My Low-Tech Pro-Ject!

[Milkman]

Hey guys, I've had my tank for a while now (almost a year) and things are swell. The tank is a Fluval Roma 200 and I have just 're-done' the tank having visited the Live Aquatics Show and picked up some bits.

I started by moving all my fish into this 25 litre tub, then I drained the tank and removed all the gravel. I then put the Redmoor wood down and secured it with a rock pile and added 3 litres of Tropica Plant Substrate. I then added the gravel on top. I slow filled it up again, planting the new Staurogyne Repens, the Sagittaria, then the Hygrophila Guaniensis and Vallisneria Nana. I then (lazily) wedged the Anubias Nana and Bonsai between the gaps in the wood and dropped in the marimo moss ball. Last but not least I attached the new Flame Moss to one branch of the wood using an elastic band so I didn't disrupt the wood. This whole process took 8 hours

To my surprise, the moss attached in less than a week and is growing at quite a decent rate. The Staurogyne is the slow grower (even slower than the anubias). How long do you guys think it will take to settle in and start growing? Since I'm not working (at the moment) I can't afford CO2 and so I'm just dosing EasyCarbo and Chelated Micro Nutrients from APF.

Hope you guys enjoy, I will be uploading new pictures as the tank develops!

[Cashmere]

Your tank looks great. I love the black background. And the scape looks great, I'm interested to see how dosing you co2 works, I am looking into doing the same thing.

[Milkman]

Originally Posted by Cashmere

Your tank looks great. I love the black background. And the scape looks great, I'm interested to see how dosing you co2 works, I am looking into doing the same thing.

Thankyou Cashmere! Although liquid co2 doesn't make you're plants as 'fruitful' as pressurised, you still get good results. I had a bad bout with black beard algae when my easy carbo ran out but now I've re done the tank and started dosing again there's not even a smidgen of unwanted algae.. I recommend it!

The trick is, keep the dosing consistent, and once you start try not to stop or you'll be in for trouble!

[Milkman]

So, almost a month has passed (where has the time gone?!) since I set this scape up.

You may or may not be able to tell but the lights have been changed to 2900K and 6500K bulbs instead of two 18000K.

The vallisneria and hygrophila is growing in nicely, just started sprouting some runners. I bought some more staurogyne but it looks like it's growing anyway. I spread out the moss some more and its doing a lot better (some still attached with elastic band).

I've had one Black Phantom female die since and one of the males isn't eating but looks and acts healthy so we'll see what happens. Other than that, all is well! I'm having to be patient because I want the scape to 'bush out' so I can put in some kribensis and hopefully a group of red cherry shrimp. Over Christmas I'm going to purchase some plants for the two sides to really thicken out the plants so everyone can live together happily.

[mitchfish9]

The tank looks great! Nice piece of driftwood

[Milkman]

So, a lot has happened since November. The plants are all growing. I completely reattached the flame moss using some thread. The dwarf sag is growing, but as slow as a pensioner. The Staurogyne is also growing at this rate but has lots all but the top leaves. The moss is doing well too. The anubias and the vallisneria is growing well. There is a slight comeback of the black beard algae which is the death of me but I'm keeping most of it a bay with EasyCarbo.

Also, almost forgot. A few major updates.

- I now have four lovely young angelfish which I'm hoping to breed (maybe)
- The neon tetras are in a different tank as I'm giving them back to the shop
- There's only four black phantoms now instead of 6. (2 died)

Since the Angelfish introduction, my Bolivian ram is all coloured up 24/7 which is nice. I'm wondering if it's just the fact that I'm feeding 3-4 times a day to help the angelfish grow or its just comfortable. I was planning on getting one or two more bolivian rams (females) like I had before to see if they will breed but I think I'll wait until the Angelfish get bigger to see if that will work.

I'll post some pictures. Pics of the orange marbled and black angelfish soon

[raulfd4]

I'm loving the moss growing along the top of your driftwood. Looks really sharp.

I'm not sure if I was misreading a previous post, but are you doing liquid CO2 in some form? I've read that vals and liquid CO2 (like Excel) don't play well together.

[Milkman]

Originally Posted by raulfd4

I'm loving the moss growing along the top of your driftwood. Looks really sharp.

I'm not sure if I was misreading a previous post, but are you doing liquid CO2 in some form? I've read that vals and liquid CO2 (like Excel) don't play well together.

I thought this would be a problem but I started dosing EasyCarbo (liquid CO2) and the vallis did melt a little bit but I just kept dosing as normal and it seems to have grown resistant to it. I only get the odd few leaves turning brown but they were probably on their way out anyway. If you continue at 1ml per 50 litres and don't put it too close to the vallis it should be fine. I've been doing this for over a year.

[Milkman]

This is a more recent picture of the tank and some pictures of my orange angelfish

[Milkman]

Some more Angelfish Pictures. I've also added some Cryptocorynes, which my one of my otos have taken a liking to.

[Milkman]

Just a quick tank update:

- Plants growing well

Thinking about adding some ember tetras. I know Angels are in there but they ignore my Black Phantoms and don't even trouble my shrimp so I think they'll be fine. I want to get a really big group for a nice effect. Anyone know which schools tighter embers or harlequin rasboras?

I also plan to re-scape the tank. I plan to MAJORLY simplify to reduce cleaning etc. Not sure how exactly it's going to work but I'll have to figure it out, and the fish will be in a temporary accommodation.