[Payara]

Hey guys,

I finally took the plunge into planted tanks. I have kept and bred several fish species but this is the first time I am attempting to keep plants. Hopefully, I'll do it right the first time around. This is what I have so far:

Aquarium: 14 3/4" length x 11" width x 13" height
Lighting: Current 32W PC turned on for roughly 8 hours per day
Filtration: Eheim 2215
Substrate: Aqua Soil Amazonia, Bacter 100, Tourmaline BC, and Power Sand S
CO2: DIY yeast CO2 (2L with 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp of yeast, 2 tsp of protein drink mix, 1 T of molasses, and 1 tsp of baking soda) -- I have not set up the CO2 yet, I'll be doing that this coming week.
Additives: Flourish and Flourish Excel after every water change.
Water change: Roughly 50% at least 2 x a week.
Water quality: Temperature: 76F pH: 6.6; NO2: < 0.02 mg/l; NO3: < 1 mg/l
Plants: Anubias barteri, Anubias barteri var. nana, Anubias barteri var petite, and Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov' (I know this plant doesn't belong but it looks too nice)
Fish: 1:1 Pelvicachromis taeniatus 'Nigeria Yellow'

I plan on adding Bolbitis heudelotii, Crinum calamistratum , and Aponogetons longiplumulosus. I'll also be purchasing 6-8 Norman''s blue eye (Aplocheilichthys normani) soon.

What do you all think of my plan? Ill be posting pics shortly.

-George

 

[hydrophyte]

That soudns cool. I am also contemplating a setup with lampeyes.

 

[agutt]

Lampeyes are very awesome fish... I actually had a 10 gallon African biotype myself and I used 12 Lampeyes. Those blue eyes are very cool to watch!

 

[agutt]

Have you considered a different dosing method other than flourish? It gets kind of expensive...

Check Out The EI Method

Also 50% water changes 2x a week is kinda overkill, you could get away with 1x a week...that also fits in to the EI Method of dosing ferts

 

[Payara]

That soudns cool. I am also contemplating a setup with lampeyes.

Yeah I can't wait. I'll have the lampeyes next week sometime. They absolutely stunning. You should definitely set up a tank for them.

Lampeyes are very awesome fish... I actually had a 10 gallon African biotype myself and I used 12 Lampeyes. Those blue eyes are very cool to watch!

Hey agutt, would you happen to have any pics of your tank? I would love to see it!

Have you considered a different dosing method other than flourish? It gets kind of expensive...

Check Out The El Method

Also 50% water changes 2x a week is kinda overkill, you could get away with 1x a week...that also fits in to the EI Method of dosing ferts

No i have not. I just bought it because of it's availability. Thank you for the site augutt roud:, I have a few bottles but after that I'll definitely be taking a stab at Rex's suggestion.
My tank used to be filled with 6 lemon tetras, before I purchased the slender kribs, and I was doing weekly >50% water changes every Monday but I noticed my water would deteriorate way too fast. I had at least one lemon tetra jump out during the weekend. I figured I might as well do one more just to keep the fish happy and plus I want the kribs to breed. They are already showing signs of courting behavior. Another factor of the WC schedule was the 2 series article that came out in TFH magazine recently.

 

[Payara]

I have a quick question, I been in contact with Orlando from green leaf aquarium, he says that DIY CO2 does not provide enough pressure to push through the diffusers and suggests using a powerhead or limewood stone. But, I have seen several people and my LFS recommending using a glass diffuser, is it a waste of money and is better just to connect the CO2 to my Maxi-Jet? Or should I get the Nutrafin's ladder diffuser?

Another thing I have noticed is that people and again my LFS recommending bubble counters for DIY CO2 reactors, isn't that kind of pointless considering I have no control over how much CO2 is produced?

This might be stupid question but do you guys vacuum the substrate of your planted tanks? I am using ADA Amazonia Powder and if I try to vacuum the substrate it comes up with the water. Does anyone have any recommendations? How do you guys get the crap in the gravel out?

Also. I have mentioned I use a Maxi-Jet 400 with it's venturi kit at night to increase the O2, but I have noticed that it's not producing any bubbles at all. Is there anyway to fix that?

Any comments or help would greatly be appreciated

.

-George

P.S I was really impressed with GLA and Orlando. I have been in the hobby for a while now, it's always nice to see aquarium companies giving factual information and not just trying to make customers buy their stuff. I'll definitely be shopping their for my planted tank's needs.

 

[kid creole]

The best advice would be to skip DIY CO2 altogether. If you don't have the scratch, I'd just go low maintenance before I'd ever mess with DIY again. JMHO.

For most DIY setups, there is not enough pressure to make a ceramic diffuser function properly. A power head or limestone are two good options, there are a zillion others, but a ceramic diffusor is not one of them.

For DIY, I think you want a second bottle that can service a gas separator/bubble counter. It will keep gunk out of the tank, and the bubble counting is just a bonus.

I don't vacuum the substrate as much as I would with a non-planted tank, but I definitely do it in areas without a lot of roots. I use flourite, and I pinch off the hose to slow the flow way down to drop the finer particles back down.

 

[agutt]

I have a quick question, I been in contact with Orlando from green leaf aquarium, he says that DIY CO2 does not provide enough pressure to push through the diffusers and suggests using a powerhead or limewood stone. But, I have seen several people and my LFS recommending using a glass diffuser, is it a waste of money and is better just to connect the CO2 to my Maxi-Jet? Or should I get the Nutrafin's ladder diffuser?

DIY will not be able to push through a ceramic diffuser unfortunately. I agree with the above post as well, you could get away with going low tech with your plant list and just overdosing excel...

P.S I was really impressed with GLA and Orlando. I have been in the hobby for a while now, it's always nice to see aquarium companies giving factual information and not just trying to make customers buy their stuff. I'll definitely be shopping their for my planted tank's needs.

Orlando and GLA are awesome. I buy from him whenever possible

heres a shot of my old 10 Gallon...

 

[Payara]

Here are some pics. Sorry for the poor quality, I had to use my cell phone. Please let me know what you think. I'd greatly appreciate some productive criticism to make it look better.
FTS:




Close up of the right side:


Left side:

 

[Payara]

The best advice would be to skip DIY CO2 altogether. If you don't have the scratch, I'd just go low maintenance before I'd ever mess with DIY again. JMHO.

For most DIY setups, there is not enough pressure to make a ceramic diffuser function properly. A power head or limestone are two good options, there are a zillion others, but a ceramic diffusor is not one of them.

For DIY, I think you want a second bottle that can service a gas separator/bubble counter. It will keep gunk out of the tank, and the bubble counting is just a bonus.

I don't vacuum the substrate as much as I would with a non-planted tank, but I definitely do it in areas without a lot of roots. I use flourite, and I pinch off the hose to slow the flow way down to drop the finer particles back down.

Thanks for all the advice kid creole. Would the second bottle, the gas separator, be filled with some liquid or just empty?

DIY will not be able to push through a ceramic diffuser unfortunately. I agree with the above post as well, you could get away with going low tech with your plant list and just overdosing excel...

Orlando and GLA are awesome. I buy from him whenever possible

heres a shot of my old 10 Gallon...

Your tank looks awesome. Are those African butterflies? Did you get them to breed? What type of plant is behind the nana, the one with long leaves?

 

[kid creole]

Thanks for all the advice kid creole. Would the second bottle, the gas separator, be filled with some liquid or just empty?

Plain old regular water is fine.

 

[agutt]

Your tank looks awesome. Are those African butterflies? Did you get them to breed? What type of plant is behind the nana, the one with long leaves?

Those are Norman's Lampeye Killi - I got them to breed, no survivors though... The Plant behind that is Anubias lanceolata

 

[agutt]

Closer shot...

 

[chonhzilla]

Love em' lampeyes. I've got myself around like eight, it so happens that I got all males. No breeding for me.

 

[Payara]

Closer shot...

Very nice! You still have them around?

Love em' lampeyes. I've got myself around like eight, it so happens that I got all males. No breeding for me.

What type of lampeyes do you have Chonhzilla? Any pics?

 

[macclellan]

A pair of kribs and school o' fish is an awful lot o' fish for a 9g tank (which is probably 7g water).

 

[Payara]

Yeah, you are right macclellan. The kribs are temporary they will be moved in a few months to my parents' 75 gallon tank. That's another reason why I am doing multiple and rather large water changes throughout the week. So far, they seem happy and adjusting well to my tank. I have also noticed courting behaviors from the female. Hopefully I'll have some F1 before I give them to my parents

 

[Payara]

Update:

My slender kribs have dramatically changed colors, especially the female. Her belly is now a bright cherry-red surrounded by a metallic blue-green cast. Her face also has this blue/green cast as well. Both the male and female are very territorial of the overhang created by the driftwood and lava rock. I also saw the female courting the male a few days ago! She curled her body into an S-shape and was shaking herself directly in his path. I am still doing large water changes (>50%) almost 3 times a week. I am feeding them multiple times a day, 5 days a week, hoping that will breed. Their main diet consists of: Color Supreme, frozen blood worms, and flakes. I have tried krill and squid but they don't seem to like it. Does anyone have any recomendations on my tank setup or breeding Pelvicachromis taeniatus?

I also got some plants coming in this week from 3 members. I am getting some African Fern from BruceWatts and bryony. Lnb has also sent me a beautiful Red Tiger Lotus. Can't wait till I get all of them. I'll be posting some pics very soon.

 

[Payara]

I just want to thank BruceWatts, bryony, and Lnb for the plants they gave me! They look great in the tank, thanks a lot!!!

UPDATE:
I have played with different positions for my plants and finally am happy with the overall look (I promise I'll take some pics this week with my friend's camera). I haven't had any major algae issues so far but I have noticed some brown algae on few Anubias barteri leaves. Any recommendation on combating this? I have reduced the photoperiod from eight hours to six hours and turned off one of the bulbs so I have a total of 16W on the tank so far. I will be adding a DIY CO2 very soon. I am still sticking to the WC schedule and recently I tested my water 2 days after a water change to see how bad the water actually gets after all the heavy feeding I do and with all the fish I have. I used API Freshwater Master Test kit and got the following readings

pH: 6.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

I was really surprised, I thought the nitrite and nitrate would be a little bit higher. All the fish are eating like champs. I try to feed them several times throughout the day 5 days a week. Also after taking to several people, I have decided against getting the Norman's lampeyes. Instead I will be getting 3 Otos to help clear up the brown algae.

It's amazing how the fish have transformed their colors are intense and they have also become more territorial of the hang out. Past 2 weeks after each WC the female initiates courting behavior. She curls her body and shakes herself directly in the male's path. The male responded by "flexing" his fins and opening his mouth, I always thought such a pose was a threat display. I noticed the male chasing her several times after their displays without any harm. I also noticed that the female is excavating a lot, throughout the day, she brings gravel from somewhere and dumps it in the front of the tank.

Past few days they are rarely out and always in their cave, with the female being a bit bolder and traveling outside when she see me, otherwise, they only come out during feeding time. The males attitude has changed dramatically from the first week I had him, he is more territorial and chases the cories around during feeding time and when they approach his cave.

I added 4 trumpet snails and will be adding 3 otos. Pictures will be coming very soon, I am still waiting for my buddy to drop off his camera at my place.

-George

 

[Payara]

PICTURES:

FTS:



Fish:


Comments are more than welcomed.

-George