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Rio 180 - "Aging Gracefully"

Steve Smith

Member
Joined
19 Jul 2007
Messages
4,412
Location
Wellesbourne, UK.
With my 30th birthday next week I figure the title is apt :) My Rio 180 has been a holding tank for quite a few plants which I've been gathering over the last few months. I'd been planning something kind of low light, and cypty! I had a mini epithany one night (ooerr!) and I think it's turned out relatively close!

Anyway, after some weeks of pestering Dan came over on Saturday to help me do this tank. I was hoping John could make it too, but he had bigger fish to fry (so to speak).

The tank was stripped down and all plants put into buckets/spare tanks (anything I could find that would hold water!) All water syphoned out and detritus etc and generally a bit of a scrub of the glass etc. We left the substrate in situe as it has Tropica substrate underneath.

After playing with hardscape we got something we both liked and then the planting started. I experimented with the superglue technique for attaching the anubias and bolbitus to the redmoor. I think I might have gone a bit over the top with it though. Some tidy up later I think. One issue is one of the bits of readmoor needs some more soaking, so it's weighted down with a small lump of seiryu stone.

Annnnyway, heres some pics :)

Day003_Closeup2.jpg


Day003_Closeup.jpg


Day003_Pentazona.jpg


Specs:

Rio 180
Standard Rio 2x30w T8 lights
2x Tetratec EX1200
Recycled Tropica substrate caped with Unipac Zambezi sand and some random graded gravel from various sources
Pressurised CO2 via diffuser

Plants are various crypts including Parva, wendtii, balansae, Affinis and some others I'm not so sure about. All sourced from forum members. Also Eleocharis Acicularis lightly planted on the right side where it's quite open.

I just want to say thanks again to big Dan for his help and guidance on this one! :D
 
I like the plant choice (and fish choice for that matter), it should look great once grown in.
 
Thanks guys :)

The wood will move slightly when that bit that sticks out most on the right actually sinks. It should be rotated a little more and arching over. I might also plant more acicularis, as it looks a little bare at the moment. I need to work on the graded gravel, as I'm not 100% happy with the front/middle but again, I need that bit of wood to sink first.

I'm also going to be adding more fish from another tank, in a bid to shut down my small 80cm bedroom tank. Will be quite a mix of fish which might not be ideal, but should be interesting. Problem at the moment is a small whitespot outbreak in that tank :(

Fish in this tank at the moment are:

8 (I think) Pentazona Barbs
7 Harelquin Rasbora (at least 2 types)
8 Ottos
2 Amano shrimp.

I'm going to add in from the other tank a load of coffee bean rasbora, 5 redline rasbora, group of about 8 pygmy corys, group of snakeskin guppies (unless I re-home them) and a few dwarf sparkling gouramis (population control! They love munching guppy fry!) Also about 5 additional amano shrimp.

The name of this scape kinda points at me getting into my 3rd decade of life, and the fact that hopefully this will be a little more low maintenance/slow growing and will take some time to age :)
 
Lookin' good brother!
Nice job on the grading, should look better with some algae on it.
I recon it'll turn out nice, as long as you leave out those guppys :lol:
 
Thanks guys :) I just need to get some better photos, but the tank is sorta crammed into a corner, and my TV is in the way :lol:

Will try to re-home the guppies when I get rid of the white spot. It's only on one of them so fingers crossed.
 
Looking good Steve, I am moving my tank towards lower maintnance plants too, just going to keep the carpet and that is now HC rather than glosso to keep maintnance down also. Looking foward to seeing this develop :) congrats
 
SteveUK said:
HC low maintenance?? :lol:
Well when compared to glosso it is :p but then again I have never managed to keep HC alive in the past so I might have no maintnance at all :p
 
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