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Hello from me

Gringo

Seedling
Joined
20 Jul 2020
Messages
14
Location
Warwickshire
Hello all, here's a little about me,

I've had an aquarium now for 2 years, started with a 60L tank then a year later bought a Marina Vue 87. It has a sand substrate, originally put some amazon swords and crypts in but battled algae problems then sort of just gave up on them until a few weeks ago when i decided it will not get the better of me. I got some root tabs, dwarf water lettuce, dwarf sagittaria and 2 anubias, dosed carbon for a week which did wonders and then eventually stopped the carbon and setup a diy CO2 kit as a temporary measure which has helped bring co2 to a decent level although I might go back to dosing carbon afterwards, the only reason i like the co2 is that its lowering my ph now, normally its 8 with kh 6, although i do shut it down before lights go off I'm just concerned about the ph fluctuating.

Anyway, the water lettuce is growing well but unsure about the sagittaria, the anubias has a small amount of algae growing on it so just trying to work that one out now, and while that's all going on I'm planning on upgrading tank to a bigger one, something in the region of 130L, Eheim vivaline 126, Aqua one aquavogue 130 and Fluval flex 123 stand out at the moment, I'll be using an external canister filter which I'm already running in the current setup to colonise the bacteria ready for new tank eventually, in this tank I'd like to run low to medium lights and undecided whether to soil and cap the substrate or just new sand again with tabs.

Current occupants are
4 Albino Cory's
4 Platys
2 Cryptoheros Nanoluteus
 
and while that's all going on I'm planning on upgrading tank to a bigger one, something in the region of 130L, Eheim vivaline 126, Aqua one aquavogue 130 and Fluval flex 123 stand out at the moment, I'll be using an external canister filter which I'm already running in the current setup to colonise the bacteria ready for new tank eventually, in this tank I'd like to run low to medium lights and undecided whether to soil and cap the substrate or just new sand again with tabs.

I don’t know if you’ve settled on the 130 litres for budget or furniture fit, but I’m going to suggest choosing a 100cm long aquarium for aquascaping and fishkeeping - and so you don't end up wishing for more real estate once you’ve the 80cm long aquarium up and running ;)

I’ve always liked Eheim for their classic dimensions (and decent quality) - though looking on their new website they’re also beginning to use those “cube” models as the starting size in their various lines :( while these tanks can look good, they often end up being stocked for the aquarium volume rather than the available footprint for fish
If you think in terms of the “fish should be able to swim (minimum)10x - (better)20x their length” rule, a 100cm - 120cm long aquarium offers much more opportunities than 2 x 50-60cm aquariums
For the price difference, I’d go with Eheim Vivaline 180 with glass box dimensions 100 x 40 x 45cm (high)
For plants, this height is easy (relatively cheap) to provide low to high intensity lighting, and the length makes for a good panorama
BUT if you like taller fish such as angels, discus then a 60cm tall aquarium is the minimum ... of course then, 120cm is also a minimum length :oops:

(though if you like to keep cichlids, you’ll likely need multiple aquariums anyway :) .., and it’s always good to have an alternate aquarium for moving troubled fish or as a holding tank while you rescape :lol: )

The Eheim styling seems a bit more modern (and I like those aluminium sliders), the Aquaone is very distracting with contrasting colors and big door accessories .... though perhaps this is your style preference :cool:
Aquaone is always reluctant to provide specifications for their lighting
(Aquaone also seems more prone to quality control issues)

Note that most kit lighting is cheap and won’t support the sort of plant scapes shown on the boxes/pamphlets without an upgrade (also those are often scapes that were grown with CO2 - or are scapes that were planted up for the photo op and dismantled shortly after)

If you look for Interzoo videos, you’ll often find display tanks for various aquarium models (though companies do tend to showcase newest models etc, so look farther back for older aquariums)
Eheim Interzoo 2018 - you can briefly see all their aquariums models



I’m not a great fan of the Fluval 123, this tank has better aesthetics in the smaller versions (obviously just my opinion ;)), a fair amount of footprint is taken by the intank filtration system (though you can remove this) and the slotted intakes are not fry or shrimp friendly (access in back is hindered by plastic inserts/shapes)
Again kit lighting is low end and provides limited light for plant scapes (intensity and area)
The branded stands look very plastic (and lack doors, the shelf heights may be fixed, I don’t recall)

Juwel also offers some decent aquariums (and seem consistent in finish and quality control), and in this George Farmer video, even the Fluval Roma turns out very nice




(Once you hit 25 posts, the swap forum will be open to you)
 
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