Grissom's dirted tank

2 week update: Tank is still brown. Been doing daily 25 l WC. It seems like the leaching is getting less as I can now see the bottom of the bucket once its full. Found some mosquito larvae and some blood worm in the tank

 

Weekly update: week 3: Tank is clearing up quite nicely now. Did daily 25 l WCs. I will now stop that and start doing weekly WCs unless the tank goes too dark over the period of a week. The cobra grass is showing some new growth which is very encouraging. Most of the ones I planted have started putting out small leaves. Hopefully the runners start growing soon as well.

 

Got myself a 300W PTC heater for this tank. When i wanted to install it the cord was too short. I extended the cord on my other heater but dont really want to cut the cord on a brand new heater so now I am going to use it on my breeding setup sump. The breeding setup is a larger water volume and larger surface area so it probably makes more sense to use it there

 

For a tank like yours how much would it cost to make a 60L version of exactly what you have done?

 

Not much. Some dirt, some capping, a heater, a small filter, plants, wood and stones. My guess is about R500 assuming you already have the tank. If I were to do this again I would soak the dirt in a bucket to get rid of the tannins.

 

The lady at the pet shop said we have to use soil and rocks from them...is this a lie?

 

You can use whatever soil you like - dirt, pool filter sand, river sand, pet store supplied substrate - it really depends on what you want to do. As for rocks - use whatever you want to. Most people test for carbonates using vinegar but if you do proper tank maintenance carbonates leaching into the water will not have an effect in my opinion.

 

Looking very nice @TheGrissom

 

Thanks. Give it a few months to form a carpet. If it comes out as I envisage it I will be very happy

 

7 week update: The water has cleared up quite a bit. The cobra grass is showing the beginnings of some new leaves. The tank is now getting a little bit of morning sun which will become brighter and stronger as we head into spring. Usually it gets sun twice a year for about 5 weeks at a time - early spring and late autumn. I have added 5 glass shrimp to the tank about a week ago. They are still alive. Water temp is about 19 degrees. I think I will wait another 3 weeks before testing it out with one of my male sawbwas. They can handle colder water and I have an excess of males so it makes sense to give it a try. Will post pics on Sunday which will make it 8 weeks.

 

8 week update:

The cobra grass is going nice and green and new growth is clearly visible. The water has also cleared up (although my photos dont do this justice). Doing monthly water changes now and dosing with organic aqua water care and fish care when I do. Shrimps are still doing okay.

 

I also got some cobra grass the other day. Curious to see how it'll grow in dirt vs my aquasoil and co2

 

Im sure aquasoil and CO2 will outperform dirt over the short term. Long term I think they will probably end up fairly similar.

What I have seen on my parva is that CO2 causes it to grow larger - its very easy to spot the difference between CO2 grown parva and not CO2 grown parva. Without CO2 it stays very close to the ground and the leaves are much narrower and smaller.

 

Yeah my crypts are almost 30cm tall in the scape. Hygrophila pinnitafida is a weed that explores above the waterline.

 

Week 13

I have moved 7 male sawbwas into this tank. They spend most of the time hiding between the spider wood so I hardly see them now. Not sure its worth it but will add the rest of the school and see if it makes them more brave.

The cobra grass is putting out new leaves and runners but growth is slow going. I am now getting a lot of dust/brown algae which I just clean off the front glass every so often.

 

I am up to about 15 to 20 male sawbwas in this tank now. They are not shy at all. They hide when there is movement but if I stand still for a minute they come out and swim around in a school. All my females are in a separate tank as I want to try give them a chance to build up eggs. Soon I will try spawning 2 trios of sawbwas - I am just waiting for a free tank currently as there are fry in 4 of my tanks, and hopefully cpd eggs in another 3.

Cobra grass still going along slowly, the anubias have attached to the rocks now and are putting out new leaves. I havent seem much growth on the java ferns but they are still looking good so I am not worried about it

 

I just googled sawbwas, look like interesting little guys...should do well in my hillstream tank with the hillstream loaches, gobys and white clouds...let us know when you have some to sell pls

 

They are not the easiest to breed in numbers. Usually its just a few at a time. I have 2 tanks with fry in - 3 in the one and 7 in the other. Lots of people have asked me for fish but so far I have hardly sold any as I just dont have that many. I am working on it though.

 

Update time:

The tank is coming along. I was hoping that the cobra grass would have taken over by now but it hasn't. Its growing okay, lots of runners going about the tank so its still promising, just taking long. Will post pics tonight.