New to planted tank. Start 1ft tank.

[Neondagger]

I starting a 1ft planted tank.
Method using = DSM.
equipment:
eheim 2042(hangon filter)
co2 2litre tank.
1ft FLHO 2ballast lighting..
Ada NEW soil.current tank is like 5.7ph
Coral chips to buffer ph to at least 6.5ph(as I keeping guppys)
1 driftwood tie with mini pelia.
Iceprobe chiller attach to the filter.

Livestock and plants.
HC
Minipelia (tied on driftwood)
red guppy

First Month. DSM
use ADA soil and plant HC into the soil.
I will fill the soil with water.
every week I will be fill the evaporated water with (aged water mixed with alittle florish and florish excel.
I will use plastic to cover the tank so that the evaporation will be slow.

second month. (hopefully the HC will fill the whole group)
Fill the tank with water.
on the eheim 2042 filter with iceprobe attached to it.
put the driftwood tied with minipelia into the water.
on the co2 at 0.5bps.

things I am unsure off.
What water fertiliser should I put and how many hours should I on the light for.

[felix_fx2]

Hi. FLHO? 2ballast?
How much watt, if LED you can state par format.
Good luck.

[Neondagger]

FL T5HO sorry, it got 2 tubes. I will go home and check on the watt.

[felix_fx2]

Blunt advice.
Using a hof will increase water to air contact, not very suggested when enriching co2 as will increase loss/gain of co2.
Again it depends on user judgement, I have seen and used hof in hof filter tanks.

[theludicrous]

Blunt advice.
Using a hof will increase water to air contact, not very suggested when enriching co2 as will increase loss/gain of co2.
Again it depends on user judgement, I have seen and used hof in hof filter tanks.

Is it possible to increase the water level to a point that the waterfall effect is minimized so there's less air contact?

[hardric]

Yes. Just increase the water level to as high as possible so that there is only gentle movement

[Neondagger]

Thks for the advice lucky nano tanks all have a high height compared to width and length.

learning the hard way!!!

[eastside]

Brother,

I have a 40cm nano tank as well, using a 24W FL light which I think is not so strong enough. The new growth leaves on my plants are turning yellow and then brown before melting away. I suspect is the wrong light for the tank as I add Seachem Excel and Lush everyday. I have Fire Red shrimps in my tank and using a GEX M Slim HOF. Can you advise what is the wattage of your T5HO light and where did you buy it?? I need a new light 24W T5HO set for my 40cm tank.

Can any brothers advise me if my hunch is right that there is not enough light for my plants?? The plants in questions in the centre of the foto ( small leaves ) and the right side ( long leaves with stem ). Can I know the name as well??

IMG00773-20110902-1546.jpgIMG00774-20110902-1546.jpg

I have dwarf harigrass at the front, left is hairgrass but tall type.
Thank you brothers for your advise.

[Neondagger]

Here some picture.

My current tank going to decom in 2days once I buy the hc and ada soil.

My first CO2 tank.

Can someone explain to me what those meter means?

My EHEIM 2042. going to add a iceprobe chiller on top.

I going to hang the lighting from the shelf above. But still finding those steelwires that are coiled together and strong.
DIY got sell stainless steel wire but I dun know if it's enough to support the weight of the lighting.

This is the amount of watt for each light tube. Can someone advise me if it's enough? I want to have HC and Minipelia.

[edw7636]

Co2 leftside gauge is for measuring the current pressure in the tank.( normally 1000 psi )
Rightside gauge ( normally 20 to 30 ) is for measuring the pressure going to your solenoid or direct to needle valve section.

[Neondagger]

How about the lighting. Is it enough?

[edw7636]

2 to 3 watt per gallon ?

[Neondagger]

When to C328 to look for HC and ADA soil. Who knows, got no ADA soil and no HC left.


So I bought 4kg GEX soil and use mosura old sea mud as base. many people say it has trace of elements which help plants as well.

My current tank.

I bought too much soil. probably 5-6cm of soil. Wonder if too much will cause problems?

[marimo]

my input is you will have problem planting the HC with that size of soil
dry start may be wiser too, HC needs a lot of patience

lastly I think your socket is too close to the tank !
practice safety by insulating with plastic box or partition, sometime we spill water during top ups and such !

[Neondagger]

U reckon smaller size soil? I have a bag of sand if I put a thin layer above the soil will that be better? I think I must think more days before buying the hc. If not what type of soil would be good to plant hc
learning the hard way!!!

[|squee|]

Imho if you pour the sand in you have to maintain it, otherwise it will look extremely ugly when it mixes up with the Gex.

[Neondagger]

Ya agreed. I might just use another soil. Any soil to recommend for planting hc?

[Neondagger]

I did some browsing. And came across ADA powdertype they say plant grip better on those soil. I wonder which LFS got sell ADA on powder type

[felix_fx2]

You can try pushing abit of the "water plant" gex soil to the back so you get a slightly higher rear.

IMHO, you will face problem during plant rooting period. Since hof have some current downward.

P.s: can take move the plugs away from the tank. It is a hazard

[Neondagger]

Ye will drill it to the wall before I fill it up.

I would try to find ADA powder form. To fill the top layer. My hof I use sponge filter on the output so the flow is very minimum might not reach the bottom. And I only add the hof after the hc grown strong roots. So should be ok

learning the hard way!!!