200L revamp

[andy]

I was given my 48 x 15 x 18 tank a few months ago and i literally threw everything in. It hasn't been too bad but it's far too disorganised for me so hopefully this week, i will get my plants from plants alive and completely change the lot.

The huge Amazon sword was tiny when i put it in a few months ago but has reached a size of Dorathy 2 in little shop of horrors and has to come out.

The tank is very over stocked at the mo....present fish are

20 rummynoses
14 checker barbs
10 harliquins
6 angels
6 Bolivian rams
6 honey gouramies
plec
hoplo cat
lots of baby siamese fighters from a spawning.

However, the fighters, checker barbs and honey gouramies will go and be replaced with more rummys and maybe some cardinals

Tank specs are....

3 x 38w triplus tubes (on for 11 hrs a day)
2 x tetra CO2 (push cannister type)
interpet 4 internal filter (to be replaced by a larger external)
1" john innes no 3 soil with 2" gravel on top.
temp 78 f
water is around ph 7.5

One thing that might happen is i may upgrade my tank from a 48 x 15 x 18 to a 48 x 21 x 24 (rio 300) which will give me better scape for planting.

here's some pics taken just now....more to follow as the plants go in and grow

 

[Joecoral]

Looking good! Those are some pretty hefty chunks of rock you have in there! They blend in well with the planting tho
Keep up the good work

 

[aaronnorth]

nice tank

 

[LondonDragon]

Tank is looking great, just needs some more foreground plants and maybe a couple of redmoor branches and its done
Keep us posted in the progress.

 

[andy]

Well here's a bit of an update. The set up in the previous photo was a complete disaster. I got Blue green algea (BGA) and It covered everything...plants, gravel, rocks and im sure that if the plkec sat still for long enough, it would grow on him !!!!

In the end, i took advice from UKAPS and was recommended several things.

Large water change
Total tank blackout for 3 days
More water changes
Double if not treble water circulation
Add proper CO2 injection

So that's what i did...i wrapped the tank in black bin bags and then covered in blankets for 3 whole days....no light at all, no peaking, no fish feeding etc. When the 3 days were up, all the BGA was gone !!!

I added a fluval 305 external filter and got a second hand regulator which went onto my 500g CO2 bottle and was administered by the CO2 ladder that comes with one of the DIY CO2 kits. These ladders are a bit obtrusive but they are extremely efficient due to the CO2 bubbles' long contact time with the tank water. I also invested in a gravel cleaner...something ive never owned in 30 years of fishkeeping !!!

However, despite my best efforts, some of the plants were knackered and a replant was needed. I stripped out about 50% of the plants and spent £30 on new ones in my local maidenhead aquatics.

From then on, the tank has looked superb. I had a tiny bit of BGA remaining but ive got rid of that now. I added a pair of rosy barbs and 6 swordtails....both fish being some of the best algea eaters ive kept and after a short spell of whitespot on my clown loaches which i treated successfully, everything has been good.

Here;s a couple of pics

So it's a big thanks to UKAPS and all the people who helped me

Andy

 

[beeky]

Looks like a nice bunch of Cardamine you've got there. I really like this plant, but you don't see it very often in 'scapes.

 

[vauxhallmark]

The huge Amazon sword was tiny when i put it in a few months ago but has reached a size of Dorathy 2 in little shop of horrors and has to come out.

Audrey 2 !

 

[andy]

The huge Amazon sword was tiny when i put it in a few months ago but has reached a size of Dorathy 2 in little shop of horrors and has to come out.

Audrey 2 !

That's the lady....Feeeeeeeed me Seymour

 

[LondonDragon]

got a second hand regulator which went onto my 500g CO2 bottle and was administered by the CO2 ladder that comes with one of the DIY CO2 kits. These ladders are a bit obtrusive but they are extremely efficient due to the CO2 bubbles' long contact time with the tank water.

Ladders are actually not the best effective modes of diffusion, you would be better off with a glass diffusor, or an inline reactor for your tank size. Also get a drop checker to make sure you have enough CO2 in the tank.

 

[andy]

So ive also added a tetra 1200 external to go with the fluval 305 and the tank is looking really nice.

 

[andy]

Ladders are actually not the best effective modes of diffusion, you would be better off with a glass diffusor, or an inline reactor for your tank size. .

Apparently, they are

http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f= ... der#p30292

I can vouch that when the bubble enters the bottom of the ladder, it's the size of a pea and when it gets to the top, it's the size of a pinhead. Im no scientist but this tells me that a fair amount of CO2 is being dissolved.

It seems the only reason that ceramic or glass diffusers are used is because of looks.

My plants are happy and pearling away quite happily !!!

 

[johnny70]

very nice mate, I love it any chance of a plant list?

JOHNNY

 

[Simon D]

A reactor should (or could) disolve ALL CO2 bubbles:

Ladders are actually not the best effective modes of diffusion, you would be better off with a glass diffusor, or an inline reactor for your tank size. .

Apparently, they are

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=2799&p=30292&hilit=bubble+ladder#p30292

I can vouch that when the bubble enters the bottom of the ladder, it's the size of a pea and when it gets to the top, it's the size of a pinhead. Im no scientist but this tells me that a fair amount of CO2 is being dissolved.

It seems the only reason that ceramic or glass diffusers are used is because of looks.

My plants are happy and pearling away quite happily !!!

From another post:

how do i know if the c02 is dissolving should i be getting very fine bubbles out of the filter return? i have a few but not as many as i did with my glass diffuser. does it take a while to get working correctly? any suggestions please?

The idea is not to get any bubbles coming into the tank at all, it should all disolve in the reactor
Just monitor CO2 levels with a drop checker.

If you're happy and the plants are pearling nicely then good luck to you, but don't get tunnel vision.

I think a reactor is the better option, although I don't use one yet and I'm quite happy with my ceramic diffuser, that's the way I'm going!