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Old Thread Juwel Lido 120 (now under construction )

Reayman

Member
Joined
19 Aug 2016
Messages
31
Location
Newcastle England
Hi all,

A few month back I bought myself a new tank as a birthday treat.

It's my first time using T5 lighting, Seachem Fluorite and trying to scape a large tank (at least for me).

Would appreciate any feedback.

I have 1 Gold Male Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi and Harlequin Rasbora to go in here, along with 4 Amano Shrimp I had taken from an old set up.

The plants are varying with lots of Crypts and Anubias. The Vals were given to me free by P@H to try and save them sine they were past their best.

I will be dosing Seachem comprehensive along with API root tabs, this is Seachem's fluorite black sand too.
I will try keep light fairly low since I want to stay away from CO2 until I'm married (end of the month) and have spare money again!

Any insight greatly appreciate since I've learned an awful lot from you guys.

Cheers




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Hi welcome to ukaps:) lots more plants would be my recommendation, looks like you have plenty of room, a high plant mass from day one is always a good idea. maybe choose some fast growing stem plants . sorry if i read it incorrectly but it seems you have a single harlequin rasbora ? as they are a shoaling species they will be happier in a group , lastly i'm pretty sure you have got the thing about not having any money till after you get married the wrong way round, :lol: good luck with your tank.
 
Cheers for the welcome guys- sorry I have a school of harlequins in there, 6 currently though will be expanded over the weeks! should have specified.

At the back are Limnophila aromatic- they were originally shedding all leaves at the bottom, I understand that is flow and CO2 related, they have recently developed a kink half way up and now starting a second stem from about 2cm below. Any advise about topping?
 
I swear you guys are helping me on two diff threads- I'm new to the whole forum thing so not too good with getting the notifications and quoting other people's comments.

@kadoxu I note your comment on the macro nutrients and I'll definitely have a look cheers!

Never used floating plants before, frogbit?

Are you guys running co2 systems? I did read a fair bit about this but then it just seemed to get pretty complex pretty quick!

Any idea about when to start topping the aromatica? I read somewhere I should wait for them to reach top of the tank first.
 
I swear you guys are helping me on two diff threads
Yup! :lol:

I note your comment on the macro nutrients and I'll definitely have a look cheers!
I was doing the same thing when I started, and @roundasapound pointed me to this http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/ei-starter-kit.html
You can continue to use Seachem as Micro until it runs out and then start using the Micro salts after that. FYI don't use Micro and Macro on the same day, as it can lead to precipitation.

Are you guys running co2 systems? I did read a fair bit about this but then it just seemed to get pretty complex pretty quick!
I'm using Liquid Carbon, because my tank is only 19L (around 5 gal). For bigger tanks I think it's best (and cheaper) to use pressurized CO2.

By the way, congrats on the marriage!
 
Glad to hear you have more than one Harlequin, adding a few more won't do any harm, larger groups tends to make the fish feel more secure and you will see more natural behaviour from the fish. I don't use co2 in any of my tanks, all are low tech, though that's not to say you can't use it in low tech tanks but i choose not to. There are a number of threads regarding the use of floating plants and the benefits of having them.
 
Just an update on this one guys... No pics yet but I added another piece wood and dragonstone I had left over from my other nano.

I stupidly and naively bought from P@H what looked like 6 healthy harlequins to my school that I had had for a good 8month or so and were real healthy... I watched their behaviour and compared my well-fed and looked after Quins to the newbies, and the P@H Quins just seemed duller in colour, of a much smaller build and pretty much just weaker all round.

Anyways I came down the next day to find 2 dead, the rest of the school with a fungal issue and completely different behaviour- listless even. I have just given my quarantine tank to a mate and should've used it here. Since I have Amano's in the tank I couldn't treat with anything... Long story short within 24 hours I lost the entire lot.:hungover:

Absolutely gutted, Gold Ram is healthy as ever, as are the Pepper Cory and Amano's. large water change just to be sure.

Wedding and honeymoon kick off this weekend so I won't be restocking until I return, that said I wouldn't even want to risk it right now and once again learning my lessons with the convenient P@H temptations.
 
Sorry about your rasboras :( although you've had a bad experience, hope it doesn't put you off...As you know pets at home isn't great for livestock, but can be good fo ancillary plants & cheap tanks :)
 
id bring the wood forward a little, looks like its pressed extremely against the back just now. But yeah, loads of plants; and floaters help a lot at the start and throughout if required!

Like your layout and tank though, very nice!
 
Before / After pics to come following whatever I do this weekend:

I have been lurking in the forum for a while without posting anything myself. Truth be told I'm struggling to make the most of the height on this tank, any stems that go in seem to perish from the bottom, and replanting in this Seachem Fluorite is a nightmare- even with 'scaping tongs.

The Ram has been moved on owing to aggression issues (towards everything). I housed a juvenile BN Plec for my brother for a while, until I realised he had a taste for Nymphoides Taiwan. Current occupants are a dozen Black Phantom Tetra, 4 amanos, 6 pepper Cory, and 3 juvenile Angels (again temporary whilst they grow).

I have been reading BigTom's Puddle o' Mud from 2011 and it is truly inspirational for what you can do in a low tech setting. My issue is all the good low-techs are shallow whereas my tank is very deep for it's footprint.

I have a variety of Crypts doing well, echinodorus bleheri and red diamond doing well, Anubias plagued by BBA (BN was disinterested), rotala struggling (only 1 stem) and the rest barely getting off the ground (lilaeopsis surviving, staurogyne RIP, umbrosum RIP, bacopa RIP).

The BBA is all across anything at the front of the tank only- my guess would be low flow here from the internal filter, so a powerhead might be needed for that. I am decreasing W/C's and dosing minute levels of EI- 10ml of each bottle once per week.

I know I am running the dangers of trying a few people's opinions but I need to find a method that is going to work for me, I haven't found my niche yet. Lately I think everything bar the heaviest of rooted plants struggle in the Seachem Flourite, even with API root tabs. I managed to get a bag of John Innes No1 (leaner than 3) and plant via ice cubes to help the substrate- it seems to be working! especially the swords are liking it almost immediately.

Ok so my plan/ dilemma going forward: increase the depth of substrate somehow and make the most of the tank's height! also I clearly need to get some more soil into that tank as the plants are clearly responding now. Perhaps I can get some slate and create a platform to make a terrace and plant accordingly to increase the depth.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated, it's time to get dirty and mix things up!

Cheers

Reayman
 
Ok guys back again.

Didn't get as much time on the tank as I would have liked over the bank holiday- the Mrs dropped and stabbed herself in the hand with a v sharp kitchen knife, so I had the joys of driving her around various Hospitals in the North East most of the weekend.

Anyhow, I finally got hold of some large pieces of slate (took a while to break up) and took out the dragon stone (just too small, or I couldn't get enough of it). I positioned the slate towards the back in a row across from the filter, with the intention of creating a raised terrace behind to help with my height issue.

I netted all the floating bits from John Innes No.1 and started adding it to the tank- no ammonia leeching which was good. Then it all went wrong....

Instant black water, couldn't see a thing. Fish were out but not all of the water was drained... ice cube method was putting the soil below my layer of Seachem fluorite. And now in my haste, I have essentially poured a whole load of soil on top of the fluorite instead having the fluorite as the cap.

I allowed it to settle, and once sure there was no ammonia the fish went back. To say they were loving life would be an understatement- the cories especially are sifting through it and pretty much causing a constant mess in the water column!

The plants seem to be liking it but probably too early to tell- they equally just be reacting to the soil that went in via ice cube. Anyhow I'm paying the price for being lazy, with a constantly hazy/murky stirred tank.

I come to the experts to really look for a damage control or way to fix this- my Fluorite is on the bottom when it should be on the top... is there any way I can say shift it by hand back on top of the soil- this would surely just make the water black again.

It is about 2-4inch deep substrate, with a deeper raised corner where I tried the terrace. Can I perhaps cap it with something- noting that the soil is brown and the Flourite is black! I have (in this and another tank's filters) a whole load of Biogravel (link below) that I put in a pair of tights in the filters, reckon I could cap it with this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-5Kg-3-3-lbs-BIOGRAVEL-UNIQUE-POROUS-GRAVEL-FOR-FILTERS-/221710078471

My other (and most sensible idea) is probably to take the fish back out, drain the tank entirely, mess with the substrate and get the Flourite where it should be, but this is gonna take some time.

On top of this week's dilemmas, one of my T5 Daylight bulbs has went out on the tank. It's a Juwel Lido 120 and I bought it new July 2016- it's covered by a 2 year warranty but not sure if the bulbs or just the light unit are covered- any ideas? (light unit itself is fine)

Sorry for the rant guys, I need some input on fixing my mess!

Cheers

Reayman (not safe around fish tanks)
 
Yeah Id say you already know the answer is to just start again but you want people to tell you that just to confirm it. Will make your life easier in the long run and like kezza says you'll get it how you want it.
Matt.

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