Tank Wars: Return of the Aqua

So, currently I have Hank in the Tank. The piece of driftwood had some, whiteish hair-like growth on it, which seemed to maybe be some sort of algae maybe... I don't know. Changed the light cycle from 07:30 - 17:00 (I had to do it manually) to putting it on a timer switch 07:00-11:00 and 17:00-21:00. The unwanted substance is thinning out a lot and the plants seem solid.

The little bit of melt I had ceased and the Vallisneria is actually shooting off newlings! The few Duckweed I got accidentally is also accumulating so that's cool... Oh and the Amazon Frogbits, which battled early on are doing super well and spreading nicely.

I'm very satisfied so far.

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Looking awesome @Aquaman

Plants look happy to me

 

Looking good. Good idea splitting your light into 2 4 hour sessions. I do the same. Seems to help keep the algae down

 

Hi aquaman... have you heared of anyone using gromor potting mix for planted tank? that seems to be the only potting mix where i live and am a lil scepticle!

 

Hi Imran, I was just busy typing a reply to your question on CamCam's post then the alert came up here.

Great to hear another person is ready to take the dive. I also did a dirted tank with my 30l and will be doing a 3ft dirted soon hopefully. There's many ways you can go about it and no hard and fast rule. I for instance didn't do the rinse and dry thing, I found it excessive (in my own personal opinion) and have seen several examples where they didn't do that step at all.

I think you should have a look through several people's guides etc and then go with what you feel appeals to you. I haven't heard of Gromor but just make sure the soil you end up using is organic, that's quite important because you don't want to end up adding unwanted chemicals into the tank environment. I for instance used Garden Master's Lawn dressing as appose to the potting mix. But both are organic, so that's the key in terms of the soil specifically.

 

Oh, and you don't have to add ferts to the soil. Some like to use Mexican potting clay.... I believe it's for added iron which is usefull to plants, especially red plants (If I recall correctly). I do know that you just need to keep your eyes on the plants as after two years (give or take) the soil's naturally contained nutrients will get depleted and at that point you need to start using root tabs or the more drastic step, do a new setup (which isn't all that bad, as it gives you chance to improve on what you did the first time and make some scape changes etc)

 

It SEEMS, from their website that it's organic. Maybe phone them to confirm.

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great stuff... I'm trying to connect my tetra ex1200 plus. i hope its good according to the reviews ive read.

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the last tym i kept fish was like 2013... red cherry shrimps by the hundreds (not thousands)

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That will be more than adequate, in sure.

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where can i get Mexican clay from? is there any place in Durban that i can try?

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I unfortunately don't know to be honest. Sorry man.

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Hank's Tank is going nicely. Just over a month later and everything seems good... Had a bit of a algae problem (not too bad, just unsightly), so did a big WC this weekend.


The Vallisneria is probably enjoying itself the most. Growing super well.... And I'm fortunate enough that is actually going to flower! The floating "twig" is actually a flower stem! I'm quite excited! Did some reading and the Val actually has both female and male flowers. The female flowers float on the surface whilst the male flowers stay under water... AND apparently they don't generally flower in an aquarium setup.

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That is very interesting. Never seen Vallis flowering before.

 

Me neither, seems like it really loves the dirt under the substrate... For reference look at the setup photo vs now.

I had two rosettes where it is now already propegated to 7.




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That's really cool, the plants are really soaking up that light.
Bubble nests too

 

Yeah, I'm a bit surprised... Want to try a different light though, because even though the light is bright enough to penetrate all the way down, it's only a 4000k light so I can get better results with a different light.

Hank is definitely looking for a lady friend yes! Haha

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You not scared you'll get that algae back?

 

That's exactly why I'm in two minds on it. The only plants that seem to battle are those on the right foreground, which I got in a mixed bag, so I truly don't know what they are... I'm considering taking them out actually... The Anubias, Crypt Wendti and especially Vals are very healthy. Even the Ludwigia Repens are holding strong. Oh, and the floating plants are also doing perfectly well. So I'm also scared if I change the light, I upset the balance. Maybe it's very true what they say... If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

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Added some Nerites to help with the algae control. Might also get an Oto or two if needed. Will first give the Nerites their fair chance. Don't really want the Oto. Want to keep this tank for Hank only.

Oh, I call these three dudes the Three Amigos.

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