New here - 4ft

Hi all

I am new to Tropical Aquariums SA. Although I have had a couple of tanks I have never really done much with them. None of them really looked any good. I was recently asked to take over a tank that has been in the office for many years. The boss wanted it redone with a little bit of money so I bought a few things and it is where it is now. I am really hoping I could get it looking much better though. As you can see there isn't much planning to the layout and the plants are planted everywhere and some are struggling. I put the plants, soil and driftwood in about 4months ago. Before that it was all ornamental plants.

Any advice for a newbie to the hobby? Here a few quick pics I tried to take with my fiancees camera. Sorry for the horrible quality.



Deon

 

Hi and welcome to TASA. We will be able to help you here. What soil and lighting are in the tank. Give us as much info about the livestock etc so we can give you some ideas. Once again welcome here.

 

Welcome to TASA!

All the help u need is rite here!

 

BOYU STB-120H, 30Wx2, 1200mm
Both are the normal white florescent.

Soil is a 50/50 mixture of the gravel that was in there and the stuff in the pic below.


I don't know all the fishes names unfortunately but there are a few guppies, platties, swordtails, mollies, harlequins, cardinal tetras, pink danios, glowlights, plecos and a couple others I could try get a pic of.

 

Hi.
From what I understand that is a rather good brand of substrate and your plants should do fine with that. Depending on how high-tech or low Tec you want to go your lights may not be adequate. I am not sure if you can add lights to that tank as I think they come pre fitted. Your plant success also depends on what plants you choose. You can get really hard growing plants that do not demand so much light and on the other hand, you can get some really difficult plants as well. I know all this may sound a bit confusing at first but, trust me as time goes on it will be really easy. I am sure others will contribute to this post.

 

Welcome. It looks like you have some nice wood pieces in there. What ferts are you dosing?

 

Hi

Thanx for all the welcomes :amuse:

@dash - What am I able to achieve with that light unit? Are there 2 other bulbs I should consider purchasing? I not not totally sure on what exactly high tech and low tech is but I am keen on CO2 if it is needed. I just don't want to spend a fortune. I would like to keep the light unit if possible but I know that is a major factor. I have a hang on filter, heater, airstone, and lighting cables that annoy me terribly. I would love to buy the correct plants for the right spots and possibly do a rescape for a better look?

@Hawk - I havent dosed anything. Only using Prime for anti-chlorine for water changes.

What would you guys suggest?

 

I would suggest you start with low tech as there is less to adjust/correct in your current setup.

Your 2x30w areT8 light tubes so maybe consider getting new tubes for increased/improved lighting (T8's are only good for about 6 months). Check if you can get 6500k or above up to a maximum of 10000k on the tubes.


It looks like you have some Amazon Swords, Vallisneria and something that could be Bacopa? Shop around or ask on forum for Java Ferns, Anubias and Moss (All 3 can be tied onto hardscape). I would then remove the Swords off the wood and get them into your substrate.

For ferts, look for an all in one solution or get Seachem (Excel, Flourish to start with)

 

Oh yes, and remove that one eye catching pink gravel stone :bigsmile:

 

There are like 50 of those eye catching stones still in the gravel, I remove them all but then when I do a water change another few pop up.

Where can I get those tubes around here? And what is the difference on the 6500k and 10000k tubes? What would you recommend I get?

The plants names are a bit confusing but I am glad I know the name of the one on the wood now . I really want to move the piece of driftwood somewhere else. It just doesn't look like it is in the right place.

I had a bottle of Seachem excel flourish that was in the cupboard for some reason although it is finished now. Must I get that again or should I try something new?

 

You can get tubes at your lps. I would suggest a 1x 6500K and 1x red tube (600+nm) @ 36w each; this will help with plant growth a lot.
I would have suggested the 2.5W per Gallon *rule but you do not have Co2 which means a probable aglae bloom.

Yup get some more Excel if you don't have Co2 (I still use Excel with my 3bbs Co2). And i would suggest dosing NPK (Look for the Seachem NPK Pack) as well.

 

@bushbaby - If you have "The Lamphouse" near you can get your tubes cheaper. 6500k bulbs are the ideal tubes for plant growth but we like to mix the bulbs together so in your case I would suggest 2x6500k or a 6500k and an 8000k.

As to the ferts, I use Seachem products and can recommend them but there are other brands out there.

If I was you I would take all the plants and wood out and start again if you are unhappy with the wood placement. Try the wood in a bunch of different positions until you are satisfied then arrange your plants around that. The swords get big so put them at the back. Put the vallis at the back or sides.