1. Holland Sand - RM20+ (RM3 per kg)
2. A packet of garden soil called Top Soil - RM5 (I don't use the whole packet)
3. About 15 U.S. gallon of water (figure out the price yourself)
4. A clean plastic bag (free of charge) - you will find out the purpose later
5. Five teenage Endlers (supplied to me free of charge by my friend, Alfred)
6. A 36 watt PLL with bracket (Too heartache to list down the price)
7. Cryptocoryne Affinis (supplied to me free of charge by a new found friend, Edmund)
8. Standard 2 feet 15 U.S. gallon tank (used to cost RM18 about 5-6 years ago I think)
9. Water wisteria I believe (supplied to me free of charge by my friend, Alfred)
The plan is to fill up the grey area of the tank from top view with Holland sand to hide the mud (aka Top Soil). Then fill up the white section with mud (Top Soil).
After that, fill up the entire top section of the mud and sand with more Holland sand (the entire grey area of the diagram). The main purpose is to prevent the mud from causing murky water.
Add some plants by planting the roots of Cryptocoryne Affinis into the mud/sand. Also plant some Water Wisteria into the mud/sand.
Now fill up the tank with some water. Put the clean plastic bag covering the sand/gravel/plants, so that the water from the hose won't stir up mud and mess up the tank.
After several days of running the tank, you may add some hardy fish. In my case, I use Endlers. Yes, I have decided to avoid using Black Mollies that I initially plan because most of them have ended up in heaven. Thanks to the bad quality livebearers from LFS.
Now, sit back and wait for several weeks for the progress of the tank. Don't forget to keep the light on for about 6-8 hours per day. Ideally, you may use a timer.
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Updated on 1 March 2009: This is how the tank looks like as of 1 March 2009 after adding some Hornwort I took from my outdoor tank and some Narrow Leaf Fern as well as tiny Philippines Fern tied to a rock. I am still undecided whether to leave the rock of plants there. I may remove them if I change my mind.
2 comments:
Why did you fill up the tank with plants from the initial stage?
I'm filling up the tank at initial stage because I don't want any algae outbreak. I am using the plants to absorb all the nutrients as much as possible. It's a very common mistake to set up a tank without any plant and slowly adding plants because any extra nutrients will lead to algae issue. Furthermore, in this experiment, I am using garden soil which may increase my chances of getting algae.
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