The start of something beautiful (I Hope!)

My first attempt at a high light planted tank 2007


Jewel Rio 240
Filtration: Eheim 2126 thermo filter
Eco-complete Substrate
Tek-light 216Watts HOT5 4 54watt bulbs 2 on 10 hours and all 4 on 4 hours
DIY Pressurised Co2 fire extingusher and rhinox 5000 diffuser
PPS-Pro fertilisation

Fauna:
1 Male Bristlenose Plec
4 Ottos
5 Yellow tail Congo Tetra
6 Harlequin Raspora
Pair of Bolivian Rams
Amano Shrimp

Flora:
Hygrophilia Polysperma
Hygrophilia Difformis
CEROPTERIS THALICTROIDES
CEROPTERIS CORNUTA
CRYPTOCORYNE X-WILLISSII
LUDWIGIA NATANS
MICROSORIUM PTEROPUS
VESICULARIS DUBYANA

Looks great, I'm going to be interested to see how this tank progresses. Make sure to keep us updated with events whether they are good or bad.

Before you planted, did you decided on the plant species or did you just get what was available in the shop?

nice looking tank there ted. im wondering if i need co2 to keep mine growing mind you my tank isnt as heavly planted. when i redo the tank background i'll need to invest in some sort of fert. to get them going again(im using coral sand as a substrata)
n e way nice setup you have there

tanks_alot wrote:

Looks great, I'm going to be interested to see how this tank progresses. Make sure to keep us updated with events whether they are good or bad.

Before you planted, did you decided on the plant species or did you just get what was available in the shop?

Thankx for the encouragement. The picture I attached is kinda old as in two weeks old. I've done a little rearranging of the aquascape. I will show them sortly. The tank has been running for the last month. It's starting to come together. I had alot of brown algae at the start but that is subsiding now:)

Most of the plants came from my old 30 gallon tank (Thats for sale by the way). Most were bought at the lfs. Some from Greenline Aquatics in the UK. Most of the plants I get from the lfs.

Nice tank and a good post mate.Be sure to keep this thread updated regularly,interested to see the progress.

Dave

Looks very nice indeed. Those red leaved plants need plenty of light alright.

A huge shoal of cardinals would be perfect for it.

Well I've done a bit of aquascaping and this is it so far:

Hi Father Ted,
your first post/photo I did not comment because any one can \"drop in\" plants and take photos, the first photos was quite obviously a newly set up tank, this latest photo is 80% the original plants that have grown in your tank and yes it is quite beautiful, well done!, the only thing is you need to change your aviator, just copy photo to my document the change it;).
Best regards
Fr. Jack

Ted the tank is looking great and the plants look like they are leaping out of the ground. How do you find the Eco-complete as a substrate in comparison to others if you have used them in the past. Can I ask you how much you used (volume/weight) in your tank, where did you buy it and how much did it cost?

tanks_alot wrote:

Ted the tank is looking great and the plants look like they are leaping out of the ground. How do you find the Eco-complete as a substrate in comparison to others if you have used them in the past. Can I ask you how much you used (volume/weight) in your tank, where did you buy it and how much did it cost?

Well I went with Eco-complete because: It's Black and you add it straight to the tank (no washing). The plants like the substrate:woohoo: . I haven't used any other planted substrate other than river gravel and laterite. I used 45kgs of Eco-Complete and 20kgs of Hagen Natural Beach Gravel (3-5mm) - Black. I bought the eco-complete at---> www.aquaessentials.co.uk/ It's not cheap, it cost 23.99Sterling for a 9kg bag. This tank took me a year to buy every thing.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. It always good to hear of peoples opinions of the products that they have used.

Top tank, and the design is lovely.

Im just converting my Juwel 180 to use an Eheim 2126 (which I ended up getting from eBay for free - and tis the thermal marine version!! ) so was very interested to see how you have mounted the spray bar in the tank.

I have loads of vallis at the back of mine, and ideally I want to put the spray bar at the front so it blows towards the back (so keepiong the vallis from blowing all over the tank)

...but you seem to have yours at the side, yet from the second pic there are plants right in front of the spray bar but they dont seem to be being pushed by the water coming out of it. How come? Do you just have a very low flow rate set?

Keep up the good work!

Cardnim wrote:

Top tank, and the design is lovely.

Im just converting my Juwel 180 to use an Eheim 2126 (which I ended up getting from eBay for free - and tis the thermal marine version!! ) so was very interested to see how you have mounted the spray bar in the tank.

I have loads of vallis at the back of mine, and ideally I want to put the spray bar at the front so it blows towards the back (so keepiong the vallis from blowing all over the tank)

...but you seem to have yours at the side, yet from the second pic there are plants right in front of the spray bar but they dont seem to be being pushed by the water coming out of it. How come? Do you just have a very low flow rate set? Keep up the good work!

Thanx again for the words of encouragement. Well as you say I have the spraybar to the side but its pushed right to the front glass and so its not blowing water over the background plants. I have the spraybar the other side of the tank because the flow was being blocked by the huge chunk of bogwood on the right hand side. There is a fair amount of flow alright and the filter is full blast. The foreground has changed with more glosso and Dwarf hair grass. The flow really blasts the glosso. I'm happy with this for algae reasons. Top quality Filter--> Eheim 2126. More pictures soon.

Ahhh I understand now mate. Thanks for the reply

As for the filter being on full blast - thats quite a powerful current in your tank then!
You mentioned that this helps keep algae down? How so?

Cardnim wrote:

Ahhh I understand now mate. Thanks for the reply

As for the filter being on full blast - thats quite a powerful current in your tank then!
You mentioned that this helps keep algae down? How so?

Good circulation helps to transfer nutrients (CO2 and Ferts)around the tank to grow healthy plants. Algae grows best in areas of poor circulation especially Black Beard Algae and Blue Green Algae (Cyanobacteria). Good Circulation is essential in a planted tank.

Im currently fighting a small upstart of black brush algae, and its ONLY around the filter outlets.

The update as promised. As I have said the foreground is more pronounced with Glosso and Dwarf Hairgrass. It's coming along quite nicely. I had a small problem with BGA but it's going thank god.

Hi Ted,

This tank is looking very very nice ! Wow ... Well done

Valerie

Valerie wrote:

Hi Ted,

This tank is looking very very nice ! Wow ... Well done

Valerie

Thanx Val:)

what a beaut ! that is a great reward for your work - very inspiring thread too.

It's been a while . Had my problems but I'm getting there.



No major changes just went to EI Fertilisation. Just wasn't getting good growth with PPS-pro. More later

Any update Ted?
Where do you buy the stuff for EI Fertilisation?

LB

LimerickBandit wrote:

Any update Ted?
Where do you buy the stuff for EI Fertilisation?

LB

No real updates. Nothing has really changed:blush: . I hate changing things. I'm planning to introduce more wood branches. The next time I'm walking the local forest I'll collect some dead wood.

I get fertilisers from many places:
Woodies DIY: Potassium, Phosphate and iron
Nitrate and Trace mix from Aquaessentials
Magnesium from Boots or any local Pharmacy.

ted30 wrote:

No real updates. Nothing has really changed:blush: . I hate changing things. I'm planning to introduce more wood branches. The next time I'm walking the local forest I'll collect some dead wood.

I get fertilisers from many places:
Woodies DIY: Potassium, Phosphate and iron
Nitrate and Trace mix from Aquaessentials
Magnesium from Boots or any local Pharmacy.[/quote][/quote]

I would like to get some branches for my tank as well but I would be worried that I would pick the wrong ones.

So how do you work out the fertilizers?
Do you make up a mix of them and dose every day or do you dose as you see fit?

LB

LimerickBandit wrote:

I would like to get some branches for my tank as well but I would be worried that I would pick the wrong ones.

So how do you work out the fertilizers?
Do you make up a mix of them and dose every day or do you dose as you see fit?

LB

Well as long as the wood is not rotting and is well dead with no bark, it should be OK. It has to be hardwood e.g. Oak, Beech etc, etc. I boil the wood for a few hours also to kill small organisms and to release a lot of the tannin. It's better that then paying 20-30 Euro for a large piece of oak bog wood from the LFS.

I dose NPK 3 times a week, Magnesium 2 times a week and Trace 3 times a week. Like this:
Saturday: 50% Water change, Dose NPK, Dose Magnesium
Sunday: Dose trace mix
Monday: Dose NPK
Tuesday: Dose Trace mix
Wednesday: Dose NPK and Magnesium
Thursday: Dose Trace Mix
Friday: Rest Day

Everything you'll need to know about EI Method: EI Method
Everything About the PPS-Pro Method: Newbie Guide to PPS-Pro

Well it's been a while and I've made a few changes. I was doing full EI fertilizing but with life and work commitments I just couldn't keep up with the growth rates and maintenance of the tank, So I'm going with a leaner version of EI. I'm lowering the light intensity and co2. So far so good.



A few changes: Some floating Indian Fern over the middle surface. The roots have attached to the submerged bog root and it looks lovely. Moved the Bacopa Carolina from the far right to the middle right. Planted the Rotala rotundifolia far right. Got rid of the Hygrophilia polysperma on the left side and replaced it with Heteranthera zosterifolia. Replaced the Dwarf Hairgrass with Staurogyne sp. Added some Cryptocoryne Wendtii "tropica" to the middle portion of the fore and mid ground. other than that not much has changed:)

Very nice Ted.
What i the growth like with the Staurogyne sp. Is it in the tank long?

That looks great ted
Is that a wave maker in the corner?

LB

platty252 wrote:

Very nice Ted.
What i the growth like with the Staurogyne sp. Is it in the tank long?

platty252: The growth from the Staurogyne sp., kinda like crypts. it's slow and steady. I bought it online just before Christmas and it was nearly dead. I got two pots and it wasn't nearly enough. Buts its starting to fill the right front corner.
LimerickBandit wrote:

That looks great ted
Is that a wave maker in the corner?

LB

LimerickBandit: No, it a Hydor Korelia 2 water pump. Just to circulate the water and nutrients better in the tank. A great water pump for a planted aquarium.

7 months since last update. Hope ye enjoy