Am I missing anything before I set up this weekend?

[Lawrence]

Im going to be swapping my tanks over this weekend. Currently got a 2ft cube. The new tank is a Rio 400.
Lighting is 4 x t5s all new juwel bulbs but may just run 2.
Substrate I've got 6x9kg bags caribsea eco complete planted and 60kg of jbl river sand. The eco complete will be where most of the plants will be towards the back. The river sand I'm hoping to get some carpeting plants growing in but not sure if it will stay in as it's quite fine and not used anything that fine before.
Got loads of grey pillar rock and some wood to go in.
Filtration I have an FX4 and an all ponds solution ef1400 that is mainly for the inline heater and CO2 inline diffuser. If that isn't working I'll try the ef2 filter booster before going for a reactor.
CO2 5kg bottle.
I've got an additional powerhead that I can add to increase the flow if needed.
I'll be getting a load of plants delivered on Monday so not ideal but I'll be planting them once the tank is filled.
I've got an old profilux that I used for my old marine tank so will probably run that and can control the ph off of that aswell as get a constant read 24hrs a day. I need a new probe though so that's on my list of bits still to get.
Am I missing anythingelse to get it set up though? Any advice is welcome as I'm sure I'll miss something and end up running around trying to find bits last minute

 

[alto]

I strongly encourage planting with minimal water in tank - it's just so much simpler (more efficient, easier to visualize & change what goes where, less mess, less post fill floating, less stressful to livestock ...)

As you didn't mention - planting tweezers/pinsettes

EcoComplete is not an enriched substrate in the manner of the Aquarium Soils - I've always used a nutrient dense base layer such as Tropica Growth Substrate (if you have a banked area, you might layer the GS every 10cm or so)
If you run EC as is, you need to be consistent with water column fertilizers

I'd skip the pH system - except if you want to monitor

Tap water parameters?

With very fine sands, compacting is a consideration so usually this is kept quite shallow & aerated during water changes
A dense carpet with extensive roots can do this to some extent, grasses have good root systems, HC, MC etc won't do much
JBL Sansibar River sand? Or something finer grained?


Tropica's Plant Handling Videos are well worth watching as are their "Inspiration" Layouts
& their 90 Day App is worth following

Provided you have adequate CO2, I'd choose 4 x T5 & shorter lighting period (start with 5 hours) - you don't mention reflectors? - daily fertilizers, decent algae crew (shrimp, snails, Otos), initial dense planting (if possible - if fewer plants, more maintenance attention needed)

What sort of plants?
What fish etc?

 

[Lawrence]

I strongly encourage planting with minimal water in tank - it's just so much simpler (more efficient, easier to visualize & change what goes where, less mess, less post fill floating, less stressful to livestock ...)

As you didn't mention - planting tweezers/pinsettes

EcoComplete is not an enriched substrate in the manner of the Aquarium Soils - I've always used a nutrient dense base layer such as Tropica Growth Substrate (if you have a banked area, you might layer the GS every 10cm or so)
If you run EC as is, you need to be consistent with water column fertilizers

I'd skip the pH system - except if you want to monitor

Tap water parameters?

With very fine sands, compacting is a consideration so usually this is kept quite shallow & aerated during water changes
A dense carpet with extensive roots can do this to some extent, grasses have good root systems, HC, MC etc won't do much
JBL Sansibar River sand? Or something finer grained?


Tropica's Plant Handling Videos are well worth watching as are their "Inspiration" Layouts
& their 90 Day App is worth following

Provided you have adequate CO2, I'd choose 4 x T5 & shorter lighting period (start with 5 hours) - you don't mention reflectors? - daily fertilizers, decent algae crew (shrimp, snails, Otos), initial dense planting (if possible - if fewer plants, more maintenance attention needed)

What sort of plants?
What fish etc?

Thank you for such a detailed reply. I'll try to reply to each point.
I fully agree it is easier to plant dry and depending how I get on this weekend I may end up doing that.
I've got tweezers already for planting.
I'm new to this so not sure what HC, MC is? It is the JBL sansibar river sand I have.
I've watched so many videos online I've forgotten half of what I watched and got confused as they got conflicting with one saying to do one thing and another to say do the opposite. I will look at the 90 day app though.
CO2 I will have to see how it goes but I aim to keep the drop checker lime green. It just how I get to that point. That will be a trial to begin with but got the feeling I will need more than just the inline diffuser.
I've currently got the tropica fertiliser and dose that daily so will probably continue with that for now. I will be getting some snails but mainly going to be focusing on shrimp and otos for clean up crew.
Fish I am just going for small community so mainly types of tetras I think.
Plants I have ordered 3 of each of the below from a group on Facebook. Not sure if I can mention them but it should get me off to a start and then will order more if it's still looking light. I aim to plant quite heavilly to begin with. It may be the second week though before I get the second delivery once I judge how much more I need though.
Monte Carlo, Vallis, Dwarf sag, Anubias petite, Bucephalandra, Bacopa caroliniana, Hygrophila, Java fern, Crypts, Java moss, Moss ball

 

[Angus]

Get more plants than you think you need, i got 200+ plants and 4 1-2-grows for 2 tanks totalling 240L, and it literally was just enough, for a juwel rio 400 you are going to need a big pile of plants.

 

[Lawrence]

Thank you. I'll look more into his posts to see the size of each plant he sends out and may end up ordering more but at £1 each it shouldn't break the bank too much

 

[Angus]

Are they from nick fish by any chance? his plants look pretty decent.

 

[Lawrence]

Are they from nick fish by any chance? his plants look pretty decent.

They are yeah. I can't trust any shops near me as I've been sold so many plants that turned out to be non aquatic in the past. No idea why they do that as I will not buy from them again.

 

[Lawrence]

I strongly encourage planting with minimal water in tank - it's just so much simpler (more efficient, easier to visualize & change what goes where, less mess, less post fill floating, less stressful to livestock ...)

As you didn't mention - planting tweezers/pinsettes

EcoComplete is not an enriched substrate in the manner of the Aquarium Soils - I've always used a nutrient dense base layer such as Tropica Growth Substrate (if you have a banked area, you might layer the GS every 10cm or so)
If you run EC as is, you need to be consistent with water column fertilizers

I'd skip the pH system - except if you want to monitor

Tap water parameters?

With very fine sands, compacting is a consideration so usually this is kept quite shallow & aerated during water changes
A dense carpet with extensive roots can do this to some extent, grasses have good root systems, HC, MC etc won't do much
JBL Sansibar River sand? Or something finer grained?


Tropica's Plant Handling Videos are well worth watching as are their "Inspiration" Layouts
& their 90 Day App is worth following

Provided you have adequate CO2, I'd choose 4 x T5 & shorter lighting period (start with 5 hours) - you don't mention reflectors? - daily fertilizers, decent algae crew (shrimp, snails, Otos), initial dense planting (if possible - if fewer plants, more maintenance attention needed)

What sort of plants?
What fish etc?

I missed the bit about substrate. I was looking at the nutrient dense layer. Is there anything else other than the tropica growth? The only other thing I've seen mentioned is the ADA substrate or aquatic compost. I would like to use a nutrient layer so if I do miss the dosing for a while like holidays etc it won't be too much of an issue.
Ph system is more so I don't go too low. It'll also be nice to have a constant track of it.
Tap water parameters I've got no idea. Not tested in years. I was going to use RO until the beast from the east froze and destroyed my unit. Now I'm just going to use tap but run it through the RO prefilters first to take out larger particles if that's even worth it in not sure but can't hurt.

 

[Angus]

Check your local water provider for an accurate water report, better than your test kits will give.
As far as nutrient base layers go, there is a hell of a lot of choice, Colombo flora nutri base, Tropica plant growth substrate, JBL aqua basis+, JBL proflora, ADA nutrients (expensive), have a look around and see what you like the look of, the sponsors here have plenty of choice. 😉