+New Nano-ish tank+

My 60cm Tank (Stole Phil's pic because its the same, except mine is 60cm).
I'm using one 13w Hopar Ballast
I'm keeping my water at 30c to avoid cladophora algae

Also used white silica and topped it with Dark Fluorite:

(Image stolen again)

This was my tank the day I set it up (Didn't wash the fluorite all that well), added some plants etc.


To kick start the cycling I went and got some pure Ammonia, and Sodium Nitrite. Then I went to the Aqua Culture department at my Uni and got some filter media that they had been using(for all the bacteria). Tank cycled very quickly with dosing and the inoculated media.

3 Days later my tank looked like this:


Note I was using the one powerhead's attachment to draw in air, to help the bacteria spread!

9 days:




13 days:



Note that I've replaced the pipe on the powerhead to my custom CO2, so as of today the tank has CO2 injection. Also I added two more lights, here are the boxes:





Now I've been dosing the EI method, but still haven't fine tuned it, up till now its just been getting the tank running. Now that its running I can start to really get the stuff to grow.

I'm not adding any fish for the time being, maybe a few otto's later on and some Galaxy Danios or such. But for now I'm happy with just my plants.

This is the view from my bed:

 

Added a second CO2 bottle and dropped the temp to 24c. Will take new pics tomorow. Spotted a small amount of GSA But thats No problem.

 

++++WOW++++ *****isnt***** $$$$$that$$$$ ^^^^^^coool^^^^^?

Please dont start all your topics with + next to them.....

btw you need to cape the florite or its going to keep your water murky

 

looking good

 

Took some pics today, here are two tiny pieces of my HC that I'm growing, they will take some time!
Among the gloss, I will pull out the gloss around the HC as it grows.
Also note the old Gloss leaves are dying off and yellowing, all the growth since its been in my tank is immaculate!

Another Pic:


Here are pics of my other plants: Also note that I have planted the Fern on the right hand side for now, until I find some wood to attach it to. also most of the growth on plants prior to entering my tank is dying and the new growth all looks good. Especially on the Echinodorus in the middle and the star grass on the right.

 

Looks really good

 

looking really nice
side note @ Henk flourite is meant as a substrate no need to cover up, only initial murkyness if you wash properly, no problems

 

Linga you are right, flourite will not cloud the water besides after initial setup, I have it(uncapped) in 3 of my tanks with perfectly clear water, it will ofcourse leech a tiny amount of minerals into the water column but thats actually of benefit!

Henk, it seems your 50years of fishkeeping experience is getting alittle outdated

 

If you don't mind my asking, where did you get the dark flourite and how much did it cost?
I've only ever seen the red type here in Gauteng, and only in 7kg bags

I love the look of that tank, but I must say that I'd remove the cabomba, it's pretty invasive and can make a mess in the tank.

 

Hey whip, compared to some of the other plants its not such an issue. Also under the right conditions its a slow grower.
I've had to prune the L.sessiflora twice already and the cabomba not even once.

I got all my equipment from Liaquat. PM him.

 

Ouch, I'm only looking for about a kilo or two to use in a nano setup. Suppose I'll just get the fine black sand that most LFS have

So what fish are going into this little nano? Because I had mollies and panda cories in my 23litre tank, but the mollies just kept breeding too often, so I got rid of them.

 

Well if you want plants you'll need a proper substrate. You can do it DIY which both Phil and I have done with resounding success.
And then all you need to spend on is some nice gravel to cap it!

 

Phil i used it in my 800L without capping and it was a mess - after like 2 years the water still had a muddy tinge to it

 

Well henk perhaps it was something else. Because I've seen 5 tanks with uncapped flourite and all of them have had perfect water. I'm sitting right in front of my tank and I can assure you its not murky in the slightest.