Newbie Setup 60cm x 45cm x 45cm
Hi
This is my tank setup. Would like to thanks all who contributed to this forum, without you I would not be able to setup my tank so easily and burn my wallet so heavily. Please comment or give your advise if you see anything wrong with it.
Picture of Day 3
Picture of Day 6
Where I put my tank.
Tank : 60 x 45 x 45 cm
Co2: 2L cylinder manual diffusor
Filter: Jebao 918 - 1800L/hr
Filter media: Bottom to Top (Ceramic Rings, Coarse Sponge, Activated Carbon & Sintered Glass Pearls, Fine Sponge x 2)
Substrate: ADA Aquasoil (2 x 9L)
Light: 2 x Dymax 14Wx2
PH: 6.5
KH: 3
Co2: 1bps (24h)
Temp: 27.5 - 29
Plants: Sorry I do not know what are they call, just buy whatever I, my son or wife like.
Questions:
- Notice some spider like insect floating of water surface and 3 to 5 shrimp like creatures in tank. Is it alright to leave them there?
- Added baking soda to achieve the above PH & KH, before that PH is 5 or less and KH 1 or less. When adding the baking soda, accidentally drop a lump of it and it sink to bottom of tank. Then I notice the Aquasoil where the soda landed turn into fine Aquasoil and the big bubbles keep coming out from the area for some time.
- Do not see the plants bubbling is there something wrong or do I have to wait.
Anyone please advise.
Thanks
Ah Soon
Hey there,
Welcome to AQ. Great plant mass in the beginning, and seems like you've set up everything correctly. The hairgrass is planted in clumps too thick, perhaps you might want to seperate them furthur into clumps of 4 to 5 leaves or so and plant. It helps them spread faster.
I'd remove those creatures if I were you. Might be those bugs that tag along in plants.
Your plants aren't bubbling yet, it's ok. CO2 24 hours might not be necessary though.
Your tank placement should be ok.
Hi,
Welcome to AQ!!
Good to see that your planted tank is not too sparse. It's important to start with loads of plants (although some of which you will take out later) as it helps stablise the tank.
As pointed out by valice, you might want to consider spacing out the hairgrass for better growth. On the right hand side, the two straight row seems unatural. You might want to consider placing them in a more 'loose' formation.
Do keep us posted of the tank's development!
Cheers,
I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?
Ah soon, it is seems normal for lizards to congregate near your tank... It seems like it is a common thing! I have a resident lizard under my tank who comes out once in a while to check out for small fishes to snack on...
Good choice of tank size too... Give you lotsa opportunity and space to play with the scape...
To add to the hairgrass observation, try to separate the grass into 3-4 stalks when planting... Is okay to dump excess, since they are pretty cheap and once established, they will swarm your foreground...
PS: Benny, wrong person lar... Is squee not me...
Valice? Should be terence.Originally Posted by benny
Ah Soon, your lights might be a tad on the low side which could probably explain why you don't get much pearling. You might consider changing one of the lights to a higher rating say 36w. Other than that, you need to add nutrients as well.
Sidenote: You seem to have non-aquatic plants in there.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Last edited by PeterGwee; 4th Sep 2006 at 10:22.
Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger
Oops!! Need to get my vision checked. Age catching up.Valice? Should be terence.
Cheers,
I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?
Can I just change the light tube to higher watt or do I need to change the whole lighting system. I am using Dymax OB Lighting (as stated on box) the tube marking is 14W - 12000K and 14W - 6000K.Valice? Should be terence.
Ah Soon, your lights might be a tad on the low side which could probably explain why you don't get much pearling. You might consider changing one of the lights to a higher rating say 36w. Other than that, you need to add nutrients as well.
Sidenote: You seem to have non-aquatic plants in there.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Could you please explain further on the non-aquatic plant. I thought all plants and are planted in water are aquatic plants.
Thank you
Ah Soon
Ah Soon, do you see different colour in the tubes? if so, the more bluish one is the 12000k tube which is not effective for fresh water planted tank. Change it to a 6000k tube.
As regards your set up, I suggest you push back the two bunches on the right, which will grow taller than the rest in no time, to the rear. Let the hair grass spreads throughout the foreground.
Maurice Cheong
A . M o m e n t . o f . T r a n q u i l i t y...
Maurice, thanks will do that.
Ah Soon
Added some bottled bacteria last night and water turns cloudy today. I just understand that in order for the cycling process to start I have to introduce fish or ammonia into the tank, which I haven't, blur. Can anyone advise is adding fish food = to introducing ammonia into the tank?
Thanks
what brand of bottled bact are you using?
use nutrafin or seachem gives good results. aqumedi is also okay
those are the ones that i've tried that seem to work better
some other brands their bottled bact not so good in my opinion - ie ocean free
doesn't work for me
(please advise if im not supposed to slag off any brands here)
and if you are adding bottled bacteria, don't add anything
no fish no food nothing
just per the instructions dose (every day or evry other day etc depending) and let it run till no more cloudy water
then it should be about right to add a small number of fishes
using ocean free super battle bacteria 8000 which comes FOC with the filter media I bought
sorry but do you mean if adding bacteria do not have to add fish or ammonia to kick start the nitrogen cycle? please note i have no fish in the tank from day 1 only plants.
thanks
Soon, cycling process is very important for a "fish only" tank. To cycle the tank means to allow nitrifying bacteria to form up and to convert harmful ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. For a bare tank without plant, fish or ammonia is added to feed the bacteria. Bottled bacteria, if it is of any help, may escalate a bare tank cycling.
On the other hand, for a planted tank, the process is limited to a certain extent. Plants use ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as a source of nitrogen for growth. In other words, whatever ammonia you plan to introduce into the tank in the hope of forming a colony of nitrifying bacteria may not be fruitful.
For a newly start up planted tank, focus on the plants first. Have more plants right from the beginning and observe. Once the plants are striving, add a few fish and observe again. But do not over load your tank with fish.
Maurice Cheong
A . M o m e n t . o f . T r a n q u i l i t y...
I added some BIO-31 Probiotic Bacteria and introduced about 50 cardinals into my 4x2x2 tank few years back when I did a complete overhaul of my tank.
Zero casualty.
PS: That was the time when nobody believed bottled bacteria exist.
Yes adding bottled bact do not have to add any fish or ammonia
jus add in the dosage regularly per instructions and let the tank stay empty for a week or two and the bacteria have time to build up
don't wana overwork them right at the start
and supposed you can add fish immediately if you use bottled bacteria
tho i personally prefer not to
i will give the bottled bact i added some time to establish before i add fishes in gradually
i believe bottled bact works in helping the tank cycle faster etc
but im not gonna treat it like some miracle medicine and add in fauna immed
no harm playing safe - zero casualties for me as well via my gradual stocking method
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks