# All Pond Solutions 240L Tank



## creg (6 Jan 2012)

http://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquar ... lours.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

complete aps setup finally arrived today. gonna keep it low tech/low maintenance hopefully, im still a noob so dont expect anything amazing   .

substrate - flourite dark and normal, unipac senegal sand
hardscape - dragon stone and redmoor root
lighting - 1 x 39w t5
filter - aps 1400 lph + jbl e700
co2 and ferts - aqua essentials aqua carbon + aqua nourish (recommended dose on bottle)
Plants
Cryptocoryne wendtii green
Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
Cryptocoryne bullosa
Cryptocoryne walkeri
Cryptocoryne petchii
Cryptocoryne costata
Cryptocoryne legroi
Cryptocoryne moehlmannii
Microsorium pteropus
eleocharis accularis and parvula
amazon frogbit


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## cheebs (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

So whats your opinion on the tank so far. Value for money?


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## Morgan Freeman (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

Looking good! What's your carpeting plant going to be, E Tennelus?

Do you know if the tanks are sold separately?


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## creg (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*



			
				cheebs said:
			
		

> So whats your opinion on the tank so far. Value for money?



for how much i paid im very happy (was only £360 with a discount code)

obviously not the quality of better known expensive brands but it looks great imo. the tank itself weighed an absolute ton, we really struggled getting it upstairs


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## creg (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*



			
				Morgan Freeman said:
			
		

> Looking good! What's your carpeting plant going to be, E Tennelus?
> 
> Do you know if the tanks are sold separately?



i was thinking marsilea hirsuta or eleocharis parvula. i thought e.tennelus was high tech only?

from what ive seen on their website they come as a complete package only.


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## Tim Harrison (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

Hi I have grown E Tennelus very successfully in a soil substrate tank, in moss peat capped with sand. In fact it did so well I was constantly giving it away.


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## creg (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*



			
				Troi said:
			
		

> Hi I have grown E Tennelus very successfully in a soil substrate tank, in moss peat capped with sand. In fact it did so well I was constantly giving it away.



hi troi, did you use high light or co2 injection though?

i really do like it but read on here http://www.tropica.com/plants/plantdesc ... px?pid=067 "A true "lawn'' effect is only achieved at high light intensities"


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## darren636 (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

is a great looking, up to date tank.


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## creg (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

redmoor and dragon stone added





going to a few lfs`s tommorow so hopefully theyll have most the plants im after. going to try maidenhead aquatics shirley they seem a popular shop.


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## Tim Harrison (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*



> hi troi, did you use high light or co2 injection though?



Hi no I didn't, it was more than 30 years ago, when co2 was still in its infancy, when I guess a few Dutch guys were using cobbled together soda siphon cylinders in Heath Robinson style gizmo's. As for lighting, it was probably about 2 watts per gallon of T12 - 2 tubes, one white daylight type and another pink grolux type. The key is the high CEC of peat and the CO2 naturally given off as a by-product of decomposition.

Oh and no added ferts either just plenty of fish.


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## creg (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*



			
				Troi said:
			
		

> > hi troi, did you use high light or co2 injection though?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



thankyou for the info. i will definately consider getting some e.tennelus now


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## Alastair (6 Jan 2012)

*All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

Tank looks great mate. I really like it and looks a bit more expensive than what you paid. The spray bar needs to be rad longer though ;0) 


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## Quetzalcoatl (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

That looks like a really nice piece of kit mate? Reasonable price too if it includes the cabinet. Does it come with the luminaire and supports also? Hmmmmm You`ve got me thinking?


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## darren636 (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

it is a complete package. From all pond solutions. I want one!


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## Alastair (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*



			
				Quetzalcoatl said:
			
		

> That looks like a really nice piece of kit mate? Reasonable price too if it includes the cabinet. Does it come with the luminaire and supports also? Hmmmmm You`ve got me thinking?


 DITTO


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## Antipofish (6 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*

Thats a flipping good deal !!! Its the same as what I paid for my AQ1 Aquience  and mine is 20cm shorter, came with less lighting ... BUT I still love my tank, it fits well in its allocated space.  I would definitely look at one of these when I have more space though !!!


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## creg (7 Jan 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 250L Tank*



			
				Alastair said:
			
		

> Tank looks great mate. I really like it and looks a bit more expensive than what you paid. The spray bar needs to be rad longer though ;0)
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



thankyou 

ive got more spray bar pipes and a koralia powerhead for extra circulation


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## creg (18 Jan 2012)

Ordered the plants from aquaessentials last thursday and chose parcelforce 24 hour delivery hoping id recieve them either friday or saturday morning, unfortunately they didnt arrive till monday and they didnt look great. I was pretty ill at the time so my initial plans went out the window and i basically just chucked em all in randomly  probably didnt separate the crypts well enough and most were left with too much rock wool left on but i did my best.













Plant list
Cryptocoryne wendtii green
Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
Cryptocoryne bullosa
Cryptocoryne walkeri
Cryptocoryne petchii
Cryptocoryne costata
Cryptocoryne legroi
Cryptocoryne moehlmannii

Microsorium pteropus
Marsilea crenata


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## minnnt (18 Jan 2012)

Nice, i like that. Have you contacted them about the delivery? If you had to pay more money for that service then i would be asking questions. 

The scape is really coming along now. For some reason i would have had it on the other side though... lol.


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## darren636 (18 Jan 2012)

now i know where all the crypts went! Out of stock out of stock out of stock


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## darren636 (18 Jan 2012)

did you opt for express delivery?


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## creg (18 Jan 2012)

minnnt said:
			
		

> Nice, i like that. Have you contacted them about the delivery? If you had to pay more money for that service then i would be asking questions.
> 
> The scape is really coming along now. For some reason i would have had it on the other side though... lol.



cheers mate. no havent bothered complaining it was probably my fault for ordering too late thursday but i wouldve thought if they didnt expect the plants to arrive in time they wouldnt have sent them till monday. hopefully they will survive but im expecting crypt melt anytime now  i think i may have planted them too close to the glass aswell but im scared to move them.

also didnt wash the flourite well enough (knew it would happen) and until i got the filter running i couldnt even see the back of the tank


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## creg (18 Jan 2012)

darren636 said:
			
		

> now i know where all the crypts went! Out of stock out of stock out of stock



 tell me about it i had to wait ages till they had them all in stock


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## creg (18 Jan 2012)

darren636 said:
			
		

> did you opt for express delivery?



yes for a small additional charge. i might aswell have chose free delivery but i dont blame aqua essentials and after googling parcelforce it seems theyre not very popular http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews80026.html


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## minnnt (18 Jan 2012)

As long as your happy them thats fine. I have found with mine that if i move them within the same tank they're fine... but if i swap them from tank to tank then thats when the melt starts. I would move them now to where you want them so they can get established once and for all. Less change of problems imo.


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## darren636 (18 Jan 2012)

do crypts drastically change their leaf shape when submerged? My echinodorus morph into a radically different shape.


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## creg (18 Jan 2012)

darren636 said:
			
		

> do crypts drastically change their leaf shape when submerged? My echinodorus morph into a radically different shape.



ive only ever grown wendtii green and bullosa and from my experience yes they change quite a bit in colour and shape. i think for now im gonna leave them where they are and see how it turns out, im still not feeling well and not really up to a rescape anyway.


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## creg (22 Jan 2012)

added 3 ottos and a thai flying fox, will get more ottos soon. i assumed the flying fox would be exactly like a siamese algae eater except in looks but ive read a few things via google saying they can be quite aggressive when older, ill have to keep an eye on that. if he gets too aggressive he can live with my mbuna instead   










apologies for poor picture quality


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## darren636 (22 Jan 2012)

great looking tank. Makes my vision 260 look like a relic.


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## creg (22 Jan 2012)

darren636 said:
			
		

> great looking tank. Makes my vision 260 look like a relic.



thanks darren. It is very modern looking, although dust and dog hair is a problem


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## Dan-CR4 (30 Jan 2012)

creg said:
			
		

> although dust and dog hair is a problem



That looks real nice and modern as mentioned above. I would love an open tank, but with 2 dogs I could see all the fish getting furball. Is it a real problem as always wondered how much dog hair and dust floats on the surface?


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## creg (31 Jan 2012)

Dan-CR4 said:
			
		

> creg said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



nah to be honest i rarely see one dog hair floating in the tank, i think dust if causing the surface of the water to turn milky/oily though. i think adding an air stone or co2 will help that.


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## creg (31 Jan 2012)




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## creg (29 Feb 2012)




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## Ady34 (29 Feb 2012)

Hi Creg,
crypts filling in nicely there, and great shot of the male gourami.   
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## creg (29 Feb 2012)

Ady34 said:
			
		

> Hi Creg,
> crypts filling in nicely there, and great shot of the male gourami.
> Cheerio,
> Ady.


hello Ady

yes mate the crypts are growing well just wish the marsilea would carpet more quickly, and out of all the tropical fish ive ever owned the flame gourami is my favourite.


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## Antipofish (29 Feb 2012)

looking awesome.  Is the light unit dimmable ?


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## creg (29 Feb 2012)

Antipofish said:
			
		

> looking awesome.  Is the light unit dimmable ?



thanks, no its not dimmable. theres 4 tubes connected to 2 switches, im using only 2 tubes to keep the lighting low-ish.


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## creg (1 Apr 2012)

excuse the net taped to the top of the tank.


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## creg (3 Apr 2012)

looks like my red gourami is about to pass away

r.i.p big red


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## Alastair (3 Apr 2012)

Tanks looking good mate, you thinking of upping the lighting at all or keeping it low? 


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## creg (4 Apr 2012)

Alastair said:
			
		

> Tanks looking good mate, you thinking of upping the lighting at all or keeping it low?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



cheers alastair. definately keeping it low, only using 1 tube now. the plants dont need high light and i really like the low maintenance of low tech.


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## Ady34 (4 Apr 2012)

Sorry to hear about the gourami mate, hows he doing?


			
				creg said:
			
		

> definately keeping it low, only using 1 tube now. the plants dont need high light and i really like the low maintenance of low tech.


good idea, if the plants dont need it, keeping it low, certainly makes things easier.   
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## creg (8 Apr 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 240L Tank (BBA Help please)*

swapped the aps bulb for an arcadia one, looks very yellow not sure if i prefered the old look. added zebra loach and pearl gourami.






















like an idiot i introduced bba into my tank via a crypt from my old 60l tank, anyone have any useful tips for getting rid? ive bought 3 siamese algae eaters and have increased water changes.


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## Kristoph91 (8 Apr 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 240L Tank (BBA Help please)*

Is that christmas moss at the left side of the bank?
If so, I'm led to believe that SAE's are a fan of chomping on it. Though I wouldn't know from experience, just what I've read.
If they don't get it, spot dose Easycarbo maybe?
Kris


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## creg (8 Apr 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 240L Tank (BBA Help please)*



			
				KrisHumphreys1991 said:
			
		

> Is that christmas moss at the left side of the bank?
> If so, I'm led to believe that SAE's are a fan of chomping on it. Though I wouldn't know from experience, just what I've read.
> If they don't get it, spot dose Easycarbo maybe?
> Kris



yeah its xmas moss attached to driftwood from green machine, havent seen the sae`s go near it yet but ill keep an eye out.

ive tried dosing aqua carbon directly onto infected leaves and it dosnt seem to do anything


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## creg (19 May 2012)

*Re: All Pond Solutions 240L Tank (BBA Help please)*


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## Iain Sutherland (19 May 2012)

I found easy carbo wasn't much good at spot dosing algae, excel is great but have also just found that aqua carbon from AE is just as good as excel and substantially cheaper!  I also found SAE's only chomped on moss once fully grown.
Tank is looking good mate, lace/pearl gouramis are greedy buggers!!


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## Antipofish (19 May 2012)

I really love how this looks like a Tropical Island with a sea bed to the left.  An inspiring scape mate


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## creg (19 May 2012)

easerthegeezer said:
			
		

> I found easy carbo wasn't much good at spot dosing algae, excel is great but have also just found that aqua carbon from AE is just as good as excel and substantially cheaper!  I also found SAE's only chomped on moss once fully grown.
> Tank is looking good mate, lace/pearl gouramis are greedy buggers!!



ive been emptying the tank as much as possible and using a paint brush to brush aqua carbon onto the exposed leaves, that seems to work the best but some plants are too short to do this. i think im feeding the saes too well on frozen and flake food so they are too full to eat anything else


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## creg (19 May 2012)

Antipofish said:
			
		

> I really love how this looks like a Tropical Island with a sea bed to the left.  An inspiring scape mate



wow thanks alot, i was thinking of planting over the sand on the left though with some more foreground plants. cant decide, ive got a few ideas ive been going over in my head   



didnt like the black background at first but its grew on me, once i get an external heater all the equipment will be invisible. got a £30 bolbitis coming from green machine (better be good ) and in a couple weeks ill get some more eleocharis.

will do some better pics soon


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## creg (19 May 2012)

easerthegeezer said:
			
		

> Tank is looking good mate, lace/pearl gouramis are greedy buggers!!



tell me about it, the male is well greedy and chases off my other 2 gouramis if they try and eat   thought it was just mine


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## Iain Sutherland (19 May 2012)

creg said:
			
		

> easerthegeezer said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



appologies, i didnt see you already said aqua carbon   
i use it daily and dose it with a pipette with filters off onto any BBA, within a day or two goes pink then the amanos go nuts for it.  Looks like you have well 'ard BBA then.

Seems most gouramis are massively greedy!  they grow nice and quick though


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## creg (19 May 2012)

im gonna try turning the filters off, havent thought about that. its getting alot better recently tho.


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## Iain Sutherland (19 May 2012)

Just 5 mins with the filter off so it doesn't disperse mate, you should find it dying off.. Just be careful around moss as it will kill that too.


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## Antipofish (20 May 2012)

If you plant a quadrant at the back left section of the "sea bed" that would look quite natural and retain the general feel.  (just an idea )


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## creg (20 May 2012)

im thinking Sagittaria platyphylla in the left corner then cover all the bare substrate with eleocharis parvula, any suggestions on how to improve my tank are very much welcomed  ill post some better pics during the week to show more clearly what it looks like inside.

been thinking of doing something a little different too and have an anubias "carpet", loads of anubias covering the left hand side/sand.


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## creg (26 May 2012)

defeated the bba   (apart from a couple grass leaves)


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## Antipofish (27 May 2012)

Congrats, so what was your solution in the end  ? Whats the fish ? Very attractive


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## creg (27 May 2012)

Antipofish said:
			
		

> Congrats, so what was your solution in the end  ? Whats the fish ? Very attractive



to be honest it just disappeared suddnly, i think it was a combination of lots of water changes and liquid carbon but i really dont know,

the fish is my fearless bolivian ram, the only fish that will pose for photos   the rest get spooked by anything lol


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## Antipofish (27 May 2012)

I was picking BR but was not sure.  How is he with other smaller fish ?  Do you just have the one, or a pair  ? (or more )?


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## creg (28 May 2012)

Antipofish said:
			
		

> I was picking BR but was not sure.  How is he with other smaller fish ?  Do you just have the one, or a pair  ? (or more )?



he has a go at my female dwarf gourami when feeding if she enters his terrortory but other than that hes docile. ive only got the one hes a refugee from my old 60l tank along with a couple of tetra, i wanted this tank to be all asian but i didnt want to get rid of them.


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## creg (28 May 2012)




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## creg (28 Jun 2012)

poor quality sorry


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