Vision 180- Nature style Riverbank

[Anonymous]

Hi guys this is my first journal for an aquascape as I'm relatively new to the internet forum, however I've found other peoples journals interesting and useful for picking up tips and advice so giving it a go myself.
In the whole of it im a complete novice with regards to aquascaping but played around with my last two tanks a lot and done a lot of reading. This is my second go with this tank and I'm also upgrading to 'high-tech' for the first time so any advice/ criticism along the way is more than welcome. It will more than likely be needed!

Set-up;

Juwel Vission 180 (40 Gal, 92 x 41 x 55 cm).
Lighting: Juwel Highlight T-5 light ibar 2x36W with an additional T8 Arcadia 36W ultra seal light unit (mid-day siesta for 90 minutes).
Filtration: Tetra-tec Ext 1200 filter (that currently leaks!!!). *Replacement been sent out free of charge.
Substrate: Old ADA Amazonian aqua soil from my last scape.
CO2 system: will be 2x 2litre yeast bottles connected to one Rhinox 2000 diffuser with a T-valve (this is the first time I'm trying this out so don't know how it will go.
*Upgraded to CO2 injection.
Ferts: Going to try EI dry salts.
*Cooked/ chard a bag of old plant cuttings for a bottom substrate fertilizer.
Water changes 50% weakly with either rain water or tap water.
sterilizer Vecton 200 UV water sterilizer run on the same time scale as the lighting system, so 10 hours a day.

Fauna Ottos, Amano shrimp and a large shoal of something.

Flora I'm looking to buy from the Green Machine. *purchased
Foreground; Glossostigma elatinoides, Echinodorus tenellus, and Eleocharis parvula.
middle ground; A lot of Narrow leaf Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'), Anubius Nana, Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica', Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green', and Bolbitis heudelotii.
Background: Vallisneria nana, Rotala sp.'green', Ludwigia arcuata, Heteranthera zosterifolia.

Vission 180

Current Hardscape- Stone to come

Updated hard scape in paint (Limited at the moment- need to find some good stone);

Flora so far...
1. Rotula sp.'green'
2. Vallisneria nana
3.Echinodorus tenellus
4. Glossostigma elatinoides
5.Eleocharis parvula
6.Echinodorous tenellus, or an alternitive
7.Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green'
8.Cryptocoryne wedtii 'Tropica'
9.Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'
10. Bolbitis heudelotii
11. Ludwigia arcuata

 

[Fred Dulley]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

DIY wont cut it on this size tank I'm afraid. Especially if you up the stock lighting (2x36W can grow any plant with good CO2+nutrients. Hence you dont need another light unit). CO2 will be unstable and probably too low, therefore algae
The king british product only contains trace elements. You'll be needing macro nutrients as well which are more important.
I'd be looking at increasing the flow as well. Maybe add a 900lph powerhead (Koralis nano).
Sorry to throw a spanner into the works but I'd hate you to be plagued with algae which could knock your confidence for the future.

 

[eternal optimist]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

nice board behind the tank, spend a bit of time in the water myself when i get the chance. wheres your local?

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

nice board behind the tank, spend a bit of time in the water myself when i get the chance. wheres your local?

That's a spider A1 I picked up in Durban RSA a few years ago.. (£160 for a board straight out of the factory and worth around £360, with a leash, board bag and a couple of Tshits and wax thrown in too.!) Grabbed a few and brought them home! Awesome time out there.. Local on the Pembrokeshire coast but been living in Devon for the past four years, but back home for the summer now. How about yourself?

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

DIY wont cut it on this size tank I'm afraid. Especially if you up the stock lighting (2x36W can grow any plant with good CO2+nutrients. Hence you dont need another light unit). CO2 will be unstable and probably too low, therefore algae
The king british product only contains trace elements. You'll be needing macro nutrients as well which are more important.
I'd be looking at increasing the flow as well. Maybe add a 900lph powerhead (Koralis nano).
Sorry to throw a spanner into the works but I'd hate you to be plagued with algae which could knock your confidence for the future.

Thanks for the advice Fred. Regarding Marco nutrients, don't they develop themselves from debris breaking down in the tank and bacteria converting it into Nitrates and Phosphates? Or is there anything extra I need to add?
Also how would the power head assist the set up (do you mean for the C02 diffusion or?).

 

[Fred Dulley]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

Nitrates and phosphates do exist that way but in a high light tank they are used up very quickly. Therefore you need to dose them yourself. In a low light tank you could depend on the N+P being produced biologically.
The powerhead aids CO2 diffusion but also in delivering nutrients to the plants at quick rates as well as eliminating areas of low flow which the plants wouldnt take kindly too but algae would.

 

[chilled84]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

Do i see a surf board behind that tank!? You near the coast? Im south devon myself.

 

[eternal optimist]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

more interested in the surf board haha

 

[Mortis]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

As mentioned due to the lack of pressurised CO2 cut down on the light and supplement the DIY by dosing liquid carbon.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

Nitrates and phosphates do exist that way but in a high light tank they are used up very quickly. Therefore you need to dose them yourself. In a low light tank you could depend on the N+P being produced biologically.
The powerhead aids CO2 diffusion but also in delivering nutrients to the plants at quick rates as well as eliminating areas of low flow which the plants wouldnt take kindly too but algae would.

Cheers Fred, so the increased water movement increases CO2 diffusion in general, or is there a way to connect my CO2 source to the power head?
Im skeptical about it increasing CO2 diffusion through increasing the water movement as it creates a large surface area in the tank (through creating ripples on the surface water) for Co2 to diffuse out and O2 inwards (surface water surface area is the main factor effecting transfer of gasses in and out of a water body I believe).? (never used one of these power heads before).

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

As mentioned due to the lack of pressurised CO2 cut down on the light and supplement the DIY by dosing liquid carbon.

Is there no way of increasing the DIY CO2, or even using a couple of CO2 ladders instead or glass diffusers..? (liquid CO2 seems expensive in the long run).

 

[Fred Dulley]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

We don't connect CO2 to the powerheads. Just use them to increase water movement around the tank. In doing so CO2 is better distributed which benefits the plants. Surface agitation does drive of CO2 so we dont want to "break" the surface as it were. Ripples are what we want on the surface as this aids good gas exchange.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

Nitrates and phosphates do exist that way but in a high light tank they are used up very quickly. Therefore you need to dose them yourself. In a low light tank you could depend on the N+P being produced biologically.
The powerhead aids CO2 diffusion but also in delivering nutrients to the plants at quick rates as well as eliminating areas of low flow which the plants wouldnt take kindly too but algae would.

Cheers Fred, so the increased water movement increases CO2 diffusion in general, or is there a way to connect my CO2 source to the power head?
Im skeptical about it increasing CO2 diffusion through increasing the water movement as it creates a large surface area in the tank (through creating ripples on the surface water) for Co2 to diffuse out and O2 inwards (surface water surface area is the main factor effecting transfer of gasses in and out of a water body I believe).? (never used one of these power heads before).

Excuse my ignorance on this one Fred, Ive never run a fully high-tech tank before and wasn't quite sure how these powerheads worked but I completely see what you mean now. Cheers for the advice!

 

[Johno2090]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

You should have a look at this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7696

I've just bought and setup my own pressurised CO2 as per that thread and its working great and cost next to nothing! Its great compared to DIY co2!

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

You should have a look at this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7696

I've just bought and setup my own pressurised CO2 as per that thread and its working great and cost next to nothing! Its great compared to DIY co2!

Brilliant addition Johno- think I might go ahead with this! ..Was in the process of designing a 'high-tech' DIY CO2 yeast system!! ha but this seems a little bit more practical and less mess (although I might do the yeast one for fun too as I like experimenting!). ..Think CO2 injection is the final step towards a high tech planted tank for me which I never imagined having as Ive always thought Id DIY yeast it every time (once pointed a desk lamp at the bottom of a yeast bottle and had what appeared to be pressurized CO2 coming out of the diffuser for 2 weeks straight!! be careful if you try this!!). .
..Out of curiosity, how long does the welding cylinder last you? I have a 180l so might have to up the pressure a bit.

Cheers for the link!

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

Okay, over the past week Ive been searching around for various bits and pieces for my new tank. I've purchased all the components for the CO2 thread above (including glass diffuser and bubble counter from Aquatic Magic) so I finally have a full on high-tech tank! which I'm pretty happy about as I never really expected to have CO2 injection or achieve a fully high tech tank.
So I currently have a new Tetratec EX1200 from Germany (hopefully this one will live a bit longer!!), some light reflectors, UV sterilizer, Hydor Koralia nano, a CO2 injection system in the post, and then all the obvious bits.

My plants have also arrived from The Green Machine;
Vallisneria nana
Cryptocoryne Tropica
Cryptocoryne Green
Echinodorus Tenellus
Rotala sp Green
Glossostigma
Microsorum Pteropus Narrow
Bolbitis Heudelotii
Weeping moss

Many of which I haven't used before so might be asking for advice (such as Bolbitis Heudelotii & Cryptocoryne Tropica).

I have also reinforced a very flimsy Ikea coffee table with metal brackets on the legs and a central brick tower underneath so I dont get 40 gallons of water flooding my room. We'll see how this one goes.

Most of the hard scape Ive collected has been from a local wood where I found a diversity of rocks and mosses (leaving the mosses out as I don't think they would cope with the temperature in my tank.. But the place is awesome. The wood is like a rain forest!

Today I've been busy preparing and building up the tank. I'm not a very experience aquascaper and always looking at T'Amano, George Farmers etc tanks in admiration. I remember setting up my first tank in 2005 and seeing some of his smaller ones then and trying to imitate then (the ones with the riccia tied down on the rocks/ huge carpet!- I was still in school.!) and Think this was before UKAPS.
Anyway here 'some' of the rock I collected (think I collected about two tonnes!) and there's hardly any used in the tank.

I had a bag full of cuttings from my last tank too (which had been neglected massively due to being away at university) so decided to cook them all and use the dead organic matter as a fertilizer.

Bag of cuttings

45mins later

Job done

So onto building up the aquascape;
Been reading a lot of material so taken tips here and there.
Positioned wood [considering the golden ratio]

Added the substrate with cardboard separators that Id taped up so they didn't disintegrate (old aquasoil was quite wet).

Positioned the wood and used bamboo twigs to outline the positioning (an idea out Takishi Amanos book I received with my aquasoil a year ago). The tape down the glass represents the 'Golden Ratio' so trying to keep inline with that.

Then built up the substrate;

And the tank so far;

Could do with some advice from here on. Any thoughts/ criticism are more than welcome.

One question though, how can I keep the substrate from flattening out i.e. the bank I've built up on the left hand side.??

 

[Fred Dulley]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

I'm impressed with your efforts and dedication.

Building up height in Substrate - http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/ar ... -substrate

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Nicks Vission 180. New Set-up

Cheers Fred, had the week off work so decided to get stuck into getting this tank done. Did the hard scape yesterday, but I still dont have it 'quite right'. Getting it perfect is so frustrating, especially when laying stones out (gonna need some help!), or a lot more reading.
Will try some broken slate and and a load of bamboo to try and hold the substrate, then maybe some plastic sheets too if I can find some suitable. Otherwise I'll leave the substrate a bit level like Takishi Amano's tanks seem to be. We'll see how it goes!

 

[Anonymous]

Its been a while since I've updated this thread so going to sumerise the past 6 weeks from planting to present.

New spec
Light: Juwel hight light ~(2x36w) and arcadia twin t5 light unit with 24w and 39 watt bulbs on front ant back. 2.5/3W per gallon. Bulbs bought from http://www.lampspecs.co.uk
Filtration: Tetratec Ex 1200
Powerhead: Karolia nano (900lph)
UV sterilizer: Vecton V2
CO2: FE DIY set up with UP aqua Atomizer and glass CO2 pollen diffuser (latter for aesthetics more than usage)

Flora;
1. Rotula sp.'green'
2. Vallisneria nana
3.Echinodorus tenellus
4. Glossostigma elatinoides
5.Eleocharis parvula
6. Eleocharis acuta
7.Echinodorous tenellus
8.Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green'
9.Cryptocoryne wedtii 'Tropica'
10.Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'
11.Bolbitis heudelotii
11. Ludwigia arcuata
12. Weeping moss on wood
13. Java Moss on rock

Fauna;
4x small sucker loaches
11x Black neon tetras
9x Rosie tetras
6x Amano shrimp
7x cherry shrimp

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been logging the tank with photos as Ive gone along so will upload a few with progress and what Ive been doing. Ive had severe trouble with Algae and think I could identify every species there is in my tank!! at some point or another. But just sorted the issue out with 7 hours light a day and new bulb in the UV sterilizer.
So here we go from week 2 to week 6.
The first floor in the set-up was building the hardscape then realizing I needed more moss so had to put planting on hold. Thought I'd try immersed growing for a little while as i thought id get some good growth. Didn't work. But all plants survived this period but didn't take off so well. Lesson learnt.

Hardscaping

"Trying to do emersed growing"

and built the substrate up using loads of bamboo and pieces of slate

When I received the Java moss I attaches it to some of the main rocks in the hardscape using cotton thread and took a note from T.Amanos book using bamboo to mark where each plant species is going to be planted.

Planting
Plants from Tropica at TGM (all superb quality)

Planting from front to back- Glossostigma elatinoides and Echinodorus tenellus

All foreground plants planted

Planting crypts, java fern and anubius.

Once planing was complete used loads of newspaper and lay it down in the tank.

Once filled

The aqua soil made the water couldy so syphoned water out and ran water in using the hose pipe which made it crystal clear for a while.

The tank when settled

My first DIY CO2 system( as recommended) was using a welding gas cylinder which worked fine but ran out of gas withing two weeks so a quick upgrade to FE was done once id finish off the welding gas.
Bought all the equipment from Aquatic magic.*

I later read the thread on EI dosing and went out to do it as cheap as possible. Picked up all the nutrients from ebay for a fraction of the price but bought the trace elements from Fluid sensor as they were significantly a significantly higher quality.

Im currently using 5/6 teaspoons of KNO3, 1.5 tsp KH2PO4, and 15 MGSO4 in 600ml so 50ml doses three times a week for my 180l tank.

The trace mix from Fluid Sensor is 1tsp in 200ml of water and dosing 25ml twice a week.

Tank around week three
Had a bad algae problem between week 2 and 4. Mostly green/brown hair algae, and currently some staghorne thats appeared in the past two weeks.

I bought a solenoid from the forum, upgraded my CO2 system, and lowered the EI dosing and light to 7 hours a day with three hours in the morning (10am-1pm) and four in the afternoon (6pm-10pm) with a long siesta period and simulating winter conditions which I read keeps algae down. Over the past couple of weeks the algae has gradually been disappearing thankfully.

PH test strips from ebay- £3 including postage for 80 or cut them in half for a 160. Sorted.!

5Kg Fe cylinder picked up for £30 on ebay and just followed the DIY thread on the forum.

Close up on CO2 equipment (using a 't' valve as a splitter so I can use the Up Atomizer (which I've found absolutely essential for CO2 in a tank of my size) and the pollen diffuser in the tank at once. The latter for aesthetics.

Setup