Well Ive got my tank at last

[bobtail]

Im starting a 48" x 12" x 15"
Ive got tetra complete, Arthur Bowers aquatic compost and play sand from B&Q
I shopped at Aquatics-online for my Interpet twin 55w convertagear and daylight tubes and a Hagen co2 system.
The rocks are yorkshire stone.
I bought a new old stock Nuova power filter from Limestar tropicals for £40
I managed to cadge some filter culture and some Elodea and hygro just to start me off growing while I wait for my order to arrive from Greenline and replacement tube from A-Online It stopped working on day 2 :-(

 

[eds]

Looking good! I like those big block shaped rocks in the centre, they'll look great with some low plants surrounding them. Keep us updated!

 

[bigdanne]

Some serious potential!!

I love the "ironing board tripod" i'm gonna use that one, i use my dining room table with a box of crunchy nut cornflakes on there then the camera balanced on on top!

 

[Frolicsome_Flora]

Some serious potential!!

I love the "ironing board tripod" i'm gonna use that one, i use my dining room table with a box of crunchy nut cornflakes on there then the camera balanced on on top!

ironing board? whats one of those? huh? ug?

 

[bobtail]

ironing board? whats one of those? huh? ug?

Its for taking creases out of irony?
Anyhow Its just rained all the last months rain in just 2 hrs so my water butt is full *cue 25% water change*

 

[Maximumbob]

ironing board? whats one of those? huh? ug?

Its something my wife uses!!!

 

[bobtail]

A few days in, with plants from Greenline.
I just sort of put them in the right locations while they straightened out and developed roots

 

[SuperColey1]

Problems?

Working for William Sinclair Horticulture (which makes J Arthur Bowers products on my site) I think you may find you get some Ph problems with this product in the aquarium.

It should say somewhere on the bag that its not for use with lime hating plants as it contains lime.

I will check on the formulation at work tomorrow and see exactly what is in it and come back to you on this.

Sorry for the bad news, but you never know it may be a sales ploy to sell this brand as well as the others.

Andy

 

[SuperColey1]

Formulation of JAB Aquatic Compost

As promised I got the breakdown of the components of JAB Aquatic today and I don't think it will make ggod reading but as I am not a chemist I don't know for sure, I just buy all the raw materials for the ranges.

Dolomite D300 Lime - 0.14259%
Grit Sand - 7.12928%
Peat - 30.89354%
Phosphate Rock - 0.02139%
Triple Superphosphate - 0.00713%
Potassium Nitrate - 0.00751%
Ammonium Sulphate - 0.00561%
Mono Ammonium Phosphate (NOT MKP) - 0.00437%
Magnesium Sulphate (Calcined) - 0.0093%
Iron Chelate - 0.00033%
Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate - 0.00002%
Boric Acid - 0.00003%
Sodium Molybdate - 0.00004%
Copper Sulphate Pentahydrate - 0.00009%
Manganese Sulphate - 0.00009%
Sterilised Soil - 61.78707%

As you can see they are not just the simple composts that people imagine. They are mainly peat and soil based but do have lots of base and trace elements.

It is very important to note that although garden fertilises are often very similar by nature to the aquarium fertilisers they can be deadly when they areput into small quantities of water rather than the open ground where they are distilled by rains and groundwater.

I am no chemist but I would guess the Lime and peat will affect the Ph quite a lot.

Also note that there is ammonium added into this (and most garden) product which is deadly in the aquarium.

Maybe someone like Tom or anyone else who understands these components can enlarge on what is good/bad or downright pointless etc. but this is for your help.

p.s. Argos, B&Q, JAB, Silvaperl and almost every other brand come from the same quarry. (Argos is cheapest to buy) Playsand is unsterilised whereas Dry/Silver sand is sterilised so I would use Dry Sand as most of us have Nutrient under the sand so do not require the natural nutrient the sand may contain and therefore have no need to risk using an unsterilised product when the sterilised is only a little more expensive.

Hope this info is useful, and hope someone else can elaborate on the chemistry a little more than I am able to.

Andy

 

[bobtail]

What an excellent example of why clubs like this are so useful.
Thanks so much andy

I see that there is a lot more peat than lime But I have tested the water and had these results :-

PH 7.6
KH 10
GH 10 - 16
NO2 0
NO3 50
I have CO2 going in at a rate of 8 ppm I think (according to Chucks calculator)

Im getting good pearling and some thread algae

 

[Aeropars]

Only 8ppm? The target should be 30ppm but then again i doubt your actually at 8ppm. Chicks calculator doesnt tak in to account any impurities in the water which screw up the equation. The best way to check is by using a drop checker with a 4kh reference solution.

 

[bobtail]

Ive since added a diy co2 bottle straight into a powerhead which has improved things the algae plant balance is swinging in the plants favour .

more pics in my sig

 

[keith00]

The tank looks great, I only hope mine will look as good. My plants arrive from Greenline on Wednesday.

 

[bobtail]

I bought the 36" collection from Greenline and Im glad I didnt go for the 48" collection there were so many plants I struggled to fit them all in