Planted 12 gallon Nano Cube

[theDeanoRama]

Background:

This is my 1st aquarium and right out the gate I wanted it to be a planted tank. The LFS I went to set up me up with what I thought at the time was a decent enough system for what I wanted, and other that a few shortcomings its pretty close.

Equipment:

• 12g JBJ Nano Reef Tank
• DIY type co2 canister connected to an airstone (DIY now because all the included ingredients it came with expired a number of years ago)
• A number of plants that came with no names.

The plants as it turns out where:

• Cabomba (not enjoying this plant as much as I thought I would, looks great but is a messy one)
• Micro Sword
• Echinodorus Ozelot
• Alternanthera reineckii
• Bacopa australis - I planted this in a badly chosen area and only 2 stems now survive in a replanted position.

Fauna:

• 7 Cardinal Tetras - the overall count over the last 6 weeks has been both more and less, but now I'm at a steady and healthy 7
• about 15 Red Cherry Shrimp .. little buggers are hard to get a head count on. As above I've also had more and less than this, but it seems to have stabilized.

I have since removed some of the Micro Sword and have planted HC all around the foreground. I plan on replacing all the remaining Micro Sword with addional HC when I can find more (even though I'm surrounded by LFS's, I have only found one source of it thus far).

I had a hard time with the lighting that was designed for a reef tank, 50/50 atinic and a 10k, both 24w for 12gallons for a total of 48watts of PC lighting. I found I was fighting algea pretty early in the game which I beat back with blackout periods and overdosing Excel. I've since changed over to a couple of 6700k lights and that has made a huge difference. The only place that ever shows signs of a thin layer of algae is the drift wood which is fine as it gives the Cherry Red Shrimp somthing to pick away at.

Currently things are pretty smooth other than a snail invasion (the pics will tell the story) and drifting plant matter that never completely filters away. Lots of Pond Snails, a few Ramshorns and a few MTS - these last two I actually like, but I am probably going to have to get agressive with them soon.

I am disenchanted with the Reef Tank for this use though. The filtration can't seem to keep up with a tank planted to this level, the tank gets pretty warm with the lights on (82F) and there is little space at the surface for air exchange due to the proximity of the light fixture in the hood (I had to introduce an airstone for the lights off period). Now that I'm figuring my way through this new hobby I've decided to replace this tank with a 24 inch 15 gallon rimless - but that will be a different thread.

Despite the shortcomings, I've managed to get by and its been a great learning experience. I am aiming to replace the Cabomba with something like Bylxa Japonica though. This may help out with my plant matter vs filtration issue, but I want to definatly keep something in there that will give the Tetras a place to hid out. They really like hiding in the Cabomba when they are feeling overwhelmed (water changes, replanting my floaty HC ect ..).

Here it is on day one (You can really see the difference the 50/50 + 10k bulb makes here vs the 6700 in the following pic).
Front:

Side:


Here it is on the Nov 11th (day 51) - I've since trimmed the cabomba down (again) ... its almost a weekly event and I pinched out the tops of some of the Reineckii at the same time, 1st time I'd ever done it and I can see the new growth coming in a lot fuller. I will have to do this more often.
Front:

Side:

[CRS Fan]

Very nice Dean. I see we have another planted tank enthusiast as a new member. Your Alternanthera looks extremely healthy. The HC is very lush and green too. Was that aquired through Tropica or Aquaflora?

Best Regards,

Stuart

[O.C.D Fishies]

I love the look of it, it open space on the right side. Your Hc looks amazing too. Great job. The contrast of the light hc against the wood then the wood against the Alternanthera reineckii. I am a big fan of the Bylxa Japonica, keep us updated on the progress.

[Morainy]

Deanorama, your first tank is a spectacular tank! Congratulations!

[theDeanoRama]

Thanks everyone

CRSFan:
I believe the HC came way of Aquaflora, I purchased it from King Ed a few weeks ago. I happened to be there when they were unpacking a shipment (lucky me). I just wish it would all root .. every other day I have to go back in and poke some down again. Makes me wish for a different substrate.
The Alternanthera is giving me some issues on the lowest leaves (bit of algae and the odd leaf dropping) but I think thats a combination due to stunted growth from lack of exposure to the lights. I'm going to have to spread them out a bit again as they are starting to choke each other out a bit.

[theDeanoRama]

Ugh, my nightmare has been realized. Shortly after my above post a power outage just hit, guessing it's to do with the snow we are getting (2 months early!).

On the upside I have a battery operated air pump I just tossed in. With such a light bioloading, completely covered tank and the airstone I should be fine for the night. I also just finished wrapping the tank in a blanket, leaving and opening to accommodate air exchange.

All I have to say is I'm glad I thought ahead when it came to getting this airpump ... Now if it was only a little quieter than a Volkswagen firing on a missing cylinder ...

[Morainy]

Yes, those air pumps can be pretty noisy! But I think that with only 7 cardinal tetras in a 12 gallon tank, they'd be okay for air all night even without the pump. I hope that your power outtage doesn't last too long, though.

[theDeanoRama]

Yes, those air pumps can be pretty noisy! But I think that with only 7 cardinal tetras in a 12 gallon tank, they'd be okay for air all night even without the pump. I hope that your power outtage doesn't last too long, though.

I have a DIY co2 running 24/7 ... I'm sure its not dumping in huge amounts, but I would rather take the safer route. It was only a fluke that I caught this outage .. my son wandering in my room waking me up. Had he not shown up, the only way I would have really known is that my clock would have been off kilter in the morning and being that it was only a couple of hours, everything in the tank most likely would have been fine.

[theDeanoRama]

Day 61

The HC seems to be doing well, even though I have to poke down a bit here or there once in a while. Cabomba is still messy but I've removed a little of it to allow for deeper penetration of light. Its not as thick in there as I like but it's doing the job for the ever nervous fish. I have attempted to track down some Bylxa Japonica to replace it and have struck out but a LFS is going to see if they an track it down for me.

The Alternanthera is doing well after its 1st pinching. Its almost reached the top of the tank and I'll have to shorten the stems sooner than later, not that this is a bad thing since the lower leaves are starting to attract algae and are not all that healthy being out of the light.

I'm hoping that as my experience increases my algae decreases. So far its just showing up on the slowest growing and on my driftwood, as well as a little on my glass, but little enough that a once a week cleaning takes care of what little shows up there. I finally managed to source some phosphorus to add to my regular Seachem schedule, this stuff was surprisingly hard to source out here. I've also read that fluctuation in co2 levels can actually promote algae growth to some degree, this is going to be hard for me to overcome until I can get a proper pressurized system. I'm not too worried about the drift wood (seems to be a nice place for the shrimp to gather, but I would like to see it off the leaves of the slower growing plants.

No matter how much I trim the Ozelot it just comes back stronger. This is one that I'll be hard pressed to keep up with if I want the rest of my plants to enjoy the light. It's by far the strongest grower I have in the tank. I'm sure this plant is single handedly the reason I only have a little algae vs a lot though, so I'm not even considering replacing it even though its a potential tank buster at this scale.

Front:


Side:


3/4 view:


HC progress shot:

[theDeanoRama]

[Day 62]

Something is happening today thats not happened to this level since the tank was new. I have so much pearling is like I have tiny airstones throughout the tank.

The only thing thats changed is that I finally sourced seachem phosphorus saturday so it is now included in my dosing regime (working off a 7 day seachem dosing chart). The rest of the elements of the regime have all been going in already. What ever it is thats changed in the last couple of day, it's making me (and my plants) a happy camper.

While I'm stopping by, I thought I would post some shots from the weekend, something other than full tank shots anyways.

Stretching his legs (pretty sure its a 'he' anyways):


The MTS are getting bigger ... at least the pond snails never get this big, they just seem to break apart into 20 more based on my population: