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easiest planted setup for rio 125?

plantnoob

Member
Joined
27 Apr 2010
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502
im trying to get some advice for my missus' friend who wants a planted tank . she got the tank 2nd hand with some plants already in it , along with a serious algae infestation . i did ask in the algae section and got some advice to help her bring it around , but she has said she wants to start again from scratch .

tank specs : juwel rio125 , standard juwel internal filter juwel lights with reflectors . pretty sure her substrate is quartz gravel .

there are some dead spots with the juwel internal , so i would say she will want a powerhead . after that i really dont know what to recomend to her , wether she should use liquid carbon or not , what ferts if any ?

other than maybe java fern im a bit stumped as to plants that she would be ok with . ive had a little look through the search function , but im not really sure what to look for :) any help /suggestions gratefully received
 
Crypts, echinodorus, vallis, fast growing stems like cabomba, rotala, elodea etc., anubias... My brain has stopped working now. Hahaha.
Floating plants are a good idea too. Keeps light nice and low to try and avoid the need to have liquid co2 and/or ferts. Plus the fish like it and it can look pretty cool. :)
 
A lot depends on how much they want to spend!

Starting from the bottom I'd go for a better substrate than quartz - if your rich go for something like ADA Amazonia, if you're trying to keep it cheap go with something like molar clay.
If you've only got an internal filter I suspect the water turnover wouldn't be enormously high so I'd keep it quite "low-tech" with the most forgiving plants that need lower light levels,
but balance it with something that grows relatively quickly to out compete the algae.

Liquid Carbon - I've used Flourish Excel in the past with some success - I now follow CEGs path and use EI dosing with what started out as a starter kit from one of our forum sponsors:
Ei Starter Kit - Starter Kits - Dry Chemicals - Fertilisers

Oh - and I second the suggestions for suitable plants made by Claire by the way!
 
ive reccomended the liquid carbon to her ,also to try and improve her flow/circulation . aquasoil wont really be an option though , as she already has fish , and i can say with total certainty that she will not be willing to let them go then restock later . maybe some root tabs or similar could be an option ? i really need to know what her budget is as this will help with any advice you guys can offer .

i have also of course suggested the very best thing that she can do..................... join ukaps ! ;)

re the dosing , i thought ei was more geared to high tech co2 injected tanks ? well if thats the case that it can be used , i have got the exact kit you linked to , so i guess i could mix her up a bottle of macro and 1 of micro
 
EI is increasing the amount of work quite a lot for someone who just wants something pretty to look at. Stick some TNC root tabs in the gravel as they contain N, P and K. Keep stocking levels at a level high enough to provide for the plants and if necessary, dose with something like TNC lite to give trace.
 
i would deffinately say she fell into the "just wanting something pretty" category claire .
 
EI is increasing the amount of work quite a lot for someone who just wants something pretty to look at. Stick some TNC root tabs in the gravel as they contain N, P and K. Keep stocking levels at a level high enough to provide for the plants and if necessary, dose with something like TNC lite to give trace.

^^What she said +1
:)

If you could convince them to do more frequent water changes like 10-20% that would actually save time in the long run maybe?
 
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