Third Time's the Charm

[Lovebug]

I'm moving into a new house in the next 2 weeks, and I have planned a high-tech planted nature tank- 40g breeder. This will be my third experience with planted aquariums. The first time, in the mid-2000's, was a relatively successful low-tech beginner's foray into the hobby. Cut my teeth on java fern, anubias, and a few sword plants. CO2 was too scary to even think about trying, lighting was watt/gal, and ferts were haphazard. My second planted tank was a couple years ago in my work office, and was admittedly half-assed. I decided within a few months of that pathetic tank that if I'm going do this hobby, then I need to do it correctly. As my dad always said, "Herb, if you're gonna do a job, do it right the first time!" Good advice Dad.

So third time's the charm, right?

That's the tank in my shed ready to roll. I've spent the last two years saving and studying. Doing it right this time! Would have started a year ago, but we decided to build a house, and the day is arriving soon! I've done most of my shopping, except for soil and plants and fish. Here's the plan:

Tank: Marineland 40 gallon breeder- I wish I could do a rimless, but I needed the money elsewhere as I'm pretty much starting from scratch.
Filter: Eheim 2217
Circulation: Hydor Koralia Nano 240gph
Lighting: Ecotech Radion 4gen xr15FW- just doing one for now as the new model boasts 36" spread. We'll see.
CO2: pressurized with GLA Pro regulator, GLA atomic inline diffuser, 5 gallon tank
Soil: ADA Amazonia
Ferts: dry from GLA- gonna do EI

Might do RO water- our well water looks like it has good hardness (4+) and PH (7.0), but that's based on preliminary township test. I'll test it myself and see. Nitrates and phosphates may be bad due to our yard being a cornfield 12 months ago. If so, will buy a BRS RO/DI system.

Hardscape: Nice big piece of Malaysian driftwood with some manzanita branches.

Plants!
Going on the easy side to start off. I don't want my Third Time to be a failure.

Foreground
Eleocharis parvula mini
Staurogyne repens

Midground
Blyxa japonica

Background
Bacopa monnieri
Ludwigia repens "red"

Attached to wood
Java fern
Anubias nana
Maybe some moss. We'll see.

Stock
20-30 neons
Pair of cockatoo apistos
10+ Amano shrimp
Assassin snails as needed

I'll update as things progress! Should be up and planted within 2 weeks.

Herb

 

[DutchMuch]

Ha! my dad always told me:
*nothing because I dont know my dad* HAHA!
BUT
my stepdad always tells me "Nate, if your going to do something right, dont do it at all."

Ah man... I am surrounded by so much positivity...
lol good luck on your tank!

 

[Lovebug]

Thanks so much DutchMuch! And yeah, I usually heard my dad tell me to do it right the first time immediately after telling me that I in fact didn't do it right the first time lol.

Here's my planned layout. The darker brown is Malaysian driftwood. The lighter brown lines are manzanita. I'm not much of an artist It's not to scale, so I'll make sure to follow Rule of Thirds.

1- Eleocharis parvula mini (DHG)
2- Staurogyne repens
3- Blyxa japonica
4- Bacopa monnieri (Moneywort)
5- Ludwigia repens
6- Java fern- big clump of it on driftwood
7- Anubias nana

Any suggestions are appreciated and welcome!

 

[Christophe]

If your well water is *consistently* that soft, go with it, it's a good thing. Let the corn farmers provide you with EI juice! Why filter out nitrate & phosphate, only to re-add it, unless there are other problematic elements in your water?

 

[Lovebug]

Yeah I'm looking forward to testing and tinkering. Nitrates were 2ppm and TDS 125. Iron is 1.0 ppm. I assume its ferric iron (Fe3) since it's already staining the toilets red. Is this usable by plants, or do they like ferrous (Fe2)?

 

[Omar EAZi]

good luck with your tank, can't wait to see it in action

 

[Lovebug]

Well, moving in took longer than I thought, but we're in! And I've started setting things up. Here's most of the stuff I bought...

Especially excited about the Ecotech Radion lights. I was unsure if one would be enough in a 3-foot wide tank, but the new lenses give a very wide spread. I think one will work just fine.

Here's my hardscape without soil.

A big bunch of java fern will go where the end of the manzanita rests on the malaysian driftwood, so it won't look so unnatural. I'm very open to any suggestions. Waiting on soil, which will be ADA Amazonia- on the way from Aqua Forest Aquariums. They had the best price that I could find. Should be in the next few days.

I have my RO water brewing now...

Got a new system from BRS. RO-only. Not doing DI at this time since my TDS isn't too bad on this well.

The only thing left to buy is plants, which I'm picking up from Rachel O'Leary, who is local here in southern PA. She has everything I want but the Blyxa and the Bacopa monnieri.

All comments and suggestions are appreciated!

 

[DutchMuch]

Well, moving in took longer than I thought, but we're in

nice! I missed this journal!
Glad your back! now I have something else to look at every morning... lol. Tank looks really good, did you get your Co2 system from GLA? if so, so did I and just saying, worth every penny.
I think your scape will look very good, I don't have any suggestions to you as of right now , but I have a question, do you have a carpeting plant, and if so what kind is it? And what type of fish do you have in mind?

and the Bacopa monnieri.

Ill send 1 handful to you (roughly 10 stems), for 5$ 8$ shipping if you want.

 

[Lovebug]

Tank looks really good, did you get your Co2 system from GLA?

Yes the regulator and the diffuser are both GLA. They've been super awesome to communicate with. The regulator is a Pro. Working on plumbing everything today.

but I have a question, do you have a carpeting plant, and if so what kind is it?

My main carpeting plant will be DHG. But I'll have a patch of S. repens on the left hand side of the tank.

And what type of fish do you have in mind?

Neons. I may do a pair or trio of cockatoo apistos eventually, but that will be down the road after the tank is established. For clean up crew, I'll try amano shrimp, which I've never done before. A little worried about jumpers, but I'm up for learning how to care for them.

Ill send 1 handful to you (roughly 10 stems), for 5$ 8$ shipping if you want.

YES on the bacopa! I'll PM you.

 

[DutchMuch]

amano shrimp, which I've never done before. A little worried about jumpers, but I'm up for learning how to care for them.

phh, amano shrimp are unkillable as long as you do, DRIP acclimation. if you do that, and your tank is cycled, your fine. They will only jump, if your stirring the tank up like crazy, if your arm is spasm ing in the tank, or if you have bad water quality.

 

[Dale Hazey]

For clean up crew, I'll try amano shrimp, which I've never done before. A little worried about jumpers, but I'm up for learning how to care for them.

I've had only 3 amano jump. One when I had a bunch of stem plants floating for a long time. One I found on the floor alive and put her back she survived. The other day I found one on the floor dead, there was an ammonia spike .5ppm. Overall I have killed more tetras and mollies than amanos and otocinclus. Mostly from ich, but I had a gourami and another Molly who would make mollies jump.

I would drip acclimate everything, especially if your fish are from Petco/PetSmart. Their water is going to have a much higher TDS, conductivity, osmotic pressure etc than yours. PH don't mean shit, no such thing as PH shock. Fish farms and natural waterways go through pH swings throughout the day.

Lookin forward to this journal
Remember lots of pics plz and thx

 

[DutchMuch]

PH don't mean shit, no such thing as PH shock.

Dale I read this, and idk how to explain it, but like I just got 50x happier.
Wanna know why?





no?


ok then.










Ok ill tell you.
Origionally in my sixty five, people told me, NO!!!!!, you cannot get discus because you are going to have a Dutch scape, and the PH is high af (like 7.6 or something, idfk).
So I never did get Discus. Idk. Maybe I can.....
But aquaticarts has already supplied me with the fish so no turning back now. R.i.p my life.

 

[Lovebug]

You smell that? Do you smell that?...

Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of Aquasoil in the morning.

Only one thing remains: plants. And they're on their way. Should be planting by the weekend.

 

[DutchMuch]

You smell that? Do you smell that?...

I smell...
Money.
LOL
Glad your shipment of Amazonia came in good! cant wait to see it in the tank....!

 

[Lovebug]

Planting Day has arrived!

I spent the last 2 days putting everything together and plumbing in my spare time, and now the plants have arrived!

Thanks so much to DutchMuch for the Bacopa monnieri and Lugwigia repens!!!

Prepped and ready to roll!

Here’s the hardscape with ADA Aquasoil.

Plants added!

Eleocharis mini sp up front.

Staurogyne repens to the left.

Bacopa monnieri and Ludwigia repens in the back.

Java fern and Anubias nana super-glued to the driftwood.

Still waiting on some Blyxa japonica for the right and some accent around the driftwood.

RO water about to be added.

And planted with water!

As expected, once I fired up the filter it got very cloudy from the Aquasoil. I was having issues with flow. I have an Eheim 2217 which is on the strong side for this tank (40g breeder), so I had to fiddle with the outlet. Tried a couple different things, and settled on a modified spray bar turned down in the right back corner. At first, I had Aquasoil getting blown around on the front left, and it covered over some of my DHG. After the adjustments, its working well. I have a Koralia Nano 240 circulation pump on the left side. The flow is in a nice circle.

 

[Lovebug]

Day 2.

The tank has cleared quite a bit. Still a little hazy. May do a water change tomorrow, but we’ll see.

When I finished planting yesterday and had the flow finally right, the lights were going off, and I didn’t have the CO2 just right yet. This is my first time doing CO2, and I’m learning. Using an atomic inline diffuser, and I’m not getting any misting at all. I was concerned that I didn’t have things right, so I checked all my connections (good), made sure the psi on the regulator was right (currently 45), and just waited to see the result. Couple hours later, here’s my drop checker.

So all is well for now. Set for the solenoid to come on an hour before lights turn on, and turns off an hour before the lights turn off.

Water parameters:
pH 6.3
kH 1
gH 5

Light is on a 10 hour cycle, with ramp up and ramp down per the EcoSmart Live programming for the Radion. I’ll adjust as needed.
Not starting EI dosing yet. Will probably wait a week.

 

[Kyalgae]

Looks good! I remember reading somewhere that you don't necessarily need to start EI dosing right away with Aquasoil. Maybe someone with more experience could chime in, was it the first six weeks? Or six months?

 

[DutchMuch]

Thanks so much to DutchMuch for the Bacopa monnieri and Lugwigia repens!!!

Seeing the plants in your tank looks super amazing!
Glad they arrived well to! Scape looks also really nice, cant wait to see it grow out in full... I can just imagine that huge DHG carpet <3 emm... Dhg..... lol

 

[DutchMuch]

need to start EI dosing right away with Aquasoil. Maybe someone with more experience could chime in, was it the first six weeks? Or six months?

I have also heard this.. Idk how long though... Its because AS leaches ammonia and such which provides enough for the plants there and then while the tank cycles. I wouldn't start dosing until it cycles completely. Up2you. !

 

[Lovebug]

Seeing the plants in your tank looks super amazing!
Glad they arrived well to! Scape looks also really nice, cant wait to see it grow out in full... I can just imagine that huge DHG carpet <3 emm... Dhg..... lol

I can't wait either! I love the look of DHG. Had poor luck in the past, but was doing lowtech and had no clue what I was doing. Feel confident about the planting. Hoping for success!