Farona Garden

[hencpu]

Farona Garden



I'm now 2 weeks into my first ever aquascape, so decided to start a journal for some feedback & advice. Had no prior experience in aquarium at all all my life, so after 2 mths of researching materials of the net & experimenting, I started my noob aquascape.


Tank Specs:
Tank: ANS OptiCube 40x25x28 (7.5g)
Light: Aquazonic 1.5ft 16w x2 (4WPG T5HO)
Filter: Shiruba XB303
CO2: 1bps DIY yeast (2x 1L bottle)
Fertilizer: ADA Brighty K & Step 1
Temperature: 28-30°C
Substrate: ADA Amazonia, ADA PowerSand Special, BW Balance, BW Bacter Crystal
Flora: Hemianthus callitrichoides, Hygrophila Difformis, Rotala Rotundifolia Green, Rotala Macrandra narrow (is this correct?), Rotala Wallichii, Riccia (planned)
Fauna: Not yet decided, but most likely Dwarf Puffer only , otherwise Dwarf Cory, Rasbora, Tetra.


2 weeks earlier...

Setup


BW Bacter Crystal & Balance on top of PowerSand Special.


Hardscape before planting.


Filter placement a bit tricky, since this desktop filter can't be put below the tank, so have to hang it behind the tank on a piece of acrylic.


CO2 is served by yeast


One week after setup

[hencpu]

Water management
My WC routine is 70% WC, wait 3 days, test water parameter, then repeat the process.

This box from Daiso is just perfect for the test kit


Day 2 => Ammonia = 1.0, Nitrite = 5.0, Nitrate = not tested


Day 5 => Ammonia = 0.5, Nitrite = < 0.25, Nitrate = 5.0[


Day 8 => Ammonia = 0.5, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 5.0


Day 11 => Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 0

[hencpu]

2 weeks later from setup, today...

Day 14 => Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 0


Background stem plants have grown more than 2" since planted. So trimmed the Rotala & modified the rocks a bit. A bit messy, might need to trim the background more.


HC, some part still have emerse leaves while others have transitioned to submerged leaves.


One last shot from another angle.

[Aquanoob]

Good job for a first try. My first try was very much terrible. Can know where you get the ANS tank from?

[GuppyLover]

Nice set up!

[hencpu]

Good job for a first try. My first try was very much terrible. Can know where you get the ANS tank from?

Thx bro! the tank is from East Ocean.

Nice set up!

Thx bro!

[Shadow]

excellent scape for the first try. the Hygrophila Difformis probably to big for your tank size

[marimo]

hmm interested to learn your DIY CO2

[hencpu]

excellent scape for the first try. the Hygrophila Difformis probably to big for your tank size

Thanks, Shadow! Yeah, too big, I had to cut them more than half when planting. Actually I wanted Ranunculus, but couldn't find it anywhere. Any suggestions for smaller plants with interesting leaves?

[Shadow]

You can try Myriophyllum sp, but it also quite big but smaller than H. difformis

[hencpu]

hmm interested to learn your DIY CO2

Hi marimo, my DIY CO2 is very simple, similar to recipes widely use around here.

Basically for each 1L bottle I use:
- 250g sugar
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp baking soda

Filled bottles with sugar, baking soda & warm water. While letting these bottles to cool down, I will then activate the yeast separately with sugar, warm water & stir vigorously to inject oxygen. Once they started working & foaming heavily, poured them into the bottles & sealed.
Usually I'll get bubble within 1 hour & the pressure will start building, in 4-5 hours the glass diffuser already diffusing at 2bps rate. This can last around 3 weeks, but I'm planning to replace it every 2 weeks at night, to minimize the CO2 downtime.

[hencpu]

You can try Myriophyllum sp, but it also quite big but smaller than H. difformis

Thanks bro! Will look into it.

Or maybe do you have any source for Ranunculus or any other plants than can achieve this kind of coconut/palm tree effect?

[edw7636]

Nice setup, keep the update coming

[hencpu]

Nice setup, keep the update coming

Thanks bro

[marimo]

Hi marimo, my DIY CO2 is very simple, similar to recipes widely use around here.

Basically for each 1L bottle I use:
- 250g sugar
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp baking soda

Filled bottles with sugar, baking soda & warm water. While letting these bottles to cool down, I will then activate the yeast separately with sugar, warm water & stir vigorously to inject oxygen. Once they started working & foaming heavily, poured them into the bottles & sealed.
Usually I'll get bubble within 1 hour & the pressure will start building, in 4-5 hours the glass diffuser already diffusing at 2bps rate. This can last around 3 weeks, but I'm planning to replace it every 2 weeks at night, to minimize the CO2 downtime.

sounds like a routine chore for long term .. can i use my urine instead? keke



anyway just a small comment
the rocks at the very foreground bothers me .. are you willing to take them out and hammer/crush them into smaller pieces? then sprinkle at the base of the bigger rock behind and back to the foreground

[hencpu]

sounds like a routine chore for long term .. can i use my urine instead? keke



anyway just a small comment
the rocks at the very foreground bothers me .. are you willing to take them out and hammer/crush them into smaller pieces? then sprinkle at the base of the bigger rock behind and back to the foreground

Urine? sure why not? its ur own tank

Nah, not that much of a chore, the whole process is only 15-20 min, for twice a month only. The problem is the CO2 is unstable, so algae can invade easily. But I can't get pressurized CO2 due to lack of space. Unless getting the smaller 1L or less alu tank.

Yes, the foreground rocks are bothering me too, planning to whack 'em with hammer or maybe cover with riccia. Thanks for the advice

[hencpu]

2 days ago had an ammonia spike at 1.0ppm due to removing dead plants & replanting.

Guess most of the ammonia has already been converted to nitrite & nitrate by now.

Day 18 => Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0.25-0.50, Nitrate = 5.0


Trimmed the rotala & replanted HC. water still a bit cloudy. Added a drop checker

[hencpu]

The 1st batch of HC were in bad shape (only 30% made it & healthy), so bought a submerged HC (they were submerged while in LFS, but they look like emersed leaves? ). Cut them into 3 big slabs & secured with string & wire mesh. Hopefully this will work.


In just a few days, the emersed Rotala already transitioned to submerged leaves. Quite cute with big rounded emersed leaves on the bottom & small submersed leaves on top .

[hencpu]

Decided to just go pressurized CO2 due to instability with yeast CO2, algae keeps knocking on the door!

Anyway, after checking prices at a few places, finally settled with 1L cylinder + Up-Aqua Solenoid. Its only $10 more than the price of 2L + JBJ solenoid quoted by Mr Chan of NA, so i guess not that bad. Granted, its only 1L but at least it can fit under my cabinet nicely & easy to transport when refilling.



The only issue is the 60psi working pressure, which seems a bit on the high side Luckily its not hard to get 2-3bps with it.

[edw7636]

The CO2 cylinder look nice. So far can see the plants doing well but growing HC with a mesh really works? Let me know