My First Planted Tank:Attempting A 55g Dutch (Some Advice Needed!)

[Grossie]

Current Photo:



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:



Initial planting:

Left Side:

Right Side:




Two week progress:

Left Side:

Right Side:



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.

[Grossie]

Some more photos:







More here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67665336@N07/

[JasonG75]

Originally Posted by Grossie

Some more photos:





http://www.flickr.com/photos/67665336@N07/

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.

[2in10]

Love the looks of the tank. A good cave like structure will make the ghost happy.

[Grossie]

Originally Posted by JasonG75

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.

Changing it every three days seems like a lot of work. I change each every 8 days or so, and it seems like it would worth the money just to get a pressurized system.
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.

[JasonG75]

Originally Posted by Grossie

My reaction doesn't start for at least 12 hours. Not sure why.

Look into the rapid Rise...it takes less than 30 mins.

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.

[Grossie]

Originally Posted by JasonG75

Look into the rapid Rise...it takes less than 30 mins.

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.

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.

[jkan0228]

I would go with pressurized. Or atleast a paintball system. Side your going with all Dutch, the demand of co2 will be high.

[Chrisinator]

I honestly love the background. The algae on the 3d rocks just looks so natural.