# Various stages of my Rio 125 over the last two years



## LondonDragon (26 Jan 2009)

Timeline of my Tank over the last couple of years.


April 2007, how it all started:







June 2007:






April 2008:






May 2008:






June 2008:






June 2008:






June 2008:






June 2008:






July 2008:






September 2008:






September 2008:






November 2008, last decent shot before I tore it down:







Tank: Rio 125L, 81x36x50cm

Filtration: eheim 2224 external with eheim filter media pack, Juwel Internal filter with normal sponge media, 400lph powerhead, Koralia Nano 900lph Powerhead.

Lighting: 6x24w T5 (2x6500k, 2x8000k, 2xPlantGrow), the 4x24w are on for 10 hours a day, and the 2x24w come on for 4 hours for a high period half way the 10 hours.

CO2: Pressurised CO2 system, using a 2kg bottle, using a selonoid valve to shut off when not needed, it comes on 2 hours before lights on and goes off 3 hours before lights out.

Plant Substrate/Gravel: Just normal pea size gravel with no additives.

Fertilisation: 

Macro: KN03 (2.4 grams 3x week ), KH2P04 (0.6 grams 3x a week), K2S04 (0.6 grams 3x a week), MgS04 (4 grams 3x a week)
Micro: Trace Mix from AquaEssentials (0.6 grams 3x a week) 

Both mixes are dosed on alternate days. I also add 5ml of EasyCarbo per day, helps the plants with the extra carbon and also kills off the algea.

Water chemistry: Do not perform any water tests, only use a Drop Checker to monitor CO2 levels in the tank, that is enough as most water testers are inacurate anyway.

Maintenance: 50% water change weekly as the gravel is cleaned.


Tanks is now waiting new filter, ADA Aquasoil (or alternative), more rock and wood, thats all for now.

More details and loads of photos can be found in my journal on the sig.

Thanks for looking


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## JamesC (26 Jan 2009)

Fascinating. Great to see all the photos grouped together. Even from the outset you managed to create a stunning tank which is a testament to your planted skills.

Looking forward to see what comes next - no pressure eh  

James


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## hellohefalump (26 Jan 2009)

stunning!  My favourite is Sept 2008.

What is the thing sticking up in the middle, in May 08?  It appears to the left side in Sept 08.  It looks like a powerhead, but can you put them on the substrate like that?


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## Themuleous (26 Jan 2009)

Wow its certainly changes a fair bit.  Like the July 2008 photo/scape the most.

Sam


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## altaaffe (26 Jan 2009)

Stunning all the way through.

As with Sam, July 08 is my fave - did you put the blyxa onto your moss wall?


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## johnny70 (26 Jan 2009)

stunning, that tank is a stunner all the way from the start, nice to see the progression from the start


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## aaronnorth (26 Jan 2009)

Very nice, it is hard to say but for me the 'first' September 08 shot is when the tank was at it's peak.


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## samc (26 Jan 2009)

i like june 08 looks good there didnt see all the pics they are taking a while to come up


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## George Farmer (26 Jan 2009)

Brilliant thread. Nice one!


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## BINKSY1973 (26 Jan 2009)

As others looks good all the way through,.

I also like July 2008, whats the plant on the back left im loving that.

Cheers Gordon.


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## LondonDragon (26 Jan 2009)

JamesC said:
			
		

> Fascinating. Great to see all the photos grouped together. Even from the outset you managed to create a stunning tank which is a testament to your planted skills.
> Looking forward to see what comes next - no pressure eh
> James


Thanks James, its the first time I saw it all together like this too and it brought back so many memories just thinking about about the issues and sucess I was having at the time, was a great couple of years, and not pressure what so ever haha I do like jungles though so not sure if I will ever move away from that. Will see what I can come up with next, I have some ideas already.



			
				hellohefalump said:
			
		

> stunning!  My favourite is Sept 2008.
> What is the thing sticking up in the middle, in May 08?  It appears to the left side in Sept 08.  It looks like a powerhead, but can you put them on the substrate like that?


Thanks Helen, its the Hydor CO2 diffusor, its a mini powerhead that has a CO2 input then breaks the bubles into tiny ones, its a great diffusor but I think for smaller tanks, its couldn't cope when I upped the bubble rate a lot.



			
				Themuleous said:
			
		

> Wow its certainly changes a fair bit.  Like the July 2008 photo/scape the most.
> Sam


Thanks Sam 



			
				altaaffe said:
			
		

> Stunning all the way through.
> As with Sam, July 08 is my fave - did you put the blyxa onto your moss wall?


The Blyxa grows like a stem plant eventually you have to break it up and replant it again. Thanks Sam.



			
				johnny70 said:
			
		

> stunning, that tank is a stunner all the way from the start, nice to see the progression from the start


Thanks Johnny 



			
				aaronnorth said:
			
		

> Very nice, it is hard to say but for me the 'first' September 08 shot is when the tank was at it's peak.


Thanks Aaron, yep after that had some issues with the fish dying one me, and then CO2 issues and went downhill since.




			
				samc said:
			
		

> i like june 08 looks good there didnt see all the pics they are taking a while to come up


Thanks Sam, the images do take a while to load up, hope its worth the wait hehe 



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> Brilliant thread. Nice one!


Thanks George  Thought I would just display the best full tank shots since I started to give people ideas.



			
				BINKSY1973 said:
			
		

> As others looks good all the way through,.
> I also like July 2008, whats the plant on the back left im loving that.
> Cheers Gordon.


Thanks Gordon, the plant is Limnophila Aromatica kindly donated by Clive, it almost died off and now its making a recovery in the tank, I want to use it in my next scape.

Many thanks everyone, 
Paulo


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## StevenA (28 Jan 2009)

Great thread LD, amazing to see the progression. What's the large leaved plant back right in all the photo's?


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## LondonDragon (28 Jan 2009)

Tourney said:
			
		

> Great thread LD, amazing to see the progression. What's the large leaved plant back right in all the photo's?


Many thanks, its the Nymphaea lotus "Green", I gave all of them away a couple weeks ago in the Sale section.


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## StevenA (28 Jan 2009)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Tourney said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Bugger, missed that thread completely


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## mfcphil (6 Mar 2009)

Totally inspiring tankâ€¦.

Hope you donâ€™t mind but yours is the tank I chose to shape my own tank on


Great thread !!!


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## LondonDragon (6 Mar 2009)

mfcphil said:
			
		

> Totally inspiring tankâ€¦.
> Hope you donâ€™t mind but yours is the tank I chose to shape my own tank on
> Great thread !!!


Many thanks  you can get more details of the journal in the link, its still going with a new test scape hehe
Feel free to shape yours on it hehe I would be honoured  don't forget to show it to us on your own journal.


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## Ejack (18 Mar 2009)

hi Paulo

Tanks are looking great as usual


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## baron von bubba (3 Apr 2009)

the moss back ground looks fantastic! 
may i ask how you achieved it? is it high maintenance?
thanks.


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## TDI-line (3 Apr 2009)

Hi Paulo,

lovely setup and great seeing your pictures mature. Very nice.


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## LondonDragon (3 Apr 2009)

Ejack said:
			
		

> hi Paulo
> Tanks are looking great as usual


Thanks Jack 



			
				baron von bubba said:
			
		

> the moss back ground looks fantastic!
> may i ask how you achieved it? is it high maintenance?
> thanks.


The moss wall was created using a plastic mesh attached to the back glass and then the moss attached to the mesh.
It was very high maintnance, being on the back glass is not easy to prune and all collects a lot of "dirt". I had to get rid of it when I had a problem wit the fish where a lot of them died and a few then lodge into the moss wall and behind it.
But it was great for the Bosemani as they bred a few times while the moss wall was there and the fry used to hide in the there, sent a lot of fry in the moss to a few people and always thought it was guppy fry when infact it was Bosemani.



			
				TDI-line said:
			
		

> Hi Paulo,
> lovely setup and great seeing your pictures mature. Very nice.


Thanks Dan


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## John Starkey (3 Apr 2009)

Hi Paulo,
i just read through it all and it makes a great read,lovely setup,i like the long term scapes it think it takes good skill to keep plants healthy long term,

well done John.


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## LondonDragon (11 May 2009)

john starkey said:
			
		

> Hi Paulo,
> i just read through it all and it makes a great read,lovely setup,i like the long term scapes it think it takes good skill to keep plants healthy long term,
> well done John.


Thanks John, just spotted this reply now, going through my postings lol the tank is still ongoing as you can see from my journal and some of the plants have now been in the tank for about 4 years. Cheers


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