[Dan110024]

This is a second tank for me, after my high tech setup. I wanted something a little less tedious and planted a little heavier than my high tech tank.

Tank - AquaNano 40
Canister filter - Aqua One Nautilus 1100
Substrate - Pisces Iron Sand

Fauna
Still need to decide on what I want.

Flora
Amazon sword
Straight vallis
Hygrophila compact
Star grass
Anubias
Anubias nana

I also have some half dead blyxa aubertii sitting infront of the amazon sword. I bought this to place where the straight vallis now sits. Unfortunately it didn't do well in the shipment from interstate (ordered online), so I went to my LFS and the closest thing I could get was vallis. Not as soft as the blyxa though. I was going to throw it out but decided to fit it in and see if I could rejuvenate it. It looked horrible (half dead and browning) in it's original location.

The star grass isn't exactly as I imagined. Maybe it needs to settle for a bit. It's not looking very nice at the moment. I may end up pulling it out and finding something else to put in its place.


Dosing excel as required. Not too sure how to go about ferts. I dose EI on my high tech tank, so I've been doing half strength on this tank. If anyone has any input on dosing EI on low tech, I'm all ears.

 

[talontsiawd]

Great looking tank. I really like that substrate as well.

 

[Dan110024]

Thanks!

Yeah I'm liking the substrate too. I took a gamble with it when the lfs recommended it, having never heard of it before. I'm used to aquasoil, but I'm loving being able to pull plants up and reposition them with no risk of ammonia spikes or crushing the soil into a mush. The plants hold so much better in it too. While it's called iron sand, I wasn't expecting it to actually be magnetic....i went a little low with my magnetic glass scrubber and a whole lot of substrate came up and attached itself to the scrubber. Haha.

Going to get some root tabs too.

 

[talontsiawd]

Thanks!

Yeah I'm liking the substrate too. I took a gamble with it when the lfs recommended it, having never heard of it before. I'm used to aquasoil, but I'm loving being able to pull plants up and reposition them with no risk of ammonia spikes or crushing the soil into a mush. The plants hold so much better in it too. While it's called iron sand, I wasn't expecting it to actually be magnetic....i went a little low with my magnetic glass scrubber and a whole lot of substrate came up and attached itself to the scrubber. Haha.

Going to get some root tabs too.

I scratched my glass that way with Flourite Black Sand. It stuck to my magnetic cleaner and scraped it, I have not used a magnetic cleaner since. That's actually why I like it, it looks better than Flourite sand in color and looks to be much finer.

I only have AS in one tank but I have had plenty of luck with other substrates. I imagine it will do you well.

 

[Dan110024]

I scratched my glass that way with Flourite Black Sand. It stuck to my magnetic cleaner and scraped it, I have not used a magnetic cleaner since. That's actually why I like it, it looks better than Flourite sand in color and looks to be much finer.

I only have AS in one tank but I have had plenty of luck with other substrates. I imagine it will do you well.

I'll keep that in mind. I was wondering that but managed to spray it off with the garden hose on high pressure.

 

[Dan110024]

I made up some DIY root tabs yesterday. The gelatin capsule and slow release granual fertiliser method.

While at Bunnings (Australia's big hardware store), I was about to grab the usual Osmocote brand but I decided to read the analysis of some of the other brands. I noticed this other cheaper brand had 50-80% more content of some of the fertilisers in the Osmocote Plus. The cheaper brand also has about half the amount of ammonium nitrogen while keeping it's total nitrogen content almost the same as the Osmocote Plus. And finally, it was about half the price at $4. Win-Win

All up, it was under $20 to make 100 root tabs. I could have done 500 for the same cost if I was more organised and bought the capsules online.

I thought this might be worth mentioning to any Australian readers who don't have access to the US products which are usually mentioned here.

Warning - As it's been mentioned below, this does contain copper which can be deadly to some fish species.

 

[ANGELFISH GUY]

any one making their on tabs, keep in mind the Copper in some ferts, if you have fish this one element will kill alot of fish off. Great idea on making your own root tabs with the glycerin capsules

 

[unicmob]

Very nice tank.
What plants do you have in the front?

 

[Dan110024]

any one making their on tabs, keep in mind the Copper in some ferts, if you have fish this one element will kill alot of fish off. Great idea on making your own root tabs with the glycerin capsules

Totally missed that. Will definitely keep it in mind.

Very nice tank.
What plants do you have in the front?

Thank you! That would be hygrophila compact. I think I planted them right. I cut the stem a quarter of an inch or so below the node. They haven't been doing much though. Not compared to the rest of the plants anyway.


This photo is 6 days after planting (the sword had been in there a few weeks prior due to buying it prematurely). The star grass has grown at an astronomical rate, at least for low tech anyway. Since this photo which was taken a few days ago, it's grown even more. I trimmed today and it was bowing over at the top of the tank (with water level at full height after water change). The amazon sword and the vallis have also grown noticeably.

It also looks like the blyxa aubertii, which wasn't fairing too well after delivery, has got some life into it and is growing slowly but surely. It's not as easy to see, nestled between the sword and the wood.

Still haven't been able to afford to stock it yet. This time of year is pretty full on in Adelaide with lots of food and wine being consumed (just a good time of year), so it may be a few weeks before I have any inhabitants.

 

[Dan110024]

Thought I'd randomly update this thread with a progress shot. It's been almost 7 months since its birth.... Some trimming was done at the beginning, but now it's just left alone.

The amazon sword still has some sort of deficiency problem. Leaves have holes in them and some are quite thin and delicate (ignore the broken leaf...it got stuck in the tube when siphoning..lol). I'm dosing EI at rates that I used to dose my high tech tank, but the deficiency hasn't gone away. I haven't bothered looking into it much, though.

I must have added the fish not too long after the last post. I bought 5 head-and-taillight tetra, 10 orange/black fish of which I can't remember the name of (check picture below), and 3 catfish which I've also forgotten the name of. I've also inherited a number of snails which have multiplied greatly over time....I'd prefer they aren't there but the care factor isn't high enough to do anything about them. I'm keen to get more of the fish that I have at the moment...probably double of what I bought initially...but I can't justify the cost.

3 of the head/taillight tetras have disappeared. I noticed one missing in the first couple of months. No idea if it died and got eaten, or if it jumped and I'm going to find it rotting behind the desk somewhere. The other two are confirmed suicides/long jump candidates. I think I'm also missing one of the orange/black fish...it's hard to tell in a densely planted tank, but pretty sure I've only ever counted 9 for a while now.

It's been an enjoyable tank to have. More fun than my high tech ever was. Probably because this one is successful and interesting to watch.

I know, the glass is dirty and I'm too lazy to get the SLR out, and the water level is low because water change day is coming up...deal with it

 

[Sub1117]

Isn't Urea Nitrogen poisonous to fish as well?

 

[Dan110024]

I'm no expert, but I think I remember checking it out when I bought the fertiliser and coming to the conclusion that it'd be ok in the amounts I'm dealing with...
I could be wrong but that's what I remember.

 

[TLE041]

Those "orange/black fishes" are Rasbora espei. Great little schoolers.

 

[arunawick]

beautiful!!

What are the lights?

 

[Dan110024]

Those "orange/black fishes" are Rasbora espei. Great little schoolers.

That's it! They're great. Will definitely be getting a whole bunch when the time comes for a large tank.

beautiful!!

What are the lights?

I can't remember what brand the light is in the first photos. The light in the most recent photos is the Maxspect Razor Nano 60W (8000k version). I dismantled my high tech tank and decided to use the light on this tank.

It's stupidly over-powered for a low-ish tech tank. I have it running at around 27% of it's maximum power. Lol. Warm channel at 35% and cool channel at 20%. I used my Seneye to take light readings...I can't remember what PAR I set it at, but it was in the vicinity of low-tech.

 

[AJPT]

Those "orange/black fishes" are Rasbora espei. Great little schoolers.

Known by simpletons, such as myself, as lambchops. The book says Trigonostigma espei, micropredator. I was just now looking at them.

How is the tank going (or is it)?

That Iron Sand, that's what I really wan't to check in with. I'm wondering how this is going. I'm getting it anyways.