# Ziggs 30 Gallon Build



## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

So this is my first Aquarium, and my first build. I've gone the planted route, with soil and gravel substrate. For the Substrate, i've already planted between 1 and 1.5 inches of Miracle-gro organic soil, with the exception of a small mound to plant an Amazon sword. On top of that, i will have 1 Inch of Black gravel. I've had the Miracle Gro soaked in water and sitting outside in a bucket for about a week, hopefully most of the Tannins and the excess Ammonia have leaked out by now.

I Ordered the plants from Sweet Aquatics, but i have a feeling I Ordered way to much from them, for my size tank. 1 Amazon Sword, 2 Microswords, 1 Anubias Bareteri, 2 Water Wisteria, 1 Anacharis, 5 Corkscrew Vallisernia, 1 Apongeton, 3 Cryptocorynes, 2 Java Ferns, 1 Hornwort, and 1 Riccia.

I'm going to have a Castle decoration inside the tank, and i plan to attach the Java Fern and Anubias to the sides of it. As for Equipment goes, i'm not going to be using a Filter, as i've read that with enough plants one wont be needed. The only equipment i have are the heater, and a power head for water movement. Although if the plants arent doing a good enough job, the powerhead has a plug for a small filter.

For the stock of fish i plan the following

3 Male Guppies
5 - 6 Glofish
1 Dwarf Gournami
Bottom Feeder, TBD

The Plants arrived a few hours ago, after i had written the above. There isn't much cloudyness with the tank, and i see alot of bubbles appearing on the plants. I take it this is oxygen, which is very good. The surface of the water has chunks of dirt though (one of the vals uprooted, and trying to root it back, i kicked up some dirt)










The Tank, unplanted.










The Castle, got it for free.










Far Shot of the plant










Rear shot of the Castle, 2 Val's and a Java Fern wired using fishing line to the back of the castle.










Front shot, Hornwort floating, Riccia to the top left. a few potted plants in there to.










Top View.

My Concerns are that the Amazon Sword has some brownish spots on the leaves (mostly on the edges). Is it wilting, and will it survive? And do the Bubbles mean oxygenation or some other gas being released?


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## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

Update today, last night i tested the water. Ph at 8.8, but is expected to fall down to 7.6ish by atleast tommorow. Threw in some water conditioner to get rid of the Chlorine.

This morning i filled up the rest of the tank, the Riccia seemed to have disappeared i'm afraid it got ripped apart when i was putting in the water. The hornwort refuses to float, and just sinks to the bottom and lays down on the planted anacharis. I Installed the powerhead, and turned it down, its forcing alot of plant debris up to the surface, i'm going to try and scoop it out when i do a water change. The water has a slight greeness to it, hoping its not algae.










Filling up the rest










Shot from the front, you can see some debris, the Hornwort just refusing to float.










Side shot, Debris more clearly visible.


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## ramis (Feb 19, 2008)

I think with natural aquarium method you have to be really patient, and allow time for everything to settle. You can try getting debris out with a net or do a cleaning. What lights are you using? If it's the light that came with the aquarium hood, and you don't have a lot of direct sunlight, then you need to get different spectrum lights, at least 6500 K.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Some of the issues you have may be from ammonia release as the substrate settles in. Did you do any type of mineralization process or soaking a few days prior to planting?

If not then just keep doing water changes as much as you can until it settles down a while. Some folks have never had a problem with this, but each time I ever tried I killed EVERYTHING and finally started mineralizing and haven't had an issue since.

The Amazon sword will get really big; if it's not too late maybe try potting it so you can remove it when it gets to that point. But for now it will be very helpful in cycling the tank.

For deficiencies there's a link somewhere, maybe in the Fertilator link (gold bar above)...

Green water is algal bloom. When you first set the tank up it is normal to expect a sudden bacterial bloom (white cloudy water) and/or green algae bloom (pea soup) as lots of nutrients are relaesed sudeenly, such as when you replanted the plant and kicked up some mud.

There's about a million "tricks of the trade" in setting up tanks; and you have to play around with ideas to find what works for you and what doesn't.


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## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

I had the Soil soaked with water in a bucket and sitting outside for about a week, also had it sitting in the tank for about a day airing out (with no water). My other concern is that the Ph as of now is pretty high, but i expect it to fall. hope a day or two of rather high ph (8. 8 ) wont do any lasting damage to the plants.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

I can't imagine that pH being deterimental to the plants. I look forward to seeing your tank progress, and I would guess that any issues you are having will be short lived, especially if you already soaked the substrate for that long.

On the substrate, just for what it's worth, here is how I started doing it and it seems to have cured all my ills, from green water to spikes in ammonia and pH fluctuations:

Soak MCOG 1 full day, adding half the volume at the end of the day of sandy material from the yard; set out to air out 1 full day - repeat 3 times (6 days; just the soak and air out, not the adding of other materials), then one more day soaking - pour off and get it in the tank.

When I do this I notice a big drop in the volume, which tells me that the organics are decomposing quickly and the mineral becoming available, plus the potential for organic problems diminishes. I'm not sure if it allows whatever bacteria to get used to my water, or just keeps from having all the decomp occur at once, or what. I know that letting go wet/semi-dry in cycles allows the bacteria to do their thing. When I've tried soaking for up to seven days straight I still noticed issues that I didn't have using the cycle method.


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## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

the Water seems to have been getting Greener over the day, still having difficulty getting the Hornwort to float, although i've placed a tiny part of the hornwort on top of the castle, and another piece on the opposite side basically hanging onto one of the Amazon leaves. the water seems _slightly_ clearer around the hornwort. The Riccia dropped down to the bottom of the tank, and is just floating about. Going to do some water testing later.

The Light i have is 20 Watts, stock standard. there is no direct sunlight, but it does get some natural light plus the ceiling lights which hit the front.


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## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

I was doodling with the hornwort, seeing if some pieces will float. the Water was pretty green last night, before i turned off the light. i tested the water, the Ph dropped by a ton to about 7.4. Ammonia is at about .25 ppm and Nitrite at .50 ppm. I picked up Tetra start yesterday going to throw it in soon.

This morning i did a water change, siphoned out about 50% of the water, i was replacing the water when i had a major problem happen. The hose that leads to well water exerted to much pressure and kicked up a ton of dirt, nearly blackening my tank. i did another water change as quick as i could, siphoning out another 50%. at this point i lowered the temperature on the heater, and lowered the power head to cause less surface tension. I refilled the tank with tap water (unable to get the well water), and treated it. had to use buckets and carefully pour them in, cause i had no stand to siphon the water from the bucket to the aquarium. Atleast some of the Hornwort is floating now! The water is still a bit Green, but not as much.


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## vicky (Feb 18, 2010)

20 watts is not enough. Either add another fixture, or replace it with a couple cfls in brooder reflectors. 

Adding water like that can be a real problem. Ms. Walstad suggests pouring over a plate, or even your hand, to soften the flow. Disturbing the cap and exposing the soil leads to algae and other problems. Add a bit more gravel if you need to but get the dirt under the gravel or out of the tank. 

Also, in any el natural tank, water changes may be necessary in the beginning. Sometimes this means daily 50% water changes, until the ammonia goes down. Maybe none, maybe a few, maybe for up to a month. To fill my taller tanks, I use a five gallon bucket, but then I use a 1/2 gallon rubbermaid pitcher to get the water from the bucket to the tank, slowly pouring the water over my free hand to make sure the substrate is not disturbed. If there is enough water in the tank you can put the pitcher in the water and then tip it over so the water just gently flows out. Again, the integrity of the sand or gravel cap is very important - do not breach it. Oh, another way to get water from the bucket to the tank is to use a spare powerhead and tubing. It may take a fairly powerful ph to get the water from a bucket on the floor up to a tall tank, but it is worth a try. 

Don't be in a hurry to add fish and you will be fine. Achieving a balanced tank sometimes takes some time, but is worth it in the end.


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## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

Thanks for the insight, theres some dirt in the tank itself that got uplifted, but not a whole lot. i siphoned out a ton pretty quickly when it got kicked up. Ammonia has been drifting around .50 ppm, and Nitrite at around .25 pmm. I threw in a bottle of the Tetra safe-start live bacteria, seeing if i can speed up the tank being established. I Dont plan to add fish til next week, and the most i will do is 3 Guppies to cycle, and maybe a single Siamese algae eater if the algae problem hasnt gone away.


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## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

I've been noticing some minor plant Growth, either that or im going crazy. I've also noticed what i think is either dead pieces of the Riccia on some of the plants, or some small pieces of hairline algae. they arent spreading much, and are mostly confined to the Amazon sword, and and the microswords. the Hornwort mostly melted, but a few good pieces remained, i ripped off the bad parts and threw most of it away, except for the floating pieces. Also i noticed this morning that the green water Algae seemed to clear up a bit overnight, likely due to the lack of light. 

I've been doing water tests, Ammonia at .50 ppm, nitrates/nitrites at 0 for the past 2 days. the Tetra Safe-start dosnt seem to be kicking in yet. Anybody have an idea as to why? or do i have to wait.


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## Ziggs180 (May 31, 2011)

Update, i just bought 3 Guppies and 1 Siamese Algae Eater. I had a huge problem, my Siamese algae Eater went crazy after i placed him into the tank, started darting around, then went limp and died. my 3 Guppies are at the top of the water, although they occasionally sink but quickly rise to the top. I'm not sure if they are gasping for air or not, or just feeding off dust at the top of the water. my Ammonia is at .5, Nitrites/Nitrates at 0. Anybody have any ideas as to why this is happening, and any counter measures? I dont want to lose my 3 Guppies!


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