First planted tank with Co2

[hiisoka]

Hi,

i want to share a picture of my <2feet simple planted setup.




Actual tank dimensions: 550mm(l) x 220mm(d) x 280mm (h)
(custom made 8mm thick acrylic)
Filtration: eheim 2213 (media reused from old setup)
CO2: currently at about 1ppm (estimation, after my bubble counter exploded in my face )
Lighting: 2 x 24W T5
Substrate: ADA amazonia - (ADA Power sand with ADA bacter below)

flora:
1.Glossostigma elantinoides (foreground)
2.Java Fern (background)
3.Anubias nana petite
4.Blyxa Japonica <<< im not too sure, please correct me if im wrong!
5.Taiwan moss on driftwood

fauna:
5 cardinal tetras
2 corydoras habrosus
(remnants from the previous setup)



Some questions i have , hope the experts here can help me.
1. Is my lighting sufficient? i'm especially concern about the glosso growth
(it seems they are growing vertically instead of horizontally )
my previous lighting was a 55W PL
my current lighting is 2 x 24W T5
which one is better for growing the glosso. or do i need to get another light set?

2. Does the Co2 rate need to be higher?
3. Do i need to dose seachem flourish potassium and excel (i have both just in case)


Advice and comments are most welcomed and appreciated!

Thanks!

[sammajor]

No algae crew?

[|squee|]

If your glosso are growing upwards, you definitely need more light.

(If they are) Don't bury the rhziome of your Java fern and Nanas in the substrate.

Since you've quite a potent substrate from ADA and most of your plants are not the hungry rooted kind, you can get by without dosing for now.

Crank the CO2 as high as you dare (how the heck did the thing explode in your face? that's very dangerous) until you see bubbling from the plants and/or the fish start gasping. Then lower it down a notch and set it there.

[tongyang]

Think you should experiment with 55w PL instead. Trim off the vertically grown stems too. Thought you should plant more in background to control the potential problem with algae.

Sent using Tapatalk

[hiisoka]

No algae crew?

gonna get zebra otos soon.
any other suggestions?
thanks!

If your glosso are growing upwards, you definitely need more light.

(If they are) Don't bury the rhziome of your Java fern and Nanas in the substrate.




Since you've quite a potent substrate from ADA and most of your plants are not the hungry rooted kind, you can get by without dosing for now.

Crank the CO2 as high as you dare (how the heck did the thing explode in your face? that's very dangerous) until you see bubbling from the plants and/or the fish start gasping. Then lower it down a notch and set it there.

java ferns are on driftwood, just cover the top with ada amazonia, same for the nanas.
ok, i adjusted the co2 and will observe for awhile.
thanks!

Think you should experiment with 55w PL instead. Trim off the vertically grown stems too. Thought you should plant more in background to control the potential problem with algae.

Sent using Tapatalk

i was using 55W PL in my previous setups, even easy to grow plants like frogbits, nanas , java moss will turn yellowish/brown, even with excel dosage.
the initial lighting used for this setup was the 55W PL, then i saw signs of the glosso growing upwards.
so now, i am using the 2x24W T5 , bought at 328 ,( i ask auntie for 2feet light that is suitable for growing plants )

will do the trimming and replanting in the background too, thanks!

[tongyang]

Light for glosso is about light intensity over wattage, and having high blue and red spectra. I've seen a nice carpet of glosso under T5s from Sam Yick's at Marine Parade. You may want to check out their lights. I got mine from overseas, you may want check out the specs of my tank, which I've posted before.

[Peanut8787]

For 2th tank, i would recommend 55 watt PL light place directly on top of them. Not too behind not too in front

[hiisoka]

latest update on the tank, changed the driftwood, and rearranged some plants.







the glosso are sprouting! and less vertical growth, after i swap the 55W PL to the 2x24W T5 and some light trimming on the ones growing vertically.





closed up shots










bonus picture:
this was how the tank look like on the first day of planting.
it's a complete mess i know

[sammajor]

The layout looks much nicer after the rearrangement. Can consider Yamato shrimp and horn snail etc as algae crew.

[Eilsel89]

The rescaped tank looks neater and nicer

[hiisoka]

Hi all

a pictorial update on my planted tank.

overall view:


some minor adjustments
-removed the unhealthy looking moss on the driftwood and retied, new, healthy looking moss
-added a rock of fissiden on the extreme right of the tank



glosso, closed up view.




glosso, top view. stil lots of gaps to be covered though.


closed up view of the driftwood and moss:




and yes, from the last pic, it's obvious...sad to see algae appearing on the acrylic surface.
i tried ways like
-cranking up the co2 during lighting period
-reducing lighting period to 8hours
and stil cannot find the correct balance. Any experts here can give some advice on
how to rectify this algae issue?

Thanks!

[deric79k]

health glosso.. nice

[tongyang]

Algae on tank wall still fine, just it scrape off and do water change, in your case special care required since you are using acrylic. You should use sponge perhaps? Attention required if you have hair algae appearing on your glosso leaves.
As for uncovered areas, definitely trimming and replanting required to fill them up. Those against the tank wall will get denser and start growing into the 2nd layer. Before the 2nd layer gets rooted, snip it off and replant at the uncovered areas.
I'm curious about what happened to your earlier moss that required a replacement.

[hiisoka]

the earlier moss was already tied to the driftwood upon my purchase.
didnt look too healthy (very pale green)

on a side note, noticed the e.tenellus expanding into glosso territory,
also snipped and replanted those.

just cleaned off a portion of the algae when i was doing water change.
just need a little light scrubbing. i noticed my otos attempting to feed on the algae
on the tank wall too.

will do, the necessary snipping and replanting
thanks for the advice!

[hiisoka]

a little update:



video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVKAu5op_xA

added in:
2 more cardinal tetras
4 black diamond shrimps (can't see them though always hiding somewhere)
just did some trimming before i took the video, hence the messy floating bits of
e.tenellus, hope you guys don't mind. :P

[deric79k]

if u add another few more fish , the tank will looks nicer

[tongyang]

Nicely done already. Can sit back and enjoy the view.

[hiisoka]

added 6 cheap black diamond shrimps and a zebra nerite snail yesterday!

[gid]

Nice! It's interesting to see how glosso grows so differently with and w/o co2.

[Shadow]

time to trim the glosso