I have such a tank for nearly three years now and I am still learning what to do and what not. It is a living thing, it will change, grow and not grow.
110l planted tank - Journal
I started a 110l tank on the 30th of December 2021.
The tank is 70cm x 35cm x 50cm.
I had some leftover plant soil and some pond soil. First I put in the plant soil which was then covered with the pond soil. The soil was covered with fine granite gravel. The soil thickness is between 1cm at the front and 8cm at the back.
Plants were taken from my old 50l tank, Limnophila Sessiliflora, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Vesicularia Montagnei Moss, Staurogyne repens, Echinodorus Grisebachii (?) Sword plant, Limnobium Laevigatum Frogbite, Lemna Minor Waterlentils.
I added some new Vallisneria natans and Micranthemum Tweediei "Monte Carlo".
A heater is present, a powerball with a simple sponge (to protect the Rasbora Brigittae and shrimp fry) on low power adds water circulation and some filtering. LED lamps for lighting. An auto feeder is also present.
I let the tank settle for two days while changing water twice, then I added the remaining fish from my old tank (I had absolutely no space for two tanks simultaneously so they lived in a bucket for that time), 6 Trigonostigma Hengeli, 6 Rasbora Brigittae, 4 Amano shrimps, a few Neocaridina Davidii, and three Nerite snails.
A week after starting this tank I got 20 Trigonostigma Hengeli (not true, it was 17 Hengeli and 3 freeloading Espei), 10 Rasbora Brigittae and another 5 Amano shrimp from a shop that was closing and selling off their inventory. Maybe a bit early, but all fish (except two very weak Mosquito Rasbora) did survive so far.
The initial setup on 1st of January 2022, still a bit foggy:
![Plant Plant community Water Vertebrate Nature]()
9th of January 2022:
![Plant Plant community Natural environment Botany Terrestrial plant]()
16th of January:
![Plant Plant community Nature Green Rectangle]()
21st of January:
![Plant Plant community Light Botany Nature]()
Today, 30th of January 2022:
![Plant Plant community Wood Terrestrial plant Rectangle]()
The Limnophila Sessiliflora and the Sword plant sort of exploded, the Limnophila was cut down two times already. The Vallisneria is spreading and the Cryptocoryne is growing new leafs. The frogbite and water lentils also grow like mad and I have to remove some of them regularly, just as it should be.
Some algae is of course present. It strangely seems to grow exclusively where moss is present. It is not a problem yet, but I have to think about what I do about it if it grows excessively.
The only plant that is slightly suffering is the Monte Carlo Micranthemum, parts are regularly dug out by the snails and then float around. Therefore they struggle to spread, it simply may take some time.
Water has been changed twice in the first two days, then 30% in the first week and second week. Since then only a little bit was added to compensate for evaporation. There was never any NO2 or NO3 detectable with my test strips so far. PH is at around 7, alkalinity at around 10 to 15d and hardness at 14 GH is a bit high, but this is due to the extremely hard water in my area. And of course, these test strips are precision guesswork.
The fish and shrimp seem to do well, the Trigonostigma once in a while show a nice swarming behaviour and the Rasbora Brigittae explore every nook and cranny in this tank. I may add another few Rasbora Brigittae, they are so small that I do not expect them to be much of a bio load.
I am amazed how this tank developed within one month. I hope it gets as stable and low maintenance as my old tank.
This is my little garden to take care of for the future
The tank is 70cm x 35cm x 50cm.
I had some leftover plant soil and some pond soil. First I put in the plant soil which was then covered with the pond soil. The soil was covered with fine granite gravel. The soil thickness is between 1cm at the front and 8cm at the back.
Plants were taken from my old 50l tank, Limnophila Sessiliflora, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Vesicularia Montagnei Moss, Staurogyne repens, Echinodorus Grisebachii (?) Sword plant, Limnobium Laevigatum Frogbite, Lemna Minor Waterlentils.
I added some new Vallisneria natans and Micranthemum Tweediei "Monte Carlo".
A heater is present, a powerball with a simple sponge (to protect the Rasbora Brigittae and shrimp fry) on low power adds water circulation and some filtering. LED lamps for lighting. An auto feeder is also present.
I let the tank settle for two days while changing water twice, then I added the remaining fish from my old tank (I had absolutely no space for two tanks simultaneously so they lived in a bucket for that time), 6 Trigonostigma Hengeli, 6 Rasbora Brigittae, 4 Amano shrimps, a few Neocaridina Davidii, and three Nerite snails.
A week after starting this tank I got 20 Trigonostigma Hengeli (not true, it was 17 Hengeli and 3 freeloading Espei), 10 Rasbora Brigittae and another 5 Amano shrimp from a shop that was closing and selling off their inventory. Maybe a bit early, but all fish (except two very weak Mosquito Rasbora) did survive so far.
The initial setup on 1st of January 2022, still a bit foggy:
9th of January 2022:
16th of January:
21st of January:
Today, 30th of January 2022:
The Limnophila Sessiliflora and the Sword plant sort of exploded, the Limnophila was cut down two times already. The Vallisneria is spreading and the Cryptocoryne is growing new leafs. The frogbite and water lentils also grow like mad and I have to remove some of them regularly, just as it should be.
Some algae is of course present. It strangely seems to grow exclusively where moss is present. It is not a problem yet, but I have to think about what I do about it if it grows excessively.
The only plant that is slightly suffering is the Monte Carlo Micranthemum, parts are regularly dug out by the snails and then float around. Therefore they struggle to spread, it simply may take some time.
Water has been changed twice in the first two days, then 30% in the first week and second week. Since then only a little bit was added to compensate for evaporation. There was never any NO2 or NO3 detectable with my test strips so far. PH is at around 7, alkalinity at around 10 to 15d and hardness at 14 GH is a bit high, but this is due to the extremely hard water in my area. And of course, these test strips are precision guesswork.
The fish and shrimp seem to do well, the Trigonostigma once in a while show a nice swarming behaviour and the Rasbora Brigittae explore every nook and cranny in this tank. I may add another few Rasbora Brigittae, they are so small that I do not expect them to be much of a bio load.
I am amazed how this tank developed within one month. I hope it gets as stable and low maintenance as my old tank.
This is my little garden to take care of for the future
