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Rainbow Forest 105l Aquael Leddy

oatfish

Member
Joined
8 Aug 2007
Messages
86
Hi Everyone! After a 10 year break from the hobby I've bought a cheap tank and I'm back in the game. I didn't want to leave the hobby but I was moving around a lot for work and the addition of 2 kids (now 3 years and 9 months) made it seem impossible.

I'd love to have gone all in on a rimless with suspended light bar but finances and kids don't really allow it. As it is I only really managed to convince the other half that this was a tank for the 3 year old, hence the hideous rainbow although I'd say that was a pretty good compromise, some of the gaudy luminous plastic plant options were top of the 3 year old wish list and I just couldn't let that happen....

Equipment
Aquael Leddy 75 LED Aquarium Set

18w Leddy Retrofit plant LED tube in addition to the LED tube already in the hood. The hood has space for 2 Aquael LED lighting tubes, part of the reason I chose this tank.

Aquael internal filter that came with the tank (Will be removed in time)

100W internal heater (same)

TNC Complete (I'll go dry ferts in time but this is the quickest way for me at the moment)

Flourish Excel

There's currently a Fish R Fun UV steriliser in the tank too due to a pea souper most likely due to fluctuating water parameters and also the introduction of fish much earlier than I normally would. I've been doing 50 percent water changes every 3-4 days to keep the water favourable for everything. We've got really soft water here (KH 1, GH 3) which is great, much easier than doing water changes on my last tank (200l) which I used to use 50 50 tap and rainwater.

Waiting in the wings....

Eheim Pro 3 250 Thermo filter (second hand. I hope it works! )

CO2 Art reg and 600g disposable CO2 with adapter so the reg fits

Dropchecker

The aim is to set up a forest style aquascape that's fairly easy to maintain. To do this I've selected Trident Java fern, Anubias and Bolbitis with crypts, some Vallisneria nana as the background and Hydrocotyle leucocephala as the fast grower at start up and frogbit as the duckweed index indicator.

I've also got a selection of mosses in there (some of which is on bits of wood bobbing about at the surface) and I'll keep the ones I like the best and tie them to wood and the pebbles. There's some algae but it's been manageable. I would have given the glass a clean before photographing but hey ho!

Substrate is play sand as we had 3 sacks in the shed, I need to add a bit more. Root tabs for the Crypts and vallis.

Wood, anubias and crypts are from Jacob Coleman and the pebbles are courtesy of the 3 year olds extensive collection from the local beach.

As mentioned I'm really time poor but hopefully once set up maintainence will be doable. And hopefully I'll maintain this journal too!

Any comments good or bad welcome! But not about the rainbow. That's out of my hands....
 

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Thanks! Hitched up the co2 the other night only to find the adapter was leaking. A replacement is on it's way.
Everything seems ok in the tank, some algae but nothing too bad. I've introduced some blue cherry shrimp who seem happy mooching around. I'm looking forward to setting the lights up on a timer and finally getting the co2 going!
It's slowly going in the right direction.
After some thought I'm going to do moss covered pebbles ( probably Fissidens fontanus) using a bath puff mesh. I've used this method before and it works really well. I've yet to decide which moss to tie to the wood!
 
It's slowly filling in and I've added 10 Alder cones to stain the water for the 16 green neons which I recieved today. They look happy already, exploring the tank. The 10 Harlequins initially looked annoyed at having to share their tank but everyone seems happy now!
I've still been having huge issues with my CO2. Basically it's been leaking badly and I've an ongoing saga with CO2 supermarket's advance adaptor. Once that's resolved I'll post more about my issues. It's been very frustrating.
Anyway, on a positive note, I gave the rainbow a clean and stood it upright 😁
I do have an overall vision for the tank but I think it'll be achieved by a circuitous route where time allows.
So far I like the direction it's going in.
 

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Quick update! Lots of algae growth but also lots of plant growth. Still no co2 hooked up but I really like it so far.
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I've actually just chucked a lot of plant out there was so much growth!

It's still far off what I want it to be, but it's slowly getting there. The afro moss is growing well and hopefully soon I'll get around to making moss covered pebbles to dot about.
 
Looks good :)
As it is I only really managed to convince the other half that this was a tank for the 3 year old, hence the hideous rainbow although I'd say that was a pretty good compromise
You're forgiven ;)
 
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