my first planted arowana tank

[lance]

Hi guys,

here's my first planted arowana tank.

feel free to criticize on my design of the tank n' suggest ways to improve on it.

[Allen_1971]

Hi Lance,

Nice shot... no wonder you doing photography training...

Just one comment though... I can't zoom in to see your gravel clearly, but from the shot it looks like the granularity of your gravel is pretty big? How big are your gravel stones (roughly). For Planted tanks we typically recommend 1-2mm granularities. Also, I would have thought a finer granulatiry might be good so that food doesn't get trapped in the small cracks.

[lance]

hi... they look big because it is actually a very small tank, only 2-feet.

My arowana is also only 5-inches long.

so by comparison, the gravel looks big :P

[chrissia]

lance,

The fern is a terrestrial plant. won't last long in the tank.

[lance]

pls tell me more about terrestrial plants. i'm quite ignorant of their nature. thanks

do u have any links to articles about them?

[Allen_1971]

I'm not too familiar with terrestrial plant like that fern, but what it means is that the plants typically come from areas which experience flooding, and thus can survive submerged for periods of time. However, they are not aquatic plants and if submerged for too long will die off.

[wks]

Hi lance, be prepared to change to a bigger tank as the arowana grows very fast. Save up some money to get a 5 ft long with 2.5 ft width tank.

[Vican]

A 5" aro will grow 1" minimum per month. It's best to get it into a bigger tank very soon. When I housed my 5.5" aro in a 2' tank temporary, noticed that it kept bumping into the sides and it's barbels were a little bent.

It did recover after switching into a 5' tank though

[FC]

Not bad. However, just wish to "ge liao":
1) Your fish will soon run out space in 3 weeks time when the plants branshes out. Try planting them at the parameters and corners. I am putting this large and expansive fish in priority.
2) You will need fast growers badly when the fish get bigger in 2 months time to combat the waste it produce. Fast grower foreground plants like Sagittarias, fast growers back ground plantslike hydrophila deformis. High light is needed to motivate their growth and keep them dense.
3) If your tank is 2 ft, change the 35% tank water every 5 days. Keep an eye on nitrate & ammonia every week for the next 2 month is essential to understand the waste output from this fish. Change water if it goes too high. After 2 months, you would know the "high" (of the nitrate/ammonia) days patent accurately.
4) Extra large filter is essential. since you have small tank, connect 2 external filter in series and power only the output filter (where the output hose going to the tank is connected). This will increase filtering performance but without increasing water flow rate.

Have fun.

[vinz]

Hehehe... poor lance. He already got a earful from me in this thread. He also explains that this tank is temporary until he gets his 5 foot setup.

[chrissia]

Hahahaha poor lance, sayang sayang.

[szesteve]

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4) Extra large filter is essential. since you have small tank, connect 2 external filter in series and power only the output filter (where the output hose going to the tank is connected). This will increase filtering performance but without increasing water flow rate.

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That is a very very good idea! Never thought of it myself. An alternative to Sump filters.

[budak]

both for the sake of the arowana, and for aesthetics, create SPACE.

The 2 ft tank's temporary, but do keep this in mind when you have your larger tank. My own approach to plant layout is that the challenge is not so much to fill in space, but to CREATE SPACE. Space not meaning emptiness or a void, but a sense of depth, openness and perspective that will make the 4 cornered tank larger than life. Plants are the key point of a planted tank, but filling a tank with as many plants and varieties as it can take is like a picture with a thousand focal points (meaning none at all - chaos). Be selective in carving and framing the tank as a canvas, and resist the temptation to try everything. An arrangement that conjures the feeling of broad strokes (a well-placed wood or planted grove) or lines (a continuous arranement of a single species) gives a tank layout strength (and at the same time flexibility when it comes to filling in the gaps in between). My own preference nowadays is to do away with the midground altogether, using solid yet dynamic elements like mossy/fern-covered wood or rocks to inject a solidity within the fluid plants behind and in front.

[hoppinghippo]

*APPLAUSE*.....

Fwah, Budak so cheem... don't play play!! but yeah its nice to create depth and all, but to be realistic, I really think only if you have a 4-6ft tank can you have the luxury of doing such stuff. a 2ft tank is very very limiting in space, one simple piece of moss covered wood can take up 10% of floor space. but yeah I agree it's nice to treat the tank like a canvas!

[budak]

I wouldn't agree completely daryl. It mainly depends on how much thought and drafting has gone into a layout before the first plant or wood has been placed. At the risk of over-hyping Amano, many of his 2 ft layouts achieve a sense of being larger than they really are, thanks to an asidious choice of plants, groupings, placement and of course, creation of space. Admitedly, for a 2 ft tank, a width of at least 1.5 ft would help a great deal in creating depth.

It's probably a truism, but to create a good planted tank, you have to begin with the end in mind. I doubt very much that the practice of choosing a variety of plants simply becos you like them, want to try try them and see how they develop will result in a layout that shows a sign of "intelligent design". It's fine when you are starting out and experimenting, but I think a winning aquascape would result largely through the ability to pre-plan one's layout, with clear knowledge of the available options and limitations (e.g. the maximum size of different plants, their compatibility, light/fert requirements, etc), as well as the mindset that can work on the "less is more" principle (in both plants and fish). Just look at hatchet's layout - simple (but not simplistic) concept, maximum impact. You don't see it and automatically find gaps that 'need' to be filled. Or Jacian's 2 ft Blyxa tank.

Of course, this is my own intepretation of aquascaping methodology. A dutch tanker would offer a vastly different approach. ditto the Taiwanese school (which seems to be more interested in re-creating "chinese painting style" scenes within tanks.

[FC]

Hi Budak,

"It mainly depends on how much thought and drafting has gone into a layout before the first plant or wood has been placed."

"It's probably a truism, but to create a good planted tank, you have to begin with the end in mind."

Well said! Recently, I begin to understand these things. I wish to contribute something I learnt too.

About 3 months ago, I saw a newly setup 4 footer in Pet Safari. The plants were selectively placed and one can already visualise how it would look when the tank matures. However, to my surprise, the completed tank was nearly bare, only about 15% area planted. I was then told by Joey that it makes life easier for him, I stopped to ask further.
1 month after that, I went there just to see how the tank is doing. Yes, all the plant grew well and the aquascape was fantastic. I realised what he meant. To see the end before one begin. A experienced guy like him knew exactly what each plant need and the rate of each plant grow. He delibrately give spaces to each plant in the beginning, so that when they mature, they remain comfortable.

As a plant hobbist, I consider myself as a serious one. I need targets like the aquascape, degree of plant's health, degree of growth, algae control, etc. After spending a sizeable efforts and time, one would expect some results and not just "going with the flow". My targets are far away but reachable only because of internet where everyone shares their knowhow and reduced tremendously those trials & ERRORS.



Have fun.

[hoppinghippo]

budak, I agree with you about preplanning, really did that this time round when I redid my tank, helped quite a bit, but nonetheless, with only 30cm width, plus adding styrofoam backing, left about 20 plus cm width, really changed my plans a bit. I still think you need lots of space (esp width) to be able to create illusion of depth and space. for my tank, throw in one bunch of plant, takes up like 1/4 of the width oredi.... like that how to create illusion of space when there's actually none? unless I become david copperfield, or ... tom cruise or pamela anderson, in which case no one will bother to look at my tank to care.

[budak]

just briefly, one way i find which helps to create depth in small (2-3 ft tanks) is to dare to leave a gap all the way to the back glass and using only low plants along the perimeter of this gap (forming a kind of virtual path or tunnel that gives a visual perception of something deeper within). Again this is part of the "creation of space" that i was talking about.

[vinz]

HH,

The key word is 'illusion'. Another trick is to place tall plants slightly behind other tall plants. I think sometimes we place plants too orderly, side by side. Dare to place some tall plants closer to the front rather then right at the back.

[FC]

Hi Vinz and Budak,

I am on cruise writing this. It cost 33 cents/minute and when I punched in and started, I realised it is more costly than I think. It takes 6 minutes to reach here (@*# slow). Looks like I am addited to AQ.

Well said, Vinz, looks like I can gather more skill from you too. When my newly re-planted setup matures (in 2months, I think) I will post the picture. Hope you could enlighten me.

Have fun (13 minutes already =$??, just for 1 message).

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