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My first planted aquarium.. 80x45x60 cm

Solex

Solex

Member
Joined
21 Dec 2012
Messages
64
Location
Huisduinen
Hi all!

After Malawi's and not having a aquarium in a few years I am finally getting a planted aquarium!

The aquarium will be a optiwhite open aquarium, 80x45x60 cm, 216 liters. It is not ready yet.
Our house is situated on a corner, sunlight from all directions, the only place to have one is in the kitchen. Its a DIY cabinet, this is how it looks like..

CRW_4208_zpseacf253f.jpg


As a light I have ordered a Maxspect r420r 160W unit, it is a dim able and programmable LED unit.
I think that it will be hung from the ceiling to spread out the focused light a bit. Sanj has a same light and he told me that it probably needs a bit more elevation then the legs provide.
There was no stock at the dealer, so the light had to be ordered in China, I hope they process it before the Chinese new year :nailbiting:

Two JBL cristalprofi filters, a e1501 and e901, total 2300 liter per hour.
Two Upaqua Atomizers, one for each filter. Not sure how I can hook them both to one pressurized regulator..?
Pressurized 1,5kg Co2 bottle, solenoid, valve, hose and Dennerle long term test.
Heating is a Hydor 200w ETH, but the aquariums cabinet is on top of a floor heating pump, I don't think that it will need allot of extra heating.
As a soil I still have no clue, there are so many products available, in my daughters little shrimp tank I have used dubel baked Akadama, its still hard after 6 months.
I will use the EI index and am still a bit confused about how i all works, got to read a bit more on that.
Why should I even bother with a expensive soil (ADA/Colombo/EBI) if all the needs of the plants are provided in the water column / EI index ..
There probably is a need for a good soil, but I have still not figured out why..

Thanks for reading so far!

CRW_4209_zpsf278987e.jpg
 
Looks excellent so far, very neat and tidy and well presented.

There are multi co2s splitters available to run more than one diffuser from a single cylinder....ill try look them up, but easerthegeeser (Iain) I think knows of them and may be able to point you in the right direction if he reads this first.

As regards soils, they are basically nutrient rich like the ADA range and allow root feeders easy access to ferts. They also due to their absorption qualities can take nutrients from the water column so kind if reenergise themselves. The main benefit though is they allow a little dosing leniency, for example if your away from home for a few days and can't dose ferts daily. There are many successful tanks that run without though, and aesthetically you may prefer another substrate alternative. Good water column dosing and perhaps root tabs for heavy root feeders will be more than adequate.

Looking forward to following progress.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Spot on mate :)

Really good approach to a planted tank. You right in what you saying about why use the expensive stuff when I candies the coloumn, the only reason people do it is more of a safety barrier is they can not get to the tank to dose ad generally the appearance is much nicer than cat litter or some gravels.

You could always add a layer of nutrients under the gravel, osmocote is quite popular to sprinkle on the base of the tank before the gravel.
 
Hi I like what you done so far, very in keeping is the cabinet.should compliment the new opti white tank well. Look forward to seeing pics of it all set up and running.:) it all looks well thought out.
 
Thank you all for the compliments!

Does it need to be a regulated splitter? or can I just use a simple T ?
Not sure if a atomizer will get dirty and clog up.
Ebay

Just got a email that the aquarium is ready for pickup, its a bit of a drive (3 hours) to the shop.
Hopefully I get the chance to pick it up this week!
The lights will take a while to arrive, so iam not in a rush. Well.. iam actually, I can't wait :D
Going to read a bit more in to EI and soils.

Thanks again!
 
Solex said:
Does it need to be a regulated splitter? or can I just use a simple T ?
Click to expand...
Hi, regulated is best, that way you have control of the c02 and where it goes. Like most things the gas will take the easiest route so without regulation there would most likely be a bias to one diffuser or the other. Id also add a bubble counter after each split so you can guesstimate injection rate to each diffuser.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
staaternet_zps907c348b.jpg


We just came home with the aquarium and some spiderwood. Chucked in the wood and I have made a quick photo..
EI index Fertilizers are on the way, brass co2 splitter also. I saw Rasbora Galaxies today .. wow! pretty fish :)

Need to decide on:
- the background, what window foil to get, perhaps some sand/brown color..
- ADA or Oliver Knott soil.. I guess that I will buy the cheapest of the two..

And I need to paint the wall's, no hurry here.. Lights are still not here for a few weeks.
Superbowl internet download here I come!! (Busy week and I have no clue who won)
 
Iam testing the waterflow and equipment, one small leak (small drop) on one of the hose connections.
I seem to have a nice flow from the front of the glass downward to the bottom, then over the bottom to the backglass.
Spray of the spraybar is hitting the frontglass, and halfway up the tank its going back upwards too.

Co2 is running also, 2.5 bar, no mist out of the spraybar, but I can see very small bubbles everywere, not sure if its the bubbles of the newly added water in the tank or Co2.
The tank is still heating up, I hate these cold days :)

20 liters of Oliver Knott's nature soil have been ordered also.
 
Co2 at the start.
0minutes_zps42e32941.jpg


after 60 minutes
60minutes_zps18a0002f.jpg


After 180 minutes
180minutes_zps2b23a90c.jpg


colors_zps52240393.jpg


Little bit too much eh? KH8 according to my water suppliers test report
 
Solex said:
Little bit too much eh? KH8 according to my water suppliers test report
Click to expand...
If you don't have any fish in the tank its perfect :p
 
Lexy,
You need to have distilled water adjusted to an alkalinity of 4 dkH in the dropchecker, not tank water or tap water, otherwise you will run into trouble interpreting the color on the DC. You can buy 4dkH water at many of our sponsors but it may also be available on Dutch vendor websites.

Cheers,
 
So the blue water in the dennerle tester is no good?
Why does Dennerly not provide it with 4dkh then?

So far I can not find it in a online fish shop out here..

:confuzed:


Have a nice day!
Lexy
 
Hi Lexy,
Sorry mate, I have no idea what Dennerle is up to these days. I don't see their products in use very often so I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Do you have a link to that product or can you quote info from the booklet that came with it? They sell you blue water? Is that in a separate package, or is it included? Do you change the blue water periodically? That might in fact be the 4dkh water. It's important to know what you have so you can more easily troubleshoot if things go awry.

Cheers,
 
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