Heide's Planted Aquaria
Welcome to my aquaria page! I got obsessed with the hobby last
year, and already I can't see myself living anywhere without planted tanks.
All photos are from my own aquaria.
Stay tuned for more pics...
If you're interested, here's a (very unscientific, but maybe useful)
summary of various brands of kitty litter
in the Los Angeles area,
focusing on how well they might work as a growing medium for aquatic plants.
The 29-gallon
| This picture was taken in December 1997.
Visit the Photo Gallery for more
aquarium photos.
|
29 U.S. gallons, freshwater tank - set up in June 1997
Here's a tank history of how the aquarium has done
since it's initial setup - last updated November 1998.
- Filtration: Aquaclear 150 power filter
- Temperature: 78 F
- CO2: DIY yeast CO2 injection into the power filter intake tube
- pH: 6.6 - 7.2, depending on time of day and how fresh the yeast is
- GH: 8 dH
- KH: 8 dH
- Lighting: 4 x 20W normal output flourescent tubes
- Substrate:
- 2 inches Hartz pH5 kitty litter,
1 inch #16 silica sand on top.
- Fertilizer:
- Osmocote pellets mixed in substrate with kitty litter in
initial setup.
PMDD-style fertilizer added to water column, using Kent's Plant
Micronutrient Supplement, KNO3 and K2SO4 added as necessary.
Starting 3/98, I've been alternating between the Kent and Thiel
Aquatech brands of trace element fertilizers. See
tank history for details.
Occasional additions of 1-2 Jobes Fertilizer Sticks
(the Palms and Ferns variety) pushed deep into substrate every
few months.
- Water changes:
- 10-15% weekly, using a mixture of tap water and reverse-osmosis
water from the Glacier vending machines at the supermarket.
- Animal inhabitants:
- 10 cardinal tetras, 2 otocinclus, many ramshorn snails.
- Plants:
- Alternanthera reineckii
- Bacopa monieri
- Hygrophila polysperma
- Isoettes (quillwort)
- Java fern
- Java moss
- Lilaeopsis (micro sword)
- Ludwigia arcuata
- Proserpinaca pectinata (Mermaid plant)
- Rotala indica
The 30-gallon
No pictures yet, sorry.
30 U.S. gallons, freshwater tank - set up in July 1998
This tank used to have a plain gravel substrate, no CO2, and
mostly java fern in it. Then I got the urge to tear it down and
start over a couple weeks ago.
- Filtration: Aquaclear 150 power filter
- CO2: DIY yeast CO2 injection into the power filter intake tube
- pH: 7.0 - 7.2
- GH:
- KH:
- Lighting: 2 x 30W normal output flourescent tubes
- Substrate:
- 1.5 to 2 inches Profile Aquatic Plant Soil,
1 to 2 inches play sand (0.5 - 3mm diameter) on top.
- Fertilizer:
- A few drops of K2SO4 solution since setup.
Jobes fertilizer spikes pushed into bottom of substrate upon initial
setup.
- Animal inhabitants:
- 12 rummy-nose tetras, ramshorn snails
- Plants:
- Anubias barteri
- Anubias barteri var. nana
- Bolbitis
- Cryptocoryne wentii
- Hygrophila polysperma
- Java fern
- Rotala indica
- Sagittaria - wide and dwarf varieties
- Vallisneria spiralis
- A couple other kinds of Vallisneria
Back to my Home Page
boingy@ugcs.caltech.edu / 17 Nov 1998
