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My first Planted Tank

6K views 36 replies 11 participants last post by  BeachBum2012 
#1 ·
17g Low Tech setup end of December '09

Coralife F/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Light with one colormax full spectrum and one 6500k bulb (28w total)
Black Tahitian Moon Sand (inert)
Aquaclear 20 with sponges only
No dosing as of yet
Root tabs are on their way

Flora:
Spiral Val
Ludwigia repens?
Ludwigia peruensis
Needle Leaf Java Fern
Narrow Leaf Java Fern
Java Fern
Hygrophila Corymbosa
Hair Grass
Dwarf Onion
Java Moss
Some sort of rotelas?
(all of these came in a low light starter pack from a member of another forum)

Also have some sort of Anubius and grass like plant in the front left that I'm not sure of. Any help with better plant ids would be great,

Fauna:
16 Cardinal Tetras
Looking to add RCS when I'm sure everything is settled in.


So... What do you think for my first try? Any ideas, advice, criticism or "hey new guy"s are welcome. Thanks for looking







Sorry for the bad pics. Camera phone. Going to have to invest in a better camera for shrimp photos in the near future.
 
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#2 ·
Haven't heard from anyone yet, but I have a few questions if you all don't mind.

First, what would be the best way to add firts to the tank? Which plants would benefit from root tabs so that I have a better idea of where to place them? I'm guessing the stem plants but I just want to be sure. I'm also looking to pick up some liquid Flourish. Good idea? Not so much?

Second, I've just noticed today what appears to be staghorn algae. First thought was to reduce the light a bit, get started on firts and perhaps dose with Flourish Excel. Any other ideas? I want to add my RCS in the near future and don't want to do anything that would be harmful to them.

Last, what do you think of the scape? Anything that looks like it needs modification? I think I'm going to pull the dwarf onion out as I read today that it shouldn't be fully submerged. Other than that I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks
 
#3 ·
Nice Start! Stem plants would benefit least from the root tabs, they get most of the nutrients from the water column. As for the scape maybe move the wood, so its not leaning on the glass. Also to add, shrimp do ok with excel, but not great. Might want to think about another source for your carbon, if you want your shrimp to excel :p
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the heads up on the stem plants and excel. I don't have any shrimp as of yet and was thinking about using the excel to help get rid of the algae. Think I'd be able to get rid of it before the shrimp go in and then switch to something else before the shrimp go in?
 
#4 ·
Welcome to TPT!

You want to make sure that the rhizome on your Anubias (the horizontal green "stem" that the leaves are growing out of) is pulled up out of the substrate and exposed to light. You might consider tying this plant onto the driftwood, as Anbuias do really well grown this way.

Seachem does have a good line of liquid ferts, and there is a suggested dosage chart at www.Seachem.com. You're probably going to need more than just Excel and Comprehensive to keep up with your lighting, though- you're on the high side of low light and probably should consider this a "medium light" tank. You probably will need to dose macro ferts and may need DIY CO2 in addition to the Excel for your stem plants to thrive.

www.GreenLeafAquariums.com and www.AquariumFertilizer.com have good dry fert packages (which are much cheaper over time than dosing liquid ferts) as well as some links that explain fert dosing.
 
#6 ·
Welcome to TPT!

You want to make sure that the rhizome on your Anubias (the horizontal green "stem" that the leaves are growing out of) is pulled up out of the substrate and exposed to light. You might consider tying this plant onto the driftwood, as Anbuias do really well grown this way.
Figured this one out the other day and fixed it already. Thanks


Seachem does have a good line of liquid ferts, and there is a suggested dosage chart at Seachem. You're probably going to need more than just Excel and Comprehensive to keep up with your lighting, though- you're on the high side of low light and probably should consider this a "medium light" tank. You probably will need to dose macro ferts and may need DIY CO2 in addition to the Excel for your stem plants to thrive.
You think that at 1.6w/gallon I'd need co2? I was hoping to stay away from that for now until I got a little more comfortable with planted tanks. If that's what I need I guess I'll have to start looking into that.


GreenLeafAquariums and AquariumFertilizer have good dry fert packages (which are much cheaper over time than dosing liquid ferts) as well as some links that explain fert dosing.
Thanks for those links. I'll check them out for sure.

LOL, it won't let me post the urls or websites because I have less than 5 posts. Lets try this again.
 
#7 ·
The WPG "guideline" doesn't really apply as well any more due to the development of relatively new lighting technology such as T5 and T5HO. These fixtures put out vastly more usable light per watt than the old T12, T8, and even CF fixtures. So yes, your tank is in the "medium" light category due to your T5 fixture, regardless of your actual WPG.

Also, in a 20gal tank, the plants are very close to the light- wpg has never worked well in regards to taking into account tank depth/distance of the plants from the light source. A 10gal tank at 1.5 wpg is actually much higher light than a 29gal tank with 2.0 wpg, given the same type of fixture, simply b/c most of the plants in the 29gal tank are so much further from the bulb.
 
#9 ·
I still haven't figured out the co2 thing but I'm working towards that but I have moved a few things and picked up 3 ottos today. The Excell has helped with the hair algae quite a bit (there is still some but its less every day) so I figured I'd get these little guys to help with the other algae.

I am getting a lot of new growth. The Red Ludwigia is growing very well and I've got a few other plants with new runners popping up. So far I'm very pleased. Could use a lesson in aesthetics one of these days though.

On to the pics...


My favorite plant and one of my new Ottos


Another shot with some Cardinals in the background.


New growth. Anyone know what this plant is called?


One more of the new Ottos


FTS
What do you guys think?
 
#10 ·
Your "mystery plant" looks an awful lot like Mondo grass. If that's the case, it's not aquatic and eventually will just poop out on you. It'd do better in a pot as a houseplant.

Echinodorus tenellus or Sagittaria would give you a similar look and be suitable for your tank setup, however.
 
#16 ·
Thank you very much for that helpful information.

I have already made some adjustments to the lighting. Originally I had the lights on for 12 hours from 9am to 9pm. After a little reading I reduced it to 10 hours from 10am to 8pm. Now, after even more reading I've added a bit of a "siesta" period. Lights are not on from 8am to 1pm, off from 1pm to 4pm and back on again until 9pm. I think this, in combination to dosing excel and flourish has helped. The algae is already starting to turn white and I'm not seeing a lot of new hair growth. The new Ottos are also doing a great job on the rest of the algae too, and its only the first day.

I'll look into the Comprehensive as well.

Thanks again for the tips and info.
 
#17 ·
Update and a question:

Things seem to be going very well. Plants are growing, algae is nearly gone, fish are doing well and my 20 new RCS are happy and starting to color back up already. Two are even saddled. The Mondo Grass is also being taken out and replaced with an aquatic plant (thanks for the heads up) that I hope will do well in that corner.

The question I have is about the left rear corner. The way I have the driftwood positioned there is a big empty space back there. I've tried moving the wood around but can't find anything that looks better. Question is, what do you fine folks think I should do back there? Its in the shade of the wood so it doesn't get much light. Is there a plant that would grow back there? Any other idea of what to do with the space?

Thanks,
Brian
 
#18 ·
Update and a question:

Things seem to be going very well. Plants are growing, algae is nearly gone, fish are doing well and my 20 new RCS are happy and starting to color back up already. Two are even saddled. The Mondo Grass is also being taken out and replaced with an aquatic plant (thanks for the heads up) that I hope will do well in that corner.

The question I have is about the left rear corner. The way I have the driftwood positioned there is a big empty space back there. I've tried moving the wood around but can't find anything that looks better. Question is, what do you fine folks think I should do back there? Its in the shade of the wood so it doesn't get much light. Is there a plant that would grow back there? Any other idea of what to do with the space?

Thanks,
Brian
One idea comes to me, you could find a small piece of wood or rock and attach an Anubias nana to it. Anubias thrives in shade, grows slowly, and the green behind the large wood would look quite nice I think. B.
 
#20 ·
You might also try a Cryptocoryne back there.

CO2 can definitely increase the number of species that can be kept in planted tanks, but it's certainly possible to have a very nice planted tank without CO2.

I do think that too many people are of the mentality that "more is always better" when it comes to light. Planted tanks are about finding and maintaining balance between light and nutrient supply- and the more light, often the more difficult it is to find that balance. Under lower light, nutrient demand (including that for CO2) is much less.
 
#21 ·
Oooo. The Red Cryptocoryne looka really cool. I'll have to decide between that and another Anubius.

I'm still leaning towards CO2 at some point. I'm having so much fun with this I don't see me going on for too long without it. Just have to save up some money. I have a lot of the equipment already but... its for my beer. I might be able to find some of my beer making friends with extras that I can pick up for cheep though. I've seen some awesome setups here and on SCAPE that I'd love to try that would require CO2 anyhow.

Thanks again for the info and advice. Most helpful.
 
#22 ·
Almost forgot. I took some photos this morning.


FTS


New RCS


Another new RCS


I have no idea how I did this. I think I left the flash on but my hand was covering it. Odd huh?

Sorry for the bad photography skills. One of these days I'll learn how to use a camera.
 
#30 ·
Looks great and it's making nice progress since you started posting. I would get rid of that flat rock though on the left hand side. Unless you're planning to tie some moss to it or something, it's not really adding anything to the landscape. I would also maybe add something with more height in the background, either in the form of plants or maybe a nice branching piece of manzanita wood. Also, that plant in the back right corner with the red on top seems to have been sort of scraggly looking from the get-go. I'd maybe replace that with a bacopa or something that would fill in that space a bit better. Other than that, looks wonderful!
 
#31 ·
Thanks for the ideas and advice. I've been thinking about removing that rock for a while. Just haven't remembered to do it while my arm is in the tank.

As for the background, the Red Lugwigia that is back there should fill in to the top. It was nearly there but I cut it down and replanted to get more width out of it. I'd guess it'll be breading the top again in a few weeks.

Agree about the back right. I like those little plants but they aren't doing much. I may just fill in back there with the Blxya or find something else short and leafy to plant around the base.

Thanks again for taking a look and for the advice.
 
#34 ·
Just a quick update and a bad pic. Tank seems to be doing quite well. Tons of growth but I seem to be fighting hair algae again. It looks like I've got it on the run but its some resilient stuff.

Here is what it looks like now with the growth and new plants from Sunday's meeting.

 
#36 ·
17g Low Tech setup end of December '09

Coralife F/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Light with one colormax full spectrum and one 6500k bulb (28w total)
Black Tahitian Moon Sand (inert)
Aquaclear 20 with sponges only
No dosing as of yet
Root tabs are on their way

Flora:
Spiral Val
Ludwigia repens?
Ludwigia peruensis
Needle Leaf Java Fern
Narrow Leaf Java Fern
Java Fern
Hygrophila Corymbosa
Hair Grass
Dwarf Onion
Java Moss
Some sort of rotelas?
(all of these came in a low light starter pack from a member of another forum)

Also have some sort of Anubius and grass like plant in the front left that I'm not sure of. Any help with better plant ids would be great,

Fauna:
16 Cardinal Tetras
Looking to add RCS when I'm sure everything is settled in.


So... What do you think for my first try? Any ideas, advice, criticism or "hey new guy"s are welcome. Thanks for looking







Sorry for the bad pics. Camera phone. Going to have to invest in a better camera for shrimp photos in the near future.
Nice tank mate !! :proud:
 
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