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Setting Up A RIO 180

C

Chris85

Seedling
Joined
9 Sep 2008
Messages
13
Hello all :wave: , i am making a return to the planted tank side of the hobby after reefkeeping for a few years.Now i have a rio 180 that was setup as a reef which i have drained and cleaned and will be using this for my tank. I have an arcadia 4x39w luminaire, Pressurised CO2 unit with inline bubble counter and rhinox 5000 diffusor. I am thinking of using something like a Tetratec ex1200 external filter and ADA aquasoil amazonia as my substrate. My main question is how much aquasoil would be needed for a rio 180? i read on here 2x9l bags, is this about right? Also is the use of powersand beneficial? If so how much of it/what size would i need for a 180? as i have also read 2x9l bags of that which if correct would be very expensive :( Any advice would be really appreciated. I am sure i'll be asking alot more questions as go.

Regards,
Chris.
 
I presume the internal filter has been removed? I think the ex1200 is sufficient, but along the line it might be worth investing in a bigger turnover filter.

I would say 2 bags is adequate, but 3 gives you the luxery of the perfect amount in my opinion. It depends how deep and how you plan to scape your future tank.

Good luck and keep us posted with a journal.
 
Hi guys, thanks for your input. Yes the juwel internal filter has been removed. So i am looking at 3x9l Bags of Aquasoil amazonia and what about powersand? Is this needed? If so how much of that would i need? I went on the greenmachine website but couldn't see a guideline amount. I will be starting a journal once i have all the equipment!!

Regards,
Chris.
 
Go for columbo's as over adas, cheaper more of it in a bag less ammonia nicer texture.
I have a rio 180 and 18l of AS and you get an extremely thin layer of substrate, no more than an inch all over.
No you don't need powersand it's snake oil, it's mostly pumice and peat. If cost is an issue what about akadama or cat litter? Some good examples on here if you search it.
 
Garuf said:
No you don't need powersand it's snake oil, it's mostly pumice and peat.
Click to expand...

I think that's a rather sweeeping statement! You don't need aquasoil to grow plants so of course you don't need Powersand either. For those regularly setting up and taking apart tanks it's probably completely unnecessary but, personally, if I was setting up a long term planted tank again I would use powersand again as I used it when I set up my first proper planted tank and got great results. When I set up my second I left it out and the results weren't as good however I can't link that directly to the use or lack of with powersand as there were many other factors involved. I use leaner water columns usually and dose more infrequently so I feel that anything that makes my substrate more long term and nutritious is good.

There are much cheaper ways, and possibly better ways, than AS and powersand though.
 
Hmmmm ok. I am kind of set on using the aquasoil, seems very good stuff and i like the look of it. Cost isn't a massive issue, but obviously i don't want to THROW my money away!! I am looking at this tank as a kind of long term project i am not going to be stripping it down and rescaping every few months, i don't know if that has any bearing on the choice of substrate. Lets say i was to get 3x9l bags of aquasoil what would be a good amount of powersand to use underneath? If i understand correctly, only a thin layer is needed.

Regards,
Chris.
 
Don't just take my word on this - I'd look at the journals on here and ask others too. One issue with using powersand is that if you are going to be replanting lots of stems then it will be pulled up too that I didn't say earlier. I used 3l bag I think under the aquasoil at the back as I had a sand front to the substrate.
 
Thanks for your input Ed. Your right i never take one persons word when it comes to these things and alot of the time i think the opinions expressed are subjective. I spent a couple of hours searching through the forum last night and it appears that in the majority of threads i saw where people were using aquasoil, powersand was quite often NOT used with no ill effects. I have also been looking through the ADA catalogue and saw that for my tank ADA recommend 3x2l bags. Now this in addition to the 3 bags of aquasoil i will need would come to around £180.00 I really don't know whether i can justify the cost when the benefits of the powersand appear to be minimal. This tank is going to be a kind of 'starter' tank if you like and if i enjoy it and have good success with it i will move onto a braceless next year. It's just i have learnt with marines not to cut corners if you want a decent tank. I guess what it really boils down to is will i still be able to grow plants well including a glosso carpet (i really want that) with the aquasoil only if i have everything else on point? ie water quality,lighting,co2 etc.

Regards,
Kris.
 
I can make that statement because I've read the analasys of powersand and the breakdown contained very little plants actually utilize. At the end of the day it's your choice, if you want extra ferts in the substrate, tropica's sustrate is a superior product from a usefullness point of view.
My advise on ada? Don't believe the hype! The are products that are better and cheaper it's just they don't have the "ada sheen" or reputation.
 
Hi,
When deciding what products to use, it's better to evaluate the products collectively within the context of what your goals are and what your lifestyle is. When others give their opinions on a product it's always based on how the product performs under their regime, which may or may not be similar to your own.

Sediment choice has to be evaluated in the following context:
1. Cost.
2. Appearance and feel.
3. Nutrient performance.

Item 1 is easy to assess, which it seems you have already thought about. If there are cheaper alternatives, which there are, then the value of the product is less in this sense.

Item 2 is subjective. Amazonia Aquasoil has an amazing velvety feel. If you will be rescaping constantly, or putting your hand in the sediment often, then there is value in a substrate that is not painful or irritating to work with. AS scores high in this department, but again there are other sediments that may be less irritating to work with.

Item 3 is arguably the most important item. As Ed mentions, the combination of nutrient performance of the sediment and the performance of the water column are cumulative. In Ed's case, he has fish which require a low water column TDS/Conductivity. He may therefore dose the water column lean to very lean, which put more emphasis on the substrate to perform. Others are forgetful or are out of town for extended periods and are therefore not able to dose the water column consistently. Having a nutritious substrate minimizes the penalties associated with these issues. In this sense both Amazonia and Columbo score high as they are among the richest of substrates. Again, there are cheaper ways to accomplish a nutritious substrate.

If neither of these factors apply to you (low TDS requirement and dosing schedule impediments) then the two products score low since there are much cheaper ways to add nutrition, water column being the most direct as well as being the cheapest.

If you take all three items into account collectively you can conclude that although both of these substrates are superior to something like sand, for example, Do you really need them to achieve success? The answer is no, unless some of the extenuating circumstances listed above apply to you.

Unless they apply to you then the substrate choice cannot make or break your tank as there are other factors which, if paid attention to will enable you to grow amazing plants even with an inferior substrate.

Cheers,
 
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