Welcome to APC! We love to hear from international members.

Problems with wood usually come if the wood is directly covering a large area of soil. (Stone can cause problems in this situation too.) Your piece is mostly vertical and this will help.

 

Thanks Michael! As I was a bit into aquascaping before, I decided to give it a try in a NPT tank. If it doesn't work I will just remove it.

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Great start! Swordplants are the perfect fit for a 55 gal.

Minor Point. Make sure that those reddish stem plants are not all bunched together. That clump in the middle looks like it could be spread out a little.

 

Thank you for the recommendation Diana! I will spread a little bit more the red plants. It's Alternanthera reineckii and I'm actually surprised how fast it's growing.The sword plants were my first choice for the tank of this size.


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Glad you identified the reddish plant. I wasn't sure if it was Alternanthera marcandra, another beautiful red stem plant that seems to do well in NPTs.

 

So under the gravel,you have potting soil?..It looks like you skipped that. Potting soil will degrade and basically become a gas...so maybe mix some backyard clay soils for longer term use.
I still use potting soils and some dirt in my potted plants...Others can get by in the sand and gravel mix.

 

I used potting soil but from the photo it's not really clear. And it seems it's quite rich, maybe too much? I'm starting to see some detritus worms. Probably will do some water change today. Thanks for the advice.

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I used potting soil but from the photo it's not really clear. And it seems it's quite rich, maybe too much? I'm starting to see some detritus worms. Probably will do some water change today.

Pure potting soil is fine. (Trust me, it won't degenerate into a gas!) I like that you made substrate just about the right depth for this tank. I wouldn't worry about worms. They're a bonus. They'll either aerate the substrate or be live food for future fish!

 

Nice start! I really like the way that the sword plant hides the heater!

 

Thanks zahtar! It's quite close to the heater so I might have to put a protection cover on the heater to avoid burning.

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Thank you Diana! I did as you recommend in your book. Hopefully soon I will be able to add some Amano or red cherry shrimps and a snail. Afterwards probably a Beta fish or some guppies, not sure yet.

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Hi everyone! After 10 days, here is a quick update if someone is interested.

The levels of ammonia drop to 0 mg/L, pH has always been at 8 but nitrite still at 1mg/L. Nitrates maintain at 25mg/L.
I did my first big water change 2 days ago (roughly 70%) and before, all values were exactly the same with the exception of ammonia that was 0.5mg/L. So, things are getting better and as soon as nitrite drop to 0mg/L, I can add fish.

Although, I do see that the biofilm formed it's almost opaque. Is this normal? I was not expecting that would be so thick.

Unfortunately, as someone wrote in this forum (sorry, don't know exactly who and which post), I started to see some holes on the althernera reineckii but all other plants are growing quite well.

Thank you for reading!


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Although, I do see that the biofilm formed it's almost opaque. Is this normal? I was not expecting that would be so thick.

If you have a thick biofilm floating on the surface, I would probably remove it. You can scoop it up with a cup.

Sounds like you could add some animals very soon!

 

Thank you for the advice, Diana. Just did it!

 

Hi everybody! As I mentioned before, the althernera reineckii is unfortunately, kind of struggling... Specially the bottom leaves. Although, the upper leaves seem to go well and even growing some roots (pic 2). Would it make sense to cut it below the new roots and plant it?

I know red plants on NPT tanks are difficult to maintain but I'm trying .

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Alternanthera reineckii always has aerial roots like yours has. Those roots don't mean you should prune the plants and replant them with the roots in the substrate. My experience with that plant is that it is difficult to grow without getting black brush algae growing on it. Too little light and the bottom leaves die. Too much light and BBA attacks. But, it is worth the effort because it is always a bright red color. Whether it works well in an El Natural tank I don't know.

 

Thanks for the input.
I guess I don't have enough light for it then, maybe also because of the siesta. Nevertheless, I will keep it as it is and if it doesn't succeed I will try another red plant species.

 

I would try spreading at least one of those bunches of A. reineckii out a little. They look like they're all clumped together. That said, the plants look healthy to me. (Bottom leaves will naturally senesce and drop off.)

 

In fact, they look quite cramped together. Will spread them more. I would have said the same but as some people mentioned here, they seem not to be successful in NPT tanks. Maybe I will be lucky
Thank you for your advice Diana!

 

So, after almost one month, everything is perfect to add some habitants [emoji846].
I will have some Amano and red cherry shrimps and a nerite snail.
What fishes and how many would you guys recommend?
Thanks a lot for your input!

 

I would use no more than 10 fish, 1 to 1.5 inch adult size, and all of them the same species. Less than 8 same species fish could end up with social problems. And, schooling fish look best with at least that many. I would try to pick fish that don't try to use the shrimp for food.

 

I have Celestial pearl danio in a 55L tank. They're great. And they don't eat shrimps

 

Thanks Guibang and hoppycalif!

 

This is my NPT from several years ago ( this was the first)

Alternathera reinecki did quite well.

 

That's gorgeous!

 

Beautiful tank! Thanks for posting picture.

And we can add A. reinecki to the list of red plants for NPTs.

 

A short update after approximately 1.5 months. Everything seems to be fine. I stopped to control the parameters and don't do any water changes anymore, just topping up. Added guppy's, neons, Amano and red cherry shrimps and nerite snails. Nevertheless, the water is a little bit cloudy but everybody seems happy [emoji846]. Is it something I should be concerned?

By the way, once I did a water top up at the tank limit and next day couldn't find one of the nerite snails. It felt from the tank and was on the back, on the floor. Don't know for how long was there, but survived! I was in shock... [emoji846]