Khuligirl's planted 20 long

[Khuligirl93]

Hey everyone it's been a while since I was active on here, but my job/ living situation has finally allowed me to have a tank again
So I've got a 20 long that was last used for my nano reef- I'm currently running it with tap water and vinegar to dissolve the small amount of coralline crust that's left.

My equipment:
-AC 70 placed on the end of the tank
-30" Finnex planted plus
-Fluval heater
-Paintball CO2 setup w/ solenoid that will be on a timer with lights (just ordered new co2 tubing, brass check valve, rhinox diffuser, and a drop checker)

Ferts:
-GLA PPS-pro dosing, as well as some DIY root tabs where needed.

Hardscape:
-large twisted tree root that will come up out of the surface of the water, meaning it will be an open top (hoping this dry Denver air won't make evaporation unmanageable)
-floramax/ ecocomplete substrate (trying to save money and I have some leftover from my last setup)
-a few large, smooth river stones

Flora: I know this will change based on what I find locally, but I'm hoping to attempt a dwarf hairgrass carpet on one end of the tank, with a Dutch style assortment of stem plants in the background. If this doesn't work out, my backup plan is dwarf vals and crypts, because I KNOW I can grow those
I want to have some red root floaters or frogbit on the surface to make it more appealing from above, since the tank sits pretty low, but i realize this will limit light to below.

Fauna: obviously this will change as well, but I really have my heart set on a large school (20+) of either chili rasboras or celestial pearl danios. Possibly a small group of ottos once the tank is more established. I also love kuhli loaches, but realize both my substrate and the tank being open top is not ideal for their delicate skin and tendency to go wacko after the lights go off lol

I'll be updating this thread as the tank progresses- thanks for following along!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Barliman]

Welcome back to the hobby!

Sounds like you have a really nice, well-thought out plan there. I'm considering a similar CO2 setup for my planted 20-long. Did you buy it through GLA? If so, did you get the paintball regulator, or one of the larger ones with two dials?

You'll like the planted-plus light. I love mine. By starting out with pressurized CO2, you'll hopefully avoid the problems with algae I've experienced.

I have an AC50 and an AC20 on mine and I get pretty good circulation. You don't think the AC70 will be too strong?

I like the sound of your stocking plan. In the right light, a school of those chili rasboras should be stunning.

I'll be following this with interest. Be sure to post pics!

 

[Khuligirl93]

Actually my regulator is a really cheap one I got online (with a built in paintball adapter) a few years ago when I started my first "high tech" tank. It still works just fine though! The co2 tank is just a 20oz paintball canister from Dick's sporting goods.
Maybe for my birthday I'll buy myself a nice GLA regulator and a 5 or 10lb canister
I don't think the AC70 will be too strong because I've placed it on the end of the tank so the water flows across the 30" length of the tank. When I was using it for the nano reef I had it placed on the back, left side of the tank and I always had the problem of it pushing a hole in the sand in the front left side of the tank.
I've had the light for a couple years too, but I was using it on my 36 bowfront which was 20" tall (if I'm remembering correctly), so I wasn't using CO2- I'm hoping with a shorter tank I'll have better luck with carpeting plants


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Barliman]

Sounds like you're well-set.

 

[TMaier]

Love your screen name. I am a HUGE fan of the Khuli!



Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Khuligirl93]

https://goo.gl/photos/SMuLw69Ln2GEyfe6A
Got the hardscape done. Still trying to figure out a way to lift up one end of the light since one end has to sit on top of the filter..

Yeah I saw some kuhlis at the store today and I forgot how adorable they are I may just have to get some for the tank. My favorite fish. I'll make it work
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[shellyx]

Hi, welcome back
Following along! I would say rasbora I have a few and really enjoy them, great little fish very active.

70 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon boraras , red longfin bristlenose, bamboo shrimp, crs,rcs and different snails.
7 gallon halfmoon betta and red ramshorn.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I'm going to get my CO2 canister filled today and put some plants in! Probably some fast growing, non-demanding stem plants like bacopa and wisteria, maybe some crypts to start filling in the more shaded areas.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Khuligirl93]

Added some water sprite, bacopa, ludwigia, and 4 ghost shrimp. Got the CO2 filled and running.
And now.... I wait.
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/CA52FE73-1E07-463E-98FF-67EF2E032309_zpsygjo4xov.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Khuligirl93]

Got this little stem thrown in for free today- ID? I was guessing a myrio sp. but it may be easier to tell once it's grown a little bit.
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/CA7BA041-A41B-445A-B73B-EC9FD066BE0D_zps5uh9bqxe.jpg
It was the only piece floating in a random fish stock tank at the store in very low lighting, I'm surprised it still had any red coloring at all! Hoping I can revive it
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Caliban07]

Could well be myrio mattogrossense red.

It's been trimmed so obviously will sprout shoots from the node which can eventually be trimmed and replanted then you can discard the bottom.

The bigger it gets the faster it will grow and it should maintain its red colouration with co2.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fresh2o]

Added some water sprite, bacopa, ludwigia, and 4 ghost shrimp. Got the CO2 filled and running.
And now.... I wait.
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/CA52FE73-1E07-463E-98FF-67EF2E032309_zpsygjo4xov.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Your light placement makes me very nervous. ? I'd be afraid to sneeze near the tank.
If suspending the light fixture from the wall or ceiling is not an option, you might consider bracing some type of structure along the frame of the tank stand. There are some threads on the subject on AA; I just need to find them.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Khuligirl93]

Haha you are right, that was a horrible idea. But, it was only like that for a few seconds while I took the picture. I'm having trouble finding good placement for the light because my filter takes up most of the space on the left side of the tank, and the driftwood also limits its positioning, so I have it sitting crooked and I just wanted it straight for the picture


I LOVE the AC 70 on there though. The flow is perfect. I think it may actually be conserving CO2 because individual bubbles get pushed horizontally and spend a lot of time in the water column before reaching the surface. My CO2 is only at 1-2 bps, and my drop checker turns green within an hour and stays green all day!

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Barliman]

I LOVE the AC 70 on there though. The flow is perfect.

I noticed you have a book on top of the AC 70. Is that because of noise from a vibrating lid?

 

[Khuligirl93]

No it was temporarily to level the light


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[jeffh129]

I'd love to see a photo of the reef tank that was in this tank previously.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Khuligirl93]

Update!
Got my orders from Fresh2o and Junglefowl today!
Just spent 2 hours planting everything (ecocomplete is a PITA).
FTS:
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/07D8802D-12DF-4F2C-BC11-127FA98B9BE9_zps9baxvlbg.jpg

So this is what I have in there now:
Bacopa carolina
Hygro. polysperma
That little red stem (after a bit of research I think it's actually Proserpinaca palustris)
Water sprite
AR mini
Hydrocotle sp Japan
Staurogene repens
Crypt wendtii
Aponogeton crispus
Echinodorus parviflorus
Ammania bonsai
Subwassertang
Downoi (pogostemon helferi)
Red ludwigia
Some other ludwigia thats still in immersed form (from LFS)
Rotala colorata
2 Buce species that I'm blanking on at the moment

A lot of the stems are twisted right now, but hopefully in a couple days they'll straighten out once they figure out which direction the light is coming from

I also got my water tested at a LFS a couple days ago, because my tests are waaay expired and I haven't gotten around to getting new ones yet.
Here's what they said:
Ammonia- .6
Nitrite- .3
Nitrate- 10
Kh (filled tank with 10g RO & 10g tap): 4
Phosphate: 2.5-3

They used nutrafin tests, which I'm not familiar with, but it appears that they are more specific than API and can detect smaller amounts.

Assuming those are correct, my cycle appears to be in progress. The ammonia makes sense to me because I bought 4 ghost shrimp and 3 died, but the nitrite reading seemed a bit early to me since the tank had only been running about a week when I took the sample in. I've been dosing PPS-pro so the nitrate and phosphate are about where I expected them to be.
I will order another API master test kit here in a few days just to know for myself what's going on.

Luckily I was able to persuade the LFS worker to give me a little piece of filter media from a healthy looking display tank in the store, so that should help speed things up

My plan for this tank is to not try too hard. I want it to be as stress-free as possible. I'll do regular maintenance on it if course, but if something isn't doing great, rather than try to alter the tank to fit the plant, I'll just take it out and keep what does well. I'm planning on letting it look a little jungle-y.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Khuligirl93]

I'd love to see a photo of the reef tank that was in this tank previously.

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/56CB6FD6-5768-4E07-88DC-38B0C64E5F83_zpsiwdpe8zn.jpg
This was it as a reef. As you can see, I was running out of space for frags, which is why I upgraded to a 50
That space invader pectinia was my baby, it breaks my heart to look at this pic because all of it is gone or dead now (the 50 crashed shortly after setting it up).

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fresh2o]

Well that tank filled in quickly. Looking good. Will check back for updates.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Caliban07]

Wow that planted tank is fantastic. It's going to look great when is fills in completely. Nice job indeed!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice