Juwel Rio 300 A New Beginning

[Timms2011]

Quick Picture update.

Just a quick pick taken from my iphone. The plants look somewhat disorganised, but thats okay with me as I'm no gardener. The main thing is the fish are happy

 

[Antipofish]

It looks awesome. For newbies on here, it would be very helpful if you could match the above with a plan saying what each plant is. Just write it on some paper and take a pic of it, nothing fancy. What you reckon ? I love the tall thin leafed plant in the middle but cannot tell what it is at this res,as with the one at the far right... is it an aponogeton ?

 

[Timms2011]

It looks awesome. For newbies on here, it would be very helpful if you could match the above with a plan saying what each plant is. Just write it on some paper and take a pic of it, nothing fancy. What you reckon ? I love the tall thin leafed plant in the middle but cannot tell what it is at this res,as with the one at the far right... is it an aponogeton ?

Hiya AntipoFish, sorry for the late reply, I'm in the middle of decorating my new place so I haven't had the time to come on UKAPS. My Aquarium is still up and running, but in need of a major trim as I've noticed that despite the 2 externals and the internal circulation pump the dense plants are really slowing down the flow and circulation, so a major trim is in the pipeline. I've also noticed the Moss I attached to the redmoore root has detached itself as I've not been cutting it back as I used to. On the whole its still running pretty nicely, apart from the Japonica uprooted itself, so I replanted it all along the front, which was my intention from the beginning I just never had enough of it to go around. As for drawing out a picture of what plants are where I will have to do this once I put down the paint brushes as i've loads to do and so little time to do it in. The tall leafed plant in the middle is Cyperus helferi and the one in front of this is staurogyne repens which i've ripped out now. The one you are referring to on the back far right is echinodorus martii which grows enormous, so regular trimming is required. Hope this helps a little and I'll sort out that drawing when I get a minute or two. Thanks.

 

[Timms2011]

After lots and lots of consideration I finally made the decision to take down my aquarium, mainly due to the fact that I have so little time these days to look after it the way I have done in the past. The plants were growing so tall and thick it was disrupting the flow inside the tank, in turn that was causing an out break of this long stringy green algae, which wasn't a major problem as I only had to pull one end of it and it would all come out in one piece. I also started to skip water changes as they seemed to be a major chore. So last night I decided to put my aquarium on flea-bay, I was just one click away, then I thought I would just play about with the hardscape one last time before I clicked that button....... As I was doing this It came to me, I haven't yet tried a low maintenance biotope, this would be perfect for the time I have to spend maintaining my aquarium "just when I thought i was out, they drag me back in" springs to mind! So now I'm delighted to say I'm very excited about my new project, any tips or links to a Biotope journal will be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Timms2011]

 

[Timms2011]

Obviously needs allot of work in terms of hardscape design, however this gave me the idea. Ultimately I would like to have the redmoore root descending down from the top of the aquarium to the bottom. I would like some water lilies on the surface with maybe some needle leaf java fern attached to the redmoore root. Sand for the substrate with various rocks scattered along the base. Very basic, but very much Looking forward to it

 

[scuttler]

Interesting read. I seem to have gone the other way (low-->high tech), and your tank given me some excellent ideas for my new tank. Looking forward to see what you can do with a basic setup

thanks

 

[Ady34]

any tips or links to a Biotope journal will be appreciated!

Peruvian #biotope? | UK Aquatic Plant Society
SA Bio type ideas? | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Lake Inle Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
60cm - Liberty Island (Cenotes biotope) | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Rio Negro biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Cambodia Blackwater Pool Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
A Great British Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Andrew's Chocolate Gourami Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Theres a few for you to peruse Some of them do contain plants but thought id link them anyway. Maybe my favourite and something which you could recreate with your wood is the Cambodia blackwater pool...very nice and no plants. George did another one fairly recently which was featured in PFK, with angels and rummy noses, again without plants, just wood, sand and leaf litter....cant find the link for that one just now, but its another idea worth considering.
Shame mate as your planted tank was a picture of health....but better to try your hand at something less demanding of your time than leave the hobby altogether
Keep us posted.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Timms2011]

Peruvian #biotope? | UK Aquatic Plant Society
SA Bio type ideas? | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Lake Inle Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
60cm - Liberty Island (Cenotes biotope) | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Rio Negro biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Cambodia Blackwater Pool Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
A Great British Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society
Andrew's Chocolate Gourami Biotope | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Theres a few for you to peruse Some of them do contain plants but thought id link them anyway. Maybe my favourite and something which you could recreate with your wood is the Cambodia blackwater pool...very nice and no plants. George did another one fairly recently which was featured in PFK, with angels and rummy noses, again without plants, just wood, sand and leaf litter....cant find the link for that one just now, but its another idea worth considering.
Shame mate as your planted tank was a picture of health....but better to try your hand at something less demanding of your time than leave the hobby altogether
Keep us posted.
Cheerio,
Ady.

Thanks you very much for all these links Ady, It was my wife who suggested I find the time to keep my Aquarium, she really got involved with the last one and believes it was strange to have a 350l aquarium in a one bedroom flat in the first place, but now we've moved to a house where we can now accommodate the Aquariums size, I feel I have to get rid of it We're now thinking Discus fish, but I'm not so sure 350l will be enough to house these, I'll have to do some research! Thanks again and keep up your excellent work... that aquarium of yours looks awesome!

 

[Timms2011]

Interesting read. I seem to have gone the other way (low-->high tech), and your tank given me some excellent ideas for my new tank. Looking forward to see what you can do with a basic setup

thanks

Thanks for taking the time to read my Journal, I'm glad it gave you a some ideas, I would like it to be basic and thats the plan, however theres something lurking inside me that say theres a small chance i'm gonna be tempted to go back to a high tech aquarium again, we shall see! I'm looking forward to seeing how your aquarium turns out, keep us posted

 

[Ady34]

No probs mate and thanks.
I reckon 350l is ample for a group of 6 (long term). You could get 8 juveniles and grow them on and maybe look to re-home 2 at a later date, although recent articles in PFK by reputable discus guys suggest 8 would be fine in this volume.
Maybe not 100% biotope specific, but Jeff Senske did an amazing Discus tank with just wood hardscape and sand substrate. I wont spam your journal with the image, but i linked it in my current 'sticks and stones' journal (page 1 or 2, cant remember)......more food for thought
Good luck.