-
You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up
125L First tank, low turned high tech, plant and pic heavy
- Thread starter justjason88
- Start date
Re: First ever tank
Very droll…
but not all leeches suck…some swallow their prey whole 
Very droll…
but not all leeches suck…some swallow their prey whole 
justjason88
Member
Re: First ever tank
A month has passed so i thought i'd make another update before i get some more fish next week some time.
I bought a CO2 drop checker because i was concerned at the lack of growth in some plants. I've had it for about 2 weeks now and the colour hasn't changed at all and it is still blue. I even upped the dosage of the Aqua Carbon from 5ml to 10ml a day (bottle says recommended 5ml per 250L and i have a 125L tank) so i'm wondering whether Aqua Carbon is even remotely effective or i've installed it incorrectly.
The 3 lily pads i had eventually died, the stalks from the bulb to the leaf became frayed and transparent in small parts and eventually tore. I'm not sure if this was because of the transition from LW to my tank, the different water conditions or if it was their time to shed. The half grown leaf did grow to the top of the tank and stayed for about 4-5 days until it also eventually did the same. So i'm now left with a brown bulb and a few tiny leaves which aren't doing anything.
I got rid of all the valis because even the strong ones started to go brown and transparent. Both my bulbs still haven't done anything, i'm not sure if they are just duff bulbs or it's not their time to grow yet. One of them has become loose twice from the substrate, i presume because it's taking in water and then becomes loose from the substrate. I noticed it had grown larger and lots of roots, so maybe it will sprout at some point. I had to get rid of 80% of the cabomba too because the gourami's love picking it apart. The echinodorus is doing great as usual and also both mosses are growing steadily.
I found this fella whilst doing a WC so took a pic and tried to identify him on google but currently had no luck, any ideas anyone?
Unfortunately after trying to pick him back up from the sink to put him back in the tank he fell down the plug (a lesson can be learned there!).
And finally a FTS a month on from the last update. Sorry for the glare i should have closed the living room curtains.
I've noticed some strange behaviour in the zebras lately. They used to hug the front wall of the tank and swim left to right but now they favour the plant next to the filter. They tend to huddle together and i watched 3 stay together above the outflow pipe in the corner and occasionaly they would get restless and chase each other and then settle down and huddle again. Yesterday i could only find 4 of them and was looking for the other 2 for about 5-10 minutes. I eventually found them both huddled on top of each other behind the log next to the lily bulb and found another resting on the gravel underneath the plant. This morning they are chasing each other around the tank more vigorously and excitable than usual. Maybe they will spawn? They've mixed in with the gourami's really wel though and all of them swim together when they hear the lid open for feeding time (although the zebras just take as much as they can and the gouramis probably only get half a flake each).
Questions:
Have i set the CO2 drop checker up correctly? Surely by now it should have turned slightly green, especially as i'm now dosing aqua caron 4x the recommended strength
I'm still getting green thread algae on plants and also brown algaeo patches on the glass. I read both are due to a CO2 deficiency (brown could be down to NTS) but surely it should be sorted by now because of the aqua carbon dosing?
Any ideas why i lost the lilys?
Thanks a lot guys, another update soon once i've visited LW again and got my new fish. I think i'm gonna go with 6x Harlequins next
Jason
A month has passed so i thought i'd make another update before i get some more fish next week some time.
I bought a CO2 drop checker because i was concerned at the lack of growth in some plants. I've had it for about 2 weeks now and the colour hasn't changed at all and it is still blue. I even upped the dosage of the Aqua Carbon from 5ml to 10ml a day (bottle says recommended 5ml per 250L and i have a 125L tank) so i'm wondering whether Aqua Carbon is even remotely effective or i've installed it incorrectly.
The 3 lily pads i had eventually died, the stalks from the bulb to the leaf became frayed and transparent in small parts and eventually tore. I'm not sure if this was because of the transition from LW to my tank, the different water conditions or if it was their time to shed. The half grown leaf did grow to the top of the tank and stayed for about 4-5 days until it also eventually did the same. So i'm now left with a brown bulb and a few tiny leaves which aren't doing anything.
I got rid of all the valis because even the strong ones started to go brown and transparent. Both my bulbs still haven't done anything, i'm not sure if they are just duff bulbs or it's not their time to grow yet. One of them has become loose twice from the substrate, i presume because it's taking in water and then becomes loose from the substrate. I noticed it had grown larger and lots of roots, so maybe it will sprout at some point. I had to get rid of 80% of the cabomba too because the gourami's love picking it apart. The echinodorus is doing great as usual and also both mosses are growing steadily.
I found this fella whilst doing a WC so took a pic and tried to identify him on google but currently had no luck, any ideas anyone?
Unfortunately after trying to pick him back up from the sink to put him back in the tank he fell down the plug (a lesson can be learned there!).
And finally a FTS a month on from the last update. Sorry for the glare i should have closed the living room curtains.
I've noticed some strange behaviour in the zebras lately. They used to hug the front wall of the tank and swim left to right but now they favour the plant next to the filter. They tend to huddle together and i watched 3 stay together above the outflow pipe in the corner and occasionaly they would get restless and chase each other and then settle down and huddle again. Yesterday i could only find 4 of them and was looking for the other 2 for about 5-10 minutes. I eventually found them both huddled on top of each other behind the log next to the lily bulb and found another resting on the gravel underneath the plant. This morning they are chasing each other around the tank more vigorously and excitable than usual. Maybe they will spawn? They've mixed in with the gourami's really wel though and all of them swim together when they hear the lid open for feeding time (although the zebras just take as much as they can and the gouramis probably only get half a flake each).
Questions:
Have i set the CO2 drop checker up correctly? Surely by now it should have turned slightly green, especially as i'm now dosing aqua caron 4x the recommended strength
I'm still getting green thread algae on plants and also brown algaeo patches on the glass. I read both are due to a CO2 deficiency (brown could be down to NTS) but surely it should be sorted by now because of the aqua carbon dosing?
Any ideas why i lost the lilys?
Thanks a lot guys, another update soon once i've visited LW again and got my new fish. I think i'm gonna go with 6x Harlequins next
Jason
J Butler
Member
Re: First ever tank
Hi Jason,
The tank looks like it's coming along nicely, despite your issues with a few of the plants.
It's hard to tell for sure, but that shell shape and snail size seem to ring a few bells. Did he bare any resemblance to the snail in the following topic?
Unidentified snail
I found a few hitch hikers in my tank also...
As for the drop checker question, liquid carbon products will have no effect on the colour of the liquid, it will only work if your bubbling CO2 gas in. When in our tanks, the carbon dioxide partially acidifies to form carbonic acid, the same happens in the drop checker as gas from the tank dissolves in the drop checker fluid. It just picks up on the change in acidity. There's a little more to it than that which is why we don't use tank water in the drop checker, but that's the basics.
The liquid carbon (LC) is pretty much the same to the plant as the CO2 (it has to convert it first) but I don't think theres a way to measure the levels it once in the tank.There's also a good chance that the relatively large doses of LC might be the reason for your Vallisneria melting though, I can't remember the reason for it, but I'm sure i've read it. before.
Hope that helps
Hi Jason,
The tank looks like it's coming along nicely, despite your issues with a few of the plants.
It's hard to tell for sure, but that shell shape and snail size seem to ring a few bells. Did he bare any resemblance to the snail in the following topic?
Unidentified snail
I found a few hitch hikers in my tank also...
As for the drop checker question, liquid carbon products will have no effect on the colour of the liquid, it will only work if your bubbling CO2 gas in. When in our tanks, the carbon dioxide partially acidifies to form carbonic acid, the same happens in the drop checker as gas from the tank dissolves in the drop checker fluid. It just picks up on the change in acidity. There's a little more to it than that which is why we don't use tank water in the drop checker, but that's the basics.
The liquid carbon (LC) is pretty much the same to the plant as the CO2 (it has to convert it first) but I don't think theres a way to measure the levels it once in the tank.There's also a good chance that the relatively large doses of LC might be the reason for your Vallisneria melting though, I can't remember the reason for it, but I'm sure i've read it. before.
Hope that helps
J Butler
Member
Re: First ever tank
Also, I would leave you Lilly in and see how it goes, as you mentioned earlier it's more than likely the fact it's having to adapt to a new environment. I believe it's always a result of differing CO2 levels more than anything else, but I wouldn't add anymore LC than you currently are as it is toxic at higher concentrations, if you can reduce your lighting slightly in any way, that might help.
Also, I would leave you Lilly in and see how it goes, as you mentioned earlier it's more than likely the fact it's having to adapt to a new environment. I believe it's always a result of differing CO2 levels more than anything else, but I wouldn't add anymore LC than you currently are as it is toxic at higher concentrations, if you can reduce your lighting slightly in any way, that might help.
Re: First ever tank
Hi Jason,
i would be cautious about dosing this amount of liquid carbon over the long term as your adding 4x the recommended dosage and it can be toxic.
Also just to second what Joe said, liquid carbon wont have any effect on the colour rendition of your drop checker, only c02 gas injection will do this. Vallis doesnt like liquid carbon, and ive also heard ferns and mosses can react badly too it too..... although you are having success with these in your set up.
Stick with it though as some plants can take a remarkably long time to adapt, im only just seeing good cryptocoryne balansae growth after 6 months of it being in my tank!
Cheerio,
Ady.
justjason88 said:
Hi Jason,
i would be cautious about dosing this amount of liquid carbon over the long term as your adding 4x the recommended dosage and it can be toxic.
Also just to second what Joe said, liquid carbon wont have any effect on the colour rendition of your drop checker, only c02 gas injection will do this. Vallis doesnt like liquid carbon, and ive also heard ferns and mosses can react badly too it too..... although you are having success with these in your set up.
Stick with it though as some plants can take a remarkably long time to adapt, im only just seeing good cryptocoryne balansae growth after 6 months of it being in my tank!
Cheerio,
Ady.
justjason88
Member
Re: First ever tank
Thanks for the advice all, i am using the 4dkh solution callum (i bought it with the drop checker off aquaessentials) but i guess that doesn't matter for the mo (i wish i knew that before purchasing them, but i'll most probably move onto pressurised co2 canisters at some point down the line anyway).
Joe i did search in google earlier for tropical snails and found a pic similar to yours called pond snail and noticed someone replied to your thread saying your 1 looked like a pond snail. Mine was most probably the same thing so i don't feel as bad anymore for "losing" him down the drain With regards to the valis i was told last month by the owner of my LFS that LC does cause valis to melt so i only kept a few in there to see if they were hardy but i guess not.
Ady i also thought the same thing once i read that the drop checker won't work with LC. In fact i may go back to 5ml a day to be on the safe side seeing as i haven't really noticed a difference between the doses; afterall i don't want to kill off my fish.
Thanks again guys, you;ve been a great help. Now to find out where my missing danio is! Both last night and tonight when i fed the tank i could only count 5 of them and i can't find the 6th for the life of me. It's definitely not floating around dead somewhere and i can't see it hiding anywhere!
Thanks for the advice all, i am using the 4dkh solution callum (i bought it with the drop checker off aquaessentials) but i guess that doesn't matter for the mo (i wish i knew that before purchasing them, but i'll most probably move onto pressurised co2 canisters at some point down the line anyway).
Joe i did search in google earlier for tropical snails and found a pic similar to yours called pond snail and noticed someone replied to your thread saying your 1 looked like a pond snail. Mine was most probably the same thing so i don't feel as bad anymore for "losing" him down the drain
With regards to the valis i was told last month by the owner of my LFS that LC does cause valis to melt so i only kept a few in there to see if they were hardy but i guess not.Ady i also thought the same thing once i read that the drop checker won't work with LC. In fact i may go back to 5ml a day to be on the safe side seeing as i haven't really noticed a difference between the doses; afterall i don't want to kill off my fish.
Thanks again guys, you;ve been a great help. Now to find out where my missing danio is! Both last night and tonight when i fed the tank i could only count 5 of them and i can't find the 6th for the life of me. It's definitely not floating around dead somewhere and i can't see it hiding anywhere!
justjason88
Member
Re: First ever tank
Couple of vids and some pics
I eventually found my missing danio, you can see from the below pic where they are starting to huddle. I can only imagine that whilst huddling in this tiny corner 1 has jumped through the tiny hole next to the filter and ended up in here... because this is where i found him.
Video of danios in their new hiding place
Male Gourami
My new Harlequins
Came home the other morning after finishing a night shift to find my male gourami sitting underneath the nymphaea bulb. I thought he was dead at first but he's absolutely fine. Maybe this is his new sleeping spot?
And finally a vid of my current and new fish. New additions are 3x Asian Rummy Noses (1 male and 2 female) and 6x Harlequins.
Couple of vids and some pics
I eventually found my missing danio, you can see from the below pic where they are starting to huddle. I can only imagine that whilst huddling in this tiny corner 1 has jumped through the tiny hole next to the filter and ended up in here... because this is where i found him.
Video of danios in their new hiding place
Male Gourami
My new Harlequins
Came home the other morning after finishing a night shift to find my male gourami sitting underneath the nymphaea bulb. I thought he was dead at first but he's absolutely fine. Maybe this is his new sleeping spot?
And finally a vid of my current and new fish. New additions are 3x Asian Rummy Noses (1 male and 2 female) and 6x Harlequins.
justjason88
Member
Re: First ever tank
Unfortunately i had to get rid of my cardimine lyrata, it was growing so well i wanted to let it establish so i didn't cut away old leaves and roots and during a water change it became entangled around the filter outlet pipe and the only way to get it free was to rip it all apart
I moved the nymphae bulb to the back where the cardi was. It looks like it's sent out new roots and new leaves are sprouting which is brilliant news. To replace its spot i got Nymphoides aquatica "banana plant" which looks fantastic!
Next the the nymphae i replaced the cardi with Aponogeton loniplumulosus. I had some trouble securing it to the gravel as i lost a couple of bulbs i bought of aqua essentials, not sure if i put them too far into the gravel or they were just duff but they completely rotted. I've put the bulb a little into the gravel but kept most of it out as i don't want to lose this 1 too. So far it's holding, a few more days and hopefully the roots will secure it.
On the left hand side i had the echinodorus which i split from the main plant and put it in the foreground. I had to get rid of the cabomba at the back because the gouramis ripped it apart so i've moved it to the back making it more densley planted and now both echinodorus' are next to each other. This created space in the front so i moved the Staurogyne repens (i bought it last year on a wym and a prayer off ebay) to replace its spot and also put another new bulb i bought from LW next to it. This is Barclaya longifolia "red"
Also noticed this fella last night, did some research on google and i can only presume it is a malaysian trumpet snail (unless anyone else is wiser?)
Will probably buy a cardi again at some point, i've been looking into external filters so i might hack out the juwel internal filter down the line freeing up a large space at the back right.
Thanks for looking
Jason
Unfortunately i had to get rid of my cardimine lyrata, it was growing so well i wanted to let it establish so i didn't cut away old leaves and roots and during a water change it became entangled around the filter outlet pipe and the only way to get it free was to rip it all apart
I moved the nymphae bulb to the back where the cardi was. It looks like it's sent out new roots and new leaves are sprouting which is brilliant news. To replace its spot i got Nymphoides aquatica "banana plant" which looks fantastic!
Next the the nymphae i replaced the cardi with Aponogeton loniplumulosus. I had some trouble securing it to the gravel as i lost a couple of bulbs i bought of aqua essentials, not sure if i put them too far into the gravel or they were just duff but they completely rotted. I've put the bulb a little into the gravel but kept most of it out as i don't want to lose this 1 too. So far it's holding, a few more days and hopefully the roots will secure it.
On the left hand side i had the echinodorus which i split from the main plant and put it in the foreground. I had to get rid of the cabomba at the back because the gouramis ripped it apart so i've moved it to the back making it more densley planted and now both echinodorus' are next to each other. This created space in the front so i moved the Staurogyne repens (i bought it last year on a wym and a prayer off ebay) to replace its spot and also put another new bulb i bought from LW next to it. This is Barclaya longifolia "red"
Also noticed this fella last night, did some research on google and i can only presume it is a malaysian trumpet snail (unless anyone else is wiser?)
Will probably buy a cardi again at some point, i've been looking into external filters so i might hack out the juwel internal filter down the line freeing up a large space at the back right.
Thanks for looking
Jason
justjason88
Member
Re: Rio 125 Low tech, plant heavy, first tank (lots pics)
I can still only count 1 MTS so the population is either being controlled (somehow) or they are all hiding and will swarm the tank en mass at some point!
The loniplumulosus is doing fine, i think it is now properly secured to the substrate and it has even sent two stems to the top of the tank which have both flowered. The nymphae has also sent a new lily pad to the top and a 2nd is on the way.
The Christmas moss for some reason started to become loose and on closer inspection all the roots had rotted. This is very strange because it was growing so well. I had to also pull up all the echinodorus xinguensis because a lot of the leaves were brown/transparent and rotting. I've cut all these off and also trimmed the roots in hope it grows better. Not sure if the banana plant is going to make it, lots of black spots have appeared on the bottom of it and both leaves and stems look like they are also turning brown/transparent.
The barclaya longifolia is holding out ok, it did become loose from the substrate twice though but it has grown lots of leaves (although very small) so i'm hoping they will grow a lot larger soon so i can put it in place of the juwel filter which i am going to get rid of soon as i bought a jbl cristalprofi 1500 last week. I'll wait a few weeks so the bacteria can grow in the filter then i'll see if i can sell the juwel filter on ebay. This'll make some space for the barclaya and also give me my recommended 10x l/h flow output. Next step after that will be to create a FE CO2 set up (just missing the bubble counter and FE atm).
FTS
Thanks for looking
Jason
I can still only count 1 MTS so the population is either being controlled (somehow) or they are all hiding and will swarm the tank en mass at some point!
The loniplumulosus is doing fine, i think it is now properly secured to the substrate and it has even sent two stems to the top of the tank which have both flowered. The nymphae has also sent a new lily pad to the top and a 2nd is on the way.
The Christmas moss for some reason started to become loose and on closer inspection all the roots had rotted. This is very strange because it was growing so well. I had to also pull up all the echinodorus xinguensis because a lot of the leaves were brown/transparent and rotting. I've cut all these off and also trimmed the roots in hope it grows better. Not sure if the banana plant is going to make it, lots of black spots have appeared on the bottom of it and both leaves and stems look like they are also turning brown/transparent.
The barclaya longifolia is holding out ok, it did become loose from the substrate twice though but it has grown lots of leaves (although very small) so i'm hoping they will grow a lot larger soon so i can put it in place of the juwel filter which i am going to get rid of soon as i bought a jbl cristalprofi 1500 last week. I'll wait a few weeks so the bacteria can grow in the filter then i'll see if i can sell the juwel filter on ebay. This'll make some space for the barclaya and also give me my recommended 10x l/h flow output. Next step after that will be to create a FE CO2 set up (just missing the bubble counter and FE atm).
FTS
Thanks for looking
Jason
faizal
Member
Re: Rio 125 Low tech, plant heavy, first tank (lots pics)
Hi jason , I really enjoyed reading your journal . It was really nice reading how the tank developed bit by bit over the last couple of months. A real good job indeed. 
I am truly looking forward to seeing how beautifully this tank develops.
Very inspiring for a first attempt & congratulations.
Hi jason , I really enjoyed reading your journal
. It was really nice reading how the tank developed bit by bit over the last couple of months. A real good job indeed. I am truly looking forward to seeing how beautifully this tank develops.
Very inspiring for a first attempt & congratulations.
justjason88
Member
Re: Rio 125 Low tech, plant heavy, first tank (lots pics)
Thank you very much faizal, your comments are much appreciated and i hope people will learn from my mistakes. I'm hoping i can rearrange the plants a bit better once they grow more after i add a CO2 set up, at the moment i'm still unhappy with how it's arranged
Thank you very much faizal, your comments are much appreciated and i hope people will learn from my mistakes. I'm hoping i can rearrange the plants a bit better once they grow more after i add a CO2 set up, at the moment i'm still unhappy with how it's arranged
justjason88
Member
Re: Rio 125 Low tech, plant heavy, first tank (lots pics)
Did a huge tidy up the other day because i wasn't happy with a few things which had been niggling at me a long time. I also found that removing the juwel filter was very difficult with water in the tank. I took out the fish and put them in a bucket with a tea towel over the top, i then put all the plants in another bucket and then siphoned off practically all the water. I had previously bought a stanley saw blade and spent 20 minutes trying to get the damn thing out. I then cut off all the silicone left on the glass and removed a lot of the gravel as it had bits of black silicone and plastic in it. I had leftover under gravel and top gravel from when i first set the tank up so i used both to re do the tank bottom.
I then trimmed all the plant roots to premote new and stronger growth, removed any old leaves, replanted them all and rearranged the layout slightly, binned 2 plants which were unsalvageable, put the hardscape in and then refilled it and put the fish back. Before putting the plants back in i put 12 TPN+ root tabs underneath the top gravel.
This is the new layout now (ignore the HC pot, it's a left over from my cube). The Barclaya is by the intake pipe in the right corner, i'm hoping this will start to grow a lot quicker when i have the CO2 set up. Everything was generally tidied and made neater and i much prefer it!
Some fish pics before the tidy
My new assasins
I now have all the bits for the CO2. I went with the FE set up after a hell of a lot of reading! The costing was as follows:
2KG FE - eBay £25
TMC V2 Regulator and Solenoid - £68
Electronic timer - £11
Glass bubble counter - £8
Glass non return valve - £6
Glass diffuser - £13
Glass drop checker - £15
CO2 tubing - £2
Total - £123
Considering the FE should last 7 - 9 months and comparing it to the pricing of Aqua Carbon or even branded CO2 sets, this is by far the most cost effective way. I followed the tutorial on UKAPS to the tee but was still a little apprehensive when firing it in the garden. Thankfully it was ok and i didn't lose an arm.
Will do another update when i've got round to setting up the CO2.
Thanks for looking
Jason
Did a huge tidy up the other day because i wasn't happy with a few things which had been niggling at me a long time. I also found that removing the juwel filter was very difficult with water in the tank. I took out the fish and put them in a bucket with a tea towel over the top, i then put all the plants in another bucket and then siphoned off practically all the water. I had previously bought a stanley saw blade and spent 20 minutes trying to get the damn thing out. I then cut off all the silicone left on the glass and removed a lot of the gravel as it had bits of black silicone and plastic in it. I had leftover under gravel and top gravel from when i first set the tank up so i used both to re do the tank bottom.
I then trimmed all the plant roots to premote new and stronger growth, removed any old leaves, replanted them all and rearranged the layout slightly, binned 2 plants which were unsalvageable, put the hardscape in and then refilled it and put the fish back. Before putting the plants back in i put 12 TPN+ root tabs underneath the top gravel.
This is the new layout now (ignore the HC pot, it's a left over from my cube). The Barclaya is by the intake pipe in the right corner, i'm hoping this will start to grow a lot quicker when i have the CO2 set up. Everything was generally tidied and made neater and i much prefer it!
Some fish pics before the tidy
My new assasins
I now have all the bits for the CO2. I went with the FE set up after a hell of a lot of reading! The costing was as follows:
2KG FE - eBay £25
TMC V2 Regulator and Solenoid - £68
Electronic timer - £11
Glass bubble counter - £8
Glass non return valve - £6
Glass diffuser - £13
Glass drop checker - £15
CO2 tubing - £2
Total - £123
Considering the FE should last 7 - 9 months and comparing it to the pricing of Aqua Carbon or even branded CO2 sets, this is by far the most cost effective way. I followed the tutorial on UKAPS to the tee but was still a little apprehensive when firing it in the garden. Thankfully it was ok and i didn't lose an arm.
Will do another update when i've got round to setting up the CO2.
Thanks for looking
Jason
justjason88
Member
Re: 125L First tank, low turned high tech, plant and pic hea
The only things i changed were getting rid of the melting xinguensis and the unknown moss which was in front of the bogwood, everything else has stayed but been trimmed a little. Once the barclaya has grown with the loniplumolosus the back will be filled and i can think of a foreground plant to go in front of it. I don't want to put anything there just yet because i don't want to relocate the barclaya, i'd rather it settle in this position now and start to grow properly. It looks a lot more spacious because i removed the juwel filter, this whole space should be covered once the barclaya gets going properly.
The only things i changed were getting rid of the melting xinguensis and the unknown moss which was in front of the bogwood, everything else has stayed but been trimmed a little. Once the barclaya has grown with the loniplumolosus the back will be filled and i can think of a foreground plant to go in front of it. I don't want to put anything there just yet because i don't want to relocate the barclaya, i'd rather it settle in this position now and start to grow properly. It looks a lot more spacious because i removed the juwel filter, this whole space should be covered once the barclaya gets going properly.
pariahrob
New Member
Re: 125L First tank, low turned high tech, plant and pic hea
Lovely looking and it's nice to see your progression. I'm just starting my first planted tank, so this is a useful journal.
Looking forward to reading/seeing more.
RR
Lovely looking and it's nice to see your progression. I'm just starting my first planted tank, so this is a useful journal.
Looking forward to reading/seeing more.
RR
justjason88
Member
Re: 125L First tank, low turned high tech, plant and pic hea
My monthly update
The CO2 is all set up, i haven't had any major issues with it so far. I haven't fiddled with the flow rate since setting it up as i'm scared it'll adversely affect the fish. The DC is showing a deep green so it's not as light as my cube but i'm in no rush to fiddle with it just yet. I'll give it a little while so the fish get used to it (they seem unbothered so far) and then up it a little. I also haven't noticed any increased growth in the plants with the addition of the CO2. It's been set up for a month now so it may be down to the fact there isn't enough CO2 being injected to create a difference. The bubble counter keeps losing waster though, i've read this is probably from condensation or evaporation but my cube doesn't have this problem. I may fiddle around with this line at some point.
Picked up some corys from LW earlier in the month, 2x adolfo and 2x sterbai, a little expensive but definitely worth the buy. They have settled in nicely and are always grazing on the substrate; they really are beautful fish! Unfortunately the danios have cottoned on to the fact i drop 2 or 3 sinking discs for them but because they are too big for them to eat they let the corys brake them up and then swoop in. When the corys and gouramis are left alone to eat the discs they look very peaceful and go well together.
About a week ago i was browsing another LFS and noticed they had some ottos in stock, (£6 each, buy 5 get 1 free). As it was pay day it was rude not to invest, especially as my cube needs a cleaning crew anyway. I decided to put 4 into the main tank and 2 into the cube. I had already done extensive research on these lovely fish and was fully aware of how fragile they are due to the way they're caught in the wild. The 2 in the cube were doing fine, until after 2 days i seemed to lose 1. After searching the immediate area for about 30 mins i pulled the sofa away to find it had leapt out the tank and fallen underneath a cupboard. The remaining otto was very docile, it laid on the substrate for hours and only moved occasionally. I believed it was stressed so i moved it to the main tank. After a few days i found a dead otto on the substrate which i believe was this stressed otto. I was really gutted for both of them. The ottos in the main tank seem to be doing fine though, all have large stomachs from all the algae grazing they have been doing so i am hopeful for these guys.
My stocking is now:
3x golden honey gouramis (1m, 2f)
2x Asian rummy nose (1m, 1f)
6x harlequins
6x zebra danios
4x corys
4x ottos
AQAdvisor still says im at 80% stocking but i'm in no rush to add more fish yet. Later down the line i may boost the number of corys as i just love them, but then again it would be nice to have a larger shoal of harlequins (the danios are too aggressive for my liking). On a side note, the male asian rummynose's colour has come out more. It did fade for a while but his face and tail have become a deeper red.
Lots of new growth
I found a baby MTS at last!
Tank so far, still waiting for the barclaya longifolia to take hold. Unfortunately it's still very fragile and isn't growing a huge deal. I've had to leave the outflow on the filter at 50%, any stronger and the barclaya uproots. I have also re introduced my korallia powerhead to reduce the dead spots underneath the spray bar. I was getting staghorn on the echinodorus leaves and hair thread algae on the staurogyne repens.
Thanks a lot for looking
Jason
My monthly update
The CO2 is all set up, i haven't had any major issues with it so far. I haven't fiddled with the flow rate since setting it up as i'm scared it'll adversely affect the fish. The DC is showing a deep green so it's not as light as my cube but i'm in no rush to fiddle with it just yet. I'll give it a little while so the fish get used to it (they seem unbothered so far) and then up it a little. I also haven't noticed any increased growth in the plants with the addition of the CO2. It's been set up for a month now so it may be down to the fact there isn't enough CO2 being injected to create a difference. The bubble counter keeps losing waster though, i've read this is probably from condensation or evaporation but my cube doesn't have this problem. I may fiddle around with this line at some point.
Picked up some corys from LW earlier in the month, 2x adolfo and 2x sterbai, a little expensive but definitely worth the buy. They have settled in nicely and are always grazing on the substrate; they really are beautful fish! Unfortunately the danios have cottoned on to the fact i drop 2 or 3 sinking discs for them but because they are too big for them to eat they let the corys brake them up and then swoop in. When the corys and gouramis are left alone to eat the discs they look very peaceful and go well together.
About a week ago i was browsing another LFS and noticed they had some ottos in stock, (£6 each, buy 5 get 1 free). As it was pay day it was rude not to invest, especially as my cube needs a cleaning crew anyway. I decided to put 4 into the main tank and 2 into the cube. I had already done extensive research on these lovely fish and was fully aware of how fragile they are due to the way they're caught in the wild. The 2 in the cube were doing fine, until after 2 days i seemed to lose 1. After searching the immediate area for about 30 mins i pulled the sofa away to find it had leapt out the tank and fallen underneath a cupboard. The remaining otto was very docile, it laid on the substrate for hours and only moved occasionally. I believed it was stressed so i moved it to the main tank. After a few days i found a dead otto on the substrate which i believe was this stressed otto. I was really gutted for both of them. The ottos in the main tank seem to be doing fine though, all have large stomachs from all the algae grazing they have been doing so i am hopeful for these guys.
My stocking is now:
3x golden honey gouramis (1m, 2f)
2x Asian rummy nose (1m, 1f)
6x harlequins
6x zebra danios
4x corys
4x ottos
AQAdvisor still says im at 80% stocking but i'm in no rush to add more fish yet. Later down the line i may boost the number of corys as i just love them, but then again it would be nice to have a larger shoal of harlequins (the danios are too aggressive for my liking). On a side note, the male asian rummynose's colour has come out more. It did fade for a while but his face and tail have become a deeper red.
Lots of new growth
I found a baby MTS at last!
Tank so far, still waiting for the barclaya longifolia to take hold. Unfortunately it's still very fragile and isn't growing a huge deal. I've had to leave the outflow on the filter at 50%, any stronger and the barclaya uproots. I have also re introduced my korallia powerhead to reduce the dead spots underneath the spray bar. I was getting staghorn on the echinodorus leaves and hair thread algae on the staurogyne repens.
Thanks a lot for looking
Jason
