Frank's Planted Tank How-To Mini Novel - The Mini S Returns! New Layout

[danielt]

Dear sir, I read the e-book text made from this thread and I just wanted to thank you for the philosophical bits you put in there. I'm really amazed how a couple of well written lines can change a mindset. Thank you again!

One question that bugs me and I doubt you can answer it fully. Is there a way to replicate the function of the bacterial substances you employ to construct that wonderful substrate?

In my country these products are not readily available and my understanding is that I must order over seas for these products as the last shop that used to sell them told me there is a huge shortage of your product mostly in Europe and they will not attempt to bring them again because of a lack of request.

I'm planning to make do with other alternatives for the key ingredient: bacteria

I was hoping you can give some pointers of what type of product might provide something close to its function.

[Green_Flash]

Well actually, I don't like the superiors at all, just don't like the rounded corners.

Oh believe me, I'm with you on taking the 180-P over this one. In this case, the opportunity here was far too good to pass up. This is kind of like, opting to take the 100% titanium or white gold built Mercedes over a Ferrari...a point where if you're going to buy it retail, the price for you is just truly far beyond being relevant. We had just such a client, who decided to abandon his deposit and cancel the order two days before arrival.

[TheGuy]

Originally Posted by Green_Flash

Well actually, I don't like the superiors at all, just don't like the rounded corners.

Same here, a white gold Mercedes sounds too gaudy and just odd... give me the Ferrari!!! I like all ADA tanks because of the craftsmanship... but I absolutely hate getting algae off a curved tank. So frustrating.

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[ADAtank]

crazy nice

[Francis Xavier]

With the arrival of a few new plant's on Friday, the first layout of 2013 has begun.

Returning to the classics - a Mini M layout once again. In the visioning process of this aquascape, I wanted to perfect an image in my mind that had never been fully realized in the previous layout, shown here:


Green in the Fog by Francis Wazeter, on Flickr

That particular layout had some potential, but in the end I had imported some algaes from another aquarium which kind of always plagued the setup. I liked it, but it didn't satisfy my vision.

When it came time for me to move residences, I opted to not continue the layout as it was and to start a new once things got settled, and now is the perfect time as aquascaping season is officially here as we prepare for the IAPLC 2013 competition!

To get back to the original inspiration, here is a photograph I took while visiting Japan, which emphasizes one of the key points of the layout type I want to achieve.


Stream Side Inspiration by Francis Wazeter, on Flickr

There is an ancient feeling to this segment of a stream, ferns growing in tandem with moss on the stones near a stream side. This is the type of feel I am reaching for, and have finally gotten together the materials to do just so:


Mini M "Stream Side" by Francis Wazeter, on Flickr

"Stream Side," Layout, composition is Bolbitus Heteroclita "Mini" and Peacock Moss on Unzan stone with sand foreground. Aquarium size: 20L, (5.5 gallon) in Mini M aquarium.

Layout Benefits:

-Slow growing plants, much less maintenance intensive on the trimming side

Layout Challenges:

-Very little aquasoil - liquid dosings, especially in Nitrogen and Phosphorus will have to be upped.
-Method of moss attachment will take time, and Amano's will pick it off the stones, so algae may become somewhat of an issue up front - requiring extra diligence in the first month.

As for the technical details, I'll get to those in a follow up post, covering the step-by-step setup as well as the sanitizing process of the filter and equipment used before to prevent any residual spores from coming in and setting up shop.

[TheGuy]

Very sweet

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[Green_Flash]

Frank, this is great, I like the stream inspiration picture.

[assasin6547]

One question if you don't mind, is there anything other than rocks I can tie Riccia to? Or could I just leave it on the mat and let it the dwarf hair grass grow into the mat? https://www.azgardens.com/p-2190-riccia-on-mat.aspx Thanks. I am starting my first low tech planted tank!

[Francis Xavier]

That you had a mindset shift based on my written words is a deep compliment to me, thank you for your words!

I am not familiar with other products that achieve the same effect, but I do believe in the past year to two years or so there have been some alternatives developed out of other companies, though I believe their availability is primarily in SE Asia.

If you know other hobbyists in the area with established tanks, you may 'seed' your substrate with a sample of theirs, however, this does carry the risk of contamination of whatever type of algae's they may have in their aquaria (which is inevitable to get anyway if you are trading plants / and or in commercially available plants, etc etc). With this strategy you would do the same as the additives - place the sample underneath the substrate.

Over time, these bacteria will occur naturally and will be seeded into the aquarium via the roots of the plants you place in the tank - as these bacteria are symbiotic with the roots of the plants (if they did not exist, it would be more difficult for the plants to absorb raw nutrients through roots, the bacteria actually break down the raw nutrients into a usable form by the plants).

There is a case where this is most prevalent - in the case of species of Anubias, which have a great deal of trouble growing via Tissue Culture because they are so reliant on symbiotic bacteria to grow. In this case, during the tissue culturing process, the plant is made sterile, removing contaminants, fungi, etc for a healthier plant specimen free of pests. However, with Anubias, this also has the unintended side effect of killing off all the beneficial bacteria in the rhizome, rendering the growth of the certain Anubias species largely ineffective. Other, less dependent species, are much easier to propagate via tissue culture for these reasons - or perhaps because they are regenerating from cells at a very basic level. My measured scientific knowledge on the subject, while expanding, is still limited, but this is as best I know how to describe it.

What the additive Bacter 100 does is it speeds the process along at the start when the aquarium / new ecosystem is at its most vulnerable. From the get go by having a super punch of bacteria from day 1, you effectively aid the development of the ecosystem getting established. This then speeds the development of plants along in the aquarium by way of increasing nutrient absorption capabilities through the roots.

So in your case, trying to seed it with some samples of someone elses soil would help you out quite a bit. Alternatively, if you raised enough ruckus in with your closest European distributor of ADA, they might get you some Bacter 100 to shut you up!

Originally Posted by danielt

Dear sir, I read the e-book text made from this thread and I just wanted to thank you for the philosophical bits you put in there. I'm really amazed how a couple of well written lines can change a mindset. Thank you again!

One question that bugs me and I doubt you can answer it fully. Is there a way to replicate the function of the bacterial substances you employ to construct that wonderful substrate?

In my country these products are not readily available and my understanding is that I must order over seas for these products as the last shop that used to sell them told me there is a huge shortage of your product mostly in Europe and they will not attempt to bring them again because of a lack of request.

I'm planning to make do with other alternatives for the key ingredient: bacteria

I was hoping you can give some pointers of what type of product might provide something close to its function.

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by assasin6547

One question if you don't mind, is there anything other than rocks I can tie Riccia to? Or could I just leave it on the mat and let it the dwarf hair grass grow into the mat? https://www.azgardens.com/p-2190-riccia-on-mat.aspx Thanks. I am starting my first low tech planted tank!

You can tie Riccia to anything with a surface! Bear in mind that Riccia ends up adopting the shape of the object it's tied too - so if tied to say, moon stones it will have a roundish mound appearance vs. an even hedge from Riccia stones / flat stones.

I would not leave the plants on the mats they sell them on - typically they're made of some kind of fibrous material that seems to cause more issues than it solves. If it is on a steel mesh, it would be okay, but I would still encourage you to retie it yourself to another surface, such as flat, thin stones. This will give you the most flexibility and manipulation in your layout over Riccia.

[Tank Man]

Reading through this forum I see you do daily water changes for the first week and then slowly do less and less. Would you suggest doing the same with a larger tank (55g)? Would the larger volume reduce the need at all or would the bacteria's needs rise proportionally and therefore still benefit from the daily changes?

P.S. Thank you for the inspiration and this thread in general. The philosophy of keeping and maintaining a beautiful tank draw me into the hobby more than any singular plant, fish, or tank ever could.

[Xalyx]

I have two quick words.

Thank you.

Frank, I appreciate your hard work. This is the most helpful thread I've ever read so anyone disagreeing with your teachings is automatically wrong because they're not trying to do what you've done in this thread.

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by Tank Man

Reading through this forum I see you do daily water changes for the first week and then slowly do less and less. Would you suggest doing the same with a larger tank (55g)? Would the larger volume reduce the need at all or would the bacteria's needs rise proportionally and therefore still benefit from the daily changes?

P.S. Thank you for the inspiration and this thread in general. The philosophy of keeping and maintaining a beautiful tank draw me into the hobby more than any singular plant, fish, or tank ever could.

Yes - no matter the tank size, you're going to want to refresh the water supply daily for the first week, every other day for the second week, twice a week for the third and once a week there after.

That being said, the water changes you do during the first week should be the easiest care sessions you ever do for the aquarium - water in, water out, fertilize. Algae should not yet have grown anywhere and there's no need to trim yet. This will also cultivate the habit for water change after the first "hell month."

Everything goes in proportion like you theorized - also too, the bacteria will only grow to the maximum support of the environment.

Great to hear that the thread has been an inspiration for you! Hopefully it will continue to do so.

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by Xalyx

I have two quick words.

Thank you.

Frank, I appreciate your hard work. This is the most helpful thread I've ever read so anyone disagreeing with your teachings is automatically wrong because they're not trying to do what you've done in this thread.

Thank you for your kind compliments! I'm glad it's been helpful for you and hopefully it will continue to be so!

[Green_Flash]

Hi Frank, when is the new intl ADA site going to be up?

Also why don't they make AJ in English anymore?