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My First Planted Tank:Attempting A 55g Dutch (Some Advice Needed!)
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http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6170/...4ce3fc41_b.jpg Filter: Regular HOB Filter Lighting: 54w X3, 8 hours a day LED Moonlights at night Substrate: Play Sand Co2: 2x DIY yeast. Fauna: 6 Angelfish 1 African Bush Fish 1 Yoyo Loach 1 Black Ghost Knife 1 African Featherfin Catfish 2 Cory Catfish 4 Otos 3 Mystery Snails Flora: Baby Tears, Dwarf Baby Tears, Diandra, Stargrass, Ludwigia Peruensis, Green Myrio, Red Myrio, Telanthera Rosefolia, Red Tiger Lotus, Jungle Val, and Wisteria. I've had this tank for a year and a half now. I had some cheap LEDs installed under a standard hood to watch my Ghost Knife at night. They burned out, so I started looking for replacements on a budget. The cheapest I could find for what I was looking for was around $40. I then found the cheap Odyessa light fixtures for $90 with moonlights on them, and I figured I might as well make a planted tank. I started researching different types of aquascapes, and was intrigued by the Dutch style. I made a placed a plant order online, thus started an ambitious project of which I have little knowledge. Old Tank: http://number315.files.wordpress.com...9/dsc00584.jpg Initial planting: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6191/...6e749a15_z.jpg Left Side: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6190/...030516b3_z.jpg Right Side: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6083/...e23339f4_z.jpg Two week progress: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6210/...fbbe17f5_z.jpg Left Side: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6089/...073b680a_z.jpg Right Side: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6175/...caa9ccf1_z.jpg The only thing I've fertilized is Micro nutrients. I wanted to see how the plants progress before I started any doing regime. The left side seems to by thriving while the right is not. I realized that I had a lack of water movement, so I added a powerhead to move nutrients around. Hopefully that will help with the plant growth on the right, as well as combat my algae I have. I have an outbreak of GDA that I've attributed to bad circulation, and not enough Co2. I'm planning on getting pressurized co2, even though that is something I didn't want to spend money on. I also failed to plant my baby tears deep enough, only one bunch has started to carpet. I think I need to add more plant tabs for those since my substrate is inert. A few questions that I have: How long should I wait until I prune/replant? I would like to move a few plants around, I didn't really get the look I was hoping for(it was my first planting after all). What is the best way to remove the algae from my diy rockwall? There is a whole mess on there, and the algae are really the only things pearling in my tank. I bought four otos, but they only seem to eat off of the glass. Can I scape it all off with a tooth brush and do a massive water change? Any comments/criticisms are greatly appreciated as I am a complete newbie! Thanks. |
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I love this fish and have one myself..However down the road when he gets his mature SIZE I will be trading him back. I saw a full grown one this past weekend, and UH he was slightly smaller than my hand. NOW: About the DIY in a 55. I think you're going to run into consistancy issue (which lead to BBA) unless you stay on top of the changing out of reactors. When I ran a diy co2 on my 55 I ran 2, cooked in 3 day intervals. This helped until I got lazy and tired of the frequent changing. EDIT::::: OH YEA the tank looks Fantastic..and your ghost Knife would like a tube like structure. |
Love the looks of the tank. A good cave like structure will make the ghost happy.
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My reaction doesn't start for at least 12 hours. Not sure why. The Ghost Knife does have a piece of slate for a cave. He does seem more shy since I took his second cave out, but I am hoping he will come out more once the plants thicken up. |
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If you are not running 2 DIY systems you are going to be running into BBA soon. BBA occurs when there is a lack in co2 consistancy, I know it's hard to reach 30ppm with DIY but in my 55 I was able to achieve this with 3 units. |
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I am currently running two. I thought I would get enough with two and my higher fish load, but that doesn't seem to be the case. |
I would go with pressurized. Or atleast a paintball system. Side your going with all Dutch, the demand of co2 will be high.
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I honestly love the background. The algae on the 3d rocks just looks so natural.
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