A work in progress - many questions!

Hi all!

I've returned to the hobby after years of dreaming about it...
Never really posted on TASA but I have admired the setups here from afar.

I bought a lovely tank and complete setup secondhand. It is rather bare at the moment but I have plans to turn it into a planted tank, also with some emersed growth - perhaps riparium plants in some sort of planters attached to the back. Suggestions for plants that would work well for this are welcomed



The tank dimensions are 70*45*45cm, it is being filtered with an (established) canister filter, and some lights were acquired along with the tank - 2 ballasts, one that holds 4 and one that holds 2 24W T5 bulbs. It is currently home to 4 juvenile angelfish, 4 adult cardinal tetras, and one lonely female guppy.

I haven't quite decided how 'high tech' this setup is going to be. I think (please advise if I'm off the mark) that I have some fairly powerful lighting here, and if I were to use all of it I would need to do some serious fertilising as well as C02. I do have the valves etc to set up a DIY c02 system - has somebody had experience with these who can comment on the running costs, effectiveness and learning curve of setting up for a DIY system?

Some other assorted questions:
Along with all the secondhand goodies came a lot of fluorite substrate: how useful is this? It looks a little jagged - would that rule out bottomdwellers such as cories in future?

The piping to the canister filter is too short to put it on the floor underneath the table (which is what I would prefer). Where can I find some longer lengths of piping? Piping pictured below:


I am considering doing a 'dirted' substrate, with some topsoil/potting soil covered with a cap of sand/gravel/fluorite. Does anyone have experience with this - is there a specific soil that would work best, or could regular topsoil from my garden work well? otherwise, what substrate would you recommend, considering I plan on including some root-heavy plants such as amazon swords.
I would like to somehow raise the lights above the tank, to make room for emersed plant growth. It's not really possible to hang the lights from the ceiling or attach a stand to the wall behind in my case. I thought of getting some black perspex and building some type of stand that sits on the rim. Any advice or recommendations here?

Wow that's quite a lot of text! Thanks for reading through it all. I hope to be an active member of this community .

 

Looks like a great project @Rattatou1e.

I have done three planted tanks with soil substrates and can highly recommend it. It isn't nearly as complicated as some forums or YouTubers make it out to be. a 50/50 mix of coco coir and potting soil will be more than sufficient. The first tank I did also had some hydroponic fertiliser mixed in but I am not convinced that it made any real difference. Whatever you do, just be sure to cap the soil sufficiently with whatever gravel, fluorite etc. you choose to go with.

As for plants, amazon swords can grow terribly big with the right conditions so be careful what you wish for. Over the course of 18 months, mine got so big that it I had to take it out. I have great success with red anubias, dwarf hair grass and pearl weed (no real surprise there though) with this sort of substrate.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone!

@Alan Muller , that's reassuring to hear that it isn't so complicated. Coco coir - what function does this serve? And did you just use regular soil (that I can dig up in my garden for free) or is it important to purchase a specific soil?


@A new day , you say that you don't have experience with C02 - so your very lush planted tanks are run entirely without C02? That's amazing - I didn't think carpeting was really possible without C02 and high lights. What's your secret

The angels came along with the tank; I will probably have to rehome them when they get a bit bigger. I hope I can find someone on the forum who might be happy to trade them for some alternative stocking choices.

About plant choices:
A bit sad that Amazons may not be suitable
Thank you for all the plant suggestions!
Folks in cape town, where would you say are the more affordable places to buy plants?
I found a source for some plants in cape town which is well-priced - Table View Nursery on facebook. However, they don't have some of the plants that I am keen on, especially the epiphytes. Also, pearl weed, limnophilia, and hairgrass. I suppose I shall keep an eye out for people selling cuttings..

 

Thanks for the tips! And yes that would be great - bonus would also be to see your tanks in person too I shall pm

 

It's all coming together! (i hope)

I've set up the substrate and hardscape. I got some driftwood from Namibian Hardwood suppliers (mopani wood @ R28/kg, what a bargain imo). I siliconed the big piece on the right to a rock underneath it (to keep it submerged until it soaks fully) and siliconed the top piece to it to create this structure. The wood on the right is cable-tied and siliconed to the riparium planter I made from shade netting and wires, which is itself hung from the back of the tank with the wire.

For the substrate I have done as @Alan Muller suggested and used coco coir mixed with soil, as well as some ferts underneath, and capped with the fluorite sand I had.

I decided to hang one of the lights from the ceiling - this involved me climbing into the roof, and using a magnet to show my accomplice where the beams where to drill into. Great fun! The other light (not pictured) I might put directly on the tank top in front, or I may hang it up as well... we'll see.

I'm going to plant a big anthurium I got from a family member in the planter on the right, which I shall fill with leca clay substrate. I got a peace lily which I cleaned and split into plantlets, and I planted those by anchoring them to the wood with thin wire. I have some extra if anyone is interested.

I'm thinking of what I should put in the rest of the planter on the right, which has some space. I have a seedling of 'peace in the home' - I wonder if it will grow well with its roots submersed? I can't find any precedent online of it in a riparium, but I think it would look great.
Also, I would like to attach some more plants on the wood on the right. I plan to have the canister filter outlet streaming down the wood, so it will be constantly wet. Perhaps hydrocotle? and java moss? I would love to attach some terrestrial moss but I don't think it will do well in the relatively high light. Any suggestions?

I'm going to pick up aquatic plants today which I'm excited to get planted

Thoughts, suggestions, feedback welcome

PS: the fish are temporarily staying in a ~40l drum, connected to the filter and heater. I hope they don't get too stressed!

 

All planted!


Back corner is missing something - I'm thinking maybe some vallis? I hope that the micro sword grows runners and fills in soon! I think it will look great once everything is established. Also, thank you @A new day for the plant cuttings!

Angelfish are being a bit shy, hiding out around the heater and filter intake. I thought maybe the temp was too low, so increased from 24 to 26. They don't seem to be too keen on the flake food that I have. What do you guys recommend feeding angels?

Sadly I seem to have lost one of the cardinal tetra no sign of him, I'm thinking he must have jumped from the drum I was keeping them in during the setup process. I'm concerned that they are not going to feel secure with only three (and four was not much better). I don't want to get more cardinals, because from what I have read they are mostly wild-caught, and I would rather get captive bred fish. Also, these are old cardinals, and will die of old age relatively soon. So I don't want to get stuck with then more cardinals that I don't have enough of. Will cardinals school with other tetras of similar size?

Lastly, I'm thinking about options for C02. Could someone give me a rough approximation of what a full pressurized C02 setup would normally cost?

 

I'm very happy with my tank so far
I've had some good growth on the plants. The dwarf sag especially - I've actually trimmed some of the long stems because they were getting far too long - I hope this encourages it to spread via runners instead.

There is one problem in the tank.. one of the angels is being quite a bully - the black one on the right.
He has a specific problem with the smaller striped one, and hogs the food.Here's a video showing the aggression:

I know that eventually I will have to rehome these angels, or find a bigger tank for them. Do you think I will have to do so very soon? I've grown quite fond of them.

 

I hung the light in front up as well. Now I can see the riparian plants and floating plants much better

 

It's been a while since I posted. Update time!
Plants have grown in pretty well. The bolbitis has flourished, and the dwarf sag has spread runners everywhere. The star grass has been growing pretty well and I've been trimming and replanting so I've got a decent bush. Unfortunately the micro swords haven't taken off, and I haven't gotten much growth from the ludwigia - I'm wondering if it's too shady at the back. I also haven't noticed much moss growth. All in good time I hope!
I set up DIY c02, but I need to refill the bottles.. will get to that! I recently got two java ferns and I hope they will do well in the shadier areas.

As for fish - I traded the angels in at a store and got 12 ember tetras. This was about a month and a half ago, and I count 11 have survived and are doing well. It is possible that there are actually still 12 - I hope, because they are small and active and difficult to keep track of. The ich in the tank cleared up after about a few weeks of higher temps and water changes, which I'm very grateful for.
Shrimp are also doing fairly well, I have seen some babies, which I hope manage to survive in the thick plant growth.
My two cardinal tetra are quite passive and shy. I imagine this is because there are only two of them, but I don't want to get more. If anyone is looking to add to their school, I will give these two away - will post seperately.
One sad piece of news: the lone guppy (and boss of the tank) was killed because she swam into the siphon while I was doing a water change before I could react and stop her. Unfortunately she must have sustained injuries from this and soon died. Very sad

I would like to get more ember tetras, I think a large school would be stunning to watch. I would also like some otocinclus - although they are quite pricey. I just need to arrange a quarantine setup; so I'll be on the lookout for secondhand tanks and filters this holiday.

Pics in next post