Advice needed for 3 Feet Planted Tank

[WaveSurfer]

Hi all,

Have been a while since I last visited here (have been neglecting our tank since my son was born) but decided to do a revamp last night since most of our plants were dying and the tank getting really bare.

Please see below for the photos after last night's first round of revamp. Pardon the quality which was taken by my mobile phone.

Right now, I'm planning to get 20 x Neon Tetra to add into the fish population (now I have 3 x SAE, 3 x Chain Loach, 1 x Otto, 2 x Cichlid, 2 x Garra Flavatra), and to add more plants into the tank after our CO2 tank gets refilled.

I'm intending to tie some moss at the ends of the the branching driftwood to simulate a tree-like look, and also place some moss on the foreground as carpet. However, I'm concerned our SAEs may consume them before they can even grow much. May I know if any bros here have experience between SAEs and moss and if my concern is unfounded?

Also, any advice on how to better improve the tank layout would be much appreciated. Thanks!

i think the driftwood look bare. tie some big leafy plants on it , best if the leaves can protrude out of the water surface a bit. something like the ready made driftwood i bought for my low tech tank

http://sungod666.blogspot.com/2011/0...-cheating.html

[WaveSurfer]

Originally Posted by sungod666

i think the driftwood look bare. tie some big leafy plants on it , best if the leaves can protrude out of the water surface a bit. something like the ready made driftwood i bought for my low tech tank

http://sungod666.blogspot.com/2011/0...-cheating.html

Thanks for sharing!

Okay will make that one of my options in the next phase of revamp.

[Heuer]

the front is pretty bare. do you intend to put some foreground plants?

[WaveSurfer]

Originally Posted by Heuer

the front is pretty bare. do you intend to put some foreground plants?

Yes considering moss but worried my SAEs may gobble them up.

Tried HC and Glosso few years back but weren't successful. Suspect my substrate might have something to do with it.

[Heuer]

are you using lapis sand? if yes, should be ok for planting HC or Glosso. SAE and yamato should be the culprit as they like to dig.

[limz_666]

Sae do like to eat moss

[qngwn]

HC or glosso requires high light and alot CO2. i am currently using 4 tubes T5HO to grow my HC.
see them pearling beautifully everyday.

[WaveSurfer]

Thanks for your replies bros! Appreciate it! ^^

Originally Posted by Heuer

are you using lapis sand? if yes, should be ok for planting HC or Glosso. SAE and yamato should be the culprit as they like to dig.

No... My substrate is just the normal substrate. Bought it several years back when I first came into the aquarium hobby. The salesperson at Qian Hu told me this gravel is suitable for planting but apparently this doesn't seem to be the case?

About digging, besides our SAEs, the Cichlids also enjoy digging a lot, so much so that they could change the entire landscape altogether. ^^|

Originally Posted by limz_666

Sae do like to eat moss

Thanks for the confirmation. So moss is out for me then.

I'm thinking of using Riccia with tied mesh as my carpet but unable to find it at Y618. Any idea where is a good place to find them?

Also, instead of multiple meshes lying in the foreground, is it possible to get one big piece of mesh (cut to match the shape of the available space in the foreground) instead? Will the Riccia become more uniform (no gaps in between the different meshes) instead?

Originally Posted by qngwn

HC or glosso requires high light and alot CO2. i am currently using 4 tubes T5HO to grow my HC.
see them pearling beautifully everyday.

Three of my 4-pc light stand appear to be faulty, thus allowing only one of my T5 39W 14000K tube to be running right now. Thought of finding a 2nd-hand light stand but no luck so far. Will try to repair my light stand myself soon.

Wow that's a lot of light! I will need to balance the CO2 input and nutrients well then else might end up with lots of algae, since my tank is not really heavily planted so far.

[WaveSurfer]

Here's some photos of the tank taken last night with a better camera after adding another 50 Neon Tetra into the tank (already had around 20 before that), since Y618 sell Neon Tetra in packs of 50. Will this exceed the bioload of the tank?

Also bought 2 x Otto and 2 x Corydoras, and started pumping in CO2 under the EHEIM filter inlet last night (the CO2 tank has just been refilled).

Comments welcomed!