Juwel Rekord 800

[MrGrumpy]

I've been lurking here for a while. Time to say hi and post a few pictures of my first tank.

This is the tank on a standard coffee table where it sat for a few months while we waited for the stand to be built. We have an old height alcove where we wanted to position the tank and every stand we could find was too tall.

Once the stand arrived two days ago I quickly got it to where it is now, so not many pictures of the whole process I'm afraid. We used John Innes topped with black gravel. The John Innes had been soaked in dechlorinated water for many weeks prior to being put in the tank. I washed the gravel well before adding but inevitably the tank was very murky to start with

48 hours later and the water has cleared up quite a bit and I've stuck a black background on. I've also dropped some rocks and wood in which we purchased months ago before the tank, not decided on if we're going to keep them all. The wood is actually two pieces; one on top of the other.

Plants have been ordered for the tank and will hopefully arrive Monday.

 

[jack-rythm]

what gravel did you use? what was your purpose behind soaking the john innes? what no. john innes did you use?

 

[MrGrumpy]

I originally purchased a bag of this gravel when I got my tank, as it was the only black gravel in stock at the time. I opted for black as I plan on keeping shrimp in the tank and thought it would show off the bright colors of cherry reds. Unfortunately after setting the tank up I didn't have quite enough to cap the soil substrate with a full 1" in all areas so I went to P@H and bought a bag of this.

I chose John Innes No3 as recommended in various places including here. The plan was to have a low tech tank to cut down on maintenance and water changes.

As for the soaking, I remember reading Tom Barr recommending soaking it for a number of weeks, or boiling it in order to allow it to mineralise.

 

[jack-rythm]

Check out my jungle nano link underneath. I use this but not on its own. I used akadama and peat moss. Having just john innes no.3 with shrimp is risky. It may take months for the soil to stop leaching so dramatically into the water. I tried over and over and killed my shrimp every time. Now 5 months old and still seem to have issues with shrimp. On the other hand its the best well kept planted tank I have, having no issues anywhere, plants are loving life so overall happy. Check it out. I cover some substrate issues In my journal.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[MrGrumpy]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll make sure I don't rush to introduce them in that case. Your tanks are great btw

 

[jack-rythm]

Thanks grumps!

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[MrGrumpy]

Turned the tank light on this morning to see if my water was any clearer. Noticed I've got these small white spots on the glass. They look like they're moving - is this a good thing or a bad thing? I've started cycling with a few pinches of fish food so wonder if I've used too much causing a nasty or if this is part of the cycling process?

Very hard to get a focus on these as they're so small.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Had a bit of a delay with the plants due to one being out of stock. They were then supposed to arrive Friday but due to some issues were left outside the wrong house on Friday. A neighbour spotted them today and bought them around and I'm hoping they'll be okay after the cold weather and lack of light.

Planted full tank shot. Bit cloudy due to trying to cycle and got worse as I've disturbed some of the soil substrate.

Eleocharis parvulus (Dwarf hairgrass) which is on the bottom left of the tank

Anubias (Anubias Nana I think) in the middle on either side of the centre rock

Bacopa Monnieri & Hygrophila Angustifolia at the back centre and right

Vallisneria Spiralis on the left and behind the wood (hidden at the moment)

 

[Alastair]

Looking good mate. Be better once the waters cleared. The Anubias though I wouldn't bury it as it will rot and die. Maybe attach it to a small piece of slate
You shouldn't have any issues with the John innes and shrimp if you've allowed it to mineralise before hand and you've capped it too. I put shrimp in my puddle two weeks after setting it up and that has it under a substrate too


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[MrGrumpy]

Exactly the reason I started this as there's so many mistakes to make and learn from, thanks . I've just grabbed the tweezers and pulled them out enough to make sure just the root is buried and not the rhizome.