First ever tank + aquascape

[aelen]

So I just finished setting up my first ever tank and tried my hand at creating something of an aquascape. Currently there are no lights, but I ordered 2 Lumini Asta 120 which will arrive tomorrow so hopefully I can get some better shots once those are in place.

I had a twinstar 900EA, but ultimately I wasn't happy eith it so I returned it to the shop and ordered the replacements today. Hoping the plants don't die before I get the new lights.

Anyway, the tank is an Oase Scaperline 100 - very happy with it. Initially I was looking for a 120cm wide tank but I really loved the quality of the finish on this tank so decided to just go for it.

For the filter I have 2x Oase Biomaster Thermo 250 of which I've set one up so far, but it got kinda late so I'll set the second one up tomorrow.

Would love some feedback on what I have so far!

[Aiken Drum]

Looking very nice.

[aelen]

Thanks! Kinda tempted to get more plants, but I probably just need to be patient haha.

[Aiken Drum]

Let the plants fill in a bit before you decide to add more. Those swords will pretty much fill the background.

I would normally recommend a black background. It makes everything you want to be looking at pop out, hides any equipment and gives fish a better sense of security. But, your tank looks good without a background. Something to consider though.

In case you arent aware, aquarium plants are cultivated immersed in water, rather than submerged. As such they had ready access to CO2 and need to transition to being underwater and having the CO2 largely cut off. The leaf structure has to change. What tends to happen is, leafs start to die off, this is called melt. Its possible you might lose all your existing leafs to melt. New growth should be tolerant of the new environment. You need to give plants a couple of months to transition to know if they will be good or not.

[aelen]

Ah so that's what melt means - I always just thought they'd actually melt from the heat of the water or something lol. I'd only ever heard of this process as converting from immersed to submerged state, but that males a lot of sense!

As for the background - I was initially planning to get a frosted background but the stuff I had bought didn't really achieve the effect I was going for, and since it's in front of a white wall I figured it might be okay + the light gives a nice effect.

The plants - yeah, I should just be patient I guess it's easier to add than remove at a later date. Will this have any effect at all on doing a fishless cycle in the tank?

[Aiken Drum]

Originally Posted by aelen

The plants - yeah, I should just be patient I guess it's easier to add than remove at a later date. Will this have any effect at all on doing a fishless cycle in the tank?

Swings and roundabouts. Plants will take up some ammonia and take that ammonia out of the nitrogen cycle. You will therefore not grow as much beneficial bacteria as you would without the plants and some people equate that to it taking longer to cycle. But you also wont need as much beneficial bacteria as the plants will doing some of the job. My opinion is these factors will balance out. I have done fishless cycles with plants in with no noticable issues.

In the short term, assuming you suffer some melt, your plants might be contributing to ammonia to the water rather than removing it. If it looks dead, trim it and remove the dead part.

[aelen]

That makes a lot of sense - thanks for all the knowledge, it helps more than you know!

I'm just re-reading the fishless cycle guide now, then I'll probably do a nice big water change to lose some of the tannins that are in the water (yay bogwood) and then get started on cycling the tank.

[ukracompton]

This tank looks beautiful, good job!