My 240l Planted Tank

Thought I'd post a picture of my tank. Apologies for the quality photography.

Thanks Chucklett.

It hasn't really changed much in layout, if anything at all. But the plants have established themselves. Considering that crypts are supposed to be slow growing, I've got to the point where I'm fairly regularly having to pull small plants out, as they are spreading really well.

The limnophilia (the fluffy looking stem plant) is currently going through a relocation, from the right hand side of the tank, in front of the heater, to the left, next to the giant bogwood. Usual maintenance is to cut off long bits and replant them. So a slow relocation just means the cuttings are being replanted on the other side of the tank. Hopefully less disruptive.

And the bushy hygrophilia is soon to disappear. It is quite attractive at the moment, but I've not got on very well with this plant. It puts out loads of roots and then the main stem underneath rots away, leaving  'mid water' plants. For some reason I've had no success when planting the new plantlets, at getting them to stay put and grow. So when it finally loses it's main stem, it is coming out. Hopefully that will allow the amazon swords that it currently overshadows to get a bit bigger.

A good proportion of fish that can be seen are less than a couple months old. Though, by increasing the numbers of cardinals and harlies, it has made an amazing difference to the look of the tank. They are all much happier swimming out in the open in a big shoal, where as before they used to shoal under the plants so weren't as visible.

Just need to make sure it is all happy before I add any more fish, perhaps a few more kuhlis depending on what my stocking turns out to be, otherwise it will just be the specimen fish to go in. Yet to be decided what...

Yes I do use fertilisers and CO2. My amazon swords were probably the plants that were suffering the most before I started using plant targeted additives. I'd more or less given up with them and planted the hygrophilia in the middle of them all. Then when I started using CO2 and fertilisers they came back to life and are now doing incredibly well. I do have to fairly regularly prune back any leaves that look past their best, but there are always up to a dozen, usually small new leaves ready to take the place of the large old ones.

I bought a JBL CO2 set that included fertilisers. I had a few long conversations with Natalie on the old board about plants and different fertilising techniques on the old board. I'm going to have to try and have the same conversations again, as I no longer have those posts for reference!

My tap water is rather on the soft side (though not really soft) as we're on the edge of the Peak District (where a lot of peat is still cut). It is also incredibly low in nitrates. And with a lightly stocked tank, my current fertilising regime includes adding calcium nitrate at water changes! It still feels odd to be adding nitrates to my tank.  But the improvements since I've started doing this have been outstanding. The plants look loads better and I've had fewer fish deaths.

I was worried the  hardness of my water was creeping up, so did a large water change and didn't add any fertilisers. A few days later, I had a significant algae bloom that took several weeks and water changes (with ferts) to get rid of! But I didn't have to do anything extreme like blackouts. Just resume fertilising.

Interestingly enough the other plant that seems to have benefitted significantly from CO2 and ferts is the vallisneria. I am still clearing out the snails that boomed during a few months of neglect, and they're some what fond of the vallis, but it is growing quickly enough that it doesn't really matter. I just have loads of half eaten leaves to keep picking out! My vallis is supposed to grow to about 50cm tall, but I would say it manages at least twice that.

At least half the credit for the success of my tank at the moment is due to my husband. He does an amazing job of emptying buckets of water I have siphoned out of the tank as well as pouring the new dechlorinated water back in. And as a small water change tends to be 30l, more usually closer to 50l, it is no small task.  I don't think I've had the opportunity on here before to say how much he is my superhero. 

Got to go and do a water change now before it's too late and my superhero loses his super powers! 

Ah, Natalia  Im sure she will happily refresh you with her advice - she swung through the "Introduce Yourself" thread a bit back so I know she's lurking in the background waiting to help us with our plants 

CO2 and ferts definitely make a difference. Whenver I see a lush-planted tank, I always ask if ferts and/or CO2 is used - the answer is always yes! We too have soft water and my tanks are also lightly stocked...... hmmmmm    (I say "lightly" stocked. They maybe half stocked. Along with everyone else, Im waiting for the CC to check just how stocked they are!)

Nice to hear your husband getting his praises! Does he know he's now officially a superhero? 

Oooh, breeding behaviour  Love it! Apart from fascinating to see, it means the fish are happy - which in turn means the tank & water is good 

The CC is going to be busy when its up & running, theres quite a few people waiting for it! Like you, I know Ive got room for more. Its just a case of how many more!




EDIT: Might owe my shrimps an apology! Although I can absolutely say they dessimated my alternanthera, they may not be guilty for my Twisted Vallis looking like its been mown. In my other tank this afternoon, one of my young SAEs merrily munched through a vallis leaf, leaving the tip (about 3" long!) to float off up the tank in typical shrimp fashion! I have five big SAEs in the first tank where the shrimps are........... hmmmmmmmmm 

Hi Helen,
I just had a look – awesome Dutch and at the same time Jungle style planting! Just continuing on the subject of aquascaping, just a suggestion (you should NOT follow it if you don’t like it!): what about creating an illusion of depth by making a sort of a “path” like the picture I attached.
P.S. I am very proud that I was able to prompt at the time that your tank would benefit from additional nutrients.

I have noticed that with red LEDs at the back of the tank (not on in the photo above) and blue LEDs in the front,  they do a great job of creating depth. The blue lights the shorter plants in the front, the red, the taller ones at the back.

I like the idea of a path to create depth and there is a patch towards the right, where I've just moved the lymnophilia from, that could be slightly re-arranged to be a path.

I am generally trying to resist the urge to re-arrange my tank at the moment. I'm now 8 months pregnant, so can't do any of the water changes on my own and struggle to reach the bottom of the tank (my arms aren't long enough to reach past the bump!). My husband, who is currently my fish tank slave, isn't too keen on my re-arranging things either!    So it will have to wait till I've got some time on my hands!

Natalia, I can only be hugely grateful for all your advice about adding nutrients to my tank. I learned so much and my tank has benefited enormously - not just the plants but the overall health. Now my friends comment on how good it looks rather than taking the mick out of me for being a fish killer! The only sad thing is that all our conversations, that I referred back to several times, got lost with the old website! Fortunately some of it seems to have stayed in my head. 

Hope things are going well for you.

I have to admit that when I set up my tank, nearly two years ago, aquascaping wasn't somthing I knew about. And once I've got my plants growing, it is quite difficult to move them without disrupting everything. I was able to move the limnophilia because, as a stem plant, part of its maintenance is trimming and replanting - so it is easy to replant in a new location. I get so many baby crypts, that putting them in a new location is fairly easy too.

I did once try to move one of the amazon swords (I had 4 to start with) but when I'd finally managed to pull it up, I discovered that the root system was so huge that there was no way I would get it replanted. The only way to move the swords would be remove all the substrate, put the plant in the location I want it, then put the substrate on top! A project for another time.

One of the things I like about fishkeeping is all the research and trying new things so it is difficult not to look at the tank and think of all the improvements I could make!

Glad things are looking up for you.