Banasophia's Fresh Start: The IM Nuvo 12 g Atoll

[DevilDuck]

My suggestions:

 

Background left: Java Fern (which ever one looks good. Tied to rock or wood piece)

Background Right: Skip the floating plants for now, they don't ship well and are hard to maintain with a tank with a lid. Instead try Brazilian Pennywort (Hydrocotyle leucocephala), which can be planted to grown floating or planted. Has a simiar look to floating plant if allowed to grow to the surface but is anchored by stems.

Front left: Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' for a burst of red.
Front center: Cryptocoryne Parva for the low carpet. Putting down a thin layer (like 1/8 inch) of organic potting soil at the bottom front of the tank under the flourite will help with thicker, faster growing carpet plants.

 

For fun you can stuff or tie some moss on to the rock and drift wood. Weeping moss, fissidens, or flame moss. 

 

I've had good experience with this place when I lived in SoCal: But my first choice is to buy locally from lfs or even Petsmart/Petco for the common stuff. 

BucePlant.com - Aquascaping and Aquarium Plants Super Store — Buce Plant 

[banasophia]

11 hours ago, growsomething said:

Cool beans.  Does the top come off for cleaning?

I don't know if it would fit in, but Japanese Pennywort (hydrocotyle tripartita) has been my favorite plant.  I've used it as ground cover in low tech tanks by manually pressing the stems into the sand, but the leaf texture may be too loose for what you want.

 

Oh yeah, I love that! Thanks!!

 

Yes, the lid comes off. I had it custom made for a jillion dollars (actually more like $150) by Tap Plastics. 

[banasophia]

12 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

My suggestions:

 

Background left: Java Fern (which ever one looks good. Tied to rock or wood piece)

Background Right: Skip the floating plants for now, they don't ship well and are hard to maintain with a tank with a lid. Instead try Brazilian Pennywort (Hydrocotyle leucocephala), which can be planted to grown floating or planted. Has a simiar look to floating plant if allowed to grow to the surface but is anchored by stems.

Front left: Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' for a burst of red.
Front center: Cryptocoryne Parva for the low carpet. Putting down a thin layer (like 1/8 inch) of organic potting soil at the bottom front of the tank under the flourite will help with thicker, faster growing carpet plants.

 

For fun you can stuff or tie some moss on to the rock and drift wood. Weeping moss, fissidens, or flame moss. 

 

I've had good experience with this place when I lived in SoCal: But my first choice is to buy locally from lfs or even Petsmart/Petco for the common stuff. 

BucePlant.com - Aquascaping and Aquarium Plants Super Store — Buce Plant 

Okay, Java Fern, for sure!

 

I’ll have to do more research on the Brazilian pennywort... looked kinda big and like it was growing up out of the water in the videos I just watched. For a floating plant I could easily get duckweed from my LFS that I visit on a weekly basis (fir crickets fir our lizards and frog), so getting it would be easy enough, though keeping it controlled seems like it could be an issue, so I’ll probably just hold off on that for now.

 

The alternanthera reineckii is pretty, I like this look I just found. Do you know what the plant is with it in this picture that I circled? I like it that it’s predominantly darker green with hints of red. 
 

 

 

 

Cryptocoryne Parva for the low carpet, yes love it, very nice! 

 

 

I like the moss idea, too!!! Thanks for all the info and ideas!!

 

 

 

 

[MrP]

2 hours ago, banasophia said:

Do you know what the plant is with it in this picture that I circled? I like it that it’s predominantly darker green with hints of red. 

It is Bucephalandra. It's a slow grower and lower light plant similar to Anubias. There are hundreds of different types. I have a 40g packed full of different types of Buce. It's definitely a favorite of mine.

 

Monte carlo is a great foreground carpeting plant. It doesn't grow fast in a low-tech tank. It is said that it needs a lot of light but I've proved that to be false. I have it growing in shady areas of my 10g shrimp tank for a few years now.

 

For such a small tank, I would suggest a different type of fern. Java has huge leaves and can take over quickly if conditions are favorable. Maybe look at narrow-leaf or needle-leaf ferns. Just a suggestion.

[banasophia]

16 minutes ago, MrP said:

 

For such a small tank, I would suggest a different type of fern. Java has huge leaves and can take over quickly if conditions are favorable. Maybe look at narrow-leaf or needle-leaf ferns. Just a suggestion.

Oh man, that was the one plant I thought everyone was unanimously recommending… back to the drawing board. 

 

I was thinking it would stay under control though if it was secured to something like a piece of wood? If it starts to spread can I cut it back? 
 

18 minutes ago, MrP said:

Monte carlo is a great foreground carpeting plant. It doesn't grow fast in a low-tech tank. It is said that it needs a lot of light but I've proved that to be false. I have it growing in shady areas of my 10g shrimp tank for a few years now.

I thought that one looked really nice. 

 

19 minutes ago, MrP said:

It is Bucephalandra. It's a slow grower and lower light plant similar to Anubias. There are hundreds of different types. I have a 40g packed full of different types of Buce. It's definitely a favorite of mine.

Great, thank you!

 

 

 

[MrP]

2 hours ago, banasophia said:

Oh man, that was the one plant I thought everyone was unanimously recommending… back to the drawing board. 

 

I was thinking it would stay under control though if it was secured to something like a piece of wood? If it starts to spread can I cut it back? 

They are easy to keep under control. Just snip part of the rhizome off. It's generally a slow grower. I had some in a tank years ago that I pretty much ignored and it got way overgrown by it. I forgot that I had an Anubias nana in there. When I pulled out the Java fern, I was surprised to find a really huge clump of Anubias hiding underneath it. After I removed the Fern, most of the Anubias died off which I assume was from light shock. I still have some of that Anubias today, tucked away in the shade under a huge clump of Cryptocoryne Lutea, getting very little light. Indestructible. I got carried away with story time, sorry. 

[DevilDuck]

11 hours ago, banasophia said:

Okay, Java Fern, for sure!

 

I’ll have to do more research on the Brazilian pennywort... looked kinda big and like it was growing up out of the water in the videos I just watched. For a floating plant I could easily get duckweed from my LFS that I visit on a weekly basis (fir crickets fir our lizards and frog), so getting it would be easy enough, though keeping it controlled seems like it could be an issue, so I’ll probably just hold off on that for now.

 

The alternanthera reineckii is pretty, I like this look I just found. Do you know what the plant is with it in this picture that I circled? I like it that it’s predominantly darker green with hints of red. 
 

 

 

 

It's some type of bucephalandra, maybe this one: Bucephalandra Kedagang Round Aquarium Plant — Buce Plant 

Bucephalandra Kedagang Round 

 

[growsomething]

This is what I was thinking could be done with Java fern, but your tank may not be tall enough?  For the life of me I can't remember what the name of this plant was, but it never got taller than this in this 22" tall tank.  Notice the java moss on the left branches.  Do not make this mistake.  It is fw gsp or blue cove polyp.

 

[wuzzo]

Reading this thread and it’s funny because I was thinking of setting up a planted tank myself recently, only have the tank right now and an old canister filter, rimless 10g. reading this thread really helping with plants, trying to figure out what I wanna do with it

[banasophia]

33 minutes ago, wuzzo said:

Reading this thread and it’s funny because I was thinking of setting up a planted tank myself recently, only have the tank right now and an old canister filter, rimless 10g. reading this thread really helping with plants, trying to figure out what I wanna do with it

Oh nice!!! Have you run a planted tank before or are you a newbie too? Seems there is a lot to learn, just like reefing. I was kinda surprised to discover you also cycle the tank with plants tanks… I thought that was specific to saltwater. 

[wuzzo]

37 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Oh nice!!! Have you run a planted tank before or are you a newbie too? Seems there is a lot to learn, just like reefing. I was kinda surprised to discover you also cycle the tank with plants tanks… I thought that was specific to saltwater. 

New to planted, but I started the hobby just keeping fresh. Definitely some to learn, but it seems much more simple than reefing overall. I’m so used to having to do everything perfect that it seems weird when I can just have a tank with a 20 dollar nicrew light and have it thrive. Trying to find some hard scaping stuff for cheap, the most confusing part of this is just finding materials and what plants you want it seems. I did learn people usually put plants in right before they fill the tank, originally I would think you have to wait for it to cycle

[banasophia]

Okay, hoping to get the tank wet soon. Should I do something special extra to clean and prep it since it ran saltwater before? 

[MrP]

1 hour ago, banasophia said:

Okay, hoping to get the tank wet soon. Should I do something special extra to clean and prep it since it ran saltwater before? 

A little bit of salt residue isn't going to hurt anything in a freshwater tank. Maybe a quick wipe-down with white vinegar and a quick rinse. 

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, MrP said:

A little bit of salt residue isn't going to hurt anything in a freshwater tank. Maybe a quick wipe-down with white vinegar and a quick rinse. 

Perfect, thanks, that’s what I was thinking… picked up some white vinegar today. 

[A.m.P]

Don't use isopropyl or anything which may have had contact with it before, it'll craze the acrylic 

[MrP]

A suggestion for keeping the outside clean would be Brillianize. https://www.amazon.com/Brillianize-Plastic-Glass-Cleaner-Polish/dp/B075M49MGJ/

 

I use it on my SeaClear acrylic tank and all of my glass tanks. Good stuff!

[banasophia]

Scoped out plants at the LFS yesterday along with my teenager, but we had too much going on to buy them and start the tank... hopefully next weekend.
 

Still need to sort out how I’ll do the filtration… return nozzle arrives tomorrow and I’m going to check out what I have on hand from my Evo 5 to see what I can do for filter media.

 

Have any of you ordered plants from Amazon or Etsy? And what are your thoughts on buying emmersed vs submerged (submersed?) plants?

 

Oh and check out this gadget for corralling the floating plants, do any of you use something like this? My daughters favorite floating plant is also duckweed… if we stock it I know we’ll need to manage it so this seems like it could help. 


 

 

Alternatively we also really like the look of Asian water moss, and it may be big enough it doesn’t need to be corralled.

 

 

 

[DevilDuck]

You can make the floating plant corrals out of airline tubing and tubing connectors.

Red root floaters are my favorite floating plant especially when they flower. 

 

[NatureGuy]

I’ve brought plants from Amazon without any problems, but I’ve only done it twice. I imagine it’s hit and miss depending on the seller 

[MrP]

Submersed-grown plants are the best way to buy if you can find them. There won't be much of a transition period as there is with immersed grown plants. Immersed-grown plants tend to melt before sprouting new leaves. People think that this melting means the plant is dead and they toss it. Melting is just part of the transition and will soon sprout new leaves in its submersed form.

 

I've never bought plants from Etsy or Amazon. I have bought lots of plants from eBay, Buceplants, and most of my Buce from Meadowview Aquatics. Most of these large sellers are going to have plants that are grown immersed. One of the best places for submersed plants is directly from other hobbyists. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1193418244004340

[banasophia]

5 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

You can make the floating plant corrals out of airline tubing and tubing connectors.

Red root floaters are my favorite floating plant especially when they flower. 

 

Thank you! I might try that with the tubing… I have all kinds of spare parts so I likely have some airline tubing and connectors.
 

Those red root floaters are so pretty and they do have them at my LFS. Not sure yet about doing red plants or if I’ll stick to green just though because I don’t want it to end up looking too Christmassy with the red betta… so I’ll probably start with green plants at first then maybe add some red ones once I see how it looks.

 

4 hours ago, NatureGuy said:

I’ve brought plants from Amazon without any problems, but I’ve only done it twice. I imagine it’s hit and miss depending on the seller 

Okay, thanks… I’ll have to look at my options. I buy so many things from Amazon cuz it’s just so easy. 
 

3 hours ago, MrP said:

Submersed-grown plants are the best way to buy if you can find them. There won't be much of a transition period as there is with immersed grown plants. Immersed-grown plants tend to melt before sprouting new leaves. People think that this melting means the plant is dead and they toss it. Melting is just part of the transition and will soon sprout new leaves in its submersed form.

 

I've never bought plants from Etsy or Amazon. I have bought lots of plants from eBay, Buceplants, and most of my Buce from Meadowview Aquatics. Most of these large sellers are going to have plants that are grown immersed. One of the best places for submersed plants is directly from other hobbyists. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1193418244004340

I was think emmersed might be better to avoid pests? There are some huge planaria at my LFS which I was thinking might be hitchhikers. 
 

I’ll look more at those sellers, thanks. And you make a good point about buying from local hobbyists… I have a great freshwater club I’m a part of and they have swaps and auctions all the time… they’ll probably be a lot more fun to go to now that I’m starting this tank. 

[banasophia]

I feel like I just achieved some kind of hobbyist milestone: I made my own media rack. I know, it’s crooked… it was my first one and I had limited supplies on hand… totally cut up and repurposed the lid I had cut for a 5 gallon tank. And trying to get it to fit the shape of the chamber was a bit challenging. If it doesn’t work out, one of my YouTube buddies is also a maker and said he could try to make something out of acrylic, but I’m hoping this will work for now… eager to get the tank going.

 

Planning on using the rack for filter floss and chemipure, and then I’ll add some matrix media in the middle chamber. 

 

The guy with bettas in my area has a nice hellboy in stock right now, but the tank’s just not ready and it’s bumming me out to miss out on some really great fish.

 

 

[DevilDuck]

Just like with a reef tank, don't over do it with chemical filtration at the start. All you need is floss and/or sponge, and ceramic media. If you want clear water you can add some carbon or purigen.

Some Betta and shrimp keepers prefer tannin stained water varying from a light tint to almost the color of black tea (blackwater tank).

 

This guy's whole business is selling stuff to turn your water brown: Tannin (tanninaquatics.com)

 

You'll want to maintain about 10-50ppm of nitrate and 0.5-1.0 ppm of phosphate. These are crazy high numbers for a reef, but fine for a planted freshwater tank with good plant density.

 

 

 

 

[A.m.P]

I can also ship you out jackfruit leaves from my own tree in an envelope lol. I have bags of them.

[A.m.P]

39 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

You'll want to maintain about 10-50ppm of nitrate and 0.5-1.0 ppm of phosphate. These are crazy high numbers for a reef, but fine for a planted freshwater tank with good plant density.

Those are not high numbers for a reef imo, 1ppm phosphate may be too much for some corals, but WWC, Tidal gardens, and even Sanjay had tanks bordering or on-those numbers without issue.