I have once again started the aquarium hobby. I started with the cube. I poured the old substrate which was kept in a bag, into the tank. Placed a drift wood in the middle. Bought a sponge filter and pump. Resurrected an old hang on filter (the smaller one) and installed it. Working just fine after 7 years.
After letting all this run for a few days I brought some plants from a new store in North Calcutta. Petcraftz. Asif gave me the contact details. They are located at Gouribari near the Jain temple. Very large home kind of shop in a shed. They distribute Sri Padma plants. They seemed very decent. Only problem is the distance.
From them I bought a Java fern wrinkle leaf (in Sri Padma branded packaging) and anubias nana petit. I also bought a clump of christmas moss. The fern and the moss came stuck to a small aluminium grid that helps them to stay sunk in the bottom.
The moss had some browning parts. I have kept it in my bed room under my table lamp. Every morning I add a couple of ice cubes. They seem to be doing fine. Don't look so brown any more.
I tied the nana to the drift wood with black thread. Looking nice. The water was looking a little muddy in the first week or so. But now it has cleared up. I am yet to keep any live fish or shrimp. I have half a mind to keep a few Amano shrimps in it.
These plants are very clean. There is no snail infestation so far.
I bought two ADA root tabs from Little Mermaid on Kabir Road because the substrate has nothing in it.
I have given the CO2 cylinder to Buro for refilling. You cannot exchange empty cylinders for filled in ones any more. Now he writes down your phone number on the cylinder and returns it to you after filling. I gave it on Sunday and today is Wednesday still not done.
When I get the CO2 I intend to get a pot of hydrocotile tripartita mini and perhaps some sag. I want the sag to creep up the wood and the grass to fill the foreground.
I have spoken to another guy called Ayan who lives in Kakinada. I intend to get two anubias nanas and two clumps of anubias dragon claw. I might even get a few crypt wendti.
Let me see where this renewed journey takes me. Actually I hate two things about keeping a tank. A. the need to trim yhe plants. B. algae control. Most hobbyists exit the hobby when algaes take over their tanks.
As of now I keep the tank covered by a grey cloth during the day to block ambient light. And in evening give 5/6 hours of light from the LED set up.
I will try and see if a timer can be used for the light and CO2. Light even I can with a smart switch but CO2 I am not too sure about.
This is what my tank looks like in mid May after the first round of planting.
1st June, 2026
In these past few weeks a few more developments happened. One Sunday ago (24th May 2026) I bought two more anubias nana and two anubias dragon claws and four crypt wendtii. These I took from a boy in Kakinara. He came to Guliff Street and I picked up directly from him. His name is Ayan Chakraborty. His company's name is ATC Aquatics. I met him on facebook in a planted tank forum. The plants are quite nice and were snail or algae free. Strangely enough the plants were packed in Sree Padma branded cellophane.
After this I got my CO2 tank refilled. This was quite an adventure. Earlier, I used to handover the empty cylinder to Buro and bring home a filled cylinder in exchange. Now Buro has stopped this practice. You leave your cylinder with him. He will write down your name and phone number on it and once enough number of such empty cylinders are collected he would send them for refill. Once filled in he will call you and you go and collect it back. I accepted it and left the cylinder with him. When even after ten days the cylinder was still lying with him and I was getting impatient he said why don't you get it done yourself?
Actually Buro does not make any money out of this business. He does it just as a service to his customers. The up and down taxi fare does not justify it as a viable business.
I got the number of this gentleman - Shyamal Chatterjee. I spoke to the gentleman and he asked me to come after 9 am. Brought back the cylinder from Buro. Went to Balaram Ghosh Street after dropping Monisha at work on Tuesday 26th May 2024. Finding him on Balaram Ghosh Street was not difficult at all. I took a right turn from Central Avenue near AV School. Another right turn after Shyampukur PS and I was there.
If coming from Cornwallis Street the lane is somewhere opposit to Hatibagan. I did not take that road because I am not too sure about its one way direction and in any case I do not like riding on narrow roads with tram line.
The guy was not there and his phone was not reachable. I discovered that he does not live there but somewhere near Deshabandhu Park. Finally after an hour or so he came. Next time I will inform him before going. He is a very soft spoken typical north Calcutta man in his 60s. He filled the CO2 in no time. Charged me Rs 200 as my cylinder is a 2 Kg one (I am not sure if kg is the right unit to use but that is how the trade describes it and the rate now is Rs 100 per kilo). He also installed the regulator and once again showed me the valves and how to operate them etc. I had quite forgotten how to do it. However, it did not work back at home because my pipes had all gone hard. Once again took it to Buro in the evening and got new pipes. My CO2 is working fine now. The plants are pearling fine. I turn it at around 3.30 pm and turn on the lights at 4. I turn off the CO2 at 9.30 and switch off the light at 10.30 or so.
My regulator is a manual one. You have to physically turn it on and off. A solenoid valve based regulator costs 3.5K. I shall invest in it if I can consistently keep the tank algae free for six months.
Today, 1st June I bought a pot of Hydrocotile tripartita mini from Petcraftz this morning. I have planted them in the foreground. They will take time to settle down. This is not a TC pot. They charged me Rs 100 for it.
Meanwhile I had brought an amano from Buro a week ago. However from the second day it disappeared. Perhaps could not withstand the change in water parameters. I will probably wait for the weather to cool down before buying the next one.
