First foray into planted tank 60*45*45

[sk1001]

Hi all,

Hopefully I am posting in the right place. I will be documenting my first planted tank here, as well as asking plenty of questions that hopefully someone can help with. I've previously had a 4ft low-tech freshwater tropical setup and have kept bristlenose catfish, yoyo loaches, bronze cories, blue rams, blue angels, red eye tetras and black neon tetras

Tank and equipment
ADA style starfire 60*45*45cm (121L) built by Dennison Seeto of Mary-Annes Aquariums in QLD
ADA style cabinet built by Dennison Seeto of Mary-Annes Aquariums in QLD
Eheim Jager 150W heater that I will be DIYing to go in-line
Keg king 2.6L co2 canister
CO2Art PRO-SE regulator
CO2Art 12/16mm in line diffuser (new model)
ADA Amazonia 9L
Fluval Plant 3.0 LED 61-85cm
Eheim Classic 350 (2215) & Eheim Classic 250 (2213), I will be seeding the 2213 in the planted tank then using it in my quarantine after
Seachem Prime
Liverpool creek aquarium all-in-one premium

Hardscape will be a tree trunk style piece of driftwood in an elevated corner.

Relatively new to plants but have done a bit of research and am thinking:
foreground: Sagittaria Subulata, Cryptocoryne parva, Blyxa japonica, Staurogyne repens
midground: Bolbitis heudelotii, Cryptocoryne wendtii
background: Hygrophila pinnatifida
driftwood: Anubias barteri, Anubias nana, Needle leaf java fern

Stock:
10 x black neon tetra or cardinal tetra
2 or 3 x apistogramma cacatuoides or agassizii
1 x peppermint bristlenose

Pictures to follow shortly, still need to pick up some gear from bunnings.

[Rebel]

Looks like you have done your research. The gear looks to be primo.

I am very interested to see the closeups of the silicone and the cabinet to check their workmanship!

[luked]

Looks like you have done your research. The gear looks to be primo.

I am very interested to see the closeups of the silicone and the cabinet to check their workmanship!

Seconded!! looking forward to pics

[sk1001]

Well here are the first pictures...

Still missing a few bits and bobs - some matting from clark rubber, some drainage cells from bunnings to elevate driftwood...





The glasswork is by no means perfect, but it'll do...
I got the tank second hand off facey - some calcium buildup but hopefully some bar keepers friend will fix that



Hardscape materials, not sure how much I'll use but the two big pieces I want to incorporate somehow.







Soaking in the pond and to get rid of bugs (have been keeping the driftwood out in the backyard)

[DDM]

Welcome to the 60x45x45 club! It might look like difficult dimensions to work with, but who doesn't like a challenge?
Regarding hardscape, the more the merrier in my opinion, especially with those beautiful driftwood pieces you've got there. You'd probably need more soil too.

[sk1001]

I'll see how it goes, based on my research 9L is generally ok. My local place sells for $35 which is about as cheap as it gets anyway.

Managed to get some anti slip matting from Clark rubber. It's like a yoga matt but 3mm thick. I have enough to do 2 layers if required though. Got some timers for the co2art regulator and light as well as 2*20L pales for water changes and some proper squirt bottles for dosing prime and ferts to scale. Also got some corflute (corrugated plastic sheet) to use as substrate anchors so my substrate hill won't collapse. No luck with egg crate at Bunnings though - looks like I'll have to go to plastics for industry in Keysborough next weekend

[Rebel]

For the scale, just use some vinegar. Cabinet looks good. Have they coated with waterproof paint? Mine has some sort of paint which is very water repellant.

[sk1001]

Bar keepers friend is much better than vinegar. Assume the cabinet is waterproof but don't know for sure.

Have started thinking about where to source plants. Liverpool Creek looks a decent option but pricey. Might try and source some plants from Facebook groups

[Rebel]

Bar keepers friend is much better than vinegar.

Agreed. I had a look at the ingredients (Citric acid) which has a lower pKa than Vinegar.

[mr_c265]

Citric acid is chelating - making it very effective on scale.

[sk1001]

bar keepers friend is actually oxalic acid, which I'm assuming is stronger than citric acid?

Anyhow, it still requires a bit of elbow grease when using a razor. Unfortunately I put some very small scratches into the glass because I didn't keep my razor straight but they are hardly noticeable. Also a note for anybody else who plans on using BKF - it's worth wearing gloves, my skin has started peeling on my right hand in very small particles.

I ordered some frosted film off ebay. Very easy to apply, but doesn't seem to add much in terms of depth. You probably can't even tell I've applied it because my wall is painted white







Also some bonus shots of what kind of spectrums the Plant 3.0 can put out (not that i'll be using anything other than MAX everything )

Fish food also came in today, gone with my favorites NLS thera A, nutrafin max color enhancing flakes and hikari algae wafers. Opted for the small size for the thera A and the pellets really are tiny!



Looking forward to getting egg-crate this weekend and getting the hardscape under way. Have found some sources for plants, but if you have some for sale/donation, please let me know!

[sk1001]

Hardscape done.

Lined the base with egg crate and a sheet of corflute and then built up some height in the back left with some ziptied sheets of egg crate.

My only concern is that I don't have enough substrate depth. It's only 2cm deep at the front, so I'm guessing I'll have to buy another another bag of amazonia.

[Rebel]

Looking good. I think you can consider increasing height of the hardscape and see whether you can improve focal points in the scape.

[sk1001]

Yeah, think I might take out the root on the left and build a bigger hill. I'll also elevate the wood on the right and backfill the right corner. Hoping to get at least 2.5 inches of actual aquasoil at the front

[DDM]

Yeah, think I might take out the root on the left and build a bigger hill. I'll also elevate the wood on the right and backfill the right corner. Hoping to get at least 2.5 inches of actual aquasoil at the front

The front actually looks good, I'd only increase height at the back to give that sense of depth that it's missing at the moment. How much more egg crate you've got? :P