Dear members, this is my first post and im about to embark on making my first 1st planted tank (2 feet). I want to plan what i need to buy before i set up, but need your kind advice.
1) Cannister filter - looking up Taobao, this brand Atman (CF-800 model, SGD 54 online) (http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/deta...id=19880129756). Is this china brand trustworthy? the eheim very expensive leh
- if its a decent brand where can I get in singapore for similar price range as online?
2) Substrate and gravel - looking for recommendations for affordable substrate and gravel brands/type? Im gonna grow the more hardy plants like java fern, anubias, amazon sword etc
3) Is CO2 and chiller really a necessity for the time being? im putting it in my living room which is very spacious away from windows or direct sunlight.
4) Lighting - duno wat to get, LED or flouracent?
5) Solutions to add to my tank - water conditioner...what else? is there something required for the plants?
6) livestock - I plan to get as many different species as possible. Can apple snail, ghost shrimp and a small pleco all live in harmony and under same water condition/climate?
Once again thank you for taking the time to read and reply. Sorry got alot of questions...dont want to screw up and waste money.
most of not all of your questions are answered in the link below...don't worry no advertisements or virusOriginally Posted by nervagent
http://theplantedtankblog.blogspot.s...-yeartank.html
question 6. ghost shrimp will eat plants... not recommended
Check out my Blog on planted tank, good for newbies ( i am lazy to retype all the info i know, so please click and read below link... i hope you don't fall asleep while reading)
Link to my Blog
I am not PERFECT but I am LIMITED EDITION !!!BIG Tank comes with BIG Responsibility...as they makan a lot of $$....lol
amazing stuff, thank u!
one thing to note for your canister filter. It will be expensive to ship that over even if you use sea shipping. Given its size, i estimate at least $30 for shipping because its bulky.. Atman is a reliable chinese brand.
I rather u look thru the second hand market (carousell or forums) for a used canister.
Perhaps i can just give some inputs more specific to your intended setup...
The Atman CF-800 seems like a decent filter brand and model, i've seen people use it before (though not sure about the long-term durability). The pricing on TaoBao doesn't include the shipping costs, so have to factor that in.
It'll be best to buy such filters locally (just shop around the various LFS to compare prices) so that if anything is faulty, at least you can go back to the LFS to exchange or repair.
If the plants you plan to add are those that don't need substrate (ie. tied to rocks or wood, like anubias, java ferns, mosses etc), then you can use just a thin layer of inert gravel or sand as a decorative base. But if you plan to also have rooted plants, then its best to use a good quality aquasoil substrate.
Go for ADA Amazonia aquasoil as it is a tried and tested active soil substrate and contains lots of nutrients to support plant growth. The cost is around S$40 for a 9 liter bag of ADA aquasoil, which will be more than sufficient for a 2ft tank. Considering its quality, the overall cost is actually not much more than other brands (sometimes it even works out to cost less), so you don't usually save much by using other brands.
Co2 injection is not a necessity, but it really helps to boost plant growth. Plants require 3 factors to photosynthesize and grow = Lights, Nutrients and Carbon. If any of the 3 are limited, the plant growth will be restricted by the lowest one. Usually its carbon that is limited, so even if plenty of light and nutrients are supplied, the plants cannot utilize all of it due to lack of carbon.
It is still possible to grow plants without Co2 injection, just that the overall plant growth will tend to be much slower (the difference in growth rate can be many months vs just a few weeks), so you need to be alot more patient. At the same time you will also need to moderate the light and nutrients more carefully as the plants use less of them, otherwise the excess light and nutrients will just feed algae instead.
A chiller is also an optional item, as the majority of aquarium plants can grow in a wide range of temperatures. Average local room temperatures of 28-30°C are fine for most plants we keep (majority are tropical plants anyways). Though if your tank temperatures are hitting unusually high levels like 32-33°C and above, then have to look at whats causing that amount of heat to build up in the tank (ie. shift the tank to a cooler location, switch to equipment that emit less heat etc).
Chillers tend to be mainly used by those who really need to keep their tank temperatures consistently low at the 25-27°C range (or even lower), like for those who are keeping certain species of fishes or shrimps that require constant lower temperatures to thrive and breed.
A chiller will add to the equipment costs and will also increase electricity bills, so have to consider that. Though if you have the budget, by all means go for it. Note that chillers will vent heat into the surrounding area, so you need to ensure good ventilation when using them.
Both have their pros and cons, it will depend on your budget and the type of plants you intend to keep.
Generally, fluorescent T5 lights are usually abit cheaper to buy initially, but they use more electricity, emit more heat and require tubes to be replaced regularly (every 9-12 months, depending on usage), so the running costs are higher. In addition the size of the light casing is also larger, so they do look bulkier on top of tanks.
LED lights are usually abit more expensive to buy initially, but they use less electricity, emit less heat and don't need to be replaced for a much longer period of time (ie. > 4-5years, up to 10+ years), so the running costs are lower. Their casing designs are also much slimmer and low-profile too, so look less obtrusive on top of tanks.
Both can be used to grow aquarium plants, so you'll just have to shop around and compare and see which you prefer.
You'll need a good quality water dechlorinator solution (ie. Seachem Prime) to make the tap water safe for use in the aquarium.
For planted tanks, its a good idea to start dosing fertilizers to support the plant growth from the beginning so that they don't get stunted due to nutrient deficiencies. If you are using ADA Amazonia aquasoil, then you may not need to dose as much fertilizer at the initial grow-out stages (can just dose all-in-one fertilizer mixes, like Seachem Flourish).... but if you are using substrate with less or no nutrient content, then have to dose more fertilizers to support the plant growth.
The livestock you mention may create some issues in a planted community tank... apple snails tend to chew up plants, ghost shrimp can be quite aggressive and attack other livestock, and plecos usually don't stay small, as they eventually grow abit too large for a 2ft tank.
Perhaps you can look at other species of aquarium snails that are plant-safe (ie. ramshorns, nerites etc), shrimps which are community friendly (ie. cherry shrimps, crystal shrimps, amano shrimps etc) and algae eating fishes which stay small in size (ie. otocinclus).
Hope that helps!
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 8th Jul 2015 at 21:29.
thank you kind sir, u have no idea how much ur info help. thx for taking time to answer me. am doing further research into ur comments as im typing this. much appreciated!
one more noob question:
assuming i get plants that dont need substrate and just have a nice sand/gravel. Will i still need to do cycling at the initial stage for 3 weeks? does this mean by not having substrate/planted plants, maintenance is reduced?
Yes, either way you still need to go through the cycling process, otherwise the new livestock you add will be subjected to the cycling process and may suffer from toxic spikes in water parameters.
Active soil substrates usually release ammonia so that will feed the cycle... but if using inert substrates, you will need to add in additional ammonia sources to feed and grow the beneficial bacteria (just leaving a tank to run empty for a few weeks doesn't count, the beneficial bacteria colonies can't grow without ammonia).
You could use the "fishless" cycle method (ie. add fish food, let it rot to release ammonia) or use the "fish-in" cycle method by adding in a few hardy fishes like guppies to generate ammonia to cycle the tank (not recommended nowadays due to humane reasons, but many still practice it).
Forgot to mention, you should also get a set of test kits (ie. API freshwater master test kit) to measure the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, otherwise you'll never know if the tank is cycled or not. A tank can be considered cycled when ammonia and nitrite levels are consistently zero, and only nitrate shows readings.
It does tend to be abit easier to maintain a tank with non-rooted plants as you can shift the plants around easily without messing up the substrate, and it makes cleaning the tank easier too.
Thx for the update.
I just bought my stuff from C328! so excited.
Got 2ft tank/cannister filter/substrate/gravel/seachem CO2+ conditioner/LED light
I bought H.E.L.P advanced soil substrate, instructions say i dont need to wash it, but do i still have to wash it just incase?
Gonna take it step by step, do i have to cycle water first before adding plants? or I can straight away add plants, cause that is what i see in videos of pple setting up new tanks.
Don't wash the soil substrate, just place it in your tank and slowly fill it with water so that doesn't cloud up.
Btw, any reason why you bought the H.E.L.P soil? You could get ADA Amazonia aquasoil from Polyart which is just a few units away.
As for the plants, add them during setup too... they will use the ammonia and nutrients from the soil to grow and also help in the cycling process.
Do wash and inspect the plants closely though, best if can treat with anti-snail and anti-algae treatments beforehand too... otherwise high chance there will be all sorts of critters and snails hitchhiking into your tank.
Haha i duno why i bought it. I see i buy, sorry.
now i overlooked another thing...wat bio media to get for my canister? Is it necessary and how much quantity i need?
I see, okay it still can be used... just that for the H.E.L.P soil, from my experience you may need to dose more additional fertilizers earlier as it tends to contain less nutrient content and the pH/kH buffering lifespan tends to be shorter, so that's something to monitor.
Your canister filter should already come with its original stock bio-media (they usually look like ceramic rings or balls), you can use those and it should be sufficient.
If you prefer to replace it with better bio-media, can look at other brands like Seachem Matrix or BioHome, it just depends on your budget.
woah this china brand never come with it, only sponge/coarse sponge. this filter only got 2 baskets, shall get 1 set of biomedia then!
heading down tmr to pasir ris (i stay east side) to shop for plants/stones/wood. Hope they got sell the pre-tied plants to the wood like C328.
once again thanks 'Urban Aquaria' for ur patience to explain
Just roughly measure the filter's media baskets to work out the approx. volume of bio-media to get. Better to buy abit more, can use the spare media in another filter.
remember to share your tank pics! looking forward
image.jpgHello! It is done, now for cycling the tank, is my plants & substrate enough to conduct the cycle? Or do i still need to add guppies/fish food in? So i just wait 2-3weeks? Bought the API test kit too!
The soil should be releasing enough ammonia on its own to kickstart the cycling process... test the parameters every few days to monitor the cycle. In the meantime for the next few weeks, just let the filter run with regular light schedule to grow-out the plants.
YAY NICE! ok so my light schedule 4hrs per day enough? also i assume this 3-4 weeks i should not be doing any water changes yea? How often shud I add the seachem flourish, i just added 1 cap so far! thx thx
Your current plants (i see java ferns and anubias) are the hardy slow growing types and the lighting seems to be relatively low intensity, so 4 hours is okay initially. As the tank cycles, if you find that the water conditions are stable and algae is minimal, can gradually bump the photoperiod up to 5-6 hours to increase their growth rate.
You can follow the Seachem Flourish bottle recommended dosages for a start, then just monitor the plant growth/condition and increase dosage if necessary.
While water changes aren't as necessary during the cycling period, if you find that the ammonia levels are stuck at high levels (or increasing), then doing water changes can help to reduce it so that the beneficial bacteria can handle it more easily.
Hi UA, its me again! I have done my homework on fauna as i have 3-4weeks to wait for the cycling.
upon introducing first timers to a new setup. Is it ok i go for the neon tetra, yamato + red cherry shrimps + kuhli loachers + otto + nerite snails at the same time? Or shud i stagger them like a few days 1 species. Trying reduce the amount of trips i make to the lfs as the good ones are not near my house.
Or maybe u could advise which ones i can intro first
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