Aquascaper 900 - 1 Year Update . Thinking of a rescape soon.

[PAYN3Y]

Yesterday I went for a visit to Wharf Aquatics in Pinxton who have a huge selection of tropical fish. They had some lovely male golden rams and I couldn't resist purchasing one. I didn't want two males so ended up with a female from another breeder. She isn't as attractive but figured I'd rather have a peaceful tank than one fish constantly getting bullied. I was set on getting some Harlequin Rasboras but decided I wanted something different. Ended up with 10 Black Phantom Tetras who so far seem to be rather active and have made the Cardinals more confident.

Many people only seem to have two types of shoaling fish. I'm tempted to add a third in a few weeks rather than upping the numbers of the current breeds. Any problems adding 10-15 rummy nose tetras?

Current stock list:

18 Cardinal Tetras
10 Black Phantom Tetras
2 Golden Rams
20 Amano Shrimp
32 Cherry Shrimp (although some are pregnant)

I've also added a new Buce around the large rock which I think softens the harsh lines. I gave the Trident Fern that was struggling a huge haircut, hoping it will bounce back. The other fern is doing very well.

 

[TBRO]

Looking really nice, the Rams are stunning. Do they need higher temps? I’ve got the same tank, only got cherry shrimp so far. Looking to stalk the answers to your stocking questions, I was thinking of Norman’s Lampeye, I’ve got a black background.

Wish I lived near Wharf Aquatics, amazing shop!!!


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[PAYN3Y]

Looking really nice, the Rams are stunning. Do they need higher temps? I’ve got the same tank, only got cherry shrimp so far. Looking to stalk the answers to your stocking questions, I was thinking of Norman’s Lampeye, I’ve got a black background.

Wish I lived near Wharf Aquatics, amazing shop!!!

Thank you.

Apparently the rams are happy at 25 degrees upwards. I run my tank at 25 degrees and they seem ok so far. I'm hoping the pants will grown in a bit to provide a few more shaded areas as I've heard they like some hiding spots to feel secure.

Wharf is amazing. I couldn't believe how busy it was last Sunday. Unfortunately I didn't feel the plants they stocked were of particularly good health. There was loads of them but nothing that really caught my eye.

 

[Marc Davis]

Yesterday I went for a visit to Wharf Aquatics in Pinxton who have a huge selection of tropical fish. They had some lovely male golden rams and I couldn't resist purchasing one. I didn't want two males so ended up with a female from another breeder. She isn't as attractive but figured I'd rather have a peaceful tank than one fish constantly getting bullied. I was set on getting some Harlequin Rasboras but decided I wanted something different. Ended up with 10 Black Phantom Tetras who so far seem to be rather active and have made the Cardinals more confident.

Many people only seem to have two types of shoaling fish. I'm tempted to add a third in a few weeks rather than upping the numbers of the current breeds. Any problems adding 10-15 rummy nose tetras?

Current stock list:

18 Cardinal Tetras
10 Black Phantom Tetras
2 Golden Rams
20 Amano Shrimp
32 Cherry Shrimp (although some are pregnant)

I've also added a new Buce around the large rock which I think softens the harsh lines. I gave the Trident Fern that was struggling a huge haircut, hoping it will bounce back. The other fern is doing very well.

Really nice looking Ram!

 

[Marc Davis]

Thank you.

Apparently the rams are happy at 25 degrees upwards. I run my tank at 25 degrees and they seem ok so far. I'm hoping the pants will grown in a bit to provide a few more shaded areas as I've heard they like some hiding spots to feel secure.

Wharf is amazing. I couldn't believe how busy it was last Sunday. Unfortunately I didn't feel the plants they stocked were of particularly good health. There was loads of them but nothing that really caught my eye.

The colours of the rams become crazy at 28 degrees +. But as you say. They always seem fine behaviour wise at 25 and your colours are great anyway.

 

[PAYN3Y]

The colours of the rams become crazy at 28 degrees +. But as you say. They always seem fine behaviour wise at 25 and your colours are great anyway.

Thanks for the info. I've obviously only had them a couple of days so hopefully they don't start to fade due to the temperature. Any reason I shouldn't change my tank to 26/27 degrees? Will it affect the plants?

 

[Marc Davis]

Thanks for the info. I've obviously only had them a couple of days so hopefully they don't start to fade due to the temperature. Any reason I shouldn't change my tank to 26/27 degrees? Will it affect the plants?

Ive personally not had any issues with plants at that temperature.

The reason i say about the rams colours is that my electric blue and gold were at 25 degrees and i considered them colourful.

I then got discus and upped the temp to 28/29 degrees and WOW that showed their REAL colour.

 

[PAYN3Y]

Unfortunately Mrs Golden Ram isn't doing very well. Yesterday I thought she must have jumped out and the dog may have eaten her as I couldn't find her for hours. She didn't show up when I did a 60% water change either. Eventually she came out from beneath a piece of bog wood looking very very pale, breathing heavily and not moving much at all. I haven't tested the water but like I mentioned I did a big water change yesterday.

Possible reasons are that she doesn't like the higher PH water? - The other fish, including the make Ram all seem very happy though. Maybe shes in shock and struggling to get used to the Co2 levels? Or, I have seen the male having a bit of a pop at her. Perhaps he isn't too fond of his chosen 'mate' and has been bullying her. Hopefully she picks up.

 

[PAYN3Y]

Following on from another thread, the tank is currently in recovery mode. After a few too many changes my plants were suffering from co2 deficiency and diatoms. I've been doing water changes every other day and set the light to fade from 70-50% over the photo period, rather than being on 100% the whole time. So far things seem to be improving rather quickly.

Yesterday, after some advice, I changed to an inline JBL diffuser. I am getting very fine micro bubbles and I'm enjoying the look of the tank with less equipment but today my drop checker is not as bright green as it was with the intank diffuser. I didn't adjust the bubble rate on the regulator either. I think I'll have to crank it up a little tonight. I also turned off the power head as I'd like to remove it if the inline diffuser can circulate the bubbles efficiently enough. It doesn't seem ideal having the powerhead blasting the stem plants for hours each day.

Here's some photos from last night.

 

[Lee iley]

Hi guys,

Decided to create an account on here as I'm sure I'll run into to problems soon and need your help.

So recently my almost 3 year old decided he wanted some fish. I had two weeks paternity leave coming up so decided I would get a fish tank sorted whilst I was off. I spent a few days googling and moved from gold fish, to tropical fish, to marine fish and then came across planted tanks and aquascapes. Thinking the aquascape would be less maintenance than marine I figured this was the way to go. (Although I'm starting to realise what I've let myself in for.)

Anyhow, I came across George Farmer's videos and watched a fair few. I priced some parts online and ordered an Aquascaper 900. My newborn arrived so I got in touch with Dave at Aquarium Gardens. He has been very helpful and gave me some advice on how to get started and supplied me with various bits for my hardscape. I then ordered my filter, lights and set to work.

When I went to order some plants I was told that without CO2 I would have to use a dimmer as my light would be too bright for the plants without it. So I bit the bullet and took a fire extinguisher from work.

The next day my plants arrived so in they went. The tank looked like it could do with some more plants so I ordered a few more which brings me to today.

Things seem to be going quite well so far. The tank has cleared somewhat. I've been doing water changes every other day, my plants seem to be starting to grow and I now have 20 Amano shrimp, which after a day of trying to jump out of the tank, now appear to have settled.

So 4 weeks ago I knew nothing about aquariums, especially planted tanks. Now I've got an unintentional new hobby that so far seems quite fun. I'm looking forward to adding some fish and not looking my first disaster.

Here's a few pics. I would love to know your thoughts.

Can you use any fire extinguishers for c02 or are there only certain ones. I have a few kicking around work. Cheers Lee

 

[Edvet]

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/fire-extinguisher-co2.266/

 

[Aqua360]

Great start to the hobby! Well done!

 

[Grant Binnie]

Great looking tank!

 

[PAYN3Y]

So week 12 and I appear to be just about over the diatoms and my plants seem to be responding well to the stable co2 levels.

New additions are 3 pearl gouramis - 2 of which are very shy and spend most of the time hiding.

I've added a Eleocharis carpet to the front. It looks a bit messy at the minute but I'm trying to leave it until it's established before trimming it. Some of the fish and shrimp like to uproot it so probably on half will survive.

I've given the stem plants a heavy trimming so they're not overly visible in the pics. I'm thinking of replacing the Limnophila Sessiliflora with something else as it grows a bit leggy. Any suggestions?

I'm going to keep the lighting at the current reduced levels for a little while longer. The tank still looks good with a bit less light and I don't want to upset the balance again just yet.

I feel the tank is becoming a little 'messy' and perhaps certian plants just need a decent trim. Although I',m inclined to just leave things a little while and decide what to cut back later.

Any comments greatly appreciated.

 

[Lee iley]

Really nice looking tank. Well done love the plants and colour.

 

[CooKieS]

Lovely tank, keep up

 

[Matt @ ScapeEasy]

The tank looks great by the way but... In response to your thoughts that the tank looks messy and wanting to replace the Limnophila... I would suggest removing it and expanding the adjacent plants / using some trimmings to fill the gap. I believe you possibly have to many different plant species at present and this may be lead in to the 'messyness' that you referred to. Or how about using that lobelia from the front to replace it as this will eventually grow quite a bit taller?

Plants also look more natural when planted in groups together species by species so to speak as this is how they grow in the wild. If you look at some photos of Dutch style aquariums you will see what I mean.

Hope that helps!

 

[PAYN3Y]

The tank looks great by the way but... In response to your thoughts that the tank looks messy and wanting to replace the Limnophila... I would suggest removing it and expanding the adjacent plants / using some trimmings to fill the gap. I believe you possibly have to many different plant species at present and this may be lead in to the 'messyness' that you referred to. Or how about using that lobelia from the front to replace it as this will eventually grow quite a bit taller?

Plants also look more natural when planted in groups together species by species so to speak as this is how they grow in the wild. If you look at some photos of Dutch style aquariums you will see what I mean.

Hope that helps!

Hi Matt, thanks for the response. I completely agree about having too many species. Being inexperienced I had no idea how much some of the plants would grow and after planting originally I wanted to fill the gaps with as many plants as I could get my hands on. I'm not sure how many plants can be replanted from cuttings, apart from the stem plants.

I think I may get rid of all of the stem plants on the left hand side. After cutting them back I actually think the negative space accentuates the middle stump/mountain and the tank looks a bit cleaner. Like you say, I could move the front lobeila and maybe the hydrocotyle tripartita towards the back left instead. The addition of the carpet has also led to the tank looking a bot messier as there is no contrasting substrate. I'm undecided if I prefer it or not but I'll let it grow in and see what it looks like after it's first cut back.

 

[PAYN3Y]

Tuesday night I got to work and made the changes noted above. I removed the stem plants on the back left, moved the lobelia and tripartita to the back and moved a large crypt from the right hand side to the back left to fill the space. Overall I think the makes the front and back left look much neater. I still need to work on the right hand side but I think I'm going to have to remove all of the long thin leaf plants - whatever they are called and concentrate on the s/repens.

 

[Matt @ ScapeEasy]

It does look a lot better, congrats!

Also have a think about the rock work... to me it could do with a large rock near the front on the left hand side to balance with the right hand side?