Home  Articles Aquatic Plants Starting A Planted Aquarium: Part III - The Actual Setup
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Starting A Planted Aquarium: Part III - The Actual Setup |
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Saturday, 15 October 2005 |
 So, we've discussed about the extra efforts needed to maintain a planted aquarium, and the extra costs required to build one. What are we waiting for? Let's set it up! But first, please cancel all your appointments for the day, as you'll need a considerable amount of time.
The TankFirst thing we'll do, is place your tank where you want it to be. Make sure you position it nicely as it'll be difficult to shift at a later time.
The SubstrateNow comes the rinsing. If you purchased products like Seachem Flourite, you will probably notice that the residual water is still cloudy after rinsing several times. This is supposed to be normal.
And if you purchased separate gravel and fertilizer instead, you only have to rinse the gravels and not the fertilizer. Rinse it thoroughly till the residual water appears clean.
After all that rinsing and sweating, it's time to place them into the tank. For those with separate gravel and fertilizer, the fertilizer has to be the bottom-most layer.
A common practice is to spread the substrate in a sloping manner, so the front of the tank has a thinner layer of fertilizer, and the back thicker. Reason being foreground plants are mostly small and do not require thick substrate, whereas background plants does. And most people find that slopes give a certain depth to the aquascape.
"...float a shallow saucer or plate on the water, and pour water onto the saucer itself. It will help divert the force of pouring water."
Filling Some WaterLet us now fill the tank with some water. Not too much, what we want is slightly more than what is enough to cover the height of the substrate. A low water level makes it easier for us to plant our small foreground plants. But not too low, so that when it's time to fill more water, it won't be too difficult to avoid disturbing whatever we planted.
When filling water, we want to minimize disturbance to the substrate. Minimizing disturbance will protect the shape of your substrate and avoid making the water cloudy. You can choose to fill the water very slowly and carefully. But a faster way to do it is to float a shallow saucer or plate on the water, and pour water onto the saucer itself. It will help divert the force of pouring water.
"...foreground plants are the hardest to plant due to their size."
Planting Foreground PlantsI would say foreground plants are the hardest to plant due to their size. You will most likely need a tweezers to plant these. And you certainly need a lot of patience.
Grab the plant with your tweezers and gently push them into the gravel. And before you pull your tweezers out, make sure you've properly weighed the plant down with gravels. Many times, you'll have plants floating to the surface once you pull your tweezers out. But don't worry, try it again with more care, and you'll get the hang of it in no time.
And while you are at it, plant one of your foreground plants right next to a tank wall. This should allow us to observe the growth of the plant's roots for the next couple of weeks. Knowing when the plants are firmly rooted into substrate will be useful, for determining when a good time to introduce fishes into the tank is.
Visualizing The LayoutThis is totally optional. But I like to place driftwoods and rocks in the tank at this stage. Simply because I want to visualize how the final layout would look like. After all, I wouldn't want to find myself not liking the layout, only after I've planted all my mid-ground and background plants.
I would make whatever adjustments to my layout plan, and finalize which plant occupies which part of the tank. And if the driftwoods and rocks do not obstruct me from planting, I would even leave them there. But if you had plans to grow some plants like java ferns and anubias nana on your driftwoods or rocks, you will have to remove them of course.
"...nylon strings are almost invisible when inside the water."
Tying Plants to DriftwoodsIf you are not good at tying knots like me, this will be difficult. You can choose to tie with cloth threads or nylon strings(fishing lines).
Cloth threads are great for plants like java moss that will attach without aid after some time. This is because cloth threads will disintegrate in the water over time. Whereas nylon strings are great for plants like riccia, which will never attach without aid. And this is because nylon strings are almost invisible when inside the water.
Take note that when you finished tying, and you are not ready to place the driftwoods or rocks inside the tank just yet, do keep it soaked in a bucket of water. You do not want your plants to dry up while you are busy with your other planting jobs.
Fill More WaterYes, it's time again for us to fill more water into the tank. This time, fill it up to at least the height of your tallest plant, or even more. Do take care when filling, as we don't want to dislodge any of our foreground plants.
And if you have yet to put in your driftwoods and rocks, do give allowance for water displacement!
Planting The Rest Of The PlantsI prefer to plant the background plants first, so I won't have any plants in front obstructing my view. Makes it a lot easier to plant, as I am able to see the spot on the substrate where I'm planting. And also, a pair of longer tweezers certainly helps.
Something to bear in mind though, plants can be classified into several types. And each type of plants has their own proper way of planting. It would be best to do some research on the plants you have, before planting.
Place Your Driftwoods and RocksIf your driftwoods and rocks aren't in the tank yet, it's time to do so. And of course, try not to disturb and uproot your plants.
De-chlorinate Your WaterNow that you have all your driftwoods and rocks nicely positioned and your plants nicely planted, it's time to fill up whatever amount of water that is left. And once finished, de-chlorinate the water if you haven't done so. Because not only fishes are sensitive to chlorine, plants can be sensitive to it too.
Turn On That FilterAbout time we setup our filter! But unfortunately, I will have to direct you to your filter's instruction manual. As different types and makes of filters can have different way of setting up. And it might be out of scope to describe them all here.
"First thing that you should do, when you first bring home the CO2 system, is to check the canister for leakages."
Setting Up Your CO2If you purchased the Hagen Nutrafin CO2 Natural Plant System, setting it up should be easy. The instruction manual included in the box should help. One suggestion I have though, is to purchase a check valve that goes between the Hagen Nutrafin bottle and the flipper(the stairs-like plastic object that goes inside the tank). This will prevent any backflow of water, from the tank into the bottle. Another way is to place the bottle higher than the tank, by using the included tank-wall-clip.
If you purchased a canister CO2 system instead, a bit more effort is required in setting it up. First thing that you should do, when you first bring home the system, is to check the canister for leakages. And the following is a good method to do it:
1. Make sure the regulator's valve is closed tight.
2. Open the canister's valve for about 3 seconds and close it back tight.
3. Take note of the position of the needle on the regulator's gauge.
4. Place the canister in a safe place and check back at least 12 hours later.
5. If the needle has dropped from its previous position, it is likely that there is a leakage somewhere in the whole setup.
So how do you confirm that the position change of the needle was actually due to leakage?
1. Prepare some soapy water(by mixing soap with water of course).
2. Open the canister's valve. About 1 full turn will do.
3. Use a cloth and dab the soapy water onto parts where leakages might occur.
4. If you see bubbles getting blown larger like a balloon, you know that there is a leak at that spot.
And when you are sure that there are no leakages, you may go ahead and assemble the system. Again, it is probably out of this article's scope to describe the steps of assembling. So I suggest that you check with the shop when you purchase your system.
Setting Up Your LightingFor those who purchased the basic aquarium-top-mounted lightings, it should be easy to setup. I hope you've gotten yourself a timer, as advised in Part II of the series. Set it to turn on the lighting for 8-hours, with a 1-hour break in between. The 1-hour break helps in combating algae growth.
Adding Your FishesMy earlier advice about planting a foreground plant right next to a tank wall is for us to observe the plant's roots. So we'll know when the plants are firmly rooted into the substrate, which indicates that we are ready to introduce fishes into the tank. But if you are sure that the fishes aren't going to dig out your plants, then you may go ahead and introduce them into the tank right now.
Small fishes like tetras and guppies would most likely be nice to your plants. But bigger fishes like angelfish and discus are likely to uproot some.
ConclusionPhew! We've successfully completed the setting up of our planted aquarium! All that hard work will soon pay off, when you sit down and enjoy the view of the beauty you've just created!
But of course, setting it up is just the beginning. We have to keep up with the maintenance to retain its beauty. So in the next article of our "Starting A Planted Aquarium" series, I hope to address some of these maintenance issues that you might encounter.
Meanwhile, if you have further questions, your best bet would be forums like Aquatic Plant Central and Aquatic Quotient. Don't be shy to ask, as forums are indeed a good source of information.
And finally, I shall ask you again to keep us bookmarked or rss'ed to keep informed of what's new, and for the next article in our "Starting A Planted Aquarium" series!
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