Hi,
Before I start I think it best to warn you that I am very dyslexic so please excuse my spelling....its Bad..I know it but children in need spent shed loads of money 20 years ago on me teaching me to read and write as well as I do..and I dont think it is going to ever get much better now im in my 30's
Anyway.......
After keeping tropical fish since i was about 8 gradualy increasing the sise of my tank I came to a point about 12 months ago when I looked at my Aquastart 500 and it looked back at me and we both decided that planting was the way forward.
I added some plants with no knowlage of anything other than plants needed light water and somthing to weigh them down.
Nateraly they didnt last too long.....
so I did some reasearch and ended up with co2 and a bit of liquid fert...she ended up looking like this....
The Java moss in the corner went mad and I got some cherry red shrimp:
Unfortunatly I think my clown loach decided it liked them as snacks so RIP shrimp!
I then learnt about proper substrate....
I also remember having to remove the substrate once many years ago when I had an undergravel filter that clogged up so realy didnt want to have to go through that again.
So
My tank and I looked at each other and decided it was time to tell my Girl Friend (saint that she is for putting up with me) that we wanted/needed....well it was essential that I got a bigger tank.
This took 6 months....
The deciding factor was our local fish shop had a sale on....I managed to get the Fluval Roma 125 for £160 (and I checked with them about the leaks..apparently its been fixed now...and I know where the guy lives so it had better be!)
I also decided that this time i was going to get all the kit before putting any water in the thing...
I baught a new teratex ex700 as my current canister filter was not quite man enough...decided to go for a CO2 reactor (which I plug into a fire extingushier) and decided (just before I ordered any plants) to get the hydor inline 200w heater.
So....pre plants this is what I have:
Notice this is before the inline heater arrived....I also got an extension to the spray bar to ensure a more even flow around the tank
This was taken during the leak check....no leaks I was impresed with myself!
And I had to...yes HAD to ...put some moonlight LED's on the thing...
Substrate.
Ok...Im no expert so I whent with a gut feeling after reading stuf...
Lower layer...Tetraplant compleet substrate...5KG
Middle layer...Seachem Flourite Red (in what ever sised bag it came in
Top layer...standard gravel
It looks far more nateral than the Blue stuff anyhoo
More updates to come when water and plants added!!!!!!!!
Before I start I think it best to warn you that I am very dyslexic so please excuse my spelling....its Bad..I know it but children in need spent shed loads of money 20 years ago on me teaching me to read and write as well as I do..and I dont think it is going to ever get much better now im in my 30's
Anyway.......
After keeping tropical fish since i was about 8 gradualy increasing the sise of my tank I came to a point about 12 months ago when I looked at my Aquastart 500 and it looked back at me and we both decided that planting was the way forward.
I added some plants with no knowlage of anything other than plants needed light water and somthing to weigh them down.
Nateraly they didnt last too long.....
so I did some reasearch and ended up with co2 and a bit of liquid fert...she ended up looking like this....
The Java moss in the corner went mad and I got some cherry red shrimp:
Unfortunatly I think my clown loach decided it liked them as snacks so RIP shrimp!
I then learnt about proper substrate....
I also remember having to remove the substrate once many years ago when I had an undergravel filter that clogged up so realy didnt want to have to go through that again.
So
My tank and I looked at each other and decided it was time to tell my Girl Friend (saint that she is for putting up with me) that we wanted/needed....well it was essential that I got a bigger tank.
This took 6 months....
The deciding factor was our local fish shop had a sale on....I managed to get the Fluval Roma 125 for £160 (and I checked with them about the leaks..apparently its been fixed now...and I know where the guy lives so it had better be!)
I also decided that this time i was going to get all the kit before putting any water in the thing...
I baught a new teratex ex700 as my current canister filter was not quite man enough...decided to go for a CO2 reactor (which I plug into a fire extingushier) and decided (just before I ordered any plants) to get the hydor inline 200w heater.
So....pre plants this is what I have:
Notice this is before the inline heater arrived....I also got an extension to the spray bar to ensure a more even flow around the tank
This was taken during the leak check....no leaks I was impresed with myself!
And I had to...yes HAD to ...put some moonlight LED's on the thing...
Substrate.
Ok...Im no expert so I whent with a gut feeling after reading stuf...
Lower layer...Tetraplant compleet substrate...5KG
Middle layer...Seachem Flourite Red (in what ever sised bag it came in
Top layer...standard gravel
It looks far more nateral than the Blue stuff anyhoo
More updates to come when water and plants added!!!!!!!!