2ft planted tank setup journal

[myfishid]

Just wanted to share with you on my 2ft planted tank setup. Unfortunately, can only upload a max of 5x images.


Day 1 (21 Nov 09):



Tank:
60mm x 30mm x 38mm

Substrate:
1x Power Sand S 2L
1x ADA Substrate Base Combi 2ft
- Bacter 100
- Clear Super
- Tourmaline BC
1x Aqua Soil Amazonia Type II 9L

Plants:
Midground:
Echinodorus tenellus dwarf sword
Cryptocoryne pygmaea

Background:
Rotala rotundifolia
Eleocharis vivipara

Driftwood:
Taxiphyllum alternans Taiwan Moss
Microsorum sp
Bolbitis heudelotii

Foreground:
Eleocharis parvula Dwarf Hairgrass

Initial Setup:

• Spread ADA substrate base combi, followed by Power Sand
• Then add Aqua soil Amazonia and flatten evenly, creating a slope (4cm in front and 8cm at the back)
• Layout the driftwood. Once finalized, wet the substrate till top of the front substrate
• Plant mid-ground plant (e.g. Cryptcoryne) around the driftwood
• Plant dwarf hairgrass in the foreground with high density (trim off the top part, leaving only approx 1/3 of the plant with the root)
• Add water till background substrate level for background plant planting
• For the background plants, start planting from front to back
• Plant some species of red stemmed plant in the center of the background with high density to create a feel of depth
• Plant Microsorum sp ‘Narrow’ at the joint part of combined driftwood
• Fix Bolbitis to driftwood to balance out the layout. When planting Bolbitis, it is ok to remove the older leaves leaving only the rhizome. New leaf tends to adapt better to the new water condition
• After completion of the planting, fill the aquarium tank with water, taking care not to disrupt the substrate
• Advisable not to turn on the filter immediately. Turn on the filter only when the water is clear enough, e.g. after the 2nd water change on day 2

Water Change:
1st-2nd week, daily, 50% water change
Add 1x dose of Brightly K and ADA Step 2

Lighting: 4x 24W T5HO tube, on for 13 hours
CO2: 2-3 bubble per second


One week after initial setup (27 Nov 09):
- Hairgrass started to branch out



- slimy white substance appearing on bog wood. Did a few research on the forum and many commented this does not harm plant or fish. Otto, SAE and shrimp can be of great help to clear up these stuff
- bog wood floated and has to be sank using weight



2nd Week after initial setup (05 Dec 09)


Plants are growing very well except for java fern & Christmas moss. Guess they are slow growing plant and requires more patient.
Start trimming the Christmas as they appear to be dying out.
Notice algae appearing and decided to tone now the lighting and CO2 (Recommendation from ADA article is to keep a continuous lighting for 5 or 6 hours a day and gradually increase up to 8-10 hours. For CO2, 1st 2-3 weeks – maintain 1-2 bubbles per second every 100l and increase to 3-4 bubbles per second)
Water still appear cloudy and bog wood continue to be invested with the slimy fungus
Lighting: 3x 24W T5HO tube, 12 hours
CO2: 2 bubble per second


1st trimming after initial setup (08 Dec 09)

1st trimming on the 18th day from planting to keep growth of Rotala rotundifolia & Eleocharis vivipara in balance.
No luck with the mosses and fern and decided to took out the bogwood for cleaning as it is still plague by slimy fungus

Put back the bogwood on 10 Dec after treating it with boiled water and submerge in blackwater overnight
Re-tie new Taiwan moss, Microsorum sp & Bolbitis heudelotii. Also got some new mid-ground plant (Thailand chilli plant??)
Existing mid-ground plant seems to be ‘melted’ – probably due to the changing water condition as a result removal/re-introduction of the bogwood


Dec 19 (29th day)

A week past after 1st trimming. Stem plants are developing new shoots. Bolbitis and Microsorum are also growing, albeit very little
Yamanto (x2), Otto (x2) are added as algae are forming.
Tone down on the lighting as brown algae and hair algae are forming:
Lighting: 3x 24W T5HO tube, 10 hours
Also realize that I should not be adding ADA Step2 until after the 4th week of planting. Continue with Brightly K but hold off Step 2 until the algae condition is under control
Added 2x SAE to speed up the algae cleaning


01 Jan 10 (41st day)

Tone down on the lighting again as brown algae persist. Hair algae is gone though
Lighting: 3x 24W T5HO tube, 9 hours (with timer to switch off lighting from 3-4pm)
Continue daily dosage of Brightly K. Started with Step 2 again – half the recommended dosage, 3-times per week.
Added 2x horn snail to speed up the algae cleaning




In general, I am quite satisfied with the whole setup as this is my first attempt using ADA, although much can be improve.

[Blue Whale]

If you have problems with your picture. Try this:
http://www.irfanview.com/

It gives you the option to size it to 800 x 600, you can save as jpeg/jpg or png extension which would be smaller in size.