Vinz's 3ft low tech planted tank

[vinz]

My first tank in years. Did up my girlfriend's parents' 3' tank on request. Please excuse the poor image quality and reflected flash. Photos was taken at a whim.

Day 2




Trying low tech.

Equipment
Eheim 2222
Bioplast 3' Double 30W FL

Plants
Anubias barteri var. nana
Bolbitis heudelotii
Cryptocoryne - 2 types (I grabbed what I could find, so I'm not too sure what they are and it's been years since I last planted.)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala (Brazilian Pennywort)
Java moss (Scientific name unconfirmed... Timebomb, you reading this? Any updates?)
Nymphaea zenkeri (Red Tiger Lotus - but it's actually a water lily)

Substrate
J Arthur Bower's Aquatic Compost (Basically pond soil, available at Goodwood Florist in Thomson)
Gravel

Fish
4 Zebra Danios (Were recruited to eat mosquito larvae during the wood soaking and plant gathering phase. Now rewarded to retire as show fish in this planted retirement home.)

[blue33]

Looking good mate!

[Wild Ginger]

Hey Vinz,

Nice to see someone using Bolbitis heudelotii for a change. Absolutely gorgeous plant species to start with.

Regards,
Phillipe.

[vinz]

Phillipe,

I've always loved the plant. Many thanks to a couple of forumers who sold or gave me some. (I shall not divulge names in case they get swamped with requests, but they know who they are.) I do hope they will survive and flourish!!!

Blue33,

Thanks for the encouragement.

[Wild Ginger]

Glad to know that, i love that plant to bits too!! And the thing about them is they grow into this amazing big clump over time, and once they start, they just go on and on!!

I'm sure your girlfriend's tank would be lush in time to come.

Regards,
Phillipe.

[barmby]

Finally. AQ Moderator has a tank. *quip*

[wynx]

Glad to know that, i love that plant to bits too!! And the thing about them is they grow into this amazing big clump over time, and once they start, they just go on and on!!

I'm sure your girlfriend's tank would be lush in time to come.

Regards,
Phillipe.

Sure? I always have problem going this fern. I guess it must be my temperature.

[vinz]

Seems like not many have cracked the secret of Bolbitis heudelotii yet. I'm trying my luck with some knowledge read here and there:

1. Trimming encourages new growth.
2. Good strong water flow through the plant.

If that BH does not work out, I'll replace with Narrow leaf java fern.

[vinz]

Finally. AQ Moderator has a tank. *quip*

Lots of AQ moderators have tanks! What are you talking about? OTOH, that isn't my tank technically.

[barmby]

Roland is now an expert in Bolbitis heudelotii. Check with him. He had his fair share of BBA growing on them previously..

[Wild Ginger]

You're right, it needs to have good circulation around it (especially the roots) to ensure no debris accumulates on the leaves. I have them in cooler waters around 24-26degrees during daytime and under 4x36watts. But the entire surface of the tank is 90% frogbits, so it's shaded in a way. And just to add, CO2 injection does make the younger fronds a brighter green and much bigger than when grown in a non-CO2 environment plus the rate of growth is accelerated.

This is just from my personal observations.

Regards,
Phillipe.

[ranmasatome]

wow.. its been a while vinz!! haha.. nice!

[eddy planer]

Vinz,

Didnt see your girfriend's 3ft planted tank...yesterday.

Check with you, your Nymphaea zenkeri the Tiger Lotus really require a high watts light to stablize it but your 2x 30w FL can really help? .

Anyway I like the setup you did it..really good.

[celticfish]

Its great to see you back in action vinz!

[vinz]

Vinz,

Didnt see your girfriend's 3ft planted tank...yesterday.

Check with you, your Nymphaea zenkeri the Tiger Lotus really require a high watts light to stablize it but your 2x 30w FL can really help? .

Anyway I like the setup you did it..really good.

Of course not. It's at my gf's parents house, halfway across the island.

The tiger lotus... I'm testing it out for this specs. We'll see how it goes. I'm prepared to replace some of the plants if necessary.

wow.. its been a while vinz!! haha.. nice!

Its great to see you back in action vinz!

Been way too long. Now starts the slow trek back. Been trolling some of the old LFSes... nice to see that more plants are available these days.

[eddy planer]

The tiger lotus... I'm testing it out for this specs. We'll see how it goes. I'm prepared to replace some of the plants if necessary

Ok let me know if this tiger lotus work with low watt light.

[Wackytpt]

Good to see you back in scaping action... =p

[vinz]

Update: Day 7

10 Yamato shrimps and 4 Otos went in on day 6. Still swimming and active on day 7, but we could not find 1 oto and 1 shrimp. The otos have cleaned most of the brown algae of the wood and leaves.

The green Eheim inlet has been replaced with a much less obvious black skimmer/inlet. Bolbitis has been trimmed somewhat to get rid of dead/dying leaves. Hopefully, it might stimulate some growth. Dead/dying leaves were also removed from the other plants, but not so extensively.

We started fertilisation on day 3 with Seachem Excel and Profito. On day 5, we added some Bioplast NPK. (I forget the names of the Bioplast product.) Plants seem to be doing ok. Water is much clearer since day 6.