advice on redo 2 ft plant tank.

[buzzmario]

any advice on redo my 2 ft plant thank. well this tank is using diy co2 plus a dim light ,plant to upgrade to 1 x 32 w pl, remove all plant and plant in new plant.
thank

[David]

hi buzz

if you are planning to redo your tank......it may be a good idea to have a layer of base fert before the substrate.....perhaps you may want to take a look at




Click on Aquascape

[DEA]

actually
the first layer try to go for gravel
then cover it with a lot of base fert
and top it up with enough grave to give it a good covering
this helps plants a lot because their roots don't have as far to grow b4 reaching the base fert

[buzzmario]

well , i only intend to replant those plant and upgrade with 1 x 32 w pl. don't intend to replace the gravel
or base fert. so can i do so with the fish still around?
[:]

[Simon]

unless u wanna do some major rescaping.. but since u not disturbing yr gravel then leave yr fishes in there. b4 u rip yr plants out, siphon the gravel while pulling them out, reduce the cloudiness cause by fine particles. then jus top up water or do a water change after u r done rescaping the tank

[budak]

Agree with David, if you are going to redo the planting in any case, might as well go the whole hog. It shouldn't take more than half a day.

What I did for my 2 foot tank recently was:
- remove every damn living thing and put 'em in a pail;
- remove some of the existing gravel and place
in a bucket;
- let the remaining 1 cm layer of gravel dry a little;
- pour in a packet of JBL base fert;
- put back gravel; do some split-level terracing
using driftwood to get high and low effects;
- place back plants and fish;
- rinse filter in old water before reinstalling;
- ta da!

The base fert does make a difference, esp if you want to grow echinodorus, crypts and have a nice lawn.
s

[budak]

add to that, i tot pl fixtures for 2 ft come in 36W, not 32W. With CO2, 36 W should be adequate for most except the really demanding red stem plants.

[bclee]

I redid my 2 footer. I did not add any base fert. But I have to use root tabs every month. I managed to grow a very thick lawn of E. Tenellus and Elantines sp. with just 2x15W. But I will advice that, if you can, go for the base fert.

I have just pulled up all the E. Tenellus and Elatines to try out Glosso and Hairgrass. I also changed one of the 15W FL to 36W PL. Now I have 15+36W and my red plants starts to redden up.

Just some of my experience for your reference.

BC

[barmby]

wow...you guys(budak, david and etc..)...cool...

I am thinking of re-doing my 2ft too.

--
Colin

[buzzmario]

thank guys,
but after i redo my tank. is still put back the fish? or have to wait for a week or two?[:0]

[NinjaFly]

All,

You pple inspire me to re-do my tank too... Now my hands are itchy and I am still considering whether to re-do my tank or not. But I do not have a strong light. The LFS owner is recommending me to get a PL light and it costs $55 for a 2ft light.

Recently I bought a water plant. I think it's called Mayaca fluviatilis. In the beginning, it was growing well but when it started to grow taller, it does not seems to grow well. The leaves started to turn dark. Here is a picture with the leaves of the plant like below.

[kelstorm]

oh dear.. me bought more plants and terraces and plan to rescape my tank.. hehehe..[]

[DEA]

ninja, sometimes it just isn't fated for that plant to be in your tank
try something else if it doesn't work
i hope you're not thinking about redoing your tank just cos one plant isn't doing well [:]

[Simon]

ninja, perharps u can try shifting else where and try.. i notice that in my 6ft certain plants dun do well at particular areas of the tank.. weird, once u shift them, they start growing

[spilopterus]

Hey buzz, why limit yourself to a single 36W PL light, add in a little more cash and you got yourself a 2 X 36W PL light. Assuming you already have a light hood which can fit the two lights, I upgraded mine with just $50.

1 X 36W e-ballast - $18
2 X 36W e-ballast - $25

Much better to get a 2 X 36W, not enough lighting is more difficult to solve than excess lighting.

By the way, if you haven't redone your tank, you might want to spend a day just washing your gravel. Before draining out the water, stir up the gravel as much as you can. (assuming your gavel has no base fert) The water will turn brown and drain it off.

If you got base fert, then drain the water first then remove the top layer of gravel.

After draining the water, use those BIG baskets and a LARGE cloth, dump the gravel in and with lots of water and muscle, wash the gravel.

[buzzmario]

hi,this is the 2nd tank. it was a plant tank that i redo it . sent my existing light hood to nature for modification, might get another 1x 36ft at the later stage.have send whole of my last sunday redoing this tank. (1/2 day spend at teo place shopping for plant)
use back the gavel (after washing),the under soil remain. well this is the 3rd day and i notice some plant started to bubble.[:]