# Rescaping 64l customised rekord 600



## richard brown (15 Apr 2016)

So in around a weeks time I will be rescaping my customised rekord 600 aquarium.

During my journey with my initial aquascape (or attempt at one lol) I made alot of errors, bad choice of substrate, no source of ferts or co2 for the first 6 weeks (I am that new I did not know you needed co2 and ferts in a planted tank), the substrate wasnt great (tetra complete with tetra active on top) grain size was too big for the plants I had and the colour was... a bit terracotta.

After weeks of effort and research the plant I have left are doing ok, hair grass isnt best though, thats where the substrate probably was not the best.

So I am going to start from scratch.

I am going to drain the tank with most of the water going into a container for the fish that will have a powerhead and heater plus the sponge with the bact on.

I am going t remove the internal juwel filter.

Then I am going to make a substrate of tetra complete substrate on the bottom,then I am going to place root tabs, then tropica aquarium soil powder.

The light is 2 x 24w t5ho.
Filter will be an APS EF1 external filter

I will also be using one of co2art's complete advanced sodastream sets to delver co2 to the tank.

I will be dosing tropica premium and specialised fertilisers on alternate days

I am aiming to follow this: http://tropica.com/en/guide/get-the-right-start/tropica-app/ guide throughout the first 3 months.

I have an idea of the plants I want:

background:
Hygrophila Polysperma
Hygrophila 'Siamensis 53B'
Ludwigia Arcuata
Rotala Rotundifolia

Midground:
Ammania sp. 'Bonsai' Tissue Culture - Hortilab
Anubias Nana 'Mini'
Bolbitis heteroclita ‘Difformis’
Cryptocoryne Petchii
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown
Microsorum pteropus 'Trident'
Java Moss

Foreground
Staurogyne rubescens

I am a little disappointed about the bonsai been hortilab as I was hoping to use all potted but want to source all the plants from the same place.

Will be using 2 very nice pieces of redmoor as a frame for the moss,triident,anubias and the bolbitis (thanks to dave at auarium gardens for picking out the perfect pieces for me).

I am going to get 10 amano shrimp to help with keeping everything tidy, they will work with the 6 oto's I have.

Will update after day 1 with it planted etc.


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## john dory (15 Apr 2016)

Watching with interest,as I have a record 600.


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## richard brown (19 Apr 2016)

Quick change of plan to save myself some money, I am not going to be using tropica soil pwder now, instead I will use the rest of the tetra active substrate I have but top it with Limpopo black sand, that eliminates both the bad grain size and color of the tetra active substrate and saves me money - win win.

Hoping to order hardscape this week sometime.


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## ian_m (19 Apr 2016)

I placed black Limpopo sand on top of Fluval substrate when I first set my tank up. Carefully banked it up to make slopes with plastic dividers. Looked good.

However after a while the substrate underneath started "floating up" through the sand, as well as the sand banking "collapsing", probably due to the x10 flow in the tank moving the sand around. Spent ages pushing the substrate back under the sand and placing pebbles/rocks to stop the sand being washed away. Not sure I was wise to attempt to bank up sand or even put sand on top of an aquatic substrate.

Eventually admitted defeat and one evening, hiked it all out, and sieved the substrate from the sand and put it back with sand at the bottom and substrate on top. Much better now as if bald patches of substrate appear it is much easier to just push around the substrate on the sand, thus covering the bald patch.

Also remember as with all new substrates, you will get ammonia from leaching and being immature, despite using old water and mature filters. So for first couple of weeks I did daily water changes and daily dosed with AmQuel to keep ammonia down.


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## richard brown (19 Apr 2016)

Interesting.

I wonder if this would have the same issue: http://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/dennerle-nano-shrimp-gravel-sulawesi-black-2-kg-1750-p.asp


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## richard brown (22 Apr 2016)

project has been delayed a while as I have decided to get a sodastream co2 system from co2art and that has hammered my budget.


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## richard brown (4 May 2016)

So.. this is actually happening next week now 100% so I updated the op wth all up to date nfo on plants and setup etc.

I will be going for a nature theme and am using alot of Amano's works as inspiration.

Also I do not think it qualifies as customised rekord 600 anymore lol as the only thing left is the glass tank.

If anyone has any last minute advice on using co2 that would be great too, I have read alot the past two weeks, that I should aim for 3 bubbles a second and around 30-35ppm and a green drop checker, will be starting with 1 bubble a second and working up to 3 though throughout the first day, to time how long it takes for the checker to change etc so I know when to set the co2 to tun on.

Also hoping the external filter has enough flow for me, at 1000l/h in a tank this size I should be ok?


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## alto (4 May 2016)

Depending on the why's of your plant choices (ie keep them as is if that's what you like  )  I'd be inclined to adjust a bit

Background - I'd choose  either Hygrophila Polysperma or Hygrophila 'Siamensis 53B', both should be quite fast growers, HS 53B will likely have larger leafs, color is quite different

Mid - these are all fairly slow growers, I'd switch one out for a faster growing plant
java moss is pretty invasive & can be quite a fast grower, so you'll need to monitor it carefully (syphon away all trimmings) - I assume you'll be attaching this to wood

You might add in a smaller round leafed plant for contrast

I'd be inclined to plant & run CO2 24/7 for a week or so before adding in livestock or if you need to add fish etc back sooner, you can run increased CO2 during photoperiod, then adjust to lower rate during ambient light period (this can be useful if tank receives a good amount of ambient light)

If possible I'd add the Tropica soil back in as a top layer (one 9litre bag)

Filter should be fine


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## richard brown (4 May 2016)

So switching the 53b for a bacopa for example?

The midground plants are all chosen with a view to how it will look once grown in.

I am throwing the bonsai in there to try add variety, could also add a bacopa compact maybe? can you recommend any fast growing midground plants that are not too demanding?

With the co2, I am very very new to co2 (my first co2 system) so I am not sure I am comfortable running higher from the start, is there a reason why I should run it higher from the start?


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## richard brown (17 May 2016)

Ok so tank is planted and filled and filter running, will start the co2 tommorow as I am tired after a very long day, will also provide a few pics too.


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## alto (18 May 2016)

I did mean to get back to you on this  (just got distracted)



richard brown said:


> is there a reason why I should run it higher from the start?


This can be helpful transitioning new plants (most ship with emerse growth) to submerse life, but if you've livestock, stick with levels that are comfortable for your fish etc
There are some plants which "grow" outside the photoperiod - especially if tank receives ambient light, so you can also choose to run lower CO2 rate 24/7, & then increase this CO2 rate during photoperiod (this is my preference as tank receives some sunlight & even a cloudy spring day affects plant demeanour)  



richard brown said:


> fast growing midground plants that are not too demanding?


I did look at Tropica's site but these tended to be slow or moderate in growth - most "fast growing" plants tend to be those stems that also achieve considerable height - eg, if you compare growth rate of Bacopa 'compact' it's rather slower than Rotala rotundifolia (both have handling & growth videos)



richard brown said:


> will also provide a few pics too.


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## richard brown (19 May 2016)

I will get some pics today, will not be best quality sadly as am using a smartphone, just been very busy ^^

Thanks for explaining also, I think I will stick to the basics for now though, drop checker was green by lights on at around 2 bubbles a second, apparently the regulator I got from co2 art is kinda pre rigged at 40 psi as that is what they recommend for the bazooka diffuser.

I ended up getting a Pogostemon Erectus instead of the 53B, had to cut the hygro polysperma back before planting as the plant was huge lol also I decided not to use any moss as I like the natural color of the wood and my past experience with moss is bad.

The equipment is a bit of an eye sore but pactical I suppose.

I ended up using tropica soil powder as top layer too, I used a small amount of the tetra active to help build up the back of the substrate, the bigger grain size should help a bit back there.


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## richard brown (19 May 2016)

Pics


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## alto (19 May 2016)

Well done 

For equipment, you could
- move spraybar to left tank wall (across width of tank rather than length - as spray bar will cover the width completely this should provide more even flow)
- move inlet to back right corner (common alternate location would be back left corner, you might try both to see which provides more even flow - CO2 microbubbles or fine flake food is a good indicator of flow patterns)
- place heater vertically in a back corner (opposite back corner to inlet or adjacent to inlet depending on viewing angles)

That left side "stump" looks to be your main flow blocker so it may work better with the spray bar on the opposite wall - just try out the various combinations


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## richard brown (19 May 2016)

Thanks for the advice, will have a play around with the equipment next water change.

1 other thing, the Bolbatis and trident both have black on the leaves, this is nutrient related if I read correctly, the tropica guide states not to use ferts for the first few weeks, should I stick to the guide or start dosing half a dose of the premium fertiliser?


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## richard brown (21 May 2016)

Ok so I removed the spray bar, I can tell you that every area of my tank is now flowing around nicely, I cannot see a plant that is not swaying  trying to think of where I can put the heater now, the wire is not long enough to reach to the back right corner, could I put it just behind the outlet?

I am also starting to get white fungus around my wood, I understand this is very common and harmless and will go away by itself, am I right?


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## Matt Havens (22 May 2016)

richard brown said:


> Ok so I removed the spray bar, I can tell you that every area of my tank is now flowing around nicely, I cannot see a plant that is not swaying  trying to think of where I can put the heater now, the wire is not long enough to reach to the back right corner, could I put it just behind the outlet?
> 
> I am also starting to get white fungus around my wood, I understand this is very common and harmless and will go away by itself, am I right?


I had the same problem when I set up my 60L too. The white fungs did go after a while. I think the ottos had a great time with it after I added them it appeared to have gone.

Very interested to see how this develops as I am going to be doing a very similar project soon. 

Well done so far it looks great!



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## richard brown (27 May 2016)

So I added the 10 shrimp today, they are busy little things! the fungus is gone lol they also destroyed the oto's left over food.


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## richard brown (2 Jun 2016)

Is it normal for all the shrimp to congregate in one place when the lights off? they all seem to be in a huddle on the filter outlet pipe.


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## alto (3 Jun 2016)

richard brown said:


> they all seem to be in a huddle on the filter outlet pipe.


to me this is not a good sign - make sure oxygen levels are good ie adjust filter return so there is more surface movement - you might also look at decreasing CO2 somewhat when adding any livestock (again I mostly do this just by increasing surface agitation for a few days)
Have you seen any molts since adding shrimp?

It's possible shrimp are just not feeling that great - but increasing oxygen/decreasing CO2 is always a good thing if livestock are (even slightly) sick.
You can also do daily water changes of 20 - 25% at this time (I'm a bit more conservative with shrimp water changes) or morning & evening if you need to change more water re plants etc.


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## richard brown (3 Jun 2016)

There seems to be plenty of surface movement going on as the outlet actually points slightly up at the surface, I will reduce the co2 to 2 bubbles a second today.

Also I mixed my words, it is the inlet pipe they are congregating on, once the lights come on they seem to disperse and wander around.

I am starting to see alot of brown spots inside the filter hosing aswell, is this normal?


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## alto (3 Jun 2016)

richard brown said:


> am starting to see alot of brown spots inside the filter hosing aswell, is this normal?


Yes 

Cleaning hoses is part of the filter maintenance

If shrimp are on the inlet, maybe add a shrimp guard or sponge temporarily ... it's not an infrequent meeting place for shrimp  though I find only a few continue to do this once settled (in the tank)


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## richard brown (3 Jun 2016)

ahhh ok, they are not actually on the inlet itself but on the pipe work going up to the surface.

Whats the best way to clean the hoses? I am going to cut them down when I get a chance too to increase flow as they are rather long lol.


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## alto (3 Jun 2016)

richard brown said:


> Whats the best way to clean the hoses?


I have the Eheim cleaning brush (bought once & lasted for years)
My other must have brush is this one (sorry couldn't find a UK site) - it can wiggle through the tubing connector adapter (of the Eheim Pro filters) without breaking apart


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## richard brown (4 Jun 2016)

I am very happy with how the tank is looking apart from the hygro which has took off and looks almost out of place now.

I am surprised how fast the anubias is growing also.

The rotala and ludwgia arcuta have yet to develop any red coloring though 

Will try to get some pics tomorrow.


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## richard brown (4 Jun 2016)

Wow, I just went to look at the tank close up and there is a baby oto on the glass!


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## alto (5 Jun 2016)

richard brown said:


> The rotala and ludwgia arcuta have yet to develop any red coloring though


I believe it's only been a couple of weeks since planting - reds can take some time to develop


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## richard brown (5 Jun 2016)

Ref filter maintenance, is it ok to refill the filter with fresh treated water from the tap or best using tank water to refill it?


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## alto (5 Jun 2016)

I just use treated tap but either is fine
-check your filter instructions though, some seem to end up with less "stuck" air when refilled back in position on tank (hoses fitted etc)


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## richard brown (5 Jun 2016)

Some pics, so far I have trimmed the rotala the hygro and the rubescens.


 

 

 

 



Don't ask about Nemo.... not my idea ta all 

Forgot to mention the bonsai melted in the first week.

At the moment lighting is on for 7 hours, I am dosing 1.2ml of specialised and premium tropica ferts 6 days a week, I am going to give it another week or 2 then up the lighting to 8 hours a day.


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## richard brown (7 Jun 2016)

Well well.. that is 2 baby oto's now, the first one I saw is getting a little bit bigger and seems to have no trouble at all getting around the tank, the other I just spotted is very small, hoping this one can make it too


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## alto (7 Jun 2016)

It's the Magic of Nemo 

For the baby oto's - supplement with veg ... you can experiment, but most begin with courgette, baby spinach leaf (try the various greens, avoiding the "lettuces" as these are much less nutrient dense), red pepper etc
You can blanch the veg to help begin the breakdown, often not needed with adult oto's, but I'd be inclined to try this for the babies - just replace the veg slice daily as it can take some time for the food to be discovered & this way it won't foul the tank.

How are your shrimp doing?




richard brown said:


> Forgot to mention the bonsai melted in the first week.


This plant can be sensitive that way, if you look back through forums it's not uncommon to see some posters who excel at "melt" & other who've never experienced any issue ...
Once established it's generally very resilient.


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## richard brown (7 Jun 2016)

Shrimp are all doing fine, well 9 of them are sadly 1 did not make past day 2 
They keep playing tricks on me with the shedded shel/skin making think another has died.

I will try with some courgette for the oto's.

The bonsai melting just made me hate hortilab plants even more lol

I seem to have a few snails in the tank also, not too many, will they be a danger to the plants?

I am also thinking about fish, test results are coming back good, I was just going to get 11 cardinal tetra, but if anyone has any suggestions please post  

Nothing too expensive though, apparently I have already spent too much.


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## alto (8 Jun 2016)

richard brown said:


> apparently I have already spent too much.


too true 
- but at least we have something tangible to show for the $$$ out 

I prefer Cardinals in longer tanks - they'll likely just wander about the smaller tank.

Rasboras will school more (need minimum 8-10 & 15-20 are better for behaviour displays) - they'll disperse but then usually come together then disperse again (not the same red/blue flash as cardinals but I find the behavior more interesting)

I've a group of (likely) guppy/endler cross that are a lot of fun to watch as well (sold as fancy orange guppy's but I'm sceptical, they just behave more like endlers)

Black Phantoms - again they will flare & display, no swirling/streaming school movement but I rather like these (red phantoms, yellow phantoms etc are different species so act differently)

I have  25-30 M kubotai & really like these - small size so suit smaller tanks, they will engage in territorial displays (arguing about some tank real estate for hours  ) but no damage, mine don't jump  though I've seen other people complain of this (I feed mostly frozen foods or presoaked dry foods so no surface feeding)

These fish are also rather interesting to watch (just make sure they're healthy, they should be active at all tank levels & not just hanging at the top)
N eques 

Maybe list what's locally available 




richard brown said:


> The bonsai melting just made me hate hortilab plants even more lol


funny I threw some into a 30cm cube in an east facing window, half filled the tank & have done nothing since planting a couple weeks ago - plants (all 1-2-Grow) are doing amazing 
Bit of green algae on glass & slightly green water but those plants are growing & pearling ...
- no filter, no CO2 ... I meant to add these but got busy with other stuff & now just watching
Substrate is Tropica Soil Powder (maybe some Tropica Growth Substrate but can't recall)


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## Matt Havens (8 Jun 2016)

I am also thinking about fish, test results are coming back good, I was just going to get 11 cardinal tetra, but if anyone has any suggestions please post  

Nothing too expensive though, apparently I have already spent too much.[/QUOTE]

I have a 60L with 11 Ember Tetra, 4 otto's and 8 mocrorasbora erythromicron or emerald dwarf rasbora. The Embers shoal very well since the addition of the Emerald dwarfs which are very shy but amazingly beautiful. I might have had too many males and not enough females though. A lot of chasing going on and probably not enough cover for them. They would be better to add later when you have a lot more foliage.

Great looking tank!  



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## Matt Havens (8 Jun 2016)

richard brown said:


> Shrimp are all doing fine, well 9 of them are sadly 1 did not make past day 2
> They keep playing tricks on me with the shedded shel/skin making think another has died.
> 
> I will try with some courgette for the oto's.
> ...


Sorry the quote did not work properly


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## richard brown (9 Jun 2016)

How far down do you think I should cut the hygro?


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## richard brown (9 Jun 2016)

I just trimmed any shoots that looked like they were moving out of its area to tidy it up, looks ok again now.


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## richard brown (15 Jun 2016)

So I just got fish 

I got 11 Harlequin Rasbora and 2 Dwarf Gourami, I did want to get 2 Bolivion Ram but apparently they havnt had any for months even though the labels still there...

Will try get a pic after lights on


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## alto (15 Jun 2016)

Congrats 

Just watch the gouramis - they may get on (if you're lucky), but if one decides to claim the whole tank, it will bully the other to death
 - not necessarily physical damage, even just stress from chasing & basically not being allowed to move from it's corner or whatever small area is deemed acceptable by The Boss

These fish are so intensely bred for color (unless you happened to get a wild type) that they are quite weak re immunity, many also arrive with an iridovirus infection (lots on the web if you google this)  so live quite short lives. 
When buying these fish look for a tank full of happy active fish & make sure they still look that way a week or 2 later 

(apologies over the dwarf gourami " _reveals_ "    )


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## richard brown (15 Jun 2016)

Haha it is ok, so far they seem to have claimed a back corner each  they are more on the light blue side and have very little red on them, tried getting pics but the camera on the tablet did not do them justice


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## alto (15 Jun 2016)

richard brown said:


> camera on the tablet did not do them justice


this is my problem - I take tank or fish etc photos & they are crap   

(I've only an IPhone & not many inhabitants seem to want to pose next to the front glass  )


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## richard brown (16 Jun 2016)

I just reverted back to the spraybar but am only using half of it and have across the right wall where the heater etc is, aim is to reduce surface agitation as I felt there was too much and the harlequins seemed to be struggling to swim lol

Edit: So a few hours now with the spraybar in that position and the harlequins seem alot happier, the flow does not seem to have suffered too much either, I can still see a nice flow of bubbles going all over the tank and all plants swaying etc it is just not as forceful, hopefully it will help retain more co2 in the tank during the photoperiod too


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## richard brown (16 Jun 2016)

Got a semi decent front tank shot 






Still does not do it justice though  it looks a million times better here 

Something that has happened since I added the fish is my oto's have become alot more lively, for a few weeks now they have always hid under the stump on the left and only came out after lights out but now they seem to be out happy and swimming in a group around the tank and looking very active and happy!


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## alto (16 Jun 2016)

Rasboras are great "dither fish"


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## richard brown (19 Jun 2016)

Warning: Sad news follows.

Sadly I have been losing harlequins at around 2 per day, all test results come back fine using a liquid based test kit, fine as in 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates with a very very small number of nitrites.

The first 2 happened overnight, the next day 1 was acting very strange, swimming fine but then suddenly looking unconscious I seperated him into a small spare tank I have but he didnt make it, then another 2 during the night, the next day was another wierd one, one of the harlequins mouth seemed to have siezed up and was whitish, i put him in the other tank also but same result, I have 4 left who so far seem ok, no signs of any disease or sickness, I wonder if I just got a bad batch from pets at home? the oto's shrimp and gourami are all fine....

I introduced them the way I have been taught, flot bag in water for 15 minutes, then open the bag and let it float at the top slowly adding tank water for 30 minutes then add using net not the bag water, even used some of the api stress coat +.


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## Wisey (22 Jun 2016)

I'm no expert on fish health, so maybe someone else will comment with more info on that issue. Do you have an LFS other than Pets at Home where you can get fish? I have never been impressed in any Pets at Home store anywhere in the UK, the condition of livestock never seems good, always a lot of dead fish in their tanks. I would look elsewhere if you can, even if that is not the issue in this case.


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## richard brown (22 Jun 2016)

Sadly they are the only place. only other place is glasgow which is over an hour away.


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## Wisey (22 Jun 2016)

Where about in Scotland are you? I'm in Aberdeen and have a load of fish to re-home due to relocation, but assuming you are too far away if you are an hour or so from Glasgow.


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## richard brown (22 Jun 2016)

Yeah in saltcoats, we did have 1 shop down the road selling fish but his shop was, not very tidy...


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## Wisey (22 Jun 2016)

If I was you, I would probably make the trip in to Glasgow and go to a decent fish store.

Edit: I know where you are, sailed past you going in and out of Troon many times!


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## PARAGUAY (22 Jun 2016)

Sorry about the losses the way they have gone looks likely change in water, also your bio filtration may have struggled adding too many fish at one time.Your tank looks very good though


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## richard brown (27 Jun 2016)

Well everything is looking good again now, I did have a slight problem with water chemistry but have got all levels normal again.

Some good news!
I had not seen the 2 baby oto's for a while and had feared the worst, but today I saw 1 again, alot bigger now, looks albino like at this stage, id say it has doubled in size since I last saw it!

Also I cannot believe how well the rubescens carpet has come along, I can only see 3-4 spots where I want to put cuttings but apart from that almost the entire foreground is green , I am going to reduce the specialised fertiliser to every other day as there are small signs of algae.


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## pablo (27 Jun 2016)

Fish likely die from brown blood disease, nitrite poisoning. 

Zero nitrates? Something wrong there, nitrate is the final step in nitrogen cycle.


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## richard brown (27 Jun 2016)

pablo said:


> Fish likely die from brown blood disease, nitrite poisoning.
> 
> Zero nitrates? Something wrong there, nitrate is the final step in nitrogen cycle.



Yes there is, I got them the wrong way round when I typed


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## pablo (28 Jun 2016)

haha no problem dude.

Nitrate and nitrite are very easy to mix up!!


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## richard brown (28 Jun 2016)

There seems to be lots of little tiny white worm like things under the substrate, are these normal?


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## richard brown (3 Jul 2016)

So I have started getting some BBA, mainly on the bolbitis and the trident.

Co2 is at a constant level on a timer, as is the light, the filter was cleaned recently, I have cut back on specialised fertiliser as a result of me adding more livestock.

There is plenty of water surface movement.

I only feed 1 algae wafer and a small pinch of food a day.

I do a 50% water change weekly.

Lighting period is 8 hours, Co2 comes on 1 hour before the lights and goes off 1 hour before lights out.

Anyone any idea what the cause could be and how to combat it, I read liquid carbon can treat it by spot dosing with the filter off but this will not get to the cause.

I am thinking maybe it has to do with me cleaning the filter as it seems to be taking off a bit since I cleaned the filter and had murky water for a few hours after.

As a next step I am going to reduce the light period to 7 hours and adjust the co2 to match.


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## richard brown (8 Jul 2016)

2 pictures 



 



Gonna up lighting to 8 hours again, also going to return to full ferts as tank was fine as it was, instead I am going to adjust feeding to once every 2 days, this was fine in my last tank that was full of healthy fish.

I am going to adjust co2 on and off time also, may start co2 3 hours before lights on as it takes that long for the checker to turn lime green.


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## richard brown (12 Jan 2017)

Long time no update, The plants have all grown really well, The foreground is growing too well haha its like a jungle all by itself.

My big problem is a massive outbreak of bba,as in its starting to grow on almost everything, does anyone have any idea what could cause this?


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## PARAGUAY (14 Jan 2017)

Yeh the foreground really sets it off looking at your earlier picture,how often do you trim the foreground plants?All I can suggest for the BBA is clean off what you can with the usual methods and make sure flow is not getting inhibited ,maybe with your growth sucess is inadvertently inhibiting flow and co2 and ferts not maybe getting around as previously.Water changes increase maybe?


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## richard brown (14 Jan 2017)

Thanks for the reply PARAGUAY.

I tend to trim it once it starts to obscure the crypt, might start trimming it more regulary if it will help, never thought of plant growth messing with flow, probably could increase water changes too, got a bit lazy lately, like once a month :S, I have started dosing liquid carbon alongside normal co2 also.

To be honest I am tempted to rescape soon, remove the carpet and use sand maybe just use the crypts, the hygro, the anubias and maybe the rotala and use some landscape rocks I have from my old tank and make a smaller area of plants in a better location for flow.


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## PARAGUAY (14 Jan 2017)

I didnt really understand the flow issue ,think I read something think I read something about it plants as well as hardscape can alter it .Maybe then allowing BBA to take hold obviously not a total answer


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## richard brown (14 Jan 2017)

It does make sense now I think about it, it is a large mass where the flow goes.

Will cut it right down on monday when kids are back at school/nursery, need to get back into weekly water changes too, having the kids around has made any tank maintenance awkward.


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## richard brown (23 Jan 2017)

So I just got finished rescaping this, gonna wait for the dust to settle and do a few water changes over the next few days to help with that and then il get some pics.

I have replaced wood with landscape rocks and replaced a carpet with sand.


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## richard brown (25 Jan 2017)

Pics


 

 

 



That last picture makes me realise how good glassware would look instead of the basic aps stuff, will have to add that to my list, also I cannot wait for the back left to grow in I trimmed them before re-placing to allow for new healthy growth to come through.

I still think it looks better in person though why dont they make smart phone camera's any good haha


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## richard brown (26 Jan 2017)

Thought I would post about what I am dosing and stuff now.

Daily I am dosing 2ml of liquid carbon and 2 pumps of tropica premium ferts.

Lighting period is 6hrs a day, co2 on 2hrs before lights on at 2bps and off 2hyr before lights off.

Another thing I did was reverse the light so that the background gets alot more than the foreground.


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## richard brown (30 Jan 2017)

realised I still had half a bottle of tnc complete left in a drawer and then read this thread: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/tnc-complete-or-tropica-specialised.31367/

After reading the last post I have decided that starting wednesday I am going to use a similer method but dosing 7ml 3 times a week.


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## richard brown (31 Jan 2017)

Weekly 50% water change done, removed the wood and trident (only kept it so the other half did not complain about wasting money) and moved some crypts to where the wood was and moved the rotala to behind the tallest part of the rocks, once the ludwigia starts to grow more and I get cuttings I am going to start packing that in to the left of the rotala's new home and the hygro can stay where it is in the corner.

I lost a danio during cleaning today also  it jumped out of the back of the tank as I was wiping the front glass clean, got it out but too late


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## richard brown (2 Feb 2017)

On tuesday I cleaned all the filter hosing and replaced the filter pads, also had a play with outlet and diffuser.

Outlet is now at front right next to the inlet as it looked like a deadspot between the two of them before and I moved the diffuser to the side front left and it is alot better for flow so far today I could see my plants were pearling a bit for the first time.

Gonna wait until tuesday then trim and replant some stems, going to trim the hygro and take out the old parts of the plant and just plant the cuttings.


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## richard brown (13 Feb 2017)

Getting a wierd pink algae along the sand and on the sloped rock, very strange.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (6 Mar 2017)

Some algae tend to go pink when dosing liquid carbon.


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## richard brown (19 Jun 2017)

Update time


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## richard brown (19 Jun 2017)

Having a little struggle with bba, got rid of half of it and ran out of excel so doing 50% water changes twice a week now.
not convinced some of tetra's look healthy though, hoping the double water changes will help.

Also have some cherry shrimp in there, got 5 and already I have seen a baby.

I am going to completely rescape it after the school holidays are over.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Jun 2017)

richard brown said:


> Having a little struggle with bba, got rid of half of it and ran out of excel so doing 50% water changes twice a week now.
> not convinced some of tetra's look healthy though, hoping the double water changes will help.
> 
> Also have some cherry shrimp in there, got 5 and already I have seen a baby.
> ...


Don't wish to knock your efforts, everything is improving but BBA generally won't go on its own even with increasingly water changes so it will still need scrubbed off or blasted with liquid carbon. 


Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk


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## richard brown (19 Jun 2017)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Don't wish to knock your efforts, everything is improving but BBA generally won't go on its own even with increasingly water changes so it will still need scrubbed off or blasted with liquid carbon.
> 
> 
> Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk



Oh I know, waiting to order some excel, meanwhile im scrubbing the rocks alot before each water change.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Jun 2017)

Nice one mate, just checking. 

Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk


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## richard brown (21 Jun 2017)

Did a spot of diy, shortened the pipe for the Inlet so it sits higher up and added a pre filter sponge to it.

Made diy outlet by cutting most of the nozzle from my syphon to make a lilypipe type outlet just to see if it improves flowm, I never used that part anyway, was way too big for the tank.

Cleaned the filter out aswell (apart from the bio balls and ceramic rings), I removed 2 of the 3 floss pads that were in there to help improve flow also.

The new outlet is mainly an experiment to see if makes a smoother flow around the tank.l


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## Doubu (22 Jun 2017)

What kind of filtration do you have? BBA from my experience is also a result of poor filtration (as in mechanical, biological, chemical). Here are my recommendations:

1) Stop dosing for a week or two. Don't follow the bottle's instructions as dosing is tank dependent. You don't have much plant mass and the type of plants you chose aren't super nutrient-dependent. Dose on an as needed period or maybe 1/2 of what the bottle recommends. I would try dosing a little at a time to see the effects on the tank, monitoring for a week, and continuing to change. 

2) Add more ceramic balls, scouring pads, hydroton, etc. to your filtration process. Better environment to handle ammonia = less algae.

3) Reduce light period by 1-2 hours or reduce lighting intensity. Remember if your plants dont need that much light, and you're blasting it - something will make use of the energy. If you can't do either or, add some salvinia or frogbit to your tank to block out some light.


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## richard brown (22 Jun 2017)

Thanks for the reply Doubu.

by scouring pads do you mean the ones for doing dishes (unused of coarse)?

will reduce light period also and amount of fertilizer.

The reason for the pre filter and raising the inlet up is to (hopefully) improve filtation, better flow and the raised inlet should help keep debris suspended for longer, and the pre filter should stop as much debris getting into the filter, I plan on cleaning the pre filter twice a week.


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## richard brown (3 Aug 2017)

Decided to do a rescape, tidy up a bit.
I removed one of the t5's a plant red one.



 

 

 

 

 



Looks nice and tidy.
Going to try my best to do a 20% or 1 bucket water change daily.


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