Hi all,
I've posted on here occasionally before but I've just set up a new tank so I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce myself properly and start a journal, as much as a record for myself as anything else.
I kept fish in my teens, starting with the classic two shubunkins in a bowl, and eventually moving on to a five-foot planted tank which gradually went to rack and ruin when I went off to university!
I got back into the hobby a few years ago in my late thirties and things had certainly moved on, with a greater focus of aquascaping, better lighting and CO2 injection now being pretty standard. I had a Juwel Rio 125 for a few years which was great for getting back into the hobby, I learnt a lot but I was making it up as I went along so I also made a lot of rookie mistakes. As you can see I just plonked the plants in randomly and hoped for the best!
Having won a bit of money on the cricket earlier this year I decided to treat myself to an upgrade, with a budget of £1500. The build quality of my Juwel tank is excellent so I was happy to get another of those. Space considerations ruled out a bigger Rio but the Vision 260 was just the right size and shape for the space I had in mind.
The Plan
My overall goal is a natural-looking environment where fish, plants, shrimp and bacteria all live together in good health and harmony. I prefer the Dutch-style aquarium look but purists would probably disapprove of me using rocks and bogwood!
Being a bit of a perfectionist I spent several months accumulating all the equipment I wanted and doing dry runs of the setup. The first thing I did was to rip out the internal filter (anyone want to buy it?) - the one on my Rio is excellent but they take up a lot of room and I wanted as little equipment in the tank as possible. I also wanted an internal background as the walls in the room are red! I went for a Back To Nature Slimline - I had one on my Rio tank, they are expensive but look great. It took ages cutting it to the right size and gluing it in to my satisfaction but I got there in the end.
Here's my shopping list:
Juwel Vision 260 aquarium and stand
2x Juwel reflectors
48W blue moonlight led strips (x2)
Eheim 2178 external thermofilter
Eheim 2178 filter media set and sintered glass
Eheim Installation Sets 1 & 2
Eheim Extension Sets 1 & 2 (several of these to make a spraybar and filter inlet)
Back to Nature Slimline basalt/grey background
Hydor Koralia Smart Wave kit with 2x Nano 1600 powerheads (recycled from old tank)
2kg FE CO2 setup with Up Aqua regulator (recycled from old tank)
Up Aqua inline CO2 diffuser
Big piece of bogwood from the garden centre
"Green rockery" rocks from the garden centre
ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia 9 Litre (x3)
ADA Power Sand Special M 6 Litres
ADA Aqua Soil Powder Amazonia 3 Litre
"B.D. Trading" white aquarium sand 5kg
Filter tubing, CO2 tubing, various plugs, electronic timers, extension lead etc.
Plants (Aquarium Gardens "Dutch Aquascaping Plant Collection for Tanks up to 48 inches"):
Ludwigia Glandulosa
Pogostemon Erectus
Echinodorus granat
Hygrophila Polysperma
Rotala Rotundifolia
Bacopa Amplexicaulis
Cryptocorne Willisii
Cryptocoryne Walkerii
Rotala Wallichii
Lobelia Cardinalis
Micranthemum Micranthemoides
Pogostemon Helferi
Staurogyne Rubescens
plus
Aponogeton Ulvaceus
Nymphaea Maculata
Staurogyne Repens
I ended up going £200 over budget but I wanted to do everything properly.
The Setup
The three rocks I bought were far too big when I got them home so I smashed them up into smaller pieces with a sledgehammer (great fun) - it's amazing how many medium-sized rocks you get from one large rock!
The hardest thing to find was some sand which wasn't beige or yellow. After trying numerous places I finally found what I needed at a garden centre.
Day zero, setting up the equipment and hardscape, duly arrived on July 16th. After a long day this was how it looked:
I had planned on putting a little "plant island" in the sand but I decided against it in the end.
Sunday July 17th was Day 1, I planted up the tank and filled it with water. I poured the water in so gently that a lot of the sand and Aqua Soil powder floated, which made things look a bit messy.
Testing the moonlight:
Ferts/Dosing/CO2
Since Day 1 I've been doing standard EI dosing using instructions and chemicals from www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk. For the first three weeks I also dosed 60ml per day of Flourish Excel but I decided that was overkill so I've now switched down to 30ml daily and an extra 30ml on water change days (still a lot but there is no livestock so I'm hoping it doesn't matter?) Until I introduce any critters I've also cranked the CO2 up nice and high at about 160 bubbles per minute, the Up Aqua diffuser does a great job of creating absolutely tiny bubbles and my drop checker (just above the substrate at the back corner furthest from the filter return) is a nice yellowy-green.
I did 50% water changes on days 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 27. I'm aiming for twice a week until the tank is six weeks old and then once a week thereafter.
Flow/Turnover
The filter return is via a spraybar which extends the full length of the tank, with the holes about half an inch below the surface pointing to the front glass. In my opinion the holes on the Eheim Extension Kit spraybar are far too large (3mm diameter). I've blocked off half of them with electrical tape to give what I'd call adequate flow at best, even with a filter "rated" as 1850lph. I've augmented this with 2x 1600lph powerheads, operating alternately for one minute via a SmartWave kit, so the total rated turnover is 3450lph. After initially placing the powerheads on the side I moved them so that they're now attached to the spraybar, pointing in the same direction as the spraybar flow. Observing the tiny CO2 bubbles I seem to have a pretty good circular flow from back to front, down, front to back and up the back wall - the plants sway nicely without it resembling a whirlpool!
Issues
On day 3 the tank became cloudy white and I began to notice little white tufts on the bogwood. This got quite bad, at one point I couldn't see from one end of the tank to the other, but after reading a few posts on here I crossed my fingers and did nothing and three weeks after appearing it suddenly got a lot better and is now barely noticeable. I assume this was a bacterial bloom and part of the normal cycling process.
On day 26 I noticed small brown spots on the front glass and parts of the sand, and also quite large ones on the inside of the filter return pipe. I'm guessing/hoping that these are diatoms and also part of the normal cycling process. If things noticeably deteriorate I have an Otto in my old tank which I will move over.
Progress
After nearly four weeks all the plants except the Pogostemon Erectus and Micranthemum Micranthemoides seem to be doing well. I've already pruned the stem plants once and moved things around a bit and another prune will be needed soon. In particular the Rotala Rotundifolia behind the bogwood is growing slowly but steadily and I'm hoping that this will turn red and become a really spectacular specimen plant eventually.
I've not done any testing yet but I'm planning on buying some ammonia/nitrite testing kits in a couple of weeks, and if things are all clear I can begin moving the fish from my Rio over to their new home!
Thanks for reading - UKAPS is a great source of advice and encouragement so I hope I can add to the knowledge-sharing. Any thoughts/advice/questions will be gratefully received!
I've posted on here occasionally before but I've just set up a new tank so I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce myself properly and start a journal, as much as a record for myself as anything else.
I kept fish in my teens, starting with the classic two shubunkins in a bowl, and eventually moving on to a five-foot planted tank which gradually went to rack and ruin when I went off to university!
I got back into the hobby a few years ago in my late thirties and things had certainly moved on, with a greater focus of aquascaping, better lighting and CO2 injection now being pretty standard. I had a Juwel Rio 125 for a few years which was great for getting back into the hobby, I learnt a lot but I was making it up as I went along so I also made a lot of rookie mistakes. As you can see I just plonked the plants in randomly and hoped for the best!
Having won a bit of money on the cricket earlier this year I decided to treat myself to an upgrade, with a budget of £1500. The build quality of my Juwel tank is excellent so I was happy to get another of those. Space considerations ruled out a bigger Rio but the Vision 260 was just the right size and shape for the space I had in mind.
The Plan
My overall goal is a natural-looking environment where fish, plants, shrimp and bacteria all live together in good health and harmony. I prefer the Dutch-style aquarium look but purists would probably disapprove of me using rocks and bogwood!
Being a bit of a perfectionist I spent several months accumulating all the equipment I wanted and doing dry runs of the setup. The first thing I did was to rip out the internal filter (anyone want to buy it?) - the one on my Rio is excellent but they take up a lot of room and I wanted as little equipment in the tank as possible. I also wanted an internal background as the walls in the room are red! I went for a Back To Nature Slimline - I had one on my Rio tank, they are expensive but look great. It took ages cutting it to the right size and gluing it in to my satisfaction but I got there in the end.
Here's my shopping list:
Juwel Vision 260 aquarium and stand
2x Juwel reflectors
48W blue moonlight led strips (x2)
Eheim 2178 external thermofilter
Eheim 2178 filter media set and sintered glass
Eheim Installation Sets 1 & 2
Eheim Extension Sets 1 & 2 (several of these to make a spraybar and filter inlet)
Back to Nature Slimline basalt/grey background
Hydor Koralia Smart Wave kit with 2x Nano 1600 powerheads (recycled from old tank)
2kg FE CO2 setup with Up Aqua regulator (recycled from old tank)
Up Aqua inline CO2 diffuser
Big piece of bogwood from the garden centre
"Green rockery" rocks from the garden centre
ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia 9 Litre (x3)
ADA Power Sand Special M 6 Litres
ADA Aqua Soil Powder Amazonia 3 Litre
"B.D. Trading" white aquarium sand 5kg
Filter tubing, CO2 tubing, various plugs, electronic timers, extension lead etc.
Plants (Aquarium Gardens "Dutch Aquascaping Plant Collection for Tanks up to 48 inches"):
Ludwigia Glandulosa
Pogostemon Erectus
Echinodorus granat
Hygrophila Polysperma
Rotala Rotundifolia
Bacopa Amplexicaulis
Cryptocorne Willisii
Cryptocoryne Walkerii
Rotala Wallichii
Lobelia Cardinalis
Micranthemum Micranthemoides
Pogostemon Helferi
Staurogyne Rubescens
plus
Aponogeton Ulvaceus
Nymphaea Maculata
Staurogyne Repens
I ended up going £200 over budget but I wanted to do everything properly.
The Setup
The three rocks I bought were far too big when I got them home so I smashed them up into smaller pieces with a sledgehammer (great fun) - it's amazing how many medium-sized rocks you get from one large rock!
The hardest thing to find was some sand which wasn't beige or yellow. After trying numerous places I finally found what I needed at a garden centre.
Day zero, setting up the equipment and hardscape, duly arrived on July 16th. After a long day this was how it looked:
I had planned on putting a little "plant island" in the sand but I decided against it in the end.
Sunday July 17th was Day 1, I planted up the tank and filled it with water. I poured the water in so gently that a lot of the sand and Aqua Soil powder floated, which made things look a bit messy.
Testing the moonlight:
Ferts/Dosing/CO2
Since Day 1 I've been doing standard EI dosing using instructions and chemicals from www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk. For the first three weeks I also dosed 60ml per day of Flourish Excel but I decided that was overkill so I've now switched down to 30ml daily and an extra 30ml on water change days (still a lot but there is no livestock so I'm hoping it doesn't matter?) Until I introduce any critters I've also cranked the CO2 up nice and high at about 160 bubbles per minute, the Up Aqua diffuser does a great job of creating absolutely tiny bubbles and my drop checker (just above the substrate at the back corner furthest from the filter return) is a nice yellowy-green.
I did 50% water changes on days 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 27. I'm aiming for twice a week until the tank is six weeks old and then once a week thereafter.
Flow/Turnover
The filter return is via a spraybar which extends the full length of the tank, with the holes about half an inch below the surface pointing to the front glass. In my opinion the holes on the Eheim Extension Kit spraybar are far too large (3mm diameter). I've blocked off half of them with electrical tape to give what I'd call adequate flow at best, even with a filter "rated" as 1850lph. I've augmented this with 2x 1600lph powerheads, operating alternately for one minute via a SmartWave kit, so the total rated turnover is 3450lph. After initially placing the powerheads on the side I moved them so that they're now attached to the spraybar, pointing in the same direction as the spraybar flow. Observing the tiny CO2 bubbles I seem to have a pretty good circular flow from back to front, down, front to back and up the back wall - the plants sway nicely without it resembling a whirlpool!
Issues
On day 3 the tank became cloudy white and I began to notice little white tufts on the bogwood. This got quite bad, at one point I couldn't see from one end of the tank to the other, but after reading a few posts on here I crossed my fingers and did nothing and three weeks after appearing it suddenly got a lot better and is now barely noticeable. I assume this was a bacterial bloom and part of the normal cycling process.
On day 26 I noticed small brown spots on the front glass and parts of the sand, and also quite large ones on the inside of the filter return pipe. I'm guessing/hoping that these are diatoms and also part of the normal cycling process. If things noticeably deteriorate I have an Otto in my old tank which I will move over.
Progress
After nearly four weeks all the plants except the Pogostemon Erectus and Micranthemum Micranthemoides seem to be doing well. I've already pruned the stem plants once and moved things around a bit and another prune will be needed soon. In particular the Rotala Rotundifolia behind the bogwood is growing slowly but steadily and I'm hoping that this will turn red and become a really spectacular specimen plant eventually.
I've not done any testing yet but I'm planning on buying some ammonia/nitrite testing kits in a couple of weeks, and if things are all clear I can begin moving the fish from my Rio over to their new home!
Thanks for reading - UKAPS is a great source of advice and encouragement so I hope I can add to the knowledge-sharing. Any thoughts/advice/questions will be gratefully received!