Matt Cham's First Planted Tank - 125G

[mattcham]

Matt's First Planted Tank - 125G

Video of my very first planted tank:

I wanted to share the story of my very first planted tank in hopes of inspiring others this Christmas just as members of this forum have inspired me this year.

This is my very first planted tank. Prior to creating this tank I bought 4 bunches of "easy" Anacharis plants which all died (melted away) within 5 days while floating in my 10 gallon tank. This motivated me to learn more about planted tanks. I have over 20 years experience keeping hundreds of fish per day, but I didn't know a thing about plants. I spent the subsequent 4 weeks reading the aquarium plant forums at Aquarium Advice dot com and a few other popular sites. I started planning out my aquascape in May 2014. This post chronicles the outcome of my project as of November 15, 2014, more than two months after I first started assembling the aquascape (September 1, 2014). It is a 125-gallon aquarium with a 20-pound pressurized CO2 tank. The CO2 is being injected into the intake of a Fluval FX6 canister filter via a custom made CO2 reactor that I built myself. There are 4 large pieces of driftwood (dark brown malaysian and tricolor mopani). I boiled these driftwood in a gigantic cooking pot more than 30 times each over the course of 2 months in order to eliminate all tannins. There are two naturally hollow stones made of light weight lace rock. Lace rock is perfect for aquascaping because it can look very large while being completely hollow, thus making it extremely light and displacing a minimal volume of water. Lace rock is also relatively inert and has negligible impact on the pH. I got my lace rock and all my driftwood from Petco. The plants in my aquascape include:

Foreground carpets: Dwarf hair grass eleocharis belem mini, Micranthemum monte carlo, Marsilea minuta

Midground plants: Alternanthera reineckii mini, Staurogyne repens, Lobelia cardinalis dwarf, Lysimachia nummularia aurea (golden jenny)

Background plants: Hydrocotyle leucocephala (Brazillian pennywort), Bacopa caroliniana (Lemon bacopa), Rotala nanjenshan green, Ludwigia red, Ludwigia atlantis, Rotala rotundifolia, Hygrophila difformis (Water wisteria).

Substrate: CaribSea Eco-Complete, 240 pounds
Fertilizers: Estimative Index dosing plus 0.5 ml/gallon of Metricide 14
Lights: 100-120 PARs worth of LED from Build My LED dot com, turned on for a total of 6 hours a day, with a 12 hour siesta period after 3 hours of light.
Diatom duty: 7x Otocinclus catfish, 9x Amano shrimp

Many thanks to the wonderful folks at the planted tank forums of Aquarium Advice dot com. Special thanks go to Tom Barr and Takashi Amano who are living legends and a beacon of inspiration to so many people worldwide.

 

[mattcham]

Sometime in the beginning of August 2014, I filled my empty 125 gallon aquarium with 120 pounds of CaribSea Eco-Complete gravel. I selected this substrate because it does not need to be washed and will therefore save me about 12 hours of gravel washing manual labor considering the amount of gravel I will be using. I subsequently arranged all of the driftwood into position as I had pictured it in my mind. I then added another 120 pounds of Eco-Complete gravel behind the barricade of driftwood, creating a bi-level aquascape. The driftwood prevents the upper level gravel from landsliding into the bottom level gravel. At this point there is still no water in the aquarium.

I then placed a large salad bowl (about 1 gallon size) on top of the gravel. I placed some dechlorinator into this salad bowl (enough Seachem Prime dechlorinator for 125 gallons), then used a water hose to pour water into the salad bowl. The salad bowl prevents the incoming water from agitating the gravel and kicking up dust clouds. After the tank is filled, I hook up the filtration system which in this case is a Fluval FX6 canister filter.

Before starting up the filter, I head to home depot to build an inline CO2 reactor. There are many CO2 reactor guides on youtube, but the ones I found most helpful were these two videos:

I hooked up the CO2 reactor to the intake hose of my canister filter and turned the filter on, checking to make sure there were no leaks.

At this point I assembled my 20 pound CO2 tank and regulator. You can buy a 20-pound tank of CO2 from your local AirGas or other welding supply store. 20-pound tanks are relatively rare and you might need to purchase the tank from amazon dot com if your local store does not carry that size. Amazon also sells CO2 regulators which you will need. These vary a lot in terms of features, reliability, and price which ranges from $80 to $400. Some premium models are available from Greenleaf Aquariums dot com. Go with whatever your budget allows. Some of the premium features include:
1) precision control needle valves (for precise control of CO2 output)
2) end of tank dump prevention mechanisms (to prevent deadly CO2 overdose when tank is near empty)
3) built in check valves (one way valves to prevent water from entering and damaging the regulator)
4) glass bubble counters (as opposed to plastic which can crack and leak)
5) industrial quality solenoid (for reliable control using a wall outlet timer)

There is an awesome guide for assembling a CO2 regulator and CO2 tank system here:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/

After I got my CO2 system hooked up and running alongside my filter, I then deployed my CO2 indicator (also known as drop checker) to determine my CO2 levels and readjust the CO2 flow rate. I use a Fluval CO2 Indicator Kit which is also available at amazon dot com. The instructions say to replace the CO2 indicator fluid after 30 days, but from my experience it works OK for more than 6 months. I know the indicator is working properly because the liquid indicator solution turns blue when exposed to atmospheric air (during my weekly water changes) and turns back to lime green during CO2 injection. While working on my CO2 system, I was also planning out my lighting strategy.

For a high light system, I was looking for an LED unit that could reach 100 PAR brightness at the substrate located 24" beneath the lightsource (depth of a 125 gallon aquarium). There was only one company that offered such a product, and it was Build My Led dot com. At the time I was shopping for lights, all other products did not have nearly enough power for a 24" deep aquarium. Since these LED lights are custom built at the factory, it took almost 3 weeks for it to arrive, which worked out nicely as I was still building my CO2 reactor and pressurized CO2 system at the time.

With CO2 and lighting finally in check, it was time for me to finally plant some greenery.
This is my tank on September 14, 2014, on the first day of planting:

Here is my tank on September 23, 2014, just 9 days after initial planting. The carpet is starting to spread:

Here is my tank on September 25, 2014, which is 11 days after initial planting. I added new plants that day:

 

[mattcham]

 

[mattcham]

The photos below are from September 27, 2014, which is 13 days after initial planting. More plants are added:

The photo below is from October 4, 2014, which is 21 days after initial planting. Green water is becoming a problem:

The photos below are from October 11, 2014, which is 28 days after initial planting. Green water is clearing with the help of a diatom filter:

 

[mattcham]

The photo below is from November 2, 2014, 6 weeks after initial planting. More plants have been added:

 

[mattcham]

Photos below are from November 15, 2014, exactly 2 months since the initial planting:

Photos below are from December 7, 2014, almost 3 months since the initial planting:

 

[mattcham]

 

[Brookster123]

Wow. .just wow....merry xmas to me
Ps. Where'd you aquire that dhg?
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[mattcham]

Wow. .just wow....merry xmas to me
Ps. Where'd you aquire that dhg?

There are many types of dwarf hair grass. The most common type of dwarf hair grass grows to a height of 8 inches and is called Eleocharis parvula which can be obtained in petsmart tissue culture packs, ebay, aquabid dot com, and planted tank dot net buy/sell forum. The smallest type of dwarf hair grass is Eleocharis belem (also known as Eleocharis mini and Japanese hair grass) which grow to a maximum height of 5 inches. In reality, 5 inches is still too tall for a carpet, so you will need to trim it down every 3 weeks. I got my Eleocharis belem from the planted tank dot net buy/sell forum but i have also seen it for sale regularly on aquabid dot com.

It is slightly advantageous to purchase submersed plants (compared to emmersed plants grown on dry land). I find that submersed plants grow much faster after planting and are less likely to shed their leaves during the transition phase from air to water. Many plants for sale are grown emmersed because it is less expensive and faster to grow it that way (unlimited free CO2 in dry land). The vast majority of aquarium plants grow very well when emmersed in moist soil with a humid environment. About half of the plants I have purchased were initially grown emmersed and all of them eventually grew very well submerged.

Here is a list of places where my species of plants have been sold:

Foreground carpets:
Dwarf hair grass eleocharis belem mini (aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Micranthemum monte carlo (aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Marsilea minuta (aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)

Midground plants:
Alternanthera reineckii mini (aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Staurogyne repens (petsmart tissue culture, aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Lobelia cardinalis dwarf (petsmart tissue culture, aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Lysimachia nummularia aurea golden jenny (petco tissue culture, aquabid dot com)

Background plants:
Hydrocotyle leucocephala brazillian pennywort (petco live plant, aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Bacopa caroliniana lemon bacopa (aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Rotala nanjenshan green (petco tissue culture)
Ludwigia red (aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Ludwigia atlantis (petco live plant, aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Rotala rotundifolia (petco live plant, aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)
Hygrophila difformis water wisteria (petco tissue culture, aquabid dot com, planted tank dot net)

 

[Brookster123]

I'm using the tissue culture and not having as much success as I'd like it like it to look more like yours haha

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[pittbully13]

Great job Matt. Following along.

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[mattcham]

When I started this project I was not sure whether to go with a lush and busy dutch layout or a sparse yet elegant iwagumi design. I made up my mind that I would integrate features of both, and a 125 gallon tank fortunately has enough real estate to accomodate both concepts.

In this post I will atttempt to describe some important aquascaping considerations that may not be obvious from just looking at the images.

In the September 14, 2014 (first day of planting) photo below, you will notice that the carpet was planted in a peculiar fashion. The carpet on the left was planted one strand at a time, while the carpet on the right was planted in large 2-inch diameter clumps that look like hamburger patties.

The single strand planting method definitely produces the fastest possible carpet growth. However I spent about 4 hours planting one strand at a time, and noticed that after 4 hours I still had not planted 90% of my Monte Carlo carpet plant. Doing the math, I figured that it would take me another 36 hours of manual labor to plant every single strand of leftover carpet.

At that point I gave up on the single strand planting method and decided to plant the carpet in 2-inch diameter patties. Some of the most highly regarded experts recommend placing a rock on the carpet patty to keep it from floating (plants are naturally buoyant) while waiting for new roots to cling to the substrate over the next few weeks. I think using a rock to anchor the carpet is a terrible idea because the rock blocks light and will kill a lot of the carpet and also reduce growth as you block the light with your rock. I came up with a better idea - to use plastic cocktail toothpicks as an anchor. You see these multi colored toothpicks in the images below.

With this technique, there are no plant casualties. You can buy plastic toothpicks from larger grocery stores or amazon and ebay. You simply anchor the carpet patty by jamming the toothpick at 30 degree angles relative to the substrate. Three or four thoothpicks per 2-inch patty was enough to securely anchor it in place. After 2 to 3 weeks, the toothpicks can be removed as the new roots adhere to the substrate.

On this September 23, 2014 photo below (9 days after initial planting), you will notice that I planted Wisteria in the right background:

This was done strategically as well. The output of my canister filter is a powerful 350 gallons per hour, and the plant that stands in front of this output will need to have the following features:

1) Strong stem that will not break under the strong water current.
2) Narrow leaves that will not be blown away or impede water flow.
3) Dense bushy structure to eventually hide the ugly nozzle of the filter output.

Wisteria was a leading contender for this job.

 

[mattcham]

I'm using the tissue culture and not having as much success as I'd like it like it to look more like yours haha

I have not had any failure with any Petco/Petsmart tissue culture pack, but I am using high tech CO2 injection plus powerful lights and maximum fertilization.

I also had great success growing tissue culture packs in my low tech overcrowded fish tanks with zero CO2/fert/light supplements.

Plants are very sensitive to drastic reduction in CO2/ferts/light. When I moved some wisteria from my high tech tank to my low tech fish tank which already contained healthy growing wisteria, the newly moved wisteria died. I can only attribute this to sudden reduction in nutrients. The same is true when moving from emmersed (very high CO2) to low tech (no CO2) which is a transition that can cause some plants to die, especially if they are getting too much light but not enough nutrients (CO2, ferts).

I have also seen this phenomenon with my staurogyne repens. Look at the video in my original post. The staurogyne repens are all dead. They are all alive again today, but this is their story:

I bought a Staurogyne repens tissue culture pack from petsmart. Planted them in a LOW tech fish tank with high bioload and 40 ppm nitrates. The plants grew slowly but kept growing to about 4 times their original number. I transplant them to my high tech tank (as you can see in my original post) and they grew very rapidly, more than double the speed of growth compared to the low tech tank. All this time I was using EI dosing to fertilize my high tech tank.

I buy 9 amano shrimp to control diatoms in my planted tank and they did an amazing job. However, one by one the shrimp are getting sick and dying each week. I know that high nitrates kill shrimp, so I check my nitrates and they are over 160 ppm (ideal is 20-40 ppm). This nitrate level was caused by my using EI dosing on a tank that had initially too few plants.

I then reduce my nitrates from 160 ppm to 40 ppm within a weekend by changing 50% of the water every 12 hours. All my staurogyne leaves soon begin to develop brown spots and die. About 10 days after the nitrate reduction all the staurogyne leaves had fallen off, and only the stems and roots remain. The same plants that grew fine in my 40 ppm nitrate fish tank are now dying at the same 40 ppm nitrate. It's because of the shock of nutrient reduction. Oddly enough, only the staurogyne repens was adversely affected by the nitrate drop. Other plants like wisteria showed visible changes, with new leaves appearing smaller and thinner at 40 ppm nitrates, but no death or leaf shedding.

After about 1 month since their "death", all the staurogyne stems started to glow leaves again, which you can also see in my original post (December photos). I never discarded the "dead" staurogyne because other people reported that they always come back to life and they were correct. As of today, they are almost as bushy as the time when they first started dying.

 

[Brookster123]

I have the dhg in 2 tanks. Both high tech dancing with high light.. it's just slow to take hold I guess. Interesting take on star melt. I had my whole patch go.. it came back string and is now starting to melt off again, it's strange, the roots seem to grow faster than the leaves in my tank??

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[mattcham]

I have the dhg in 2 tanks. Both high tech dancing with high light.. it's just slow to take hold I guess. Interesting take on star melt. I had my whole patch go.

My DHG also spreads very slowly compared to the Monte Carlo. The difference in spreading speed is probably more than 10 times in my estimate. DHG is easier to trim, you just give it a haircut. Monte Carlo is difficult to trim. If you give Monte Carlo a haircut it will turn brown. The only way to trim Monte Carlo is to pluck the ends of its stems (one strand at a time) which is very time consuming.

My staurogyne repens patches are located in various corners of my tank, very far from each other. The fact that they all melt simultaneously suggests that the cause is environmental rather than pre-programmed age-related phenomenon like with bulb plants such as Aponogeton species.

 

[mattcham]

Just a weekend update. The Marsilea minuta are continuing to spread. The Staurogyne repens have recovered from their melt and are growing back nicely.

 

[pittbully13]

Super lush and great contrast. I really like the shadows you have on the right side. What camera are you using?

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[mattcham]

Thanks, I just used my cell phone to take the photos, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which is old.

January 17, 2015 update: The Marsilea minuta are continuing to spread along the left rear, growing considerably (10x) slower than the Micranthemum monte carlo carpet. The Staurogyne repens have recovered from their melt and are growing back. The Rotala nanjenshan green in the background center has been struggling ever since I reduced the nitrates to 40 ppm (from 160 ppm). Rotala nanjenshan green require a low pH of 6.0 but they were thriving beautifully at ph 7.4 when the nitrates were at 160 ppm. Eight of the nine amano shrimp have died, along with two of the mexican dwarf crayfish (Cambarellus Patzcuarensis Orange - CPO) have died, presumably from the high nitrates at 40 ppm. The nitrates that are highly beneficial to plants are toxic to the invertebrates and most of them died within 2 months. In non-fertilized tanks these invertebrates are very hardy and prolific like roaches.

Here is a new video from Jan 17, 2015:

 

[Fresh2o]

I am so late to this party. Very inspiring tank. Thank you for the details and descriptive observations. Much can be learned from this build.


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[mattcham]

A few close up photos of the Ludwigia atlantis.

Photo of the plastic toothpicks for anchoring down patties of carpet plants like Dwarf Baby Tears, Monte Carlo, or even Marsilea Minuta. You can get these fancy cocktail toothpicks from any large grocery store:

Planting one strand at a time (instead of anchoring an entire patty) will produce more than 10x faster carpet spread, but if you don't have 36 hours to spend on nonstop manual labor, then anchoring the patty down is the next best thing. The smaller the patty, the faster the carpet will spread. Also, if you have bottom feeders in the tank (especially Cory or pleco), then the fish are likely to dig up and disrupt your single-strand carpet plantlets.