First timer tank 180 Litres...

[niru]

Hi All

been here for a little time now, and thought I ought to share some of the developments of my first ever tank. Its a Juwel Rio 180. I had absolutely Zero idea about running a tank, except for some James Bond movie (the villan has a shark tank he uses to his whims and enemy elimination??). Then one day my wife got a small 50 litre fish tank with a few goldfish from some university student, idea that our son will get to know some "respect nature/wildlife" lessons at home 8)

Anyway that was our 1st ever encounter. Of course it wasnt a cold water tank & had 5 goldfish with 1 bristlenose pleco etc.. Checked a little lfs nearby, and ended up with another pleco (algae cleaner, the man said). Poor goldfish dies in a matter of a month or 2. I feld really sad and criminal for this, and gave away the plastci planted tank with 2 plecos to some more informed family with fish experience.

But all this made me very interested in fishy business.. and thinking that fish ought to live in an environment thats natural and exciting to them. Of course blue/red sand, disco lights with air-stones and pirate ships arent their taste (hopefully ), so having real plants was the way to go. I went to a better LFS and got a Rio 180. Being a newbie, got everything the lfs sold me which was essentially a bunch of algae killing chemicals, etc.. mostly for fish only aquarium stuff (this I realised later on..). Fortunately I had Dennerle soil (with Bacter 100 - like stuff) and ordinary aquarium gravel.

I had no fertilizers apart from some tabs, had no idea of light--CO2--ferts etc.. Though I read on web about the Nitrogen cycle and went accordingly. But I went for a fishless cycle (not the dry start stuff which I would definitely do so the next time), test kits, and all sort of stuff that UKAPS members routinely rubbish (& rightly so) :silent:

Only after a few months I got hold of UKAPS, and times have never been better!

So now I have a fully automated EI dosing, ~2 wpg, pressuried CO2, etc.. and a steady increase of plants (& fish). I am aware that the tank is not upto mark yet.. but hey, thats reasonably OK for a total beginner.. A lot of you guys have been helping, and the forum is a jolly good place to stroll your afternoons & office hours

So below are some snaps of my tank. Any suggestions, comments, criticisms etc are most welcome; I look forward to these..

August 2010:

Sept 2010:

Nov 2010:

Feb 2011:

March 2011:

April 2011:

--Thanks for your patience...

niru

 

[chilled84]

Your doing well, Congrats.

 

[spyder]

Of course blue/red sand, disco lights with air-stones and pirate ships arent their taste (hopefully ), so having real plants was the way to go.

I remember having the same conversation with the new gf at the time of discussing a tank.

Tank is looking good, plants are looking nice and healthy. Makes me want to get a move on with my Rio 125 that is sitting with hardscape in place although funds are holding up the Co2 and external filter purchases.

Edit. Nice to see the label came off the tank. Looks better without it.

 

[George Farmer]

Great-looking tank, especially for a first timer!

I can see this being an 'evolver', gradually evolving as you become more experienced with the plants and what you want to achieve from an aesthetic perspective.

 

[niru]

Many Thanks Spyder, Chilled84 and George! Encouraging words always..... well encourage to do something better.

Any ideas for scaping? I was thinking of plants-only with a U-like (more like a Nike correct tickmark) arrangement of plants left-2-right, with a gentle sloping down in front (at right) and steeper sloping at left-front.

I gave up HC (3 attempts) or Lilaeopsis Brasilianese (1 attempt) carpeting. Saw a new grass recently and have planted it in the hope of success..

Thanks for looking.