New to aquascaping

1900 Views 13 Replies 6 Participants Last post by dawntwister, Jan 3, 2009

krisha

Discussion Starter · Nov 25, 2008

Hi there

Have had aquariums since I was a kid on and off - but never really gotten into the aquascaping thing - Is there somwhere online where i can start to gather info - like a beginners guide?

I have a 120 litre tank I wanna set up.

Cheers :yawinkle:

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AaronT

· #2 · Nov 25, 2008

If you've never kept a planted aquarium before I suggest starting there and learning how to grow the plants well. You'll want this baseline knowledge before attempting to aquascape as you'll be much less frustrated. This is a really nice guide to start with.

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/

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chagovatoloco

· #3 · Nov 26, 2008

Do you self a favor and ask any and all questions, preferably before you buy and thing. That way you will not buy things not needed like I did when starting.

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gravy9

· #4 · Nov 26, 2008

Welcome to the forum. You'll find tons of information and lots of help from fellow hobbyists.

regards,
Ravi

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krisha

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 26, 2008 (Edited)

Thaks for the fast feed back - I have plenty of experience in running a tank - but have never focused on the plants - so I will ask

ohh by the way - i wanna make a homemade CO2 system - seen several here, but is there a guide to how i can put i together?

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AaronT

· #6 · Nov 26, 2008

krisha said:
Thaks for the fast feed back - I have plenty of experience in running a tank - but have never focused on the plants - so I will ask

ohh by the way - i wanna make a homemade CO2 system - seen several here, but is there a guide to how i can put i together?

That's a good start. Running a planted tank does have some new fun challenges though.

By homemade CO2 system do you mean DIY CO2 with yeast and sugar? I believe there's a sticky in the DIY forum with some good tips for making one of those types of systems.

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krisha

Discussion Starter · #7 · Nov 26, 2008

AaronT said:
By homemade CO2 system do you mean DIY CO2 with yeast and sugar? I believe there's a sticky in the DIY forum with some good tips for making one of those types of systems.

cheers mate

I'll check it out

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dawntwister

· #8 · Nov 26, 2008 (Edited)

Here are links for diy Co2:
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html#3
http://www.youtube.com/user/slntsteve

I have found that when dealing with plants it is best to first decide on the lighting and then the plants. Some people use shop lights with daylight bulbs. Daylight is around 5500K, thus light bulbs between 5000K and 7000K are best. A lot of people make a big deal about the watts per gallon (wpg), which is based on T12 bulbs. The T12 bulbs don't reflect light to the bottom of the tank very well. Aaronnorth helped me to see that plants can grow with any light but how they grow depends on the photons they receive. If you can't get the plants to grow how you want them to you add ferts. For example adding Flourish helps bring the pink out of Hygro Sunset.

http://www.barrreport.com/general-plant-topics/4768-k-rating-bulbs-plants-2.html
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/journals/56524-50gal-ugly-tank.html

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krisha

Discussion Starter · #9 · Nov 26, 2008

dawntwister said:
Here are links for diy Co2:
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html#3
http://www.youtube.com/user/slntsteve

I have found that when dealing with plants it is best to first decide on the lighting and then the plants. Some people use shop lights with daylight bulbs. Daylight is around 5500K, thus light bulbs between 5000K and 7000K are best. A lot of people make a big deal about the watts per gallon (wpg), which is based on T12 bulbs. The T12 bulbs don't reflect light to the bottom of the tank very well. Aaronnorth helped me to see that plants can grow with any light but how they grow depends on the photons they receive. If you can't get the plants to grow how you want them to you add ferts. For example adding Flourish helps bring the pink out of Hygro Sunset.

http://www.barrreport.com/general-plant-topics/4768-k-rating-bulbs-plants-2.html
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/journals/56524-50gal-ugly-tank.html

Great stuff - i am not going to make a tank with some of the sophisticated substrals you fellas use - just gravel with some fertilizer in, CO2 and liquid ferts for running care.

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dawntwister

· #10 · Nov 26, 2008

I have seen some tanks, 20 gallon long, use clip on lights with daylight bulbs and diy Co2 have great growth with out ferts. It just depends on how you want your plants to grow and if you have fussy plants.

Some suggest filling the tank with cheap plants, like hornwort which can be planted, to give favorite plants a chance to fill out.

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krisha

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 16, 2008

setup, day 2

Internal filter - diy co2 - lights...well they have to be improved with better bulps.

See less See more

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krisha

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 3, 2009

3 weeks since setup - plants grow very well, but i have a big attack of hair algea

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Seattle_Aquarist

· #13 · Jan 3, 2009

Hi krisha,
I have had the same problem with tanks shortly after setting them up. I usually have been able to combat it by cutting back on my lighting period and dosing with Flourish Excel (see sticky post in Algae Forum). After the algae has died back, I slowing start increasing my light period. I also reduce the amount of fertilizer in proportion to how much I cut back the light period (-25% light period/-25% fertilizers) until I start increasing the photo period. Keep going, algae outbreaks happen, don't get discouraged.

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dawntwister

· #14 · Jan 3, 2009 (Edited)

I am having the same problem. My tap water is very soft and alkaline. Adding potassium nitrate along with excel is killing it. Also reduced light period.

Lights are the engine. Flourish excel kills many variations of algae. It won't keep it from coming back. You must correct the imbalance.

Tom Barr suggest increasing Co2 to 30ppm for BBA, which is similar to hair algae.

Causes and treatments of algae at this link by Naja002:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?p=435558#post435558

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