my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

[insomniaclush]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

Nice scape!

I would look into the ADA lily pipes or the Cal Aqua knock-offs to keep it clean looking!

I agree
pick up some Cal Aqua Labs lily's for almost half the cost. I have a couple of sets
and they are pretty sturdy and i break everything. Plus they have a special
now for a set in/out w/  Double Check CO2 Checker for good price.

http://www.calaqualabs.com/Filtration.html

The tank looks awesome

[finfan]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

ok i did it, i got the calaqua, i am so excited, can't wait for them to be here, i got the incflow, outflow, and CO2 checker :)

[FIREFISH]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

I want one! Great job on the scaping.   FF

[HoustonFishFanatic]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

Hey Finfan! Your are off to a good start. I would highly recommend adding some cryptocoryne petchii, wendtii etc to fill up the empty spaces as it would give you nice midground and help binding your driftwood together.You could use up some tall species like spiralis , lutea between the swords and Crypt lucen between the stones along the border.
Thanks
Bhushan

[finfan]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

thanks for all the feedback guys, yes it is a work in progress and i am new to this so bear with me, i rescaped the tank a little bit, the "fallen tree" has changed position, there are more driftwood and at this point it seems like a larger space after rescaping, i still have to flatten the sand in the front, so here are some pics, hope i did not make it worse!



here's another



here's a cheesy one, but honestly looks better in person



cheesy 2

[eklikewhoa]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

I was gonna suggest more wood

With your backlighting there you could get a piece of mdf with the countertop liner to sit against your wall behind the tank.....then mount the light near the bottom of the tank and it would come out a lot better  :wink:

[Mzungu]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

It looks great! I love your choices for driftwood.

So, are those fish I see swimming around?

[armthehomeless]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

Whaty fish do you have in there?

[finfan]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

yes those are fish, i wanted to cycle with fish :(

they are 5 whiteclouds from petsmart and 3 danios from my other tank, interestingly they all school together quite a bit and play around against the outflow together, but i know cycling is not fun on them, one of those decisions i don't like making, of course with aquasoil there is a huge amonia surge, but i did a 65% water change yesterday and plan on doing one tomorrow

[finfan]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

hey guys, i need some advice, as all of you are aware of (some more painfully than others) - no one likes algae in their tank, and i definitely hate them to put it lightly, i want to make sure i minimize the chance of too much algae growth in this new tank, what precautions should i take? PLEASE HELP, any advice is welcome

for some of you that have not read the entire thread - here are some facts about the tanks:

size: ADA 120p 48"*18"*18*
gallonage: rated 65USgallons, i'm thinking with substrate, rocks, its probably between 55 and 60
first water went in June 14, 2008
plants: planted on June 15, 2008, includes 10 bunches of amazon sword, and 12 little anubias nanas (of course none of these plants are high growth like a cabomba or anything, so algae has an upper hand in that sense)
lighting: Hagen GLO T5HO 2*54watts - photoperiod: ~8hours
filter: Rena XP3
heater:hydor in-line heater
CO2: none
substrate: ~65% ADA aquasoil, remaining sand (should be neutral), as you know aquasoil leaches ammonia - so ammonia has been very high, i also noticed that aquasoil lowered ph to between 6.4 and 6.8 (houston tap water is ~8 and it holds stable based on my other tanks w/o aquasoil)
water changes: performed a ~65% water change on June 16, and a ~35% water change on june 17
algae: have not noticed anything yet, but i am worried to death that it will just creep up on me and then i will be in algae hell forever
livestock: i have 4whiteclouds and 3 zebra danios for cycling

once again - please HELP

[eklikewhoa]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

Keep doing the water changes....add co2....

[Mzungu]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

I agree.

You really don't have to have the fish in there if you have the AquaSoil, because it releases so much ammonia, which is essentially why fish are used to cycle a tank.

Algae is unavoidable, sorry to say. But it is possible to avoid having algae take over the entire tank. And that's a good balance of CO2, lighting, and ferts; a good crew to get the stray stuff; and having a stable maintenance schedule. I would stock up early on with some nerites, otos or small plecos, maybe even some shrimp, depending on what you are planning to keep in the tank fish-wise.

One of the more important things, I've realized, is not to make any sudden changes. Algae will exploit these situations terribly!

[finfan]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

thanks for the information, i guess it makes no sense to have the fish in there since i already have ammonia (that was stupid)

here's a few follow-up questions:

(1) i can't get the otos/nerites/shrimp before i cycle the tank, right?

(2) also, my expected stocking plan is:

4 sub-adult angels (already have in a different tank)
4 checkerboard cichlids (already have in a different tank)
a big school of something (tetra/rasboras/dwarf rainbows)
otos
SAE's
amanos

will amano shrimp be ok with the angels?

(3) where can i get nerites?  never seen them in any LFS!

(4) where is the best place (price & quality) to get amano shrimp?

thanks in advance for answering

[Mzungu]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

1. I wouldn't. Inverts tend to be pretty sensitive to ammonia and things, and Otos are just notoriously sensitive, since there's not yet a large amount being tank bred.

2. With the angels, I have no idea. I'll wait for an angel person to step in. But, every other choice sounds excellent!

3. Well, www.planetinverts.com has some, but I wouldn't order just yet from them.  :wink:  I ordered one of my batches from another company here in Houston, who has since gone out of business. Hmmm...good question!

4. No idea. But, to let you know, I got a group of about 6 from Fish Gallery, and I'm pretty sure they either gave me an extra or two, or gave me some sort of discount, because I know I paid less per shrimp than what was on the tank. They're still doing well.

[Mzungu]

Re: my first ADA 120P planted tank journal

If all else fails, here are some really expensive nerites:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=1075+1076&pcatid=1076

Just looked on a whim at their site, figured they would probably have some.  8)