Reply With QuoteLook like you are using a pink lighting on top which give a un-nature look of the tank.
Hello Everyone,
As a follow up from my earlier post, I was convinced that gravel was the way to go for my planted tank.
Because of the generosity of shortman who provided me a huge bag of gravel, I was kickstarted into action earlier than I had anticipated. Not only was the gravel free, it was cleaned so well too. When I rinsed it, there water left behind was practically clear!
Kwek Leong (KL) also provided me with a number of plants, including erect moss, an echinodorus and the narrow leaf java fern, which I've not yet put in the tank yet.
Even though KL advised me not to put in the rainbar (CO2 escapes more easily, I'm guessing) I could not resist the rain effect it has on the tank. Also, I've not yet made a DIY CO2 system yet.
In the the previous post, Kwek Leong also advised letting the water get cloudy and clear up for a week before putting in the fish. However, two days into the new setup, the water hadn't turned cloudy and was completely clear. Late on the second day, I put in two test fish. They made it through 2 hours without any ill effects. The rest of the guppy were added soon after.
Due to the kindness of the forum members here, this is the tank I've got going now. (It's a pretty big picture.)
Time frame:
31st October - strip down tank and setup tank
2nd November - added first few fish
5th November - All the fish are in with AE, 2 yamoto shrimp, 2 corys.
Thanks very much
joanne
Look like you are using a pink lighting on top which give a un-nature look of the tank.
Haha, Second hand light lying around the house. No choice.Originally Posted by shortman
Look like you are using a pink lighting on top which give a un-nature look of the tank.
I've exchanged the light from my lower tank. To the naked eye, it appears more yellowish/greenish... But on photo, it seems awfully red too.
And also the red in the original photo appeared much more than the original. Maybe it's just my camera saturating the reds too much.
Then again, a good kick from an image editing software can do wonders :-P
Way way too many fish and too many slow growing plants. Add some vallis and some hornwort to rapidly assimilate NH4+. Elodea should work well too. Some Hygrophylia ploysperma 'Morning Star' would certainly look nice too.:-)
A very nice tank. I am very jealous... but my guppies are redder.(green with envy but still spiteful)
tt4n
Joanne,
I think the plants will do alright without algae if:
1) you have low light
2) you feed sparingly - 5~6 times a week
The H. deformis is a fast grower and therefore consume lots of nutrients. If you do not have fert under the gravel, you need to pot (with fert in it) it. Otherwise, it will be stunted and turn yellow in about 3 week's time.
Hey Joanne,
Nice tank. For your erect moss, if you could and would like to get more fuller fronds, you should put it closer to the light. BTW what type of echinodorus is that? Its very nice.
Dennis
I think your echinodorus might not do well without any fertilizers. I doubt so you put in any base fert under the gravel? If not, you can buy the fert balls - not those meant for terrestrial plants - and put it in near the echinodorus and the H. difformis.
Zulkifli
It's true, I'm not using any fertilizer. The Echinodorus Rose, within a week of being planted produced a new leaf that doubled in size in three days. Another leaf is on it's way out. I hope it continues this way, even without fertilizers.
Dennis: It is Echinodorus Rose. The young leaves are much redder than the large ones. And in this book I have, the red on the leaves doesn't seem as red as the one in my tank. Kho gave me this plant.
The red little plant on the left from Kwek Leong may be a Nympaea lotus red. I don't know these plants well, and am struggling to identify them from a book.
Generally, I do not use aquarium lighting. This tank is next to a window and before I put in the blue background, I had many problems with algae. I still have spot algae problems. During certain months of the year, the tank will get direct sunlight at an angle. Afternoon sun. I'm hoping those months don't come soon. That'll be the real test. The balcony is facing the west. Currently, 3:30pm, the tank is getting overhead sunlight at an angle. It seems pretty bright to me. What do you think? (hornwort now floating on top)
At night, the light is a 40W bulb that keeps the balcony lit. The tank light only comes on when I want to take pictures or when someone comes over at night to look at the tank. I find if I turn it on too frequently, more spot agae grows.
Because of the high fish population, I tend to feed them two to three times a day. This may be contributing to the spot algae problems.
Tyronegenade: I've thrown in some hornwort which were with my fry. The speed at which it grows will reflect the amount of nitrates in the water, is that right?. Will try and find those plants you mentioned. I would like to make the tank more foresty looking. I have a lot of java fern because my dad's old tanks were low light. So I'm mainly using what I already have.
Thanks
joanne
Hi, Lazy Woman,
Nice tank you have there. Congratulations, Joanne!!
A couple of pointers though - The Echinodorus is an E. oriental and not a E. rose. Kho who gave you the plant said he made a mistake with the name. The red plant I gave you is a Nymphaea 'Red'. If you are using natural light, chances are you will have many algae problems. Unlike artificial lights which can be switched on and off, it's hard to control sunlight.
What's that plastic mesh doing at the back of the tank? I don't think I gave you enough Erect Moss to make a moss wall. If I had known a moss wall was what you wanted, I would have given you enough Java Moss though.
Loh K L
Kwek Leong sorry that I confused you.
I brought 2 plants with me the other day one is E. Ozelot the other one is E. Rose. The E. Ozelot is for Joteo and the E.Rose went to Ronnie.
E. Rose don't have spot on the leave where E. Ozelot have.
Joteo please check it unless I swap the plant.
Now I'm confused.I brought 2 plants with me the other day one is E. Ozelot the other one is E. Rose. The E. Ozelot is for Joteo and the E.Rose went to Ronnie
Kho, if the plantlet is what you collected from Au, who collected it from Lawrence, then that is E. Oriental.
Joanne, with the high fish population and slow growing plants in a new tank, it'll be interesting to see how your setup handles itself. Tempting as it may be, I try to have minimal load until the tank matures.
Foresee lotsa algae-related questions coming from you :wink:
I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
Ronnie Lee
The echinodorus isn't an oriental, that's for sure. But I'm stumped as to whether it's an Ozelot or Rose. I see spots on the Rose in my plant book. But I see that the Ozelot has a lot more spots, so I guess I do have the Ozelot.
Maybe this photo from the tank will help?
http://www.jteo.com/killifish/echinodorus.jpg
timebomb: The plastic mesh is a mix of erect moss, java moss ($6 for a few miserly strands) and java fern. I just use whatever I have. I never had enough java moss to begin with. It's rather sparse, it's more an experiment than anything else. I'm not very positive about it growing really well, because the water could be getting warm next to the window and all. I notice that the java moss, instead of spreading out tends to grow quite thickly. (Does that make sense?) I've tied erect and java moss on the driftwood too. I put the erect moss, slightly lower, so that if it does grow, it will appear as if it is growing out from under the driftwood. Hopefully it works that way. Even if the moss wall doesn't work, the black mesh makes the tank darker.
Ronwill: How long does it take for a tank to mature? I have spot algae every day. I try to be diligent with some frantic scratching on the glass but I'm sure it'll beat me eventually. Spotted some hair algae in the large java fern roots. What kind of plants are quick growing? Besides hornwort?
Since I'm next to the window, maybe I can try some plants that require high light. Any suggestions?
Overall, the echinodorus is doing well. Two leaves have come out. The leaves seem to double in size in a day. If I had a video camera I could do one of those time warp movies. The Nymphaea kept getting unearthed by the cory. I put in some marbles to keep it down. In two days, new leaves have started to appear in both plants.
I've also moved the plants around already. In spite of the move, the plants still produce new leaves. They're amazingly resilient. I put the large leaf Java Fern to the left, in the hope that it'll block out some light as the sun comes in from the west.
I'm into week two of the new tank. Threw in 10 more yamoto shrimps in the hopes of getting to the spot algae. But they seem more interested in gravel re-arrangement.
joanne
Looks like an ozelot to me.
With high light you need CO2 injection, otherwise plant growth is also limited.
Not advisable for those rooted plants. Otherwise the newly developed roots can 't get a grip on the gravel properly.
Sorry to disappoint you but no critters go for spot algae. Best removal agent is the elbow grease and an old ATM card or credit card.
Anyway, your tank is still young - an infant if you want comparison. It takes time for a tank to mature especially if it is a non-CO2 tank and no fertilizers added. You just have to do some work removing those algae, if not shift the tank so that it'll only get ambient light and not direct sunlight. With direct sunlight, high bio-load and no water changes, you'll get loads of algae.
Zulkifli
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