Aqua Soil Africana in an overhauled 90

[wolfiewill]

I'm doing an overhaul on a 90 g tank using ADA aqua soil Africana, and I've been asked to show some pictures. The use of aqua soil Africana is unusual and so it'll be good to get some feedback, and give anyone else some ideas about the problems. Go to the following link to view the pictures.

http://s1157.beta.photobucket.com/user/wolfewill17/story/3715#

I got the Africana on our trip to Trois Rivieres last Saturday. The 90 g tank had been partially prepared before hand, so I got to work Sunday removing the livestock, and most of the Fluorite Red that made up the substrate to that point.

The purpose of this overhaul is to further explore the variables for a 300 gallon African biotope tank I hope to build in the near future. I've explored many of the plants and the livestock, I've got most of the lights, plants, played with various filtration methods, and have been experimenting with plant combinations and layout possibilities in smaller tanks. The substrate is the last major issue I want to explore.

The biotope tank will feature Congo tetras, so the layout for this tank has been designed as the open area in the middle of a much larger tank. I have chosen to include typical African plants such as Eleocharis parvula, E. acicularis, B. longifolia, Crinum calimistratum and Ammannia gracilis. For fun I've also added non African plants, too - dwarf Sagittaria, Rotalla indica, E. tenellus, Cryptocoryne retrospiralis, and C. wendtii 'bronze' (I think). This is not a 'Martha Stewart' 'cause the plants will be left to 'contribute' to the look with random growth, but only if they stay out of the way of the Congo tetras. I'll trim everything low  except the Crinum and the B. longifolia.

Here's what it looks like as of yesterday evening. My big concern is the pH. The Africana wants to buffer the water to 5.5, and a KH of zero. I want to CO2 feed so I'm concerned about the effect the low pH will have on fish and shrimp health. Testing after a day with filtration was: pH - 5.0, KH - 0.0, GH - 0.0! I've got two aged filters on this tank so the ammonia and nitrites are not a problem, and to date are both zero.

As for the substrate, I followed the instructions of Philipe Boucher, the guru at Le Centre Aquatique, who said to place the Power Sand at the bottom (3 small bags) followed by the Bacter 100, the Super Clear, and the Tourmaline BC. And since I'm concerned about the carpet plants floating at some point, he said place my Fluorite Red (½ to ¾ inch thick) on top of that. I placed 5 bags of aqua soil Africana on top to finish.

By the way for those of you who like E. parvula, I spent 4 hours removing it from another tank, trimming and planting it in this tank. I did it for 2 hours over two sessions after planting the other plants 'cause it was all I had patience for at one time. On Sunday I spent about 4 hours planting the other plants.

On Thursday, I started CO2, fertilization and buffering the GH. I added the Barclaya longifolia bulbs on day 7 'cause they're starting to root in my quarantine tank (came from Singapore, eh, damn). I'll follow this with livestock this week.

[exv152]

The tank looks awesome Greg! I really like the africana aquasoil, it has a real natural look. My only concern, like we talked about on the trip, is the ammonia that will at some point begin to leach into the water column. Amano suggests doing daily water changes of like 50% for the first week, then large WCs every second day for the second week, and then two or three WCs on the third week. I didn't do this with my amazonia aquasoil and I started getting tons of algae. Looking back now and reading other threads on the plantedtank, I regret adding fertilizers right from the get-go. The aquasoils (no matter what type) come with tons of nutrients already added, so that's just something additional for you to consider. As for the low pH, GH and KH. I wouldn't worry about it too much before adding any fauna. The flora will love the low alkalinity and soak up nutrients like there's no tomorrow. I'm gonna follow the progress of this setup with great interest. Keep the updates coming for sure!

[wolfiewill]

About the ammonia, I'm a little anxious about that, too. But I've got an aged Eheim 2226 filter on this tank from the start, and I'm getting zero ammonia and nitrites, and 5.0 nitrates. This leads me to believe that the filter is working otherwise there would be no nitrates. I'll certainly keep an eye on it though.

[daworldisblack]

Looking good so far Greg! Any other hardscape elements you're going to be putting in? Or is it just going to be a jungle in there? More pics as it progresses please!

[wolfiewill]

Looking good so far Greg! Any other hardscape elements you're going to be putting in? Or is it just going to be a jungle in there? More pics as it progresses please!

I've decided against any hardscape. I want wall to wall hair grass to dominate with the tall plants in the corners. I am trying to provide a large swimming area for the Congo tetras. And trying to see how hair grass will do with the Giesemann lights and Africana substrate. My last attempt was unsuccessfull 'cause I wanted the same thing with too many tall and bushy plants, and it was a constant issue trying to keep everything trimmed. It isn't supposed to be a jungle. Rather 'English garden' style - a basic outline of plants in specific areas that will stray here and there, with little to no trimming necessary.

[daworldisblack]

Ah yes.. the english garden. Gotcha

[exv152]

English garden ala africana.

[wolfiewill]

End of second week and I'm thinking of adding some fish. I have no ammonia which I realized by thoroughly reading that magazine Philipe gave us in Trois Rivieres is what I should expect from Amazonia (see top of page 45; 'The Book of ADA'). I have a negligible amount of nitrite (also expected), and about 5 ppm of nitrate. My concern is the impact of the addition of CO2 on the pH. It drops to 5.0 or lower (lowest the test kit will read) during the day. I've been dosing CO2 as recommended by 'The Book....' but don't feel right about it. It cycles from about 6 to 5 throughout the day.

Do I even need to add CO2 with such low pH? And can I still use the pH / KH method to calculate the concentration of CO2? I expected the aqua soil would buffer the pH highs and lows but it doesn't buffer with CO2?

[exv152]

Hey Greg, Yes I would definitely add CO2. Low pH does not mean the plants have enough carbon. In your case it's most likely you have no general and carbonate hardness due to the addition of the new Africana soil. The plants still need a source of carbon. In fact removing CO2 will most likely lead to algae especially if you retain the high lights, and high level of nutrients. So yes to the CO2, yes to NPK and micro nutrients, and yes to WCs more frequently. The aquasoil won't control your pH high and lows, it will just keep conditions soft. I wouldn't do anything to change that, soft water is ideal for plant nutrient uptake. You want that.

I just setup a tank about 6 weeks ago with only amazonia AS and the pH is the same ~ 5.5. And the plants are doing awesome. The glosso is growing like a weed, and all the other plants are thriving & colourful (the crypts love it). And I'm pumping tons of CO2 into the tank.

But I would maybe wait before adding livestock because any amount of nitrite is toxic, regardless of the pH level.

[wolfiewill]

I have updated the photos of this overhauled tank. See the following link for a story line.

http://s1157.beta.photobucket.com/user/wolfewill17/story/3715#

[ajm1961]

Nice! Thanks for sharing!