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Rio 125 Rock & HC scape

Re: Let the journal begin!

myboyshay said:
Don't know how I missed this but the hardscape looks amazing, can't wait to see it planted.

I was a little unsure about using the one plant (hairgrass in my case) but now it's growing in I really like the look of it.

Mine is 4 weeks old now and I've had no major algae issues (I clean the rocks a couple of times a week with a toothbrush dipped in Easycarbo), I did a 50% water change every day for the first 2 weeks and every other day for the other 2 and I'll gradually bring it down to once a week. Hope this helps if you decide against the dry start method.

Another little tip you might find useful:
If you want a nice thin straight substrate line at the front I would make it about a centimetre less than you want. I initially made mine 3cm and it's now 4 since the shrimp have pushed that much forward, if I new this would have been the case I would of made it 2cm initially.

Good luck with the planting, really looking forward to this one :thumbup:

Mark
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Thanks for the tips Mark, I love the toothbrush dipped in easycarbo, genius. I will be prpbably be doing the same W/C regeim also for the first 4 weeks to minamize algae, how were you dosing ferts... was it w/c in the morning and then ferts or the other way round because doing such frequent water changes my limit the ferts the are in the water.
 
Re: Let the journal begin!

how were you dosing ferts... was it w/c in the morning and then ferts or the other way round because doing such frequent water changes my limit the ferts the are in the water.
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I dosed just after W/C in the morning so it was roughly 24hrs between W/C and dosing (3ml Brighty K and 3ml Easy carbo at the minute)

Mark
 
Re: Let the journal begin!

I think you've got the hardscape well laid out, it'll be interest to see how the lights+plants enhance the look.

I've had this style of tank on my "wish list" for a while. Maybe the boss will let me have more space so i can get another tank! :lol:

You can add me to the list of people who can't wait to see the next pics. :thumbup:
 
Re: Let the journal begin!

Hey guys, I had some spare time on my hand so I thought it would be a good idea to post pics. As I have mentioned before I am starting dry method with the HC which was salvaged from my previous tank and up until now I was cultivating it for this tank and no I have enough so I planted it. Its been a week since planting and the HC is looking very green and no sign of deterioration I am running the 4 T8 tubes 6 hours a day and misting daily with de-chlorinated tap water. I have used a different camera this time round and I am messing with it to try and get the most like for like pictures as the first ones I believe were a bit on the red side.
I think the colour of the rock is more true in this picture.
tank1x.jpg

But I think the second pics looks more natural.
tank2i.jpg


Any way all criticism welcome.

Vito
 
Re: Let the journal begin!

OK another update guys, I have since filled the tank and no algae issues or plant problems so far. I have been doing weekly water changes and I have alot of co2 going in to give the HC the best chance, I have introduced 40 or so cherry shrimps, and I only had one casualty and I just spotted one caring a bunch of eggs. I sometimes find small bit of HC floating around probably due to the shrimps digging around but that the only snag.
I borrowed a camera (Olympus E-500) to try and get some better shots but I'm new to that side of technology so still learning.
Any way enjoy the pics.
angle1.jpg


fullshot.jpg


lefttoright.jpg


Any comments welcomed,

Vito
 
I really like it! Some moss between the rocks I think would be a nice touch. I'd love to see a pale background, black makes things seem so oppressive.
 
Garuf said:
I really like it! Some moss between the rocks I think would be a nice touch. I'd love to see a pale background, black makes things seem so oppressive.
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its the new regieme :lol:
 
Garuf said:
I really like it! Some moss between the rocks I think would be a nice touch. I'd love to see a pale background, black makes things seem so oppressive.
Click to expand...

Good idea mate, I am hoping for the HC to grow through but its a slow process, failing tht a few rocks with moss will be plan B. I will try some different backgrounds next time, Jazz it up a bit.
 
Spiky moss would be my moss of choice for it, a lot of amano's scapes use moss in them in their iwagumis and Jason baliban has a scape with moss in it in a classical iwagumi that's breath taking.
 
Hey everyone,
I have been toying with the tank seeing what make the HC grow best and I have recently moved the diffuser from under the intake over to the opposite side of the tank with the outlet blowing in its direction, again this has only been setup like this for 3 days no major changes yet. I have ordered an inline co2 diffuser but it probably wont be here for another 3 weeks so i will report once its installed.
You may see in the pic there is a stick with a white piece on the end sticking out of the middle, well the reason is the HC wasn't rooting down so I have added this to aid it and I will remove it end of next week as it should of anchored itself to the substrate.
still no fish as I want the HC to cover 99% and establish well. The pics show its strengths and weaknesses, as you will see the front is growing no problem and the top back is doing great and I believe its because it is far closer to the light, which is giving me the idea to upgrade my lighting i am having a much slower growth at the sides and again I suspect the lighting as its probably not as powerful at the sides as in the middle, again another reason to upgrade lighting.
any way all seems well and plants are a nice lush green, enjoy the pics.

front2u.jpg

peaks.jpg

sidem.jpg


Thanks for reading,

Vito
 
Hey Vito, it's looking good once it has filled out it'll look great.

have you thought about some hair grass, as a highlight?

I find with my rio 125 and the standard t5 lights that the corners seem considerably darker than the middle. I think that once you get the CO2 sorted the growth will improve. How long has it been going? have you ordered the up co2 atomiser? I can definitely recommend it. sorry I'm being a bit lazy but what filter are you using? have you tried the spray bar?

Chris
 
Hi Chris, firstly thanks for the compliment and yes I have orderd the UP Co2 atomizer thingy, I have 4xT8's on my tank as its the older version rio 125, I am running a TTEX1200 and I will be reinstalling the spraybar if I dont see a vast improvement, the only reason I use the outlet I have now is because its less visible in my opinion but I dont think its as effective. what do you think?
 
Vito said:
Hi Chris, firstly thanks for the compliment and yes I have orderd the UP Co2 atomizer thingy, I have 4xT8's on my tank as its the older version rio 125, I am running a TTEX1200 and I will be reinstalling the spraybar if I dont see a vast improvement, the only reason I use the outlet I have now is because its less visible in my opinion but I dont think its as effective. what do you think?
Click to expand...

yeah I have the spraybar on mine (also tetratech 1200) and it is unsightly I wish there was a solution that worked well, looked nice, wasn't fragile and didn't cost loads. we live in hope. 🙄 I must say that the growth on mine has improved significantly since switching to the spraybar and the up co2 atomiser. it turns out that all diffusers are NOT equal :lol:

Merry Christmas

Chris
 
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