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Re: James3200s 6.5x2x2' planted tank - UPDATE - 23/01/09 Thats looking awesome mate. How do the Discus get on with the halides and ferts? Do they hide a lot or stay in the open? :D

I'm thinking SE Asian with Harlequins, Khulis and the odd barb or rasbora. Got an empty four footer above it so I might save the tetras for that. Too many posibilities :?

Thanks mate, thats mighty awesome of you :wink: I'm gonna need all the help I can get! The planning is about 90% complete, but still a few things to sort. I'm a perfectionist so I'm even working out where and how I'll be plugging things in. The main thing to plan now is the overflow set up...

I picked up a brand new Juwel Rekord 60 yesterday for the pleasing sum of £25. Champion. I'm old school when it comes to tanks and I'm not really into these fashionable 'Origami' style set ups :lol: Any ideas folks? I want to keep it low tech and I'm thinking dark Amazon basin with Lemon...

You're not wrong! :D

I dont want my substrate to bee quite as deep, maybe half, so that should save me top dollar. I was looking at the Malaysia as I like the colour and its a bit different. With a nice lawn of glosso it should brighten up nicely. Blyxa is top of my list now too :D

I'm not looking in your threads again, I'm turning as green as that Blyxa :lol: Did that cause you problems with the Discus, or with the plants/set up? Both? Mines going to be for Discus, CO2, halides etc. So learning where others went right or wrong is pretty important

I know I'm months and months late to this one, but Christ on a bike! :shock: Just shows how awesome these tanks can look when they've been brilliantly set up and cleared of their stupid, pre-formed backgrounds. Right thats it, the gloves are coming off....just you wait.... :lol:

Thanks mate, very helpful. I was just looking to see what else there was and the ADA sands caught my eye. Apparently with Discus, a dark substrate affects their colouring causing them to show stress bars and any fish with Pigeon blood genes end up 'peppering' and looking cack. But if there's a...

Does anyone have any info on this? I've been doing my research into substrates and its effects on Discus so I'm looking for potential alternatives to aquasoil that 'lift my skirt' :D and that are suitable for the plants and fish.

Its 18w mate, which apparently is pretty good :D

I'm going to try that with the glosso when it comes to it. The only thing is that I keep wanting to turn the wood up the other way, and so the thickest branch comes down by the edge of the rocks, towards the front. :D

She scrubs up alright mate :lol: Cheers for the link aaronnorth. That's given me some ideas and inspiration :D

Well, I had this tank bought for my birthday last March and due to other things going on I never actually got it set up. I'm going to be adding to it slowly as funds allow and using it as practice and a means to learn whilst I plan my main tank. Its a 13"x13"x15" (approx) cube and holds 40l...

Is there a website anywhere that gives more info on it? All I've found so far is price, colour and name!

AquaMedic arent bad by any means but judging from the manual for my CO2 kit they might as well print their instructions in swahili.

I was looking at the Compacts too. Accidentally stumbled across them on Aquatics online and wondered what they were about. I noticed the head height is a lot better than the Hobby's for the price and considered one for my main tank, just to get product water from its holding tank into my tank...

Nice one Beeky, thats really helpful :D I thought that the ADA soil was going to set me back top dollar if I went with that but that myth seems to have been put to rest now. The only hard part when deciding on ADA is what colour? :roll: :lol:

Thanks mate thats awesome :wink: (and to everyone else obviously) Well I can get ADA soil for about £225 (Green Machine) The Eco complete has to be in flippin' kilos doesnt it! :roll: I'm quite liking this stuff too.... http://www.thegreenmachineaquatics.com/ ... ingu%208kg but dont really...

No worries mate. If my questions (and their answers) help others then thats great. I've got this thing that when I think about something I need to get it sorted. And substrate always bugs me! :lol:

Is there a way to calculate how many litres of an ADA substrate I'd need? Or any other for that matter? I need to do some more reasearch on Discus and substrate. But there is always the lighter coloured ADA stuff and Akadama, which is growing on me :D

Right, as some of you probably know I'm gradually planning my main tank, so when I get things sorted (in the next 10,000 years) I can actually set it up and it should run smoothly. The thing thats getting me at the moment is substrate. I just cant choose, but I hoped if I posted some things that...

Hey, The only news I have is that the background has gone, but the tank is still in the same place on the floor...lol. Fish keeping took a serious backburner and is slowly returning. Hence my recent postings. I need to get my dining room floor tiled, then the room decorated. Once thats done I'm...

Thanks James thats great :D I had a look in your lighting thread which was helpful but obviously I need something suitable to go with the halides. The halides currently on the pendant are 14k jobs which wash out everything and I'm not spending £40+ on bulbs when I replace them. I know the...

Hey, Just wondered if you guys could give me some suggestions on T8's please. What T8's would you put with 5200k halides? My pendant has three 150w halides and two 58w T8's. I was thinking of a Sylvania Activa and a Philips 880 (8000k). I know it can vary and everyone has different tastes but I...

Cheers man. Thats another thing in my head cleared up. Top banana :D

So (for example) would you need to dose more PO4 to allow for the larger water change? Or have I got his totally backwards?...lol

Hey, Just a quick question if I may. When dosing a tank using the EI method, what are the implications of doing water changes larger than 50% each week? Do you just have to dose differently by adding more ferts for example? Or is there more to it? (Ok so thats actually three questions :wink: )

I've found the Hydor for under £37 so thats looking good. I'd like some glass inflow and outflow pipes too so I can hide things a bit. Visitherm heaters have always served me well and their 50w model is only 6" long. Winner.

Try installing the newest version of firefox. I did the right click thing and it worked fine :wink: Can anyone tell me whay they used to stop the tank getting messed up when they poured the water in? It wasnt that clear from the pic.

It just hit me actually that the internal, at 200lph wasnt going to be up to the task. Never could get on with the Eheim classics (thanks for the link though!) so I had a look at the Eden 501. I like the idea of that with glassware but I heard that it needs to be the same level as the tank to...

Cool. Were you using CO2 at all mate? If so, if you could let me know some details on that (and anything else) that would be ace :D

Hey, I got this little cube for my birthday, last March :lol: and as yet haven't set it up. I'd like to set it up in coming weeks but figured I'd ask on here for some ideas and suggestions, regarding what to do with it. http://www.animal-paradise.co.uk/catalo ... ucts_id=41 Its going to be...

Re: My Corner Tank - Venezia 190 Looks awesome! How about a nice shoal of Emperor Tetras?

Not yet mate :roll: Its laying on the dining room floor empty at the moment while I decorate the dining room. I havent actually bought any equipment yet but thats related to lack of funds at the moment. I'll keep you posted :mrgreen:

Cheers mate, never thought to look on there. I often use Zooplus for treats for my dog :D

Yeah, cabinets going to be 30" high so plenty of room for any external. Just need to decide which ones :?

I'm going to stick with externals as I want to keep things fairly simple this time round. But thanks for the suggestions :wink: I'm torn between two tetratecs and two 2080's. I'd pretty much decided on the eheims but if the tetratecs will do a good job I'll go for those and save myself a...

I know I shouldnt go by flow etc as its going to be reduced a fair bit but going by the stats each tetratec would give me 1200lph at each end of the tank and then I'd have another 1000 odd lph in the middle with the Eheim. I'm happy to buy two 2080's but I'll save a fortune if the tetratecs will...

Well I could have one Tetratec at each end and my Eheim 2128 in the middle. Any thoughts?

Apparently the Eheim does 1700lph for tanks up to 1200l and the Tetratec 1200 does 1200lph for tanks up to 500l. I could get two Tetratecs with media for the price of one 2080 without media but would two of them do the job?

So whats the general feeling about two Tetratec 1200's on my tank with my 2128? I'd go for them if they will be sufficient :?

Ha ha :lol: The only problem I can see is if it backfired and they became better at it than us. Dunno about you guys but I wouldnt hear the last of it! :lol:

I was actually thinking about a couple of Tetratec 1200's as I have one on my 200 litre, but it was after talking with Ceg that I decided on the 2080's.

Not at all mate....:wink: Cold spots, dead spots, cyano (covered everything), stupidly high Gh/Kh, fluctuating ph and fish getting stuck behind the background where they were impossible to get out. Apart from that it was alright :lol: I removed the background tonight and thanks to this...

Thanks for the link mate, but its the 2080's I need. They're 2028's :wink: Yeah, start a journal. Might be able to learn some stuff off each other along the way. My trouble is that I'm a perfectionist, so everything has to be just right :roll: :wink: This was the tank last time, just...

I need 2x 2080's for starters and that doesnt include media. New cabinet, external heaters, the list goes on. All I have at the moment is one filter, lighting and the tank! :lol:

Yes and no. Yes because of obvious reasons. I cant wait to get Discus in there and having no money has its advantages in some respects as it means I'll have to take my time giving me the chance to plan things out properly. And I wont spiral further into debt to set it up. And no, because if I'm...

Whoops I didnt see that. Sorry :(

I'm guessing this might be as good a thread as any to post this link. https://www.pisces-aqua.co.uk/acatalog/ ... _Pipe.html :wink:

I'm not sure you'd be able to fit the corrugated tubing onto a reactor but I'm sure someone will clarify. Failing that you can get tubing connectors that dont restrict the tubing so you could always go from the tubing you have to normal pipe and then to the reactor.

Cheers, I'll give that a go. I'm going to start trying to remove the background tomorrow and then I'll give the tank a really good clean. I'll get the wife to help while I watch :lol: I'm having a cabinet made by Aquariums Ltd. Once I've got what I want sorted (and 50% deposit) I'll give them...

Hey mate, Nah, they only had black cabinets in the country and only a couple of those. Then I remembed the size thing so I can get one made for the same price and have it how I want it. Well, how the wife tells me I want it :P They dont seem to have the background that I have on their site...

Water damage, my dog chewed the corner off when he was a pup and because the cupboards are so small you can only fit the smallest of externals in them. I cant have equipment outside the cupboards mainly because of space and my dog, and with another pup on the way it would be suicide! Got that...

Dead spots, cold spots and I'm pretty sure it was affecting gh/kh etc but I cant prove it. There was nothing else in the tank to raise those, especially when I used RO. Too coincedental for my liking. There were always fish behind it. Nice background but its got to go :? Planting will be...

This glass box has been the bane of my life for the last seven years. Its made me practically give up fishkeeping, sell Discus and remove my hair by the roots. The amount of times I've wanted to take a hammer to it is unreal. Thats all about to change... Its going to take some time to sort as...

Would a surface skimmer not work? Obviously you'd need an external to work one though. :wink:

lol..me too :lol:

I got some Ruby glass lickers last week. They've done an awesome job clearing algae in my four footer. I want to get some more but maybe a different 'type' of nerites. They're not as active as my Apple snails but they do a great job. And are quite attractive as far as moluscs go :P

My main tank is open topped so I do like the idea of them in that respect. They'll look better than dark tubing and elbows stuck over the tanks metal frame. I wouldnt want them to turn the tank into rapids though :shock:

I think they have suckers that fix to the outside of the tank, although I could be wrong

No worries, just interested in what you did and how you did it. :wink:

Its looking awesome :wink: Do you have any pics of your lighting set up?

Thats a lot of water to siphon out if the external springs a leak :? Do lilly pipes alow return water to blast out into the tank? I'd imagine spray bars would be a bit more gentle, especically when housing Discus or something. Or am I way off?

lol...I just want to get it right. I didnt want to add the wrong thing or too much of something. If the Gh gets too high with my product water I'll just reduce the amount I use, or the frequency that I dose it.

Did you have to make a hole in the water butt for the float valve etc?

I've just thought. (I know, I was shocked too!) Should I mix MgS04 with something else or leave it on its own and have three fert solutions. I'm thinking if I was to mix it with one of the others I'd be dosing it three times a week :? Macros 3x week, trace 3x week and MgS04 1x week? *Bangs...

I used to have this problem when my main tank was set up before. I overflowed the water butt (in dining room) twice and then overflowed the tank by pumping water into it and forgetting to turn the pump off. Animal house do an alarm with a probe to alert you of rising or falling water levels. I...

I'll be using mainly RO water and it also has a DI chamber fitted. My HMA will give some minerals etc but maybe not enough to save me from adding it. I dont know. Cheers :wink:

When they start breeding I'll keep you posted :wink: Is there a thread or some info anywhere that explains why we dose with MgSO4 for example? I'm pretty much up on the others but it wont hurt to recap. I cant remember MgSO4 being mentioned :?

Hey, If I was to use Akadama for my substrate (when using EI) would it be beneficial to use a substrate fertilizer like the tropica one for example? And is there a way of 'loading' it with ferts by soaking? In either case what would be a suitable depth? Cheers :wink:

Ceg I think I want to have your babies :P

Another question while I think about it :roll: Would I need to mix any of those ferts in a seperate solution? I thought about mixing some in a jug of tank water and then whacking it in but I dont want any of it to react or cancel the other one out etc. I know I've read that kind of thing...

Looks awesome :P Where did you get the black gravel from Dan?

Yeah. I have one of the Eheim hobby pumps that will do the job. I'll be using rigid piping if I can plum it in. Making sure that the pipe that hooks over the tank doesnt go into the water. Otherwise when you turn the pump off all the water siphons back. All you need to do is fill the prep tank...

So would this plan work? Mon - CSM+B Tues - NO3, PO4 Wed - Thurs - NO3, PO4, 25% WC Fri - CSM+B Sat - Sun - NO3, PO4, MgSO4, 25% WC I'm not totally sure that I've got that right :?

I'm going to be using a 36x18x18 tank in my main tanks cabinet for my product water. Obviously this will only hold so much water. Two 'tankfuls' each week equates to about a 50% water change. Thats the main reason. The other is because Discus love water changes and I do need to maintain a...

Thanks Ceg thats exactly what I was after :P Could I do two water changes with that system? 25% each. If yes when would be best? Sorry for all the questions

Kettering, Northants

Hey John, I'll be using RO/HMA mix for my Discus as my tapwater is cack. I'm guessing I'd need to add PO4 because of this. The more I read the more confused I'm getting :?

So would the PMDD+PO4 method work well enough with Akadama for example? Would it be better to add some kind of substrate ferts or would they not be needed with the above method? I like the idea of the EI method but I'm not convinced I could keep the CO2 bang on and I dont want algae. I'm pretty...

Nah, you dip you bread mate, its all good info :D

Thanks George. I'm pretty sure I read something about that method on here somewhere. I'll go find it and see if I understand it :shock: The problems I had with this tank before were circulation problems and algae. Mainly cyano. That should be sorted this time round but I dont want to risk any...

Kind of. I'd be happy to use it for ph monitoring and not CO2 control providing that the CO2 wouldn't cause fluctuations in the ph, especially at night. Discus aren't really that bothered what the ph is as long as its stable. I figured that by setting the computer at a ph slightly lower than...

Hey, I'm going to be setting up my main tank again and I'm currently in the planning stages, buying equipment etc when I have the readies. Its 720 litres and will be housing Discus. Heating and filtration sorted. Water will be RO/HMA, lighting is a MH luminaire (x3 150w x2 T8 58w, need help...

I had a good look on that site but trying to navigate it is like trying to thread a needle while wearing mittens! Loads of the bulbs only seem to be available in minimum quantities of 6. Not only was I looking for two 58w T8's for my MH but also for three 38w T8's for my other tank, that I've...

Dont give in mate. About a year ago I removed the remaining fish from my 720 litre baby, pulled all the plugs out and just walked away, literally. I'm in the same boat now :wink: And I'm finding your questions and people answers very helpful

Hey, I could really use some lighting suggestions please. I need three suitable 150w MH bulbs and two, 58w T8's to replace the ones currently in my MH luminaire. I'd like the T8's to bring out the reds and blues in the fish and plants without making the tank look pink. I've been looking on...

Looks awesome. I'm useless with DIY but if you want some proper graffiti gimme a shout :D :wink:

Awesome, thanks guys :wink:

Thanks eds :wink: I'm a bit pants with DIY as I'm sure I'll find out when I re-do the tank. I was looking at those Aquamass jobs that someone had posted a link to in another thread. Being in German doesn't help matters though! lol

Nah that's awesome mate, your help is very much appreciated. I know what you're saying about the media pricetag. I dont mind so much forking out a bit more for the filters (after all they come in big boxes and I love opening big boxes!) but if I can save some dollar on the media I'll be a...

Could someone suggest a decent external CO2 diffuser please? It needs to be suitable for a 720 litre tank, run 16mm pipe and have a bleed valve on it :D The one I currently have (although not in use) is an AquaMedic jobby. I'm pretty sure I read it only does 500 litre tanks and it has 12mm...

Yeah, my bad...its 16mm :oops: I was looking at the shepherds crook when I glanced at the tubing earlier.

That tanks awesome mate, good work :D

Thanks mate :wink: The 2128 that I have already has a 12mm return anyway so will fit nicely with the Aqua Medic diffuser I have (although I'm not convinced about that either but thats for another thread!) so shouldnt restrict the flow too much. I've checked and the Hydor inline heaters...

Tom, welcome to my world :lol: I'm sure you'll get it sorted again in no time. At least it will give you the chance to change anything that you were not keen on before :wink:

Well it looks like I might be investing in a new cabinet. I was originally trying to find an original Effect Line cabinet but there are none in the country. After some investigating it appeared that any damaged parts of the stand could be removed and replaced but after all that I'd still be left...

lol...it'd be like Class 6 rapids :shock: The main problem I'm facing is that anything bigger than a 2128 wont fit in the cupboards of my tanks cabinet. There are two cupboards. The planned 2080 was going to be hidden at the far side of the tank as far from view as possible as that wont fit...

Hey, My main tank has been sitting unused for god knows how long now but I'm going to set it up again and I'm currently planning every tiny detail. The tank holds 720 litres (approx 164 gallons) I already have an Eheim 2128 Thermofilter but I want to get an Eheim 2080 as well. Flow simply...