28 gallon bowfront - newbie planted tank

[doublenerds]

After a false start a couple of weeks ago, I finally have assembled enough bits and pieces to start my very first planted tank!

I really want this to be as low tech as possible, so I am adhering to Diana Walstad's recommendations as printed in Ecology of the Planted Aquarium, with minor modifications.

My tank:
* 28 gallon bowfront (24x15x18)
* Rena Filstar xp1 canister filter
* heater
* Zoomed Aquasun T5HO with 2 Flora Sun plant bulbs

My substrate:
* very thin layer of peat moss on bottom of tank. Walstad recommends against this but I am hoping to adjust my pH of 7.6 slightly downward
* 1" of Miracle Gro organic potting soil
* 1" of Leslie's pool filter sand

Plants ordered from aquariumplants.com:
* Limnophila indica
* Camboba carolina
* Anubius barteri
* Hygrophila corymbosa
* Ludwiga repens
* Echinorodus bleheri
* Hemianthus callitrichoides

I suspect I have too many plants, and I suspect that some of these will struggle a bit without CO2. I do plan to supplement with Flourish Excel, but I'm a bit lost on dosing and I would love to hear from more experienced plant people.

Today I laid the substrate and preliminary hardscape. In the photo below the tank is all grungy from my sloppy sand distribution, I'm not the most coordinated of newbies

I will not be adding water until the plants arrive, and then I will fill as per Walstad's recommendations.

I'm kinda psyched!

 

[fort384]

Looks like a wonderful start. You might be surprised how well the plants do even with a lack of injected CO2... using dirt seems to provide a decent source of carbon for uptake that alleviates at least some of the need for CO2 injection. I am anxious to see where this goes. It is a very ambitious setup for a first planted tank, but obviously you have done your homework! That is a very interesting piece of driftwood you have there, as well.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I do like your hardscape how it is right now. Just remember when your placing your plants into your aquarium, to visualize it as its going to be, not as it is now. Also realize that placing plants in the right spot depending on the size of the leaves, the colors, and the dimensions of the plants if your are planning to trim shape them or trim them more natural like.

I've used just straight plain dirt from outside in an aquarium before, then put some stream gravel over it. The plants grew very well with low-light and no ferts or Co2.

All you can do is trial and error until you find your own rythme in your aquariums, then it will be second nature.

 

[mudraker]

I'm kinda psyched!

I'm psyched for you too! I'll be watching to see how you do with it.

The Walstad methods always seemed over the top for me but lately I've been toying with the idea...Can't wait to see how it turns out for you.

I too like your driftwood. It's definately eyecatching.

Is it seasoned? If not, it too with reduce your ph to some degree, at least until the tannins are all leached out.

 

[doublenerds]

I didn't have a proper setup for soaking the wood, so I just poured boiling water over it in the kitchen sink a few times. I expect much tannin leakage in upcoming weeks

I forgot to mention that I baked the potting soil at 350 for about an hour to mineralize it a la Tom Barr. I also found my stones at a local strea, boiled them for an hour, and vinegar tested them - no bubbles!

I looked at the hardscape again this morning and I think I might leave it as is for now. Plants and python should arrive within 2 days.

Any recommendations on how to plant the stem plants in the background so that they appear full when grown out, but not over-crowded?

 

[doublenerds]

OK, some progress, a few mistakes, and one giant dirty mess have been made. Despite the mess, I am pretty happy with Round 1.

On Friday, my baby tears arrived from mikeswetpets (aquabid):

I broke them up into little chunks, removed most of the wool, and placed them. Then spent about 45 minutes re-placing them as they popped out of the substrate. Two days later they appear to be sitting still, but I have definitely been playing a bit of whack-a-mole for the past couple of days.

Then on the 14th, my big delivery from aquariumplants.com came in. I definitely ordered way too many plants! I have a ton of ambulia and camboba left over that I am going to have to find a home for.

I made the mistake of filling the tank entirely after planting the baby tears, which added buoyancy that made the stem plants just LEAP out of the substrate every 10 seconds. I tried burying some leaves as anchor, and bending the stems, but there are still a few that I can't get to stick. Right now I'm letting them float until the first plants are more solidly rooted, then I'll go in and mess around again.

Here's the full tank:

This shot has everything but the camboba: one of the little Hygrophila corymbosa plants is just left of the anubias, with the amazon sword to the right. In the background, from left to right: Limnophila indica and Ludwiga repens.

Here's a closer shot of the H. corymbosa. They are just the cutest little plants.

The ambulia look a bit sad after 24 hours. I am skeptical whether they are going to perk up. I also keep reading that my baby tears won't form a carpet without CO2, but right now I am just hopeful that it doesn't die.

I added 6 harlequin rasbora yesterday. I am doing a fishless cycle on my 29 gallon, but from everything I have read my plants are going to need the fish waste/food and my fish should have an easier time of it with the plants sucking up NH4/NO2/NO3.

Today my ammonia level was at 0.25ppm, so I did a 15% water change. The fish are active and eating well.

This may sound a bit dorky, but those little rasbora make me so happy! They are my first ever fish, and I can't stop watching them skitter around the tank.

 

[TotallyCoral]

Hmm, maybe next time you should select a another substrate (Eco Complete is a good one) that you can put under the sand to prevent all the plants from popping up. That way, it'll give the plants a more stable base than just sand which is not as sturdy. Good luck with your tank!

 

[doublenerds]

I'm seeking opinions - Fish seem to be thriving so far. I am getting ammonia readings of 0.1 ppm every 24 hours. I have been doing 15% water changes daily, but I am wondering if it is less stressful for the fish if I allow the tank to run unmolested for another 12-24 hours between changes.

If I wait for the ammonia to hit 0.25 before changing water, would I be doing harm?

 

[doublenerds]

OK, bit of a crap picture (still trying to figure out how my camera works):

The ambulia I got from aquariumplants.co was DOA. After a few days, when it was clear that recovery was not an option, I attempted to pull them out and they literally exploded into hundreds of rotten chunks, most of which scattered all over the tank. Every day I am discovering and removing more dead ambulia as it gets hung up on another plant.

I have learned to trust my instincts, though - those plants smelled "off" when they arrived, but I planted them anyway thinking that perhaps this was normal for aquatic plants.

I have ordered some willowgrass from a different vendor. Right now I feel the plants are a bit of a mess and I wish I had placed them differently, but I am going to sit tight for a bit and move things around after I am sure what will live and what will croak.

Since the 17th, parameters have been holding steady at ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 5ppm. I will do a pwc today just to unload some tannins. Critters are active, eating, and appear unstressed.

 

[doublenerds]

OK, 3 weeks in and I have chopped heavily and moved things around a bit. Growth appears to be slow and steady, which I expected. It's hard to see because of my terrible photo skills, but the overhang of the DW causes little pockets of shade that I quite like. The cardinal tetras seem to like the shady bits, too!

 

[TotallyCoral]

That's awesome. I think it turned out quite nice. Very well done!

 

[rich311k]

Looking good. Nice tank.

 

[doublenerds]

10 days after the last round of photos. I think I will need to trim the cabomba every couple of days....the new growth is kind of stemmy and I really want something a bit more filled out.

I bought a java moss mat and cut most of it off for a wall in my low-light 29 gallon...the stripped down mat is sitting in here for faster growth and maybe I will use it to make a bit of lawn. I have officially given up on the baby tears.

 

[HalfMoon B]

I want to steal that driftwood!

 

[rkilling1]

Very nicely done!

 

[Bud]

Coming along nicely. I've got some cabomba that's growing the same way. Stuff grows fast.

 

[Fishkeeper88]

Awesome aquarium!!! The wood is great

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Awesome! I think it looks very good! I'm totally jelous, I plant my plants wherever I want so it looks like a jungle in my tank

 

[Coleallensmom]

Lookin' good!~