Corigan's 55 Gallon First Planted Tank Journal

[corigan]

Heya All, thought I might as well post up here. This is my first planted Tank. I'm an ex-reefer. This tank is about 14 days old, and still is having pieces being added to it constantly right now here are the specs:

TopFin 60 Crappy over the back filter (Bought an Eheim 2213 w/ surface extractor but still hasn't shown up in the mail yet)
2x65w 48" Power Compact Fixture
2x15w 24" Fixture = 3 WPG or so, going to add another 48" PCF when I have the money
150w Heater and 200w Heater
2 Nutrafin Co2 Systems
Gravel/Flourite/Laterite used for Substrate
Aquaclear Powerhead 802
Eheim Liquidoser

I had 4 little cheesy decorations that I had put in the tank to please some of my family around here, I have already removed 2 and the one on the left will be removed as the tank grows in more. The only one I plan on keeping is the sunken ruins. Right now I am noticing atleast and inch of growth a day or so.

My water right now is about:
PH 7.0
KH 75ppm
GH 80ppm
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 4+ (Skyhigh but still cycling)

Right now my inhabitants are 2 Black Skirt Tetras and 3 gold skirt tetras. I also have Rotala Indicia, moneywort, pennywort, amazon swords, bacomba, cabomba, arachnias, and I believe wysteria (pardon my spelling on these if I butchered them.) Anyways let me know what you think, pointers tips, etc. I plan on adding another Power Compact Fixture to almost push 5 WPG, uv sterilizer, auto feeder, and ph monitor to the tank. Of course once it's cycled then I'll add in the algae control crew.

This isn't the best picture, it's really poor actually, will take center/left/right pics here in a day or two. I also still have plenty of room in the front to plant some anubias/ground cover that I am planning to try to plant some anubias nana's and coffelia's and maybe try to do a little glosso field somewhere.

[Tonyd]

Looks great. Nice variety of plants, seems to be growing in well. Keep us posted with the pics.

Tony

[corigan]

Thanks tony, still lacking quite a few plants that I want to add to it, but building it up kinda of slowly. Here are some better pictures of the tank and are current.

[wellbiz]

Looks pretty good. My only suggestion is maybe some plants more red in color... Other than that I like it...

Keep those pics coming

Jason

[Buck]

Nice start to your tank corigan , what is the taller plant in the background of the "center" picture ? It has jagged edges to it, I dont think Ive seen this stuff before. It reminds me of peppermint leaves... :lol:

Right now I am noticing atleast and inch of growth a day or so.

If thats the case then why would you want to add more lighting ? It sure sounds like you are getting good growth to me, if you get more lights it can really complicate things and make the tank harder to keep nutrient balanced and algae free.

Looking good corigan... Another reefer turned GREEN...
I cant wait to see that mystery plant grow in a bit... I like the look of that leaf !

[corigan]

Wellbiz: Thanks man, and thank you for the suggestions. I am definately needing more red in my tank and has been a concern of my girlfriends and mine. I saw in your description that you have sunset hygro's and red tiger's. I was going to try to go track down a sunset hygro, and I've heard that tiger bulbs can be kind of a bear to grow, since I'm a newbie I didn't know if that would work out well for me or not.

Buck: Thank you for the words of encouragement. I guess I really don't need much more light but at the moment I basically have hardy stem plants to try to cycle the tank. I wasn't sure how well some of the ground covers would do that needed extreme light, but it defiantely appears that light is penetrating well to the bottom (I'll get to this later in this post.)

As for the mystery plant, I have no idea what it is. I got it from a LFS and even they didn't know what it was. I noticed it had roots growing like crazy off of it even in their poor tanks. It was just a stem with 2 leafs coming off each side. When I put it in the tank and it started getting Co2/light/nutrients from the substrate it started fanning out and making those funky little leaf tops on it. I also snipped some of the tops that had 2-3 inch roots pooring out of them and transplanted them into another place of the tank and they have taken hold and grown like crazy from basically half an inch off the substrate (that is why I assume even lower level plants near the substrate are still getting enough light.) If anybody could help me identify the "mystery" plant that would be great.. hehe. If I need to take better pictures of it to post it up here so some of the guru's could help out that would be great.

[SCMurphy]

Mermaids weed, Prosperina something or other.

[corigan]

I need to get some new pictures up here, hoping to do so tommarrow. Added in a Red Rubin Sword, some anubias nana, and a bunch of fishtail ferns. I put in an order with my local LFS for a sunset hygro, anubias coffee, red tiger lotus, and some glosso, hopefully they come in. I also removed the ruins and put in two nice pieces of driftwood, hopefully I will have some pictures up by tommarrow.

[LiquidEric]

The tank looks like it will look really good as the plants grow in. Are you using the CO2 cannisters and packets that came with the CO2 kit? I found my CO2 levels got to a better level once I switched the canninster that came with the kit with a couple of 2 liter bottles. Also it is cheaper to mix up sugar and yeast than to keep buying the packets.

[corigan]

Originally Posted by LiquidEric

The tank looks like it will look really good as the plants grow in. Are you using the CO2 cannisters and packets that came with the CO2 kit? I found my CO2 levels got to a better level once I switched the canninster that came with the kit with a couple of 2 liter bottles. Also it is cheaper to mix up sugar and yeast than to keep buying the packets.

I am still experimenting with my level. The yeast/solution I got with the system were bunk. So I made up my own DIY solution as described on the hagen thread that is going on right now in the DIY forum. I'm hoping the cannisters will be good enough with the new mixture but I have my doubts. I've already been looking into the fourmost bulkheads to convert over to a 2 2-liter bottle setup.

[corigan]

Here Are some newer pictures of the tank. These have the red rubin sword, anubias nana and the fishtail fern that I have added. I'm still trying to get some more plants to add to the tank, hoping to get some glosso, tropical sunset hygro, red tiger lotus, and some coffee anubias.

Matt

[wellbiz]

Matt,


Where are all the fish :shock: jusk kidding...


I think another option for your tank might be Alternanthera reineckii it is a brilliant red in color.....

Tiger lotus are easy to grow IME....
Jason

[Tonyd]

Looks great. That driftwood is awesome! Are you planning to plant anything on it?

Tony

[corigan]

Jason: Hehe, I think the fish are still at the LFS. I can't wait till the nitrite levels come down.. As for the Alternanthera reineckii, thanks for the suggestion and I'm going to try to locate it. Some schmoe is supposed to find some plants locally for me, but I haven't heard back from him so I'm about to give him a ring and see if he can find that for me as well.

Tony: Hehe, thanks for the compliment on the driftwood, my girlfriend and I really liked it as well. I've seen various different people growing things on their driftwood from java ferns to other various things. I noticed most people usually have to ziptie or fasten the plants to the driftwood while the roots are taking hold. I really want to have something growing on the driftwood, and I am up to suggestions from more experienced people as to what they think would look good.

Matt

[corigan]

Haven't posted up on this in a few days, so here's an update. The tank has cycled and I have added in 5 ottos, 5 affrican glass Catfish, 2 Bochis Green Hump Cory's, and a female african dwarf frog. I did this over about 5-6 days and all is well. I have started fertilizing traces and have dosed up my phosphates so that they are in a 10:1 ratio with my nitrate. Running a 5 ppm level of nitrates and a .5 ppm level of phosphates. I am dosing potassium along with my traces on a daily basis though an eheim liquidoser. I am dosing smaller amounts than I should but I am building it up slowly. I am mixing up a solotion of 15 ML of flourish Potassium ,35 ML of TMG, and am dosing that out over a period of 2 weeks, 3 ml a day. I know it's a little low but I am building it up to the proper stages. I am also going to add some flourish iron into the mix next time I mix up the solution. Does anybody see a problem with dosing the tank this way? All seems well so far and algae is severely under control. I have been having to buffer my water with baking soda and epsom salts and have it at a 4.5 degree for KH and 4 degree for GH. PH is running around 6.8-7.0 after the ph spike from the baking soda. I am still waiting for a ton of foreground plants to come in at my local shop, and also a sunset hygro, hopefully this week is the week for them, I know my hygro and a tiger lotus bulb is waiting for me for the weekend. Here is some pictures of the progress of the tank. Any suggestions or comments, advice, please let me know as it will only help me since I am still fumbling through all of this.

Matt