Juwel Rio 300 A New Beginning

[Timms2011]

I don't think theres a day that goes by where I don't take the time to look at the journals on here. The amount of talented, skilful scapers on here is phenomenal. Every scape is unique in it own way, and the help, support and advice from the forum is tremendous. So i've naturally been picking up some ideas and decided to buy a new Aquarium and have go. This is not my first aquarium, but fingers crossed it will be my first successful aquarium. I do not have the skill or knowledge the majority of the scapers have here, so it would be kool if you could help me along the way. If I've missed out any information you would need to advise me then please let me know so i can try my best to post it up. Also unfortunately the photo's up to this point have been taken on a iPhone, however yesterday i managed to pick a camera up which was a little better.

I've decided to go for more slow growing plants as I thought less pruning for me the better, not for the fact that i'm lazy, more i'm not the best at cutting plants back, this is assuming the plants grow in the first place that is. As usual i've managed to misplace some of the little plastic plant identification labels you get with the plants, So i hope I get the plant names correct.

I'm up to about week 8 from when the first plants went in. I let the water mature for 4 weeks and gave the substrate the chance to release some of the ammonia as i was told plants are not overly keen on high levels of this.

Tank specs:
Aquarium: 121 x 51 x 66 cm 350litre Juwel Rio 300
Lighting: 4 x 54w T5's With Reflectors
Filtration: Fluval 406
Substrate: 3 x Amazonia Soil with 2 x Amazonia Powder
Co2: 2kg Fire Extinguisher with JBL solenoid Valve
C02 Diffuser: ADA Pollen glass
Drop counter: JBL
Circulation Pump: Hydor Koralia Evolution 5200

Hardscape:
Redmoore Root And Petrified Wood, Not to much at the moment, however i will possibly be adding more at a later date depending on how things go.

Plants:

2 x Vallis
3 x Java fern narrow leaf
1 x Java Fern Petite
3 x Anubias bateri var nana
1 x Anubias petite
1 x Pogostemon helferi
1 x java moss
1 x Bolbitis heudelotii
2 x Marsilea hirsuta
3 x Cryptocoryne balanse
2 x Hygrophilia pinnatifida
1 x Blyxa Japonica

Fish up until now:
2 x German Blue Rams ( my absolute favourite fish )
4 x Ottos
2 x harlequins ( Taken from my brothers )
4 x Amano shrimps
10 x cardinal tetras


Ferts: EI Powders
KN03 5.4grams Mon, Wed and Fri
KH2Po4 2grams Mon, Wed and Fri
TNC Trace 1.4 grams Tues and Thurs
Easy Carbo 9ml per day

Water change: Every Sunday 50%Ro 50% Tap water

Lighting: 2x 54w 12pm - 8pm
2x 54w 1pm - 7pm
Co2: 11am - 7pm
Hydor Korollia 11am - 7pm

After the 4th week I decided to start playing about with the redmoore root, as you can see i haven't a clue.

Again I definitely don't have an eye for positioning wood, but hopefully the plants with help disguise this and save me a little.

I went with this layout in the end as frustration was getting the better of me, obviously completely ignoring all the golden rules of scaping.

Filled this gap in front of the vallis now with Cryptocoryne balance and Hygrophilia pinnatifida, will put a picture up of this soon.

Added some of this plant forgotten the name possibly Echinodoros of some kind, to help with the ammonia spike and was gonna take to out after, however i really like it now so i'm gonna keep it in, will have a better picture to put up later on with any luck.

I do like the Japonica allot, nearly as much as the Japonica loves the Co2 i give it.

I really like the Bolbitis, I thought the darker green would look a nice addition.

This is the picture from last week. still a way to go, but filling in nicely.

I was wondering could anyone suggest a red plant for me to break up all the greens that fits in with the plants i already have?

Also Good or bad I look forward to any comments to help improve my little project.

 

[johnski]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

I like how this has turned out. I think the dense greenness adds character to it, but if you want some red in there, maybe a Nymphaea Rubra would break it up a bit?

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

I like how this has turned out. I think the dense greenness adds character to it, but if you want some red in there, maybe a Nymphaea Rubra would break it up a bit?

Thank you very much, I
will definitely put this plant on the list of possibilities

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Just taken my pollen Glass off to clean it, and noticed i'm only running 1bps, i might up this a little possibly to 2bps as i think theres a little room to do this without affecting the health of my fish.. and despite how little flake food i'm given them I've noticed my fish are not eating up all the flake food, i think their waiting for the beefheart, bloodworm and brine shrimp i give them mid-day, clever little things

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Some side view pics from earlier today after a 100litre water change, so water is a little cloudy. Definitely will clean the filter next week.

Just discovering how difficult it is to take a photo of a moving fish without a decent camera or tripod
Both Male and Female Rams doing well
..And spot the left behind fishing line i left in the tank...Doh!

Male Ram is still right up until i try and take his photo.

cryptocoryne balansae goes right across the back of the tank, not sure why the leaves are reddish/brown this time around, think i preferred the all green look,..never mind!

 

[Ady34]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Hey Tim,
gotta say that plant growth looks impressive and very healthy
Just a question about the Rams if i can. I recently got some locally bred fish but would like a bit of advice regarding feeding. They seem very reluctant to take any flake, tetra prima etc (dried foods). I have a tropical frozen mix which contains red, white and black mosquito larvae, mysis, moina, daphnia, cyclops, and some greens which they found more appetising (mainly the red mosquito larvae) but what do you find the best? Ive heard too much bloodworm isnt good so is it a case of a good mixed diet and if so what do you recommend? Will this help encourage them onto the dried stuff too?
Cheers,
Ady.

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Hiya Ady,

Thanks for the thumbs up, coming from you it means allot as i've constantly followed your excellent journal

As for feeding Rams, i'm no expert, however I do know what my fish like and what i know i will be syphoning out 20 minutes later! The brand that works for me every time is 'TetraMin Crisps',they love the stuff, apart from the red ones, but the shrimp eat them so theres no problems there I also on occasions add a little 'JBL Grano Colour' it gets left to last but they do eat it. I also only ever hand feed my fish using the long planting tweezers, this way i can get a close look at my fish to inspect them to ensure they are in good health and are all accounted for. I always feed them the flake food first and only when thats finished do i feed them the protein.

For the frozen food I buy 4 individual packs 1xBeefheart 1xBloodworm 1xBrineShrimp and 1XMysis this way i can add as little or as much as i want of each individual food. I will probably get through twice as much Mysis as anything else and the BloodWorm lasts 3 times as long as anything else here as i don't mix them up evenly as i know my fish like certain foods better than others and like you say bloodworm isn't that great in excess, but fortunately this is not the favourite out the four foods. I also hand feed them all of these using a turkey baster, again for the same reason as using the tweezers to inspect the fish.

This is all ready for feeding time, as you can see no Mysis as i've run out AGAIN!

Male Ram coming up for his protein mix fed through the turkey baster.

I forgot to mention i turn off my circulation pump so the food doesn't go everywhere and if i put the food in the middle it finds its way eventually around to the cardinal tetras at the back who are a little shy at the moment so every one gets fed. I leave the Fluval running, but the food gets eaten before it can reach the inlet pipe.

This is the female Ram eyeing up her food, she will actually wait for the food to blow closer towards her before she eats it, the other fish won't go near her or her food, Rams don't share food lol....Need to get that Algae off that glass tomorrow!

Well this is what i do, I hope this helps a little ADY

Thanks

 

[Ady34]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Hi Tim,
thanks for the comprehensive reply and thats an impressive impressive feeding kit you have. Its funny as i have a variety of tetra min crisps too, maybe i need to get them properly established to start eating them. I think ill get some frozen beef heart and brine shrimp and try these too a few times a week. Great that you take the time to hand feed to get a good look at the fish and ensure theyre feeding properly etc. They certainly look well fed and are nicely coloured. Great photos too.
Oh and no prob about the thumbs up, its looking impressive. The marsilea hirsuta carpet looks great.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Hi Tim,
thanks for the comprehensive reply and thats an impressive impressive feeding kit you have. Its funny as i have a variety of tetra min crisps too, maybe i need to get them properly established to start eating them. I think ill get some frozen beef heart and brine shrimp and try these too a few times a week. Great that you take the time to hand feed to get a good look at the fish and ensure theyre feeding properly etc. They certainly look well fed and are nicely coloured. Great photos too.
Oh and no prob about the thumbs up, its looking impressive. The marsilea hirsuta carpet looks great.
Cheerio,
Ady.

Hiya Ady,
No problem, just happy to help in some way. I only got these Rams just over a week ago, so they still need time to build up and their colours should be more vibrant in the coming weeks. I usually go for Golden Rams as I really love the deep and bright colours i can get them, I find them a little more pretty looking also, but i'm over the moon with these two I have m.hirsuta at the front. Glosso is my all time favourite foreground plant, but i don't think i'm experienced enough to grow it as yet, maybe next time

Thanks

 

[Ady34]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

I have m.hirsuta at the front. Glosso is my all time favourite foreground plant, but i don't think i'm experienced enough to grow it as yet, maybe next time

Thanks

Ha sorry ive made that look a bit silly, after i posted the question about your carpet i looked at your plant list at the top of the page and saw it was marsilea so changed my post
I like the golden rams too, and the electric blue are very nice but it seems difficult finding decent ones.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

I have m.hirsuta at the front. Glosso is my all time favourite foreground plant, but i don't think i'm experienced enough to grow it as yet, maybe next time

Thanks

Ha sorry ive made that look a bit silly, after i posted the question about your carpet i looked at your plant list at the top of the page and saw it was marsilea so changed my post
I like the golden rams too, and the electric blue are very nice but it seems difficult finding decent ones.
Cheerio,
Ady.

No worries Ady, i miss-read and miss-spell stuff all the time, MA In Wembley And St Albans do really nice Golden Rams

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Just a quick pic of what my Aquarium looked like earlier today. I've planned a 100litre water change and a good clean for tomorrow morning. I would also like use allot more of the lower left hand side foreground plant, as it's really growing nicely, I've planted a little more off this on the right hand side, Fingers crossed it will do equally as well over the this side.

 

[Alastair]

Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Looks lovely mate, very green and lush


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tim]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

this is looking real good mate very healthy growth

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

by tim » Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:48 pm

this is looking real good mate very healthy growth

Thank you Tim, healthy growth and healthy fish was what I was aiming for in this Aquarium, maybe next time I could work a little harder on the hardscape arrangement, but for now I'm very happy

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Looks lovely mate, very green and lush


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you Alistair, It's been a lot easier for me to work with a regular shaped aquarium for a change, with an external filter and circulation pump, as opposed to a corner Aquarium with a built in filter. I'm really happy with the lighting that came with it as well, they reach from one end to the other, and spread across the entire depth. This is a new experience for me

 

[foxfish]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Very nice!
Also interesting that you state you were dosing 1bps & upped to 2bps, what make of bubble counter do you use?
You seen to have found a good formula as the display really does look healthy for such a young tank.

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Very nice!
Also interesting that you state you were dosing 1bps & upped to 2bps, what make of bubble counter do you use?
You seen to have found a good formula as the display really does look healthy for such a young tank.

Hiya Foxfish, thanks for the kind comment
I actually do not have a bubble counter, so how I try and gauge how many bps I'm using by taking the Co2 hose off of the pollen glass inlet when It undergoes it's weekly clean, I count the bubbles from there. I'm aware that there is the possibility this may not be an entirely accurate way of calculating the exact bps thats going into my aquarium, however I do use the drop checker to help aid me and determine If more or less is needed. All this accompanied by a visual check of how the fish are behaving, and I can usually get a very rough idea from how much Co2 I can see coming out the pollen glass. I understand that this is probably not the best way to go about calculating the required levels of Co2 I need, however I have very little signs of any type of algae and more importantly my fish are very happy

Since I first introduced my plants into the aquarium I have upped my Co2 levels from 1bps to 2 or possibly 3bps by my estimations to accommodate the growth of the plants. I do sometimes believe that the Co2 coming from my Co2 system does fluctuate from time to time, so I did on occasions find myself playing around with the controls every now and then. I do think i could up it more, but I do like to leave a good gap encase of any accidental errors or miscalculations.

My EI fert dosing volumes has remained the same to this day, only with the exception of dosing Trace mix once I could see the plants have rooted nicely. If anyone could recommend any positive alterations to my EI doing schedule please let me know

 

[foxfish]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Arr OK, it just that most folk use a much higher bubble count, I cant really count the number of bubbles on my 200lt tank due to the high speed of bubbles!
I would be amazed if you are only using 1 BPS as measured by a conventional bubble counter.

 

[Timms2011]

Re: Juwel 350litre Aquarium

Arr OK, it just that most folk use a much higher bubble count, I cant really count the number of bubbles on my 200lt tank due to the high speed of bubbles!
I would be amazed if you are only using 1 BPS as measured by a conventional bubble counter.

Might be worth me investing in a bubble counter out of sheer curiosity. I could be wrong, but Other than the Japonica I thought all my plants Co2 needs were relatively low and assumed thats why it's growing as it is.