Vinz's 1000mm planted tank

[vinz]

Set up about 4 weeks ago

Size: 1000mm x 450mm x 450mm
Volume: 180 litres, 48 US gallons
Lighting: 2 x 30W Bioplast AquaBiosun 3ft FL
WPG: 1.25
Plants:
- Cardamine lyrata
- Cyperus helferi
- Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green'
- Echinodorus tenellus
- Nymphaea zenkeri
Fishes:
- Puntius denisonii (Red lined torpedo, Denison's flying fox)
- Rasbora espei (Lambchop rasbora)
- Pangio kuhlii (Khuli loach)
- Otocinculus affinis
- Anostomus ternetzi (Cigar fish)
- Nannostomus eques (Rocket pencilfish)
Substrate: Lapis sand, JBL Aquabasis
Fert: KNO3, KH2PO4, Seachem Equilibrium, Easylife Profito

Please excuse the orange rock... that's holding down the wood. Also excuse the specks of algae on the glass... didn't have much time to take the pics and didn't want to stir up the detritus by clean the glass.

Comments welcomed!

[juggler]

Have heard from you in a while...

The positioning of the driftwood looks nice! Foreground is good. But regarding the lotus at the background - will it grow to the surface if not trimmed regularly?

Is the Cardamine lyrata a plant loving lower temperature? How's is it doing?

[vinz]

Yeah, been busy.

So far the Nymphaea leaves are not racing for the surface. Instead there are lots of leaves. Considering there isn't a lot of light on this tank, it's pretty surprising. Anyway, I don't mind pruning Nymphaea... it's easy and I don't have to worry about chopped off tops like stem plants.

C. lyrata is doing quite well in this tank. There are no fans and the temp is hovering around 30. I'm not sure what will happen in the hot season. Hopefully it won't be too bad as there are only two 30W FLs on it.

[vinz]

Yampeck,

I split your question to a new thread here.

[Fei Miao]

I like the Nymphaea zenkeris in the back I would problably let a few of the leaves of those in the centre to reach the surface, that would be interesting.

[vinz]

Yeah, I'm wondering how I should shape the Nymphaea to complement the wood. I'll be observing their growth to see when they give the best effect.

The groups of Cyperus helferi behind the wood are suppose to be much larger, but about 60% died off.

[juggler]

Sometimes I find Nymphaea difficult to aquascap near driftwood as they are of similar colour. Same for other brownish red plants like Red Barclaya.

[|squee|]

I find the Cardamine lyrata good to emphasise the flowing lines of the driftwood. Nice tank there, seems like you guys like mound setups for big tanks

The Cyperus will grow back, they need a long acclimatisation period. Mine all rotted away and now they're growing everywhere except the place where I want them to grow to.

[vinz]

Ehhh... you sure you have Cyperus helferi? As far as I know, they don't spread much. Usually, the plantlets grow right next to the main plant.