70L Planted Fish Tank Makeover

Advice needed please! I have emptied my 70 litre Jewel Record Aquarium and given away all my fish. I want to start from scratch and need some advice about a planted tank:

I would like to use aquatic compost to layer beneath the gravel. Can anyone suggest a suitable product available in Dublin or nearby? Any advice on how to best layer this would be appreciated.

Also, where can I get a very fine almost sandy substrate suitable for freshwater planted aquariums?

Do I need a CO2 system for a 70L planted tank and if so can anyone recommend one or is there a DIY kit I could try?


Thanks!

Dan.

Hi Dan,

There are a few very good Guys here that have years of experience that you can rely on for the RIGHT advice, not just copied from websites or books, those guys have been doing this for years and have long term Hands on knowledge.

You can look up the planted Tank on the Web.

I myself have used many substrates too and to a degree, have had success.

Sand can be purchased from a lfs ie. silica sand, very fine and white, needs little washing but I'd imagine your Fish stock would need to be non Sand swirling types, ie. mid water Fish. Playsand is cheap, relatively easy to wash and heavier than Silica.

In my honest opinion, I don't think Sand lends itself to having any organic material beneath it because of the ease with which it can be moved by currents or Fish and water changes, this is however easier to use if you don't intend adding Fish etc.

You need to get the depth of substrate right or you will end up with dead/anaerobic sulphur dioxide producing spots, not good for Fish.

A substrate like Dennerle, Manado by JBL ( very light ) Horticultural Grit of about 2 millimeters in diameter works well over Aqua soil, Amazon soil or John Innes no 3 Organic compost ( very cheap 5.00 Euro for 100 liters. )

Some People swear by under substrate heating Cables, me being one of them, I think the arguement about convection within the substrate is a valid one and I believe in using them.

Just a few suggestions for starters, I'll hand over to the Experts...
Kev.

Thanks Kev,

I really appreciate the advice. I am hoping to keep it simple with the fish and just get cardinal tetras (about 12 to 15) and maybe a couple of shrimp or banjo catfish to suit a sandy gravel or maybe 2 or 3 african clawed frogs instead. I have kept these before and found them really interesting.

Would anybody know how I should layer the substrate? My understanding so far is this:

From bottom to top:

A thin layer of fine gravel
A layer of filter wool
A layer of aquatic fertiliser (John Innes no 3 Organic compost as recommended)
A layer of filter wool
A thick layer of fine gravel.

Does this sound like a good recipe for healthy plants and fish?

Also, does anyone know the safest adhesive to glue stones together within a tank?

I have attached a photo that I would like to try to replicate if anyone could suggest how or ID the materials used. I think the stone may be slate but I'm not sure about the gravel?

Thanks again,

Dan.

Hi,
This is what I do and you can see, from the accompaning pic, that its cheap but practicle.


Mix enough unwashed small grained gravel with a substrate additive such as JBL's Florapol that will cover your aquarium base to around 25mm (do not use pea size as its too open for plants and not sand as it compacts to tightly around the plant roots) Then cover this first layer with a 35mm of washed small grained gravel. This will provide a good basis for your plants. You can get some really nice coloured gravels from your local pet store these days, I got that nice deep natural sand coloured one from Petsmart. :o Bare in mind that there are other issues that need to be addressed when wanting to grow aquarium plants sucessfully.








You could perhaps use D&D Aquascape epoxy or Milliput for your rock aquascaping adhesive.
Regards
BigC

Petsmart is a big Aquarium superstore in Canada/America. We are limited to supplies as we are with everything else in this Country. Florapol would need to be imported, aquasil is available here but good stuff is always a rarity you always end up importing it.

I think the ref to "You can get some really nice coloured gravels from your local pet store " Isn't a ref to yellows blues and ugly reds.

I think the idea of filter wool as layers would cause trouble if you got your planting wrong or wanted to change things around because you end up with roots penetrating through the different layers.

Kev

Petsmart is a big Aquarium superstore in Canada/America.

And now in Belfast.

I think the ref to "You can get some really nice coloured gravels from your local pet store " Isn't a ref to yellows blues and ugly reds.

Most definitely not.
If your willing to go to some expense then why not try various natural substrates such as ADA Aqua soils or Oliver Knott substrates
Regards
C

Lovely looking planted tank puddlefish , I use the jbl manado substrate and find it pretty good plants grow fairly fast and its easy to clean
Gerry

Sorry for going slightly off topic but Gerry, any pics I have a Lido 120 using Manado,
I'd love to see how yours looks.

By the way Mr Puddle or Mr Fish lol, what size is your Tank? looks really neat.


Kev.

Have Pets At Home started calling themselves Petsmart Colin?

LOL Maybe a bit confusing there Rory
Comes under Petsmart but the webbie suggests P@H. as per Bangor.
Can you shed any light on as to why ?

By the way Mr Puddle or Mr Fish lol, what size is your Tank? looks really neat.

Standard Juwel Rekord 70 with modded lighting.

ATB
C

Ah now, there's the rub, modded lighting, fess up, what have you done?

Kev.

I don't know but I remember reading that a private equity firm bought it for close to a billion pounds a month or 2 ago.

The name Petsmart threw me there, which one are you guys talking about and where?

That's my last question as we are slowly going off original topic.

Kev.

I think first you have to decide what plants are you going to grow. Low maintenance plants(anubias, cryps, valis, some echinodorus) don't need a lot of light and you could survive without CO2. Just by adding easycarbo.
Standard Juwel tanks do not provide enough light and the small ones are comming(corect me if I'm wrong) with T8 tubes. The situation can be improved with reflectors but not a lot. For small tanks <100l you need more light comapred to bigger ones.
So if you decide to go high end, get your equipment first.

As for substrate there are many options that people already listed.
you can get JBL stuff(Proflora, Aquasoil and Manado) in Seahorse.
I've used aquasoil as undegravel substrate and find it pretty good.
For top layer I've used Akadama, Cat liter(lamost the same as Manado) and Seachem Fluorite. I find all of them pretty good. I f you thinking of something looking like sand take a look at Seachem range. You'll need to import it from Germany. Also there's Tropica, Oliver Knot and ADA stuff but I cannot comment on them as never used them as find them too expensive. Especially knowing that Takashi Amano used Akadama before starting selling his own stuff. I'm sure you'll find a lot info on these substrates on the internet. I think I saw Tropica substate in Fintastic.
I'm not really fan of sand as it is tricky to keep it on the bottom, but I've seen a few nice looking setups.

Also when planting get all the plants and plant it fully in one go.

I've seen Akadama on line advertised in Johnstown Garden Center, I used to use it for Bonsai but where can you get it closer to Dublin?

Kev

stretnik wrote:

I've seen Akadama on line advertised in Johnstown Garden Center, I used to use it for Bonsai but where can you get it closer to Dublin?

Kev

I've got it from Johnstown. This is as close as you'll get, only 15min. drive.

Thanks for the info.

Kev.

Here's A handy Website.

www.plantedtanks.co.uk/index.asp

Kev.

Thanks Kev, BigC, Gerry ans NosIrelan!

Your advice was all very helpfull. I had been away for a couple of week so have only got a chance to set up my tank today, finally!

I used JBL Manado as the substrate over a thin layer of peat moss as a natural fertiliser.

I have added some bogwood and small rocks and a few plants.

Not sure what type of fish to get but I'll leave the tank cycle for a few weeks and see then.

Dan

Photo

Photo2

What are those white things? Are they rock and if so what kind?

I wasn't sure about them at first, it's a white marble with a blue hue, of some sort. I got them in the Aquatic Village in Brittas. They are neutral so won't effect the water...

On account of the dark substrate and bog wood I wanted something to grab ones attention and they really do the trick.

Day 2

I've moved a few things a tad and get some new plants. The water is looking a little cloudy however.There is a lot of bog wood, I don't know if this would contribute to cloudyness. My PH levels are about 7.8.

I'm hoping to introduce a group of about 15 schooling fish and maybe a shrimp or 2. I'm thinking cardinals, rummy nose tetras or Harlequin Rasbora. Also maybe 1 or 2 of another small colourfull species that does well on it's own or in a small group/ Any suggestions?

Maybe also a banjo catfish but I'm not sure if they would be suited to JBL Manado substrate..It has to be preferable to pebbles? Any ideas for alternatives?

Any comments or advice would be great! Thanks again everyone for the comments!

Dan.