# Tank at the moment. Need a plan.



## Fred Dulley (10 Dec 2008)

Hey guys. Wanted to show you all how the tank was at present and how I could make it better.
Just to warn you, the pictures really disappoint the tank in person. Looks much better in reality.

Tank Stats

Juwel Rio 125 (125 litres)

Filtration- Juwel internal filter (upgraded 600lph pump to 1000) and Supafish aqua pro 1 external (rated at 600lph) with filter floss and zeolite.

Lighting- 72W (2WPG)

CO2- Pressurized system with 2Kg fire extinguisher and Ceramic Diffuser (green Drop Checker)

Substrate- ADA Aqua Soil Malaya

Ferts- 2ppm of KPO4 every other day. 20ppm of KNO3 every other day. 50% water change a week.

Excuse the hatchery in the top left. It contains loads of Spiky moss.





















Having some problems with Cladophora. I'm pulling large amounts out each week. I think the most likely cause is low flow. Therefore not distributing CO2 and or nutreints. Will probably opt for a powerhead on Friday.

Btw, plants are E.tenellus, Valliserneria Nana, anubias barteri, Pogostemon helferi (hard to see in pics)


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## aaronnorth (10 Dec 2008)

i think thinning out/ tidying up the vallis will help. It makes the tank look messy and the wood stand out to much.


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## Fred Dulley (10 Dec 2008)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> i think thinning out/ tidying up the vallis will help. It makes the tank look messy and the wood stand out to much.



Sure thing. It grows so damn quick in there. I'll let you know when I trim it so I can send some to you (as I understand your's isn't growing that much?).
Regarding the wood, I guess I'll have to clear as much algae off as I can and add the spiky moss.
Going back to 36W might be a wise choice..more manageable.


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## aaronnorth (10 Dec 2008)

Fred Dulley said:
			
		

> aaronnorth said:
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That would be great,   
adding some crypts to the midground might work well too


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## vauxhallmark (10 Dec 2008)

have to say, although I can see your problems, I think the tank looks great - yeah, it's a bit "messy", and there's a bit of algae, but it must be lovely to sit and look at of an evening! Fish look like they're loving it too!

Good luck with it's development!

Mark


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## Fred Dulley (10 Dec 2008)

vauxhallmark said:
			
		

> have to say, although I can see your problems, I think the tank looks great - yeah, it's a bit "messy", and there's a bit of algae, but it must be lovely to sit and look at of an evening! Fish look like they're loving it too!
> 
> Good luck with it's development!
> 
> Mark




Thanks, Mark.
I agree with you. Tetras are super healthy in there and in the evenings it is great to watch.

Shall not disappoint you


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## Goodygumdrops (10 Dec 2008)

God damn there's some nice tetras there.I recognise the cardinals and congos but what are the red ones?


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## Fred Dulley (10 Dec 2008)

Thanks.
Apart from the Cardinals and Congos there are, Rosy Tetras, Bleeding Heart Tetras, Black Widow Tetras, Harlequin Rasboras, Ottos and Yoyo loaches.


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## Spider Pig (11 Dec 2008)

I think flow might be the main issue. I have vallis crawling all over the place and although it does look good I've noticed it breaks up the flow a lot. Having the same problems with algae (GSA/ GDA). However if you give the vallis a trim just above the surface and put the moss on the wood, it should look really good. The vallis makes a good backdrop.


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## Goodygumdrops (11 Dec 2008)

I actually came across this about a week ago and your thread made me think of it,thought it looked nice:


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## Fred Dulley (11 Dec 2008)

Ok. Thanks guys.


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## Fred Dulley (13 Dec 2008)

Major sort out today. Took a few hours to do it, but I'm glad it's done.





As you can see, I thinned out the Vallis nana. Gave it a trim too. I'll have to keep ontop of this one so it doesn't get out of control again. I'm aiming to get a nice, back drop effect.





A big problem with this scape was that there was hardly any room for a foreground as the wood and rocks were placed too far to the front. Therefore I've moved it all back. You can see the Vallis at the back, then it's the wood, rocks with Anubias, some Pogostemon, then the E.tennelus.





Anubias from TGM





Bolbitis from TGM.

I think the growth in this tank decreased the circulation massively, resulting in a large Cladophora infestation. I've manually removed a lot and will keep on doing this everyday. With regular maintenance, nutrients, CO2, all the algae should die back. I'm not sure how long it will take to go...anyone know? I could try spot dosing with Easycarbo (dosing 5ml a day anyway) if it is worth it. Also to give myself an upper hand, I had turned down the lighting from 72W to 36W.
Will change the filter floss in both filters tomorrow as I'm sure they've caught a lot today (despite 50% water change).

It may not look great now, yet I think it has the potential to, given care and patience.


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## aaronnorth (13 Dec 2008)

I think you have the makings of a nice isalnd scape there if you remove some of the foreground plant from the left.


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## Garuf (13 Dec 2008)

Alright mate, good to see you at tgm, How was the trip back?
My old tank went that way, the best way is to get the wood out and scrub it back in a bucket of the hottest water your hands can take with a wire brush. You need to get a lot more flow in there and keep everything as high as you can, co2 ferts etc and to do 2 water changes a week making sure to get out as much mulm and dead cack as possible.
Halfing the lighting and double dosing easy carbo really helps too.
I beat my Clado this way, it's really hard work but it gets the job done.


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## Fred Dulley (13 Dec 2008)

Hey. Thanks, was good to see ya too. Journey back was ok, junction 6 and 8 on M6 was closed off because or a lorry. That slowed things down. Bristol was also very slow for some reason, but got home in once piece.
Thanks for the tip about the wood. I'll try that if it begins to spread again.
Now that the thick Vallis has gone, the flow is excellent (can judge by watching the CO2 bubbles round the tank).
CO2 is good, light green in DP. Ferts aren't a problem, made up some more KNO3 today. I found that TPN+ wasn't delivering enough nutrients, I would need to dose more than 5ml a day and it gets expenseive. Will keep ontop of water changes etc. 36W of light should be more manageable, it works out at 1WPG. After visiting TGM, I really liked the colour that the t5 Acardia plant gros gave out (in the Chocolate Gourami tank). I'm using T8s atm. Don't want to shed out money for a t5 light unit. I wonder if the Arcadia Original Tropical lights give out the same colour.
I'll let you know how I get on


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## GreenNeedle (13 Dec 2008)

Original Tropical are as nasty pink as pink gets and thats from someone who has a pink light on all the time mostly on its own!!!

This is what I call a pink light (Realux T5HO 30W 4500K):




This is an original Tropical (T8 4000K)




You can see in the second pic that although there is a daylight tube in the back that the pink is so deep from the OT lamp that it looks terrible.  Add to that it is quite a dark colour it gives out.

AC


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## Fred Dulley (14 Dec 2008)

Thanks Andy. Glad I missed out on getting those. I'll get the tank back on track before I start changing lights. Who knows, after some good growth, my tubes may give a nice colour rendition.


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