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Juwel Rio 125

Martin Osmond

Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
117
Hi all, i hope its ok to do this but i have so many question i thought it would be best to put all my questions in one place rather than creating loads of seperate threads, i'm not ready for a journal so hope this is the right thing to do.

I have had a dabble at growing plants in an aquaone 620t for the last year but have realised that the tank was just not up to the job so have recently bought a Rio 125. I am happy to upgrade everything and am willing to take my time to make sure i get everything right. A few things i need some advice on though please:

1) The lighting is 2 28w t5's, should i add some extra or see how i get on with these first? If i add extra do you think it best to add 2 extra t5's or some tmc growbeam strips?

2) Defenitly getting an external, hoping not to spend more thana bout £100, so was looking at tetratec ex 1200 or aqua one aquis 1250, any suggestions?

3) Gonna go down the FE co2 route and would just like to no which regulator to buy, as a lot of the links in the tutorial seem to be old.

4) ADA aquasoil i assume?

These are all the things i need some help with to get me started, once im up and running i hope to start a journal and get some more help there.

I hope this is ok, Many thanks.
 
Hi Mate,

Your lighting is best to start low. It sounds fine. Especially if your adding co2 u can afford to keep it low. And if u need more Increase it. Doing it the otherwise round can cause issues. I would recommend if u are starting a co2 Kit do it from the very beginning as certain plants may take time to adapt half way through and you may have melting plants on your hands, I think generally it's just best to start from the get go. As for substrate their are So so many choices with so many outcomes. People can argue about this until the moon turns blue.. in my opinion go with either, ADA amazonia, EBI gold plant or tropica plant substrate. Other members will have their own favs. I think as long as their rich in nutrients for a beginner you should be fine. Regulators are a misty subject for me as I'm a low tech head but I used to have a very solid tmc reg that did the job. Get some advice from people and do some searching. Hope that held u .
Jack

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
Thanks mate,

Should i change the 2 light tubes and if so what to?
I will be running co2 from the beginning, the tank is just going to sit in my living room empty until i have everything ready, i'm in no rush and want to get everything right, hence all the questions!
 
Oh, one more thing!
The tank is by a window which gets an awful lot of sunlight, nothing i can do about it as its the only space i have. Can natural sunlight help with growing plants or should i try and keep the blind closed as much as possible?
 
sunlight might end up being your nemesis as it has a habit of causing algae quite quickly, especially hair. If the light hits the side of the tank then it would be worth blocking that with either a background or frosting to diffuse it a little. If it hits the front of the tank then you will have to suck it and see, id guess it could be worth looking at running co2 24/7 if you cant control the light.
look forward to the journal.
 
sunlight might end up being your nemesis as it has a habit of causing algae quite quickly, especially hair. If the light hits the side of the tank then it would be worth blocking that with either a background or frosting to diffuse it a little. If it hits the front of the tank then you will have to suck it and see, id guess it could be worth looking at running co2 24/7 if you cant control the light.
look forward to the journal.

Thanks mate, unfortunatly its the front of the tank that it hits, in terms of running co2 24/7 other than the obvious cost issues what other things would i need to consider?
 
ive never done it so aside from the usual co2 precautions not too sure. I believe Saj @hotweldfire has had some good results with 24hr co2 in the past. With the new fandangled website he should get an alert now and hopefully can offer you up some advise. Think you may want to keep no3 high aswell as BGA has always appeared in my tanks that get sunlight... but that could just be me.
 
I can clarify in the start up stages of tank. It will be an absolute pain in the backside. I had to black vinyl the side of my tank to prevent the light levels causing algae.

Have a glance at my journal in my signature if you so desire,

Cheers,
 
I can clarify in the start up stages of tank. It will be an absolute pain in the backside. I had to black vinyl the side of my tank to prevent the light levels causing algae.

Have a glance at my journal in my signature if you so desire,

Cheers,

Thanks for the reply, just scanned through your journal to see what you were talking about. Your tank is very nice indeed, i shall have a thorough read later when i have more time.
When you say the start up stages do you mean it gets better when the tank is a bit more established?
 
Thanks for the reply, just scanned through your journal to see what you were talking about. Your tank is very nice indeed, i shall have a thorough read later when i have more time.
When you say the start up stages do you mean it gets better when the tank is a bit more established?

Hey mate,
Thats fine, thanks for your compliment.

I did notice a slight improvement as plant mass increased for some reason, but i would definitely take preventative measures such as vinyl. Even put a 4 inch strip along the front panel.

Now the tank is on the other side of the fire, it gets very little light and has no algae as a result. :)
 
Sounds like your on a tight budget so why not use a cheap substrate as apposed to ADA stuff and use EI to dose the water column Yourll save a ton of money that could go towards getting a spray bar kit for your filter.
 
Sounds like your on a tight budget so why not use a cheap substrate as apposed to ADA stuff and use EI to dose the water column Yourll save a ton of money that could go towards getting a spray bar kit for your filter.

Budget is only a problem if i want to buy everything now, but i'm quite happy to take my time and buy all the things i need gradually, within the next month i should have everything apart from the co2 or external filter depending on which i buy first. I'm not bothered how long it takes as long as i get it done right.

I was planning on using a decent substrate and dosing EI but are you saying that there is no need to do both?
 
To keeps things simple

You don't NEED a nutrient rich substrate but it helps I your a little slack or not as experienced with EI
Foxfish is right tbh I retract my comment previous to this as it is like a safety barrier and a little extra for the plants, sorry for any confusion

Good way to approach things, I've done this with my recent set up and really happy I did, got everything I wante and didn't skint myself in the process
 
To keeps things simple

You don't NEED a nutrient rich substrate but it helps I your a little slack or not as experienced with EI
Foxfish is right tbh I retract my comment previous to this as it is like a safety barrier and a little extra for the plants, sorry for any confusion

Good way to approach things, I've done this with my recent set up and really happy I did, got everything I wante and didn't skint myself in the process

Thanks for trying to help, its appreciated. I want to give myself the best possible chance to succeed so will use a decent substrate and dose EI also.
Was planning on using ADA Amazonia as substrate and dose APF liquid Plant Nutrition from APFUK and possibly Simply Macro? Is this abut right?
 
Right guys this is where i am at, gonna leave the lighting as it is and upgraed it at a later date if needed. although unsure on which on which tubes to put in, any help appreciated.

Going to go with ada amazonia and get one of the Ei starter kits from APFUK.

I could still do with some advice on which filter to go for as i have no idea what one to go for. Which brand has the most realistic lph rate once filled with media? Also is it worth spending a little more to get an eheim or jbl?
I don't like the look of the square bits of tube that go over the tank for the intake and outflow on the tetratec. Does this restric flow? Also do they stick out the back of the tank further than a normal curved one. if that makes sense???

Which regulator for FE co2 system please?

Thanks for all your help so far.
 
Hi Martin,

I am currently looking to set-up a new planted tank and think I will end up getting the Easy Aqua twin gauge regulator and solenoid as it seems to tick all the boxes and get good reviews. Might be a bit more than you are looking to spend though?
 
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