Journal First Aquascape

[techman81]

Thought I would go back in time a little and create a journal of my first aquascape. This scape is now at the 7 month mark since first planted. I did a dark start for about a month before planting. I'll start with the current equipment, flora, and fauna list. I started with a few different items as you'll see in the photos.

EQUIPMENT:
Tank - Waterbox 3620
Light – Chihiros WRGB II 90cm
Filter – Oase Biomaster Thermo 600 (heater plugged into Inkbird Temp controller)
CO2 Regulator – GLA (Green Leaf Aquariums)
CO@ Reactor – Aqua Rocks Colorado
Fertilizer Doser – Chihiros

PLANTS:
Monte Carlo
Dwarf Hair Grass
Dwarf Sagittaria
Staurogyne Repens
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green
Java Moss
Phoenix Moss
Anubias Nana Petite
Anubias Nana Pinto
Various types (at least 6) of Bucephalandra
Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini'
Rotala Green
Rotala Orange Juice
Ludwigia Natans Super Red
Pogostemon Erectus
Hygrophila Pinnatifida

FISH/INVERTEBRATES:
Cardinal Tetras
Kubotai Rasbora
Honey Gourami
Painted Platy (being rehomed)
Chili Rasbora
Exclamation Point Rasbora
Amano Shrimp
Nerite Snails

Miscellaneous:
Seiryu Stone
Manzanita/Ghost Driftwood
2 HR Aquarist APT 1 and APT 3 Fertilizers
ADA Amazonia 2 Aquasoil with root tabs


First aquarium since the 80s.


Initial scape layout. Decided to go with black background later. Also notice, I started with a Fluval Plant 3.0 light. That didn't last long.


Some initial plans on plant layout. I've since seen how @Jeff Miotke and others use a marker on the front glass for hardscape and plant layout and will be trying that for future scapes.


Initial plant order.


1 day after adding first livestock. About 1.5 weeks after planting.


1 month after planting.


2 months after planting.


3 months after planting.


Most recent photo prior to trimming background and carpeting plants way back. Will post a new photo once things grow back in.


The stuff down below.

 

[Sb1415]

Great build! Good example of how it makes sense to do deep research and invest in the beginning in the best.

It is unfortunate that many people (including myself) had to take a long journey through info from fish tank website (nothing wrong with them) before ending up in actual aquascaping forums and knowing what exactly you need to start with. In theory it makes sense to start cheaper (go low tech, don’t do aqua soil, buy a cheaper light), but actually ends up creating so much problems. Not to hijack your journal but I should probably start a journal on how a typical first one goes.

Do you mind sharing your

• parameters (kh, gh, ph, nitrate, phosphate, co2) through the journey of the tank
• water source (added minerals?)
• water change routine
• tank temp
• fertilizer routine. Did you start with apt1 and then goto apt3. How much do you dose. Do you target a specific nitrate ?

Thanks for sharing

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Super clean setup, really well balanced! How do you like the vertical reactor? Does it get a really large gas pocket? Mine was undersized for my aquarium when I tried one and it became super loud around 3pm due to the splashing from the gas pocket.

 

[Aquajack]

Great build! Good example of how it makes sense to do deep research and invest in the beginning in the best.

It is unfortunate that many people (including myself) had to take a long journey through info from fish tank website (nothing wrong with them) before ending up in actual aquascaping forums and knowing what exactly you need to start with. In theory it makes sense to start cheaper (go low tech, don’t do aqua soil, buy a cheaper light), but actually ends up creating so much problems. Not to hijack your journal but I should probably start a journal on how a typical first one goes.

That's the exact same journey I have taken, still haven't picked up the nice tank etc yet but at least finally have a good light lol. I also spent the first two years at another forum which had very minimal focus on plants and zero focus on aquascapes. Some of us take a while to learn!

 

[Aquajack]

Super nice, clean setup. Kudos too for basically going all in from the start, that takes courage!
Its definitely the right way to go though.

Look forward to updates

 

[techman81]

• parameters (kh, gh, ph, nitrate, phosphate, co2) through the journey of the tank
• water source (added minerals?)

This tank runs medium to high KH and GH (I think, due to the large amount of Seiryu stone) KH runs from 6-8, occasionally dipping below that after a big water change with RO. I re-mineralize with Equilibrium but not heavily. I don’t re-mineralize when topping off. If I didn't use RO, KH and GH would be even higher. GH follows the trend running high at 10-12 with TDS also high. PH, before CO2 kicks on in the morning, is about 7.4 and at peak CO2 is about 6.5. As I learned the other day, CO2 is higher than I thought during peak concentration, around 45ppm maybe (still doing some testing to confirm, but my high kh may be affecting the result accuracy. I’ve only checked phosphate a couple of times and it was normal range. I still need to learn more about water chemistry. I’ve been gradually reading all the articles on 2 HR Aquarist.

water change routine

Water changes started with a Python, but my faucets aren’t well suited for that connection. I put together a DIY water change cart with a diaphragm pump for pulling water out and putting fresh water back in. I’m putting together the new RO storage tank in the basement to now pump water up to the main floor, so I no longer need to fill jugs with. Picture of my DIY water change setup:

tank temp

Tank water stays close to 75.5. I highly recommend Inkbird temp controllers.

fertilizer routine. Did you start with apt1 and then goto apt3. How much do you dose. Do you target a specific nitrate ?

Fertilizing is the other thing I still have a lot to learn about. There is so much debate about different methods. I’m trying to soak up as much of the info in the recent conversations here as I can. I started out just using Seachem Flourish a few times a week but then switched to the APT products after seeing a lot of positive reviews and @Dennis Wong's tanks. I started dosing the APT 1 every day because my nitrates were already plenty high at the time. As plant growth exploded and nitrates went down, I went with a combination of APT 3 4 days a week and APT 1 the other 3 days a week. I’m not basing that schedule on science because I’m still learning the science, but it works for now. My nitrates run around 5.

I’m open to suggestions from the experts here, on how I can improve on all these things.

 

[techman81]

Super clean setup, really well balanced! How do you like the vertical reactor? Does it get a really large gas pocket? Mine was undersized for my aquarium when I tried one and it became super loud around 3pm due to the splashing from the gas pocket.

I had read about this type of reactor getting the gas pockets with gurgling and some people attributed it to not having a cannister filter with strong enough flow, what some consider the weakness of the Biomasters. I still wanted to try it though because I just hated the water constantly being misty from the inline diffuser I started with. It does indeed get the gas pocket and the gurgling, which I found annoying at first. It's also the small version. I would open the bleed-off valve to let the gas escape but that only lasted a couple hours. I honestly would say the level of sound I had, probably wouldn't be that noticeable to many others, but I tend to be sensitive to little sounds and this tank is right next to my favorite chair in the living room so it was mostly an issue when I was sitting reading and there was no other background noise. Perhaps yours was even louder. After a month, I just got use to it and no longer pay much attention.

This is why, however, I had been thinking of the Yugang. This and the thought of the Yugang perhaps being more efficient. I finally purchased it right after I saw Jeff's video of installing one. Haven't installed it yet because I have to modify the cabinet to have a place to mount it.

 

[techman81]

Super nice, clean setup. Kudos too for basically going all in from the start, that takes courage!
Its definitely the right way to go though.

I spent over a year studying and watching a lot of Youtube before I spent a single dime on equipment. Green Aqua, George Farmer, MJ Aquascaping, and countless others. I later found Jeff Miotke's channel as well. I got lots of inspiration from videos showing the ADA, Green Aqua, and ADG galleries.

 

[BenB]

Your tank looks great! I was surprised to find that you had a journal, but I see you just posted it yesterday. I've answered a couple of your questions. I should have been asking you questions.

For @Aquajack and @Sb1415, I've been growing plants since the 80's and got my first injected CO2 in 96. From about 2005 to recently, I've had set ups but I wasn't really "active" in the hobby. A lot changed in my absence. So while I know a good bit, for other things, I'm right there with you new guys. I will have a new build soon and we can figure out dosing with aquasoils together. @techman81 just got ahead of us a little bit

 

[Aquajack]

Your tank looks great! I was surprised to find that you had a journal, but I see you just posted it yesterday. I've answered a couple of your questions. I should have been asking you questions.

For @Aquajack and @Sb1415, I've been growing plants since the 80's and got my first injected CO2 in 96. From about 2005 to recently, I've had set ups but I wasn't really "active" in the hobby. A lot changed in my absence. So while I know a good bit, for other things, I'm right there with you new guys. I will have a new build soon and we can figure out dosing with aquasoils together. @techman81 just got ahead of us a little bit

Look forward to seeing the build take shape then. I've only had dirted tanks so far. My next build sounds like it will be along similar lines to you and also very keen to compare with the aquasoil for not only nutrients but ease of use etc and for aquascaping

 

[DutchMuch]

So while I know a good bit, for other things, I'm right there with you new guys.

So there are more of us!

 

[techman81]

I will have a new build soon and we can figure out dosing with aquasoils together. @techman81 just got ahead of us a little bit

What substrates did you use in the past? A good thing to know about aquasoils, is they do release a lot of ammonia early on and it's not just Amazonia, I've seen it with Controsaoil in my 7 gallon. I did a dark start with the Amazonia so levels dropped off considerably by the time I added plants. I didn't do a dark start with the Controsoil and am patiently waiting for Buce to recover as a result.

Edit: Oh, now I see from another post, you've got some experience with aquasoil.

 

[BenB]

What substrates did you use in the past? A good thing to know about aquasoils, is they do release a lot of ammonia early on and it's not just Amazonia, I've seen it with Controsaoil in my 7 gallon. I did a dark start with the Amazonia so levels dropped off considerably by the time I added plants. I didn't do a dark start with the Controsoil and am patiently waiting for Buce to recover as a result.

Edit: Oh, now I see from another post, you've got some experience with aquasoil.

Yeah, I've used Amazonia and Controlsoil. When I used them in the past, I was flying by the seat of my pants. Doing a different approach this time. Everything went great until I didn't have any K. Then it turned into disaster. So we'll try again.

Aquasoils also suck down your KH (if you are trying to maintain it) and your PO4. I'm OK with my KH as 0. It comes out of the tap almost that anyway.

I've never dry started and plants seem to do OK, but I don't know about Buce. I'm starting to see more people frown on dry start. I also don't have any livestock, so that makes no dry start easier for me as well.

 

[Aquajack]

The dry start method seems particularly appealing if you are trying to establish a carpet relatively quickly.
You're right, it seems to be catching on more and more.

The UNS controsoil seems like a good middle of the road aqua soil, as in not quite as harsh as Amazonica in terms of releasing nitrates etc and also heard good things about it.

 

[DutchMuch]

The dry start method seems particularly appealing if you are trying to establish a carpet relatively quickly.
You're right, it seems to be catching on more and more.

The UNS controsoil seems like a good middle of the road aqua soil, as in not quite as harsh as Amazonica in terms of releasing nitrates etc and also heard good things about it.

Here is a quote from 2Hr Aquarist that makes some good points regarding dry starts that your post made me think of.

Why not a Dry Start, which involves growing plants in moist emersed conditions for a while first?

Aquatic plants undergo profound changes when they move from emersed (grown above water) to submerged conditions.

Consider just the CO2 aspect: The concentration of CO2 in the air we breathe is around 400ppm. In water, even with CO2 injection, most tanks average 20ppm or less, a bit like suddenly reducing a daily diet of 2000 calories to 100 calories per day.

This transition is both traumatic and inevitable, and we find that the dark start provides a smoother transition:

• the aquatic biome has had time to stabilise in submerged conditions
• tissue culture plants adapt directly to submerged conditions
• store-bought submerged plants do not need to expend energy to temporarily transit to their emersed form and then adapting back to submerged growth forms
• as all store-bought emersed plants have to adapt to their submerged forms anyway- let's get it over with at one go.

Just wanted to share here with you all, hopefully this provides some useful insight.

 

[techman81]

The UNS controsoil seems like a good middle of the road aqua soil, as in not quite as harsh as Amazonica in terms of releasing nitrates etc and also heard good things about it.

I can't say for sure that the Controsoil had a less significant ammonia spike than the Amazonia because I used far far less of it in the nano tank. I will say this though, I liked planting in the fine grain version of Controsoil over the standard grain size Amazonia. I need to see how the grain size of APT Feast compares. I'd like to give it a try next.

 

[BenB]

I liked planting in the fine grain version of Controsoil over the standard grain size Amazonia. I need to see how the grain size of APT Feast compares.

Oddly, I have some of all 3 of these, but I'd have to poke holes in bags to get some out. I'll think on it.

 

[techman81]

Oddly, I have some of all 3 of these, but I'd have to poke holes in bags to get some out. I'll think on it.

Don't open them just for my benefit. I've asked others and maybe @Dennis Wong will chime in.

 

[Dennis Wong]

Don't open them just for my benefit. I've asked others and maybe @Dennis Wong will chime in.

The grain size of APT Feast is erm, normal aquasoil sized? haa You can see the comparison to the monte carlo/blood vomit here. It does leach a lot of ammonia. Fine grain soils are easier to plant in, but I find that they leach their nutrients out at a quicker rate than larger grains, so we chose not to produce them at too small grain size.

 

[techman81]

The grain size of APT Feast is erm, normal aquasoil sized? haa You can see the comparison to the monte carlo/blood vomit here. It does leach a lot of ammonia. Fine grain soils are easier to plant in, but I find that they leach their nutrients out at a quicker rate than larger grains, so we chose not to produce them at too small grain size.

Thank you for the response Dennis.