fisht tank

[gun12b]

plastic or real, Ive got plastic plants show me yours.

[Nimby]

Real - and due for some pruning.

[paps]

Nimby said:

Real - and due for some pruning.

Very nice, are you dosing with CO2?

[Turn7]

I "had" loads of Vallis, but in a Malawi tank,longevity isn't great sadly.

I've done the planted tank thing and didn't enjoy it really,but I have seen some truly amazing tanks.

[MocMocaMoc]

Started life with the stock lighting, and with plenty of weird coloured algae.



... and home to these fellas:



Ringo, giving us a wave!



And my favourite fish ever:



Then I bought a couple LED's, which transformed the tank!

[Turn7]

I'm close to buying my led setup from the US, fully programmable sunrise and sunset etc.

[MocMocaMoc]

Do it! They're ace.

I don't have sunset or rise, only blue and white colours but with a gradual turn on / off over an hour (programmable). I've glued some cheapo Maplin multicoloured LEDs around the top set to a timer for a red night light (of course, they're party lights so have a super flash green / red / blue disco mode too. Kind of kills the vibe I was going for. HA)

There's a shimmer to LEDs that you can't capture in pictures - really sets off the rock work. And most come with a storm mode! Combined with a wave maker makes for a dramatic half hour for the fishies.

[Nimby]

paps said:

Nimby said:

Real - and due for some pruning.

Very nice, are you dosing with CO2?

Thanks. Yes bottled CO2 - and also fertiliser made up from dry mix. It's so much cheaper than rip-off proprietary liquids (less than a hundredth of the cost per dose). I started both about the same time after not being able to keep any plants alive; I couldn't say which made the most difference.

[Starfighter]

Nimby said:

paps said:

Nimby said:

Real - and due for some pruning.

Very nice, are you dosing with CO2?

Thanks. Yes bottled CO2 - and also fertiliser made up from dry mix. It's so much cheaper than rip-off proprietary liquids (less than a hundredth of the cost per dose). I started both about the same time after not being able to keep any plants alive; I couldn't say which made the most difference.

Do you have a particular type you recommend? I'm running an Amazon biotope and the fertiliser costs are sky high.

[Nimby]

Plants should get more than enough NPK from the fish excreta - so I wondered if my problems were down to lack of trace elements. I tried this and it seemed to help a lot (though as I mentioned, I installed a CO2 system at the same time).

500g (£12) will last me around 18 months (200l tank).