Reply With QuoteHere is a link to my experiences which might help?
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=12267
I will be getting a new 4 ft tank for a planted set-up. The tank will be arriving in about a week or two so in the meantime i would like to seek the advice of the experts in this forum for their valuable advice on various matters.
The intended set up is a community tank to house my south americans cacas cichlids (which i currently have) and see them breeding at some point but i do not intend to 'farm' the fishes, just want to enjoy the brooding behavior, so i hope to also keep some community fishes and other peaceful cichlids (such as rams). (my current 3 ft setup has shrimps, so cannot put the cacas in)
Current equipment ordered:
4ft (10mm) glass tank + Wrought iron stand
7 bags of Ocean free Bio gravel
3 pails of Qian Hu fert
4 feet PL light (i think its 2 tubes)
Jebao Cannister filter - Flow rate of abt 1200l/hr
Current equipment that i already have
Co2 cannister (generic brand - 1.5 litres) - currently used for my 3 feet planted tank
1 output non-soleniod regulator - currently used for my 3 feel planted tank
Equipment to get / DIY
A Co2 output splitter ( I am thinking of 3 - 4 output to accomodate future expansion) (Anyone can assist with a price indication?)
A soleniod (can i attach this to my current regulator? or do i have to buy a new one? I am really new at this)
Pipes for a water flow regime. I note that we can customise the out-flow pipes quite abit to assist water circulation around the entire tank. How is this normally done and how should i position the filter pipes to ensure optimal flow thats good for plants and fishes, and to discourage algae?
DIY a Co2 reactor (with a low power - powerhead pump)
DIY or buy a 3-4 Tube high intensity plant light
Substrate and fert issues
I am using the ocean free biogravel and the qian hu fert because they are one of the cheapest. Do you guys see any problems with it?
I note from previous experience that the ocean free gravel is quite light and is easilyblown away from my filter output tubes or when i do water change. Should i get some other gravel (not too expensive kind) to mix it so as to increase the weight of the substrate? Please advise on how to improve the substrate and fert setup.
Plants / Scaping
I hope to try to keep the tank as low maintenance as possible, so i wish to opt for stronger stemmed / leafed plants that wont break off when u touch them, move them or even scrub them. Presently i am considering java ferns and nanas and crypts and swords. But i hope to know more alternatives or additives that i can use, especially for the algae fighting stage. I also hope to set up a couple of moss logs of varying varieties. (java, taiwan, spiky, christmas and bukit timah).
Any recommendations, please advise where i can get these plants and the price. Anyone with nice plantlets to sell? Also, anyone know where i can get nice root-like driftwood?
Fauna
Will start off with a number of feeder bettas from C328 to kill off any mosquito risks - Maybe a couple of SAE and Otos (Although i hope to boost the plants as fast as possible with extreme Co2, so dont want them to die- hence the bettas - surface breathing fishes).
Once the plants and substrate are established, I will move my lone male Cacas and buy a couple of females (2-3), cardinals tetras, rummy noses, various pencil fishes, a couple of different corys, a CIGARFISH (where can i get that?), Largish Yamatos and wood shrimps, a few Rams, Rasboras, and loaches (3-5 clown loaches, some drawf chain loaches - will they destroy my plants?) + lone snail eating puffer
The plan
I plan to use intensive lighting, Fert and heavy Co2 regime at the start to spurt the plant and moss growth for the 1st 2 weeks, at this stage, the water will probably be toxic to fishes other than surface breathing fishes (OD of Co2). After 2 weeks, Will reduce the Co2 and fert and introduce the hardier fishes (What are the hardier fishes?), and then add the remaining fishes every other week.
Please give me your comments and advice on the above-set up and the accompanying questions.
Thanks
Here is a link to my experiences which might help?
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=12267
I think if you are on budget, you can look at Lapis sand and JBL Base fert.Originally Posted by Memnoch
It has served me well and many here are using this combination too. I think Lapis and JBL base fert would be cheaper than Ocean Free base fert and gravel.
There is no need to use the feeder bettas to cycle the tank or prevent mosquito breeding. You can use commercial bacteria (ie. Nutrafin Cycle) to boost the cycling process and as long as the water is not stagnant, mosquito breeding should not be a issue. A bit cruel to use feeders to cycle tank as casualty is inevitable and once the tank is cycled, what hapened to these feeders?
Make a trip down to Teo's farm, you will find should able to get your flora and some driftwood for scaping. As for moss, you can check out the marketplace here. (By the way, what is Bukit Timah moss? Singapore moss?)
Just as add, if you are looking at high lights, you might have to get another set of lights on top of your existing one. Assuming your set is 2x55W PL and your tank is a standard 4x1.5x.1.5, it only work out to be <2wpg. You should be looking at more than 3wpg.
To improve circulation, you might want to get another 1200l/hr cannister filter. For your reference, I place my rainbar at the bottom, across the width of the tank and and another rainbar vertically. Try to do a serach on the placement of the outlets. There are quite a few threads on the topic.
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