Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board  

Go Back   Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board > General > Freshwater

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 02-02-2007, 05:08 AM
Dale's Avatar
Dale Dale is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Abbotsford, BC.
Posts: 189
Dale is on a distinguished road
Default

Another benefit to Eco Complete is that it tends to hold the roots better than Laterite. That being said I have also had good success using crushed granite (chicken grit) at $8 / 50lb. bag at Buckerfields
Tony, are you planning other plants than Anubias and java ferns? Both of those do better unplanted (grown over driftwood or rocks) as their roots tend to rot otherwise.
Both are lower light plants though and easy to grow. I've even grown them under normal fluorescents. Some other good low light plants are Tape grass (Valisneria spiralis) Contorted Tapegrass (Valisneria spiralis 'tortissima') Elodia (Egeria densa) Pearlgrass (Hemianthus micranthemoides) and Windelov fern (Microsorum pteropus 'windelov')

Here's my old 33G. with normal fluorescents and chicken grit:


Last edited by Dale; 02-02-2007 at 05:24 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 02-02-2007, 05:17 AM
Delphinus's Avatar
Delphinus Delphinus is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Calgary
Posts: 12,896
Delphinus has a spectacular aura aboutDelphinus has a spectacular aura aboutDelphinus has a spectacular aura about
Send a message via MSN to Delphinus
Default

I haven't thought that far ahead yet. What kind of lighting would 2x65w be considered over a 65g tank (2wpg)? Low or medium?
__________________
-- Tony
My next hobby will be flooding my basement while repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall and tearing up $100 bills. Whee!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 02-02-2007, 05:55 AM
Dale's Avatar
Dale Dale is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Abbotsford, BC.
Posts: 189
Dale is on a distinguished road
Default

I think it depends on how serious you plan to be.
If you're not planning a Dutch or Amano style tank then you could probably consider it moderate; just don't go for the more high light demanding species. If you want to go all out then you are probably on the low end (how deep is the tank BTW).
When upgrading your lighting and adding fertilizers you also have to factor in CO2 dosing as well. You can run a balanced system and experience little algae growth with moderate lighting, fish waste and no CO2 injection but if you up the lighting and nutrient dose without aux CO2 you may run into nuisance algae blooms. Your plants just can't respire fast enough. I experienced this on my 140G. with 4X96w PC's/no CO2. Running all four lights was too much (hair and brush algae blooms) and I ended up running only two with much better results.

Here's the 140G.


Last edited by Dale; 02-02-2007 at 06:01 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-02-2007, 04:22 PM
Delphinus's Avatar
Delphinus Delphinus is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Calgary
Posts: 12,896
Delphinus has a spectacular aura aboutDelphinus has a spectacular aura aboutDelphinus has a spectacular aura about
Send a message via MSN to Delphinus
Default

Your tank is great looking. I enjoy seeing it everytime you post that picture.

The 65g is a 24" tall tank.

I think as soon as we start giving a method a name ("Dutch"/"Amano") then we're getting into an area that's going to require too much time to learn and maintain and stuff. So I'd love a tank that looks *kinda* like yours with the textures and the 3d layering and stuff but I don't want to go off the deep end and find out I'm in over my head. At least for now, but if I can "grow into" it at a slower pace then that might be OK.
__________________
-- Tony
My next hobby will be flooding my basement while repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall and tearing up $100 bills. Whee!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 02-03-2007, 12:04 AM
Quagmire's Avatar
Quagmire Quagmire is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Calgary
Posts: 588
Quagmire is on a distinguished road
Default

Nice tank
__________________
No matter how hard you try, you can't baptise cats.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 02-03-2007, 03:01 AM
StirCrazy's Avatar
StirCrazy StirCrazy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Kamloops, BC
Posts: 7,872
StirCrazy is on a distinguished road
Default

Dale, what kind of circulation, if any, are you running on your 140?

where did you find granite chicken grit, I usually only see crushed oyster shells. I wouldn't have thought to use granite my self as it is almost insoluble so it wouldn't provide any nutrients for the plants.

Steve
__________________
*everything said above is just my opinion, and may or may not reflect the views of this BBS, its Operators, and its Members. If cornered on any “opinion” I post I will totally deny having ever said this in a Court of Law…Unless I am the right one*

Some strive to be perfect.... I just strive.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 02-05-2007, 04:59 AM
Dale's Avatar
Dale Dale is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Abbotsford, BC.
Posts: 189
Dale is on a distinguished road
Default

I don't have the dedication for such high maintenance systems either. That 140 was started with the left overs from my 33G. and I slowly filled it in by repeatedly striking cuttings. If that's the route you go add fast growing plants like elodea and water sprite to start (they will help out compete the microalgae) and then remove them as the slower growing plants fill in.
Also, if your focus is the plants consider a no or low fishload. My biggest headache was excess fishwaste. Next time I am only going to add working stock like oto cats and rosy barbs if needed.

The crushed granite is sold as chicken grit. I've bought it at Buckerfields and Del's farm supply in Abbotsford. I wouldn't have thought of it either but I am a cheapskate and always looking for a deal. A lot of my fish keeping supplies have been purchased at non fish related stores. I also don't know why it works. One theory I have is that the substrate holds the roots securely but doesn't compact and allows really good root growth (shrugs shoulders).
On that 140 tank I used 2 AC 500's but I wouldn't do that again. I found the spillway flow knocked the plants down too much. It would probably be better to go with a cannister so that one could direct the return flow away from the plants. Also with dosing CO2 one could feed the airline into the cannister intake. This would allow a lot of contact time between the CO2 bubbles and the water as it travelled through the cannister.
Personally, if I (when I) do another dedicated planted tank I would consider a closed loop circ system like this (buried in the substrate with closer spaced 1/2"pvc piping). There are 1/8th" holes drilled every inch and the flow was provided by 2 maxijet 1200's.



I built this for a 75G. reef but it was perfect for a planted tank. The flow went straight up and blew the detritus into the water column so the filter could take it. The flow was also gentle enough that it wouldn't hurt the leaves and it would keep them oriented up and down.
That aside, I think a good planted tank set up is a low flow drilled tank/sump. The only concern I would have is a wide enough overflow box so that detached plant leaves couldn't plug it.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 04:26 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.