# Million's 110L medium tech - red and green



## Million (1 Mar 2017)

Hi ukapsers,

I used to keep tropical planted tanks while at uni, but gave up when work meant I had to move house every year. It's been about four years since the last one was taken down now, in which time I've got married, bought my first home, and had two kids - busy busy! I always promised myself that when I finished my postgraduate training and had my own house, I would get a tank again. My parents very kindly helped me to make this a reality by buying me a beautiful AquaOne Optiwhite 110 for Christmas, sort of forcing me to get on with it. 

So far, I've customised a cabinet to match home decor, assembled and tested most of the setup. 

I guess this would qualify as a medium-high tech setup? But ideally I don't want it to be too high maintenance as there are plenty of other things I should be doing!

Hardware setup comprises:
80*40*40cm 110L braceless rimless Optiwhite tank
JBL CristalProfi e901 Greenline external canister filter
Chihiros A Series 60cm LED luminaire
Hydor 300w inline heater
Hydor Koralia circulation pump
JBL ProFlora CO2 system with 2L cylinder

The hardscape:
TMC Nutrasoil substrate
Redmoor root
Dragon stone
Assorted grades gravel and sand




 





Plants:
A low carpet between the front of the rocks and the sand - after advice on this, perhaps Eleocharis parvula
Staurogyne repens between the rocks
Riccardia chamedryfolia on the rocks
Cryptocoryne wendtii between the roots
A background curtain of Vallisneria spiralis
Microsorum pteropus on the wood
Vesicularia dubyana on the branches

Livestock:
Mainly otos, shrimp, and I'm thinking a shoal of black neon tetra. Possibly a small group or pair of Apostogramma

QUESTIONS!

I've never used an inline CO2 reactor/diffuser before, but am interested in replacing my glass/ceramic in tank diffusers. Would appreciate opinions

Ideally I don't want to be spending hours each week maintaining this tank, but would love some degree of carpeting plant. I've never grown any but hairgrass before. I'm put off HC because of the thought of having to trim it regularly and even replant it periodically. 

Dry start method is something I'm contemplating, to get the carpet started, and possibly doing the yogurt/moss/blender treatment on the wood. Is it worth it?

Thanks for reading


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## kadoxu (2 Mar 2017)

Million said:


> I've never used an inline CO2 reactor/diffuser before, but am interested in replacing my glass/ceramic in tank diffusers. Would appreciate opinions


Just be sure your regulator is up for the job... I tried changing to an inline diffuser just to find out my regulator wasn't powerful enough for it, so I ended up changing back to my bazooka atomizer.


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## HiNtZ (4 Mar 2017)

Your cabinet looks like a happy face! 

Looking forward to progress on this one.


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## Million (5 Mar 2017)

Thank you HiNtZ.
Kadoxu, I did have that worry, so think I'll stick to the old pollen diffuser for now.

I have a second hand JBL ProFlora system with solenoid from mainland Europe. It came with a transformer which is bulky, heavy, and has a European two pin plug. When attached to a multi plug extension via a euro-uk adaptor it's really ungainly. I'd like to replace the transformer with one that has a native plug to cut the faff. I don't know much about electronics. The solenoid cable plugs into the transformer using a small asymmetric two pin connector I recognize from an Ikea bedside light I have. The photos hopefully illustrate what I'm talking about well enough. 

Can anyone help me find an appropriate transformer please?


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## Iain mlaren (7 Mar 2017)

Hi. I believe that is a 2 pin din connection. You could probs cut it all out and put a UK 12v transformer plug in its place. Or try and find a UK plug transformer with female 2 pin din connection. Hope that helps to some degree lol


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## Iain mlaren (7 Mar 2017)

Do you have a better pic of the solenoid itself with the label on for specs? Cheers


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## Million (9 Mar 2017)

I fixed the solenoid issue using a better adaptor on the original power supply. I also spent a day planting! Plants ordered from K2aqua and planter's paradise on eBay. Not very happy that half the crypt wendtii brown have no roots so won't stay planted. Tiny quantity of overpriced Christmas moss. Also managed to order pellia instead of mini pellia, which was daft. It may not last... Vallis arriving tomorrow to make a curtain at the back


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## Million (10 Mar 2017)

Oh, and anyone after CO2 refills in the Bristol or South Glos area, check out Bristol Fire, in Yate (http://www.bristolfire.co.uk/). Really friendly helpful team who refilled my cylinder for £10 with a 1 week turnover. Also going to source me a refurb 2kg cylinder to use for swaps, fit it out with the right thread, for £30.


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## Doubu (11 Mar 2017)

Great start =)... I see that you are also suffering from aquasoil spillage into the sand... do you have any plan of attack to clean it up or will you let it be as is? I'm still trying to figure out the best way myself to do a sand/aquasoil scape where I am not fishing/separating granules every week...


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## Million (11 Mar 2017)

Doubu said:


> Great start =)... I see that you are also suffering from aquasoil spillage into the sand... do you have any plan of attack to clean it up or will you let it be as is? I'm still trying to figure out the best way myself to do a sand/aquasoil scape where I am not fishing/separating granules every week...


Thanks. I'm hoping that once the hair grass border grows contiguous it will hold back the pellets


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## Million (12 Mar 2017)

Vallis in situ. Looking a bit worse for wear after posting but hopefully it'll bounce back. Started EI dosing regime. 




Staurogyne repens is my new favorite aquatic plant. It's really taken off even in the last few days. 




Some patches of the parvula are yellowing up and apparently dying - not sure why, so if anyone has ideas let me know.



 
A patch of possible BBA on the Redmoor root. It was growing a biofilm of white stuff before planting. 

Cherry shrimp arrive next week to begin the cleanup! Then some otos


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## Million (25 Mar 2017)

Now featuring 12 black neon tetra, 4 Amano shrimp, and 8 cherry shrimp


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## Kezzab (25 Mar 2017)

IME most of the hairgrass will yellow and die but fresh growth will come through. It's not a very fast grower even high tech.


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## Robbie X (30 Mar 2017)

Million said:


> View attachment 104492
> Now featuring 12 black neon tetra, 4 Amano shrimp, and 8 cherry shrimp


Looking real good  The tank is very close to the dimensions I was thinking of getting (90x45x45). Did you go with 40 height for lighting reasons?


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## Million (30 Mar 2017)

Robbie X said:


> Looking real good  The tank is very close to the dimensions I was thinking of getting (90x45x45). Did you go with 40 height for lighting reasons?


Thanks Robbie. Actually I chose this tank because it was on clearance at a great price, and fitted the cabinet/space!


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## Iain mlaren (30 Mar 2017)

I have the same tank and i think it's pretty good. 8mm glass rather than 6 which I believe is recommended for this size tank? I paid 110 delivered for mine which I though was quite a good price.


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## Robbie X (30 Mar 2017)

Million said:


> Thanks Robbie. Actually I chose this tank because it was on clearance at a great price, and fitted the cabinet/space!
> View attachment 104585


I see, nice work  Do you think the JBL CristalProfi e901 Greenline external canister filter, would suitable in a 90x45x45 (182L) tank?


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## BarryH (30 Mar 2017)

How's the "Parvula" coming on, has it picked up?


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## Million (3 Apr 2017)

Robbie X said:


> I see, nice work  Do you think the JBL CristalProfi e901 Greenline external canister filter, would suitable in a 90x45x45 (182L) tank?


Yes I think so. It's rated at 900LPH I think, so not quite 10x turnover/hr but close enough IMHO


BarryH said:


> How's the "Parvula" coming on, has it picked up?


I think it has turned the corner, and I'm seeing some new growth now. 

Since I had no algae issues (what I thought might be BBA before wasn't, perhaps some kind of bacteria on the wood - the shrimp made short work of it) I thought I would crank up the CO2 a notch and increase the light intensity setting one mark on the dimmer, keeping the ferts and photoperiod the same. Seems to be all stable so far. Think I'll introduce some otos this week.

In case anyone is interested, I'm using EI based on James' Planted Tank simple recipes http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/EI.htm


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## BarryH (3 Apr 2017)

Thanks for the reply, pleased to hear the Parvula's turned the corner.


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## Eduard18 (3 Apr 2017)

Very nice tank


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## Robbie X (3 Apr 2017)

How do you like the chihiros led? _I am thinking of getting the 90cm version._


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## Million (5 Apr 2017)

Robbie X said:


> How do you like the chihiros led? _I am thinking of getting the 90cm version._


I'm very impressed, would recommend it. 

Some updated photos




 

 

 

I've done away with the pelia - it looked like boiled lettuce, not even the shrimp liked it! Will get some proper Riccardia chamedryfolia soon. 

A couple of my cherry shrimp have met a choppy end swimming into the koralia unfortunately.


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## Robbie X (5 Apr 2017)

Million said:


> I'm very impressed, would recommend it.
> 
> I've done away with the pelia - it looked like boiled lettuce, not even the shrimp liked it! Will get some proper Riccardia chamedryfolia soon.
> 
> A couple of my cherry shrimp have met a choppy end swimming into the koralia unfortunately.



Cheers man. Tank looking great


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## Daveslaney (5 Apr 2017)

Very nice.
If you put your co2 diffuser directly below the circulation pump it will fire the co2 round your tank better?


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## Eduard18 (5 Apr 2017)

well , in my opinion, if you put an inline diffuser on your filter outflow it will fire the CO2 round your tank best; while having less hardware in your tank


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## Million (6 Apr 2017)

Eduard18 said:


> well , in my opinion, if you put an inline diffuser on your filter outflow it will fire the CO2 round your tank best; while having less hardware in your tank



I would like an inline diffuser, but worried that the reg on my CO2 system wouldn't provide sufficient pressure to run one - does anyone know? It's the JBL ProFlora one. Less hardware in the tank the better, I agree


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## Daveslaney (6 Apr 2017)

I agree a inline one would be less in the tank, Was just looking at the hardware you allready have.
The UP inline ones require 36ps(around 2.5 bar)i to run asume the JBL one will prob be around the same.


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## kadoxu (6 Apr 2017)

https://www.jbl.de/?lang=pt&mod=products&func=detail&id=7319

In the FAQ section:


> We recommend a working pressure of 1.0 – 1.5 bar.


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## Eduard18 (6 Apr 2017)

JBL Proflora Direct rules  it's the one I'm using at this very moment and the one I've been using for more than a year ; works like a charm  and according to my JBL pressure regulator it operates - at this precise moment - at a bit less than 1,4 bar


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## Million (7 Apr 2017)

Right, order made, thank you team!


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## Million (9 Apr 2017)

Does anyone use 90° elbows on their filter piping? Thinking of using for where they exit the cabinet - I realize they will reduce flow velocity, but at the moment the pipes turn quite sharply as they exit the cabinet and get kinked


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## imak (9 Apr 2017)

I do, I like them and didn't really notice any drop in flow. Though I'm only using one in each hose 



Enviado do meu HUAWEI GRA-L09 através de Tapatalk


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## Eduard18 (9 Apr 2017)

I don't ; never have; maybe I will someday, I'm not prejudiced


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## Million (23 Apr 2017)

Trim and water change. Had a bit of stag horn algae on the vallis, which seemed to have a bit of a melt after planting, but is now rallying.

I'm thinking about getting a pair of rams, but slightly worried about my shrimp.


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## Robbie X (23 Apr 2017)

Million said:


> View attachment 104998 Trim and water change. Had a bit of stag horn algae on the vallis, which seemed to have a bit of a melt after planting, but is now rallying.
> 
> I'm thinking about getting a pair of rams, but slightly worried about my shrimp.


Just love the layout on this setup. I am hoping to mimic it when I eventually get my 90 up )


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## Million (23 Apr 2017)

Robbie X said:


> Just love the layout on this setup. I am hoping to mimic it when I eventually get my 90 up )


Thank you, that's a huge compliment and appreciated


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## Dominik_K (26 Apr 2017)

Hi,

this tank ist just awesome. I really fell in love with it and I think I will try to mimic this one. It comes in handy that i decided to build up a tank of the same size and now found this outstanding layout.

Just two questions: 

Is that any special species of Microsorum pteropus? The Leafs seem to be pretty small. I am trying to figure out which one works well in a tank of this size and yours seems to fit perfect.

And may i ask how many plant pots you used to start with this tank? Pretty hard for me to guess. For my last scape i bought about 50 percent more than i could use .


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## Million (26 Apr 2017)

Dominik_K said:


> Hi,
> this tank ist just awesome. I really fell in love with it and I think I will try to mimic this one. It comes in handy that i decided to build up a tank of the same size and now found this outstanding layout.
> Just two questions:
> Is that any special species of Microsorum pteropus? The Leafs seem to be pretty small. I am trying to figure out which one works well in a tank of this size and yours seems to fit perfect.
> And may i ask how many plant pots you used to start with this tank? Pretty hard for me to guess. For my last scape i bought about 50 percent more than i could use .



Hi Dominik. Thanks for your kind words. I'll always say "if I can do it, anyone can!". The Microsorum pteropus is called 'narrow', I believe it's a Tropica cultivar. If I remember correctly, I bought:
Eleocharis parvula x6 tissue culture portions (this was too much actually, I think 4 would have been enough when spread out properly)
Staurogyne repens x3 tissue culture portions, but could have done with 4
Cryptocoryne wendtii x3 tissue culture portions, but in future I would buy potted plants rather than tissue culture when buying crypts as they've been VERY slow starters
Vallisneria spiralis x10 individual plants
Microsorum pteropus 'narrow' (Tropica) x2 large pots
Vesicularia dubyana x1 but wish I'd bought more
Anubias nana 'petite' (Tropica) x1 large pot
Cryptocoryne willsii x3 (Tropica) pots

Hope that helps.


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## Dominik_K (26 Apr 2017)

Hi,

thank you, that helps a lot  I guess the tissue culture portions were the normal 5,5 cm ones? (1-2-grow, dennerle and similiar ones?) In Germany, we have access to bigger ones, thats why I am asking. But anyways, that are a few more plants as i planned so far. So thank you very much, my start would have been pretty bald without your answer.

By the way, i had similiar experiences with In Vitro Crypts and learned the same lessons 

I am really looking forward to build something like this myself.

Best Regards


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## Million (26 Apr 2017)

Dominik_K said:


> I guess the tissue culture portions were the normal 5,5 cm ones? (1-2-grow and similiar ones?) In Germany, we have access to bigger ones, thats why I am asking



You're welcome. Yes, the tissue cultures were small, about the size you mention. With hair grass as long as you have the patience and some tweezers, a little goes a long way


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## rossjcooper (2 May 2017)

Love the layout of this scape, I had a similar issue with hairgrass and it all just died off not sure of the cause but it was a shame. If you get it right it looks good.


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## Million (19 Jul 2017)

It's been a while! I had a real issue with several types of algae after neglecting the tank somewhat. I went on holiday, and also dropped water changes down to 50% every fortnight or so.

Had to cull most of the hair grass, large areas of it were covered in BBA and it has never really thrived. I realized there was a lot of debris on the tank floor, which I think was leaching nitrates, as well as me allowing EI to accumulate, fueling the algae. Moss on the branches was lifting off, so I replaced it with some weeping moss which has a bit of riccia in it. The staurogyne had a massive die back, but is growing back now. I added some nymphaea bulbs.

I'm back to weekly 50% water changes and things are looking up again.

I want to introduce a foreground plant to replace the hair grass in front of the dragon stone pallisade - any suggestions?


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## SeanOB (20 Jul 2017)

love the tank! it looks even better now that some algae has covered the rocks, very natural.

I have some Lilaeopsis brasiliensis in my mixed carpet.. it seems to be hardy and spreads on its own quite easily in my low tech set up. A decent option if you still want a grassy look, but compact.


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