Starting up my NPT 36 gallon finally!

I finally have my stand leveled, my tank bought, and the dirt and sand in the tank. I added the dirt and the sand today and found I need a bit more sand since the sand only covers the dirt by 1/4 of an inch in some spots. I'll have to make a trip to Petsmart today or tomorrow and pick up another bag. Then I need to buy the light and a powerhead and move all the plants and fish from my 15 to the 36 once it is cycled and safe. I can't wait to start planting plants. Any suggestions on how I should place these plants I have:
Rotala Rotundifolia
Bacopa Australias
Java Ferns
Windelov Ferns
Dwarf Hair Grass
Micro Swords
Compacta
Jungle Vals
Water Sprite
Flame Moss
I have a log that is entirely encased in Ferns that I'll prop up against the back of the tank and then a giant rock I'll put in as well. I guess I could put some moss on the rock and try to find a place for some moss on the log.

 

Definitely make the cap thicker or you'll get dirt clods every time you plant.
Java ferns and jungle vals should be planted in shady areas under other plants if your light's high.

 

Ok thanks. How deep should the sand bed be? More than an inch? And I could float the water sprite over the vals and ferns.

 

I'd say a good 2-3"would be good. If I could re-do my dirted tank, I'd make the first layer about an 1" and the sand cap about 1 1/2" to 2 1/2".

I only dirted the back and I regret it now. My sand layer is thin and every time I re-plant I get dirt coming up on the sand. Does a number on my gravel vac. The vac gets clogged to easily with floating dirt.

 

Hey, I've never set up an NPT, but I've read up on it and a few other techniques that I want to try someday, and I have a question/comment about Psalm's answer there:

Deep sand beds grow anaerobic bacteria by having a layer of sand 3-4" deep to restrict water flow down into the substrate and de-oxygenate the water.

I'm thinking that this isn't something that you want in an NPT setup, but 3" of sand on top of your dirt layer would create an anaerobic layer... I think.

NPT guides that I've seen recommend 1" to 1.5" of sand cap. Psalm has more experience than I do with NPTs, so I'm asking as much as commenting: is 2-3" really okay?

 

Well my cap varies from around an inch to nearly two inches so I'm in the middle somewhere. I think if there was like 3 or 4 inches of sand it might go anaerobic but the roots help stop that as will mts which I have in all my tanks. I'll have to post some pics later today. Its coming along pretty well. Today I pick up the light for it and put in more plants. After I am sure the water is safe I will take all the plants from my 15 and the fish and put that in along with the aquaclear.

 

I do about an inch to an inch and a half of each...the soil, and substrate cap. Have had very few issues of soil in the water when planting, replanting.

I would place the plants randomly...so it doesn't look "perfect" .I find that works well for ntps

-j

 

Ok thanks. I'm mostly going for a grouped look so I'll see how that turns out. So far it has Cabomba on the left, Bacopa Australias in the middle, and Rotala Rotundifolia on the right. Behind the rotala there will be a bunch of Jungle Vals and there will be a big log in the center. Tonight I plan on picking up my big light so after that I can add a lot more plants. I can't wait!


What do you guys think of the tank so far? And how about my home made stand?

 

It's looking good.

 

I love it. I love that rock too. It has the red and orange in it that looks awesome. I found it years ago on a Boy Scouts camp out and I took it and another rock near it home (everyone wondered why my back pack was 20 pounds heavier than it should have been) lol. The neat part about the rock though which I've found to be common with other rocks is that the colors only really show up when the rock is wet so I decided that one day I would get a fish tank and put the rock in my fish tank. It wouldn't fit in my 15 gallon so when I upgraded I remembered the rock and put it in just before I added the second bag of sand.

 

looks good, great job on the stand!

 

Thanks!

 

Great start. I like the sloped look, very natural.

 

Ok, here are all the pictures I've taken so far from the very beginning on. It starts with just the bare tank:

Then I took a picture after washing and putting in some dirt:


Then there's the two pictures you guys saw from yesterday so I won't post them. Here is a picture of the tank last night with the led moonlights on. Its pretty cool but my camera doesn't really pick up all you can see.


This is what it looks like now with all the plants from my 15 gallon in it. The only plants I couldn't fit were my Java Fern and my giant Windelov fern, both of which were on my driftwood. Today I get 5 more Cabomba and I will probably vacuum one last time to get all the junk off the substrate.

 

Love it.

The big rock on the left looks like it has flame painted on it.

 

Yeah that red and orange is natural its cool. Here is what the tank looks like with the new Cabomba. I also added my old Windelov in the back corner. I ripped it off my driftwood from my 15. Now I have to figure out what to do with that monster Java Fern...




Also what is the point of the blue bulb in my light strip. It has the 5000K daylight bulb which is white and is in the above pictures and then I think its called the atinic bulb in the below picture. Is that more for the plants or what and how important is it?

 

The actinic light is basically useless in a freshwater planted tank IMO. It is great for growing algae. My light ballast came with 2 actinic bulbs and I just have them off while the other 2 daylight bulbs I primarily use.

 

Ok so would it be better to just replace that actinic bulb with another 5000K daylight bulb or a plant growth bulb or something?

 

That really stinks that the filter is in front.

 

Yeah I know. That won't be there long if I have any say in it. I have it there now because I want to wait and see if I can get a power head with an intake sponge to replace the aquaclear before I notch the back plastic so the hob can fit. Also it is blasting on the heater to keep the water around it moving and the tank evenly heated.

 

Would a powerhead and a bubbler sponge filter be enough to keep a 36 with a pretty full stocking safe? I know for most NPT's a filter isn't really too important as long as there it movement in the water and as long as there are lots of well established plants. I just don't know if that would be safe with mine...

 

NPT should be heavily planted before removing filters. Wait until the plants grow and fill out.

A sponge should work with your HOB for now.

 

Ok. Should I just bear it being on the front for a while or would it be worthwhile to move the filter to the back after trimming the plastic? I had a thread about trimming the plastic and such I'll post the link in a sec...
Here's the link:

 

Ok I'm gonna trim the back plastic down some tonight and put the filter on the back of the tank. It keeps blasting all my plants around and I'm thinking they will grow better if the filter isn't pushing them around so much.

 

Ok I set up the filter on the back and it is angled so it won't hit any plants now. Just the rock. Here are some new pictures:





I can't wait for the plants to fill in more. I think the Cabomba has started growing along with the Rotala. I'm hoping the others start doing better soon as well. My water sprite seems to be dying off a bit... could the light be too strong for it?

 

Looks much better.

 

Thanks. Unfortunately the Pearl Gourami died today for unknown reasons. The suspicion is parasites so I'll be watching for symptoms in my tetras. Hopefully all will be well.

 

Sorry to hear that. I hate losing big fish.

 

Yeah that's the first big one i've lost

 

Ok here is an update. Some new growth especially with the Cabomba. The Bacopa is starting to grow and I am seeing some new runners with the dwarf hairgrass. Should look neat in a few weeks.

 

You can definitely see the plant growth

 

Ok well its been a while since I posted... Everything is doing great and I added 6 harlequin rasboras that are really active. I'll probably get 6 more of them and maybe a few more neons and a gourami to finish it off. Here are some new pictures... I'll try to get up some more in a bit:

 

Really nice tank Daac, I have few question about dirt planted tanks. I have heared that buble wands and air stone should not be used in Npt is is true, Do you use any Liquid Fertilizers and Co2 for yor tank, I have read you whole discussion but, want to confI'm with you that fine sand is safe for dirt tanks? please reply if possible. Thanks in advance.

 

I have not heard anything about not using bubblers... I don't know why they would be bad for the tank. If anything they just add more O2 and if you inject CO2 that is necessary since the O2 levels drop more at night. Also even without CO2 injection the extra O2 would be good to have at night since plants consume O2 at night and produce it only in the day. Fine sand is fine for an NPT... really anything should work so long as the layer is thick enough (usually 2 inches is pretty good) but for bigger rocks you may want some small rocks that will fill in the cracks but that would only be for big rocks like river rocks that are more than an inch or two each. I do not inject CO2 or use any fertilizers. I just feed the fish and have the dirt under the sand to feed the plants. If you want to know anything else don't hesitate to ask.

 

Your tank is awesome Daac...You going to put your yellow shrimps in it too?

 

Thanks! and nah I'm breeding some RCS to put in since they are a bit cheaper to buy more for a mixing up the gene pool. My rasboras were trying to mate today. It would be really cool to get fry but I doubt I'll see anything. I haven't had anything come of my tetras breeding in the past.

 

Its been a pretty long time since I posted on here but I have tons of new pictures to show you guys. The plants have been growing like mad and the water sprite is growing leaves like 8 inches long and some are out of the water coming through gaps in the glass canopy and stuff. I moved the light up so it gets more of the tank front to back and it seems to have helped. Here are some pictures:
12/3/12



12/20/12



12/25/12



1/1/13


1/11/13


1/21/13

 

1/27/13




I know its kinda overkill on the pictures haha but I like being able to just scroll down and watch the plants grow. Its neat to see the tank evolve with all the small changes there are. I just did a trim today so that's why they are shorter now.

It's hard to see them grow really now that I can look straight down the line of pictures but they bacopa and rotala definitely get thicker and the water sprite (top left) gets monstrous.

 

Your tank looks amazing Daac. Awesome growth.

 

Thanks!

Edit: I just moved out some water sprite and put one of the 3 remaining plants on the right side of the tank. It will hopefully leave the filter to flow more freely and the Bacopa to grow thicker with the higher light.