 to 4 months when plants are growing well. I gave up on Eleocharis last year after a rescape, my increasing reliance on floating plants meant it was getting too shady in the tank and the 'turf' was thinning. I find as I age, the slower pace of crypts with easy regular (twice weekly) removal of floating plants and hardly any water changes, rather suites me,

Hellanthium tennilum is a good suggestion, slow to start but then a bit invasive, it can grow quite tall, in my tank older plants can hit 10 inches, but most of the time it sticks to around four of five inches. Parva is I find painfully slow, so generally, I'd probably recommend a slightly larger crypt to cover the substrate but leave swimming room above, wendtii now comes in a "compact" form, generally staying at around 5-7 inches, but sometimes it has a mind of its own and decides to grow taller leaves and then it needs a selective trim. I had some, but it seems to have become a little lost in my overgrown jungle.

Good luck, enjoy.
 
Welcome YCChen ,thinking 10 years a lot has changed, demise of Fluorescent lighting, change to LED for one, some surprises huge popularity of low energy and nano aquariums, just sand substrates rather than soil in many cases The Articles on UKAPS will answer a lot of questions and we have some excellent experts who will always help as well as members happy to share their knowledge
 
Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it. I have now cleaned up the old tank and after measuring realise it's actually 35L so I've got a little more space to work with. I've purchased a HOB and a 50w slim heater so far, and am investigating substrates now.

I like the idea of layering to help boost the carpet plant's growth, but I think I will need to do more research into which plant. I'd like to add some more height to the tank with other plants too, just not lots - I remember a lot of overgrowth in the past that I got exasperated with having to prune frequently! I just let it become a jungle in the end, which was fine because it used to house a betta who loved the shade. If I dose CO2 for the carpet but also have other plants like crypts, will the other plants grow like mad? Does liquid CO2 work well or should I avoid like the plague? 10 years ago I never tried more challenging plants so never really needed to understand adding CO2. My 60L then was a Tanganyika biotope for shelldwellers so barely any plants at all!
1000146941.jpg

Today I'm planning to visit an LFS I've not been to before and look for a nice piece of wood and potentially other natural decor.
 
Liquid CO2 is not CO2 but a sterilising agent.
Growing shade loving and high light plants together in a big tank is possible in a small tank...I personally think three key decisions, shade or full light plants, Hard water or soft, then depending on the decisions made, CO2 or not?
 
As you can see, you only need two magic words to get an answer in a few seconds. I cannot repeat these two magical words. Otherwise the ukaps server might explode. 😉😀
 
Connswater said:
Liquid CO2 is not CO2 but a sterilising agent.
Click to expand...
Calling it a sterilising agent (as if it were the same as bleach) is a little unkind. 'Liquid CO2' is totally misnamed, it should be called 'concentrated algaecide' which is what it actually is. It is brilliant to use to spot-treat exposed hardscape for occasional algae removal. The advantage here is that you do not need to remove your hardscape from your setup to treat followed by rinse and replace as you might do if you were using something more straight-up toxic (like bleach or peroxide). Water column dosing is in my opinion not routinely necessary or useful but if I had a short-term algae problem I would use the algaecide in the water column whilst I was addressing the underlying cause (e.g. too much light, waste organics too high). Others may take a different view but I find it is useful to have a small bottle of 'liquid CO2' on hand for these types of purposes.

'Liquid CO2' does not provide any meaningful amount of CO2 to aquatic plants. This seems to be a widely accepted view on UKAPS (and by me personally as well). It in no way is any kind of substitute for actual CO2 gas injection.
 
Andy Pierce said:
Andy Pierce said:
Water column dosing is in my opinion not routinely necessary or useful
Click to expand...

Calling it a sterilising agent (as if it were the same as bleach) is a little unkind
Click to expand...
Yep I wouldn't dream of pouring it into my aquarium no matter how dilute. So we basically agree.

Andy I am not a scientist, and certainly not a chemist, that I concede right away. But honestly I wouldn't think about using it if livestock is present or some species of plants, glutaraldehyde is however, absolutely a sterilising agent. It is a toxic liquid used for disinfecting in medical and agriculture situations. It is known to cause breathing problems and dermatitis in humans. Whatever you do, do not get into your eyes.

I use bleach on aquarium equipment but not, as you say, in situ, to occasionally clean algae of bits of awkwardly shaped aquarium kit, but I do so in my sink, then I soak the bits in fresh water for some time, and then rinse the plastic etc., very well under the tap. Of course tap water is treated with small amounts of Chlorine and we drink it, but we can't use tap water with Chlorine for safely keeping fish since they have to breathe it, they can cope with items of kit rinsed in tap water. As I am sure you know 'bleach' is basically diluted chlorine, and chlorine is 'natural', though labelling a product natural does not make me relax the way some folks do. Glutaraldehyde is an industrially produced chemical and does not occur naturally. You mentioned peroxide in your post, glutaraldehyde is a factory product made through the oxidation of cyclopentene with hydrogen peroxide.

Someone I know personally, wiped out a lovely bed of Vallisneria using this product, trying to eliminate unsightly algae on the leaves. In fact it is toxic to quite a few true aquatic plants. My suggestion if Vallis is looking a bit tired and is growing a beard of algae is to trim it down to the roots, it regrows and just make sure the water column isn't too rich in Nitrate and Phosphate.

I am sure most folks, most of the time, use it as algaecide, though plants and most algae are essentially the same thing, photosynthesising green cells. My real concern is like many here including yourself, the CO2 claim. And folks new to the hobby can cause a lot of problems buying this product by the label, which is simply wrong.
 
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Connswater said:
In fact it is toxic to quite a few true aquatic plants.
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It is not only real aquatic plants that are damaged. It is very likely that such products have long-term effects on all aquatic organisms. Dechlorination is essential. Everything else from bottles is at least questionable. We are not talking about fertiliser.
 
Teleos said:
long-term effects on all aquatic organisms
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I can't disagree. As I said, I wouldn't dream of using it. Apart from fertiliser, food and CO2 I add nothing to my tanks, I don't even use white spot treatments any longer, I find UV works a treat. Thanks for the very sensible additional observation. I add dechlorinator to tap water, when I have to use it, before adding the water to my tank.
 
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