My first planted tank - 2ft

[bernie]

Attachment 22047

How long do you think I need to wait for the HC to carpet? Hopefully no more melting.

[jeffteo]

With so much empty space to cover, I guess at lease 1 month. Maybe share more on the equipment you are using like, soil, light, ferl?

[bernie]

Soil: Amazonia 2.
Having & exploring with the following config.:
Light: T5 2x24w, mixing with 2x Acardia Plant Pro and 2x 6700K tubes. Sometimes I turn on 2 tubes only.
C02: Trying out 1.5-4 bps
Ferts: LushGro Aqua & Mircro (experimenting dosage weekly vs daily), Flourish, Nutrafin Plant Gro
Temp: 25C

Now in the fourth week of tank cycling.

[jeffteo]

The photo is from the first week or currently? Should be first week right?

[bernie]

The picture is current. I just tied the fissiden, mosses onto the DW last weekend. Most of the HC melted and I replanted them last week. The HC and Glosso are doing creeping now. I just acquired a chiller recently, setting the temp at 25C as at 24C I encounter condensation.

[hayabusa]

hehe, cute set up bernie!

[jaymes]

What is the duration of the light?
The worst case is that the algae will be rising so fast that ur hc will be covered by it
The requirement for HC, cool, hi light, lots of co2, and fertilizer....

Just a beginner from indonesia that's trying to help

[bernie]

I want to do a Bali rice terrace aquascape one day, so I am trying out with a "step" there.
Duration of light is 8 hours now. Been trying with 3hr on, 3hrs off, 3hrs on. 10hrs on etc. Sometimes I use 2 tubes, sometimes 4 tubes.
Cool temp, hi light, lots of co2, and fertilizer: I all have, the trick is the right balance.

[bernie]

updates after 3 months...

Attachment 23348Attachment 23347

[dialow]

The plants are very green n looking good. Saw that you did with glosso instead. No luck with hc?

[bernie]

No luck with hc in this tank so moved to another tank, got luck there no luck here.

[jeffteo]

So what is the lighting regime that works for your set up best?

[bernie]

4hrs on, 2hrs off, 4hrs on.
Using two lightset,
2x Arcadia for foreground lightset
1x 10k & 1x7.5k for background lightset

[slashy]

pardon my limited knowledge,

#1 may i ask what are the main plants for your ground? i love the grassy texture it gives!!

#2 does that plant need co2 or special lights to grow?

#3 and what type of moss is on the background tied on the mesh?

#4 is that moss growing upwards in the middle flame moss?

really love your tank!

[bernie]

Those creeping ones are Glosso. In the middle there's 2 stone, wrapped on them are Riccia (one matured, one just re-tied). To the left of the stone (like grass) are drawf sagittaria.

I do use CO2. It needs strong lights else it will not creep but just grow taller. I used a chiller for the tank, at 25C. But selling the chiller soon, so don't know which plant will be affected.

[David Moses Heng]

Nice tank. Taking part in aquarama 2011?

[bernie]

Sorry Slashy, did not see your question #3 and #4 as I was using a small screen on iPhone. The moss on mesh are Spiky moss and the middle ones growing upwards are flame moss. The ones on the left of the flame moss, at the peak of the DW are mini Xmas moss.

Thanks Slashy & Altum_lover76 for the compliment. Maybe we have the same taste

Sold off my chiller last night, now using a torpedo silent fan, see how the plants go.

Aquarama 2011 I will be away, aquascaping is for my leisure not competitiion (stress)

[jeffteo]

Sorry Slashy, did not see your question #3 and #4 as I was using a small screen on iPhone. The moss on mesh are Spiky moss and the middle ones growing upwards are flame moss. The ones on the left of the flame moss, at the peak of the DW are mini Xmas moss.

Thanks Slashy & Altum_lover76 for the compliment. Maybe we have the same taste

Sold off my chiller last night, now using a torpedo silent fan, see how the plants go.

Aquarama 2011 I will be away, aquascaping is for my leisure not competitiion (stress)

Torpedo silent fan? Does it blow directly onto the water surface or can be adjusted. I find that blowing across the water surface at a slight angle maybe around 5 - 10 degrees angle cools the tank more than blowing onto the water surface.

[bernie]

Torpedo silent fan blow directly down but the wind sweeps across the water surface, so I find it pretty effective. Most importantly, it's very quiet.

[zonkkie]

bernie - its Tornado fan... not Torpedo.