# Tourney's Osaka 260 journey



## StevenA (18 Jan 2009)

Been a member of this forum for about a year now, and thought it was about time i put myself out there for some hopefully constructive critisism!!
Collected my Fluval Osaka 260 from Dan Crawford's house on Saturday, and it was well worth the 4 hour round trip(including a little Chef stop)!!   

Here it is although not quite in situ just yet.






Going to be using the supplied 4 x 39w lighting, pressurised Co2, my current Fluval 205, plus a new 305 which should arrive on Monday, definately TPN+, and considering going full EI.

Will post more pics this week as i progress, and i'm sure you'll all give me some idea's that i hadn't even thought of  8)


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## Tony Swinney (18 Jan 2009)

Look forward to watching your progress Tourney - my Osaka just arrived yesterday, so I'll be starting my journal in the next few days too !

Cheers

Tony


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## Graeme Edwards (18 Jan 2009)

Im glad you have found UKaps worth sticking with Tourney. Thanks.

This is quite a large tank, and have seen it in situ at my best pal Dans place. And tourney, that a hell of a tank to fill. Think hight with this or you will have an odd looking aquascape with too much open water in the higher regions of the tank.

Good luck and ill keep my eyes on this even if I dont post much.

Happy planting.


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## StevenA (18 Jan 2009)

Yea Graeme i know exactly what you mean about the height, i saw one of these at a place in Henlow in Bedfordshire at an MA, and fell in love with it, so i was over the moon when Dan and I agreed a price    But when i got it home and it stood right next to my Rio 180 i realised just how much bigger it was   

I picked up some nice peices of wood today from another MA near Cambridge, and i'll post some pics this week, so we'll see how this one turns out. But i'm not rushing as i want to do it right


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## Graeme Edwards (18 Jan 2009)

Good attitude to have.

Think dynamics with your wood. You can get good hight with your greens by using nice ferns, bolbitus, moss's and stems. Its not impossible just a little for thought and careful positioning of your wood. A high 'U' shaped composition would work very well in these tank. Ill be interested to see what you come up with.


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## GreenNeedle (19 Jan 2009)

I've liked the Osakas ever since I first saw one.  I think it is more the cabinet (in the colour that you have) and light setup I liked than the tank itself (no problems with the tank but one tank is the same as the next to me. lol) but they are one of the only setups that actually looks like it meant to be part of the furniture in your house.

Good luck with this.  Hopefully will have a great scape to compliment the beauty of the setup.

AC


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## beeky (19 Jan 2009)

I measured my chimney alcove to see if an Osaka 260 would fit when I saw Dan was selling it. And it fitted! But then you bought it...    

Still, an option for the future. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Is that your 180 on the right of the photo? Looks like a nano!


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## StevenA (19 Jan 2009)

Glad Dan and I agreed a price quickly if that was the case mate   

And that's exactly what I said to my wife, the Osaka makes the Rio 180 look like a nano


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## Dan Crawford (19 Jan 2009)

Graeme Edwards said:
			
		

> This is quite a large tank, and have seen it in situ at my best pal Dans place. And tourney, that a hell of a tank to fill. Think hight with this or you will have an odd looking aquascape with too much open water in the higher regions of the tank.


Listen to the man, some wouldn't believe it but he actually knows what he's talking about LOL
These are some of the biggest mini landscape rocks i could get my hands on (until Mountain Rock came along) and they are dwarfed!



I rushed this scape out of enthusiasm and regretted it everyday since, i didn't even get the substrate level before planting about a million pots of HC. Lessons learned though!
Good luck with it all.


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## John Starkey (19 Jan 2009)

Hi Tourney,nice tank that crawford guy is too kind   ,i have a tall tank 60cm high so just a little tip to help you if you read in the tropica catalogue they give you a idea of potential plant height ,i have found the best size to go for for if you dont want too much trimming is about 40 to 50cm because with good substrate and co2,and plant nutrition you can add 10 to 15 cm more growth,good luck regards john


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## StevenA (19 Jan 2009)

Bit of an update. Had the day off work today, mainly because the wife was teaching all day so i had to do the school runs, A.M AND P.M. Sheer coincidence that i have a rather nice setup to get on with   

Stripped the Rio 180 down completely, sorted out the plants to keep.





Saved as much Rio water as i possibly could. Washed all the new gravel, hopefully got most things straight in my head  :? 

Had to wait until about 5-30 pm til my neighbour Dean came home from work to help me move the tank into position.





Got the Tetraplant substrate in and the new fine gravel and sloped it from front to back.





And here's the wood in some sort of position, maybe not the final one, but i quite like it.





That's it for now, any suggestions?


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## mr. luke (20 Jan 2009)

being a noob at this thing, but the wood looks too central?


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## StevenA (20 Jan 2009)

Central as in left to right or front to back?


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## Garuf (20 Jan 2009)

Left of center always works well. I personally think you need more wood and don't be afraid to really ramp up the substrate.


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## samc (20 Jan 2009)

i agree i think ramping the substrate is a really important thing, what type of thing are u going for or still deciding?


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## StevenA (20 Jan 2009)

I've got several more slightly smaller peices of wood from my Rio 180 setup, so i shall be using those too. They do have some hair algae on them which i want to clean off before putting them in. I've heard about using a bleach and water solution to clean hardscape, is that correct and if so how would i go about it, do you soak or scrub or both  :?


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## Garuf (20 Jan 2009)

Not bleach on wood, use a wire brush and dead hot water.


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## mr. luke (20 Jan 2009)

i mean left to right  although im quite likely to be wrond


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## StevenA (20 Jan 2009)

Garuf said:
			
		

> Not bleach on wood, use a wire brush and dead hot water.



Oh ok cheers Garuf  8) 



			
				mr. luke said:
			
		

> i mean left to right  although im quite likely to be wrond



It is right of center, but i think the first peice of wood is at a slight angle and ends up looking more central maybe.


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## Dan Crawford (22 Jan 2009)

Hi mate, if it were mine i'd be going for something like this, it could do with a bit more wood though.


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## StevenA (22 Jan 2009)

Hi Dan, i do like what you've done there, but i also like the more upright style that i did   When you say it needs more wood, do you mean in the same area as the rest or maybe on the left. And also wood of the same size or maybe smaller? And by the way i do like that Dennerle nano you've done, was it the one on the coffee table in the corner that i saw last Saturday?


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## Dan Crawford (23 Jan 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> When you say it needs more wood, do you mean


Id say another two pieces like you already have and arrange them all in mound composition on the right side of the tank. So in essence, just adding more to your existing layout. It's only a suggestion, it's what i'd do if it was mine, oh, it was mine  


			
				Tourney said:
			
		

> And by the way i do like that Dennerle nano you've done, was it the one on the coffee table in the corner that i saw last Saturday?


Yep


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## StevenA (26 Jan 2009)

Another update, started addind a few plants, Java fern and some dwarf Sag.





Got the Co2 and the 205 working





Couple of days later started adding more plants. Moved all the dwarf sag to the front and added some Blyxa to the right ( thanks to steve2tanks)   





Got the rather nice Rhinox 5000 diffusor thanks to Superman   





I have also added a Fluval 305, another peice of wood to the rest, started EI dosing, and will soon have an FE courtesy of Dan C. Will post more pictures soon. Comments welcome


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## Superman (26 Jan 2009)

That's a nice diffuser! 
Keep an eye on the bubbles, they should be misting from all across the ceramic ring. It looks like its coming from an area. To combat that, clean it using 50/50 water/bleach. Then rinse and soak over night.

Also try and get the mist the go all across the tank using the flow.


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## steve2tanks (26 Jan 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Got the rather nice Rhinox 5000 diffusor thanks to Superman



Glad the blyxa has been put to good use :!:  

Havent read the whole thread but have you tried it with a background to hide the tubes?


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## StevenA (26 Jan 2009)

Yea looks nice, but could do with a bit more really, nudge, nudge,    if you know what i mean!

Thought about a background, but to be honest i think i'll just use the plants to disguise the pipes etc... Already had some growth on the Hygrophillia so i'll see how that progresses. I may use a background in the future, but i'd rather not if possible.


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## StevenA (26 Jan 2009)

Superman said:
			
		

> That's a nice diffuser!
> Keep an eye on the bubbles, they should be misting from all across the ceramic ring. It looks like its coming from an area. To combat that, clean it using 50/50 water/bleach. Then rinse and soak over night.
> 
> Also try and get the mist the go all across the tank using the flow.




Maybe i should reposition the diffusor nearer the back so it's closer to the filter inlet. You can't really see it in this picture, but the bubbles do get blown around quite a bit   And the drop checker solution is now a light green colour, which i think is about right.


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## Superman (26 Jan 2009)

If you can get the bubbles going up the filter inlet then your onto a winner!

Looking good, just be careful with lighting until everything settles due to the low plant mass.
When I replanted I dropped it to 6 hours and stepped it up over a month to the usual 8 hours.
Looks good tho.


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## StevenA (26 Jan 2009)

I'm only using one of the light units at the moment, like you say until everything settles down. And i have more plants on order, which should be here this week.


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## steve2tanks (26 Jan 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Yea looks nice, but could do with a bit more really, nudge, nudge,    if you know what i mean!



It will fill in given time but Keep an eye on the sale forum


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## StevenA (28 Jan 2009)

Definately will Steve 8)  Have ordered some Cyperus helferii, and some more Sagitaria subulata. Not sure if I like the Rotala in the back right corner, maybe buy something else like Ludwigia sp. maybe  :?


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## StevenA (1 Feb 2009)

Went to one of my local Maidenhead Aquatic retailers today and picked up a couple of pots of Cyperus helferii, so have moved some of the Vallis in the back left corner to make room for it, but to be honest i might just remove the Vallis altogether. Of course this depends how the Cyperus does.
Will probably need to trim the Hygrophyllia polysperma 'rosanervig', and the Hygrophyllia augustifolia in the next week to ten days, so will post the trimmings in the for sale section just before i do the trim, probably just ask for donations to UKAPS for those though.   
Still waiting for more dwarf sag for the foreground, but thanks to steve2tanks for sending me some more Blyxa for the front right hand side. 
I am thinking of trying an all in one auto dosing system, similar to London Dragon's one, depending if I can find a dosing pump at the right price   
Will post some more pictures soon to show the progress.


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## LondonDragon (1 Feb 2009)

Its looking good  you still need more plants though and i think I only saw the 205 mentioned if thats the case more filtration/flow. Will look great when things start filling in  Keep us posted


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## StevenA (1 Feb 2009)

Thanks Paulo, I have got a Fluval 305 running now too, and am gradually increasing the plant mass    Stems are growing well too so that should help, and when I trim them I will use the tips mentioned in the Tutorial section.


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## StevenA (2 Feb 2009)

The Dwarf sag has got quite a few yellowing leaves, but new growth coming through. Is this just the plants acclimatising themselves?





Should I cut the old leaves away or just leave them where they are?


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## Dan Crawford (3 Feb 2009)

The tank is looking great pal!

I'd cut them leaves off for sure, just make sure that you have a good 3-4 new leaves.


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## StevenA (3 Feb 2009)

Thanks alot Dan, apreciate it    Will cut the yellowing leaves off asap. Tank looking better now cos of the growth, can't wait to see the dwarf sag and the Blyxa start filling in too. Will post more pictures soon.


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## StevenA (4 Feb 2009)

Just another quick update, progress seems good at this stage, 17 days on...





I will be trimming the stems this week as per the instructions in the tutorial, and some have already been bought from me in advance  8) The Rotala that is floating at the top arrived with no roots at all, so I am just trying to get some root growth before I plant it in the substrate.

Added the Cyperus helferii today from Plants Alive





I was thinking of maybe adding a Koralia pump to increase the circulation of the Co2 around the whole tank, any thoughts about this would be very welcome.


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## Mark Evans (4 Feb 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> The Rotala that is floating at the top arrived with no roots at all, so I am just trying to get some root growth before I plant it in the substrate.



just plant it mate, rotalala really isn't fussy about roots before being planted


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## TDI-line (5 Feb 2009)

Nice natural layout Tourney.


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## StevenA (5 Feb 2009)

Thank you    It's only 18 days old now, so once I add a few more plants and do a bit of trimming it should start to look better still. I keep tweaking some of the plant layout now and then, and I think parts of it will change in one way or another, but so far I'm quite happy with the progress.


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## StevenA (8 Feb 2009)

It's my Osaka's 21st birthday today, well in days anyway    , so I thought I'd add an update. Here it is after it's 1st trim, and a little messing around with Photoshop Elements 7.






The Blyxa is starting to fill in a bit.





Here is one of the flourishing Aponogeton crispus.





And the last two pictures show the Boyu glass check valve from AE and the new FE and reg setup( thanks to Dan Crawford and Forest for those items)









I've bought a Hydor Koralia 2 on Ebay to improve the flow, and am still thinking of setting up an autodosing system for the home made all in one ferts.


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## altaaffe (8 Feb 2009)

That's starting to look great Tourney, all coming together nicely.


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## Thomas McMillan (8 Feb 2009)

I haven't seen this one before, but it's coming along well. Nice one!


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## StevenA (8 Feb 2009)

Thanks guys, apreciate the feedback    Any ideas how to make it better are very welcome.


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## beeky (9 Feb 2009)

What are the two leaves appearing behind the wood just above the anubias? They look interestingly crinkled! Some kind of Aponogeton?


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## StevenA (9 Feb 2009)

If it's the leaves I think you mean, then yes its Aponogeton crispus. There is some more above the Java fern and to the right of the Java fern.   Seems to be growing really well in there


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## beeky (12 Feb 2009)

It's the leaves here in the red outline:





They look different to the other leaves, but maybe that's just the photo/light.


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## StevenA (12 Feb 2009)

That's just a Java fern


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## StevenA (13 Feb 2009)

Just got home from work and my wife has bought me half a dozen Rummy Nose Tetras for Valentines day (and yes I know it's tomorrow  )    Bless her, she knows me very well. They look great shoaling together, I will definately get some more in a few weeks. Thank god she did'nt leave them in the bag, wrap them up and give them to me tomorrow  Thanks Lex love you loads


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## Tony Swinney (13 Feb 2009)

Great present !

I have shoal of 30ish rummys in with the discus, and they are great to watch, and do stay together as a shoal nearly all the time.

Tony


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## aaronnorth (13 Feb 2009)

Nice tank


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## beeky (17 Feb 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> That's just a Java fern




hehe


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## StevenA (21 Feb 2009)

I've got all the ingredients together for the all in one auto fert dosing, including a bargain s/h Aquamedic sp3000 dosing pump   Where is the best place to work out how much of each ingredient to mix and how much to dose in this 260L tank?


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## StevenA (22 Feb 2009)

Any advice will be welcome


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## Superman (22 Feb 2009)

I think the idea would be to make the mixture from what you are already dosing, unless you go the DIY TPN+ route.
I'm hopefully going to start auto dosing like you and Paulo soon too.


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## StevenA (22 Feb 2009)

Yeah I'll be using the same Nitrate, mono Phosphate, and Trace that I use already, with the addition of a couple of other bits, but I want to know how to work out how much of each ingredient to mix in either a 1 litre or 2 litre bottle, and also how much to dose each day in ml. The dosing pump does 40ml per minute, would that be enough or would I need to up this somehow? Don't mind doing the calculations myself, just need to know how to do them  :?


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## StevenA (23 Feb 2009)

LD, Tonser can you help at all with the calculations?


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## Tony Swinney (23 Feb 2009)

Hi Tourney

LD ran my tank size through Nutricalc (its doesnt work on Mac's   ) to give me the dosages to add 3 times per week, so if you want to make up a 35 day supply (which you'd basically replace on the 1st of every month for simplicity) then multiply your weight in grams by 15  ( from:  3(no.of doses per week) / 7 (to get back to daily amount) x 35 (days supply)).

Add the measured powders to 1400ml of RO water to make up the solution (40ml / day x 35 days)

Hope that makes sense !!!   

Tony


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## StevenA (25 Feb 2009)

What mixture do you use then Tony? And is it at 40 ml per day, as I saw that you use an Aquamedic sp3000 dosing pump?


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## LondonDragon (25 Feb 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> What mixture do you use then Tony? And is it at 40 ml per day, as I saw that you use an Aquamedic sp3000 dosing pump?


Have a look at this post, its all there  viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4596


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## StevenA (25 Feb 2009)

Cheers Paulo, I will take a look  8)  What size tank is that dosing for?


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## LondonDragon (25 Feb 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Cheers Paulo, I will take a look  8)  What size tank is that dosing for?


Its a Juwel Rio 125, 125 liter or thereabouts.


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## StevenA (25 Feb 2009)

So in my 260 I would just double the amounts you used to do the calculations?


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## Tony Swinney (25 Feb 2009)

Hi Steve

My dosings are on page 6 of my journal, here :  http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=4593&start=50

They're based on 300l volume, so I guess you'd be looking at 5/6ths  of the quantites.

Tony


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## StevenA (25 Feb 2009)

Excellent thanks Tony  8)  How is your 320l looking now? And have you got the new tank yet?


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## StevenA (25 Feb 2009)

Downloaded Nutricalc and ran the numbers which come out at 

KNO3: 4.11g x 15 = 62g (rounding up)
K2SO4: 1.89g x 15 = 29g
KH2PO4: 1.16g x 15 = 18g
MgSO4: 10.64g x 15 = 160g
Trace: 0.72g x 15 = 11g
E300 Asorbic Acid: 1.4g
E202 Potassium Sorbate: 0.56g

Mixed in 1400ml of DI water and dosed at 40ml per day using an Aquamedic sp3000 dosing pump    Should I add 10 or 20% on top of these figures in the final mixture?


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## LondonDragon (25 Feb 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Mixed in 1400ml of DI water and dosed at 40ml per day using an Aquamedic sp3000 dosing pump    Should I add 10 or 20% on top of these figures in the final mixture?


You can dose that and then adjust accordingly in the next batch if you think you under dosing, I always prefer to over dose than to under, so I added 20% on top. Over dosing causes no issues really if you keep the water changes in check and under dosing causes algae


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## Tony Swinney (25 Feb 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Excellent thanks Tony   How is your 320l looking now? And have you got the new tank yet?



No problem   

The 320l is doing fine, though I havent seen any difference yet after 2 wks of EI     I've got a new scape in mind for it, but just have to work out whether I can do it with the discus in there or not.  The new tank should be here by this time next week  8) and I've a nano underway too, time for another journal !

I'll be interested to see the effect your dosing has on the growth.

Cheers

Tony


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## StevenA (26 Feb 2009)

Excellent guys, thanks for the advice. If I get time this weekend I might try setting up the auto dosing pump   Will let you know how it goes


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## LondonDragon (26 Feb 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Excellent guys, thanks for the advice. If I get time this weekend I might try setting up the auto dosing pump   Will let you know how it goes


Great stuff, you will love it, best thing I done to my tank, now I don't have to worry about dosing anymore, and even stopped dosing EasyCarbo all together, haven't noticed any changes.


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## StevenA (7 Mar 2009)

Finally got a chance to start testing the auto dosing system this morning    The sp3000 is only dosing about 15ml in a minute so i'm guessing there's something not quite right with it    When the timer switches it on it does'nt seem to have enough umph to push the liquid up the tube, it just keeps bobbing up and down, until I give it a hand and suck on the end of the tube, and then it carries on, on it's own   I take it that sounds like a motor problem?


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## Superman (9 Mar 2009)

Where did you get your dosing pump from?


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## LondonDragon (9 Mar 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Finally got a chance to start testing the auto dosing system this morning    The sp3000 is only dosing about 15ml in a minute so i'm guessing there's something not quite right with it    When the timer switches it on it does'nt seem to have enough umph to push the liquid up the tube, it just keeps bobbing up and down, until I give it a hand and suck on the end of the tube, and then it carries on, on it's own   I take it that sounds like a motor problem?



Mine did that at first too, just lay the tubbing on the floor and get it working until the tube is properly filled, once that is done then put it on the tank. if not dosing properly after that you might need to replace the hose that goes inside the pump.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AQUAMEDIC-SP3000- ... 240%3A1318


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## StevenA (9 Mar 2009)

Superman said:
			
		

> Where did you get your dosing pump from?



I put a wanted post on http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/index.php


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## StevenA (9 Mar 2009)

Well I played around with it on Saturday and finally got it working, so it's now installed and dosing quite nicely  

Here it is 





And here is the setup with the DIY "all in one" ferts and Paulo's holding bottle idea





Added an extra 10% on top of all the calculations, so will see how it goes. Air pump comes on about 4 minutes before dosing starts, just for 2 minutes to agitate the mixture.


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## StevenA (1 Apr 2009)

Thought I'd do an update as I haven't done one for several weeks    The auto dosing system is working a treat, and the plants are enjoying it too    Removed most of the Aponogeton crispus on the right hand side, as it was going mental, and when I pulled it out one plant was about 2 1/2 feet long    The Blyxa in the front right corner was really suffering, probably due to lack of light caused by the aforementioned plant! Moved the Blyxa to the left side before I decided to remove the Aponogeton. Added some more Crypts where the Blyxa had been. Been suffering with a bit of green algae, so hopefully things may improve now the flow is better due to the removal of those Apono's. Will give it a couple of weeks and if the algae does not clear up then I may increase the Co2 and maybe add extra ferts, please advise if that's not a good move    Anyway here's a pic taken today.





The last remaining Aponogeton you can see will probably be removed soon too


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## aaronnorth (1 Apr 2009)

looking good


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## LondonDragon (1 Apr 2009)

Looking good  auto dosing makes life so much easier too  by the way I have stopped using the air pump since the last two mixtures I didn't use it and it worked fine, just use it to mix up the ferts when you making the solution, then just remove it. Up to you though just thought you should know its not really necessary, I am going to edit my post in the DIY section to that effectr.


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## StevenA (18 May 2009)

Another update, can't beleive the last update was the begining of April   





Not looking too bad IMO. The Cyperus helferii on the left has'nt really done too well, it's grown a bit i suppose, but never really looks too healthy, thinking of replacing it. The dwarf sag has gone nuts, and now needs a bit of thinning here and there as you can see. Had a small problem a week or two ago with the ferts. Wanted to clean out the Fluval 305 which is at the back of the right hand cabinet so I had to move the rest of the gear out of the cabinet including the fert bottle for the autodosing. Well anyway I must have tugged on the tube which delivers the ferts into the tank and pulled it off where it joins the check valve behind the tank. Looked at the fert bottle a few days later to find it had not used any   Hence the new algae problem   

I seem to be on top of that now though, thankfully. I have recently won a Jaqno external Co2 reactor on eBay, so I'm looking forward to setting that up, and while I'm at it I might replace the ribbed hoses too


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