Hi everyone, I'm Roy and I've just joined this forum, rather belatedly really as I have been into planted aquariums for 20 years or so. Nontheless, many of you will be more experienced at aquascaping than myself as I have only ever had one or two aquariums that have tended to gradually evolve over the years rather than regularly setting up new aquascapes from scratch.
Like many people I started with a single 2 footer with undergravel filtration and a single florescent. I was able to grow java fern, crypts, Echinodorus, Hygrophila polysperma etc. but was always dissapointed when other plants faded away. I will never forget turning off my undergravel when I installed a canister filter. Suddenly my amazon swordplant that had been growing quite nicely (I thought) as a centrepiece took over the whole tank!
From then on I avidly read everything I could find about aquarium plants which mostly consisted of old books in libraries and secondhand bookshops. There was lots of information about plant species (that were mostly unobtainable) but usually only very short sections on how to actually set up a planted aquarium. I did find odd snippets about the mythical Dutch aquariums as a result of which I upped my lighting (to two grolux!) and added peat, clay pellets and even rabbit droppings to my substrate. I remember growing great crypts but not much else in this period.
When the english translation of the optimum aquarium was published I toured the aquarium shops in and around London to locate laterite, heating cables and CO2 equipment. My aquarium was now clean and bright and at last stem plants grew in profusion so that my attempts to grow orderly groups and 'streets' of contrasting colours ended in disorderly jungles.
Then along came Mr. Amano and, suddenly, the whole planted thing took off! I think the first pictures I saw of his aquascapes were in TFH magazine and I was straight down to put more order in at Foyles when Nature Aquarium World was published. I even subscribed to the english edition of Aqua Journal and was really dissapointed when they stopped arriving after a few months. Not that I've ever really set up a true 'Nature Aquarium' as such, but moss, ferns and shrimp did begin to feature heavily in my aquariums.
My next big influence were the AGA forum and magazine, as a result of which I started using PMDD and then later adding pottasium nitrate and phosphate as water column fertilisers rather than just the common pottasium sulphate plus (sometimes) iron. I've also dabbled in the Dianna Walstead low tech method, mainly by adopting the more restrained version of the enriched substrate. Incorporating small amounts of garden soil enabled me to grow foreground plants like hairgrass and glosso really well for the first time.
Phew! Sorry, didn't mean to go on like that. Anyway my adventures in the planted aquarium world have been on hold for a couple of years. Since getting divorced and moving into a small flat my few remaining plants and fish have been crammed into a single 80 litre tank. I have now ordered a new 4 ft x 18" x 18 " aquarium and cabinet and I am ready to start afresh. Any advice would be welcome. At the moment I am debating whether I should go for one of the 'new' commercial substrates or stick to a fertilised bottom layer with a top layer of sand and should I re-cycle my old T8's or invest in some T5's (or other lighting system). The aquarium will be focused on housing Rams and some Apisto's (probably aggassizi's) as dwarf cichlids are my other main aquarium interest,
OK I will shut up for now. Look forward to 'meeting' all you other UK planted aquarium fans, Roy.
Like many people I started with a single 2 footer with undergravel filtration and a single florescent. I was able to grow java fern, crypts, Echinodorus, Hygrophila polysperma etc. but was always dissapointed when other plants faded away. I will never forget turning off my undergravel when I installed a canister filter. Suddenly my amazon swordplant that had been growing quite nicely (I thought) as a centrepiece took over the whole tank!
From then on I avidly read everything I could find about aquarium plants which mostly consisted of old books in libraries and secondhand bookshops. There was lots of information about plant species (that were mostly unobtainable) but usually only very short sections on how to actually set up a planted aquarium. I did find odd snippets about the mythical Dutch aquariums as a result of which I upped my lighting (to two grolux!) and added peat, clay pellets and even rabbit droppings to my substrate. I remember growing great crypts but not much else in this period.
When the english translation of the optimum aquarium was published I toured the aquarium shops in and around London to locate laterite, heating cables and CO2 equipment. My aquarium was now clean and bright and at last stem plants grew in profusion so that my attempts to grow orderly groups and 'streets' of contrasting colours ended in disorderly jungles.
Then along came Mr. Amano and, suddenly, the whole planted thing took off! I think the first pictures I saw of his aquascapes were in TFH magazine and I was straight down to put more order in at Foyles when Nature Aquarium World was published. I even subscribed to the english edition of Aqua Journal and was really dissapointed when they stopped arriving after a few months. Not that I've ever really set up a true 'Nature Aquarium' as such, but moss, ferns and shrimp did begin to feature heavily in my aquariums.
My next big influence were the AGA forum and magazine, as a result of which I started using PMDD and then later adding pottasium nitrate and phosphate as water column fertilisers rather than just the common pottasium sulphate plus (sometimes) iron. I've also dabbled in the Dianna Walstead low tech method, mainly by adopting the more restrained version of the enriched substrate. Incorporating small amounts of garden soil enabled me to grow foreground plants like hairgrass and glosso really well for the first time.
Phew! Sorry, didn't mean to go on like that. Anyway my adventures in the planted aquarium world have been on hold for a couple of years. Since getting divorced and moving into a small flat my few remaining plants and fish have been crammed into a single 80 litre tank. I have now ordered a new 4 ft x 18" x 18 " aquarium and cabinet and I am ready to start afresh. Any advice would be welcome. At the moment I am debating whether I should go for one of the 'new' commercial substrates or stick to a fertilised bottom layer with a top layer of sand and should I re-cycle my old T8's or invest in some T5's (or other lighting system). The aquarium will be focused on housing Rams and some Apisto's (probably aggassizi's) as dwarf cichlids are my other main aquarium interest,
OK I will shut up for now. Look forward to 'meeting' all you other UK planted aquarium fans, Roy.
I am so impressed and so jealous of all you guys in here, especially at the works of art (as it is art to me ) that you guys gave created with your fish tanks. They are simply amazing and take your breath away. With this in mind, its made me determined to try and attempt a planted aquarium. I'm VERY, VERY new to the world of Planted Tanks and its terminology, so Im constantly trying to find my feet and understand what a lot of you guys mean and talk about, and its relevance/importance. but I'm defininitley trying.
then 1 year later we had daniel, my beautifull son.
