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APS 90 litre

Derek Tweedie

Derek Tweedie

Member
Joined
19 Jun 2011
Messages
188
Location
Edinburgh
Hi guys Thought I would start a new journal since I got a nice tank for Christmas. The tank is an All Pond Solutions 90 litre.
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Note to people looking at getting one of these put the filter in the cabinet before you place the tank as it doesn't fit through two doors,luckily the tank was empty.

SPECS
APS 1000 lph external
5x25 watt T5 (although it says 4 on the website.)
Here is what I put in it,
10kg of TGM Blue Stone
Redmoor root
2 pices of Sumatra Drift Root
12.5kg of Limpopo sand.

Here are a couple of shots. Comments and suggestions welcome.
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I'm unsure of the two stones on the left hand side. The one at the back to square to me.
The piece of wood on the left should be deeper in the sand too. I may try and get more elevation on the right hand side too, but I will wait till I get some feedback.

Trying to make it look like a tree with the roots breaking through the rocks.

I've been looking at getting a CO2 system and I have been looking at this
TMC expert co2 sets | UK Aquatic Plant Society
But I don't know how long it would last?

Prospective Plant List
Marsilea hirsuta
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'(for the Redmoor)
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya' (for the base of the Redmoor)
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae
And some moss of some kind for the Sumatra wood.

What do you guys think?
 
These are nice tanks, I have the 4' model.
I think you might be missing the brackets that support the lights against the top rim per the pic below from APS web page.
These should make the supports much more robust and keep them square.

apsbrackets.jpg


Ref the hardscape, can I suggest that you maybe stack some of the rocks against each other to give a higher, more 3D structure, leaving more room for plants in the substrate.
Plant list sounds like a good start, I'd maybe add a couple of bunch plants like rotala, etc.
Cheers
 
Thanks DTL I will get onto them about those brackects. I have found that the customer service which I have received from them has been absolutely excellent.

I have some totals in another tank which I can put in the tank at the moment.
 
Nice Christmas present! Sock and boxer shorts for me again 🙄 What do you mean the filter doesn't fit through the doors, how do you get it out to maintain? From inside the cabinet?
I've seen a few posts about APS tanks and cabinets and they seem to have a few strange quirks!
 
There is a support in the middle for the doors to shut to. I guess I will find out in a few months time how easy it is to clean. Fingers crossed it shouldn't be to hard.
 
So how did you get it in in the first place?
 
Hmmm another strange quirk for APS tanks! Something's not been thought through here 🙂 I saw another thread where the pipework was a non standard diameter and need reducers to make things fit. Obviously there was a meeting where someone suggested making pipe work that didn't fit the vast majority of aquarium products and a filter you cant' get out the cabinet while the tank was on full of water and no one picked up on it!

Apologies for that hijack 🙂 Have you decided on your plants yet?
 
I have its on the first post,but I forgot to add Blyxa. I have moved some of the stuff around and raised the back right corner up. Will put up a pic once the dust settles.
 
Derek Tweedie said:
There is a support in the middle for the doors to shut to. I guess I will find out in a few months time how easy it is to clean. Fingers crossed it shouldn't be to hard.
Click to expand...

I don't have an APS tank but I have recently just had to change my cabinet as my filter was inaccessible from the front due to the same reason. I would advise changing ASAP so you can maintain easier.
 
AverageWhiteBloke said:
Hmmm another strange quirk for APS tanks! Something's not been thought through here 🙂 I saw another thread where the pipework was a non standard diameter and need reducers to make things fit. Obviously there was a meeting where someone suggested making pipe work that didn't fit the vast majority of aquarium products and a filter you cant' get out the cabinet while the tank was on full of water and no one picked up on it!

Apologies for that hijack 🙂 Have you decided on your plants yet?
Click to expand...

I emailed them about their flimsey filter intake and spray bar. I did not get a responce that suggested they were going to improve them!
 
Been a while since I posted here, Due to lack of funds I have had to wait to get my plants,which should be here in the next couple days 🙂. I emailed APS about the missing parts and they sent me out some without complaint.

I have had the tank running for a while now and put some plants in to tic me over till my order comes. Put a small portion of Pogostemon erectus in the middle back only a couple of stems though. On the back right I have a cluster of Rotala rotundifolia which has just been trimmed. In front that I have my tiger lotus, I have found that you can remove the plant from the bulb so I have about five plants now. I will add a pic when my light comes on.

Got three Ottos in at the moment plus two Amanos and two RCS. The reason there are only two RCS is trying to get some nice young from them both are very red. going to add more Ottos and Amanos think I will be happy with about ten of each. Just to keep things tidy.

Almost forgot to add my plant list, its been fiddled a bit.
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya'
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Fissidens fontanusfontanus
Vallisneria spiralis 'Tiger'
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'
Anubias bonsai

Comments and suggestions always welcome
 
Got my plants yesterday with no complications. The Vallis tiger wasn't in stock so they added nana instead. Got a few shots for you guys.

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The Rotala has had a couple of trims trying to get it bushy.

I think a lot of these plants were grown emersed. The Crypt and Hydrocotyle looked a bit funny
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I think I would have been there all day if I was to plant each individual plant. So I separated the pot into five.

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I managed to get nine plants out of one crypt pot. The bonsai is bigger than I expected but I can live with it.

DSCF5414_zps5cbf5f28.jpg
I take the Java fern will eventually turn to the light it looks to be all over the place at the moment.

DSCF5411_zpsbbe6388b.jpg
Just a wee side view shot, you can see the Vallis behind the wood just of centre. Dunno if its getting enough light, I went for a few species that I haven't kept before (Fissidens fontanus) and species I have failed at growing in the past (Vallis Sp.)

DSCF5400_zps4e105fb8.jpg
Here's the full tank shot.
 
Are those bubbles on the far left the CO2? The furthest away from any plant? Where it all just evaporates out the window?

Wouldn't it be better to have the CO2 on the far right, the closest to the most number of plants, with the bubbles getting trapped below and having more time to dissolve in the vicinity of the plants?

Also, the spraybar flow will probably soon be disrupted by the Ferns and Vallis as they grow up, so it might have been better to have it either mounted on the back wall or on the left wall.

Also, you have the heater out in full view which will annoy most viewers. Why not move it to the right corner behind the ferns.

Were you worried about whether Vallis has enough light? I would personally worry more about whether Vallis had enough CO2, then it will not care how much light it has.

Cheers,
 
Thanks Ceg. That's just an air pump I had some surface scum so I used it for disturbance. I see your point with the spray bar which is no great deal to shift, water change day tomorrow so I can shift it then.

I currently don't have a dosing regime was thinking about trying EI. Also was gonna try jack-rythms carbonated water trick to see if that had an affect on the plants.

Still undecided
 
Derek Tweedie said:
Thanks Ceg. That's just an air pump I had some surface scum so I used it for disturbance. I see your point with the spray bar which is no great deal to shift, water change day tomorrow so I can shift it then.

I currently don't have a dosing regime was thinking about trying EI. Also was gonna try jack-rythms carbonated water trick to see if that had an affect on the plants.

Still undecided
Click to expand...
It's actually Takashi amanos technique not mine but cheers for the credit 🙂

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
There is absolutely no point using an air pump while the lights are on. The bubbles will degas CO2 and whatever oxygen the plants manage to produce with the reduce CO2 level will also be degassed, so you will defeat the purpose of CO2. Use the pump at night if you must.

If you don't have a dosing regime you are advised to get one, quick.

Cheers,
 
ceg4048 said:
There is absolutely no point using an air pump while the lights are on. The bubbles will degas CO2 and whatever oxygen the plants manage to produce with the reduce CO2 level will also be degassed, so you will defeat the purpose of CO2. Use the pump at night if you must.
Click to expand...
I know its pointless using an air pump but could you explain why its only pointless using it when the lights are on? I know that they dont do what people belive tey do but I have never looked into the reasonings
 
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